Watching the Academy Awards is good for my tear ducts--like going to a wedding.
Laughed at Ellen, though I think she could have lost that vacuum. Seinfeld, too, I could have lived without.
I was surprised and mostly pleased at the awards. How could Dreamgirls not win, with so many songs nominated? Statistically, it seems impossible.
I have always admired Helen Mirren (tuned in to Prime Suspect 6 the minute the awards were over). Hurrah, for that Oscar. Mirren doesn't resort to kick boxing or chase scenes--uh uh. She moves in close and engages with the other characters, eye to eye, nose to nose. I am always mesmerized by the way she can create drama without screaming or thrashing about, barely raising her voice, using only the smallest gestures.
Sentimentally, I was leaning toward Peter O'Toole getting the Oscar for best actor. But I admire Forest Whitaker and not having seen either movie, what the hell? I do hope that there will be another chance for O'Toole...
Whitaker's speech expressed best the spirit of the Awards: if you follow your heart (or in the words of Joseph Campbell, follow your bliss), whoever you are, wherever you started, you can achieve your dream. He didn't mention that you have to work your ass off--that is a given.
I must mourn Philippe Noiret. Though he leaves a huge oeuvre, I haven't been fortunate enough to see more than ten or so of his flims. I loved esp. Cinema Paradiso and Vie et rien d'autre. Images from Coupe de Torchon, in which he plays the role of a hen-pecked minor civil servant somewhere in Africa, will forever linger in my mind. His filmwork was subtle and finely nuanced, resulting in memorable performances. I was shocked to learn of his death--as if it were a personal loss. My response, which seems unrealistic (I did not KNOW him, for heaven's sake) I think relates to the very nature of film. Though movies are entertainment, they also have amazing power to influence us--to connect us, as Whitaker said, and to move us, also, to act. The best actors reveal not merely themselves, but something universal about humanity.
4 comments:
for once I watched all of the oscars too!
I thought Ellen was fine, but agree about the vacuuming. I thought Seinfeld was funny. I really didn't love his show, but I always like him when he shows up places as himself.
I liked Alan Arkin's speech quite a lot. I thought Coppola, Speilberg and Lucas giving Scorsese the Oscar was very sweet. Clive Owen and Cate Blanchett presenting together looked like representitives from the Clan of Very Attractive People.
Did you see the montage at the very beginning? It was by Errol Morris (the same guy who did Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control). I liked it a LOT, although I've read some people thinking it was "pointless". Bah!
I thought the following people looked FANTASTIC: helen mirren, diane keaton, rachel weisz, cate blanchett, clive owen, george clooney (of course!). Looking good (but not fantastic for various reasons): reese witherspoon, gwenyth paltrow, maggie gyllenhaal, penelope cruz, kate winslet.
I would love to read more film posts of yours! You always surprise me with those.
I did see the montage and loved it--the card-shuffle editing, too, though my old brain was confused by it, at first. I think it is interesting what people choose to pan. It is a very individual thing, to misquote a mutual friend. I think I must be feeling a lot more generous in my old age. Can't think of anything snide to say about any gal's dress. Still, I have to say that I thought Seinfeld came off as mean-spirited, not funny. But, if everything that was panned (the awards are always a feeding frenzy for those paid by the pound of flesh!) was omitted, what would we be left with?
Only a few things really grabbed me, and those no doubt for very personal reasons. It was such a simpler deal, watching films even 10 years ago. Now there is so much history...Although many of the nominated films were on my list of must-sees, it is a very long list, always growing longer. I will always be playing catch-up, with films of the actors I most appreciate.
would you say you choose films based more on who is in it rather than who made it (director, screenwriter, etc.)?
So much goes into making a movie, which just gives us all that many ways to appreciate them, I guess...
Oh, I will get on a roll and watch a lot of Kurasawa or Fellini, certainly, but my taste in movies is very, shall we say, eclectic. You know I love cheesy C movies with strange/quirky bits in them. Which personal quirk leads me to succumb with ease to Herzog's idiosyncratic wonders. But when I find an actor I admire all stops out, such as Javier Bardem, or Philippe Noiret, I want to see every movie of his I can find.
There is really no rhyme or reason to what movies I choose--I go from one incredible film such as the Sea Inside, to another, even better, in my opinion, The Dancer Upstairs and feel so very fortunate.
So little time, so many movies.
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