According to this article at Salon, some Academy voters have had a hard time deciding on which film to select as Best Picture -- not because the five nominees are all so deserving, but because they're all so mediocre. I've seen only four of the five nominees -- The Queen is the lone miss -- but I actually have to agree with the sentiments expressed in the article. I liked Letters from Iwo Jima and Little Miss Sunshine, but neither will be remembered as a high point in American film even five years from now. Babel is the most complex (or at least complicated) film of the five, but it's thematic reach, though impressive, exceeds its cinematic grasp. And I am of the (currently) minority opinion that The Departed is a turkey, with a distractingly silly performance by Jack Nicholson and plot machinations that rely on all parties behaving like morons (dualistic personalities or otherwise). It's not that I don't find any films worthy of being nominated -- Children of Men will be remembered as a high point in film five years from now, Babel isn't unworthy of nomination -- but this five... it feels like a list of "impressive films" drawn up by the uninspired.
And since we won't be meeting for the yearly party this Sunday, here's where I would have put my $10:
Best Picture: The Departed
Best Actress: Helen Mirren
Best Actor: Forest Whitaker
Best Supporting Actor: Alan Arkin
Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Hudson
Best Director: Martin Scorsese
Best Original Screenplay: Little Miss Sunshine
Best Adapted Screenplay: The Departed
Best Cinematography: Children of Men
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I haven't seen a lot of the big pictures this year but seeing the movies has nothing to do with picking winners so I'll venture the following:
Best Picture: Babel
Best Actress: Helen Mirren
Best Actor: Forest Whitaker
Best Supporting Actor: Alan Arkin
Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Hudson
Best Director: Martin Scorsese
Best Original Screenplay: Little Miss Sunshine
Best Adapted Screenplay: Borat
Best Cinematography: Children of Men
And Pirates is a lock for best VFX.
I have to admit that I'm still excited to see The Departed, The Queen and Letters from Iwo Jima when I get around to it and I really liked Babel and Little MIss Sunshine but was it a good year for Hollywood? I don't think so.
My favorite films from last year was Claude Chabrol's The Bridesmaid and Army of Shadows, both French new and old.
The last film that really affected me was Munich in which Mookie and I disagreed upon. Other than that, I think the American films of recent years have been, to steal a phrase from Mookie, aggressively mediocre.
Along these lines, I recently read an article in Time Magazine http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1580424,00.htmlby Richard Corliss that states most Indie films have gone "fat and soft." He states that Sundance is now just a showcase for a form of movie that is gaining marketplace pull, ergo, nothing new, often predictable "relationship" movies.
Who (and how and when) will take American filmmaking to the next (better?) level? Any guesses?
Sorry the link is:
http://www.time.com/
time/magazine/article/0,9171,1580424,00.html
American cinema has a few filmmakers who, even in their misfires, have contributed to cinema as an art form, and are still active -- Todd Haynes, Errol Morris, Todd Field, to name three.
But, as the Los Angeles Times reported yesterday, the best hope for American cinema might come from south of the border -- Guillermo del Toro, Alfonso Cuaron, Alejandro Innaritu. Because of shaky finances in their home nation, they have had to come to the U.S. to make films. Del Toro has already shown the ability to work within American horror/fantasy genres (Blade, Hellboy) and to adapt them to his own personal films (Devil's Backbone, Pan's Labyrinth). It's been said elsewhere, but they seem the best hope for keeping American (or maybe Western Hemisphere) cinema vital.
I don't know all that much about which film should have won which award, but I really, really dig it when stuff blows up onscreen. Blowing up as part of a car chase is even cooler.
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