Here at StageBuddy, we love movies. Which means we love the Oscars, but loving the Oscars means having our hearts broken when our favorite movies and actors aren't nominated. So in honor of the snubbed, the overlooked, and the under-appreciated, we decided to inaugurate a new tradition: The Buddys! For the next seven days we will take a look at the big categories (Screenplay, Supporting Actress, Supporting Actor, Actress, Actor, Director & Picture) and nominate who we thought was deserving of recognition in 2013. These are some of our very favorites, and we salute them.
A deceptively simple film on the surface, "Enough Said" is actually a surprisingly complex look at adult relationships, and a welcome respite from the year's spate of manchild-targeted comedies ("The Hangover Part III", "Grown Ups 2", etc.). Eva (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) is a divorced single mother, but unlike most lesser films, that doesn't mean she's a bitter shrew. Then she meets and starts dating divorced single father Albert (the late great James Gandolfini), but unlike most lesser films, that doesn't mean they're perfect for each other. It's Holofcener's subtle-yet-merciless examinations of her own characters that keep "Enough Said" from tipping into typical romcom territory. Is Albert a slob or just carefree? Is Eva self-sabotaging or just being careful? Everything in this delightful film exists in shades of grey, and just because someone is the "protagonist" of the film doesn't mean you'll always like them. But it's the ways that Eva's the most flawed that make her the most relatable. - Jefferson Grubbs
If you ask Hannah Horvath, lead character of HBO's "Girls", she'd tell you she's the voice of her generation. Frances never makes such a bold claim -- and yet, thanks to the words written by Baumbach and Gerwig (the latter of whom also plays the title character), she perfectly encapsulates the spirit of anyone who's ever been a young adult and struggling to simultaneously find their creative voice and their place in the world. Baumbach, who captured the roiling angst of teenage uncertainty in 2005's "The Squid And The Whale", here applies his darkly funny but keenly incisive style to Frances' tale. Frances is a contemporary dancer; and yet she's also the kind of awkward girl who trips over herself while running down the sidewalk. Baumbach and Gerwig's screenplay captures this young woman's spirit perfectly, with a script that's at once graceful and clumsy. It jumps in fits and starts throughout her life, but each vignette has the fluidity of a dance. This inherent contradiction in the screenplay gives the film an improvisational feel, which belies the subtle strength of the words that gave it life. -Jefferson Grubbs
The struggles of women in cinema are well-documented. It's disturbingly common for actresses to fall into obscurity once they hit a certain age, and filmmaking tends to be a boys' club. In "In A World...", first-time writer Lake Bell tackles yet another film field that women can't seem to get ahead in: trailer voice-overs. The film follows Carol, a vocal coach living in the shadow of her father, a trailer voice-over legend. While "In A World..." is charming, funny, honest, it's strength lies in it's ability to convey it's message without being "OH HEY LOOK AT ME I'M FEMINIST". - Nicholas DeNitto
Nobody writes gloom like the Coen Brothers. Joel and Ethan Coen are masters of dragging their characters through muck, while finding humor in them at the same time, and "Inside Llewyn Davis" is them at the top of their game. Llewyn is a struggling musician that can't help but get in his own way. The Coens are always certain to make each of his actions, no matter how trivial, resonate in a way that comes back to bite him in the ass later in the film. This sad man's odyssey is subtly written, but undeniably truthful, sad, and darkly funny. - Nicholas DeNitto
I don't think any of us miss adolescence. It's an awkward time when our bodies are getting out of control and we hate everyone around us. For Duncan in "The Way Way Back", this period is made worse by a long vacation with his mother and her horrid boyfriend. Taking refuge in a local water park, Duncan learns some valuable life lessons from the flaky manager Owen. Written by Nat Faxon and Jim Rash (with pieces taken from their actual lives), "The Way Way Back" is a terrific journey of self-discovery and one of the few coming-of-age movies that feels actually relatable. - Nicholas DeNitto
Who will win the Buddy for Best Screenplay? Tweet us @Stagebuddy to vote for your favorite!
