16 February 2012

Skandies: #3

Picture: Margaret (292/23)
Director: Bertrand Bonello, House of Pleasures (261/19)
Actress: Juliette Binoche, Certified Copy (289/26)
Actor: Brad Pitt, Moneyball (239/21)
S. Actor: Brad Pitt, The Tree of Life (185/13)
S. Actress: Elle Fanning, Super 8 (225/19)
Screenplay: Abbas Kiarostami, Certified Copy (266/23)
Scene: Love and death in an elevator, Drive (165/10)

WARNING: Graphic violence.

HISTORY:

House of Pleasures is Bonello's first Skandie-eligible film.

In addition to her Red Balloon "nomination" (see below), Binoche has previously placed 6th in Supporting for The English Patient (1996), 13th in Supporting for Code Unknown (2001), 11th for Caché (Hidden) (2005), and 13th in Supporting again for Summer Hours (2009). In addition to his two previous "nominations" (for Twelve Monkeys and Burn After Reading, see below), Pitt has also finished at #10 (Fight Club, 1999) and #10s (Inglourious Basterds, 2009). And Fanning has now placed in Supporting three years in a row, having landed at #17 two years ago for Phoebe in Wonderland and at #8 last year for Somewhere.

Kiarostami's screenplays for Taste of Cherry and The Wind Will Carry Us didn't place. But he did finish 12th for writing Panahi's Crimson Gold (2004).

Also, yes, the gap between #4 and #3 in Screenplay was more than 100 points. There's also more than 100 points separating #3 from #2. And more than 100 points separating #2 from #1. Too lazy to confirm that that's unprecedented, but it must be.

11 comments:

thanksbud said...

Would people love this picture as much if they did not feel like they had "discovered" and "rescued" it. I mean it is pretty okay but jesus. Also CITY ON FIRE is not better than RESERVOIR DOGS.

Jeff said...

Elle Fanning was so awesome. Good job other pervs.

I really hope Terrence Malick’s arty navel-gazing defies Asghar Farhadi’s obvious Iranian didacticism.

Also "Nights in White Satin".

Blake said...

There's also more than 100 points separating #3 from #2. And more than 100 points separating #2 from #1.

Clearly a clue that A Separation is #2.

I have no idea whether it'll be King Lear or Melancholia's prologue that gets left off of Scene, though hopefully it's the latter since it's the worst part of the movie.

Alex said...

Huh. I was thinking the opposite -- expecting A Separation to win. Also thinking that Melancholia's prologue will be ranked, as per Jeff's early guess.

Nictate said...

Would people love this picture as much if they did not feel like they had "discovered" and "rescued" it.

The fact it came so close to being a cinematic footnote does make it seem more precious, but I'd say there is very little ego motivating "Team Margaret" members. It's more about championing what the film represents for American dramas. It challenges the status quo in a very thrilling, promising way with its "messiness."

Ryan said...

Winding Refn over Bonello. Really?

Victor said...

So, Mike ... when you said on Twitter during the last few days of voting something like "there's an unbelievable upset brewing, but I don't think it'll hold" ... was that a reference (as I mentally guessed and told Swami Ryan privately) to MARGARET being #1 in Best Pic balloting at the time?

md'a said...

Asghar Farhadi’s obvious Iranian didacticism.

Tell us again about how it should have starred Larry David bud. That shit never gets old. Also what.

I have no idea whether it'll be King Lear or Melancholia's prologue that gets left off of Scene, though hopefully it's the latter since it's the worst part of the movie.

Speaking of what.

Maybe if I give you the near-misses in Scene it'll help.

#21: The Last Supper, Of Gods & Men (40/4)
#22: The new secretary, Terri (40/3)
#23: Joey in no-man's-land, War Horse (40/2)
#24: Drinking in the garage or shed or whatever it was, Terri (37/4)
#25: Coffee stop in café, Certified Copy (30/4)

Nope, none of the scenes you guys are batting around are in there either.

Winding Refn over Bonello. Really?

I was gonna attribute this to many more people having seen Drive than House of Pleasures, but (a) it's not that many more, and (b) the latter finished ahead of the former in Picture, by a significant margin.

So, Mike ... when you said on Twitter during the last few days of voting something like "there's an unbelievable upset brewing, but I don't think it'll hold" ... was that a reference (as I mentally guessed and told Swami Ryan privately) to MARGARET being #1 in Best Pic balloting at the time?

What I actually said was a "goofy" upset, and that referred to Elle Fanning having a healthy lead in Supporting Actress at that time. I wouldn't have pegged her for the top ten before ballots started coming in, much less for a shot at the win.

On the subject of 2011 as a year for the ages. In the stats section, I maintain a list of the highest-rated films in Skandie history, by average rating. The top ten looks like this:

01. 3.65 The Sweet Hereafter (1997)
02. 3.61 Being John Malkovich (1999)
03. 3.58 Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills (1996)
04. 3.57 In the Company of Men (1997)
05. 3.56 Secrets & Lies (1996)
06. 3.53 La Promesse (1997)
07. 3.52 Yi Yi (A One and a Two…) (2000)
08. 3.50 From the Journals of Jean Seberg (1996)
09. 3.48 Irma Vep (1997)
09. 3.48 Lone Star (1996)

As you can see, no film has managed to crack this list since Yi Yi, 11 years ago. Mostly because the voting pool has shifted over time to include more hardasses and fewer softies, so the 4.0 rating doesn't get nearly the play it did the first few years.

This year two films cracked it. And it was very nearly four.

Jeff said...

Tell us again about how it should have starred Larry David bud. That shit never gets old.

Jesus bud. I resist, against my first impulses of course, to make this joke, and there you go. I actually had typed it and deleted it. But since you asked, this movie should have starred Larry David and it would have been better.

Also what.

If you are refering to the "didactiscim" statement, that was also the
joke

Interloper said...

Why do I get so excited when Mike chooses my Scene Headings? I like my "love and death in an elevator," but the multi-layered "Tastes Like Fish" remains my 2011 masterpiece...Oh, and probably should have given my jailbait points to Elle and not that girl from the myth of the american sleepover...

Nictate said...

"Tastes Like Fish" was pretty damn good.