Until now, every time a year ended, I’d publish the list of movies I’d seen from that year, in order of preference. I’ve decided to do things differently in 2012; I’ll announce my favorites by category, à la Oscars – although not with the exact same categories as the Academy Awards. It’s important to remind you that only movies released commercially in Brazil between January 1st and December 31st 2011 are eligible – and by commercially I mean movies shown only in festivals don’t count. People who like that list I used to published shouldn’t worry: it will be found in the end of this text. But before that…
Breakthrough performance *
Elle Fanning – actress, for Somewhere and Super 8
Frankie and George McLaren – actors, for Hereafter
George Nolfi – director, for The Adjustment Bureau
J.C. Chandor – writer, for Margin Call
Jennifer Lawrence – actress, for Winter’s Bone and X-Men: First Class
And the award goes to: Jennifer Lawrence.
Best Makeup
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Incendies
Let Me In
True Grit
X-Men: First Class
And the award goes to: X-Men: First Class.
Best Art Direction
Copie Conforme
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Let Me In
Midnight in Paris
Winter’s Bone
And the award goes to: Midnight in Paris.
Best Costume Design
Black Swan
Bruna Surfistinha
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Midnight in Paris
Sucker Punch
And the award goes to: Midnight in Paris.
Best Visual Effects
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Melancholia
Sucker Punch
Super 8
The Tree of Life
And the award goes to: Melancholia.
Best Sound Effects
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Sucker Punch
Super 8
The Tree of Life
True Grit
And the award goes to: Super 8.
Best Soundtrack **
Hanna
Hereafter
Midnight in Paris
Somewhere
The Tree of Life
And the award goes to: Midnight in Paris.
Best Cinematography
Hereafter
Melancholia
Midnight in Paris
The Tree of Life
Winter’s Bone
And the award goes to: The Tree of Life.
Best Adapted Screenplay
The Adjustment Bureau
In a Better World
Incendies
True Grit
X-Men: First Class
And the award goes to: X-Men: First Class.
Best Original Screenplay
Hereafter
Margin Call
Midnight in Paris
Somewhere
Super 8
And the award goes to: Hereafter.
Best Editing
The Adjustment Bureau
Black Swan
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Melancholia
The Tree of Life
And the award goes to: The Tree of Life.
Best Performance by a Cast
The Adjustment Bureau
The Fighter
Hereafter
In a Better World
Margin Call
And the award goes to: The Fighter.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Charlotte Gainsbourg – Melancholia
Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin – Incendies
Melissa Leo – The Fighter
Melissa McCarthy – Bridesmaids
Mila Kunis – Black Swan
And the award goes to: Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Christian Bale – The Fighter
John Hawkes – Winter’s Bone
Matt Damon – True Grit
Maxim Gaudette – Incendies
Michael Fassbender – X-Men: First Class
And the award goes to: John Hawkes.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Deborah Secco – Bruna Surfistinha
Jennifer Lawrence – Winter’s Bone
Kirsten Dunst – Melancholia
Natalie Portman – Black Swan
Trine Dyrholm – In a Better World
And the award goes to: Natalie Portman.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Colin Firth – The King’s Speech
James Franco – 127 Hours
Javier Barden – Biutiful
Mikael Persbrandt – In a Better World
William Shimell – Certified Copy
And the award goes to: Colin Firth.
Best Directing
Clint Eastwood – Hereafter
The Coen Brothers – True Grit
Lars Von Trier – Melancholia
Terrence Malick – The Tree of Life
Woody Allen – Midnight in Paris
And the award goes to: Terrence Malick.
Best Film
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
In a Better World
Melancholia
Midnight in Paris
The Tree of Life
And the big winner is The Tree of Life, best movie of 2011.
In total, 25 different films were nominated. The ones most mentioned were The Tree of Life, Harry Potter, Midnight in Paris and Melancholia, with 7 nominations each. The ones that got the most awards were The Tree of Life (4), Midnight in Paris (3) and X-Men (2). Other eight movies shared the remaining prizes.
Here goes the list of the movies I’ve seen, in order of preference.
01. The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick, 2011)
02. Midnight in Paris (Woody Allen, 2011)
03. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (David Yates, 2011)
04. In a Better World (Haevnen, Susanne Bier, 2010)
05. Melancholia (Lars Von Trier, 2011)
06. X-Men: First Class (Matthew Vaughn, 2011)
07. Black Swan (Darren Aronofski, 2010)
08. The Adjustment Bureau (George Nolfi, 2011)
09. True Grit (Joel & Ethan Coen, 2010)
10. The Fighter (David O. Russel, 2010)
11. Somewhere (Sofia Coppola, 2010)
12. Hereafter (Clint Eastwood, 2010)
13. Incendies (Denis Villeneuve, 2010)
14. Margin Call (J.C. Chandor, 2011)
15. Super 8 ( J.J. Abrams, 2011)
16. Fast Five (Justin Lin, 2011)
17. Bruna Surfistinha (Marcus Baldini, 2011)
18. Let Me In (Matt Reeves, 2010)
19. Hanna (Joe Wright, 2011)
20. 127 Hours (Danny Boyle, 2010)
21. Captain America: The First Avenger (Joe Johnston, 2011)
22. The King’s Speech (Tom Hooper, 2010)
23. Blue Valentine (Derek Cianfrance, 2010)
24. Easy A (Will Gluck, 2010)
25. Certified Copy (Copie conforme, Abbas Kiarostami, 2010)
26. Winter’s Bone (Debra Granik, 2010)
27. Trust (David Schwimmer, 2010)
28. Biutiful (Alejandro Gonzáles Iñárritu, 2010)
29. Sucker Punch (Zack Snyder, 2011)
30. Breaking the Taboo (Quebrando o Tabu, Fernando Grostein Andrade, 2011)
31. Fright Night (Craig Gillespie, 2011)
32. Rise of the Planet of the Apes (Rupert Wyatt, 2011)
33. Rabbit Hole (John Cameron Mitchell, 2010)
34. Unstoppable (Tony Scott, 2010)
35. Friends with Benefits (Will Gluck, 2011)
36. Cowboys & Aliens (Jon Favreau, 2011)
37. Thor (Kenneth Branagh, 2011)
38. The Illusionist (L’illusionniste, Sylvain Chomet, 2010)
39. The Troll Hunter (Trolljegeren, André Ovedral, 2010)
40. Bridesmaids (Paul Feig, 2011)
41. Priest (Scott Charles Stewart, 2011)
42. Contagion (Steven Soderbergh, 2011)
43. Green Lantern (Martin Campbell, 2011)
44. Scream 4 (Wes Craven, 2011)
45. TheSilent House (La casa muda, Gustavo Hernández, 2010)
46. Shark Night 3D (David R. Ellis, 2011)
47. Primal (Josh Reed, 2010)
* The breakthrough performance award doesn’t refer exclusively to artists who had never been in any film before; on the contrary, it may include artists who had never had the opportunity to stand out, but managed to do so when said opportunity was provided. In the category in question, the performance evaluated is the one in the job mentioned – for example, although J.C. Chandor is also the director of Margin Call, he stands out for his job as a writer (and his job as a director didn’t add or subtract from his chance to win).
** Unlike the Oscars, here there is no distinction between soundtrack composed directly for the movie and soundtrack that uses preexisting music. The film that best used music to creat atmosphere and add to the narrative gets awarded.
