Oscar 2012 contenders so far: "Midnight in Paris", "The Tree of Life" and "Kung Fu Panda 2"

Genre: Comedy; Romance;

Director: Woody Allen
Starring: Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Marion Cotillard, Adrien Brody, Kathy Bates and Michael Sheen

Release date: 20th May, 2011

"The dialogue throughout Midnight in Paris is also crisp and packed with levity. At one point Wilson attempts an aside, he hems and haws, before McAdams mercilessly cuts him off with a “That’s it? That’s the ending to your story?” to which Wilson parries, “That wasn’t a story, it was a detail.” But the main thrust and cohesion of the film can be found in all the ’20s action, an era Wilson visits regularly. (...) Sweet, sentimental, and vibrant, Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris rightfully points out that yesterday’s frolicking bar might be today’s laundry mat … but we can always visit the good times in our memories."
by Laremy Lagel in Film.com
"Mr. Allen is an artist brimming with vitality and imagination, always ready to explore new ideas. When they work, the screen lights up like a Yuletide tree in Rockefeller Center, and Midnight in Paris works in spades—diamonds, clubs and hearts, too. It's his best movie in years, and 94 minutes of total enchantment. (...) In a film so ripe with temptations for posturing, exaggeration and satirical overacting, nobody is anything less than natural, unpretentious and funny as hell. Gorgeously photographed by Iranian-born Darius Khondji, the film is so breathtaking that it's worth a ticket for the cinematography alone."
by Rex Reed in New York Observer

"Midnight in Paris represents Woody Allen’s companion piece to his The Purple Rose of Cairo, a fanciful time machine that allows him to indulge playfully in the artistic Paris of his, and many other people’s, dreams. (...) Although it’s all done glibly in traditional Allen one-liner style, the format nonetheless allows the writer, who has never been shy about honoring his idols in his work, to reflect on the way people have always idealized earlier periods and cultural moments, as if they were automatically superior to whatever exists at the time. (...) Darius Khondji’s cinematography evokes to the hilt the gorgeously inviting Paris of so many people’s imaginations (while conveniently ignoring the rest), and the film has the concision and snappy pace of Allen’s best work."
by Todd McCarthy in Hollywood Reporter

Oscar potential categories:
Best Picture
Best Original Screenplay
Best Cinematography

 
 

Genre: Drama; Science-Fiction;Fantasy;
Director: Terrence Malick
Starring: Sean Penn, Brad Pitt, Jessica Chastain and Hunter McCracken
Release date: 26th May, 2011

"Brandishing an ambition it’s likely no film, including this one, could entirely fulfill, The Tree of Life is nonetheless a singular work, an impressionistic metaphysical inquiry into mankind’s place in the grand scheme of things that releases waves of insights amid its narrative imprecisions. (...) Critical passions, pro and con, along with Brad Pitt in one of his finest performances will stir specialized audiences to attention (...) That not a single image here seems fake or artificial can only be the ultimate praise for the work of senior visual effects supervisor Dan Glass and his team, while the presence of Douglas Trumbull as visual effects consultant further cements the film’s connection to 2001."

by Todd McCarthy in Hollywood Reporter

"The rare film to urgently question, yet also accept, the presence of God in a fallen world, "Tree of Life" understands that every childhood is a creation story unto itself, and just as a new planet is formed by the elements, so an emerging soul is irrevocably shaped by the forces that nurture it.

No one exerts a more domineering influence in Jack's life, or on the film itself, than his father. Played with iron-jawed intensity by Pitt, Mr. O'Brien is the very picture of intimidation (...) And yet Malick extends the father the same compassion he grants the mother, played with heartrending vulnerability by Chastain as a woman who strives to protect, defend and console her children at all times."

by Justin Chang in Variety

"What Malick does in "The Tree of Life" is create the span of lives. Of birth, childhood, the flush of triumph, the anger of belittlement, the poison of resentment, the warmth of forgiving. And he shows that he feels what I feel, that it was all most real when we were first setting out, and that it will never be real in that way again. In the face of Hunter McCracken, who plays Jack as a boy, we see the face of Sean Penn, who plays him as a man. We see fierceness and pain. We see that he hates his father and loves him. When his father has a talk with him and says, "I was a little hard on you sometimes," he says, "It's your house. You can do what you want to." And we realize how those are not words of anger but actually words of forgiveness. Someday he will be the father. It will not be so easy."

by Roger Elbert in Chicago Sun-Times

Oscar pontential categories:

Best Picture

Best Director (Terrence Malick)

Best Leading/Supporting Actor (Brad Pitt)

Best Supporting Actress (Jessica Chastain)

Best Original Screenplay

Best Cinematography

Best Editing

Best Visual Effects

Best Art Direction

Best Original Score

Genre: Animation; Comedy; Action/Adventure; Kids/Family;

Director: Jennifer Yuh Nelson

Starring: Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Gary Oldman and Jackie Chan

Release date: 26th May, 2011

"DreamWorks team demonstrates that humor is the primary weapon in its arsenal, relying on Black to crack wise throughout while doing their best to supply jokes that won't date the movie a decade down the road. Appealing as they do to adults and kids alike, the laughs help to pave over certain shortcomings in the story (...) In contrast with the grainy, low-budget kung-fu pics that inspired the franchise, "Panda" offers considerable high-end polish, ranging from Hans Zimmer and John Powell's bombastic score to the care taken in translating Po's world to 3D. While not as fresh as the first, the sequel certainly makes good on its promise."

by Peter Debruge in Variety

"Director Jennifer Yuh Nelson, who worked on the first installment as head of story, action sequences supervisor and the Dali-esque position of dream sequence director, devotes the requisite amount of time to small-fry-friendly bumptious slapstick and silliness, which feels generically mandatory. But it all moves along briskly, with a degree of visual grace and a solid feel for 3D. (...) Hans Zimmer’s score is an energetic plus, but the film’s single most striking feature are the end credits, which employ a beautifully designed flipping lantern technique accompanied by wittily ever-accelerating music."

by Todd McCarthy in Hollywood Reporter

"Rarer than a peacock villain — and Kung Fu Panda 2 has that, too — is a movie sequel that’s deeper than the original movie. This is true times two when the sequel is animated, which makes Panda 2 all the more of a welcome oddity. (...) This is an animated franchise that already benefits from glorious design, the richly painted Chinese landscapes that are a refreshing change from the usual sci-fi pursuits."

by Peter Howell in Toronto Star

Oscar potential categories:

Best Animated Feature

Best Original Score