As I put on my sweatshirt and trackies this morning, I realized that this is my Super Bowl Sunday, making my trip to this year's party, you know, like going to a Super Bowl party.
That's why, this year... I'm bringing dip. :)
Football fans will tell you that the Super Bowl matters, even when the teams suck, or the game is lousy; that's how I feel this year. The films are bad, the nominations are weak... but regardless, here we are. And so... let the games begin.
This was not a banner year for feature films, receipts were modestly up, but mostly driven by the extra income from 3D (have you paid $15 a seat yet?), and there were few real breakout hits. And there was a distinct segmenting of the film calendar which really helped no film - except possibly Toy Story 3 - break free of expectations. Last winter was full of dogs, last summer full of "tent poles" and last fall was full of the films that are supposed to be "class" projects, helpfully informing us as to which ones deserved to be seen as the Oscar contenders.
Rather than pick winners in categories - so much of it this year is foregone conclusions - I'll just break down my thoughts on this year's Oscars by the sorriest category of all: the ten nominees for Best Picture (yes, I too believe that's five too many), which, I think, do tend to sum up just how horrifying this past year was in film.
By the way, I won't lie to you - I haven't bothered seeing all of the nominees. There's really only so much punishment I am willing to endure.
Black Swan - Is it an art house film? A big budget star picture? Can you be both at once? I've rarely heard about a more grim filmgoing experience that still got billed as so essential. Time will tell if the sense of Natalie Portman's impressiveness holds up... but I tend to think that even now, it's becoming clear that her talents may have been oversold. From the only sort of enthusiastic response to her shoo-in campaign to the lackluster response to much of her other output (and coming to the conlcusion that she's the worst thing in No Strings Attached, by far), I think Portman, like Gwyneth Paltrow (and arguably Hallie Berry) before her, will be lucky to have grabbed the trophy early on, before her work catches up to her (and then too... look how Country Strong fizzled despite endless flogging by Paltrow and others). No one expects Black Swan to pick up awards for anything but Portman, making it as much a "share the wealth" award as a "she's the best thing in it" response. Either way, not exactly a ringing endorsement of the film's excellence.
The Fighter - Nothing, perhaps, speaks as plainly to The Fighter's flaws as the failure of Mark Wahlberg to get any of the Oscar credit that's rained down on this film. Plainly, this is Wahlberg's Rocky, an attempt to jolt his peers into taking him seriously in a feel good role as a working class hero. Of course, the Academy already fell for that... with Rocky. It's also gotten more than a little tiring to see a string of Boston-based talent - many named Wahlberg, more named Affleck - mine the obvious Dorchester/Charlestown/Southie gimmick (which Martin Scorsese used to gloss up his lackluster remake of Infernal Affairs, The Depahted) for easy plaudits. We get it - it's fun to slum around as a hard talking, hard drinking, scrappy ethnic. The Fighter too has no shot at winning, but will probably score Supporting awards for Melissa Leo and Christian Bale (both of whom are basically being rewarded for other, better work previously). And its success at the box office probably means the Southie film has yet to fully run its course. But let's hope that trend ends soon.
Inception - I've now watched enough Christopher Nolan films to see both why he gets the cred he does (especially with geeky fanboys) and why he is at the same time not quite getting recognition at awards time. Both of the Batman films, and now Inception, show a striking visual sense, but put story and character development second (having finally seen The Dark Knight, I have no idea what Heath Ledger was doing, but it was both disturbing and fascinating to watch - none of which made the film more coherent or less of a grim downer). I suspect Nolan's going to keep having a hard time closing the deal until he puts more focus on story and character insight. Then, too, I think part of the puzzling sense that Inception wasn't quite all it could be is the continued, baffling lauding of the perfectly ordinary presence of Leonardo DiCaprio, who has come nowhere near the potential he showed as a young man, partly because he seems intent on throwing himself into these vast, bloated efforts (Titanic, The Departed...they're big, yet he's still small). DiCaprio too would be well served getting out of the bloated high class film business, and try a small film with a director who would push him to really act.
The Kids Are Alright - I'm all for gay parenting; I'm less in favor of feel good efforts meant to pat liberals on the back for being open minded and PC. Too pleased with itself, celebrated by audiences also a little too pleased with themselves, The Kids Are Alright takes a fairly bland premise - test tube kids discovering who their anonymous donor father was - and really doesn't take it much farther than that, to reconfirm familar tropes about families and bonding that we all already knew. I think that makes for a fine afternoon at the multiplex... I don't think it makes it brave, daring, riasky, or the kind of work that needs an Academy Award. Nevertheless, it will be wonderful if, for once, the Academy would recognize Annette Bening as the incredible actress she is, before it's too late (on the other hand, Bening is one of those actresses for whom I'm sure it will never be too late).
The King's Speech - In a lackluster year, it's no surprise that a tony British import rules the field. From the minute the trailer for this film started running, "Oscar nominations" was a foregone conclusion. And, more or less, everything has gone according to plan, which is why The King's Speech sits with a good chance of taking home Best Picture. It also stands a near perfect chance for Colin Firth getting Best Actor, but his win will also reflect his losing last year for A Single Man, which was arguably more of a stretch. I don't begrudge Firth - he's due, overdue really, and a very likable talent - but The King's Speech is much like The Queen (it is, after all, about her parents), in being a fairly respectful, almost kissy suck-up to the Monarchy and British royalism... not necessarily things we want to laud too heavily. The difference, really, is that The Queen faced much healthier competition. The King's Speech stands tall in especially weak field.
127 Hours - Nothing defines "peaked too soon" this year like this intense turnoff; had it shown up in limited release on Christmas Day and gradually expanded last month, I suspect we'd be having a much more robust conversation about whether James Franco could upset Colin Firth's royal progress. As it is, too many people figured out too fast that a film about a man who cuts off his own arm is both horrific and a downer, however well realized and visually stimulating. I'm not one for the "cult of Franco" these days (though I am dying to see Howl), but I think he's on track to be a contender for future Best Actor nods. But the fact that this film slipped into the Best Picture nominees even after interest in it waned is a good example of why ten nominees is really doing nothing to improve the qualitative expectations at Awards time.
The Social Network - Probably the best example of a film this year that didn't really manage to live up to its prerelease "class project" hype; the film seems to be entertaining enough and the performers are engaging... but billing itself as the definitive and full examination of the online social networking craze was probably a mistake. Aaron Sorkin is really no one's example of a tech savvy writer, and his script more or less does what Sorkin scripts do - witty, fairly urbane talky verbiage that seem to make smart points, but afterwards seem little more than frothy examples of semi seriousness (really, go back and watch A Few Good Men. It's great... and about as deep as a puddle). At best, this film served to explain to older folks a lot of what they wanted to hear about the hotshots of Silicon Valley - that they're young, too rich too soon, and kind of shallow. And those qualities certainly would be well represented by the likes of Jesse Eisenberg and Justin Timberlake (who, one could note, seems to have disappeared the minute his own performance started getting overlooked at awards shows). I'm not a big fan of David Fincher's chilly visual style, so I don't see him winning (and he could really use some lessons in finding likable characters to populate his stories), but if not now... when? His chances don't get better against superior competitors.
Toy Story 3 - The other story of the "ten nominee" decision is that it has allowed the Academy, finally, to throw a sop to the animated film community, despite a lingering impression - and that's since Snow White that it's lingered - that animated films aren't serious contenders. Toy Story stands no more chance of winning than other previous nominees, nor should it, necessarily (I said it was a lingering impression; I didn't say they were wrong about it). Nor is Toy Story 3 necessarily even the best aniimated film this year, having seen The Illusionist and having been thoroughly charmed. And I'm not sure that when an animated film does win Best Picture - and I'll admit that one day they will - that Pixar will be the studio producing it.There, I said it.
True Grit - It's equally indicative of how lackluster this year is that this remake of John Wayne's Oscar winning performance both managed to limp into contention and be almost immediately dismissed. Sure, nearly everyone attached to it has already won an Oscar, but in a better year, either other films would have crowded it out or forced everyone attached it to work harder to have it get noticed. As it is, the nominations for it seem rote - even, and especially, Hailee Steinfeld's - and it could quite possibly walk away with nothing. Thank goodness we can nominate ten Best Pictures!
Winter's Bone - An also-ran in almost any year, Winter's Bone is also a good indication of how the small art house film has also been corrupted by the current way Oscar mania plays out. This fairly small, good for what it is film can't possibly bear the weight of expectation attached to its nominations and outsized attention. It's indicative that this, alone, amounts to the only film about people in poverty anywhere near contention this year. But the story is fairly slight, the resolution inventive but a little obvious, and things are tied a little too neatly in a bow at the end. Jennifer Lawrence - much like Melissa Leo - has laid the groundwork for future consideration, though I'm hard pressed to exactly describe a memorable moment she creates. Like several films on this list, Winter's Bone would look better and start more of a conversation if what's around it seemed better or more interesting. As it is, the film is somewhat better executed (for a film of its size) than much of its competition... and that's about it.
Other notes: I'm mystified by the nominations for Biutiful and even more so Javier Bardem. I think Blue Valentine was vastly overhyped, and I'm surprised that a number of other so-so projects (most notably Tilda Swinton and I am Love), didn't get more of an Academy embrace. But mostly, right now, I think too much of the whole Awards season process is too rote and tooo foreordained. And that won't change until Academy voters stop acting like sheep, or a surprise film breaks through. And neither scenario seems liekly to happen soon.
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