The
Oscar nominations were announced this morning, but I want to wait a bit before I offer my picks. The offerings at the local theaters are slim, especially if you are interested in seeing anything in a language other than high-school level English. But I'm hoping today's nominations will encourage the
Cedar City theater chain to offer something besides teen comedies and "family safe" features for a change. (Oscar-nominated
Babel only debuted here last week, and
Dreamgirls arrived a week before that. No sign here yet of stuff I'm dying to see like
Letters from Iwo Jima, Pan's Labyrinth, or
Children of Men. I'm holding out hope that I'll get to see these in a theater before they get released to DVD and/or the Oscars are awarded.)
Anyway, since I have last year's movies on the brain, I thought I'd offer a short list of the films I did manage to see that I consider Oscar-worthy, whether or not they actually scored any nominations.
The QueenI was prepared to disbelieve the hype surrounding this film, especially after I learned that it involved the death of Princess Diana. However, the film's depiction of the political self-interest, merciless class snobbery, and general human failings of the English royal family is Shakespearean in its icy observations. The camera that follows these people doesn't need to be judgmental; their actions tell us everything.
The DepartedI wouldn't call this any kind of masterpiece, especially in comparison with some of Scorsese's other films, but I found a great deal of satisfaction while watching it, mainly because of the sense of reassurance I felt in seeing a movie made by someone who not only enjoys what he is doing and takes his work seriously, but who also knows how to captivate an audience without manipulating them or resorting to cheap tricks. I will see anything this director does, Jack Nicholson's accents notwithstanding.
Casino RoyaleThis is the first Bond film I've seen that I didn't feel the need to designate as a guilty pleasure. While it doesn't entirely break free of the Bond stereotypes, it goes a long way towards making Bond a realistic human being, and showing us the effects of living a life devoted to murder. When Daniel Craig finally delivered his trademark introduction ("Bond. James Bond."), I felt more frightened than amused. By that point in the film, Craig's Bond has shut himself off from nearly all human emotion, and we realize what a monster we've created.
Little Miss SunshineLike most great comedies, this film is less of a deliberate farce than a documentary-like portrayal of an interesting (and disturbed) group of people in an unusual situation, more sad than funny. Even its most deliberate comedic moments (particularly the climax) are achieved with honesty and a touch of sympathy.
A Scanner DarklyI'm not sure why this film was animated, or animated in the rotoscopic style of Linklater's
Waking Life, but if you can get past the hypnotic distraction of the visuals, this becomes a rather chilling projection of our drug culture, and even includes Philip Dick's sobering personal roster of
the victims who beat him to the grave. More prescient than
the trailer would lead you to think.
Marie AntoinetteI hated it at first. I still feel the need to see it a few more times before I'm comfortable with my reaction to it now. I think Sofia Coppola's heritage is working for her in unexpected ways--by trying to distance herself from the epic scope of her father's classics, she humanizes the epic mythology of Marie's life, bringing it down to the level of a teenager sporting Chuck Taylors and listening to Bow Wow Wow. The beheading is never shown, but, like any teen who is given access to all her immediate wants (other than sex), Marie loses her head long before we want to cut it off of her. We leave her at sunset, when we are suddenly reminded why the smile on her face is dying.
Labels: Movies
