Interruption: Oscars 2008

I normally reserve Wednesdays for a blog about books, but I'm going to skip that this week to discuss this year's Oscars.

I am among the minority of people who thought this year's Oscars were one of the best in its 80 year history. It was one of the lowest rated Oscar broadcasts of all time, if not the lowest. That might have had something to do with the uncertainty up until mere weeks before the show that there might not even be a show due to the WGA writers' strike. Or, it might have had to do with other factors. For instance, this year's awards were dominated by independent films dealing with incredibly heavy issues and themes. There have really been only two other years in which independent films were so dominant, those being 1996 and 2002. 1996 had the dubious distinction, before this year's naysayers had their moment, of being the 'worst Oscars ever.' I couldn't disagree more. That year, The English Patient took home numerous awards including the much deserved Best Picture honors. The brilliant Fargo was also nominated for quite a few statuettes, making me wonder if the curse of 'worst Oscars' is the Coens' fault. 2002, in my mind, was far worse as Chicago won Best Picture over the much better films, LOTR: The Two Towers, The Pianist and The Hours.

This year marked one of the few times that I had actually seen all five of the 'Best Picture' nominated films before the awards ceremony. It was also one of the few times that I really wouldn't have minded if any of the five took home the prize. This obviously sets me apart from the rest of the country as most Americans didn't see these fantastic films. However, I did feel, as you could have seen from my earlier post, that No Country for Old Men was undoubtedly the best film of the year, and finally, the Academy agreed with me. This year being the polar opposite of 1992 when Spike Lee's magnificent Malcolm X was snubbed by the Academy with Al Pacino winning over the nominated Denzel Washington and Unforgiven winning over the non-nominated X. Nothing against Pacino and Clint Eastwood, but those were essentially token 'career achievement awards,' as both films did not even come close to representing their best work.

Another reason that these Oscars were maybe not as popular was the complete dominance of foreign winners and nominees. Let's take a look, shall we? Javier Bardem (Spain) took home Best Supporting Actor. Tilda Swinton (England) won Best Supporting Actress. Daniel Day-Lewis (Ireland) won Best Actor. Marion Cotillard (France) won Best Actress. On top of that, you have the duo of Glen Hansard (Ireland) and Marketa Irglova (Czechoslovakia) taking home the Best Original Song award! I can't believe there are people out there who would let this affect their judgment of the awards, but then again, nothing surprises me about ignorance in America.

The show itself was great, especially for a show that came together in such a little amount of time. Jon Stewart was funny, scratch that, very funny. This year we were spared the usually ridiculously elaborate staged numbers such as dance numbers for costume design or an 'it' singer (i.e. Beyonce) performing all of the nominated songs. Aside from the really dumb effects-laden intro and the even more absurd song presentations from Enchanted, the show was well put together. I even liked the parody 'tributes' to 'binoculars and periscopes' and 'bad dreams.' Hilarious. But the truly memorable moments came with the deserved winners and heartfelt speeches, or lack thereof and makeup moments. Javier Bardem's speech in Spanish to his mother was tearjerking. Marion Cotillard's utter shock was its equal. But the real magic came when, after the orchestra cut off Marketa Irglova as she approached microphone, Jon Stewart saved the day by bringing her out, post-commercial, to let her have her say. "Fair play to those who dream," was her message, trumpeting the work of independent musicians, and I couldn't help but tear up. This after a blowhard cinematographer at the Independent Spirit Awards complained about having to 'sacrifice' by taking only $3000 a week for his work. What a jackass. When you make more than 'a living' in doing some thing you love, you have no right to complain. Period.

This year's Oscars will always retain a special place in my heart, not only for the fact that there were some amazing films represented, or that there were some amazing speeches. It's special because of the music of Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova and their little movie called Once. The music of Glen Hansard, the Frames, and his music with Irglova has always moved me, but in the context of the film it became even more meaningful. For the fact that this song beat out three Alan Menken tunes from Enchanted, a man who was won a total of 8 Oscars for Disney dreck, it means that people in the Academy shared my view. Fair play to those who dream...

Books: Yet More Oscar Stuff

This year, three out of the five 'Best Picture' nominees were based on books. Not since 2003's four nominees have there been this many. All three, of course, are also up for 'Best Adapted Screenplay.' Those three are No Country for Old Men (novel by Cormac McCarthy), Atonement (novel by Ian McEwan) and There Will Be Blood (novel by Upton Sinclair). The two that round out the adapted screenplay noms are Away From Her (short story by Alice Munro) and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (memoir by Jean-Dominique Bauby). I've read two of these books and can speak for those, and the films adapted from them, but not the rest.

Atonement definitely captures the feel of McEwan's wonderful novel. Christopher Hampton, the screenwriter, seems to dwell in adapting stories from the past; in costume dramas, if you will. He's adapted The Quiet American, The Secret Agent, Carrington, Mary Reilly and Dangerous Liaisons, for which he won the Oscar in 1988. So, this kind of thing was no fluke. The difficulties in adapting Atonement lay in a number of different ways. For one, there's the problem of point of view. How does one show what is going on versus what one perceives is going on? This is a key plot point early on in the book and film, driving everything that happens after. Another problem to overcome is the progress of time, tracking specific characters as they grow older, yet somehow maintaining that POV. Of course, Hampton tackles these problems with ease, constructing the screenplay so that it was not restricted by particular film conventions.

No Country for Old Men is one of the few adaptations I've seen that really captured not only the salient plot points, but also the tone, voice and descriptive power of the original novelist. Cormac McCarthy has written some incredibly dark material over his lifetime (though he started in the novel writing business late in his life). Books like Blood Meridian and The Road aren't exactly uplifting works. What they are, however, is brilliant pieces of literature. No Country for Old Men finds the Coen Brothers in sync with McCarthy in such a way as I've never seen before. Had this adaptation not been done by the Coens, we could have easily seen some horrible changes (i.e., a wrap-up to the money situation, certain characters surviving, our hero Sheriff figuring things out in a more linear way and staying in law enforcement). But the Coens got the point of the novel, which wasn't about a foiled drug sale, or a guy who finds money and lives on the run, or a bounty hunter. It's about the changing face of crime and violence in this country. It's about how lawmen of a certain era can't stem the tide or keep apace of the escalating evil created by greed. Although McCarthy actually does give us a little more about the money at the end of the book, it's unnecessary in the film to make their point. It doesn't matter whether Moss, Chigurh or a truckload of bandits end up with the money. What matters is that we know things don't end up well.

My favorite scene in the movie, for its acting, and the writing, is when Sheriff Ed Tom Bell, played by Tommy Lee Jones, is talking in a café with Moss' wife, played by Kelly Macdonald. For a while throughout the film, Bell and his deputy are trying to figure out how Chigurh kills his victims. In the café, Bell offhandedly tells a story of a slaughterhouse and mentions a device that punches a hole into the brain. There is no grand revelation speech, moment of clarity or even a change of expression. We know, in that moment, that Bell has figured out, whether at that time or some time previous, what Chigurh is using as a weapon. It's magnificently understated. In a 'Hollywood' film, you would have seen this elaborate scene where the Sheriff and his Deputy suss out what happened through a C.S.I.-like deductive reasoning session. Or, in that same café scene, you would have seen Bell telling the story, and then having this grand revelatory expression, something like leaning back in his chair, with a half smile, looking to the side, then shaking his head in disbelief. Thankfully, the Coens were in charge of this one, and we ended up with a brilliant scene and film.

Music: Original Scores

As it's Oscar week, I thought I'd write for a bit about original scores. Music is an important part of film, and has been part of the experience since before the character's voices could be heard. A pianist would accompany silent films in theaters all across the country. Today, we have a long history of great scores to look back upon: Nino Rota's Godfather themes, Bernard Hermann's many Hitchcock collaborations, Maurice Jarre's Lawrence of Arabia and, whether you like them or not, John Williams' many contributions. Great scores help set the tone of the film. As an example of how important music must be, try playing Keystone Kop music, or something from Spike Jones to the images in Schindler's List. It's disturbing in a whole new way. Music can make or break a film, or make it seem incredibly dated. Anyone seen Beverly Hills Cop lately and heard the "Axel F. Theme?" But great films deserve a great score. This year, there was one that was a cut above the rest, and one that was great. The former didn't even get a nomination while the latter will probably deservedly win. At least, I hope so.

As an aside, original songs are another matter. This is one category that Oscar almost never seems to get right. To paraphrase Mickey Rooney in his cameo appearance in The Simpsons: "Shallow? The only thing shallow about show business is the music industry!" Anyway, since 1960, the only original song winners I've liked include "Moon River" (1961), "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" (1969), "Theme from Shaft" (1971) and "Streets of Philadelphia" (1993). The 90's were fairly well dominated by Disney's animated films winning Best Original Song, and this year finds 3 out of the 5 nominated songs coming from Enchanted, the Disney homage. The spectacular film Once gets one nom, and August Rush gets the other. If any film deserved multiple nods it is Once. But what about the great stuff from Music & Lyrics? or the Mastodon track from Aqua Teen Hunger Force? or the music by Joe Henry and Loudon Wainwright from Knocked Up? How about the Spider-Pig song from The Simpsons Movie? Or almost any of the songs from the Eddie Vedder Into the Wild soundtrack. Or one of the magnificent Sondre Lerche songs in Dan in Real Life? Or better than all of these put together, the fantastic new funk jams in Superbad? Anyhoo, back to the scores:

This year's original score nominees include Dario Marianelli for Atonement, Alberto Iglesias for The Kite Runner, James Newton Howard for Michael Clayton, Michael Giacchino for Ratatouille and Marco Beltrami for 3:10 to Yuma. Notice anything odd about this list? No, this isn't a reference to the three Italian names, I'm merely pointing out the ridiculous absence of Jonny Greenwood and his score for There Will Be Blood. Above all of the nominees, Greenwood's is the score that impressed me the most, albeit with Marianelli coming in at a close second. After the title card, Greenwood's score is omnipresent. The strings rise into a frightening peak which then becomes a recurring theme for Daniel Plainview. As in no other film this year, Greenwood's score perfectly fits the mood and tone of the film as a whole. It is dark, despairing, foreboding, threatening and mournful. But, the bastards in the academy didn't nominate him. I use the lower case 'a' in academy for that very reason. Jerks.

But, if I have to choose one of the nominees, it is easily Marianelli for Atonement. The touchstone for me in finding a great soundtrack is in its half-life. What I mean is, if I can remember aspects of the music after the film is long over, then the composer has done his job. The brilliance of Marianelli's score is how seamlessly it fits into the world of the film. Incidental sounds from the film, a typewriter, an umbrella being beaten upon a car's hood, flow directly into percussive sounds used in the score. Marianelli's music can build tension and cause you to weep at the stroke of a bow upon a string, and therein lies its magic.

But really, how cool would it have been to see the entire Radiohead gang supporting Jonny Greenwood, all wearing tuxes, and having his chilling score start to play after they called his name...maybe someday.

Movies: My Top 10 of the Year

There's just about one week to go until the big Oscar broadcast! As such, I have decided to go over the best movies I've seen this year. There are very few years in which I see every film that is nominated for an Academy Award. Actually, there's usually an inverse proportion of how disappointed I am versus how many of the films I've seen. Yes, I've been let down by the Oscars before.

Many fanboys will tell you that the beginning of the end was when Star Wars lost to Annie Hall in 1977. I'm not one of those people. I've never thought Lucas deserved an Oscar. The first time I was ever really invested in the awards was in 1991 when Silence of the Lambs swept most of the major Oscars. Since then, however, I've been consistently disappointed. Aside from a few that I agree with (Schindler's List, The English Patient), I've disagreed with most of the Best Picture recipients. The most egregious transgression was in 1997 when Titanic took home the prize. I try to avoid clichés, but, after seeing that horrible film, I definitely wanted those three torturous hours of my life back. Since then, Gladiator, A Beautiful Mind and Chicago have been films I've really disagreed with.

This year, however, I've seen four of the five nominated films and I would be happy with any of the four winning. I plan to see the fifth, hopefully, this week. But, here are my favorite films of the year, at least the ones I've seen. There are more I need to see, but these were superb:

10. Superbad- One of the funniest films I've seen. Period.
9. Charlie Wilson's War- Aaron Sorkin does it again! Being a film about the arming of the Afghan Mujahideen, many liberals like myself were worried that it would glorify a political mistake, but Sorkin, a liberal himself, covers that nicely by highlighting the idea that Wilson and his CIA partner, Gust Avrakatos, tried to warn Congress that unless Afghanistan were stabilized and given money and support, it could have severe repercussions for the U.S. Hmmmmm....sound familiar?
8. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford- Besides winning the prize for the longest title of the year, James is a fantastic film. It's gloriously shot by Roger Deakins, who has been collaborating with the Coens for years now. Also, Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck and Sam Rockwell give outstanding performances.
7. Once- This is the little film that could. At one time, it was supposed to star Cillian Murphy, but thankfully, the filmmaker thought better of it and placed his soundtrack composer, the Frames' Glen Hansard, in the lead role. It's a brilliantly spare and realistic love story with wonderful music.
6. Juno- Juno and Once tie for the shortest titles, I suppose. Juno is another one of those little films that could. Ellen Page is magnificent and deserves every accolade, but it is the trio of Michael Cera, Jason Bateman and J.K. Simmons who practically steal the show. A few things bother me, however. Why was Rainn Wilson so prominently featured in the trailer when he's only in the film for thirty seconds? And I'm worried that Michael Cera will continue to be typecast as the nervous, bumbling teenager until he doesn't get parts anymore.
5. The Simpsons Movie- Come on. How could you not love this? The skateboarding scene at the opening is worth it alone. And Professor Frink singing, "for the big screen!" And Albert Brooks guiding an idiotic President Schwarzenegger. I could go on...
4. Control- Renowned photographer Anton Corbijn makes his feature film debut with Control, a biopic of Ian Curtis, the frontman for Joy Division who tragically took his own life at the age of 23. Corbijn, who got his break in photography taking pictures of the band, captures all the requisite personalities, historical accuracies (except for intentionally choosing a different song for the band to play on Tony Wilson's music show) and atmospheres (pun intended).
3. Atonement- I wasn't expecting much from this film. I loved Ian McEwan's book and, though I thought it perfect for adaptation, but Joe Wright's Pride & Prejudice disappointed me. Not so with Atonement. There are three things I was most impressed with. 1) The music. Dario Marianelli incorporates sounds from the film into segues that lead into music beautifully. It was magical. 2) The three actresses who play Briony Tallis. They were all simply amazing. 3) What everyone seems to be talking about, the near five minute tracking shot of Dunkirk. Wow.
2. There Will Be Blood- I'm not quite sure what to say about this film. It stays with you for a long time. Daniel Day Lewis, Paul Dano and Paul Thomas Anderson are genius.
1. No Country for Old Men- I probably gave this away with the picture above, but what are you gonna do? This was most definitely the best film all year. I can't believe how many people are saying they didn't like the ending. They've obviously never seen that many Coen Brothers films, or they just didn't get it. It's not about closure of a plot. It's not even about the plot at all. It's not really even about Llewelyn Moss or Anton Chigurh. It's about Sheriff Ed Tom Bell and the changing landscape of crime, law and violence, which is then displayed on screen. It's the Coens' best film yet by far with some of the best performances. I say that knowing that Miller's Crossing is one of my favorite films of all time.

Honorable Mentions: Gone Baby Gone, Heima, Talk to Me, Hot Fuzz