15 February 2013

Skandiewrap, or: More Than You Really Wanted to Know

Granted, this is my survey. I decide who gets to participate—for the record, I've only been inviting civilians since "competing" polls of professional critics began proliferating—and I tend to avoid folks with wildly dissimilar taste (though there are some notable exceptions), so the results decidedly reflect my own. But while I can't deny the existence of the so-called "D'Angelo Effect," which gives a certain edge to films and performances I favor, that doesn't mean I inevitably get my way. To wit, this is the only third time in Skandies history that my own #1 film for the year (in commercial release) actually landed at #1. Just for fun, here's how it's played out:

  • 1995: Exotica. Oscar-style voting, was nominated for Best Picture but did not win.
  • 1996: Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills. #7.
  • 1997: The Game. #9 (and placing that high thanks almost entirely to myself and a former voter I'll just call "Vern").
  • 1998: Buffalo '66. #3.
  • 1999: Toy Story 2. #4. (Though today it'd be The Blair Witch Project, #5.)
  • 2000: State and Main. #17.
  • 2001: Memento. #3.
  • 2002: 25th Hour. #1.
  • 2003: Gerry. #4.
  • 2004: Dogville: #1.
  • 2005: Tropical Malady. #4.
  • 2006: The Prestige. #2.
  • 2007: My Kid Could Paint That. #12.
  • 2008: Silent Light. #3.
  • 2009: Afterschool. #15.
  • 2010: Everyone Else. #8.
  • 2011: A Separation. #2.

    Close call with the Mamet comedy, but my top pick has always made the cut, usually among the five "nominees." Almost every year, though, consensus goes with something else, so the wide embrace of Holy Motors, which handily won four of our eight categories, makes my heart glad. Not that it's a big surprise, mind you—I wish folks who weren't at Cannes could have experienced the almost maniacal reaction to its world premiere, complete with whoops and wolf whistles from the typically staid press corps. Not to mention that it had already won two of the three big critics' polls (Film Comment and indieWire), spent the last few months atop the Movie Nerd top 10, etc. This was one of those years when the presumptive winner was, if not a lock, at least a very heavy favorite. Though I for one hadn't anticipated a 126-point blowout for Best Picture.

    Our other winners, likewise, were hardly curveballs. Weisz took home the same prize from the New York Film Critics Circle; Lavant and Hoffman won Performance and Supporting Performance in the indieWire poll; Adams won Supporting Actress in the Voice poll. As noted in the comments below, the acclaim for Ms. Adams bewilders me—it's certainly a change of pace for her, but she isn't given a whole lot to do apart from look steely and simulate an angry handjob (one of many scenes in The Master that felt showy-for-showy's-sake to me)—but I can't say I expected much more than the six votes received by my own favorite in that category, Sarah Gadon, who perfectly captures the knowing artificiality Cronenberg's more abstract films require. In any case, some years we're more in sync with the critical consensus, and this was one of those years. At least we put Anne Hathaway in the top five for playing Catwoman rather than Fantine.

    By the same token, there were fewer cases this year in which we turned up our collective nose at films lauded elsewhere. Of greatest note by far was the complete shutout of This Is Not a Film, which was widely liked (3.00 average) but received only a handful of votes. Perhaps the title worked against it somehow. Beasts of the Southern Wild was highly divisive (though not divisive enough to land on the Love It/Hate It list below), with few supporters among the August Voting Body, and there wasn't a great deal of love for Silver Linings Playbook, apart from Lawrence's performance. And that's about it, really, in terms of significant snubs—not counting AMPAS favorites, to which as usual we mostly said Argo fuck yourselves.

    Okay, now for the number-crunching. (Many of you will want to check out at this point.) What follows are the stats I used to send out to voters (via snail mail!) back in the '90s, which I still maintain for my own obsessive amusement.



    HIGHEST AVERAGE RATING (1996–2012)
    (includes only films receiving a minimum of ten votes)

    01. 3.65 The Sweet Hereafter (1997)
    02. 3.61 Being John Malkovich (1999)
    02. 3.61 A Separation (2011)
    04. 3.58 Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills (1996)
    05. 3.57 In the Company of Men (1997)
    06. 3.56 Secrets & Lies (1996)
    07. 3.53 La Promesse (1997)
    08. 3.52 Yi Yi (A One and a Two…) (2000)
    09. 3.50 From the Journals of Jean Seberg (1996)
    10. 3.48 Irma Vep (1997)
    10. 3.48 Lone Star (1996)
    10. 3.48 Margaret (2011)

    No new additions this year. But then, until last year, there had been no new additions in a decade.



    LOWEST AVERAGE RATING (1996–2012)
    (includes only films receiving a minimum of five votes)

    01. 0.20 Date Movie (2006)
    02. 0.58 Miss March (2009)
    03. 0.60 Dragonfly (2002)
    04. 0.61 The Roommate (2011)
    05. 0.67 3000 Miles to Graceland (2001)
    06. 0.70 Beastly (2011)
    07. 0.75 The Mod Squad (1999)
    08. 0.79 I Melt With You (2011)
    09. 0.80 Just One Time (2000)
    09. 0.80 13 Ghosts (2001)
    09. 0.80 What’s the Worst That Could Happen? (2001)

    No new additions here either, mostly because the films that might have cracked the list—2016: Obama's America, That's What She Said, A Thousand Words, Piranha 3DD—received only four votes.



    MOST DIVISIVE FILMS (2012)
    (std. deviation >= 0.75; minimum 2 votes 3.5 or higher, 2 votes 1.5 or lower)

  • The Comedy (1.11)
  • Beyond the Black Rainbow (0.92)
  • Lincoln (0.85)
  • Killer Joe (0.80)
  • Cloud Atlas (0.77)
  • Damsels in Distress (0.76)
  • Michael (0.75)

    Pretty much the films you'd expect, apart maybe from Lincoln (which got a deviation-skewing goose egg from Dan Sallitt).



    BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT
    (lowest-ranked film seen by at least 75% of respondents)

    1996: Twister (1.80)
    1997: The Lost World: Jurassic Park (2.33)
    1998: He Got Game (2.59)
    1999: Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (2.18)
    2000: Nurse Betty (2.31)
    2001: Vanilla Sky (2.20)
    2002: Storytelling (2.03)
    2003: The Matrix Reloaded (2.29)
    2004: The Village (2.30)
    2005: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2.49)
    2006: Little Miss Sunshine (2.52)
    2007: Ocean's Thirteen (2.52)
    2008: Milk (2.83)
    2009: The Hangover (2.35)
    2010: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2.71)
    2011: Midnight in Paris (2.47)
    2012: Beasts of the Southern Wild (2.37)



    PASSIONATE MINORITY AWARD
    (lowest average among top 20 films in Picture voting)

    1996: Dead Man (2.94)
    1997: Crash (2.52)
    1998: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (2.68)
    1999: The End of the Affair (2.96)
    2000: Requiem for a Dream (2.73)
    2001: Amélie (2.71)
    2002: 8 Women (2.79)
    2003: The Good Thief (2.81)
    2004: I ♥ Huckabees (2.84)
    2005: Oldboy (2.68)
    2006: Manderlay (2.69)
    2007: Once (2.79)
    2008: Funny Games (2.83)
    2009: A Serious Man (2.83)
    2010: The Exploding Girl (2.75)
    2011: Shame (2.63)
    2012: Damsels in Distress (2.76)

    (Though Damsels finished literally one place below Cosmopolis, which has the same average when rounded off like this.)



    DAMNED WITH FAINT PRAISE
    (highest-ranked film by average rating not to place in Picture voting [10+ voters] )

    1996: Get on the Bus (3.29)
    1997: Forgotten Silver (3.36)
    1998: The Kingdom II (3.14)
    1999: My Name Is Joe (3.18)
    2000: Erin Brockovich (3.14)
    2001: No Man’s Land (3.19)
    2002: Roger Dodger (3.14)
    2003: The Weather Underground (3.18)
    2004: Bright Leaves (3.16)
    2005: Howl's Moving Castle (3.15)
    2006: The Devil and Daniel Johnston (3.18)
    2007: The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (3.25)
    2008: The Duchess of Langeais (3.20)
    2009: Night and Day (3.07)
    2010: Another Year (3.21)
    2011: Senna (3.07)
    2012: The Imposter (3.10)

    Fuck you buds.



    DAMN THE REVIEWS, FULL SPEED AHEAD
    (lowest average among films seen by at least 10 respondents)

    1996: Twister (1.80)
    1997: Batman & Robin (1.28)
    1998: The Avengers | Stepmom [tie] (1.50)
    1999: Jawbreaker (1.14)
    2000: Pay It Forward (1.41)
    2001: Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (1.26)
    2002: Scooby-Doo (1.08)
    2003: Bad Boys II (1.60)
    2004: Exorcist: The Beginning (1.21)
    2005: Undead (1.29)
    2006: The Hills Have Eyes (1.65)
    2007: Smokin' Aces (1.64)
    2008: Jumper (1.54)
    2009: Gigantic (1.00)
    2010: The Last Airbender (1.05)
    2011: Vanishing on 7th Street (1.55)
    2012: This Means War (1.50)



    SELECTION COMMITTEE ON CRACK
    (lowest average for a film that screened at the New York Film Festival)

    1996: Flirt (2.20)
    1997: Kiss or Kill (1.79)
    1998: Voyage to the Beginning of the World (1.80)
    1999: Dogma (1.89)
    2000: Before Night Falls (2.31)
    2001: La Ciénaga (1.95)
    2002: In Praise of Love (1.95)
    2003: Chi-Hwa-Seon: Painted Fire (2.19)
    2004: Free Radicals (2.08)
    2005: Palindromes (2.15)
    2006: Rolling Family (1.83)
    2007: The Go Master (1.93)
    2008: Married Life (2.25)
    2009: The Windmill Movie (2.13)
    2010: Hereafter (2.05)
    2011: We Are What We Are (1.64)
    2012: Hyde Park on Hudson (1.69)

    I'd really like to see the committee try to justify the inclusion of Hyde Park on artistic grounds.



    ALONE AGAIN (NATURALLY)
    (suggested by Alex Fung; lowest average for a film that received a 4-star rating

    1996: The Stupids (2.30) | Bryan “Frankenseuss” Theiss (ret.)
    1997: Kissed (2.46) | Alex Fung
    1998: Psycho (2.11) | Erik Gregersen (ret.)
    1999: Twin Falls Idaho (2.28) | Milton Lawson (ret.)
    2000: Beautiful People (2.29) | Keith Collins (ret.)
    2001: The Road Home (1.88) | Erik Gregersen (ret.)
    2002: In Praise of Love (1.95) | Jeremy Heilman
    2003: Gigli (1.92) | Jeremy Heilman
    2004: The Passion of the Christ (2.18) | Victor J. Morton
    2005: The Brothers Grimm (2.29) | Bilge Ebiri
    2006: The Fountain (2.21) | Peter Reiher
    2007: Southland Tales (1.88) | Dave Cowen; Jeremy Heilman
    2008: Jellyfish (2.36) | Daniel Waters
    2009: 12 (2.29) | Bilge Ebiri
    2010: Somewhere (2.41) | Nictate
    2011: A Serbian Film (1.81) | Daniel Waters
    2012: Alps (2.43) | Don Marks



    MAJOR FESTIVAL PRIZE WINNERS: OUR VERDICT

    Cannes Palme d'Or

    1995: Underground (#15, 1997)
    1996: Secrets & Lies (#2, 1996)
    1997: Taste of Cherry (#15, 1998)
    1997: The Eel (did not place)
    1998: Eternity and a Day (did not place)
    1999: Rosetta (did not place)
    2000: Dancer in the Dark (#10, 2000)
    2001: The Son's Room (did not place)
    2002: The Pianist (did not place)
    2003: Elephant (did not place)
    2004: Fahrenheit 9/11 (did not place)
    2005: L'Enfant (The Child) (#6, 2006)
    2006: The Wind That Shakes the Barley (did not place)
    2007: 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (#1, 2008)
    2008: The Class (did not place)
    2009: The White Ribbon (did not place)
    2010: Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (#9, 2011)
    2011: The Tree of Life (#1, 2011)
    2012: Amour (#6, 2012)

    Venice Golden Lion

    1995: Cyclo (#14, 1996)
    1996: Michael Collins (did not place)
    1997: Fireworks (Hana-Bi) (#5, 1998)
    1998: The Way We Laughed (did not place)
    1999: Not One Less (did not place)
    2000: The Circle (did not place)
    2001: Monsoon Wedding (did not place)
    2002: The Magdalene Sisters (did not place)
    2003: The Return (did not place)
    2004: Vera Drake (#6, 2004)
    2005: Brokeback Mountain (#3, 2005)
    2006: Still Life (#18, 2008)
    2007: Lust, Caution (did not place)
    2008: The Wrestler (#13, 2008)
    2009: Lebanon (did not place)
    2010: Somewhere (did not place)
    2011: Faust (TBD)
    2012: Pièta (TBD)

    Sundance Grand Jury (Dramatic)

    1995: The Brothers McMullen (did not place)
    1996: Welcome to the Dollhouse (did not place)
    1997: Sunday (did not place)
    1998: Slam (did not place)
    1999: Three Seasons (did not place)
    2000: Girlfight (did not place)
    2000: You Can Count on Me (#3, 2000)
    2001: The Believer (did not place)
    2002: Personal Velocity (did not place)
    2003: American Splendor (#20, 2003)
    2004: Primer (#10, 2004)
    2005: Forty Shades of Blue (did not place)
    2006: Quinceañera (did not place)
    2007: Padre Nuestro (did not place)
    2008: Frozen River (did not place)
    2009: Precious (Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire) (did not place)
    2010: Winter's Bone (#2, 2010)
    2011: Like Crazy (did not place)
    2012: Beasts of the Southern Wild (did not place)



    Most Appearances in Top 20 (Actors)
    (ties for number of appearances broken by average placement)

    [Same five as last year but Huppert moves into 2nd place.]

    01. Philip Seymour Hoffman (14)

    1s. The Master
    3s. Charlie Wilson's War
    5. Capote
    6. Synecdoche, New York
    6s. The Talented Mr. Ripley
    6s. Almost Famous
    10s. Magnolia
    10s. 25th Hour
    11. Doubt
    12. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
    12s. State and Main
    15s. Happiness
    15. Owning Mahowny
    19s. Mission: Impossible III

    02. Isabelle Huppert (11)

    2. The Piano Teacher
    2s. 8 Women
    4. Gabrielle
    8. The School of Flesh
    12. White Material
    13s. I ♥ Huckabees
    13s. Amour
    15. La Cérémonie
    17. Time of the Wolf
    17. In Another Country
    19. Home

    03. Tilda Swinton (10)

    1. Julia
    4s. Michael Clayton
    5. The Deep End
    5. We Need to Talk About Kevin
    9s. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
    11. I Am Love
    12s. Burn After Reading
    13s. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
    18. Female Perversions
    19s. Thumbsucker

    04. Nicole Kidman (9)

    2. Eyes Wide Shut
    2. Dogville
    2. Margot at the Wedding
    6. Moulin Rouge
    9. The Others
    9. The Hours
    11. Birth
    16. Rabbit Hole
    18. Birthday Girl

    05. Kate Winslet (9)

    3. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
    8. Titanic
    9. Jude
    10s. Quills
    10. Revolutionary Road
    12. Little Children
    13. Holy Smoke
    16s. Hamlet
    17. Hideous Kinky



    Most Films Landed in Top 20 (Directors)
    (again, ties broken by average placement)

    [The two Andersons replace Christopher Nolan and Claire Denis.]

    01. Joel [& Ethan] Coen (8)

    2. No Country for Old Men
    4. O Brother, Where Art Thou?
    5. The Man Who Wasn't There
    6. Fargo
    7. A Serious Man
    11. Burn After Reading
    12. The Big Lebowski
    12. True Grit

    02. Lars von Trier (6)

    1. Breaking the Waves
    1. Dogville
    7. Melancholia
    10. Dancer in the Dark
    19. The Five Obstructions
    20. Manderlay

    03. Quentin Tarantino (5)

    1. Inglourious Basterds
    2. Kill Bill Vol. 1
    4. Kill Bill Vol. 2
    4. Grindhouse
    9. Django Unchained

    04. Paul Thomas Anderson (5)

    1. There Will Be Blood
    4. The Master
    7. Magnolia
    8. Boogie Nights
    8. Punch-Drunk Love

    04. Wes Anderson (5)

    2. Rushmore
    2. Fantastic Mr. Fox
    2. Moonrise Kingdom
    8. The Royal Tenenbaums
    17. The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou



    And finally. Back when I started the survey, I remember looking forward to the time, a decade or so later (i.e. now), when there'd be tons of accumulated data to wade through. In particular, I was excited about the prospect of being able to compare how various films from major directors had been received over the years. Granted, that process isn't exactly definitive—the AVB has mutated over the years and even the diehards tend to be stingier with their star ratings than they were back in the mid-'90s. But perhaps my favorite task after receiving the averages is updating my Directors' Gallery, plugging this year's films into various post-'94 oeuvres. Here are the entries that saw additions this year—every filmmaker who's ever placed in the Director top 20. 2012 films are in bold. Numbers in parentheses indicate how the film placed in Best Picture that year, if applicable; if the film title is in parentheses that means it received fewer than 10 votes and hence the result is a bit less meaningful. N/A (not applicable) means it was eligible but didn't even get five votes and so didn't make the main list.

    Ben Affleck

    Gone Baby Gone (6): 3.24
    Argo: 2.86
    The Town: 2.63

    Woody Allen

    Everyone Says I Love You: 3.09
    Vicky Cristina Barcelona (19): 2.98
    Match Point (13): 2.93
    Sweet and Lowdown: 2.63
    Deconstructing Harry: 2.61
    Cassandra's Dream: 2.60
    Midnight in Paris: 2.47
    Small Time Crooks: 2.37
    The Curse of the Jade Scorpion: 2.33
    To Rome With Love: 2.29
    Scoop: 2.28
    Whatever Works: 2.24
    Anything Else: 2.13
    Hollywood Ending: 2.13
    Celebrity: 2.04
    Melinda and Melinda: 2.00
    You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger: 1.93

    Paul Thomas Anderson

    There Will Be Blood (1): 3.46
    Boogie Nights (8): 3.18
    Magnolia (7): 3.17
    The Master (4): 3.17
    Punch-Drunk Love (8): 2.93
    Hard Eight: 2.87

    Wes Anderson

    Rushmore (2): 3.45
    Moonrise Kingdom (2): 3.32
    Fantastic Mr. Fox (2): 3.21
    The Royal Tenenbaums (8): 3.03
    The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou (17): 2.89
    Bottle Rocket: 2.63
    The Darjeeling Limited: 2.40

    Jacques Audiard

    A Prophet (15) : 3.09
    (A Self Made Hero): 3.06
    The Beat That My Heart Skipped: 2.88
    Rust and Bone: 2.82
    Read My Lips: 2.55

    Joe Berlinger

    Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills (7): 3.58
    Metallica: Some Kind of Monster: 3.06
    (Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory): 2.71
    (Crude): 2.58
    (Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2): 1.13
    Under African Skies: N/A

    Kathryn Bigelow

    The Hurt Locker (8): 3.18
    Zero Dark Thirty (11): 3.07
    K-19: The Widowmaker: 2.62
    The Weight of Water: 2.05

    Leos Carax

    Holy Motors (1): 3.41
    Pola X: 2.63
    Tokyo!: 2.37

    Nuri Bilge Ceylan

    Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (12): 3.10
    Distant: 2.93
    Climates: 2.84
    Three Monkeys: 2.58

    David Cronenberg

    A History of Violence (7): 3.11
    Cosmopolis (15): 2.76
    eXistenZ: 2.74
    Eastern Promises: 2.73
    Crash (18): 2.52
    A Dangerous Method: 2.48
    Spider: 2.34

    Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne

    La Promesse (13): 3.53
    L'Enfant (The Child) (6): 3.26
    The Kid With a Bike (7): 3.18
    The Son (6): 3.16
    Lorna's Silence (11): 3.09
    Rosetta: 2.89

    Terence Davies

    The House of Mirth (7): 3.29
    The Deep Blue Sea (3): 3.25
    (The Neon Bible): 2.83
    Of Time and the City: 2.40

    Jonathan Demme

    Rachel Getting Married (4): 3.28
    Neil Young: Heart of Gold: 2.94
    (Neil Young Journeys): 2.93
    (Storefront Hitchcock): 2.92
    The Manchurian Candidate: 2.70
    (Man From Plains): 2.67
    Beloved: 2.64
    Neil Young Trunk Show: 2.50
    The Truth About Charlie: 2.48
    (The Agronomist): 2.39
    I'm Carolyn Parker: N/A

    Andrew Dominik

    The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (7): 2.95
    Chopper: 2.90
    Killing Them Softly: 2.73

    Philippe Garrel

    Regular Lovers (9): 3.07
    Frontier of Dawn: 2.91
    A Burning Hot Summer: 2.58

    Tony Gilroy

    Duplicity (5): 3.15
    Michael Clayton: 3.00
    The Bourne Legacy: 2.64

    Miguel Gomes

    Tabu (13): 3.13
    (Our Beloved Month of August): 2.64

    Michael Haneke

    Amour (6): 3.29
    Caché (Hidden) (5): 3.21
    Code Unknown (16): 3.15
    Funny Games [1997] (16): 2.96
    The Piano Teacher: 2.83
    Funny Games [2008] (20): 2.83
    Time of the Wolf: 2.79
    The White Ribbon: 2.72

    Curtis Hanson

    L.A. Confidential (3): 3.37
    Wonder Boys: 2.91
    8 Mile: 2.69
    In Her Shoes: 2.55
    Lucky You: 1.75
    Chasing Mavericks: N/A

    Hong Sang-soo

    Woman on the Beach (13): 3.10
    Night and Day: 3.07
    The Day He Arrives: 3.05
    Oki's Movie: 2.88
    In Another Country: 2.82
    Woman Is the Future of Man: 2.79

    Peter Jackson

    Forgotten Silver: 3.36
    The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (7): 3.33
    The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (5): 3.26
    The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (11): 2.96
    The Frighteners: 2.93
    King Kong: 2.83
    The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey: 2.24
    The Lovely Bones: 1.80

    Jiang Wen

    Devils on the Doorstep (16): 3.31
    Let the Bullets Fly: 2.60

    Rian Johnson

    Brick (7): 2.99
    Looper (14): 2.95
    The Brothers Bloom: 2.83

    Hirokazu Kore-eda

    After Life (13): 3.26
    Still Walking (19): 3.11
    Nobody Knows (18): 3.07
    (I Wish): 3.00
    (Maborosi): 2.40

    Ang Lee

    Brokeback Mountain (3): 3.40
    Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2): 3.32
    The Ice Storm (11): 3.13
    Life of Pi: 2.79
    Ride with the Devil: 2.73
    Lust, Caution: 2.71
    Taking Woodstock: 2.38
    Hulk: 2.34

    Spike Lee

    25th Hour (1): 3.42
    Get on the Bus: 3.29
    (4 Little Girls): 3.14
    Inside Man (16): 2.99
    (Passing Strange): 2.94
    The Original Kings of Comedy: 2.73
    (Bad 25): 2.60
    He Got Game: 2.59
    Summer of Sam: 2.57
    Red Hook Summer: 2.42
    (Girl 6): 2.28
    Bamboozled: 2.13
    Miracle at St. Anna: 2.00
    She Hate Me: 1.32
    Jim Brown: All American : N/A

    Richard Linklater

    Before Sunset (3): 3.43
    The School of Rock (9): 3.16
    A Scanner Darkly (12): 2.97
    Waking Life (15): 2.86
    Bernie (18): 2.85
    Tape: 2.77
    The Newton Boys: 2.75
    Me and Orson Welles: 2.70
    subUrbia: 2.63
    Bad News Bears: 2.50
    Fast Food Nation: 2.28

    Julia Loktev

    The Loneliest Planet (8): 3.34
    Day Night Day Night: 3.02
    Moment of Impact: N/A

    Guy Maddin

    My Winnipeg (8): 3.22
    Cowards Bend the Knee: 3.11
    The Saddest Music in the World: 3.01
    Dracula: Pages From a Virgin’s Diary: 2.93
    Brand Upon the Brain!: 2.90
    Keyhole: 2.56

    Fernando Meirelles

    City of God: 2.98
    The Constant Gardener: 2.52
    Blindness: 1.79
    360: 1.60

    Sam Mendes

    American Beauty (16): 2.97
    Skyfall: 2.93
    Road to Perdition: 2.82
    Revolutionary Road: 2.65
    Jarhead: 2.44
    Away We Go: 2.19

    Takashi Miike

    Audition (6): 3.22
    13 Assassins: 3.03
    Hara-kiri: Death of a Samurai: 2.80
    Dead or Alive: 2.79
    Ichi the Killer: 2.74
    The Happiness of the Katakuris: 2.73
    Gozu: 2.61
    The City of Lost Souls: 2.56
    Three…Extremes: 2.47
    Sukiyaki Western Django: 2.32
    The Great Yokai War: 2.25
    (One Missed Call): 2.20
    (DOA: Final): 2.17

    Christopher Nolan

    The Prestige (2): 3.40
    Memento (3): 3.31
    The Dark Knight (5): 3.17
    Insomnia: 2.92
    Inception (13): 2.84
    Batman Begins (19): 2.81
    The Dark Knight Rises: 2.63
    (Following): 2.28

    Jafar Panahi

    Offside (11): 3.25
    Crimson Gold (11): 3.20
    (The Mirror): 3.20
    The White Balloon: 3.14
    This Is Not a Film: 3.00
    The Circle: 2.70

    Gary Ross

    Pleasantville (19): 2.81
    Seabiscuit: 2.48
    The Hunger Games: 2.31

    David O. Russell

    Three Kings (9): 3.18
    Flirting with Disaster: 3.12
    I ♥ Huckabees (14): 2.84
    The Fighter: 2.76
    Silver Linings Playbook: 2.63

    Ridley Scott

    Gladiator (20): 3.04
    Black Hawk Down (20): 2.78
    Matchstick Men: 2.78
    American Gangster : 2.50
    Body of Lies: 2.50
    G.I. Jane: 2.42
    Kingdom of Heaven: 2.33
    Prometheus: 2.26
    (White Squall): 2.22
    Hannibal: 1.94
    (A Good Year): 1.93
    Robin Hood: 1.91

    Steven Soderbergh

    Out of Sight (1): 3.37
    Traffic (5): 3.24
    Erin Brockovich: 3.14
    The Limey: 2.99
    Contagion: 2.96
    (Gray’s Anatomy): 2.94
    Ocean’s Eleven: 2.93
    The Informant!: 2.92
    Solaris: 2.86
    Haywire: 2.85
    And Everything Is Going Fine: 2.75
    The Girlfriend Experience: 2.72
    Magic Mike: 2.70
    Schizopolis: 2.70
    Bubble: 2.66
    The Good German: 2.66
    Full Frontal: 2.63
    Ocean’s Twelve: 2.52
    Ocean's Thirteen: 2.52
    Che: 2.35
    Eros: 2.15

    Todd Solondz

    Welcome to the Dollhouse: 3.14
    Happiness (4): 2.92
    Life During Wartime: 2.63
    Dark Horse: 2.50
    Palindromes: 2.15
    Storytelling: 2.03

    Steven Spielberg

    Saving Private Ryan (8): 3.27
    Minority Report: 2.92
    AI (7): 2.91
    Munich (14): 2.88
    Lincoln (19): 2.86
    Amistad: 2.83
    War of the Worlds: 2.82
    Catch Me if You Can: 2.79
    War Horse: 2.79
    The Adventures of Tintin: 2.78
    Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: 2.39
    The Lost World: Jurassic Park: 2.33
    The Terminal: 2.10

    Andrew Stanton

    WALL•E (2): 3.26
    Finding Nemo (13): 3.06
    John Carter: 2.28

    Quentin Tarantino

    Inglourious Basterds (1): 3.46
    Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2): 3.21
    Kill Bill Vol. 2 (4): 3.16
    Django Unchained (9): 3.09
    Grindhouse (4): 2.93
    Jackie Brown: 2.90

    Béla Tarr

    The Turin Horse (5): 3.05
    Werckmeister Harmonies (19): 2.90
    The Man From London: 2.35

    Tran Anh Hung

    The Vertical Ray of the Sun: 2.67
    Norwegian Wood: 2.25
    Cyclo (14): N/A

    Tom Tykwer

    Run Lola Run: 2.94
    Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (17): 2.75
    Heaven: 2.74
    Cloud Atlas: 2.45
    The International: 2.43
    The Princess and the Warrior: 2.31
    Paris je t'aime: 2.24
    (3): 2.08

    Gus Van Sant

    Paranoid Park (6): 3.15
    Gerry (4): 2.93
    Good Will Hunting: 2.84
    Milk: 2.83
    Last Days: 2.79
    Elephant: 2.40
    Paris je t'aime: 2.24
    Promised Land: 2.15
    Psycho: 2.11
    Finding Forrester: 2.10
    (Restless): 1.94

    The Wachowski Siblings

    Bound (16): 3.29
    The Matrix: 2.96
    Speed Racer: 2.57
    Cloud Atlas: 2.45
    The Matrix Reloaded: 2.29
    The Matrix Revolutions: 2.21

    Joe Wright

    Pride & Prejudice: 3.02
    Atonement (20): 3.00
    Hanna: 2.57
    Anna Karenina: 2.56
    (The Soloist): 2.14

    Robert Zemeckis

    Cast Away (12): 3.06
    Contact: 2.83
    The Polar Express: 2.65
    (Disney's A Christmas Carol): 2.61
    Flight: 2.55
    Beowulf: 2.47
    What Lies Beneath: 2.00

  • Skandies: #1


    Best Picture: Holy Motors (352/24)





    Best Director: Leos Carax, Holy Motors (366/25)
    Skandie history: None (simply because most of his films predate the survey).






    Best Actress: Rachel Weisz, The Deep Blue Sea (441/28)
    Skandie history: #13s, The Constant Gardener (2005); #3s, The Brothers Bloom (2009).





    Best Actor: Denis Lavant, Holy Motors (538/31)
    Skandie history: #16, Beau travail (2000).





    Best Supporting Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master (366/27)
    Skandie history: #15s, Happiness (1998); #6s, The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999); #10s, Magnolia (1999); #6s, Almost Famous (2000); #12s, State and Main (2000); #10s, 25th Hour (2002); #15, Owning Mahowny (2003); #5, Capote (2005); #19s, Mission: Impossible III (2006); #3s, Charlie Wilson's War (2007); #12, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007); #6, Synecdoche, New York (2008); #11, Doubt (2008).





    Best Supporting Actress: Amy Adams, The Master (306/27)
    Skandie history: #12s, Junebug (2005); #15, Enchanted (2007); #6s, The Fighter (2010).





    Best Screenplay: Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola, Moonrise Kingdom (356/26)
    Skandie history (Anderson): #3, Rushmore (1998); #5, The Royal Tenenbaums (2001); #10, The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou (2004); #5, Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009).
    Skandie history (Coppola): None.






    Best Scene: Entracte, Holy Motors (329/24).

    Complete results available here. Thanks to all voters, and especially to Mark Pittillo for programming the automated ballot and maintaining the website. The big post-mortem will be up late today or tomorrow (but sneak preview, it's Amy Adams I don't get).

    Skandies: #2

    Picture: Moonrise Kingdom (226/21)
    Director: Paul Thomas Anderson, The Master (270/23)
    Actress: Ann Dowd, Compliance (289/21)
    Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln (368/26)
    S. Actor: Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained (310/26)
    S. Actress: Jennifer Ehle, Zero Dark Thirty (221/19)
    Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained (225/22)
    Scene: Informal processing, The Master (169/15)

    HISTORY:

    In addition to the win and other "nomination" noted below, Anderson placed 7th for Boogie Nights (1997) and 8th for Punch-Drunk Love (2002). Only for Hard Eight did he fail to place in the top 10 (and the bottom 10).

    Day-Lewis finally lands somewhere other #1—he has two previous appearances, two wins, noted below. Waltz, in addition to his previous outright win, placed 13th in the same category last year for Carnage. Ehle also makes it two in a row, having landed at #15 in the same category for Contagion. Dowd is new.

    In addition to his "nominations," Tarantino placed 13th in Screenplay for Jackie Brown (1997), 8th for Kill Bill Vol. 2 (2004), and 6th for Grindhouse (2007). This is his second time as runner-up, as his script for Kill Bill Vol. 1 was bested by Craig Lucas' for The Secret Lives of Dentists (one of my favorite Skandie champs).

    14 February 2013

    Skandies: #3

    Picture: The Deep Blue Sea (215/20)
    Director: Wes Anderson, Moonrise Kingdom (229/22)
    Actress: Emmanuelle Riva, Amour (271/26)
    Actor: Joaquin Phoenix, The Master (366/27)
    S. Actor: Matthew McConaughey, Magic Mike (217/18)
    S. Actress: Cécile De France, The Kid With a Bike (179/17)
    Screenplay: Rian Johnson, Looper (200/17)
    Scene: Opening shot, The Turin Horse (123/11)

    [Yes, it's the actual scene. Here's the other one, ICYMI.]

    HISTORY:

    Anderson makes his fifth appearance in Director (out of seven films) and manages his best finish yet, having previously placed 5th for Rushmore (1998), 6th for The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), 15th for The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou (2004), and 4th for Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009).

    Phoenix, in addition to his 2009 Actor win for Two Lovers, came in at #9 in Supporting for Gladiator (2000), #10 in Actor for Walk the Line (2005), and #11 in Actor for I'm Still Here (2010). McConaughey gets his third nod in the same category this year (see #6 and #12), which as I noted elsewhere is almost certainly a record. Both women are new.

    Johnson also placed 3rd for writing Brick (2006), as well as 9th for The Brothers Bloom (2009). But I've been pushing him to make a really small, personal, intimate film that will surely miss our top ten.

    13 February 2013

    Skandies: #4

    Picture: The Master (214/18)
    Director: Terence Davies, The Deep Blue Sea (190/20)
    Actress: Hani Furstenberg, The Loneliest Planet (267/24)
    Actor: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Amour (226/22)
    S. Actor: Samuel L. Jackson, Django Unchained (188/13)
    S. Actress: Anne Hathaway, The Dark Knight Rises (174/15)
    Screenplay: Paul Thomas Anderson, The Master (178/16)
    Scene: Landing the plane, Flight (118/12)

    HISTORY:

    Davies placed 14th in 2000 for The House of Mirth.

    Jackson makes his first appearance in the top 20 since placing 18th in Actor for Jackie Brown (1997). Hathaway's two previous nods were already noted (see #7). Furstenberg and Trintignant are new.

    Scriptwise, in addition to his outright win for There Will Be Blood (2007), Anderson placed 11th for both Boogie Nights (1997) and Magnolia (1999), plus 15th for Punch-Drunk Love (2002).

    12 February 2013

    Skandies: #5

    Picture: The Turin Horse (163/13)
    Director: Béla Tarr, The Turin Horse (187/15)
    Actress: Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty (220/20)
    Actor: Jack Black, Bernie (184/20)
    S. Actor: Simon Russell Beale, The Deep Blue Sea (186/16)
    S. Actress: Rosemarie DeWitt, Your Sister's Sister (148/14)
    Screenplay: Whit Stillman, Damsels in Distress (177/14)
    Scene: The Incident, The Loneliest Planet (111/11)

    [I'm choosing not to put this scene up because of its unusual nature. If you've seen the film you remember it perfectly well, and if you haven't you don't want to watch it out of context.]

    HISTORY:

    Oddly, Tarr did not place for Werckmeister Harmonies, even though the film did. (Whiffing on The Man From London is more comprehensible.) His first appearance...and, barring a change of heart, his last.

    Chastain placed both 7th and 8th in Supporting last year, for Take Shelter and The Tree of Life, respectively. Black's two previous appearances were noted in the "nomination" post (he's never placed lower than #5), as was DeWitt's sole previous appearance. Beale is new.

    Stillman's screenplay for The Last Days of Disco placed 8th in 1998. His other two films predate the survey.

    11 February 2013

    Skandies: The "nominees"

    Not all that much suspense about who/what remains, so let's answer potential questions about near-misses and no-chances here, as well as give the top picks a little additional airtime. (Sorry it's all text, incidentally—I have virtually no HTML skills and invariably mangle any attempt to combine words and images, except in the most basic just-one-image-up-at-the-top kind of way.)


    Best Picture


    • The Deep Blue Sea
    • Holy Motors
    • The Master
    • Moonrise Kingdom
    • The Turin Horse

    Overlap with Oscar nominees: None.
    Just missed: The Day He Arrives (#21, even though Hong placed in both Director and Screenplay), The Imposter (#22), The Cabin in the Woods (#23), Almayer's Folly (#24), The Comedy (#25)
    Not so much: Life of Pi (#26), Argo (#46), Beasts of the Southern Wild (tie for #48), Silver Linings Playbook (tie for #48), Les Misérables (#78).


    Best Director


    • Paul Thomas Anderson, The Master
    • Wes Anderson, Moonrise Kingdom
    • Leos Carax, Holy Motors
    • Terence Davies, The Deep Blue Sea
    • Béla Tarr, The Turin Horse

    (This is only the second time in Skandies history that Picture and Director have been 100% in sync. Previous instance was 2004: Dogville/Von Trier, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind/Gondry, Before Sunset/Linklater, Kill Bill Vol. 2/Tarantino, and Hero/Zhang.)

    Previous "nominations": Both Andersons have two. PTA won for There Will Be Blood in 2007 and placed 4th for Magnolia in 1999. Wes came in 5th for Rushmore (1998) and 4th for Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009).
    Overlap with Oscar nominees: None.
    Just missed: Gerardo Naranjo, Miss Bala (#21); Ben Affleck, Argo (#22); Panos Cosmatos, Beyond the Black Rainbow (#23); Lana Wachowski & Tom Tykwer & Andy Wachowski, Cloud Atlas (#24); Andrei Zvyagintsev, Elena (#25).
    Not so much: Steven Spielberg, Lincoln (#27); David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook (#29); Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild (#37).


    Best Actress


    • Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
    • Ann Dowd, Compliance
    • Hani Furstenberg, The Loneliest Planet
    • Emmanuelle Riva, Amour
    • Rachel Weisz, The Deep Blue Sea

    Previous "nominations": Only Weisz, who placed 3rd in Supporting three years ago for The Brothers Bloom.
    Overlap with Oscar nominees: Chastain, Riva.
    Just missed: Dree Hemingway, Starlet (#21); Emily Blunt, Your Sister's Sister (#22); Stephanie Sigman, Miss Bala (#23); Naomi Watts, The Impossible (#24); Sara Paxton, The Innkeepers (#25).
    Not so much: [No candidates; all the Oscar nominees made our top 25.]


    Best Actor


    • Jack Black, Bernie
    • Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
    • Denis Lavant, Holy Motors
    • Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
    • Jean-Louis Trintignant, Amour

    Previous "nominations": Two fellas make their third appearance in the top five. Black placed 2nd in Supporting for High Fidelity (2000) and 4th in the lead category for The School of Rock (2003). Day-Lewis has won both Supporting Actor (Gangs of New York, 2002) and Actor (There Will Be Blood (2007); he'd be the first actor to win three times, should that occur. Phoenix, too, is a previous winner, in the lead category, for Two Lovers (2009).
    Overlap with Oscar nominees: Day-Lewis, Phoenix.
    Just missed: Richard Gere, Arbitrage (#21); Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Looper (#22); Thomas Doret, The Kid With a Bike (#23); Tommy Lee Jones, Hope Springs (#24); Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook (#25).
    Not so much: Hugh Jackman, Les Misérables (no votes).


    Best Supporting Actor


    • Simon Russell Beale, The Deep Blue Sea
    • Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
    • Samuel L. Jackson, Django Unchained
    • Matthew McConaughey, Magic Mike
    • Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained

    Previous "nominations": Hoffman gets his third, having placed (only) 5th for Capote in 2005 and 3rd in Supporting for Charlie Wilson's War in 2007. Waltz won the same category three years ago for Inglourious Basterds.
    Overlap with Oscar nominees: Hoffman, Waltz.
    Just missed: Mark Ruffalo, Marvel's The Avengers (#21); Michael Fassbender, Prometheus (#22); Jeff Daniels, Looper (#23); Richard Jenkins, The Cabin in the Woods (#24); Bruce Willis, Looper (#25).
    Not so much: Robert De Niro, Silver Linings Playbook (#42); Alan Arkin, Argo (#53).


    Best Supporting Actress


    • Amy Adams, The Master
    • Cécile De France, The Kid With a Bike
    • Rosemarie DeWitt, Your Sister's Sister
    • Jennifer Ehle, Zero Dark Thirty
    • Anne Hathaway, The Dark Knight Rises

    Previous "nominations": Both Hathaway and DeWitt made the top five for Rachel Getting Married (2008): Hathaway placed 3rd in the lead category and DeWitt won Supporting.
    Overlap with Oscar nominees: Adams (and Hathaway, but for a different film).
    Just missed: Sally Field, Lincoln (#21); Samantha Morton, Cosmopolis (#22); Léa Seydoux, Sister (#23); Laura Soveral, Tabu (#24); Nicole Kidman, The Paperboy (#25).
    Not so much: Helen Hunt, The Sessions (#26 in the lead category); Jacki Weaver, Silver Linings Playbook (#34).


    Best Screenplay


    • Paul Thomas Anderson, The Master
    • Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola, Moonrise Kingdom
    • Rian Johnson, Looper
    • Whit Stillman, Damsels in Distress
    • Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained

    Previous "nominations": Almost everyone. Wes Anderson ties Charlie Kaufman for all-time runner-up in this category, with four appearances in the top five. (The Coens have a massive lead with seven total.) His screenplays for Rushmore (1998, written with Owen Wilson), The Royal Tenenbaums (2001, written with Owen Wilson) and Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009, written with Noah Baumbach) placed 3rd, 5th, and 5th, respectively. Tarantino won Screenplay three years ago for Inglourious Basterds and also placed 2nd in 2003 for Kill Bill, Vol. 1. (Vol. 2 landed at #8.) PTA won the category for There Will Be Blood in 2007. My friend Rian's screenplay for Brick (2006) finished 3rd. Welcome, Roman and Whit!
    Overlap with Oscar nominees: Anderson + Coppola, Tarantino.
    Just missed: Joseph Cedar, Footnote (#21); Daniel Cockburn, You Are Here (#22); Christian Petzold, Barbara (#23); [nobody credited], The Imposter (#24); Joe Carnahan & Ian Mackenzie Jeffers, The Grey (#25).
    Not so much: David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook (#29); David Magee, Life of Pi (#35); Chris Terrio, Argo (#43); Lucy Alibar & Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild (#84); John Gatins, Flight (no votes).


    Best Scene

    Nah, I gotta save something as a surprise.