Period Drama at the Oscars 2012

The Artist

The Artist has 10 Oscar nominations:

• Best Picture- WINNER!!!
• Best Actor- Jean Dujardin- WINNER!!!
• Best Supporting Actress- Bérénice Bejo
• Best Directing- Michel Hazanavicius- WINNER!!!
• Best Original Screenplay
• Best Original Score- WINNER!!!
• Best Film Editing
• Best Costume Design-WINNER!!!
• Best Cinematography
• Best Art Direction

The Help

The Help has 4 Oscar nominations:

• Best Picture
• Best Actress-Viola Davis
• Best Supporting Actress- Octavia Spencer- WINNER!!!
• Best Supporting Actress- Jessica Chastain

Hugo

Hugo is nominated for 11 Oscars:

• Best Picture
• Best Directing- Martin Scorsese
• Best Adapted Screenplay
• Best Visual Effects- WINNER!!!
• Best Sound Mixing- WINNER!!!
• Best Sound Editing- WINNER!!!
• Best Musical Score
• Best Film Editing
• Best Costume Design
• Best Cinematography-WINNER!!!
• Best Art Direction- WINNER!!!

Midnight in Paris

Midnight in Paris is nominated for 4 Oscars:

• Best Picture
• Best Direction- Woody Allen- WINNER!!!
• Best Original Screenplay
• Best Art Direction

Tree of Life

Tree of Life is nominated for 3 Oscars:

• Best Picture
• Best Direction- Terrence Malick
• Best Cinematography

War Horse

War Horse is nominated for 6 Oscars:

• Best Picture
• Best Original Score
• Best Cinematography
• Best Art Direction
• Best Sound Editing
• Best Sound Mixing

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is nominated for 3 Oscars:

• Best Actor- Gary Oldman
• Best Adapted Screenplay
• Best Original Score

Albert Nobbs

Albert Nobbs is nominated for 3 Oscars:

• Best Actress- Glenn Close
• Best Supporting Actress- Janet McTeer
• Best Makeup

The Iron Lady

The Iron Lady is nominated for 2 Oscars:

• Best Actress- Meryl Streep- WINNER!!!
• Best Makeup- WINNER!!!

My Week with Marilyn

My Week with Marilyn is nominated for 2 Oscars:

• Best Actress- Michelle Williams
• Best Supporting Actor- Kenneth Branagh

Anonymous

Anonymous is nominated for one Oscar:

• Best Costumes

Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre is nominated for one Oscar:

• Best Costumes

W. E.

W. E. is nominated for one Oscar:

• Best Costumes

That's 13 period drama films nominated for Oscars! Amazing!! I have seen 8 of them and enjoyed each and every one.  I do wish I had read Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy before I saw the film however as it was a bit hard to follow. I haven't seen The Artist, My Week With Marilyn, Albert Nobbs, Tree of Life or W.E.. I plan to see all of those, with the possible exception of Tree of Life, unless one of my readers tells me it's definitely worth seeing. It just looks a bit weird to me. But even W.E. (which has been panned by critics) looks like it would be at least a good rental.

Great year for flicks! Enjoy the Oscars tonight everyone.

West Wycombe Park, Buckinghamshire, England- Filming Location

West Wycombe Park, Buckinghamshire, England

The Importance of Being Earnest 2002 uses the lovely National Trust Property West Wycombe Park almost as another character in the story. As the country seat of Jack Worthing (Colin Firth) this drop dead gorgeous property is showcased both inside and out. Someday, I will get there and see it in person. (By the way, please visit Lacey Green Walks to see more gorgeous photos of the estate).

Colin Firth and Rupert Everett at a door of West Wycombe Park

The weathered yellow of the exterior of the house is very distinctive. You may recognize it in other productions (see below) because of it's colour.

Frances O'Connor and Reese Witherspoon on the stairs of West Wycombe

Thankfully as the story progresses, we get to see lots of amazing views of the interior as well as the exterior of West Wycombe.

Rupert Everett, Judi Dench and Reese Witherspoon in front of the ornate fireplace of West Wycombe

The yellow of the exterior is brought into some of the interior rooms to wonderful effect.

Some more views of the grounds which I have shamelessly borrowed from the Lacey Green Walks website.

The Music Temple, situated on one of the islands on the SWAN-SHAPED LAKE at West Wycombe

You can see why this estate is popular for weddings as well as for filming locations.  It is open to the public from early April until the middle of August from Sunday to Thursday (April is grounds only). The weekends are reserved for weddings or private functions and the Dashwood family live in the house, as they have done since the 18th century.

The distinctive double colonnade of the south side of West Wycombe

Dashwood...I know. Do you think that Jane Austen used this home as inspiration for the Dashwood estate Norland Park in Sense and Sensibility? The property was given to the National Trust in 1943 by the Sir John Dashwood, 10th Baronet (an action apparently strongly resented by his heir). The family retained ownership of the contents of the house and they still reside in the house.

Other films or miniseries using West Wycombe for a filming location:

W.E. 2011
The Duchess 2008
What a Girl Wants 2003
Cranford 2007
An Ideal Husband 1999
I Capture the Castle 2003
Daniel Deronda 2002
Another Country 1984

He Knew He Was Right 2004

Carrington 1995
Austenland 2012

Downton Abbey 2010

Funny that Colin Firth and Rupert Everett were in both Another Country and The Importance of Being Earnest. Everything comes full circle I suppose!

And is anyone else excited about seeing JJ Feild, Keri Russell, Jennifer Coolidge and Bret McKenzie in Austenland later this year?

Period drama at TIFF

We have this amazing thing in Toronto every September called the TIFF. If you have never been to Toronto before, September is some of our best weather, and we have some of the most avid film buffs in the world living right here in Canada. And for some reason, the movie stars flock here for this festival. Woooohooooo!!

George Clooney and Ryan Gosling goofing around in Toronto

If I didn't have a pesky old job, I'd be hanging around the streets of TO right now hoping to see Ryan Gosling and George Clooney hugging each other. Instead, I view the photos like the rest of the star struck world. By the way, if you haven't seen Ryan Gosling in Crazy, Stupid Love I can HIGHLY recommend it! (and he's Canadian, and he did a year of high school in my hometown of Burlington, Ont)

OK, back to the period drama stuff. I was just perusing the TIFF website and I couldn't believe the number of films premiering and the number that I would really love to see. Here is just a taste:

Albert Nobbs with Glenn Close

Albert Nobbs

Glenn Close co-wrote and stars in this adaptation of the play about a nineteenth-century Irishwoman who disguises herself as a man and works as a butler for twenty years. Mia Wasikowska, Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Aaron Johnson co-star in this intelligent and often surprising period drama.

Anonymous with Rhys Ifans

Anonymous

Who really wrote Shakespeare's plays? In this vivid drama from Roland Emmerich, mystery swirls around the authorship of classic plays, as the back-stabbing theatre world intersects with political intrigue at the court of Elizabeth I.

Damsels in Distress

Damsels in Distress

Back after a thirteen-year hiatus, Whit Stillman returns with Damsels in Distress- a film that is distinctly offbeat, even manic, compared to his classic nineties comedies of manners, and yet retains his precise wit and refined dialogue. Damsels in Distress takes a unique look into the psyche of privileged American youth, focusing on a group of undergraduates at a leafy East Coast university that has only recently begun to accept female students.  (not a period piece but it looks intriguing!)

A Dangerous Method

A Dangerous Method

For his third consecutive collaboration with Viggo Mortensen, David Cronenberg adapts Christopher Hampton's 2002 stage play concerning the turbulent relationship between Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender) and his mentor Sigmund Freud (Mortensen) as they struggle to treat a troubled patient (Keira Knightley).

The Deep Blue Sea with Rachel Weisz and Tom Hiddleston

 The Deep Blue Sea

Master chronicler of post-War England Terence Davies directs Rachel Weisz as a woman whose overpowering, obsessive love alienates the men around her and destroys her well-being. Based on Terence Rattigan's play, made famous by countless actresses.

Hysteria with Maggie Gyllenhaal and Hugh Dancy

Hysteria

Maggie Gyllenhaal and Hugh Dancy star in this cheeky romantic comedy about the invention of the vibrator. Victorian London is brought to life in vivid colour as a young doctor (Dancy) struggles to establish himself while confronting the gutsy daughter of his boss (Gyllenhaal). Rupert Everett and Felicity Jones play supporting roles.  (Tee hee! I am so looking forward to this one.)

W.E. Madonna's new film

W.E.

Second-time director Madonna returns with W.E., featuring Abbie Cornish as Wally Winthrop, a woman in 1998 who is infatuated with the 1930s marriage of King Edward VIII (James D'Arcy) and American divorcée Wallis Simpson (Andrea Riseborough). Spanning six decades, W.E. gracefully weaves the past and present into two parallel love stories.

Wuthering Heights- A new interpretation

Wuthering Heights

No starched lace, no panoramic views, no sweeping score — Andrea Arnold takes Emily Brontë’s classic novel and strips it to the root of youthful passion, restoring its stark power for a contemporary audience. Following her bracing portraits of female desire in Red Road and Fish Tank, Arnold pushes even further here, portraying love as a rush of heart-stopping beauty, cruelty and impulsive acts.

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So there you have it. Looks pretty exciting doesn't it? And that's with only one photo of movie stars hugging each other and mugging for the cameras. So feel free to check out the full listing of the offerings at TIFF and see if there are any others that you might like, or to find out more about the ones above. We are now entering the pre-Oscar insanity that swirls around the film industry late in the year. Enjoy! 

P.S. If you want some photos of the stars in Toronto here is a Canadian news site with some good "stars on the streets of Toronto" shots.