Happy New Year!

One of the best films of 1990 is Postcards From the Edge.  Everything about it is brilliant from the opening, to Meryl Streep, Shirley MacLaine, the rest of the cast, Mike Nichols' shrewd direction, Carrie Fischer's witty dialogue, to the uplifting ending where Streep sings "I'm Checking Out" written by Shel Silverstein (! Where the Sidewalk Ends !), backed up by Toronto's Blue Rodeo (!).  The band's "Trust Yourself" was one of my fave songs when I was a kid.  Loved, loved that tune to death.  The finale to the film shines a light (literally and figuratively) on Streep's talents as a singer and serves as the coda to her character's continuing struggle with drugs.  While the movie doesn't strive for grand realism concerning the addictive personality, it's a personal story none-the-less that shows off Fischer acerbic, heightened, observational style, as well as a window into how she deals with her life and problems.  Being born into Hollywood royalty was a mixed blessing for her, but through all of her sarcasm she can conveniently afford unlike others dealing with the same problems, her Postcards offers reconciling with the past, looking ahead, and hope.  No Obi-Wan Kenobi necessary here. Sometimes, Princess Leia, you are *our* only hope.  And, that's what the New Year is all about: hope for a brighter future and the willingness to follow suit with your actions.

The film was shamefully nominated for only two Academy Awards.  MacLaine, Fischer, among others were robbed.  Thankfully, the AMPAS did recognize Streep for her turn as Suzanne Vale, as well as Silverstein for his song.  Reba McEntire performed the tune on Oscar night.  There is no cutaway to Streep, because she wasn't in attendance that night, so there would be no preservation of meta-aspects for pop culture history.

They both lost to equally brilliant contenders: Kathy Bates (Misery) and Stephen Sondheim ("Sooner or Later" from Dick Tracy).  Of course, Madonna was there.  She offered one of the most memorable Oscar footnotes and "Best Song" performances ever with a burlesque tease opening and closing, in only the way Her Madgeness can deliver.  I can't tell if she's lip-syncing (she sounds great).  However, her lack of "movie legitimacy" kept her from ever being truly accepted by her non-music peers.  What an awkward, sassy, delicious moment in AMPAS history.  

No cutaways to recent former lover Warren Beatty, nor his new squeeze, future wife, and soon-to-be baby mama Annette Bening.  Hello!?  Opportunities, stuffy bores!

Annette Bening while her name is announced in the Supporting Actress category

Happy New Year!

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Review: Little Amour for Django (spoilers)

So, head's up, I babble for the first five or so paragraphs, before I get to my review.  I spent a good chunk of my Sunday afternoon on a commenter named "Antoinette" at AD who vehemently despises the Les Misérables movie.  I haven't seen it, as I'm waiting for friends to get back into town, so we can watch it together.  I know that 1) I'm either going to go all gushy over it, 2) I'm going to have a great time making fun of it, or 3) A little bit of both, if history is any indication.  What bothers me most is that she asserts her tastes as being "above" others.  I used to read old Pauline Kael movie reviews, who was known for being quite snobby, and had her followers (the Paulettes, as they had come to be known) who carried themselves at the same level of arrogance.  But, I was young and beset with my own wardrobe of pretentions.  Regardless, the lady set the standard on film criticism and, boy, could she write.  I was saddened that I couldn't experience her reviews "live," as they were happening with the new movies coming out (I imagine, if she were kicking today, if age didn't send her into retirement, the quality of cinema would).  How excited I was when in the 1997 year-end edition of Entertainment Weekly (?), she was briefly interviewed about her opinion on that year's crop.  I couldn't find her comment on Titanic through a google search, but, apparently, according to Newsweek, she said, "It's square in ways people seem to have been longing for. I'm not one of those people."  Which is fair, but what I recall from EW is something more to the effect of, "How can I begrudge someone who thinks it's the best film they ever saw?"  Her point was: we all age and grow and our tastes change.  That's been my stance.  Titanic was far from a perfect film, filled with its share of flaws.  But, I'd be lying if I said it wasn't moving in parts. And, while it's fine to criticize a film based on its merits (even if one's motivations are unclear and/or they have an unconscious agenda against its filmmakers), the minute you judge someone for loving something you loathe, unless it's heinous like rape or murder, you're crossing a line.

But, what I realized, is that it also put me in the correct frame of mind (as much as it's going to be) to write my review for Django Unchained, a film that I loved the first third and then grew to detest the last two-thirds.  Now, admittedly, my loathing for the movie has probably grown disproportionately due to its reception (I'm being honest here).  It's an R-rated December release that is on track to join the high-grossing ranks of The Exorcist, Beverly Hills Cop, Rain Man, Jerry Maguire, and Gran Torino.  And while I don't sign off on all of those films, they've earned their place in the cinematic pantheon, no?  But, once you continue down the list you arrive at A Few Good Men, whom not everyone was a fan of, so big deal.  Despite everything, it's still encouraging that a director with such a distinct signature style can finance and produce a film to impressive success, no?  Still, I'm a bit mystified by the response it's receiving, which seems to have slightly surpassed the positive reception thrown to Tarantino's 2009 Inglourious Basterds, another one of his bloated efforts that was also a revisionist revenge fantasy steeped into historical context.

Both films, while genius at times, ultimately stumble over their own brilliance and are in need of industrial-sized editing clippers.  What I loved about Basterds, besides its concept, were the two vignettes involving Mélanie Laurent and Diane Kruger, both of whom were overlooked during Oscar time (which is sad especially considering how many accolades the AMPAS threw in the film's direction; why not two of its strongest elements?).  Laurent drove her story, the best of the bunch, and Kruger offered this old Hollywood broad, who was quite smashing.  The director got off on those two in all the right ways; Christoph Waltz was, also, of course, worth mentioning for his effective villain.  But, then, where Tarantino needed to hold himself back (i.e. the pack of "Nazi hunters," as well as Michael Myer's role), he was given full license to basically soil his own movie (his movie, his right, I guess).  But, critics and audiences responded to it alike, so what do I know?

Further Tarantino disclosure: I loved the Kill Bill films.  While they were both redundant, they were at least consistent in quality.  I also didn't mind the marketing strategy of breaking them into two films.  Perhaps it was all the feminine energy, but I slurped them right up.  And, while Pulp Fiction is overrated, I was young and willing enough at the time to look over its faults (and there are many).  However, I still get why it was success and put the director on the map.  And there is no denying that Tarantino had a profound effect on cinema, as Fiction basically opened the floodgates to more crime movies with an edgy personality.  Never got Reservoir Dogs, but I'm sure my mind could change with another viewing.  And while I don't remember much about Jackie Brown, I do recall thinking how cool it was for someone in his position at the time, had all this power and then decided to write a film about a demographic who barely ever sees the light of day at the cinema.  While it may have not spoken to the experience of the black woman, Hollywood certainly wasn't rushing out to make movies with African-American female protagonists.  But, I'm not a black woman, so what do I know.

That brings me to Django, a film which tries to reclaim an ugly period of U.S. history.  Admirable, of course.  Spike Lee has gone on record as saying Tarantino has trivialized black people with projecting the spaghetti Western genre on slavery, without actually having seen the film.  I can't disagree.  Some say you need to see a film to have an opinion.  I agree with this to an extent, however, I think I will lead a fuller life if I never have to sit down and witness The Human Centipede or any of its incarnations to know that I will find them all unbearably distasteful and not worth my time.  In fact, I wish my former coworker never brought its existence to my attention.  But, where I disagree with Lee is completely writing off Tarantino.  Regardless of the final product, I have to believe his motivations were true and genuine.  And while the road to Hell is paved with good intentions, I'm willing to give him a pass on this.

Review: Django Unchained
Django Unchained is Quentin's historical revenge fantasy followup to his historical revenge fantasy Inglourious Basterds from three years ago.  Instead of World War II Nazi-hunters, we have former slave Django (Jamie Foxx)--"the 'd' is silent" (great line and gimmick)--who shoots plenty of honky-ass pre-Civil War while trying to save his enslaved wife Brunhilda (Kerry Washington).  He's freed by German dentist Dr. King Schultz (Christopher Waltz), who has found a more lucrative career in bounty-hunting.  They spend the first hour bonding over spilling blood while kicking butt.  It's actually Quentin Tarantino at his best: fun, oiled, well-edited scenes pop and are full of tension.  There's even a Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid chemistry between the two leads (and Waltz is very much a lead, despite the supporting campaign).  But, alas, that's not the point of the movie.  It's a revenge fantasy and we must get on with things and save the wife (Kerry, whose character is given a nice touch by speaking a tiny bit of German [the promise of which is built up way too thickly], for the most part, is used as a vessel for unnecessary relentless physical abuse and torture).

They hatch a plan that is indeed novel: Schultz and Django concoct a way to get into the good graces of the plantation owner Calvin Candie (Leonardo Dicaprio) who holds her papers.  Yet, the execution is so poor and telegraphed, and depends on convenient contrivances, the film loses steam quite quickly.  I loved the name of Candie's estate, "Candyland," but Tarantino illustrates matters with brutal telling, but showing flair in all the wrong places.  It doesn't help that DiCaprio, as the villain, is not intimidating in the least.  Long gone is his teen-friendly babyface, which he quickly craved to dispatch for more adult roles, yet there was something soft-gloved about his Candie's evil streak.  He lacked the loathsome presence required for a bloodlust fantasy.  There is no underlining insidiousness that makes us want to cheer his shortcomings.  This was a revenge fantasy, right?  While the stunt-casting gives DiCaprio the opportunity to stretch himself by being directed by someone who isn't named Martin Scorsese, it doesn't work.  He's not bad; he just doesn't sustain the second third or so of the film when it's necessary.  So, he likes watching two half-naked men fight to the death and, at another point, he produces a skull and hammer.  But I can't blame him entirely, as it's clear that Tarantino gives the Candie character a refineness that, considering his knick-knack collection and mannerisms, suggests he's a repressed homosexual, who communicates his confusion with incestuous tendencies toward his sister Lara Lee (Laura Cayouette).  In Tarantino's ongoing quest to prop up one minority on the silver screen, it's at the inadvertent expense of another (it wouldn't bother me so much if it was an isolated theme, but it also creeps up in Pulp Fiction's gimp finale, where some have argued "that moment" was unnecessary).

The last third is a pointless bloodbath conveyed rather bluntly and uneventfully (complete with a God-awful director cameo doing an "Australian" (?) accent) that can't hold a candle to one frame from the Kill Bill Vol. 1 finale.  While you can fault The Bride's battle with O-Ren Ishii and the Crazy 88s as graphic (hey, it's Tarantino, what do you expect), you can't deny that it was artfully directed with glee by someone who had the audience clearly in mind and in the palm of his hand.  In Django, it was as if he felt compelled to give his viewers what they paid for, but no wherewithal to deliver in a visually stunning way.  So, he just lets bullets fly.  And the sequence of false endings just makes the gore all the more torturous and the directing all the more unforgivable.  The fact that the protagonist couldn't give a proper burial to one of its more beloved characters further accentuates how false all those endings were.  Some have joked if the U.S. can't waterboard detainees, they should show them the recent Les Mis.  May I suggest the last two hours (or what felt like) of Django instead?

[12/31.  One thing I forgot to mention--and it's huge--is that Django, for the most part, is an example of Tarantino's linear storytelling.  He generally resorts to vignette-style, which helped escalate him to fame.  This is one of his only films where there is a traditional beginning, middle, and end.  And, how telling it is you can easily break this film up into glaring thirds.  Like Alejandro Iñárritu plays with time, both of the filmmakers hide their weaknesses behind shifting around moments, slicing up the narrative, and serving it up in a "fresh, exciting, and new" way.  That they've both built their careers on this conceit so much, they've become codependent and flounder when attempting something more straight-forward in presentation.]

They say ignorance is bliss. Awareness is a bit of curse to be able to simultaneously appreciate something while also seeing its glaring shortcomings.  Wish I had it in me to sign off completely on Tarantino like so many seem to be able to do (especially after all these years).  Part of his genius is that he has the talent for creating these great pulpy stories, but can't quite see them through entirely.  Basterds had some cinematically slick chapters, while other plotlines were just gratuitous and/or obnoxious.  The same goes for the Kill Bill series, but less so.  Tarantino is no doubt a cool filmmaker who can live up to the hype, but, just the same, he often doesn't know when to dial it back ... which includes casting himself in cameos ... and his use of the word 'nigger.'  Yeah, we get it, Tarantino.  Thanks for nailing it into our dimpled skulls (or whatever) over a hundred times.  But, you still haven't reclaimed it from the clutches of the dark past of U.S. history no matter how many times you do.

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Best Actress 1995: The Face of Love

In 1995, Meryl Streep made another strong case for Oscar by starring in the Clint Eastwood film based on a national bestseller and put on an Italian accent.  I love her quote about her opinion of the source material: "I was blind to the book's power."  The film was a financial success, but her turn as Francesca in The Bridges of Madison County just didn't top her Sophie.  Elisabeth Shue, who, up until that point, was known for her girlfriend roles (especially in The Karate Kid series), as well as leading Adventures in Babysitting, impressed just about everyone as prostitute Sera, who literally was a hooker with a heart of gold.  She didn't win, but was able to parlay her nomination into years of offers, even producing her own movie, Gracie, later down the line.  While Shue doesn't have the most range, she has a raw talent and I absolutely adore her (and had a huge crush on her younger brother Andrew who played Billy on Melrose Place).  Recent winner Emma Thompson was on her third lead acting nomination, but she would be celebrated more for adapting the screenplay that gave her one of those nominations: the only Best Picture nominee that year with a Best Actress nod, Sense & Sensibility.

Sharon Stone, having had the privilege of working with Martin Scorsese as prostitute Ginger who marries into the mob, as well as delusions of grandeur (culminating with Joe Pesci sex), got a makeup nomination for being overlooked for her devilish Catherine Trammell in Basic Instinct.  The HFPA would up the ante by handed her the Drama Golden Globe.  Now, when an actress wins the Drama Golden Globe, she goes on to get nominated for Oscar, as a general rule.  The majority of the time, she wins, if she doesn't get defeated by the Comedy/Musical winner (or Chief Marge Gunderson).  Stone lost the Oscar to another Drama nominee, Susan Sarandon, which has only happened once since (Halle Berry over Globe winner Sissy Spacek and Nicole Kidman), if you disregard Kate Winslet winning the Drama Globe for one movie and the Oscar for another.  (This phenomenon was only slightly more common in the 70s and 80s with this category; and, in the 60s, Globe wins were virtually the kiss of death for Oscar.)  But, what Stone didn't have was a backstory and good standing with The Academy; additionally, the character she portrayed wasn't very sympathetic.  Sarandon was on her fifth nomination (the last four of which were almost sequential) with over twenty-five years in the industry.  She played real-life nun Sister Prejean in a film based on a true story, directed by her then common law husband Tim Robbins.  The chances of her losing were pretty slim.

It's hard to say who was the last to actually get into the category as a nominee, but I would place my bets on Stone.  Casino, directed by awards magnet Scorsese, was one of his weaker films and hadn't collected any other awards or even nominations the entire awards season.  Waiting eagerly in the wings was Nicole Kidman in To Die For.  It was a breakout role for Ms. Tom Cruise, who had done a few supporting roles here and there after making a stunning debut in Australian thriller Dead Calm.  Marrying Cruise raised her profile, but it also set the bar higher for her to prove herself.  As the AMPAS demonstrated, they weren't going to welcome Kidman in unless they had to.  She would gradually gain the respect of talented directors and finally take her career to the next level in 2001, fresh from divorcing Cruise after a decade marriage.  Jennifer Jason Leigh was also in contention for a second year in a row, as it's not coincidence that her costar Mare Winningham received her first nomination.  The two played sisters, with the latter having the advantage of being the more likable character.

poll by twiigs.com

The Nominated:
-Susan Sarandon, Dead Man Walking: SAG, Kansas City, Palm Springs, Chlotrudis winner; GG Drama nominee ($39.4M; 93%)

-Elisabeth Shue, Leaving Las Vegas: LA, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, National Society, ISA winner; SAG, GG Drama, BAFTA, Chlotrudis nominee ($32M, Fall release; 89%)

-Meryl Streep, The Bridges of Madison County: SAG, GG Drama, Chicago, National Society nominee ($24M / $71.5M / $182M, Summer release; 90%)

-Emma Thompson, Sense & Sensibility: Texas, NBR, BAFTA winner; SAG, GG Drama, Chlotrudis nominee ($43.2M / $134.6M; 98%)

-Sharon Stone, Casino: GG Drama winner; Chicago nominee ($42.5M / $116.1M; 80%)

The Also-Rans:
-Nicole Kidman, To Die For: GG Comedy, Boston, Broadcast, Seattle, Southeastern, London, Empire winner; BAFTA, Chlotrudis nominee ($21.3M, Fall release; 87%)

-Jennifer Jason Leigh, Georgia: New York winner; National Society, ISA nominee ($1.1M; 78%)

The Also Nominated (for supporting): 
-Joan Allen, Nixon: SAG (lead) nominee; LA, Boston (supporting), Chicago, Kansas City, Texas, National Society winner; New York (2nd), BAFTA (supporting) nominee ($44M / $13.7M; 75%)

The Rest of the Competition:
-Annette Bening, The American President: GG Comedy nominee ($60M / $107.9M; 90%)
-Rena Owen, Once Were Warriors: San Diego winner; Chicago nominee ($1.6M, Spring; 94%)
-Julianne Moore, Safe: ISA, Chlotrudis nominee ($0.5M, Summer; 57%)
-Toni Collette, Muriel's Wedding: GG Comedy nominee ($9M / $15.1M / $15.5M, Spring; 78%)
-Kathy Bates, Dolores Claiborne: Chicago, Chlotrudis nominee ($24.4M, Spring; 82%)
-Vanessa Redgrave, A Month by the Lake: GG Comedy nominee ($2.1M, Fall; 71%)
-Sandra Bullock, While You Were Sleeping: GG Comedy nominee ($17M / $81.1M / $182.1M, Spring;  86%)

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Movie Spoiler THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (2012)

Christopher Nolan wrapped up his Batman trilogy this past summer with The Dark Knight Rises to limited enthusiasm.  Many fans were ecstatic, while others were pleased, but mildly disappointed.  And, the film wasn't without detractors.  The third in the series retains a consistent detail-laden speed-through, while throwing in new characters, layering more social themes, and adding a few twists in an action-packed finale.  There's less of an underlying insidiousness that existed in the second installment, but more gimmicky plot points.  More telling, less showing.  In general, Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) is coaxed out of exile for bearing the brunt of Harvey Dent's transgressions.  A blunt villain who wears a headpiece covering most of his face and goes by the name of Bane (Tom Hardy), who along with other nefarious types, manages to create civil unrest by invading the Gotham City Stock Exchange and taking control over Wayne Enterprises and possession of a nuclear reactor that is reconfigured into a bomb.

While at a near three-hour length, it all goes by so quickly.  Even when it's a mess, it's watchable and engaging.  You may not know what's happening, but there's always something slightly more coherent, engaging, and/or distracting around the corner.  As usual, you have to be quick on your toes to figure everything that's happening as it plays out.  Even then, a second, sometimes third, viewing is required just to comprehend the events. God help you if you can't keep up the first time, though.  While watching the DVD, I realized my head must have been spinning last summer if I didn't even get that characters were sentenced to walk across a frozen river of thin ice.

The acting is hammier than the filmmakers and its fans are willing to admit.  At times, Bale inadvertently parodies his caped crusader with mouth formations and that throaty, barely audible voice manipulation that can only be described as comical.  For most of the film, you never see Hardy's mouth and his vocals come across like he looped in a Sean Connery impression during post-production with inflections that make him an easy target for derision.  It doesn't help that despite Hardy's impressive physical bulk, there's a threatening nature missing from the character.  Anne Hathaway, who plays Selena Kyle (and, for all intents and purposes, Catwoman) a young, street smart thief who fends for herself quite well and harbors a cynical view of humanity.  She's given the only real arc in the movie, which is as clunky and unbelievable.  She often employs the over-the-top acting seen in Brokeback Mountain, but is nevertheless fun to watch, as usual, even when she's laughably bad.  I can't say that I wouldn't have wanted the role to played any other way within the context of Nolan's world.  Kudos go to Michael Caine who turns on the tear-works quite tenderly and gives his Alfred an urgent sympathy.

The film plays fast and loose with concepts like wealth distribution and clean energy, somewhat stigmatizing liberal virtue in the process, yet dependent on an independently wealthy man in a latex costume with superhuman abilities and the willingness to work for free.  I guess that's why he's a myth at the end of the day.  Regardless, one can project their political persuasions all they want on this film, but they're not going to stick.  There are two big twists towards the end that were entertaining during the initial view.  One of them has a character reveal something about their identity that essentially presents two opposing agendas.  The other leaves this viewer confused about what exactly the film was saying about the future of another character.  I get more specific in the movie spoiler, of course.

Movie Spoiler Summary: The Dark Knight Rises
The Dark Knight Rises opens with Commissioner Gordon commemorating DA Harvey Dent eight years after his death.  With the help of comrades in a tailing plane, a villain known simply by the name of Bane (the full-lipped Tom Hardy) hijacks a jet carrying CIA agents involved in interrogation and Dr. Pavel (Alon Aboutboul), in a thrilling sequence including over-the-top dialogue and a driving score.  After attaching the tailing plane to the jet, it slowly loses control and disintegrates.  Before the hallow vessel is dropped, Bane imports a corpse and conducts some kind of blood transfusion with Pavel, so that it will be used to identify Pavel as deceased, before sky-hooking himself to his plane with the doctor, much like Batman kidnapped Lau from Hong Kong in the previous film.

Before the city of Gotham, the mayor speaks the praises of the Dent Act, an "uncompromising stand against organized crime had made Gotham a safer place," because it "gave law enforcement teeth in its fight against the mob."  Bruce Wayne, and Batman, as a consequence, has become a recluse.  The mayor refers to him as "a murderous thug," who killed Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) in cold blood.  Gordon steps up to speak the truth about Dent, but opts not to.  He also speaks of the success of the Dent Act, as there are now over a thousand violent and mafia-related criminals put away in Blackgate Prison.  

Alfred Pennyworth (Michael Caine) asks a maid by the name of Selena Kyle (Anne Hathaway), who is really a jewel thief, to deliver Bruce's dinner to his room.  She acts meek at first, but then reveals her true colors.  A man by the name of Joe Daggett (the dashing Ben Mendelsohn) and a woman Miranda Tate (Marion Cotillard), who has a charity looking for an investor, wish to speak with Bruce.  At the party, Foley (Matthew Modine) and a Congressman (Brett Cullen) gossip about Gordon.  While in his room, Kyle, breaks into his safe and steals his mother's peals.  He catches her off guard by shooting an arrow that hits a target right near her head.  She thinks quickly on her toes and knows how to use her heals, swiping his cane from underneath him; with a back flip out the window, she's gone, like a cat.  The congressman, with hopes of some sexy times, picks her up.  It turns out she has also swiped Bruce's fingerprints for Joe Daggett.  A cop, Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), questions Gordon about Batman.  The next morning, Alfred locates Bruce in the Batcave, who is looking up data on Kyle.  Blake visits an orphanage to get information on a young man named Jimmy, who aged out of the orphanage and fell into the wrong hands, no thanks to the ceased funding from the Wayne foundation. Jimmy's brother explains that he found work in the sewers.  

Kyle delivers Bruce's prints to Daggett's henchman Stryver (wonderfully played by Burn Gorman), but doesn't get her end of the deal (a software program giving her a clean record).  As a backup, the forward-thinking Kyle used the congressman as a bargaining chip; a blowout of firearms results when police arrive.  She then pretends to be a damsel in distress who was innocently caught in the shootout.  

Bane's men bring him Gordon, but he escapes via aqueduct.  Blake recovers and transfers him to the hospital.  Blake has figured out Batman's identity and informs Bruce that he is needed to beat this new villain Bane.  He also shares that Bruce has been a hero of his ever since he visited his orphanage when he was a kid.  Alfred shares with Bruce that Bane is a mercenary who secured a West African mining operation for Daggett.  Bruce visits a doctor (Thomas Lennon who is best known as Lt. Jim Dangle from Reno 911!) and then Gordon, wearing a mask over his head.  

Bruce arrives at a masquerade ball, hosted by Miranda.  "You have to invest if you want to restore balance to the world," she says and speaks of her clean energy project.  Bruce: "Sometimes, the investment doesn't pay off."  Miranda: "A man who doesn't care about the world, doesn't spend half his fortune on a plan to save it and isn't so wounded when it fails, but he goes into hiding."  Bruce has a dance with Kyle.  She plans on stealing the diamonds of her paramour's wife, who is in Ibiza.  "I take what I need from those who have more than enough.  I don't stand on the shoulders of people with less ... you think all this can last?  There's a storm coming, Mr. Wayne.  You and your friends better batten down the hatches, because, when it hits, you're all going to wonder how you ever thought you could live so large [inhales], and leave so little for the rest of us."  "You sound like you're looking forward to it."  "I'm adaptable," she purrs as she curls her lips.  "Those pearls do look better on you than they did in my safe, but I still can't (Bale's accent slips) let you keep them."  She ends up stealing his car.  

Bruce visits Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), who, apparently, still works for him.  Fox explains that Wayne mothballed a fusion project after heavily investing in it.  Bruce refuses to start the venture back up.  Fox's plan of action: "Your majority keeps Daggett at bay, while we figure out a future for the energy program with Miranda Tate."  Fox is unfortunately very supportive of Tate and her interests in the project.  Fox shows Bruce "The Bat," a fancy new air vehicle that flies like a hovercraft and looks like a beetle.  In the Batcave, Alfred unknowingly supplies partial misinformation and explains the prison "pit" where Bane was born and raised, before being trained by Ra's al Ghul (Liam Neeson), who would later excommunicate him from the League of Shadows for being too extreme.  

Bane, along with his henchmen, "occupy Wall Street," (which isn't the best analogy, as Bane and his thugs terrorize people, while executing a fraudulent trade) at the GCSE (Gotham City Stock Exchange). A trader informs Bane, "this is a stock exchange; there's no money you can steal."  Bane: "Really?  Why are you people here?"  Foley announces, "This is a hostage situation."  A trader corrects him, "This is a robbery; they have direct access to the online trading desk."  "I'm not risking my men for your money." Another says, "It's not our money, it's everybody's."  Another, "Mine's in my mattress."  Yet, another, "You want to put these guys down, then the money's in your mattress will be worth a whole Hell of a lot less."  After terrorizing the exchange, Bane and his gang make a memorable escape with bankers tied backwards to the seat of each of their motorcycles.  Batman manages to kill the power in the garage where the chase has led through, just as he did earlier when he stepped out onto the red carpet lined with paparazzi at Tate's shindig.  Foley, hell-bent on arresting Batman, has his men corner him a couple of times, but he escapes each time, the second of which with The Bat.  

Stryver updates Daggett on the status of Bane's progress.  Kyle shows up to give Daggett his just desserts, if not to procure the "clean slate" application that will help her start a new life.  Daggett says the program was a ruse.  His goons show up and Batman helps kick their asses.  Just as Bane arrives, they take off in The Bat.  Before she disappears, she shares that she gave Bruce's prints to Daggett and suggests that it may have been tied to the Stock Exchange raid.

At the Bat Cave, Alfred tells Bruce that he needs to move on and that Rachel didn't really love him.  Fox lets Bruce know that his prints were used to buy some failed options, he's broke, and Daggett is in position to take over Wayne Enterprises, which oversees the energy project.  Fox and Bruce show Tate the reactor, which was created by Pavel.  Bruce fears it getting into the wrong hands (haha) and being used as a nuclear weapon.  He asks her to take over Wayne Enterprises, and destroy the reactor if necessary.  At a meeting, where Daggett is in attendance, Bruce steps down.  Later, Daggett is furious that Tate has taken over.  Bane shows up at his home and kills him.   Blake takes Bruce on a ride to Kyle's.  He offers her a clean slate for information on Bane.  Blake shares with Gordon that Daggett had applied for several city permits to access Gotham's tunnel system.  Gordon takes him under his wing. Tate shows up at Wayne Manor in the rain and they make love.  If it wasn't enough that one woman was about to backstab him (later, literally), Kyle leads Batman into Bane's clutches in an underground tunnel.  It turns out they have been underneath Wayne Enterprise this whole time.  Bane pummels him and tears off his mask as a souvenir.

Blake brings in Kyle for questioning.  Bane takes Bruce to an underground jail, The Pit prison, with a small view of the sky.  Kyle is transported to a men's penitentiary.  At the next board meeting, Bane surprises Fox and Tate.  He shows them the work they're doing in the sewer system.  In confinement, some prisoners take care of Bruce.  He explains how many have tried to scale the wall to escape, but only one child has managed.  We'll be led to believe it was Bane, but it wasn't.  Foley and Blake go on a hunt for Bane.  Tate and Fox volunteer to sign into the reactor's access system at Bane's gunpoint.  Pavel is produced and works on the reactor to convert it to a bomb.  Blake finds two of Bane's men and explosives.  The mayor arrives at a football game.  Foley orders his troops out of the tunnel, as a young boy sings "The Star Spangled Banner."  Bane engages the bomb at kickoff, and the city, including the playing field, begins to implode.  Bane arrives at the stadium.  Blake saves Gordon from some of his men.  Bane kills Pavel in front of everyone, falsely informs the audience that one of them holds the detonator to another bomb that will destroy the city, and announces Martial Law. US Armed Forces arrive.  One of Bane's men informs a soldier that one person leaving the city will detonate the bomb.

Bane stands before Blackgate Prison and reads Gordon's confession in front of cameras that Batman didn't kill Harvey Dent, who was actually a madman.  Gordon allowed criminals to be imprisoned under a law that was passed based on a false myth.  Bane frees the prisoners.  The rich are thrown into the streets in scenes reminiscent of Kristallnacht.  It's complete anarchy.

The reactor is packed into a truck.  A prisoner tells Bruce of "Bane's" (but really Tate's) origins.  He tells the tale of a mercenary and a woman whose love is torn apart by the father.  He agrees to allow the mercenary to be free, when the daughter, who is with child, agrees to take his place in The Pit.  She is raped and killed, and a man takes the child under his wing.  Bruce begins to heal.  Ra's al Ghul appears and Bruce identifies him as the mercenary.  Kyle begins to feel regret for the way things have turned out for Gotham City, while she ransacks an apartment with her girlfriend and partner Jen (Juno Temple).  Blake visits an orphanage.  Bruce tries and fails to scale the wall of The Pit.  Captain Jones (the delicious Daniel Sunjata) arrives with special forces to save the cops.  Gordon and Blake catch him up to speed on the reactor, now a bomb.  A surprise attack kills Jones and his men, and they are hung from a bridge.  Bruce fails to scale the wall again.  But, on his next attempt, he manages to escape.

Dr. Jonathan Crana aka The Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy) presides over a kangaroo court.  He sentences Stryver to exile  which involves walking across a partially frozen over river.  He falls through a hole and dies.  Gordon summons Foley, who blows him off.  Tate offers to volunteer.  Kyle saves a boy from some guys he stole an apple from.  Bruce enlists Kyle's help.  He offers her the clean slate for Fox's whereabouts.  Gordon is arrested and put before the court of anarchy.  He's sentenced to death by exile.  Bane grabs Tate.  Bruce briefly reunites with Tate and Fox.  Kyle shows up as Catwoman and frees all of them.  Bruce and Fox break into the warehouse.  Gordon walks the ice with others.  Blake is caught smuggling a cop through a manhole.  Batman finds Gordon on the ice and has him light the bat signal.  Batman saves Blake's life.  "If you're working alone, wear a mask ... the mask is not for you.  It's to protect the people you care about."  He sends Blake to save people.  Kyle agrees to clear the tunnel with one of Batman's cycles, but that's it.

There's a standoff between the criminals and cops, headed by Foley.  The Bat interrupts Bane's attack.  Kyle clears the tunnel, but contemplates saving herself and leaving.  The police brawl with the prisoners.  Batman and Bane fight.  Blake rallies some orphans to save the city.  Batman overpowers Bane and demands to know where the bomb trigger is.  Tate reveals herself to be the mercenary's child, Talia Al Ghul, who scaled the wall, as she stabs Batman.  Bane was her protector, whom she went back to save at the pit.  Now, even though her father fucked her over, she is still going to carry out his plan to destroy Gotham City and the rest of the world.  She tries unsuccessfully to detonate the bomb.  Blake tries to cross the bridge with the orphans, but the authorities won't let them cross.  Tate takes off.  Kyle saves Batman from Bane.  The authorities blow up the bridge as Blake tries to cross.  Tate assumes control of the vehicle carrying the bomb.  A big action sequence ensues.  Tate crashes the vehicle.  Gordon climbs out from the back.  Tate enacts the emergency flood in the warehouse.  Tate dies a hammy death.  Kyle kisses Bruce (so long Jen!).  Gordon figures out Batman's identity.  Batman uses The Bat to carry the bomb over the ocean, where it explodes.  Gordon delivers eulogy in the presence of Alfred and Blake.  Bruce's assets are liquidated, leaving Alfred a good share; Wayne Manor is turned into an orphanage.  We learn that Blake's first name is Robin, Batman's partner-in-crime in the comics.  Blake enters the Bat Cave and assumes the caped crusader's mantle.  Some say he's now going to be Batman, as Bruce is retiring.  I don't really follow the comics, but it's just kind of weird for Robin to become Batman, especially when played by a little pip squeak.  Alfred travels to Italy, where he sees Bruce and Selena in retirement.

While writing this post, I found it impossible to google "Ra's al Ghul."  Try it.  My computer froze each time before I finished typing his name.  Perhaps I'm just crazy.

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Lawrence Will Play the SNL Card

One thing I never understood is why more movie stars don't take advantage of the SNL venue to drum up more support for their films.  It's a long-running institution, which allows actors to show off their goods and versatility.  But, then, for those who are more limited in range and/or nervous, live-action comedy and improv might just be too tall of an order.  And, as we've witnessed time and again, if the writing isn't up to snuff, it doesn't matter who you are, the prospects of landing in a turkey episode are pretty high.  I got truly excited when I heard Jennifer Lawrence will be hosting the show in a couple weeks.  As Winter's Bone and Silver Linings Playbook has shown us, she can play more than one type, and with The Hunger Games, she has the presence to lead a large enterprise.  Did you know that she will actually be one of the few actresses to throw her hat into the late night variety show ring once nominations are announced, but before ballots are turned in?  Yes, it's an obscure bit of information that you're hearing about because of the questionable use of my free time.

Nicole Kidman, Charlize Theron, and Reese Witherspoon hosted years before they took a more serious position on getting an Oscar.  Even Kim Basinger used her then 30 Rock-familiar husband to cohost way before L.A. Confidential ever existed.  Some basked in the glow of a recent Oscar win: Angelica Huston (Prizzi's Honor), and Geena Davis (The Accidental Tourist).  Others celebrated post-season just having had gotten nominated: Maureen Stapleton (Interiors), Ellen Page (Juno), and Gabourey Sidibe (Precious).  Some finally went on some time after their Oscar win, like Halle Berry, when she headlined Gothika, as well as Helen Mirren (Arthur), Marisa Tomei (Only You), and Sally Field (Mrs. Doubtfire).

You've had ladies with films that opened early in the year who later joined the awards circuit conversation: Shelley Duvall (3 Women, for one of her two stints), Jill Clayburgh (An Unmarried Woman, in her second appearance), Sharon Stone (Basic Instinct), and Renée Zellweger (Bridget Jones's Diary).  You've had women with summer releases who hosted in the Fall just as awards season was getting ready: Lily Tomlin (Nashville, her second of there times), Sigourney Weaver (Aliens, in her first of two times), Andie MacDowell (sex, lies and videotape), Linda Hamilton (Terminator 2), Nia Vardalos  (My Big Fat Greek Wedding), and Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids).

Some of the actresses took the SNL stage in the Fall after a recent release for a little post-opening push: Jodie Foster (Taxi Driver), Ellen Burstyn (Resurrection), Kathleen Turner (Romancing the Stone in her first of two appearances), Joan Allen (Pleasantville), Kate Hudson (Almost Famous), and Annette Bening (Running with Scissors).  A few films had their actresses host the show a week or a few before they opened late in the year: Bernadette Peters (Pennies From Heaven), Melanie Griffith (Working Girl), Helen Hunt (As Good As It Gets, her second time), and Kate Winslet (Finding Neverland, having had Eternal Sunshine earlier in the year).

You had some ladies host a week or two before the ceremony, way after nomination ballots were sent out and possibly already turned in: Sissy Spacek (Carrie), Miranda Richardson (up for Damage, she was riding high off The Crying Game and had Enchanted April also out earlier the previous year), Julianne Moore (Boogie Nights), Queen Latifah (Chicago, in her first of two), Salma Hayek (Frida), and Hilary Swank (Million Dollar Baby).

Anne Hathaway has the distinction of being the most Oscar-ish type actress to host three stints tied to an awards bid each time.  Hathaway's first time was after Rachel Getting Married just opened.  She ended up getting nominated, but her second try with Love and Other Drugs wasn't as successful.  As the opening monologue indicated for her third trip to the SNL stage a few weeks ago, it was all about Les Misérables.  Gwyneth Paltrow tried to drum up support for awards-bid Country Strong most recently, but her second hosting gig was about Shallow Hal's box-office.

As you can tell, if you're familiar with the outcome of each actress in regards to the movie they're pushing, Oscar and SNL don't always mix, even when it comes to just nominations.  But, to do it in the thick of the season, takes some chutzpah, no?  Demonstrating a willingness to fall flat on your face during a 90-minute live televised appearance isn't a cake-walk.  The only women to host after nominations were announced, but probably before most ballots were turned in were Glenn Close (Dangerous Liaisons, in her first of two appearances) and Gwyneth Paltrow (Shakespeare in Love).  Paltrow hosted three days before the nominations were announced, but already tabulated.  Close hosted right after.  Of course, like with Lawrence, these were all tied to platform release strategies for their movies.  Hunt, Paltrow, and Swank are the only ones to come out winners.  We know Hathaway will.  Will Lawrence?  Will Chastain have time to take off from appearing on stage as The Heiress to throw her hat into the SNL ring?  We'll have to wait and see.  But, for now, I can't wait to see Lawrence kill it.

poll by twiigs.com

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Do You Remember the Film You Fell Out of Love With M. Night Shyamalan?

Is Will Smith happy to see us
or is it just standard muscle calibration?

For me, it was Signs.  I put off the breakup, but, when it happened, it was short, but it got ugly.  M. Night Shyamalan now has another film coming out next year.  Remember when he got Oscar-nominated for directing The Sixth Sense?  I saw that film in the theatre two or three times.  The first time, my jaw dropped during "the big reveal."  I had never been quite so floored during a film before.  Have you?  The second viewing's sole purpose was to watch in amazement at how I missed all of the clues sitting right in front of me.  By the time I got to it for a third time, I realized that the movie didn't really hold up as a whole, though I remained impressed for having been duped. Naturally, high expectations rode on Shyamalan's follow-up Unbreakable.  Everyone wanted to see if he could fool audiences again.  I forget what the surprise in the climax was (which prompts me to want to watch it again).  However, despite being wowed, I do recall finding the overall movie a solid effort.  I loved the sound-effects involved with Mr. Glass.  (Hmmn, now my memory seems to be recalling the end.)  I thought perhaps Shyamalan had potential in the long-run.  Critics were way too harsh.  Unfortunately, the director felt the need to continually top himself.

poll by twiigs.com

Fans began to fall off, but there was still a strong contingent that maintained that he was back in form with Signs.  I remember that scene where he cast himself as the guy sitting in the truck who wasn't all there, talking about I don't know what, and thinking to myself, are you kidding me?  I caught it on video and was bored the whole time, except for an image of an alien on the rooftop, but mostly waited for that goody that awaited at the end.  When it turned out to be a rule Billy Peltzer broke in Gremlins, I laughed.  Again: are you kidding me?  This was the movie that was considered a come-back, that grossed over $200?  Some were swearing by that film just as much as Sense.  Huh?

Is the twist related to the planet?

You couldn't knock him for being inconsistent, though.  He kept coming out with a piece of caca every two years, like clockwork ... The Village, Lady in the Water, The Happening.  He was like Woody Allen, only Allen puts out every year and, and though he has had his lulls, I don't believe he has made five certifiable bombs in a row.  With each new Shyamalan movie came an even stupider premise.  I gave up after Water.  When I saw the trailer to The Last Airbender, it appeared that maybe he was finally branching off, but the tone and style just didn't appear to be my bag.  Did I miss anything?  I couldn't believe that studios gave him $150M to make it, but, then, Lady aside, every single last one of his films have turned a profit one way or another. This is befuddling considering that he hasn't risen above the 50% RT mark since Signs.  Are people just stubborn and holding out with hope?

Sometimes I know I can be hard on filmmakers and set my expectations too high, but it seemed that Shyamalan had backed into the corner and "typecasted" himself as the directer who must throw audiences for a loop at the end of every new movie.  And he trusts his talent and creativity way too much.  All of his scripts are penned by him.  Except After Earth isn't his, entirely.  Stephen Gaghan has stepped in.  He won an Oscar for Traffic and his last motion picture credit was Syriana.  But, Earth stars Will Smith and his son Jaden.  I've only seen the younger Smith in The Karate Kid remake, where he wasn't bad.  And his father is a true action hero and movie star, but I just don't buy his acting.  Nor, do I trust his business sense (or that of his management).  Two of his last films, Seven Pounds and Hitchcock, were so inexplicably incoherent, it was unbelievable that adults were behind these ventures (and getting paid).  Therefore, the prospect of Smith teaming up with Shyamalan sounds like a recipe for disaster of WTF-proportions.

There are some intriguing, if not self-inflated visuals in the trailer, while the movie itself has an I Am Legend vibe.  I like the concept: it appears the two have crash-landed on earth and the planet has "evolved to kill humans."  (I'm sure that will go over well with those who don't believe man contributes to climate change.)  Most of the scenes show the younger Smith trying to survive attacks.  And there are some great quotes, "But if we are going to survive this, you must realize that fear is not real.  It is a product of thoughts you create.  Do not misunderstand me.  Danger is very real.  But, fear is a choice."  Perhaps what we have are a bunch of fearless filmmakers who are doing what they think is right.  If we do, are they?  I guess we have to wait and see.

[Image via Rope of Silicon]

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Best Actress 1987: Loretta Castorini

They both cleaned up well, both peaking looks-
wise; but, to Cher's credit, he had practically
a two-decade advantage

The frontrunner for Best Actress with the critics groups in 1987 was newcomer Holly Hunter for Broadcast News, James L. Brooks peak inside the workings and politics of primetime news.  She delivered a memorable serio-comic performance as a producer in the middle of a love triangle, Jane Craig, a more likable answer to Faye Dunaway's Oscar winning Diana Christensen in Network.  More liberal virtue, less blood-hungry ratings grabbing, Broadcast News was earnest, but more superficial than it was probably willing to admit.  A theatrical commitment would prevent Hunter from participating fully in the awards season (who was having a great year also having released the hit Raising Arizona).  She was up for the Golden Globe in a Comedy or Musical and when she lost to Cher, her chances for an Oscar win almost evaporated entirely.  A win in this category often leads to an Oscar nomination, sometimes not, sometimes more.  But, a loss in this category seldom bodes well for the actress. A nomination is still possible, if the Drama side isn't so competitive, but a win for lead?  Only Hunter's old roommate and Raising Arizona costar Frances McDormand has pulled it off since for Fargo.  She lost the Globe to Evita's Madonna, whom the HFPA worship, but the Oscars relish in ignoring.

She couldn't steal one
just like a baby, so Oscar,
like motherhood,
would have to wait

But, Cher, another musical icon, had more going for her than Madonna.  With her respected film debut in Come Back to the Five and Dime, a nomination for Silkwood, and a perceived snub for Mask, Cher had built up an immense amount of good-will in the movie industry with only a handful of films (Moonstruck was also her final bow for the year, with three well-received films in 1987).  Not only that, but Moonstruck (which according to commenter Robert A. had Sally Field attached to the project) was an even bigger box-office sensation than Broadcast News.  A Best Picture nominee in its own right, it would go on to prove to have been a formidable candidate winning three Oscars after the evening was finished.  By comparison, currently, Moonstruck is one of the basic positive indicators of Jennifer Lawrence's chances at a win for Silver Linings Playbook.  The Oscar winner is culled from the Golden Globe Comedy/Musical category about 30% of the time.  If you specify modern romantic-comedy, it's less than 10%.  To complicate matters further, Lawrence is not the lead like Cher, and Playbook is idling along at the box-office and may not even eke out the $45M Harvey Weinstein's The Artist managed to do.

The Three Faces of Sally

One of her other main competitors was Sally Kirkland for Anna, who had invested a great deal of time and emotion into getting an Oscar.  Decades later, her reaction to the loss would become a small internet meme.  After twenty-five years of countless movies, plays, auditions, learning Czech, everything rested in this moment for the actress.  But, alas, Hollywood did not want to turn her into a star and she would have been better being thankful for having gotten nominated.  After Paul Newman read Cher's name, if Kirkland's look could kill, she would have keeled over on the spot that night.  The moment mirrored her title character in a plot that was a hat-tip to All About Eve.  It was only a split second later that she realized the camera was on her that she joined in the applause for the victor and painted a smile on her face. Ever the actress that she is, she exposed a vulnerable and real side to the business that often gets painted over with a broad glitzy brush.

You give the performance of a lifetime and the AMPAS
shit on you

Even though she was playing a villain, a character type The Academy doesn't generally cotton to in the Best Actress race, Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction had delivered one balls-out amazing turn as batshit crazy singleton book editor Alex Forrest.  A role that originally was turned down by Miranda Richardson, as well as several other actresses including Debra Winger (and sought after by tons of other notable names), Close fought hard for the part, and with costar Michael Douglas' support, eventually won it.  The movie made mad money and became a touchstone in debates regarding feminism, fidelity, and casual sex, especially in the age of AIDS; it also kicked off Douglas unofficial Persecuted White Male Trilogy that would continue with Basic Instinct and Disclosure.  Perhaps Close was never a player for the win, but it's difficult for me to imagine otherwise.

This is how it's done ...

The closest this category has come to a four-way race in modern history, the fifth slot went to Meryl Streep, as she sometimes surfaced as a placeholder.  As for the also-ran's, I've never seen The Whales of August, so I can't speak to the performances, including Lillian Gish's.  I do remember talk of "another shutout" towards Barbra Streisand for Nuts, though I imagine her chances were right down there with Faye Dunaway's, who, herself, had become somewhat of a joke.  Young Emily Lloyd had also made an impression on Siskel & Ebert with her turn in Wish You Were Here.  Perhaps with two comedies in the race already, Diane Keaton didn't have a shot with Baby Boom, but it certainly did some healthy business at the box-office. Sarah Miles was the matriarch in Hope and Glory, but it was the only Best Picture with a lead actress who didn't make it into her respective race. Rachel Chagall (whose costar was nominated) was one of the only lower profile actresses in contention to secure a Golden Globe Drama slot, as well as having a pretty baity role.

The very first year I really began to pay any real close attention to Oscar, 1987 was truly a great year for the Best Actress race, perhaps even my favorite. I would have voted for Close, but I certainly can't begrudge Cher, Sally Kirkland notwithstanding.

The Nominees:

... bitches

-Cher, Moonstruck: GG Comedy, Kansas City winner; BAFTA nominee (Domestic: $80.6M; 94% RT)
-Holly Hunter, Broadcast News: LA, New York, Boston, NBR, Berlin winner; GG Comedy, National Society (3rd) nominee ($51.3M / Worldwide: $67.3M; 98%)
-Glenn Close, Fatal Attraction: GG Drama nominee ($156.7M / $320.2, Fall; 79%)
-Sally Kirkland, Anna: GG Drama, LA, ISA winner ($1.2M)
-Meryl Streep, Ironweed ($7.4M; 65%)

The Competition:
-Rachel Chagall, Gaby: A True Story: GG Drama nominee ($0.1M, Fall)
-Sarah Miles, Hope and Glory: BAFTA nominee ($10M, Fall; 94%)
-Emily Lloyd, Wish You Were Here: National Society winner; BAFTA nominee ($3.3M, Summer; 83%)
-Barbra Streisand, Nuts: GG Drama nominee ($31M; 38%)
-Christine Lahti, Housekeeping: New York (2nd) nominee ($1.1M; 100%)
-Lillian Gish, The Whales of August: NBR winner; ISA nominee ($1.3M, Fall; 63%)
-Maggie Smith, The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne: BAFTA winner ($0.5M)
-Diane Keaton, Baby Boom: GG Comedy, National Society (2nd) nominee ($26.7M, Fall; 81%)
-Faye Dunaway, Barfly: GG Drama nominee ($3.2M, Fall; 78%)
-Anne Bancroft, 84 Charing Cross Road: BAFTA winner ($1.1M, Winter; 86%)
-Julie Walters, Personal Services: BAFTA nominee ($1.7M, Spring)
-Bette Midler, Outrageous Fortune: GG Comedy nominee ($52.9M, Winter; 50%)
-Jennifer Grey, Dirty Dancing: GG Comedy nominee ($6M / $63.5M / $214M, Summer; 68%)

poll by twiigs.com

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Merry Christmas!

Here's a marvelous cover of one of the best modern Christmas songs care of Olivia Olson in one of the best Christmas movies ever, Love Actually.

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Gosling Dons Another Motorcycle Jacket

Derek Cianfrance's Blue Valentine was one of the best films of 2010.  Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams played a couple brought together by circumstances and virtue that ultimately undermine their relationship.  The complexity is both challenging and depressing.  It wasn't an easy film to watch, but I loved it.  Cianfrance's followup The Place Beyond the Pines debuted at Toronto this past Fall.  While the few bit of reviews out there generally praise it, it didn't exactly set the internet on fire.  The trailer doesn't build anticipation either.  Gosling reteams with the director as a stunt driver (a profession he's played before, memorably) who contemplates a criminal endeavor (again, something he's already done memorably), while an ambitious cop (Bradley Cooper) sets his sights on political office.  Sounds somewhat like The Departed to me, though not sure why.  Gosling's girlfriend Eva Mendes plays his love interest.  In the trailer, there's a brief moment involving actors Dane DeHaan (Chronicle) and Emory Cohen (?), that struck me as, unintentionally or otherwise, homoerotic.  Perhaps I was just bored and underwhelmed.  The film opens at the end of March.

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Best Actress 1994: She'll Do

When I say 1994 was the crappiest year for Best Actress in recent memory, I'm pretty confident that many will agree with me.  It was just a lame run for actresses and Jessica Lange's victory was the icing on the cake.  Not to say she isn't undeserving of multiple awards, just for something a little more substantial.  The number of Best Picture nominees which included a lead turn from a female was exactly zero, unless you count Andie McDowell in Four Weddings and a Funeral, or Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction for that matter.  While my stance has softened over the years, when Best Picture Forrest Gump came out, I was appalled by the messages I saw it delivering about women.  The other two movies barely even had women in the story.  Commercially, there weren't a lot of female-driven hits (Julia Roberts was having an off-year, trying to get her footing back after being on hiatus) and the art-house didn't have much to offer either.  And, it was one of those years where none of the nominees fit any traditional Oscar narrative to help sell the idea of a "deserving winner."

When it came to deciding who to reward the Oscar, the lesser of all evils probably went down like this: Despite winning the SAG, Jodie Foster's Nell was easy to rule out.  The already two-time Oscar winner (whose victories were still pretty fresh) wasn't even in her mid-30s.  And that her movie and performance was ripe for parody didn't help matters.

Winona Ryder, the youngin' of the group, was still on the rise.  She was nominated for Little Women.  Now, if Katherine Hepburn couldn't even get nominated for her Jo March, it didn't seem likely the Ryder would win, now would it?  Additionally, Ryder was still proving herself as an actor.  She had the good fortune of being Tim Burton's muse, the heroine of cult hit Heathers, as well as "the voice of a generation" in Reality Bites.  But, as an actress, with her anemic voice and limited range, it would be a while before she even began showing signs of raw talent.  A win for her at that point would have been regrettable, even if the film still made a good show at the box-office.

Susan Sarandon would be the most overdue at that point.  She was on her fourth nomination.  Her film The Client, based on the John Grisham novel, directed by Joel Schumacher, did not have the best credentials.  While it did make bank (and is still probably one of the highest grossing films to receive a Best Actress nomination), it was one of her more forgettable performances in a movie that quite possibly hasn't aged well.  So, it would come as no surprise if there was still some sort of split between her and Jessica Lange.  That would leave Miranda Richardson and Lange.  Both actresses played characters who are mentally unstable or misunderstood.  Richardson, once a rising star having been first offered the role of Alex Forrest in Fatal Attraction, still had a leg up on Lange age wise.  However, Richardson was already on her way to 40 and hardly fit into the Oscar definition of a "babe," which, I imagine, unfortunately did not work in her favor.  Instead, the AMPAS would settle on Lange, who had already won a supporting statue for Tootsie twelve years prior.  That same year she was also one of the favorites for lead, losing to Meryl Streep's universally referenced Sophie's Choice.  Having built up three more nods since then, Lange had accumulated some goodwill, enough that they were willing to choose her over Sarandon.  Enough time had passed.

She takes what she needs and moves on ...
unless it's an Oscar

What made 1994 more unusual is that one of its most talked about performances, Linda Fiorentino in The Last Seduction, was disqualified for a nomination, as the movie originally debuted on HBO the summer before its Fall theatrical release.  The producers would file suit, but a judge would throw it out, as the AMPAS rules are clear: a movie's premiere must be in the theaters.  Additionally, Fiorentino was overlooked by the Emmys AND the Golden Globes (who didn't cite her for either medium), despite winning the majority of film critics awards out there.  Some talk about category confusion, this might be one of the only cases of medium confusion.  It would be only a few more years until The Sopranos and Sex and the City would legitimize cable's place in the "television" world.  Fiorentino tried to exploit her film noir persona in the cinema to no avail.  Her commercial high would end up being third billing in Men in Black (a role she won in a card game with the director) where despite its ending, would writer her out completely in the sequel.  Ominously, it's explained that her character requested a return to the morgue where she would work as a medical examiner.  The location is exactly where Fiorentino's career ended up.  But, even if she had made it into the Oscar race, as Basic Instinct, every screen siren Kathleen Turner has played, and Annette Bening in Bugsy have proven, Oscar doesn't really have high regard for a femme fatale or an old Hollywood broad, at least in modern times.  They will notice someone like Angelica Huston; but her sexual proclivities aren't, shall, we say, traditional.  What does that say about the AMPAS?

Jennifer Jason Leigh came closest to nabbing her first nomination, but she falls on the list of actresses the AMPAS just don't like.  While there are some critics who don't care for her, as far as The Academy is concerned, her non-traditional physical beauty probably rubbed them the wrong way.  They have proven time and time again that they like their ingenues pretty and easily labeled as babes.  That simply worked against Leigh, which is a shame, considering her talent.  This would be a year the Oscars also continued their bias against comic brilliance.  Somehow, the ability to make us laugh ranks several rungs below anything else that can be associated with acting.  They'll take charming and scrappy (Terms of Endearment, Moonstruck, Working Girl, The Blind Side), but to have out-right comical muscle, as is the case of Jamie Lee Curtis, they tend to take a pass.  Overlooking her prowess in True Lies was an unfortunate example, one of many in the case of Curtis over the years.  Meryl Streep was also left out, which wasn't very common, but The River Wild was essentially an action thriller, not exactly Oscar bait.

The Nominees:
-Jessica Lange, Blue Sky: GG Drama winner; SAG, LA, Chicago, National Society (2nd) nominee ($3.4M, Fall release; current 74% RT).

-Miranda Richardson, Tom & Viv: NBR winner; GG Drama, BAFTA nominee ($0.5M; 33%)

-Jodie Foster, Nell: SAG, Dallas-Fort Worth, Southeastern winner; GG Drama, Chicago nominee ($33.7M / $106.7M; 53%)

-Winona Ryder, Little Women: Kansas City winner; Chicago, Chlotrudis nominee ($18M / $50.1M; 90%)

-Susan Sarandon, The Client: BAFTA winner; SAG, Chicago nominee ($92M / $117.6M, Summer release; 80%)

The Also-Rans:
-Linda Fiorentino, The Last Seduction: New York, Dallas-Fort Worth AND Texas, ISA, London winner; Boston (2nd), Chicago, National Society (3rd), Chlotrudis nominee ($5.8M, "Fall" release; 94%)

-Jennifer Jason Leigh, Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle: Chicago, National Society winner; GG Drama, New York (2nd), ISA nominee ($2.2M; 74%)

-Jamie Lee Curtis, True Lies: GG Comedy winner; SAG supporting nominee ($115M / $146.3 / $378.9M, Summer release; 72%)

-Meryl Streep, The River Wild: SAG, GG Drama, Chicago nominee ($46.8M / $94.2, Fall release; 55%)

-Meg Ryan, When a Man Loves a Woman: SAG nominee ($50M, Spring release; 70%)

The Also-Nominated (for supporting):
-Uma Thurman, Pulp Fiction: BAFTA nominee (lead); SAG, Golden Globe, New York (2nd), Chicago, Dallas-Forth Worth (2nd), National Society (2nd), Chlotrudis nominee (supporting) ($8M / $107.9M / $213.9M, Fall release; 96%)

-Helen Mirren, The Madness of King George: Cannes winner; BAFTA nominee (lead) ($15.2M; 93%)

The Rest of the Competition: 
-Isabelle Adjani, Queen Margot: César winner ($1.3M; 75%)
-Irène Jacob, Red: BAFTA, César nominee ($3.6M, Fall release; 100%)
-Andie MacDowell, Four Weddings and a Funeral: GG Comedy nominee ($4.4M / $52.7 / $245.7M, Spring release; 96%)

-Kathleen Turner, Serial Mom: Chlotrudis nominee ($13M / $7.8M, Spring release; 60%)
-Sigourney Weaver, Death and the Maiden: Dallas-Fort Worth (2nd) ($12M / $3.1M; 84%)
-Julianne Moore, Vanya on 42nd Street: Boston winner; Chlotrudis nominee ($1.8M, Fall release; 88%)
-Judy Davis, The New Age / The Ref: Chlotrudis winner ($0.3M / $11.4M; 67% / 76%)
-Shirley MacLaine, Guarding Tess: GG Comedy nominee ($27.1M, Spring release; 59%)
-Emma Thompson, Junior: GG Comedy nominee ($60M / $36.8M / $108.4M; 32%)
-Li Gong, To Live: Chlotrudis nominee ($2.3M; 87%)
-Geena Davis, Speechless: GG Comedy nominee ($20.7M; 12%)
-Brooke Smith, Vanya on 42nd St.: Boston (3rd) nominee; National Society (3rd), ISA, Chlotrudis supporting nominee ($1.8M, Fall release; 88%)

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