Oscar Homework, 2010

So it's cram time, gotta see as many of the nominees before the ceremony on March 7th. Well, here goes:

THE HURT LOCKER

Very involving--gripping, for the most part--and yet curiously unmoving. While the whole cinema-verite style was immediate and jarring, I can honestly say that I didn't feel bombarded the way I do with most action movies. Kathryn Bigelow is one of the best action directors working today, and I hope she wins Best Director. But there's no over-reaching story or plot, we're just following this unit wondering if everyone will make it to the end of their tour of duty. It's nice that they weren't trying to layer on a lot of personal drama, but without that the characters--particularly the lead character--don't seem engaging. Vivid and immediate, but impersonal. Still a great visceral experience.

AVATAR

Everybody is complaining that the story is insipid and hippie-dippie. And it is, but it's in the service of a dazzling and imaginative fantasy. It's notable that of the nine Oscar nominations it has received, Best Screenplay isn't one of them, which is highly unusual. Not that I think it deserves to be, but nobody was criticizing UP for its story. Anyway, this is an exciting and inventive movie that people will be watching for years to come, and I think it deserves Best Picture.

INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS

Pure Tarantino--and its greatest strength may be its greatest weakness. His genre movies all always about the movies as much as they are the genre itself: this World War II movie of his isn't about World War II, it's about World War II movies. Hell, the plot revolves around the screening of such a movie. There are some great scenes, and Christoph Waltz is the odds-on favorite to take Best Supporting Actor, but I don't think this one is likely to pick up many more, other than maybe Best Original Screenplay. I'll be laughing my ass off if this is the spoiler between AVATAR and HURT LOCKER, and Tarantino gets the Best Picture Oscar he should've gotten for PULP FICTION.

UP

This is the movie I probably have the fewest problems with, among all the contenders. It's a great kids movie, but works equally well for adults. The youngster doesn't outsmart or out-talk his elders, and not every other joke is some pop-culture reference.

UP IN THE AIR

Starts out strong, does OK, then ends weak. I like the characters, I like the set-up (I couldn't help thinking, a friendlier and less obstrusive Tyler Durden). But what's the point of this movie? To deconstruct the life and values of a man on the road? The reviews I've read all tout this movie as being a sign of our times, but I don't see that. FIGHT CLUB had a lot more to say about our cultural values.

PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL PUSH BY SAPPHIRE

Russ Goes To the Movies, 2009--updated 2/20/9

I don't get out much anymore. Not to see many films, at least. I used to see dozens of movies a year, I followed directors and writers along with actors and actresses, kept up with everything happening in the industry. When I was a film student, back in '92 and '93, I saw upward of 70 movies a year.

Last year? I saw three. No wait, four: SHINE A LIGHT, DARK KNIGHT, GONZO: THE LIFE AND WORK OF DR. HUNTER S. THOMPSON, and THE HAPPENING. Three out of four, that's not bad. Right?

But I didn't catch any of the movies that went on to get any significant Oscar nominations, and I'm all about the Oscars: I'll beat anybody at Academy Award trivia, I've been following the Oscar races since '79, the way other guys analyze the Superbowl or the World Series.

So, if Sunday's Oscar broadcast is going to mean anything to me--and I plan on blogging it live--then I gotta do some homework.

So I've seen a Best Picture nominee a night all week, and then some. Here's what I think so far:

THE WRESTLER

Good performances and some deft direction, not much else. The story seems recycled from cliches that must date from wrestling pictures since the 30's: pro wrestler who's too old to continue, heart-of-gold stripper who can't/won't date customers, estranged kid that can't be bought off by belated apologies and heartfelt gifts, etc. All brought to life with a cinema verite quality and an attention to detail that itself may be new to the wrestling genre, but doesn't elevate the material much beyond that. Still, I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy seeing Marisa Tomei strip for a good cause: that being fleshing out a two-dimensional supporting character into something that provides a good motivation for the protagonist. I never thought Mickey Rourke was a bad actor, WILD ORCHID notwithstanding--ANGEL HEART is one of my favorite movies, and I can't picture anyone else in the role. And he certainly does a great job here, though it's not transcendent like Langella as Nixon or Pitt as Button. So: here's hoping for Marisa.

MILK

Good, but I don't see it winning in any major categories. Looks great, though, a vivid evocation of the 70's, both in period detail and the cultural climate. And once again, Sean Penn disappears completely into a role. And like most Gus Van Sant movies, the supporting cast really stands out. Not too flashy for a biopic, which works in its favor, but its understatement makes it an unlikely choice for anything other than its acting nominations (Penn and Josh Brolin), and they're up against almost impossible competition.

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

I have to confess that I'm not at all taken with Indian culture (that being Asian Indian, not American Indian--I myself am a half-breed, and I find Native culture to be fascinating). I don't like Indian food, art, music, or cinema. This whole Bollywood thing is going to pass me right by. Which is not to say that I didn't like this movie, it was engrossing and had a minor epic sweep to it. Danny Boyle is kinetic enough, and knows how to structure a quirky story. But the story is farfetched and the characters too simple, kind of out of step with the stark realism in its depiction of the slums of Mumbai, and the brutality of abject poverty. Its popularity could cut either way, but my money's not on this one. Maybe Best Photography or Best Editing.

FROST/NIXON

I was surprised at how blown away I was. Never mind that Ron Howard was the same guy who did SPLASH--he also did A BEAUTIFUL MIND, not one of his best, though it won him Best Director and won Best Picture. Here, he's spot-on and no-nonsense, almost as good as his masterwork, APOLLO 13. Though I'm a big Watergate buff, I only dimly remember the Frost interviews from when I was a kid, and was never too curious. But this depiction of ten hours of videotaped talk is riveting. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised at how much work went into the whole television endeavor, but I didn't expect it to make for such a fast-paced drama. Didn't seem dumbed-down at all. But the real driving force here is Frank Langella's performance as Nixon. That Oscar is his. This is the best evocation of Nixon I've ever seen, beating out Dan Hedaya in DICK and Phillip Baker Hall in SECRET HONOR. This is on par with Val Kilmer's portrayal of Jim Morrison, it's uncanny. I can see this winning for Adapted Screenplay and Best Editing.

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON

I can't believe how this movie won me over. This is my vote for Best Picture and Best Director. Certainly Best Makeup, though I thought DARK KNIGHT was goddamned impressive, too. It isn't too sentimental or cloying, like FORREST GUMP, which is its obvious comparison. It's low-key and is focused on its characters, not the historical sweep, and that makes its impact all the more subtle. I love the fact that everyone just kind of accepts the premise that the lead character is aging backwards and works with it, rather than treating it as an opportunity for cheap quirky humor. Thirteen nominations? I wouldn't have believed it til I saw it. My money's on this one.

THE READER

Even without copious nudity and sex, this would still be a knockout performance by Kate Winslet. I don't know that she'll win--and in truth, I haven't seen the other nominees in this category, but she's just amazing in a very demanding role, and she may be the one I'm pulling for most. The whole film is a real winner, a meditation on past mistakes and atonement, about missed opportunities and healing. It's a shame that this one won't win many awards tonight, as it's overshadowed by more luminous contenders.

Sex and Bacon Sarah Katherine Lewis

This is a must-read--but only for those with appetites, since that's what the book is about. Lewis, a Seattle native, is a former sex worker with a literal lust for life, so whether it's describing a blind date in Capital Hill or answering the question of how much bacon will satisfy her bacon craving, she evokes the sensuality of the experience with a carnal immediacy. She disdains diets and artificial foods as not satisfying natural hunger, and so only prolong the body's need; better to just trust your desires and enjoy them rather than starve yourself in whatever way. I'm a hedonist myself, so that's a life philosophy I can relate to.

But be warned: she also has a wicked scatological streak that rivals that other Sarah. In the first chapter she bemoans the fact that all her recent boyfriends seem to think she's turned on by oral-anal attention. And she has a chapter about one of her former clientele, a guy nicknamed "Baby Ruth Man" who may have been permanently warped by viewing CADDYSHACK at a young age. Now, whereas Cynthia Heimel or Laurie Notaro would recoil from this sort of stuff in Judeo- and/or Christian revulsion, Lewis understands that there are some awkward moments in life that can only really be shared if you're willing to hear about the grim details. But she avoids the common pitfall of graphic detail for its own sake, the shock-humor of the last decade or so. What she's telling you needs to be said to draw the picture, whether it's the anatomical detail of the mussel she's about to cook, or her own personal hygiene at the moment she meets an ex-boyfriend, there are things ordinarily left unsaid that can lend an immediacy and humanity that is often missing in most narratives, no matter how otherwise evocative.

A chick who tells it like it is, and makes no apologies. But if the devil is in the details, then God is too: I defy you to read her chapter on cooking mussels and not want to try it (I more or less hate shellfish, and yet somewhere for me a switch has been flipped...). And her essay on the personal quality of pasta sauce had me re-evaluating my thoughts on culinary identity, about what beyond ingredients and preparation account for a distinct style. Sure, I have my own way of doing pasta--I call it fettucine al bachelor--but I hadn't thought of it as an existential expression. The book is a pure delight: I feasted on it.

P.S. -- In the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that I met the author over the weekend--and she is as striking in the flesh as she is on the page. She showed me her tattoos, and schooled me in Latin--both at the same time. How cool is that?

How Not To See JUNO

This is an email I sent around a few weeks before the Oscars this year. JUNO is out on DVD--catch it.

Finally caught it last night. It's been getting a lot of play-up as being the sleeper hit of the year, as well as a lot of backlash criticism of being overrated and glib, including one handjob I know who dismissed the movie as "a pro-life soapbox", which, whatever else it is, it ain't: teen pregnancy here being little more than a plot contrivance, an occasion for a lot of (pretty good) one-liners and off-hand biological observations. The movie seems more interested in its musical sensibilities than in the emotional and moral realities of getting knocked up at sixteen, which is treated with all the seriousness of a nine-month head cold. Which is not to say that it'd be a better movie it had more of a conscience about teen pregnancy, or if its main character came to any profound realizations about life as a result. Writer Diablo Cody said she wanted to create a credible, smart and funny teen girl protagonist, and that's what she's done; the pregnancy is only a set-up for the movie, and it should be seen in that regard. And you will be missing something special if you don't catch it; I enjoyed it thoroughly, the worst thing I can say about it is that it's light and breezy, and occasionally sardonic. Is the dialogue just too cute and quirky? Sure. How long's it been since you saw BREAKFAST CLUB? John Hughes, Kevin Smith, Tarantino--they're all too scripted. What's more, the real Henry V didn't speak in iambic pentameter, either. It's more a question of whether you like hearing the characters talk, whether you want to spend time with them. On that count, JUNO is a pure delight. If anything, my biggest problem with the movie is that it didn't make the most of its greatest strength: the relationship between Juno and her erstwhile inseminator, Bleeker (played pitch-perfectly by Michael Cera--and where's his Oscar nomination?). The movie should have focused more on them together; instead, they only have maybe half a dozen scenes together, which are the heart and soul of the movie. And that's maybe the most formulaic thing about this otherwise bright and original comedy, that the two principals have to be kept apart til the end, at which point they'll live happily ever after. Which doesn't ring true: you're trying to tell me that after they have sex once, they don't date or even talk much for the next 12 weeks? I GUARANTEE: you invite a 16-year-old guy over to watch BLAIR WITCH PROJECT on Starz! and instead opt to fuck him on the recliner (alleviating both your virginities), and he WILL come calling again. What's more, she described sex with him as "magnificent", and said "he's great in chair", but loses all interest in her new discovery? (That's only slightly less credible than the fact that she mentions nothing about the incident to her best friend until she fails--or is it passes?--the pregnancy test.) Then once he finds out, he still has virtually no contact with her other than a few conversations in the school hallway? I feel like there's a movie here that didn't get made. Diablo Cody said that too often, the supporting role of girlfriend to a teen male character gets relegated to either a comforter or a problem; it's too bad she carried that mistake over to this story.

For all of that, however much I'd like to see a sequel (JUNO AND BLEEKER GO TO COLLEGE, or something), what's there is solid, long as you don't expect it to be on par with SAY ANYTHING or HEATHERS. It's a worthy Oscar contender, and I wouldn't be upset to see Ellen Page win over Julie Christie, and as the odd sentimental nominee for Best Picture, there's a hell of a lot more to recommend it than the usual dark horse they put up every year (did you *see* LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE? Did you have to pay?). I'm definitely pulling for Cody to win Best Original Screenplay, and if THERE WILL BE BLOOD splits the Academy vote for Picture with NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (my choice), I hope JUNO takes it.

Want to see a more involved movie about teen pregnancy? Check out Molly Ringwald's forgotten little gem FOR KEEPS. However lightly it deals with issues like post-partum depression, family disagreements, and the fact that teen pregnancy can compromise an otherwise promising college career, at least these are addressed, whereas they're conspicuously missing from JUNO's universe.

A great little film about how a pregnancy disrupts life not only in a family but a whole township is THE SNAPPER, another overlooked movie that's by turns hilarious and poignant.

RICH IN LOVE has a great supporting cast of likable characters, headed by Kathryn Erbe as a smart teenager trying to hold her family together. Genial and very observant.

The one movie that JUNO reminded me of more than any other is THUMBSUCKER, which treats ADHD about as realistically as JUNO does pregnancy. But it's got likable characters, realistic parents, and a lot of laughs.

But no teen girl story will ever beat DARIA, the first season of which I got from Scarecrow, and have been watching all week. Which is perhaps what occasioned so much thought on the subject.

The Fourth K Mario Puzo

You have to understand, I liked THE GODFATHER. Sure, it was a pulp novel, but it moved at a good pace and had a good feel for its characters. It was also fairly evocative of its time and place--though that is probably shaded by the fact that I saw the movie at least twenty times before reading the book, so there's going to be some crossover sentiment. I guess you could say that there was enough of the movie in the original book that I was impressed, and wanted to read some more of his work.

Well, FOURTH K isn't nearly as impressive. Maybe the reason they haven't made it into a movie is that it would be hard to pull off without looking a bit silly. This speculation on the presidency of a nephew of the three Kennedy brothers seems a bit fanciful, though I guess not all that far-fetched. Francis Xavier Kennedy still bears the childhood trauma of his uncles' assassinations, but tries to carry on the Kennedy spirit. Remember the "good" kind of liberal? Well, that upsets some Arab radicals enough to assassinate the Pope, as a distraction from the real Easter Day caper, the hijacking of the plane the First Daughter was travelling on (commercially, though first class, surrounded by Secret Service). When she gets killed execution-style, FXK decides to get radical and threaten to nuke the terrorists' host country. The emirate capitulates and surrenders the terrorists to US custody, but then a small nuke goes off in Times Square, and it becomes a question of Kennedyesque force of personality vs. "modern" terrorist realities.

The treatment is too facile, too workmanlike. Tom Clancy and THE WEST WING have brought an element of verite (or at least a strong sense of detail) to this kind of material, and Puzo can't match it. All of this may have been provocative back in 1990, but doesn't have much resonance now, given recent events. Absent that, it becomes a simple tale of Kennedy mystique and liberal politics, without contributing much to either. Not a bad book, but a fairly forgettable one, unfortunately.

The Tommyknockers Stephen King

Fast. That's how I remember Stephen King described in a movie once (THE WATERDANCE, Eric Stolz as a young writer paralyzed in a bike accident). I don't know why that's the first thing that comes to mind when I try to describe King's style and/or appeal, but it fits, as the best way to characterize his writing: fast. And yet, so very detailed and comprehensive. THE STAND is one of the best modern novels I've read, and I mean that all things considered. I've read almost all of his early work, right up to CUJO, and a good portion of what came after. I'd like to say that he doesn't disappoint, but the truth is, he often does, especially in his later stuff. I picked up TOMMYKNOCKERS at one of the used bookstores I frequent. It comes from the era just before he became a cliche bordering on self-parody. When did that happen, anyway? DOLORES CLAIBOURNE made for a good movie, at least. GREEN MILE and HEARTS IN ATLANTIS didn't really do it for me, but weren't bad.

And TOMMYKNOCKERS isn't bad either, though it doesn't stand as one of his best. Never slow, though. Bobbi Anderson makes a startling discovery while clearing the land around her farmhouse in rural Maine: a bit of metal sticking up out of the ground, which gives off a curious vibe--literally. After touching it, a combination of curiosity and compulsion makes her try to dig it out, but it's much larger than it first seems. Turns out to be the edge of an alien space ship that's been buried for millions of years. And while the ship isn't alive per se, it is channeling some kind of energy and intelligence, and the effect becomes more pronounced the more of it is unearthed. There's something in the air, and it spreads to absorb the local town. Soon everyone is behaving very strangely indeed, compulsively and possessed of a superhuman intelligence. All but Bobbi's friend, a suicidal alcoholic of a poet who drops by just as things start to get weird.

It's good to read Stephen King again, truly refreshing after some of the stuff I've waded through recently. His characters are distinct but familiar, since he so clearly communicates how they think. This can make even his most insipid plot developments bearable, such as the quasi-silly ending. Still, a good read, and I look forward to the next King book I pick up.

The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern Lilian Jackson Braun

How could I not? A series of books about a mystery-solving cat? It's a wonder that I've waited so long to actually pick up one of these. The owner of Twice Sold in Capitol Hill said she thought this was the first in the series; unfortunately, it's second, to THE CAT WHO COULD READ BACKWARDS, but this served as a reasonable introduction. It's an enjoyable enough read: Jim Qwilleran is a reporter for a newspaper in an unnamed Midwest city, whose new assignment is to start up a Saturday supplement on interior decorating. Things go wrong with the first publication: the day after the first edition hits the stands, the house profiled as the feature article gets burglarized, with half a million dollars worth of jade stolen. Something about it doesn't seem right to Qwilleran, who was a crime reporter once upon a time. He's fairly milktoast, with a cat named Koko that seems to either be psychic or just coincidentally leads him to clues that further the case.

All in all, not great mystery, not a very interesting crime. Makes for a Gregory MacDonald-type tour of interior design, without the wonderful dialogue. But the interplay between cat and owner is nice. Did I mention I like cats?