Oscars: The Grouch
Thank you, Lynda. Your post this day answers most of my important questions and, more than that, puts all the races into Hollywood perspective—the only one that matters, at this stage (or probably any stage). If nothing else, tonight, Hollywood will defeat the Independent Spirit awards.
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StumbleUponA Beautiful Mind will win Best Picture and Russell Crowe Best Actor. Jennifer Connelly will win Best Supporting Actress. Akiva Goldsman will win for his screenplay, alas. The directing prize will probably go to Ron Howard—but it won't be a total surprise if Robert Altman takes it. Sissy Spacek will likely win—although I'm getting from you strong Halle Berry vibes. I loved Spacek and, as you know, disliked Berry; but now I'm thinking it's going to be a Berry-good year. We didn't discuss Supporting Actor, but based on your comments LOTR comments, I'm thinking not McKellen but Jim Broadbent. Gosford Park for original screenplay? Lots of technical prizes and maybe Howard Shore for LOTR (not Horner or Williams again!), but Art Direction to the ADD candidate, Moulin Rouge. Shrek, of course. No Man's Land for the social-conscience thing. Black Hawk Down for editing/sound editing and maybe cinematography.
Yeah, it's depressing.
What's saddest about this scenario: The ABM people (aren't those antiballistic-missile initials? So the title was code!) will feel vindicated not only for their artistry (which is considerable), but for ironing out many of the dissonances and, as you've suggested, making it look as if schizophrenia has extremely tidy borders. (I've never seen such well-demarcated delusions. If only it were that easy to separate the real from the unreal.) I'm not sure if I should be rooting for ABM because of the alleged dirty campaign, or rooting against ABM for milking the alleged dirty campaign so hard.
I'll be sad because I love Robert Festinger and Todd Field's In the Bedroom screenplay, but I'll probably handle the other losses OK. Except for one …
This morning, I went to see Iris, which is the only non-documentary feature in contention that I'd missed. It was one of those movies that Miramax played for a week to qualify for awards; and I resented that strategy so much (it's OK for one film, maybe, but when a studio does it with three, four, five … ) that I kept my distance.
Seeing it today was a useful thing to do, however. I went to the theater specifically to consider the performances with regard to the Oscar; and maybe because of all the brilliant, daring, edge-of-the-precipice acting, I found myself feeling slightly ashamed.
More than anyone, it was Kate Winslet who surprised me. Although I've loved almost everything I've ever seen her do (she was delightful last year in Quills, for instance), I think of her as a fragile creature, easily flushed. But there's an element of control in this performance that's just astounding. She's so vivacious and so brainy: The lines really seem to be coming out of her head, and they're not easy lines. More than even Dench (who is very fine), she anchors the movie's conceit, which is the terrifying notion that the loss of language equals the loss of self.
And tonight Kate Winslet will be a "loser." It's not that I think it's the "best" performance—if I'd seen Gosford Park this morning, I might have been consumed with thoughts of Helen Mirren or Maggie Smith (or, for that matter, Emily Watson). It's that in the face of such artistry, the notion of "winners" and "losers" is even more abhorrent than usual.
Can I just tell you, for the record, that I hate all this? I'm not being ironic. I fucking hate the Academy Awards, and if I had any guts I'd stop scribbling about them; I'd stop voting for critics' prizes; and I'd stop compiling absurd 10-best lists. I would write about the artists whose work either impressed or disappointed me and ignore the ranking thing and the prize thing.
So, what are you serving tonight? I usually entertain, but tonight it's just me, my computer, and a bottle of Pinot Noir. Thoughts as they come … as it happens …
David
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Notes From The Fray Editor:
Dira Necessitas said "I love Denzel, but Crowe was robbed" and touched off a long argument. Other topics of interest were Halle Berry's speech (many posts, few defenders), Gwyneth Paltrow's dress (no compliments), and Russell Crowe's choice of roles (one post, strong if slightly wild views).
Reader Comments From The Fray:
See, this is what really depresses me about Hollywood and its movies. Ron Howard makes consistently squishy, feel-good movies that are just next-door-to-really-good enough that he gets Oscars, or is at least a real contender for one. He could put that manipulativeness to work for him and turn out some really brilliant films if he could get rid of the Here Comes the American Hero attitude (I think he played the Opie and Ritchie Cunningham roles too long.) A bit of a darker, more cynical attitude could have boosted several of his films to another level altogether. Imagine Apollo 13 directed by a cross between Howard and David Lynch. Doesn't that sound like a good idea? Actually, given Lynch's films, he would have been a much better choice for director of A Beautiful Mind. We would have gotten a really good view of a schizophrenic mind, I think...
--Kathleen
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So maybe the Academy gave into some sentimentality and political correctness. So what? If it was the triumph of style, it was not at any great sacrifice to substance. Rather, I think Hollywood brought substance to the rest of us this year with their stylistic choices. Through some partly deserved and partly symbolic gestures, they set an example and gently reminded the rest of us as a society that of which we are capable but have yet to achieve fully. Indeed, in Hollywood at least, the only two remaining groups snubbed by Oscar are wizards and hobbits - and there is always next year!
--The Bell
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