Friday, January 20, 2012

Oscar thoughts


There have been plenty of Oscar prognostications, so I’m not going to do a full Academy Awards preview, but here are a few random thoughts concerning Tuesday morning’s announcements.

Andy Serkis, “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”- I very much hope that he receives a nomination for playing Caesar, the ape who is the central character of the film.  Beginning with his performance as Gollum in the Lord of the Ring movies, Serkis has been the master of the new motion capture technique with CGI.  While he was a key supporting character in LOTR, his acting carries “Rise”, which was my favorite summer film.  I’m guessing, however, that his nomination will have to wait until he reprises his role as Gollum in this fall’s “The Hobbit.”

Alan Rickman, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II”- The Potter franchise has been the most consistently strong of any film franchise, yet has received little Oscar love.  Rickman helped make Severus Snape the most interesting character in the whole series and his acting stood out in the movies, which was quite impressive given that he was performing opposite half of the Royal Shakespeare Company.  Furthermore, Rickman may be the best active actor not to have received a nomination, despite a series of excellent performances starting with his memorable turn as Hans Gruber, the villain in the original “Die Hard” (1988).

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