It appears as if the Best Supporting Actress race will be between Jennifer Lawrence and Lupita Nyong’o, and with the latter recently winning at the Screen Actor Guild, we have her slightly nudging out J-Law for the win. But it is still a close race. Everyone seems to be hopping on board the Lawrence train with her recent success and her down to earth personality, so do not rule her out completely. In a slightly less competitive year, Julia Roberts performance in August: Osage County would have earned her more attention, but instead finds herself in a distance third. Both Sally Hawkins and June Squibb received their first Oscar nominations this year, but have a much greater chance of getting recognized at the Independent Spirit Awards than here. Although she never appears on screen, Scarlett Johansson’s (Her) voice alone makes us care about an Operating System like we never have before. Johansson’s lack of a nomination for her role is not all that surprising as there has never been a nomination for a voice performance–a shame because this would have been a perfect time to start.

Category Predictions

Best Supporting Actress Nominees

Sally Hawkins – Blue Jasmine (review)

Jennifer Lawrence – American Hustle (review)

Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years a Slave (review)

Julia Roberts – August: Osage County (review)

June Squibb – Nebraska (review)

It’s always felt like everyone’s been waiting for Woody Allen‘s legendary, ultra-prolific career to inevitably begin sputtering out. When he began really losing steam about a decade ago with duds like Curse of the Jade Scorpion and Melinda and Melinda, many speculated that his edge might be dulling for good. Then he knocked us in the head with the brilliant films like Match Point, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, and Midnight in Paris which proved he was still capable of creating significant cinema.

From another angle, the infrequency of great films in Allen’s late period has been a signal to many that his days as a vital director may be over sooner rather than later. Is Blue Jasmine—a bitter character study starring Cate Blanchett as Jasmine, a Ruth Madoff-like wreck of a woman—substantial enough to quell the fears of his loyal supporters and prove he’s got more left in the tank? The short answer is yes, it is. Blanchett’s unbounded performance should easily earn her an Oscar nod and directorially, Allen is in tip-top shape. And yet, Blue Jasmine falls short of greatness, mostly due to strangely written and casted supporting players and a script that slightly buckles under the weight of Blanchett’s juggernaut performance.

The film opens with Jasmine, a once wealthy New York aristocrat, sitting on a plane, rattling off incessantly about how she met her husband, Hal (Alec Baldwin) to a stranger who becomes less interested with every word. “He met me at a party and swept me off my feet.” They’ve just landed in San Francisco (which Allen photographs as if it were a ghost town), where Jasmine’s forced to stay with her working class sister, Ginger (Sally Hawkins), since she’s lost “every cent” of her own money—Hal’s orchestration of a failed Ponzi scheme landed him in the slammer, leaving Jasmine drowned in debt. She tries to veil her snobby disgust for her sister’s modest digs, and numbs herself to her surroundings by chugging vodka.

Watching Jasmine plummet from the glamour, Chanel bags, and Hamptons house parties of her previous life (depicted artfully in carefully planted flashbacks) to downing bottles of Stoli, snacking on Xanax, and sleeping on a crummy couch bed, is deliciously tragic and straddles the line between hilarious and depressing. Jasmine is unbelievably self-centered, perpetually complaining about everything, but mostly about the titanic tragedy that is her life, even when no one’s around to hear it (disturbing.) Whenever she’s confronted with a serious dilemma, she mentally checks out and starts reciting her go-to anecdotes from the “Hal” days like a broken record. She repeats the story with a blank stare, “He met me at a party and swept me off my feet.” Shudder. Extreme neurosis and anxiety are eating her alive (Gena Rowlands in A Woman Under the Influence comes to mind.) Jasmine’s mental breakdown is both utterly gripping and distressing to watch, like a 20 million dollar jet crashing and burning in slow motion.

The supporting cast is almost comically un-Californian, with Andrew Dice Clay as Hawkins’ bitter ex husband (“She’s movin’ in wit’ yoo?”), Louis C.K. as her frivolous fling (wasted), and Bobby Cannavale playing a lame version of Stanley Kowalski. Speaking of A Streetcar Named Desire (which inspired Allen to make this film), Blanchett channels the tragic romanticism of Blanche DuBois, who she played on-stage in 2009. She never gets too showy, though, and only goes big-time operatic when she knows the scene will be better for it.

Though Allen opted to not endow Blue Jasmine with his travelogue visual flare that I’ve grown fond of, Blanchett provides so much to chew on and gawk at that she single-handedly makes the film a certifiably significant work. The humor never falters and there’s enough of it to balance out Jasmine’s surprisingly dark character arc, but I’d hesitate to classify this as a comedy (as it’s been advertised.) I would, however, classify it as proof that Allen’s still got years of great films left in him.

Submarine is a Welsh film that director Richard Ayoade adapted a screenplay based off the novel by the same name, about an awkward teenage boy and his first real relationship with a girlfriend. It is an honest coming of age story about how relationships are formed and destroyed which the main character experiences on his own and through his parents at the same time. A storyline that is often told but rarely executed this well.

Like most boys at the age of 15, Oliver Tate (Craig Roberts) is trying to discover himself. He is not all that popular at school but the fact that he loves reading the dictionary and prefers to be alone most of the time does not help matters. The prologue gives us background into the oddball character that is Oliver Tate before introducing us to his new obsession, love.

Chapter one is labeled, “Jordana”, who is also an unpopular girl who recently became single. Oliver imagines himself with her and is willing to do what it takes to win her over even if it involves doing things he would not normally do. One day Jordana instructs Oliver to meet her under a bridge and to bring a camera. She kisses him and takes photographs for proof.

It is revealed that Oliver has only kissed one other girl before Jordana, so he was rather excited to have kissed her. They stood up for each other when a bully picks on them and held hands when walking together afterwards. However, when he asked her if they were going out together now, she responds with “I’ll think about it.”

His mother is shocked when Oliver tells her he now has a girlfriend and relieved that her son is not gay. His father supported him when he heard the news by making him a cassette tape with songs, including some break up songs near the end in case things did not work out. This is as much support his parents could give him.

Oliver informs Jordana that his parents will be gone from the house Thursday night and not so subtly hints to her she could come over to have sex with him. She tells him she will come by and this makes Oliver as excited as he ever has been. He goes out of this way to make sure everything is perfect; the lights at the right levels and candles lit in his room. After the two make love she reminds him, “Don’t get cocky.”

Part two is called, “Graham Purvis”, who is an ex-boyfriend of his mother which startles Oliver who has been monitoring his parent’s sex life by the use of a dimming light switch. He concludes that his parents have not had sex for seven months as the light has not been dimmed low. It is not long before Oliver discovers his mother is having an affair with Graham and becomes worried that his parents may get divorced.

Oliver finds himself alone with his father and tries to tell him about his mother having an affair with Graham. His father shrugs it off saying that the two are just old friends. He is clearly not worried about the relationship between the two.

After speaking to his father, he realizes why his father became a marine biologist. He has felt down in the dumps for nearly his entire life which he describes the feeling as being under water. This goes along with the overall theme of the film which almost always involves water.

He decides to tell Jordana about the situation regarding his parents. He finds out that her mother has cancer. Even he admits that cancer trumps parental fidelity and fixing either of them is hardly easy. Jordana’s mother is having an operation which Oliver said he would come to but ultimately skips out on in order to try solving his parent’s issues.

Part three is entitled, “Show down”, which is more or less Oliver’s world crumbling down. Oliver goes to the beach where his mother and Graham are together again and saw that Jordana was with someone else. He finds out that his mother gave Graham a handjob. Adding to his misery, he receives a letter from Jordana stating what he was afraid was true, that their relationship was over and that she found someone new.

Oliver states rather realistically that none of this will matter when he is 38. Which is him trying to be optimistic but no one forgets their first love, not even the sophisticated Oliver Tate. Though, he has not spoken to Jordana for two months. The epilogue tells the conclusion to the wonderful story and ends the film perfectly.

Submarine showed glimpses of similarities to the work of Wes Anderson. From the chapter based storyline to the quirky yet sophisticated characters and the general art style of the film. Even the soundtrack seems like something that Anderson would have picked out.

The soundtrack is one of the best I have heard in years and most of the time completely relevant with the scenes in the film. Comprised of original songs from Arctic Monkeys’ frontman Alex Turner, the soundtrack enhances the film instead of merely adding to it.

Not only was the soundtrack superb but so was the use of the camera and effects. Showing fantasy ideas and freeze frames the cinematography by Erik Wilson was splendid. At the same time the film was not too fancy and stayed true to its period with typewriters, cassette tapes and Polaroid cameras.

Craig Roberts plays the character of Oliver Tate appropriately, an awkward recluse that is far more mature for his age. His character is often compared to Holden Caulfield from “The Catcher in the Rye” and it is not hard to see the resemblance.

Jordana Bevan’s is a character every male has met before, a cute girl who forces you out of your comfort zone to which you going along with out of the sheer case of lust. She is bold which is visually present from her wearing a bright red coat always. Yasmin Paige was convincing as Jordana.

The story is not revolutionary by any means, in fact it is undoubtedly simple but it is told and executed marvelously. Submarine is not just for the artsy Wes Anderson crowd, who love quirky characters and whimsical cinematography, the film appeals to everyone with it’s genuine take on a coming of age story. A prime example of how romantic comedies should be.