Last week, the website Politico.com caught up with several prominent American politicians -- including former Atty. Gen. Alberto Gonzales, former Sen. George "Macaca" Allen (R-Va.) and others -- to ask them for their picks for the Academy Awards. Based on the resulting video, one could safely conclude that the worlds of politics and film rarely overlap, save for your rare political film like "Frost/Nixon."
Every year, right after the Oscars show ends, winners, losers, presenters and select guests rush over to the Governors Ball at the Hollywood Renaissance Hotel, which is adjacent to the Kodak Theatre. This year, I did too, and took plenty of notes about who/what I saw and heard!
As I rode the escalator up a floor to the ballroom, I noticed that the gentleman in front of me was 1982 best actor-winner Sir Ben Kingsley ("Gandhi"), who was one of the five presenters of this evening's best actor Oscar to Sean Penn, and with whom I've spoken several times (with the cast of "Elegy" at the Gotham Awards in early December and then again later that month on the phone). We had a quick catch-up, but he was rather distressed at the moment that he was unable to locate "Lady Kingsley." I saw them together just a little later on, so it all worked out!
At the top of the aforementioned escalator, I ran into best actress nominee Melissa Leo ("Frozen River"), with whom I've become friendly over the course of this awards season -- she was a big hit during a Q&A I moderated at Brandeis University in November, and we've repeatedly run into each other since, so I enjoyed the opportunity to give her a big hug. Despite the outcome of her category, she told me she had a great time.
As I made my way into the ballroom, so too did David Kross and Stephen Daldry, the star and Oscar-nominated director of "The Reader." Daldry could be heard saying, "What a relief," presumably referring to the gruel of the awards season having finally come to an end -- but also quite possibly that Kate Winslet had won the best actress Oscar for her work in his film after Time magazine went out on a limb and prematurely labeled her "Best Actress" on its most recent cover!
Meanwhile, comedy legend Jerry Lewis, the recipient of this evening's Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, arrived in a wheelchair and was quickly rushed past the bed of photographers and into the crowded ballroom. At the door, he was helped out of his wheelchair and stood up on his own.
Among those who paused to preen for the cameras and chat with "Extra," "Inside Edition" and "The Early Show" before heading inside were best supporting actress nominee Amy Adams ("Doubt"); best actor winner Sean Penn ("Milk") and wife Robin Wright Penn; and others. Meanwhile, Alan Arkin, who won the best supporting actor Oscar for "Little Miss Sunshine" in 2007, walked past them all and no one even seemed to recognize him -- what a difference two years makes!
The entire "Slumdog Millionaire" family -- from Oscar-winning producer Christian Colson to Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle to stars Dev Patel and Freida Pinto to the incredibly cute child actors who were flown in for the event from India -- graciously answered questions from the press and mingled with well-wishing guests. The kids were repeatedly prompted to sing a few lines of "Jai Ho" for the TV cameras, and happily obliged. At one point, Patel and Pinto were conducting an interview while Patel held Rubiana Ali, the sweet little Indian girl who plays the youngest version of Latika in the film, in his arms and bit into the Oscar-shaped dessert she was trying to feed him.
The seating assignments for the event -- which I believe was organized at least in part by East Coast event planner/publicity legend Peggy Siegal -- not surprisingly paired together people who worked together on nominated films. Among the table groupings: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall, director David Fincher, and supporting actress Taraji P. Henson (all nominees this evening); "Milk" screenwriter Dustin Lance Black (a winner tonight), supporting actor Josh Brolin (a nominee tonight), Brolin's wife Diane Lane, and Brolin's co-star Emile Hirsch; "Frozen River" lead actress Melissa Leo (a nominee tonight) and supporting actress Misty Upham; "Frost/Nixon" producer Brian Grazer, director Ron Howard, and lead actor Frank Langella (all nominees this evening); "The Reader" director Stephen Daldry (a nominee this evening) and lead actor David Kross; and, of course, the happiest table, "Slumdog Millionaire" stars Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Anil Kapoor, Irfan Khan and all the child actors, who were each playing with various winners' Oscars -- the film certainly won enough to keep them all amused!
Sandwiched between her parents, best actress nominee Anne Hathaway -- the sole nominee for "Rachel Getting Married" -- was happily chatting away with the other guests at her table. She even took the time to thank The Envelope for its coverage of her this awards season.
For those interested, the official menu for the evening -- for which Wolfgang Puck served as chef -- featured the following:
Tray-passed
Mini Kobe Burgers with Aged Cheddar and Remoulade
Spicy Tuna Tartare in a Sesame Miso Cone
Wasabi Pea-Crusted Crabcake with Mango and Thai Basil
Smoked Salmon Pizza with Caviar and Dill Creme
Black Truffle and Ricotta Cheese Pizza Vegetable Spring Rolls with Sweet and Spicy Dipping Sauce
Chicken Potstickers with Ginger Black Vinegar Dipping Sauce
Sushi and Seafood Stations
Rolls: Tuna, Vegetable, California and Unagi
Nigiri: Shrimp, Tuna, Hamachi and Salmon
Sashimi: Tuna, Salmon, Snapper and Hamachi (with Soy, Wasabi and Pickled Ginger)
Seafood
Poached Shrimp, Lobster Tails, Crag Legs, Oysters and Mussels (with Mustard Sauce, Cocktail Sauce and Wasabi Apple Mignonette)
First Course
Asian Vegetable Salad with Maine Lobster, Caviar and Ginger White Soy Vinaigrette
Pumpkin Coconut Soup with Chicken, Shrimp, Shitake Mushrooms and Green Onions
Entree
Slow-Braised, Asian-Spiced Short Rib with Spring Vegetable Risotto
Vegetarian
Spring Vegetable Risotto with Black Winter Truffles
Dessert
Chocolate Bento Box Surprise
Champagne
Moet & Chandon is the exclusive champagne of the 81st Academy Awards
Teen idols Robert Pattinson ("Twilight") and Zac Efron ("High School Musical") asked Ron Howard, who was nominated tonight for directing "Frost/Nixon," to pose for a photo with them. As soon as they finished, some young ladies asked them for one too -- and they couldn't have been more gracious.
Antonio Villaraigosa, the mayor of Los Angeles, walked by me at one point. While I wasn't surprised that he was invited to the event, I was a little surprised that he attended because he is vilified in "The Garden," which was nominated for the best documentary Oscar this evening. No word yet on whether or not he ran into the filmmakers -- but that would have been awkward, to say the least.
Acting legend Eva Marie Saint, who won the best supporting actress Oscar for "On the Waterfront" in 1954 and was one of the five presenters who presented it to Penelope Cruz this evening, was seen catching up with Alan Arkin, her co-star from the 1966 film "The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming." They were later joined by another of this year's best supporting actress nominees, Viola Davis ("Doubt"), and her husband.
At one point, I spotted Madhur Mittal, the Indian actor who played the oldest version of the mean-spirited older brother Salim in "Slumdog Millionaire," sitting alone at his table, so I went over to congratulate him on the film's best picture victory and ask him what he would be up to next. He told me he's made other movies in India, but "Slumdog" was his first "international" film, and as a result of it he's had lots of offers to make other films in America but had not committed to any yet because he wants to "try not to do crap." He began telling me that he's still living in India but is looking to buy property in California when he gasped, "Oh, my God! Is that Adrien Brody?!" I told him it was, that Brody is a nice guy, and he should go over and say hi. I watched him rush over, tap Brody on the shoulder, and before he could say anything Brody turned around, took a second to process who he was, and then lit up and said, "Oh, hey! You're a great actor!" Nice moment.
Meanwhile, Danny Boyle, tonight's Oscar-winning director for "Slumdog Millionaire," posed for photos outside the ballroom with Rubiana Ali, the sweet little Indian girl who plays the youngest version of Latika in the film, and Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, the precocious little Indian boy who plays the youngest version of mean-spirited Salim in the film. Boyle plopped his Oscar on Ismail's head in one picture, prompting giggles from Ali. Then, Boyle let Ismail hold the statuette, and the wide-eyed boy peered up at him and said with his heavy accent, "Danny! This is so big! This is very heavy!" Then, when Ali tried to get him to let her hold it for a moment too, he went into character and pushed her away. Moments later, Ismail was holding his Oscar-shaped dessert, but didn't realize it was made of chocolate until he looked at his hands and saw it had melted all over them. I grabbed him a napkin from a waitress, he wiped them off, and he then returned to playing his handheld video game.
Several of the other "Slumdog Millionaire" child actors -- Tanvi Ganesh Lonkar (middle Latika), Tanay Chheda (middle Jamal), and Ayush MaheshKhedekar (young Jamal) -- were milling about with their caretaker and looked a bit bored, so I went over to shake each of their hands, congratulated them on the film and its success and asked them what their favorite part of their trip to the Oscars was. They all shouted at the same time so I don't know who said what, but I know the three answers were: "Winning the Oscar!" "Going on stage!" and "Being on the top of the world!" It doesn't get cuter.
Christian Colson, who as the producer of "Slumdog Millionaire," will retain its best picture Oscar, was also joking around with the kids and was nice enough to thank me, as one of the people who saw and instantly identified the film as a likely Oscar winner when it premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September, "for kicking us off!"
Queen Latifah ran into a bunch of old friends (they called her Dana) who told her what a magnificent job she did singing over the "In Memoriam" montage. She told them, "I was leaning on this leg here because this leg [the other one] was shaking so much!"
Seen in passing: outgoing Academy President Sid Ganis with Oscars show producer Bill Condon, who seemed to be in good spirits; former Academy President Frank Pierson dining at his table; 1991 best actor winner Sir Anthony Hopkins ("The Silence of the Lambs"), who was one of the five presenters of this evening's best actor Oscar to Sean Penn, chatting at his table; singer Seal and supermodel Heidi Klum, neither of whom has much to do with movies but both of whom were very pleasantly chatting away with the non-celebrities seated at their table (her dress slit was cut high -- and I mean high -- not that I'm complaining); Miramax studio chief Daniel Battsek, who last year ruled Oscars night (between "No Country for Old Men," "There Will Be Blood" and "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"), but who this year went home empty-handed (between "Doubt" and "Happy-Go-Lucky"); The Weinstein Co. studio co-chief Harvey Weinstein, who has ruled numerous Oscars nights past and who this year delivered Oscars for both of his nominated ladies, best actress Kate Winslet ("The Reader") and best supporting actress Penelope Cruz ("Vicky Cristina Barcelona"); Tilda Swinton, who won last year's best supporting actress Oscar (for "Michael Clayton") and was one of five presenters of this year's to Penelope Cruz, sitting with her much younger beau at an otherwise abandoned table; and Marion Cotillard, who won last year's best actress Oscar (for "La Vie En Rose") and was one of five presenters of this year's to Kate Winslet, being pulled hand-in-hand by her date past admirers, who had to be careful not to step on the long trail of her stunning dress.
The new-look Oscars show and host Hugh Jackman seemed to be getting rave reviews across the room. One non-celeb was overheard telling her friends she thought it was "the best Oscars in years," while certifiable-celeb Josh Brolin told me, "I had a good time -- it was a good show."
1972 best supporting actor winner Joel Grey ("Cabaret"), who was one of the five presenters of this evening's best supporting actor Oscar to Heath Ledger, spent much of the night on the dance floor with a woman who was presumably his wife.
I briefly chatted with the legendary documentarianWerner Herzog about the film for which he was nominated this evening, "Encounters at the End of the World," because I had been fortunate enough to attend its first sneak-screening way back in October 2007 at Brandeis University.
I was really thrilled to run into not only Melissa Leo and Werner Herzog, but also two of the other nominees who visited Brandeis University to do Q&As with me in recent months. Best actor nominee Richard Jenkins ("The Visitor"), accompanied by his wife and son, stopped by way back in November, and seemed pleased to finally be done with the tiring awards circuit. And best supporting actor nominee Michael Shannon, accompanied by his wife, was in town just two weeks ago, and said he had a fun time tonight. When the two of them ran into each other, Shannon informed his wife that he and Jenkins share the same publicist (first-rate Bryna Rifkin of ID-PR) and had seen each other repeatedly throughout this awards season, throughout which Jenkins had been "watching out for my ass," right down to stuff like "Stand up straight!," he joked.
1978 best supporting actor winner Christopher Walken ("The Deer Hunter"), who was one of the five presenters of this evening's best supporting actor Oscar to Heath Ledger, was leaving the ballroom just as tonight's best actor winner Sean Penn ("Milk") was arriving at it, and the two -- who played a father and son in the film "At Close Range" (1986) 23 years ago -- shared a big hug.
On my way out of the party, I spotted the same Japanese gentleman with whom I shared an elevator early Sunday morning when -- wearing torn jeans a T-shirt, and flip-flops en route to picking up a new tuxedo shirt to replace the one my hotel lost -- I asked him if he was going to the Oscars and learned he was a nominee for the Japanese film "Departures." Dressed a little more snazzily, it took him a moment to remember me, but he did and I was pleased to have the chance to congratulate him -- it brought the long day and night to a fitting close!
Thanks for joining us for live coverage of the most exciting event of the year for awards watchers! Throughout the evening, I'll be providing a live play-by-play of what's happening here at the Oscars show -- winners, commentary, statistics, and everything else you need to know.
OSCARS SHOW COVERAGE (posts listed from newest to oldest)...
8:48pm/pst: BEST PICTURE
Nominees:"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Cean Chaffin, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall/Paramount Pictures), "Frost/Nixon" (Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Eric Fellner/Universal Pictures), "Milk" (Bruce Cohen, Dan Jinks/Focus Features), "The Reader" (Anthony Minghella, Sydney Pollack, Donna Gigliotti, Redmond Morris/The Weinstein Company), "Slumdog Millionaire" (Christian Colson/Fox Searchlight Films)
Projections: Feinberg, Hammond, O'Neil, and Buzzmeter pick "Slumdog Millionaire"
Presenter(s):Steven Spielberg first introduces a montage featuring each of the nominees interspersed with similar past nominees, and then the nominees this year, and then the winner.
Winner:"SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE" (Christian Colson/Fox Searchlight Films) Commentary: It is officially written: the-little-indie-that-could does! The entire cast joins Colson on the stage -- including the child actors who took their first ever airplane ride from India to be here for the event, and who are smiling huge smiles. A magnificent moment that gets a standing ovation. It's also a big moment for Fox Searchlight, which has been championing great little projects like this one for years, which came close two years ago with "Little Miss Sunshine" and last year with "Juno," and for which the third time has proven to be the charm. If you ask me, it's not because the others were less worthy -- it's because we weren't ready. "Slumdog" captured the cultural zeitgeist of America today better than any of the other films -- the idea that money doesn't bring happiness, that love conquers all, and that the little guy who plays by the rules can still come out on top -- Obama, anyone? When the right film meets the right moment, throw the old rules out: "Slumdog" wasn't supposed to win because the film with the most nominations (which this year was "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," with 13 to 10 for "Slumdog") has won best picture 15 of the past 20 years. It wasn't supposed to win because, since 1944, only seven other films
that received nominations for best picture but not in any of the acting
categories had still managed to win best picture. Hell, it wasn't even supposed to be made -- it nearly went straight to DVD. Tonight, a lot of people are very, very happy it didn't!
8:37pm/pst: BEST ACTOR
Nominees:Richard Jenkins ("The Visitor"), Frank Langella ("Frost/Nixon"), Sean Penn ("Milk"), Brad Pitt ("The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"), Mickey Rourke ("The Wrestler")
Projections:Feinberg, Hammond, O'Neil, and Buzzmeter pick Penn
Presenter(s): past winners/possible the greatest collection of male actors ever assembled on stage, Robert De Niro ("Raging Bull," 1980), Michael Douglas ("Wall Street," 1987), Anthony Hopkins ("The Silence of the Lambs," 1991), Ben Kingsley ("Gandhi," 1982), and Adrien Brody ("The Pianist," 2002), and De Niro has the best line, saying "How did he do it? How for all those years did Sean Penn get all those jobs playing straight men?"
Winner:SEAN PENN ("Milk") Commentary: Well deserved. Great opening line ("Thank you, you Commie, homo-loving sons of guns"), great closing line ("Mickey Rourke rises again, and he is my brother"), and solid stuff in-between (pretty much along the lines of "We've got to have equal rights for everyone").
8:25pm/pst: BEST ACTRESS
Nominees:Anne Hathaway ("Rachel Getting Married"), Angelina Jolie ("Changeling"), Melissa Leo ("Frozen River"), Meryl Streep ("Doubt"), Kate Winslet ("The Reader")
Projections:Feinberg, Hammond, O'Neil, and Buzzmeter pick Winslet
Presenter(s):past winners Shirley MacLaine ("Terms of Endearment," 1983), Sophia Loren ("Two Women," 1961), Marion Cotillard ("La Vie En Rose," 2007), Nicole Kidman ("The Hours," 2002) and Halle Berry ("Monster's Ball," 2001) are greeted with a long standing ovation and announce the nominees; MacLaine brings tears to Hathaway's eyes, Cotillard brings tears to Winslet's... wow, this portion of the show is working, huh?
Winner:KATE WINSLET ("The Reader") Commentary: The announcement is greeted with a standing ovation. The speech begins with hyperventilating. But, this time, it all seems genuine -- especially the dedication to her film's late producers Anthony Minghella and Sydney Pollack. Kate is 0-for no more (she'd lost her last 5 nominations), and Deborah Kerr will live on at the top of the list of the biggest "losers" in Oscars history. There has been criticism of "The Reader"; there has been speculation that this is a consolation/sympathy Oscar (for having never before won, and for having not been nominated for her other performance this year in "Revolutionary Road"); some have raised their eyebrows at the fact Kate's said so openly she wanted this one; some gave her the edge merely because she was the lone nominee from a best picture-nominated film in the category and they tend to win Oscars; and some say she's only getting it this time because she was up for a Holocaust movie and Holocaust movies tend to win Oscars. Whatever the reason, it's now hers. An acceptance speech moment that will be replayed in Oscar montages for years to come: looking for her father in the vast audience, she says, "Dad, whistle or something so I know where you are" -- oddly evoking the post-shipwreck scene in "Titanic -- and he does!
The Academy has been cutting the stage audio in the press room during commercials for much of the night, but conveniently happened to leave it on during this commercial break long enough to let reporters hear Jackman say -- in the way a winner delivers an acceptance speech -- "I just want to thank our amazing staff and the crew backstage... the producers, Bill Condon and Larry Mark, our director Roger Goodman, the president of the Academy Sid Ganis -- Sid, we'll have a drink afterwards, all the writers... and of course Baz Luhrmann."
8:19pm/pst: BEST DIRECTOR
Nominees:Danny Boyle ("Slumdog Millionaire"), Stephen Daldry ("The Reader"), David Fincher ("The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"), Ron Howard ("Frost/Nixon"), Gus Van Sant ("Milk")
Projections: Feinberg, Hammond, O'Neil, and Buzzmeter pick Boyle
Presenter(s):Reese Witherspoon, looking good, as always
Winner:DANNY BOYLE ("Slumdog Millionaire") Commentary: Boyle was also this year's DGA Award winner, which has corresponded with the Oscar on all but six occasions since the DGA started giving them out in 1948. More importantly, the
film directed by the DGA winner has gone on to be named best picture by
the Academy (AMPAS) on all but 13 occasions, making it one of the most
accurate precursors out there, so get ready, "Slumdog." Boyle's a great guy who has seemed genuinely excited and gracious throughout the long awards season (I interviewed him at the start, in Toronto back in September), so here-here.
Sid Ganis, as "a present to us" in his final year as president of the Academy, agreed not to make a speech tonight, so he just takes a bow from the audience. Thank you, Sid!
Queen Latifah introduces the annual "In Memoriam" montage which includes, among others: Cyd Charisse, Bernie Mac, Van Johnson, Michael Crichton (writer), Nina Foch, Harold Pinter (writer), Charles H. Joffe (producer), Kon Ichikawa (director), Roy Scheider, David Watkin (director of photographer), Robert Mulligan (director), Evelyn Keyes, Richard Widmark, Isaac Hayes, Leonard Rosenman (composer), Ricardo Montalban, Manny Farber (critic), Robert DoQui, Jules Dassin (director), Paul Scofield, John Michael Hayes (screenwriter), Warren Cowan (publicist), Stan Winston (visual effects), James Whitmore, Charlton Heston, Anthony Minghella and Sydney Pollack (nominees tonight for best picture for "The Reader"), and last but certainly not least, Paul Newman.
8:07pm/pst: BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Nominees:"The Baader-Meinhof Complex" (Germany), "The Class" (France), "Departures" (Japan), "Revanche" (Austria), "Waltz with Bashir" (Israel)
Projections: Feinberg picks "Waltz with Bashir," Hammond and O'Neil pick "Departures"
Presenter(s):Liam Neeson and Freida Pinto
Winner:"DEPARTURES" (Japan) Commentary: It's a terrific film and deserved to win -- I just thought that it would be hard to overcome the higher profile "Waltz with Bashir" (a timely film from Israel) or "The Class" (the Palm d'Or winner at Cannes this year), but I guess quality usually prevails when you compel voters to see all the nominees, as the Academy does for this category, the documentaries, and the shorts. "Departures" is the fourth Japanese film to win the best foreign language Oscar.
Newly-minted Oscar winner Kunio Kato (best animated short) is backstage and was just asked what the highlight of his Oscar experience has been thus far. He says something to his translator, who then says to the press, "Meeting Mr. Jack Black was the most exciting thing for him." Laughs all around.
Projections: Feinberg picks "Down to Earth," Hammond and O'Neil pick "Jai Ho"
Presenter(s):Zac Efron and Alicia Keys, again
Winner:"JAI HO" (A.R. Rahman, Sampooran Singh Gulzar, "Slumdog Millionaire") Commentary: Well, M.I.A. probably isn't thrilled, but she'd be the only one. "Slumdog" somehow avoided splitting its votes between its two entries. A second Danny Boyle shoutout -- from the same person!
7:53pm/pst: BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Nominees:"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Alexandre Desplat), "Defiance" (James Newton Howard), "Milk" (Danny Elfman), "Slumdog Millionaire" (A.R. Rahman), "WALL-E" (Thomas Newman)
Projections: Feinberg, Hammond, and O'Neil pick "Slumdog Millionaire"
Presenter(s):Zac Efron and Alicia Keys (whose movie involvement is, I believe, limited to a supporting role in this year's "The Secret Life of Bees")
Winner:"SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE" (A.R. Rahman) Commentary: You may well see this man again in a few moments when the best original song category is presented, so perhaps you should know something about him. In the words of Time magazine, "Rahman is not just India's most
prominent movie songwriter -- in a land of a billion people where movie
music truly is popular music -- but, by some computations, the
best-selling recording artist in history. His scores have sold more
albums than Elvis or the Beatles or all the Jacksons: perhaps 150
million, maybe more."
Jackman is back (after what feels like a long absence from the stage) and hands it over to the orchestra to play an audio-montage of the Oscar-nominated original scores.
Eddie Murphy, the second "Nutty Professor," introduces a montage celebrating the first, Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award recipient Jerry Lewis, who is greeted with a lengthy standing ovation from the audience -- many of whom grew up on the antics of Lewis and his acting partner Dean Martin. Lewis gives a brief and gracious speech -- there seems to be something off about his speech (verbally speaking), almost as if he's had a stroke. Anyone else seeing this?
Heath Ledger's father, mother, and sister just came into the press room and were greeted with warm applause. I was called on and asked them what they think Heath -- who had previously gone through the awards season process with "Brokeback Mountain" three years ago and never seemed really comfortable with the process -- would have made of this awards season, when his performance was so widely recognized. Heath's mother told me, among other things: "I think he would have been really quietly pleased... really quietly pleased that he was recognized by his peers."
7:34pm/pst: BEST FILM EDITING
Nominees:"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Kirk Baxter, Angus Wall), "The Dark Knight" (Lee Smith), "Frost/Nixon" (Daniel P. Hanley, Mike Hill), "Milk" (Elliot Graham), "Slumdog Millionaire" (Chris Dickens)
Projections: Feinberg, Hammond, and O'Neil pick "Slumdog Millionaire"
Presenter(s):Will Smith, again!
Winner:"SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE" (Chris Dickens) Commentary: Sweeping along now. Another Danny Boyle shoutout.
7:30pm/pst: BEST SOUND MIXING
Nominees:"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce, Mark Weingarten), "The Dark Knight" (Ed Novick, Laura Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo), "Slumdog Millionaire" (Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke, Resul Pookutty), "WALL-E" (Tom Myers, Michael Semanick, Ben Burtt), "Wanted" (Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montano, Petr Forejt)
Projections: Feinberg picks "Slumdog Millionaire," Hammond and O'Neil pick "The Dark Knight"
Presenter(s):Will Smith, again
Winner:"SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE" (Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke, Resul Pookutty) Commentary: I take it back! I take it back!! I do have some idea of what I'm talking about! Great speech acknowledges a rare Oscar for a native of India -- "This is not just a sound award. This is history being handed over to me." And another Danny Boyle shoutout.
7:28pm/pst: BEST SOUND EDITING
Nominees:"The Dark Knight" (Richard King), "Iron Man" (Frank E. Eulner, Christopher Boyes), "Slumdog Millionaire" (Tom Sayers), "WALL-E" (Ben Burtt, Matthew Wood), "Wanted" (Wylie Stateman)
Projections: Feinberg picks "Slumdog Millionaire," Hammond picks "WALL-E," O'Neil picks "The Dark Knight"
Presenter(s):Will Smith, again
Winner:"THE DARK KNIGHT" (Richard King) Commentary: Okay, so the full "Slumdog" sweep will not be, and the sound categories will continue to be used to recognize blockbusters. I already regret my pick in the next category!
7:26pm/pst: BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Nominees:"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton, Craig Barron), "The Dark Knight" (Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Timothy Webber, Paul J. Franklin), "Iron Man" (John Nelson, Ben Snow, Daniel Sudick, Shane Mahan)
Projections: Feinberg, Hammond, and O'Neil pick "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Presenter(s):Will Smith, who says he asked to present this category because he loves action movies -- in part because they have fans!
Winner:"THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON" (Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton, Craig Barron) Commentary: The winners of last night's VES Awards win the best visual effects Oscar -- the two winners have corresponded 4 of the previous 6 years, but not last year (VES choice "Transformers" lost to "The Golden Compass"), which left me a little worried.
Jackman introduces the final phase of the show, celebrating post-production. The accompanying footage -- celebrating popular action films, which are largely absent from this year's crop of nominees -- is displayed on numerous screens swinging across the stage. It looks cool but probably doesn't add enough to the TV viewing experience to justify what I imagine it cost.
7:17pm/pst: BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Nominees:"The Conscience on Nhem En" (Steven Okazaki), "The Final Inch" (Irene Taylor Brodsky, Tom Grant), "Smile Pinki" (Megan Mylan), "The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306" (Adam Petrofsky, Margaret Hyde)
Projections: Feinberg, Hammond, and O'Neil pick "The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306"
Presenter(s):Bill Maher, again
Winner:"SMILE PINKI" (Megan Mylan) Commentary: This was a hard category to call with any degree of confidence because screeners of the films were not widely circulated, unlike the animated and live action shorts. There was an assumption that the short about Martin Luther King, Jr. ("The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306") would be regarded as timely and therefore win, but apparently not.
7:13pm/pst: BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Nominees:"The Betrayal" ["Nerakhoon"] (Ellen Kuras, Thavisouk Phrasavath), "Encounters at the End of the World" (Werner Herzog, Henry Kaiser), "The Garden" (Scott Hamilton Kennedy), "Man on Wire" (James Marsh, Simon Chinn), "Trouble the Water" (Tia Lessin, Carl Deal)
Projections: Feinberg and Hammond pick "Man on Wire," O'Neil picks "Trouble the Water"
Presenter(s):Bill Maher, the director of the Oscar-snubbed documentary "Religulous," ventures off into an ad-libbed remark about "our silly gods" before presenting the award.
Winner:"MAN ON WIRE" (James Marsh, Simon Chinn) Commentary: All of this year's entries were worthy, but the personality of the subject of this film, Philippe Petit, was too unique to be ignored -- as is evident by watching his Oscar speech and antics (balancing an Oscar on his face). It is also worth noting that this year saw the line blurred between fiction and
non-fiction films more than ever before: many of this year's doc
contenders used actors to recreate scenes ("Man on Wire," "Waltz with
Bashir," "SOP," "Encounters," "Blessed Is the Match," etc.), whereas
many live action contenders featured documentary elements ("The Class,"
"Milk," "Slumdog," etc.).
7:01pm/pst: BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Nominees:Josh Brolin ("Milk"), Robert Downey, Jr. ("Tropic Thunder"), Philip Seymour Hoffman ("Doubt"), Heath Ledger ("The Dark Knight"), Michael Shannon ("Revolutionary Road")
Projections: Feinberg, Hammond, O'Neil, and Buzzmeter pick Ledger
Presenter(s): past winners Christopher Walken ("The Deer Hunter," 1978), Kevin Kline ("A Fish Called Wanda," 1986), Alan Arkin ("Little Miss Sunshine," 2006), Joel Grey ("Cabaret," 1972), Cuba Gooding, Jr. ("Jerry Maguire," 2006) jointly present. Incidentally, what's up with Philip Seymour Hoffman's wool hat? And the decision to have Gooding, Jr., a black man, introduce Downey, a white man who somewhat controversially played a black man, is a touch of PR genius.
Winner:HEATH LEDGER ("The Dark Knight") Commentary: This announcement was widely expected, but is greeted with a standing ovation nonetheless as Ledger's mother, father, and sister take the stage to accept his Oscar -- which will now go to his daughter with Michelle Williams, Matilda Ledger -- in his honor. Ledger, who was previously nominated for an Oscar just three years ago for his work in "Brokeback Mountain" (2005), becomes just the second actor to win an Oscar posthumously, following Peter Finch ("Network," 1976). Had he lived, Ledger would have been the fourth youngest man to ever win the best supporting actor Oscar. (Members of the press can be seen wiping tears in the interview room.)
Jackman says "change has finally come" -- "Mamma Mia!" has finally surpassed "Titanic" as the biggest box-office seller ever in the UK. "The musical is back!" he says before breaking into a musical medley -- his specialty -- and being joined onstage by musical-movie stars Beyonce Knowles ("Cadillac Records"), Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens ("High School Musical") Amanda Seyfried ("Mamma Mia!") and dozens of dancers in front of a Busby Berkeley-esque set. (Beyonce briefly sings "At Last," a nice middle-finger to Etta James, who recently complained that she wanted to slap Beyonce for stealing her song and performing it at the presidential inaugural ball.) Finally, Jackman acknowledges his director on "Australia"/fellow Aussie Baz Luhrmann, who choreographed the medley.
6:46pm/pst: BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT
Nominees:"Auf der Strecke" ["On the Line"] (Reto Caffi), "Manon on the Asphalt" (Elizabeth Marre, Olivier Pont), "New Boy" (Steph Green, Tamara Anghie), "The Pig" (Tivi Magnusson, Dorthe Warno Hogh), "Spielzeugland" ["Toyland"] (Jochen Alexander Freydank)
Projections: Feinberg picks "The Pig," Hammond and O'Neil pick "Spielzeugland" ["Toyland"]
Presenter(s):James Franco, Seth Rogen, and Janusz Kaminski, who is introduced as "probably the first cinematographer to present on the show," then says "suck on that, Anthony Dod Mantle!," and is then introduced again as "probably the last cinematographer to present on the show."
Winner:"SPIELZEUGLAND" ["TOYLAND"] ("Jochen Alexander Freydank") Commentary: Silly me -- you should never bet against the Holocaust at the Oscars. I thought there might be a little backlash to the fact that there were about seven Holocaust films that came out this Oscar season, but who am I to be choosy?
A funny clip shows James Franco and Seth Rogen, back together (and high) again (a la "Pineapple Express") having a laugh at clips from some of the year's Oscar-nominated dramas (including Franco and Sean Penn making out in "Milk") and even re-creating a few (the staple-scene from "The Wrestler") before being joined on the couch by two-time Oscar-winning cinematographer Janusz Kaminski.
Newly-minted winner Simon Beaufoy is backstage and says it was "absolutely" the right decision to fly in the child actors from "Slumdog Millionaire" for the Oscars.
Jessica Biel, who recently presided over the Academy Sci-Tech Awards, summarizes it for the audience, and name-drops Jerry Lewis, who created the "video assist" device.
6:30pm/pst: BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Nominees:Tom Stern ("Changeling"), Anthony Dod Mantle("Slumdog Millionaire"), Chris Menges, Roger Deakins ("The Reader"), Claudio Miranda ("The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"), Wally Pfister ("The Dark Knight")
Projections: Feinberg, Hammond, and O'Neil pick "Slumdog Millionaire"
Presenter(s):Natalie Portman and Ben Stiller (with a beard and mind-freeze, a la Joaquin Phoenix on "The Late Show")
Winner:ANTHONY DOD MANTLE ("SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE") Commentary: The handheld, moving camerawork was showy but appropriate for navigating the streets of Mumbai. Danny Boyle shoutout alert. "Slumdog" train continues to pick up steam.
Newbies Robert Pattinson ("Twilight") and Amanda Seyfried ("Mamma Mia!") introduce a montage showing "what love looked like in 2008."
6:22pm/pst: BEST MAKEUP
Nominees:Greg Cannom ("The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"), John Caglione, Jr., Conor O'Sullivan ("The Dark Knight"), Mike Elizalde, Thomas Floutz ("Hellboy II: The Golden Army")
Projections: Feinberg, Hammond, and O'Neil pick "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Presenter(s):Daniel Craig and Sarah Jessica Parker continue
Winner:GREG CANNOM ("The Curious Case of Benjamin Button") Commentary: The most respected movie in the group wins the category.
6:20pm/pst: BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Nominees:Catherine Martin ("Australia"), Jacqueline West ("The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"), Michael O'Connor("The Duchess"), Danny Glicker ("Milk"), Albert Wolsky ("Revolutionary Road")
Projections: Feinberg, Hammond, and O'Neil pick "The Duchess"
Presenter(s):Daniel Craig and Sarah Jessica Parker continue
Winner:MICHAEL O'CONNOR ("The Duchess") Commentary: O'Connor becomes one of the few men who have won this category, which is one that truly rewards merit over all else -- last year, an under-the-radar film ("Elizabeth: The Golden Age") featuring numerous beautiful dresses defeated a best picture nominee ("Atonement") featuring a widely-publicized single costume (Keira Knightley's green dress), and this year, an under-the-radar film ("The Duchess") featuring numerous beautiful dresses defeated a best piture nominee ("The Curious Case of Benjamin Button") featuring a widely-publicized single costume (Cate Blanchett's red dress).
6:15pm/pst: BEST ART DIRECTION
Nominees:Donald Graham Burt, Victor J. Zolfo ("The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"), Nathan Crowley, Peter Lando ("The Dark Knight"), James J. Murakami, Gary Fettis("Changeling"), Debra Schutt, Kristi Zea ("Revolutionary Road"), Michael Carlin, Rebecca Alleway ("The Duchess")
Projections: Feinberg, Hammond, and O'Neil pick "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Presenter(s):Daniel Craig and Sarah Jessica Parker continue the "making of a movie" theme of the show in front of a new, cabaret-style set featuring a variety of different screens.
Winner:DONALD GRAHAM BURT, VICTOR J. ZOLFO ("The Curious Case of Benjamin Button") Commentary: Shout-out to crew in New Orleans.
During the commercial break, Jackman shouts a hello to the
people in the high-up seats -- "the people who actually paid for their
suits!" He adds that one of the unfortunate things about a live show is
that things have to get cut out at the last minute, and says that a
three-minute montage by Bennett Miller (the Oscar-nominated diretor of "Capote") was one of them, but he plays it for the audience during the break.
6:08pm/pst: BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
Nominees:"La Maison en Petits Cubes" (Kunio Kato), "Lavatory Lovestory" (Konstantin Bronzit), "Oktopodi" (Emud Mokhberi, Thierry Marchand), "Presto" (Doug Sweetland), "This Way Up" (Alan Smith, Adam Foulkes)
Projections: Feinberg and Hammond pick "Presto," O'Neil picks "La Maison en Petits Cubes"
Presenter(s):Jennifer Aniston and Jack Black continue
Winner:"LA MAISON EN PETITS CUBES" (Kunio Kato) Commentary: Poor Doug Sweetland ("Presto"), who has worked at Pixar since the beginning and on all of its classic films, is passed over -- although "La Maison" is certainly a well-made, moving alternative. Drama over humor -- I should have known! (Weird speech: "Thank you very much, Mr. Robato.")
6:02pm/pst: BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Nominees:"Bolt" (Chris Williams, Byron Howard), "Kung Fu Panda" (John Stevenson, Mark Osborne), "WALL-E" (Andrew Stanton)
Projections: Feinberg, Hammond, and O'Neil pick "WALL-E"
Presenter(s):Jennifer Aniston and Jack Black, an awkward pairing with an awkward repartee
Winner:"WALL-E" (Andrew Stanton) Commentary: Following in the footsteps of "Finding Nemo," "The Incredibles," and "Ratatouille," "WALL-E" becomes the fourth Pixar production to win the category since its establishment in 2001.
5:59pm/pst: BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Nominees:Simon Beaufoy ("Slumdog Millionaire"), David Hare ("The Reader"), Peter Morgan("Frost/Nixon"), Eric Roth, Robin Swicord ("The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"), John Patrick Shanley ("Doubt")
Projections: Feinberg, Hammond, O'Neil, and Buzzmeter pick "Slumdog Millionaire"
Presenter(s):Tina Fey and Steve Martin, reading the screenplays of the nominees over the visuals of the eventual scenes
Winner:SIMON BEAUFOY ("Slumdog Millionaire") Commentary:Beaufoy was previously nominated eleven years ago for "The Full Monty." Is this the beginning of the sweep? It's quite likely. (Also the first name-drop of "Slumdog" director Danny Boyle -- start the count!) The already remote best picture prospects of "Benjamin Button," "Frost/Nixon," and "The Reader" just took a big hit, as this category tends to go to a best picture winner.
5:54pm/pst: BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Nominees:Dustin Lance Black ("Milk"), Courtney Hunt ("Frozen River"), Mike Leigh("Happy-Go-Lucky"), Martin McDonagh ("In Bruges"), Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon ("WALL-E")
Projections: Feinberg, Hammond, O'Neil, and Buzzmeter pick "Milk"
Presenter(s):Tina Fey and Steve Martin, narrating a montage describing the screenwriting process.
Winner:DUSTIN LANCE BLACK ("Milk") Commentary: With "Milk" star Sean Penn clapping from the audience, Black, an openly-gay man, says Milk "gave me hope -- the hope to live my life openly as who I am."To all the gay and lesbian kids out there, he says, "You are beautiful, wonderful creatures of value, and no matter what anyone tells you God does love you." His victory reinforces the notion that best picture coattails carry down into other categories, as "Milk" was the only best picture nominee represented in the category.
5:42pm/pst: BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Nominees:Amy Adams ("Doubt"), Penelope Cruz ("Vicky Cristina Barcelona"), Viola Davis ("Doubt"), Taraji P. Henson ("The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"), Marisa Tomei ("The Wrestler")
Projections: Feinberg, Hammond, O'Neil, and Buzzmeter pick Cruz
Presenter(s): Past winners Eva Marie Saint ("On the Waterfront," 1954), Whoopi Goldberg ("Ghost," 1990), Tilda Swinton ("Michael Clayton," 2007), Goldie Hawn ("Cactus Flower," 1969), and Anjelica Huston ("Prizzi's Honor," 1985) are greeted with a standing ovation, each introducing a different nominee (not only by name, but also by mentioning their storyline)
Montage of past best supporting actress acceptance speeches, leading into this year's presentation of the category...
Jackman tells Mickey Rourke he should feel free to speak his mind if he wins because the show's on a seven-second delay, and a 20-minute delay for him. He goes over to Brangelina and says hi but has nothing much to say to them -- he's just contractually obligated to mention them five times during the show. Acknowledges Meryl Streep for her 15 nominations, but says something's fishy about it -- perhaps she's on steroids?
Jackman is singing a medley -- allegedly thrown together on a shoestring budget as a result of the economic downturn -- featuring the titles and storylines of many of this year's biggest movies. Jackman goes and pulls Anne Hathaway out of the front row to join him on stage (a la Sarah Jessica Parker at the Emmys a few years ago) for a "Frost/Nixon" song-and-dance-act, including a double-peace sign. She returns to her seat, he continues, and ultimately gets a standing ovation from the audience. Is there any precedent for this?!
Jackman, the star of this year's epic "Australia": "Everything is being downsized because of the recession. Next year I'll be starring in a movie called 'New Zealand.'"
The set is pretty unbelievable, with its silver chandeliers. Host Jackman is greeted warmly. Now let's see what the "new look" Academy Awards -- "the biggest movie event of the year" -- really looks like!
Coming momentarily.
Pre-Oscars show coverage (posts listed from newest to oldest)...
As I navigated the many layers of security surrounding the Kodak Theatre, I came upon an overhang looking down on the end of the red carpet. Salma Hayek and others were posing in front of a bed of photographers when the people around me got very excited and started saying, "Look, it's Mickey!" "Mickey!" "Do you see Mickey?" I began scouring the crowd for the long hair and flashy clothes of best actor nominee Mickey Rourke, but couldn't see him anywhere. Frustrated, I turned to the guy next to me and told him I couldn't see him. He said, "Right there!" I looked where he was pointing and was surprised to see not Mickey Rourke, but Mickey Rooney -- big difference! Rooney has been coming to the Academy Awards for over 70 years (and 7 wives), and I'll actually be interviewing him at his home tomorrow.
I just got an email informing me that nearly 50 people with disabilities from across the nation protested at the headquarters of the Academy this morning, demanding to meet with Academy officials to present a petition signed by over 2600 individuals objecting to the plan to present Jerry Lewis with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award tonight. The protesters -- who allege that Lewis "has long defended the use of pity as a fundraising tactic," described disabled individuals as "half a person," and referred to a wheelchair as a "steel imprisonment" -- occupied the lobby and refused to leave, and eventually Acacdemy Executive Director Bruce Davis was summoned and met with them. After the protesters presented him with the petition, Davis, who said he was aware of their concerns, asked them if the millions that Lewis has raised for Muscular Dystrophy Association had not done some good. Apparently, the protestors responded that the harm done to disabled people's public image far outweighed the impact of the research dollars. One of them, author and scholar Simi Linton, told Davis, "The issue is how he raised that money. Jerry Lewis trades on our dignity."
On my way over to the Kodak Theatre from my hotel, I drove by a street corner filled with whackjobs yelling at passing cars and holding up signs that said, among other things, "GOD HATES YOU," GOD HATES OBAMA," "GOD HATES THE WORLD," and "HEATH IN HELL." Classy.
A few moments later, I got an email from a publicist friend who
notified me that I wasn't the only one who was having tuxedo issues:
Last night, while Swiss filmmaker Reto Caffi -- who is
nominated for best live action short for "Auf der Strecke" ["On the
Line"] -- was dining with his family and friends at the Chateau
Marmont, his VW rental car, with his tuxedo in the trunk, was being
towed away by the LAPD. He and his friends spent the rest of the night
tracking down the car and, more importantly, his tux.
I shared the elevator downstairs with an Asian gentleman wearing a very
flashy tuxedo. I asked him if he was going to the Oscars, and he nodded
but didn't seem to speak much English. I then asked if he was a
nominee, and he said his film was. I asked which film that was, and he
said it was a Japanese film. When I asked what it was, he said
"Departures" (Japan's entry for best foreign language film), and I told
him I'd seen it and thought it was great. Suddenly, he got very
excited, began shaking my hand, and thanked me profusely.
Things got off to a less than stellar start when the tuxedo shirt that I had given to my hotel to press last night failed to make it back to me this morning. I began panicking after an extensive search by the hotel staff turned up nothing, but realized that doing so would get me nowhere, so I instead took them up an offer to go across the street, purchase another, and then be compensated by them for it. Thank God for Brooks Brothers.
Best actress nominee Kate Winslet ("The Reader") has lost all five of her previous Oscar nominations, as you've probably heard by now more times than you can count, thanks to an army of people seeking to curry favor for her candidacy -- or, perhaps more aptly, sympathy for her -- this time around.
Winslet, who is widely considered the greatest actress of her generation, has indeed had her share of Oscar misfortune:
1995 Nominated for best supporting actress for "Sense and Sensibility," she lost to Mira Sorvino for "Mighty Aphrodite"
1997 Nominated for best actress for "Titanic," she lost to Helen Hunt for "As Good as It Gets"
2001 Nominated for best supporting actress for "Iris," she lost to Jennifer Connelly for "A Beautiful Mind"
2004 Nominated for best actress for "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," she lost to Hilary Swank for "Million Dollar Baby"
2006 Nominated for best actress for "Little Children," she lost to Helen Mirren for "The Queen"
But does pulling out stats like this and playing the shame game actually work with academy members? In short, yes. There have been numerous instances of actors winning Oscars for performances that were -- like Winslet's in "The Reader" -- fine but not nearly their finest, primarily to make amends for past slights.
Here are some of the most prominent examples:
Bette Davis was voted best actress for "Dangerous" (1935) in part to make up for her Oscar loss the previous year for "Of Human Bondage" (1934)
James Stewart was voted best actor for "The Philadelphia Story" (1940) in part to make up for his Oscar loss the previous year for "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" (1939)
Joan Fontaine was voted best actress for "Suspicion" (1941) in part to make up for her Oscar loss the previous year for "Rebecca" (1940)
Joan Crawford was voted best actress for "Mildred Pierce" (1945) in part to make up for her having never previously been nominated
John Wayne was voted best actor for "True Grit" (1969) in part to make up for his previous Oscar loss for "Sands of Iwo Jima" (1949) and in part to make up for his never having been nominated for other great performances
Paul Newman was voted best actor for "The Color of Money" (1986) in part to make up for Oscar losses in past years for "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" (1958), "The Hustler" (1961), "Hud" (1963), "Cool Hand Luke" (1967), "Rachel, Rachel" (1968), "Absence of Malice" (1981) and "The Verdict" (1982)
Al Pacino was voted best actor for "The Scent of a Woman" (1992) in part to make up for his Oscar losses in past years for "The Godfather" (1972), "Serpico" (1973), "The Godfather, Part II" (1974), "Dog Day Afternoon" (1975), "... And Justice for All" (1979) and "Dicky Tracy" (1990)
Henry Fonda was voted best actor for "On Golden Pond" (1981) in part to make up for his previous Oscar loss for "The Grapes of Wrath" (1940) and also for having not been nominated for other great performances
Shirley MacLaine was voted best actress for "Terms of Endearment" (1983) in part to make up for her Oscar losses in past years for "Some Came Running" (1958), "The Apartment" (1960), "Irma La Douce" (1963), and "The Turning Point" (1977)
Russell Crowe was voted best actor for "Gladiator" (2000) in part to make up for his Oscar loss the previous year for "The Insider" (1999) and in part to make up for having not been nominated for "L.A. Confidential" (1997)
Nicole Kidman was voted best actress for "The Hours" (2002) in part to make up for her Oscar loss the previous year for "Moulin Rouge!" (2001)
Peter Jackson was voted best director for "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" (2003) in part to make up for his previous Oscar loss for "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" (2001) and also for having not been nominated for "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" (2002)
Martin Scorsese was voted best director for "The Departed" (2006) in part to make up for his Oscar losses in past years for "Raging Bull" (1980), "The Last Temptation of Christ" (1988), "Goodfellas" (1990), "Gangs of New York" (2002) and "The Aviator" (2004)
Photo: Martin Scorsese accepts the best director Oscar for "The Departed." Credit: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Lest you believe the Independent Spirit Awards were the only show in town the night before the Oscars, think again! This evening, the Visual Effects Society hosted its seventh annual ceremony at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Century City and celebrated the artists who produce the visual effects -- animation, CGI, specialty shots etc. -- that enable movies, television, commercials and video games to make us believe in that which does not in reality exist. It just so happens that, on this particular evening, virtually all of those artists honored for feature films worked on either "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" or "Wall-E."
"Button," Paramount's big-budget film starring a backward-aging Brad Pitt, won four VES awards, including best visual effects in a visual effects driven movie, which has gone to the film that went on to win the best visual effects Oscars four out of a possible six years -- with last year being one of the exceptions. "Button" is nominated in that category, as well as 12 others, at the Academy Awards and was already expected to prevail over "The Dark Knight" and "Iron Man."
("Iron Man" led the VES field with five nominations -- compared with four for "Button," "The Dark Knight," "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" and "Bolt" -- but went home emptyhanded. "The Dark Knight" won three categories: models and miniatures, created environment in a movie, and special effects.)
"Wall-E," the latest and arguably greatest Pixar production, won all three of the VES awards devoted to animation -- character animation, effects animation, and outstanding animation -- which were presented by a raucous Jeff Garlin, who provided the voice of Captain McCrea in the film. "Wall-E" will compete at the Oscars in six categories including best animated feature film, in which it is expected to prevail over "Kung Fu Panda" and "Bolt."
Appropriately enough, the evening's Lifetime Achievement Award was presented by "Button" director David Fincher to "Button" producers/spouses Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall, who also have steered numerous other special-effects-laden films including "E.T." (1982), "Poltergeist" (1982), "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" (1988), "Jurassic Park" (1993), "Twister" (1996), "The Sixth Sense" (1999), "Artificial Intelligence: A.I." (2001), "Signs" (2002), "War of the Worlds" (2005), and the "Back to the Future," "Indiana Jones" and "Bourne" franchises.
During his acceptance speech, Marshall said he wanted to take a moment to thank all of those associated with bringing "Button" to the big screen, including Fincher and the visual effects team, "on the off chance we don't get to do this tomorrow." (Marshall was half-joking, but the truth is that for either him or Kennedy to be able to speak from the podium tonight, "Button" would have to pull off a shocking upset and defeat "Slumdog Millionaire" for the best picture Oscar.)
Phil Tippett, a visual effects legend best known for his work on "Star Wars" (1977) and "Jurassic Park" (1993) and for his fascination with crafting 3D dinosaurs, was honored with the George Melies Award for artistic merit and pioneering. During his acceptance speech, Tippett bristled at the term "pioneer," saying that those who worked during the earliest days of cinema -- like the original film visual effects artist, Melies -- created most of the techniques that he and others have been using ever since.
The funniest, if not most awkward, off-the-cuff remark came when a male presenter expressed his admiration for people "who can make small things seem big -- something I've been trying to do my entire adult life."
Photo: Brad Pitt during filming of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." Credit: Paramount
Is best supporting actress favorite Penelope Cruz -- ahem -- cruzin' for a bruisin' at the Oscars tonight?
My gut says no, she is not -- she gave a very good performance in "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," she was also very good this year in "Elegy," she's an A-list star in a B-list category ("the tallest midget"), she's a past nominee (for "Volver" in 2006), she's sexy (see the infamous "babe factor"), she played a wackjob (the academy loves nothing more), she's been dutifully making the rounds (she couldn't be more charming), she's had Harvey Weinstein at her back (he wants it badly for her and for him), and she's already been named best supporting actress by several major Oscar precursors (NBR, LAFCA, NYFCC, BAFTA, Indie Spirit, and the Boston, Kansas City, and Southeastern film critics).
My head, however, says she might be. Why? Because an unprecedented statistical analysis reveals that only 25 people in the 80-year history of the Academy Awards have managed to win an acting Oscar as the sole nominee for their film, which is precisely what Cruz is. This year, all four acting categories feature one nominee who meets that description, but Cruz is the only one who is widely considered to be out front.
Cruz will either be the 26th solo winner or -- Harvey forbid -- the 212th solo loser. So, do you think she's more likely to go the way of Charlize Theron ("Monster"), who won, or Amy Ryan ("Gone Baby Gone"), who also claimed most of the major precursors, was her film's lone representative at the Oscars, and lost?
I'm crossing my fingers for Cruz -- in part because I really like her and in part because I picked her to win -- but I truly don't know.
Best actor (4 wins out of 47 nominations -- including Richard Jenkins for "The Visitor")
1950Jose Ferrer ("Cyrano de Bergerac")
1968Cliff Robertson ("Charly")
1987Michael Douglas ("Wall Street")
2006Forest Whitaker ("The Last King of Scotland")
Best actress (11 wins out of 78 nominations -- including Anne Hathaway for "Rachel Getting Married")
1930Norma Shearer ("Their Own Desire")
1931Marie Dressler ("Min and Bill")
1932Helen Hayes ("The Sin of Madelon Claudet")
1933Katharine Hepburn ("Morning Glory")
1935Bette Davis ("Dangerous")
1957Joanne Woodward ("The Three Faces of Eve")
1961Sophia Loren ("Two Women")
1988Jodie Foster ("The Accused")
1990Kathy Bates ("Misery")
1994Jessica Lange ("Blue Sky")
2003Charlize Theron ("Monster")
Best supporting actor (4 wins out of 42 nominations -- including Robert Downey Jr. for "Tropic Thunder")
1938Walter Brennan ("Kentucky")
1942Van Heflin ("Johnny Eager")
1961Peter Ustinov ("Topkapi")
1991Jack Palance ("City Slickers")
Best supporting actress (7 wins out of 54 nominations -- including Penelope Cruz for "Vicky Cristina Barcelona")
1941Mary Astor ("The Great Lie")
1948Claire Trevor ("Key Largo")
1963Margaret Rutherford ("The V.I.P.s")
1969Goldie Hawn ("Cactus Flower")
1983Linda Hunt ("The Year of Living Dangerously")
1992Marisa Tomei ("My Cousin Vinny")
1999Angelina Jolie ("Girl, Interrupted")
Photo: Penelope Cruz in "Vicky Cristina Barcelona." Credit: The Weinstein Co.
As you may recall, an Oscar-winning screenwriter who is also a member of the academy agreed to share with us — throughout the award season — his thoughts about
the year's contenders as he saw them and his ballot selections as he
arrived at them so we might better understand how an Oscar voter
operates and thinks.
"Deep Vote," as we've affectionately called
him, had seen virtually none of the major contenders before agreeing to
do this and asked for my recommendations on which he should see first. I
told him that rather than offering my personal preferences, I was
sending him an alphabetically ordered list of the 15 films that had
generated the most award buzz up to that point. (Needless to say, he
was welcome to see and write about others as well.)
For full-disclosure purposes, the films I listed were: 1. "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," 2. "The Dark Knight," 3. "Doubt," 4. "Frost/Nixon," 5. "Frozen River," 6. "Happy-Go-Lucky," 7. "Milk," 8. "Rachel Getting Married," 9. "The Reader," 10. "Revolutionary Road," 11. "Slumdog Millionaire," 12. "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," 13. "The Visitor," 14. "Wall-E," 15. "The Wrestler."
Deep Vote eventually saw all 15 of those films, plus five others. He shared his thoughts with us in Memo 1 about "Happy-Go-Lucky" (positive), "The Reader" (negative) and "The Wrestler" (mixed); in Memo 2 about "Slumdog Millionaire" (positive) and "Wall-E" (positive); in Memo 3 about "Gran Torino" (positive) and who/what he included on his preliminary ballot; in Memo 4 about "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (negative) and "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" (negative); in Memo 5 about "Frost/Nixon" (negative), "Milk" (mixed), "Revolutionary Road" (negative) and "The Visitor" (positive); in Memo 6, about "The Dark Knight" (mixed), "Frozen River"(mixed), and "Rachel Getting Married" (positive); and in Memo 7 about "Changeling," "Doubt,""In Bruges,""Synecdoche, New York," and "Tropic Thunder."
Now, he has taken the time to write us one final memo, in which he shares and candidly explains the final ballot that he mailed in to the academy last week.
* * *
Scott,
BEST PICTURE:"SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE"
Partly by default (as usual in this category), because it was the only nominee that gave me pleasure. It seemed Dickensian to me, having that element of wildness. It held me all the way through and paid off in the end, though there were several exaggerations I thought not only implausible but unnecessary. But that's what comes with a willingness to go all out and take chances. Sometimes you have to go too far to go far enough.
BEST DIRECTOR:DANNY BOYLE ("Slumdog Millionaire")
The only nominee worthy of nomination, and it must have been a very difficult movie to do! As in the categories to follow, my choice would have been harder with the additions of a representative from "Happy-Go-Lucky," "The Visitor," "Rachel Getting Married" and "In Bruges."
BEST ACTOR:RICHARD JENKINS ("The Visitor")
Taking nothing away from Frank Langella, I voted for Richard Jenkins, who is even less likely to be nominated again, and whose picture I liked better, giving more weight to his acting -- or, in this case, his naturalness. I would have preferred to vote for Colin Farrell of "In Bruges." It will be revealing if Sean Penn or Mickey Rourke get this one, as their parts depend on an affection for the actors themselves, though the movies are not good enough. When watching a really good movie, one is not all that aware of the acting.
BEST ACTRESS:ANNE HATHAWAY ("Rachel Getting Married")
By a long shot, because the entire tumultuous picture depends upon her and the change that takes place in her, as demonstrated by a series of scenes that few could manage as well and continuing close-ups that demonstrate her incredible reactive capacities. This choice would have been harder had Sally Hawkins been nominated for "Happy-Go-Lucky," in which she plays a heroine unlike any I've ever seen and brings it off splendidly. Meryl Streep was also incredible, but the picture a shade less so, and she has been well-rewarded in the past and will be again, I trust.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:HEATH LEDGER ("The Dark Knight")
He deserves it and will win -- but I'd rather have voted for Ralph Fiennes in "In Bruges" or Haaz Sleiman in "The Visitor."
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:VIOLA DAVIS ("Doubt")
Amy Adams had too little to do; Penelope Cruz played a cartoonish role in a movie not good enough; Viola Davis, though excellent, was on for only one extended scene; Taraji P. Henson was a gratuitous addition to the story (as was most of the movie she was in); and Marisa Tomei remained to the side of the non-story of her movie, because she did not get involved with the hero (shades of the overrated "Lost in Translation"). I have loved Marisa Tomei ever since the immortal "My Cousin Vinny," but I voted for Davis.
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:"SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE" (Simon Beaufoy)
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:"HAPPY-GO-LUCKY" (Mike Leigh)
My probable choice under any circumstances.
BEST ANIMATED FILM:"WALL-E"
BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM: Ineligible.
I could not vote in this category since I did not get to the screenings where ballots were passed out and did not see all the nominees.
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: Ineligible.
I wanted to vote for "Waltz with Bashir" for extraneous reasons, but have not seen them all. I mention my impulse because in some years I have voted impulsively, as I imagine some do, say, in the categories in which they are not expert and happen to know a nominee.
BEST ART DIRECTION: Abstained.
The overdone arty aspects of "Benjamin Button" and "The Dark Knight" offended me, as did the gratuitously puritanical visual tone of "Revolutionary Road." The art direction of "Changeling," while competent, left me cold. I hear good things about "The Duchess," but I didn't see it, so I did not vote in this category. "Slumdog" is a surprising omission here, and I also would gladly have voted for "In Bruges."
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:"SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE"
A rightful winner, though again I'd rather have voted for "In Bruges."
BEST COSTUME DESIGN: Abstained.
I didn't see "Australia" or "The Duchess," alas, and was not impressed by the others in this respect, so I didn't vote.
BEST FILM EDITING:"SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE"
Again by default, though entirely worthy.
BEST MAKEUP: Abstained.
Two of the three nominees offended me in this respect, and I didn't see "Hellboy," hence, no vote.
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE: Cannot recall.
Both "Slumdog" and "Wall-E" were reasonable choices and, frankly, I can't remember my vote in this department.
BEST ORIGINAL SONG:"JAI HO" ("Slumdog Millionaire")
I could not remember the titles of the "Slumdog" songs, but one deserves to win.
BEST SOUND EDITING:"WALL-E"
BEST SOUND MIXING:"WALL-E"
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS: Abstained.
I would have voted for "Rachel Getting Married" or "In Bruges," were they nominated.
BEST ANIMATED SHORT: Ineligible.
Alas, I did not get to the screenings where ballots were passed out, and thus could not vote, justly so.
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT: Ineligible.
Alas, I did not get to the screenings where ballots were passed out, and thus could not vote, justly so.
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT: Ineligible.
Alas, I did not get to the screenings where ballots were passed out, and thus could not vote, justly so.
Photo: "Slumdog Millionaire." Credit: Fox Searchlight
With just days remaining until
the 81st Academy Awards, I thought it might be fun to take a look back
at video highlights of some recent ceremonies. Earlier in the week, we revisited the 78th and the 79th. Today, let's focus on the 80th, which was held a year ago in 2008 and honored films from 2007.
It was Jon Stewart's second time hosting. More of the nominees came from indie/prestige studios than ever before. And it was a year in which a horror movie won best picture for the first time in 17 years.
Looking back at this clip, I'm reminded of many things:
so many of the presenters -- Miley Cyrus, Katherine Heigl, Jessica Alba, etc. -- have nothing to do with high-quality movies like those they were helping to honor;
the announcement that the best song Oscar was awarded to Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, two Irish buskers who formed a real-life couple and whose beautiful song "Falling Slowly" had touched a great many people, and Jon Stewart's classiest moment of the night, when he invited Irglova back onstage to
finish her acceptance speech after she had been cut short by the
orchestra (she gave some pretty moving remarks, too!);
the widely expected best supporting actor win by Javier Bardem ("No Country for Old Men"), as well as the striking contradiction between his character (a serial killer) and himself (his acceptance speech -- delivered in Spanish to his mother -- exposed him as a good ol' mama's boy);
the somewhat surprising best supporting actress win by Tilda Swinton ("Michael Clayton") over precursor favorite Amy Ryan ("Gone Baby Gone"), sentimental favorite Ruby Dee ("American Gangster"), and Academy favorite Cate Blanchett ("I'm Not There"), and her disappointing declaration that she would be giving her Oscar statuette to her agent (probably not what academy members intended when they gave it to her!);
the thrilling best actress win by Marion Cotillard ("La Vie En Rose"), a virtual unknown who gave an extraordinary performance in a little-seen movie with subtitles, over veteran Julie Christie ("Away from Her") and new kid on the block Ellen Page ("Juno"), her delight upon taking the stage, and her unscripted acceptance speech, endearingly delivered in broken English, highlighted by her closing line, "It is true, there are some angels in this city!";
the widely expected best actor win by Daniel Day-Lewis ("There Will Be Blood"), who knelt down in front of "The Queen," Helen Mirren, before graciously collecting the Oscars that thrust him into an elite club of two-time lead Oscar winners;
Harrison Ford's presentation of the best original screenplay Oscar to stripper-turned-screenwriter Diablo Cody ("Juno"), who choked up while thanking her family for never judging her (it would be the lone Oscar for the hit film that she wrote and Jason Reitman directed);
and the widely expected best director win by Ethan Coen and Joel Coen and best picture win by their film "No Country for Old Men," both of which were followed by the briefest of acceptance speeches;
I also can't help but think about what's happened since that night for...
Cate Blanchett,
who was somehow popular enough last year to get two nominations for movies the Academy hated (best actress for "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" and best supporting actress for "I'm Not There"), but not popular enough this year to get one for a movie the academy loved (best actress for "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button");
Amy Adams and Penelope Cruz, both of whom looked pretty good up on stage, and one of whom could well be back up there tomorrow night as the best supporting actress Oscar winner;
and Sydney Pollack, one of the three producers of last year's best picture nominee "Michael Clayton," who died of cancer in May, and who (along with his producing partner Anthony Minghella, who died in March is eligible for a posthumous Oscar for this year's best picture nominee "The Reader."
Video is courtesy of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
In addition to continuing to share with you my regular updates from the academy member we're calling "Deep Vote" -- see memo one, memo two, memo three, memo four, memo five, memo six, memo seven, and his forthcoming memo explaining his final ballot -- I am continuing to reach out to numerous other voters (see here and here) with whom I interact to try to get some new and hard data on the Oscar race as it enters its final days. While I openly acknowledge that it would take a much larger sample of conversations than I -- or anyone -- is having in order to formulate any statistically sound conclusions from these interactions, I still find them immensely interesting, and I hope you do too.
VOTER PROFILE
BRANCH: Acting
AGE: 90 to 100
NOTES: This star of the big screen, small screen and stage was a three-time Oscar nominee and one-time Oscar winner.
FINAL BALLOT INFORMATION PROVIDED
BEST PICTURE: "Milk"
"'Slumdog' will most likely win."
BEST DIRECTOR:Danny Boyle ("Slumdog Millionaire")
BEST ACTOR:Mickey Rourke ("The Wrestler")
"Sean Penn will most likely win."
BEST ACTRESS:Kate Winslet ("The Reader")
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:Philip Seymour Hoffman ("Doubt")
"Heath Ledger will most likely win."
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:Amy Adams ("Doubt")
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: "Slumdog Millionaire" (Simon Beaufoy)
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: "WALL-E" (Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon)
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE: "WALL-E" (Andrew Stanton)
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton, Craig Barron)
Photo: Oscar ballots being mailed. Credit: Getty Images
As you may recall, an Oscar-winning screenwriter who is also a member of the academy has agreed to share with us — for the duration of the award season — his thoughts about the year's contenders as he sees them and his ballot selections as he arrives at them, so we might better understand how an Oscar voter operates and thinks.
"Deep Vote," as we're affectionately calling him, had seen virtually none of the major contenders before agreeing to do this and asked for my recommendations on which he should see first. I told him that rather than offering my personal preferences, I was sending him an alphabetically ordered list of the 15 films that had generated the most award buzz up to that point. (Needless to say, he was welcome to see and write about others as well.)
For full disclosure purposes, the films I listed were 1. "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," 2. "The Dark Knight," 3. "Doubt," 4. "Frost/Nixon," 5. "Frozen River," 6. "Happy-Go-Lucky," 7. "Milk," 8. "Rachel Getting Married," 9. "The Reader," 10. "Revolutionary Road," 11. "Slumdog Millionaire," 12. "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," 13. "The Visitor," 14. "Wall-E," 15. "The Wrestler."
Deep Vote has now seen all 15 of those films, plus four others. He shared his thoughts with us in memo one about "Happy-Go-Lucky" (positive), "The Reader" (negative) and "The Wrestler" (mixed); in memo two about "Slumdog Millionaire" (positive) and "Wall-E" (positive); in memo three about "Gran Torino" (positive) and who/what he included on his preliminary ballot; in memo four about "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (negative) and "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" (negative); in memo five about "Frost/Nixon" (negative), "Milk" (mixed), "Revolutionary Road" (negative) and "The Visitor" (positive); in memo six, about "The Dark Knight" (mixed), "Frozen River"(mixed), and "Rachel Getting Married (positive); and now, in memo seven, about "Changeling," "Doubt," "In Bruges," "Synecdoche, New York," and "Tropic Thunder.
(Note: Several passages in his reactions are underlined. These were marked by me, not him, because I believe they may offer a particularly important clue about what this voter and perhaps others are — or are not — focusing on.)
* * *
MEMO #7
TO: THE FEINBERG FILES
FROM: DEEP VOTE
DATES: 2/14-2/17 (4 FILMS)
Scott:
"Tropic Thunder" is a good idea for a movie: actors making a war film get caught up with an enemy force that is playing for real. In order to do this well, everything has to be exactly worked out so that when the fictional cast is fooled, the audience will come to find out exactly what's happening. And, as in all really good comedy, the characters have to play it straight, not for laughs.
This movie, however, is not worked-out, not clear, with the real warriors and their weapons just as harmless as those of their acting counterparts, and the action incapable of sustaining its own imperative. With nothing at stake, the story quickly degenerates into every man doing his own kind of slapstick, which makes entertainment for the bubblegum or frat boy crowd only. (Among many nods to the junior viewing demographic, the ultimate leader of the jungle commandos turns out to be a little boy super-adept at kung fu -- but ultimately as weak and ineffectual as everyone else on camera.)
There really should be a warning with pictures like this, and the fact that it's currently grossed $110 million reveals whom movies are really made for these days, and who sees them on those boffo opening weekends.
Robert Downey Jr. is, predictably, the best of the freelance funnymen, inexplicably in blackface, and defending his choice with some amusing interchanges with his genuinely black -- though lighter-skinned -- comrade. As in, "I know exactly who I am. I'm a dude playing a dude who thinks he's another dude." Which might more accurately have been stated -- since this is a movie where there is little separation between the actors and the roles -- as, "I'm a dude made up as another dude who says he's playing a dude who thinks he's another dude."
Jack Black is typecast as a commando specializing in fart jokes, so those who may be tempted to see this flick might consider how many minutes of those they are good for. Mr. Black could easily go on all evening -- though, in fairness, he's capable of much more, and often generates wild comic energy.
A truly excellent movie, based on a similar idea, is "The Stunt Man" (1980), wherein a young and nervous escaped convict tries to hide among the crew filming a dashing adventure movie, the director of which (the diabolically manipulative Peter O'Toole) puts him to work as a stuntman. Viewers may be disoriented along the way, but can relax in the fact that the movie knows what it's doing at all times.
* * *
"Synecdoche, New York" is another idea movie, and while I'm generally fascinated by the original work of screenwriter Charlie Kaufman, this one doesn't come into focus. In "Adaptation," my favorite of his works thus far, his hero is Charlie Kaufman, screenwriter, split into his anxious self and his sell-out self, whose conflicts advance the story with high hilarity and a note of the genuinely touching. In "Synecdoche," for which Kaufman has moved up to director, Philip Seymour Hoffman plays a campus theater director who gets a MacArthur award just as his wife runs off with his little girl, and decides to go big by renting a huge armory of a theater in New York, one that extends into infinity and eventually grows big enough to take in part of the skyline and whole city blocks. Likewise, the cast expands seemingly without limit. Our hero works like a method actor, feeling his way into the play as he creates it, which means the coming to life of doppelgangers upon doppelgangers as time-markers for his significant others, both a younger version and an older version (or two) as the play takes years to shape up, some of them played by the same actor made up to be different ages, others by different actors -- Hoffman and his own doppelganger being the only pair who look nothing like each other.
Nothing happens, and sorry to say, its happening is neither funny nor interesting, except in tiny pieces. It's too bad that Kaufman brings along his anxious, screenwriter self (without the brazen sell-out) and gives Hoffman all kinds of hypochondria, keeping him sour and complaining all the way through, which cancels out both the liveliness and the inspired nuttiness to carry the picture (or, needless to say, the project within the picture).
Emily Watson, always sexy in an offbeat way, with more power as an actress than has yet been supplied the right role for, has a small number (as a younger doppelganger for Hoffman's aging secretary), wherein she makes offhand and unromantic sex sexier than it's ever been, merely by matter-of-factly taking off her clothes, and demanding, "Don't you want to f--k?" Even Hoffman absolutely does!
* * *
Clint Eastwood seems to be turning out two pictures a year. This year, one was "Changeling," on which he served as director and composer, and while it's well-done, it's not a major or successful effort. The unrecognized trend this year is for documentaries in a non-documentary style, as with "Milk," "Frost/Nixon," "Benjamin Button" and "The Wrestler." Unlike the others, this movie really does have a story, but it remains unclear why Eastwood wants to tell it, so the piece remains curiously distant.
The main action concerns the terrorizing and corrupt LAPD of 1928 and its ability to get a woman who accuses police of wrongdoing thrown into an insane asylum and threatened with shock treatments and/or long-term incarceration unless she signs a statement retracting her accusation. The gutsy patient in this case is Angelina Jolie, looking slender and delicate, but unwavering in her insistence that the 10-year-old son, returned to her months after the cops got around to looking for him, is not her own child, merely because he's 3 inches shorter and she doesn't recognize him, nor he her. Even if this really happened, it's not believable that the cops would have so much invested in this case, or that it would eventually lead to their exposure and downfall. Neither the dynamics of the force itself nor the motivations of a serial killer (who either does or does not chop up Jolie's true movie son) are explored, and the viewer is taken no deeper than the sensation of watching a Technicolor newsreel.
* * *
The best film of this group is "Doubt," which John Patrick Shanley adapted from his own play and directed. The acting, especially the major roles played by Meryl Streep (as Sister Aloysius, a more-than-strict parochial school principal) and the ubiquitous Phillip Seymour Hoffman (as her likable -- but possibly child-molesting -- parish priest, Father Flynn) is excellent. I watched in awe of Meryl Streep (who, except that she skipped her ingenue period) could play just about any leading lady. In this one she's hooded and looming, shot from below, and she scared the hell out of me, ready to pounce, like a giant bird of prey, onto a child for the slightest infraction, which is, to her way of thinking, for the good of the pounced-upon.
She really does have cause to pounce, if she is right, and takes on the priest, who seems to genuinely be a terrific guy, because he has befriended the lone black boy, a shy kid sent to the school for only one semester. Father Flynn shows his eloquent humanity in two terrific sermons he delivers, the second of which, aimed directly at Sister Aloysius, is titled "Tolerance" and tells the story of a nasty gossip who is directed by her priest to go to the rooftop of her tenement and cut open a feather pillow, which sends a mass of feathers riding on the wind. "Now put them back in the pillowcase," the priest directs, and when she says she can't, he replies, "That's gossip."
There is an echo of this scene when Sister Aloysius sends for the boy's mother and tries to tell her what she thinks is happening. Dramatically, the boy's mother, who works as a domestic, wants no part of it, saying that her husband has already beaten the boy each night for being soft and that when this new accusation gets back, the father will blame the boy and "beat the hell out of him." Her son has already left one school to get away from bullying, and all his mother wants is for him to get through the year and go on to a good high school. The principal walks the mother to her job in a nearby housing project, demanding that the mother get involved in the most powerful terms, and when the still-unyielding, blunt-speaking black mother goes indoors, Streep is caught up in a sudden blast of wind that causes her to shrink away and draw her habit about her, to protect herself from a storm of flying leaves, as the camera pulls up and away from her.
The literal sight of the feathers and the parallel moment with the leaves are typical of the ways Shanley turns his play into a genuine movie, while sticking to the same story and dialogue, and it's worth remarking that most plays get more clunky and claustrophobic when turned into movies. With economic use of his camera, Shanley conveys a dark, drab and dirty Bronx neighborhood of the early '60s, making it seem like the prison it would be for a child in distress.
And, yet, I have my doubts about "Doubt." The deliberate and disciplined point is skillfully made -- the sister is absolutely convinced on the basis of her own impressions only, which do not convince anyone else in the story, and would not stand up in court. Further, since Father Flynn is her superior, the hierarchy would certainly give him the benefit of the -- yes -- doubt. There are some incredible scenes between the two of them, witnessed only by the sister's young acolyte (who is herself unconvinced), scenes in which the sister insists Flynn must resign. He waves her off at first, but is finally provoked into a shouting match, where she demands his confession, yet offers not a scrap of evidence.
She points out he's on his third job in five years. Why else would he move around so rapidly? "Call my priests!" he demands. She says she didn't have to; she called a nun she knows in his prior parish. We think, at first, she's near-mad, but at last the priest chooses not to fight her, resigns and delivers a touching goodbye to the assembled parish. By this time, we have our doubts -- but only our doubts -- about him. Is there something, well, too "soft" about him, as he moves through the congregation, insisting on touching each parishioner as he takes his leave?
It turns out Sister Aloysius is bluffing. She made no call to a nun she supposedly knew. "He confessed," she says, "in his resignation." But it seems equally possible he was bullied and knew he'd lose credibility even in winning. All of this is pointed to a final moment that, I am convinced, only the formidable Ms. Streep could have played so powerfully: She sits with her acolyte in the cold, windswept churchyard and -- amazingly! - suddenly confesses that she too has her doubts and breaks into helpless, bitter tears. With exquisite timing, that is the end of the picture. Not a word more.
"Well done," I might have shouted. Terrific writing, acting and directing. But I knew I was not deeply moved, nor did I feel I'd had a satisfying night at the movies. I set great store on my impressions the following morning. Some movies evaporate with the morning dew, others resonate and live on forever. I realized the next morning that I might have had the same lack of satisfaction emerging from Shanley's excellent play.
Doubt is not enough at the climax of a play or movie. One wants, finally, some kind of catharsis. In comedy, we want the deeply satisfying sense of the difficulties of the evening solved and the characters going off with the discovery of their true mates. There is the equivalent of this even in the aching aftermath of rowdy laughter. In tragedy, we want the hero who has tried to scale the impossible heights to discover his limits, not only to fail, but to bring his world down all around him, leaving us in wonder and awe. I should add that the royal road in movies is comedy, whether of the serious or farcical variety. It is not doubt, alas for this movie, which must remain a rare example of the perfectly done job that fails to move us.
* * *
I have not mentioned "In Bruges" so far, thinking that, though in English, it's more of a European film, both in content and in cinematography. (Think of "Shoot the Piano Player" -- 'nuff said?) But there was no other film from 2008 that held my attention all the way through as this one did, or gave me more pleasure, or surprised and delighted me as consistently. I'd gladly vote for it in almost any category, such as best picture or best director (Martin McDonagh) -- for which, of course, it was not nominated.
Colin Farrell is a delight -- though I missed a considerable portion of the words he spoke -- and so is Ralph Fiennes. They each play characters who might be described as criminally deranged, illustrating my earlier remark that actors playing comedy are best when totally serious.
This is the second time this year I've seen Jordan Prentice, who must be nabbing all the dwarf parts in the world, and shows further range by playing this one with deft comic surliness.
Scott Feinberg is a film industry awards analyst. He boasts one of the best track records at projecting the Academy Awards, including a 21 for 24 effort in 2006, first among all pundits according to OscarCentral and Variety. Feinberg, who studied film at Yale University and Brandeis University, is the founder of AndTheWinnerIs.blog.com.
Scott Feinberg is a film industry awards analyst. He boasts one of the best track records at projecting the Academy Awards, including a 21 for 24 effort in 2006, first among all pundits according to OscarCentral and Variety. Feinberg, who studied film at Yale University and Brandeis University, is the founder of AndTheWinnerIs.blog.com.
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