2012's Nominees: Part 8 of 10

Rango

1 Nomination

• Animated Feature

Director: Gore Verbinski

Cast: Johnny Depp, Isla Fisher, Ned Beatty, Alfred Molina, Abigail Breslin, Bill Nighy, Ray Winstone, Timothy Olyphant, Stephen Root, Harry Dean Stanton.

Wow. This was incredibly stupid. It's clichéd in every way possible. The animation is not particularly interesting. And the plot is derivative of cinema classics like Chinatown and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, which is fine as far as it goes, but in service of what? The film's protagonists are all the ugliest desert creatures you've ever seen, and its villains (the only attractive animals in the desert, apparently) are one-dimensional and – what's more – completely obvious from the very beginning. As always, I hate when a movie makes me so much smarter than its main characters, and this Rango lizard might be the dumbest reptile ever to make it to the big screen. I hated this movie. Oh yeah, and it's going to win.

Will Win: Animated Feature

Could Win: N/A

My Rating: #65 out of 66

Puss in Boots

1 Nomination

• Animated Feature

Director: Chris Miller

Cast: Antonio Banderas, Zach Galifianakis, Salma Hayek, Billy Bob Thornton, Amy Sedaris, Constance Marie, Guillermo Del Toro.

I thought this was fun. It has its problems, of course, but I had a good time. For me, all the movies in the Shrek franchise (this is number five) have a problem with synching their character animation. In this movie, for example, Puss is animated beautifully, but the way that Humpty is animated just doesn't match Puss's gorgeous puss. This always happened in the other Shrek movies, too: some of the characters are lovely, and the others just don't match. But Puss in Boots is charming. Banderas plays the character to the absolute hilt. It's very funny, and also filled with little jokes en español. (Puss constantly goes into bars and orders leche: never milk.) I was a fan.

Will Win: N/A

Could Win: N/A

My Rating: #44 out of 66

Chico & Rita

1 Nomination

• Animated Feature

Director: Fernando Trueba, Javier Mariscal

Cast: Eman Xor Oña, Limara Meneses, Mario Guerra.

This is lovely. It's a beautiful, realistic love story, that also isn't shy about sex and the importance we all place on it. But the real winner here is the music. The music in Chico & Rita is so beautiful. So beautiful. I wasn't the biggest fan of the animation in this movie, but the music more than makes up for it. Chico & Rita is filled with gorgeous numbers, musical history, and meaningful tunes. This  is a great time. This is easily my favorite of the nominees in this category.

Will Win: N/A

Could Win: N/A

My Rating: #28 out of 66

Kung Fu Panda 2

1 Nomination

• Animated Feature

Director: Jennifer Yuh Nelson

Cast: Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, James Hong, Michelle Yeoh, Gary Oldman, Seth Rogan, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu, David Cross, Dustin Hoffman, Danny McBride, Dennis Haysbert, Victor Garber, Jean-Claude Van Damme.

This is pretty awful. Some of the animation is really beautiful, but there is no real reason for the different animation styles in the film to work in the way that they do – the movie arbitrarily switches back and forth. And the plot. Ugh. The plot is so stupid and clichéd that its only real function is to have some bones on which to hang the beautiful animation. The movie also manages to be boring, even though there are lots of fight sequences. I liked the first Kung Fu Panda, but this mess? I honestly fell asleep.

Will Win: N/A

Could Win: N/A

My Rating: #61 out of 66

Une Vie de Chat (A Cat in Paris)

1 Nomination

• Animated Feature

Director:  Jean-Loup Felicioli, Alain Gagnol

Cast: Dominique Blanc, Bruno Salomone, Jean Benguigui, Bernadette Lafont, Oriane Zani, Bernard Bouillon.

Another one I haven't seen. I wish I could've found a way to watch this online, as it looks rather fabulous, but alas. I will have to wait until a DVD release. One thing that we can all probably safely say (without having seen it) is that it is better than Kung Fu Panda 2 and Rango.

Will Win: N/A

Could Win: N/A

My Rating: Not ranked