Oscar Picks

[bcholmes]

So, I recently said that I wanted to see a number of the Oscar-nominated films before tomorrow night's Oscars. And I did.

House of Sand and Fog

Four and a half stars. I really, really loved this movie even though Jennifer Connelly's performance was so uninspiring that it was distracting. Of all the people nominated for best leading man, Ben Kingsley would get my vote for the statue. I think that the range he is able to show in this film far outstrips, say, Sean Penn. Ben gets to be proud, arrogant, angry, tender, defeated, pleading, and wracked with grief. His character is so well-realized it amazes me. Of all the films I saw this month, this was the only one that succeeded in making me cry.

Cold Mountain

Four stars. I didn't know what to expect of this film. I don't really grok the nuances of the US Civil War (and one day, I'd love to have a long talk with porcinea about it 'cause she has some interesting things to say about it). Renée Zellweger was amazing. And I especially liked her line: "They make the weather, and then they stand in the rain and say, 'shit, it's raining.'"

I've heard it said that one of the hardest things for an actor to play is someone from a lower class, and I think that Zellweger does an amazing job of that.

I especially like the fact that, other than Jude Law's character, Inman, all of the characters who get anything meaningful accomplished are the women. I don't know of any other Hollywood film that depicts women and times of war in such a productive way. It was a fascinating piece that talked about a lot of things that I wasn't expecting. I guess I was expecting a Confederate Saving Private Ryan and I'm glad I didn't get it.

Lost in Translation

Three stars. Maybe it was the hype. My friend, Christopholes, liked it and we often have similar taste in films (it was Chris who introduced me to Annie Hall, one of my personal top three). But Lost in Translation kinda bored me to be honest. The slow, plodding quality that I loved in Solaris just kinda left me cold in this film. And although I think Bill Murray's performance is good, I don't think he's stellar, and certainly not better than Sir Ben.

Seabiscuit

Two stars. Yawn. Nuff said.

Mystic River

Four and a half stars. I was kinda wary of this film; I don't know why. I didn't know much about the story, but I liked the way it played out. I thought the bait and switch was exceedingly well-played and I think that both Tim Robbins and Marcia Gay Harden delivered great performances. Harden's was especially poignant. There's a scene in which Sean Penn tells her to go home, and she gets up from the table and is heading out of the kitchen, but she closes a cupboard that Penn left open as she's leaving. It was a subtle action, but situated her character really well.

Laura Linney was boring, and Sean Penn didn't get to do the emotional range that Sir Ben got. And I think he was less successful in scenes of grief. As a film, there are a coupl'a scenes that I thought were trite. There's a scene early in the film: Penn has come into the park, and police officers are holding him back and he's asking Kevin Bacon if his daughter's body is over there, and then we cut to overhead shot, and we're pulling away and the sad music is swelling. Boooooorrrrrrringgggggg.

But it gets a lot better as the story progresses. The scenes are more interesting. The shots better. There are wonderful shots of Tim Robbins, barely visible, in which we're afraid of him. I have not seen most of the supporting actor performances, but Tim Robbins sets a high bar.

Foolproof

Four stars. This wasn't on my Oscars list, but after I discovered that it's a Canadian film, I really wanted to see it. It seems our film industry is getting more and more independent. I really like the film -- especially David Suchet's character.

Summary

So here's my line-up for Oscar night:

• Best Actor: Ben Kingsley, followed closely by Johnny Depp
• Best Picture: The Return of the King (although I'm hesitant about that, 'cause I think that there's are some absolutely terrible sequences in the film).
• Best Actress: Charlize Theron
• Best Director: The Return of the King
• Best Editing: Master and Commander (the bad RotK sequences push it out of this spot).

Comments

[hellsop.livejournal.com]

I'd be very hard-pressed to disagree with any of your conclusions.... All I can say is a minor defense of Bill Murray in that he's really making a solid attempt to break out of his "complete zaniness" rut since SNL days. Judged on it's own merits, it's a mediocre performance, and that's how the Academy should and must judge Lost In Translation. In the context of what Murray's body of work it, it's pretty darned good, and that (I think at least) is at least part of why the film's getting better press than it probably deserves.

[porcinea.livejournal.com]

I'd like that. Should probably watch Cold Mountain myself, eh.

[iamjw.livejournal.com]

I would like to see Marcia Gay Harden win Best Supporting Actress for Mystic River - as you say, a beautifully nuanced performance. The scene of her sitting in her car just sort of completely sums up everything she's going through.

In fact, I enjoyed all of Mystic River thoroughly - a great deal of understated acting both from Harden (Gay Harden?) and Tim Robbins - although I did have a minor editing beef with Sean Penn's character being a red-headed child and a black-haired adult.

Of the others, I've only seen Sea Biscuit - which I enjoyed, but wouldn't give an Oscar to - and ROTK - which I would like to see win, if only because the entire trilogy is such a labour of love it feels like it should be rewarded.

[bcholmes.livejournal.com]

I would like to see Marcia Gay Harden win Best Supporting Actress for Mystic River

I'm really torn about that. I agree with your assessment, but I'm also very fond of the performances by Shohreh Aghdashloo and Renée Zellweger.

[deepforestowl.livejournal.com]

I guess seeing Lost in Translation for me left me with a very different taste in my mouth as it were. Perhaps because I live there. I can really identify with Murray's character. From a foreigner perspective in Japan, Murray catches it all. The desolation, the isolation, the movement of time, and so on. I think in part, that this movie is so incredibly popular with those of us that live there because we have been where Murray is. From that and my point of view, Murray's performance is excellent, but he won't win the Oscar which is unfortunate. It will be someone else for some other film that doesn't catch the essence of what it is like to live in Japan as a foreigner. my two cents...lol!

[firecat]

I just saw Lost in Translation and while I did relate to the "lost in a strange place" aspect and thought that was very well portrayed, I thought the relationship portrayed was boring and too much was made of it. The actors did as well as they could with the characters they'd been given; they didn't have much to work with.

[beable]

I'm really dissappointed that Sir Ben did not win Best Actor. While my hormones were hoping for Johnny Depp, I did like Ben Kingsley's performance best of the three I had seen.

Sean Penn seemed mostly to be playing, well, Sean Penn. The role was so much the same role I have almost always seen him in

[eve-l-incarnata.livejournal.com]

I've heard it said that one of the hardest things for an actor to play is someone from a lower class, and I think that Zellweger does an amazing job of that.

I'm curious to know if it is easier for actresses who were born into a "lower" class to portray someone from a "higher" class. What I think might be harder is for someone who was born into a "lower" class to try to hobnob with people from a "higher" class. Renee Zellweger is an actress who gets paid for her portrayals of "lower" class people, whether she gets it right or not.

What I've read about Cold Mountain is that it starts with the 1864 Battle of Petersburg. Many black Union solders died in this battle. From what I've heard, blacks are conspicuous by their absence in this scene. Evidently in Charles Frazier's novel, Ruby was black. It seems strange to me that such a key part of the novel would be changed for the movie.

If you have the time and inclination, a good place to read about the US Civl War is A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn. If there were a similar book about Canada, I'd love to read it.

I think "Lost In Translation" has been overhyped. Is "Lost In Translation" racist? (http://www.asianamericanfilm.com/archives/000602.html)

I've long been a fan of Ben Kingsley, and am looking forward to House of Sand and Fog. Also looking forward to Mystic River, as I hear it was actually filmed in Boston. Cold Mountain was filmed in Eastern Europe, not in the Appalachians.

I can't think of any Canadian films I've seen that aren't indies. I probably don't know enough about the Canadian film industry. I'd be happy to be enlightened.