I sit here trying to write a critical piece about Robert De Niro, and I’m beat. I have so much I want to say about him. The influence. Words are futile as to what the work means to me. See? This is why I think these “pop culture/film blogs” are just as meaningless (unless you are Bob Lefsetz). Everyone’s doing it. Mr. De Niro has influenced far greater and far better. Just look at Kander & Ebb. De Niro implored them to go back and write another title song for the eventual critical bomb, “New York, New York”. How appropriate that De Niro would inspire a song that is the embodiment of New York City.

It’s been twenty-one years since De Niro has been nominated for an Academy Award for Cape Fear. I remember seeing it for the first time … twenty one years ago. Some people would think my parents were nuts/unfit for letting their ten-and-a-half-year old son watch a flick about an ex-con, convicted of assault and rape, who stalks the lawyer that put him behind bars for fourteen years (“in an 8×9 cell surrounded by people who were less than human”). Pretty heavy stuff for a kid not even in junior high. But they were young. I hung out with their friends. And was able to keep up with ideas far beyond my reading level. For better or worse, it’s an enormous part of what has shaped me. *

Cape Fear freaked me out. (Cheek biting? Cross-dressing maid with a piano wire?) But, Awakenings blew my world apart. You could pinpoint that performance as the one that first exposed me to what an actor really does. To what it means to build a character. Even if it was playing catatonic. After that, it was all over.

The Scorsese infatuation quickly followed. But, that’s a long story for another time. This De Niro kept popping up everywhere. I had seen everything I could – even hard to find B-titles like Born to Win and Sam’s Song. It was 1995 and Casino opened. Heat would follow three weeks later. It would be wildly debated for years over which film was better solely because of when it came out and its epic length. It would be the last time two De Niro pictures would spark such a trivial film-geek argument (especially amongst pseudo-intellectual teenagers who were far wiser than the average teenager today). It also signified the end of an era for De Niro and that generation of actors.

You weren’t going to see everything he was in anymore. It wasn’t the event that, say, seeing the new Daniel Day-Lewis flick is now. It was the brawl that broke out before a midnight screening of 15 Minutes that proved to be more entertaining than the actual film.

It was over.

He had become way too commercial. And why not? He was the best. He is the best. And if he wanted to make a payday, so what?!?? The art suffered, sure. Some would call it “selling out.” However, I’ve learned to appreciate the fact that it’s work. It’s a job. We work to survive. Most people work and hate what they do. I’m sure this is a period where he was going home every night and saying, “Boy. My job sucks.” We’ve all been there. More money, more problems. On the flipside, what more did he have to prove? Even with the deserved success of Analyze This, the Meet the Parents thing got out of control.

It was only a matter of time before De Niro would be in search of meatier material. I knew it at the beginning of the year with the slight misfire of Being Flynn. That film might not have been earth-shattering; but he was the best thing about it. The same can also be said for his work in Everybody’s Fine, critiques that haven’t been uttered in years, even amongst his biggest cinematic disappointments. (Showtime, Hide and Seek, Freelancers, Red Lights, New Year’s Eve, Killer Elite, Limitless, Righteous Kill, Godsend)

His performance in Silver Linings Playbook is one of the finest performances of the year – and his career. It earned him his seventh Academy Award nomination. And oddly enough, at this particular moment in time, he is not the favorite to win. Then again, no one in the Supporting Actor category really is. (Quite truthfully, Lincoln could upset Argo for Best Picture if they’d just give De Niro the Oscar. The Academy not only failed to honor Affleck’s consummate direction for the best film about Hollywood made since The Player, but there’s absolutely no way in hell that any of the three actors from The Master are going to win. If Day-Lewis can have three Oscars, so can Bobby. This statement, therefore, sums up how I feel about this year’s Academy Awards.)

I’ve crossed paths with Mr. De Niro once. He was exiting an elevator as I was trying to get on. Bundled up, I recognized him by his one imperfection – the beauty mark. Stopping him, I extended my hand and said “Thank you.” He nodded and half smiled, in his shy, yet charming, fashion. Shook my hand and returned the thanks. And we were on our way.

The energy of De Niro has followed me for as far back as I can remember. Rumor has it; my screening room/man cave overlooks a park he built in my neighborhood as a thank you for causing frenzy when he used Astoria to double for the Bronx in A Bronx Tale. Coincidentally, it has been announced that De Niro will make his Broadway Directorial Debut directing a musical based on this material, which also served as his cinematic directorial debut.

The serendipity of “New York, New York.”

My 5 Personal Favorite De Niro Performances. This list excludes any Oscar nominated/awarded performances.

1. Mean Streets & Bang the Drum Slowly – 1973 – This was the year De Niro broke out after bouncing around from early Brian De Palma and Roger Corman B-films. A perfect example of range. He would win the National Society of Film Critics and The New York Film Critics Circle Awards for Best Supporting Actor for both films respectively.
3. Jacknife – A little seen, perfect companion piece to “The Deer Hunter”
4. Jackie Brown – One of his last great characters.
5. Night and the City – An underrated remake of Jules Dassin’s British Film Noir.

*My parents are only 21 and 23 years older than me. Notable selections from the list “Movies I saw before I was 10”:

“Up in Smoke”,
“The Godfather”
“National Lampoon’s Animal House”
Annual screenings of Eddie Murphy’s “Delirious”
and …
“Follow That Bird”.

The Oscar nominations are in, and while “The King’s Speech” is leading the way with twelve nominations, I’m very surprised at all the love “True Grit” received this morning, in second place with ten nominations, after being snubbed by the Golden Globes and The Directors Guild of America.

The gauntlet of Public Relations worked well for some of these surprise nominees, who eased out, what seemed to be, surefire nominees.

Julia Roberts hosted a screening of “Biutiful” last month in Los Angeles, praising her “Eat, Pray, Love” co-star Javier Bardem. Since the Academy’s voting majority is actors, actors campaigning for each other seems to work. Bardem eased out potential nominees Robert Duvall for “Get Low” (who was the front runner for most of the year to win his 2nd Best Actor Oscar) and Ryan Gosling for the controversial “Blue Valentine”, in which the films NC-17 publicity tirade scared too many voters off in acknowledging it more. Though Michelle Williams’ performance got recognized, the movie is nothing without Gosling.

With exception of Natalie Portman, the rest of the “Black Swan” ensemble got shut out. One of the surprises I was hoping for this morning was for Barbara Hershey to land a Supporting Actress nod for her Piper Laurie-esque “Carrie” performance. Ah, well.

The Best Actress race will be a show down between three-time nominee Annette Bening and Natalie Portman’s tour de force. Oscar pundits say Portman has it won already. But, I can’t seem to wrap my head around that, considering Bening is consistently turning out good work, this being among her best. She always seems to be in contention, whether she gets nominated of not. Oh, and she’s married to Warren Beatty. What does Bening’s spouse have anything to do with this? The Roberts/Bardem logic applies here, as well. Bottom line though, it’s the work. The work is so good, it got Julianne Moore snubbed…again.

The biggest surprise of the morning for me was the nomination for John Hawkes in “Winter’s Bone”, who, for me, was the best thing about the movie. It was at that moment I was expecting “Winter’s Bone” to do well. It was sure to, and did, wind up in one of the ten spots. Jennifer Lawrence’s star-making turn got acknowledged, as did the screenplay. The most common reaction from this group of filmmakers is sure to be, “It’s great just to be nominated.”

Even though many would say the surprise in the Director category is Joel and Ethan Coen securing a nomination, it’s really David O. Russell besting Christopher Nolan. While “The Fighter” is a well-done work, it’s the performances that drive the movie, not his directing. The resolution of the film seems more like a conclusion rather than a victory. It surely doesn’t have the power that “Rocky” continues to have 35 years later. Even though Rocky loses to Apollo, at the end of that flick, Rocky still won. “Inception” is a film driven by it’s director, not it’s performances. As stated here before, Nolan is the star of “Inception”. Failing to recognize him is disappointing. Nolan did wind up in the “Citizen Kane/Pulp Fiction” consolation prize category, Best Original Screenplay.

With all the love “True Grit” received this morning, don’t be surprised if Hailee Steinfeld pulls a Tatum O’Neal and wins Best Supporting Actress for “True Grit”. You heard it here first.

The Academy Awards air on February 27, 2011 on ABC. More predictions coming soon.

1. Never Let Me Go

A haunting, sci-fi tale, set in a not so distant past, about a group of young adults whose sole purpose in life is donate organs for more privileged human beings, while struggling with experiencing profound emotion, knowing the fate of their impending demise. I couldn’t help but think of the Springsteen line from “Mary Queen of Arkansas”; “I was not born to live to die…” while sitting in the theater. That’s the entire point of these lives. Carey Mulligan and Andrew Garfield (who completely transforms himself here; which, if you see him in “The Social Network”, that same praise is lauded to him there, as well). This is the most overlooked film of the year. With any luck, the film will find its audience on DVD.

2. Blue Valentine

Two days in the life of a marriage that unfolds over flashbacks of a blossoming courtship. Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams go to emotional depths that haven’t been explored as lovingly and as articulately since Cassavetes’ “Faces” & “A Woman Under the Influence”. Derek Cianfrance has made one of the most honest love stories in ages. What he’s able to achieve in his two leads is to be marveled.

3. 127 Hours

Danny Boyle traps James Franco in a hole. Do you know how many women dream about this? And yet, no one has seen this life affirming piece of work? Franco has arrived. More people need to come out and greet him.

4. Inception

Here are my initial thoughts on Christopher Nolan’s film. They still apply.

5. The Town

“Gone, Baby Gone” was no fluke. Taking references from “The Friends of Eddie Coyle,” writer/director/star Ben Affleck updates the heist genre, with a stellar cast, notably with Jeremy Renner, who enters Pesci of “Goodfellas” territory.

6. The Kids Are All Right

The ensemble cast of the year. I recall “Terms of Endearment” in thinking about this film; not that there’s an overwhelmingly sad death at the end, but at it’s honest, and often humorous approach to the family unit, although not conventional. Annette Bening gives one of the best performances of the year. Completely nuanced, never over the top.

7. Black Swan

If you’ve seen Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s “The Red Shoes,” then it’s impossible to not draw comparisons to this film. Another story set in the ballet world about performance, passion, drive (like “Shoes”), and the depths one goes to get lost in the part. It’s a tour-de-force for Natalie Portman, and another milestone in Darren Aronosky’s filmography.

8. True Grit

The Coen Brothers remake evokes the spirit of John Ford while remaining definitively Coen. Jeff Bridges take on Rooster Cogburn is exceptional, but it’s the underrated and under praised work of Hattie Steinfeld that is the real reason to check out this gem.

9. The Ghost Writer

McKee says, “Wow them in the end, and you’ve got a hit.” With references to his own life and work, Roman Polanski’s modern day noir about a successful ghost writer who agrees to complete the memoirs of a former British Prime Minister exceeds all expectations. Career highs for Ewan McGregor’s ghost writer and Pierce Brosnan’s prime minister. Though it’s Olivia Williams performance as the prime minister’s better half that is most memorable, and least discussed.

10. Another Year

Mike Leigh’s funny and heartbreaking story that chronicles a year in the life of a blissfully happy couple in their golden years and their friends, who all seem to be lacking happiness in their own lives. Another great ensemble, led by Jim Broadbent, but it’s Leigh regular Lesley Manville’s performance that really keeps you glued.

What’s incredibly refreshing about this film is that the star is not Mr. DiCaprio, but the movie itself. It’s a wild ride through one man’s tumultuous psyche; one that will continue to raise questions upon each repeated viewing.

The 82nd Academy Awards are tonight, and the best, brightest and beautiful of Hollywood will gather yet again to honor the year that was in cinema. Below are my predictions for who will win the hardware tonight.

Fill out your Oscar pools carefully. (And as a reminder, here is a full list of the nominees in all the major categories.)

Best Picture – The Hurt Locker

Best Director – Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker

Best Actor – Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart

Best Actress – Gabourey Sidibe, Precious (IF THERE WILL BE A SURPRISE ON OSCAR NIGHT THIS WILL BE IT. If all goes to predictabilty, congratulations, Sandra Bullock.)

Best Supporting Actor – Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds

Best Supporting Actress – Mo’Nique, Precious

Best Original Screenplay – Inglourious Basterds, Quentin Tarantino

Best Adapted Screenplay – Up in the Air, Jason Reitman

Animated Feature – Up

Art Direction – Avatar

Cinematography – Avatar

Costume Design – The Young Victoria

Documentary Feature – The Cove

Film Editing – Avatar

Foreign Language Film – The White Ribbon

Makeup – The Young Victoria

Original Score – Up

Original Song – “The Weary Kind,” Crazy Heart

Sound Editing – The Hurt Locker

Sound Mixing – The Hurt Locker

Visual Effects – Avatar

(Disclaimer: I have no clue whatsoever on these final three.)

Documentary Short – The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant

Animated Short – A Matter of Loaf and Death

Live Action Short – The New Tenants

The Hurt Locker tied Avatar with nine total nominations and is the front runner in many categories. Here are all the nominees and here are our “Best Movies of 2009.”

So, it’s Oscar Tuesday. For the last 17 years, I’ve been rising bright and early to turn on Good Morning America at 8:38am to hear the news. For me, the Oscars are like Super Bowl Sunday or the World Series. I used to play hooky from school if necessary to hear the nominations come out. I would always pray for a snow day that would never come. Some don’t understand. But, for those who do … what a wonderful morning.

The Academy surprised us at the beginning of 2009 with the announcement that it would increase the total Best Picture nominees from five to ten. I’m still convinced that there weren’t ten films worth of Best Picture nominations, but the Academy did almost the right thing with it. It allowed some films that deserved recognition to slide through, where as in other years, they would have been overlooked. So, congratulations to A Serious Man, Up, District 9, and An Education.

As for The Blind Side, you lucked out. This would’ve never happened. And you don’t deserve it.

James Cameron might have broken his own box-office record with Avatar. What we already know is that he will not break the Oscar record this year. And that’s great news. Funny how the front runner of the year usually goes into the Oscars with the most nominations. But, this year, Avatar is tied with The Hurt Locker with nine nominations each. Fitting, considering that this is not only going to be a match of real film vs. animated film, but also ex vs. ex. If we want to technically talk about who the “front runner” is, it’s The Hurt Locker, which has nominations in Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, and Actor. The only two major nominations Avatar possesses are for Picture and Director. No screenplay (thankfully) or acting citations.

Kathryn Bigelow will become the first female to win the Oscar for Best Director for “our” war film. A film that doesn’t take sides, stand on a soapbox, or enter the political realm. Intense, passionate, versatile filmmaking.

The acting categories are clear cut this year.

Best Supporting Actor goes to Christoph Waltz. Waltz is the best thing about Inglourious Basterds. He’s a charismatic, powerful, funny, likable Nazi. What a tough character to pull off. But he makes it look effortless.

Congratulations to Christopher Plummer with his first ever career nomination for his performance in The Last Station at the age of 80. The fact that this is only his first nomination is a travesty, particularly when you consider his scene-stealing turn as Mike Wallace in The Insider. Still, the “sympathy Oscar” is going to Jeff Bridges this year, sir. Sorry.

Best Supporting Actress goes to Mo’Nique. And Mo’Nique not only wins the Oscar, but the award for Best Integrity amongst all of her nominees. Paul Schrader has said that the Oscars are nothing more than just a “PR campaign.” And it’s true. But, Mo’Nique hasn’t bought into that.  She will not participate in panels, interviews and the politics that are the Academy Awards. She wants her performance in Precious to stand for itself. It will.

Best Actor goes to Jeff Bridges. The Dude won his fifth nomination this morning. For almost 40 years, Jeff Bridges turns out top notch performance after performance. Bad Blake is a defining character for him, Oscar win or not, and will be remembered as one of his best. Coming from a Hollywood family (father Lloyd, brother Beau), this would be a nice, justified recognition for the Bridges Family. Rumor has it, George Clooney, who would be his only competition, is voting for Jeff Bridges for the win.

Oddly enough, Crazy Heart also has a nomination for Best Original Song, which was written and performed by Ryan Bingham — but not the same Ryan Bingham that George Clooney portrays in Up in the Air. People love coincidental doppelgangers on Facebook … and now the Oscars.

Best Actress is always a tough call. Meryl Streep broke her own record this morning, garnering her 16th career nomination as an actor. She hasn’t won it since Sophie’s Choice in 1982. She’s overdue. The 2000s were a good decade for her. Unlike her male contemporaries (De Niro, Pacino, Hoffman), she can pick decent scripts and turn them into fantastic films. This is the age of Streep.

Carey Mulligan will be a star. This Oscar nomination is the first of many to come. She is the only great thing about An Education, and although, the film received nominations for Picture and Screenplay, it’s really a showcase for her. Alfred Molina got snubbed again this year. Molina, a consummate actor, always winds up an Oscar bridesmaid. Take note Hollywood, it’s about time to honor this wonderful character actor.

Helen Mirren is Helen Mirren. She’s the British Meryl Streep. She just won for The Queen. Her big quote for this year will be, “The Last Station was a wonderful experience. It’s just an honor to be nominated.”

Gabourey Sidibe really built her character from the ground up. If you see her in Precious, and if you see her in interviews, it’s a 180. Along with Mo’Nique, these two actors have had Oscar buzz all year long. Sidibe’s win could be the surprise of the evening. If so, it will be well deserved.

Which brings us to Sandra Bullock. OK. So, you had a great year. You made three, count them, three films that got lukewarm reviews and drew huge box office. The Blind Side is clearly the best of the three. But, that’s not saying much. What did you do, Sandra? Sit at home one night, catch Erin Brokovich on cable and say, “Well, if I wear hot dresses, sport a crazy Southern accent, act like a hard-ass and then wrap that up with ‘based on a true story’ with some sort of social commentary, I can win an Oscar!” Well, congratulations. It might have worked. Maybe if you die between now and then, you’ll DEFINITELY win it.

The screenplay Oscar is the true consolation prize for Best Picture. If you go through the list of Best Screenplay winners, you will see that all the movies that SHOULD have won Best Picture that year, but didn’t. Just to name a few: Citizen Kane, Good Will Hunting, Pulp Fiction, Almost Famous, The Usual Suspects, Brokeback Mountain, Chinatown and Network.

Best Adapted Screenplay is Up in the Air. It’s a clear consolation, but well deserved. Jason Reitman is an emerging talent. Kudos to the Academy for its continued acknowledgment of this young filmmaker’s work.

Best Original Screenplay is too tough to call. Personally, A Serious Man would be a nice win. But, the Coens are coming off winning three Oscars each for writing, producing and directing No Country For Old Men. As much as I would like to see the Coens win here (since, it was BY FAR my favorite movie of last year), Quentin Tarantino is very deserving here. Next to Waltz’s powerful performance, Tarantino’s screenplay never has a dull moment. He took the World War II drama, a genre that’s been winning Oscars since The Bridge on the River Kwai, and re-invented it. Tarantino is known for re-inventing genres, but he pulls it off so successfully here that a win for Screenplay would be justified.

In closing, the “biggest snub of the year” award goes to Julianne Moore. She always turns out fine work. Nominated four previous times (Boogie Nights, The End of the Affair, The Hours and Far From Heaven), the Academy failed to acknowledge her work in A Single Man. She can blame Maggie Gyllenhaal for pulling a surprise nomination for Crazy Heart, which was severely unnecessary.

The “best acknowledgment of the year” award goes to the writing team of In the Loop, for such a fast, witty, shocking script about governmental officials in a bid to begin/prevent a war in the Middle East. Would’ve loved to have seen a Peter Capaldi nomination here. But, I can’t be greedy.

Final predications to come on March 7, 2010.

2009 was a rather important year in cinema for me. Not because of the films that came out this year, but my further discovery of films from the Hollywood Studio Era. It’s a fact that no one makes films like the way they used to. Billy Wilder would be well impressed with the work of The Coen’s and Jason Reitman, for their attention to story and detail.

The criterion of assessing a great film is one crucial thought. Not having a wasted moment. Be it in performance or structure, the majority of the films listed below don’t waste the audience’s time. It values it.

#10. Crazy Heart

To quote Warren Beatty, “Plot is character. And character is plot.” Jeff Bridges, who is incapable of not delivering an honest moment, provides us with an unforgettable portrait of an alcoholic country-singing troubadour, who experiences a change of life after a chance meeting with a journalist and her son. T-Bone Burnett’s contribution to the original and source music provides the best soundtrack of the year.

#9. Inglourious Basterds

At the end of the day, Quentin Tarantino knows how to make movies. Brutally funny, entertaining, and perfectly cast. Christoph Waltz’s star-making portrayal as Col. Hans Landa is perfectly matched by Brad Pitt’s pitch-perfect performance of Lt. Aldo Raine. For the non-believers, see it twice. I did.

#8. In the Loop

Britain’s satire of Anglo-American politics following governmental officials in a bid to begin/prevent a war in the Middle East. Peter Capaldi gives one of the year’s memorable performances as a foul-mouth spin-doctor (who’s character originally appears on BBC’s The Thick of It).

#7. The Messenger

Ben Foster is emerging as the Sean Penn of his generation. A powerful portrait of the war at home, reminiscent of Coming Home. Note to Hollywood: pay more attention to Woody Harrelson.

#6. Away We Go

Jon Krasinski & Maya Rudolph’s chemistry highlight Sam Mendes’ coming of age film about two expecting parents.

#5. Tyson

James Toback’s friendship with Mike Tyson provided for one of the most brilliant confessionals ever put to film.

#4. The Fantastic Mr. Fox

After two disappointments, Wes Anderson returns to rare form. Using Roald Dahl’s novel as his template, he creates a world through stop-motion animation that is fitting for the world in which his other films have emerged from. The most fun at the movies all year.

#3. The Hurt Locker

In what is probably the most important film of the year, Kathryn Bigelow leaves CGI at the door to provide the most realistic portrait of war put to celluloid since Platoon.

#2. Up in the Air

Jason Reitman claims nepotism didn’t work for his success. This film surely proves it. Reitman continues to show that he’s truly an actor’s director, incapable of wasting moments with his characters. George Clooney gives an exceptional performance.

#1. A Serious Man

This is the type of film that you’re supposed to make after you sweep the Academy Awards. The Coen Brothers continue to prove they are a leading voice in American cinema.