It's that time of year again and for our inaugural post I thought it nothing short of appropriate than to provide you with a preview of the 82nd Academy Awards. On my way to the Q train this morning while charging through the sleet during my early morning rush/commute from Brooklyn, my mind was abuzz with anxiety about the upcoming Oscars (Sunday, March 7 2010). With the exception of Slumdog Millionaire's win for Best Picture and AR Rahman's whimsical medley performance with John Legend, last year's Oscars was a slight bust. I mean, whose wise idea was it to nix all the movie clips??? During the Grammy's we get a slew of music performances, and rightfully so. Therefore, I'm honest to God praying that this year's producers have decided to go back to the old tradition of announcing the nominees with compelling snippets of their performances instead of using previous winners to introduce them (who else felt extremely awkward when Alan Arkin introduced Phillip Seymour Hoffman as Seymour Phillip Hoffman???). That said, let's get on to the nominees.
It would be phony for me to pretend that I've seen ALL of this year's top films. But I have done my fair share of media research/coverage on the ones I haven't. I for one have experienced theatrical viewings of both Avatar (in 3D, at the IMAX... oh my!) and The Hurt Locker. All I have to say on this subject is that for Kathryn Bigelow to direct the (arguably) first critically successful cinematic account of the Iraq War with a nearly all male cast, literally EXPLOSIVE imagery, and precision of story telling the way she did... there's no way on earth she should leave the Kodak theater Sunday night without a Best Director statuette! Her confrontation of the story was nothing short of BALLSY and arguably one of the BEST war films I've seen (in my humble opinion, reminiscent of Gillo Pontecorvo's poignant La Battaglia di Algeri). James Cameron can have BEST PICTURE all he wants (I concede him this because I do think that Avatar speaks volumes in relation to where the new age of cinema is heading... the film to me is the equivalent to the technological advances of sound and Technicolor seen in The Jazz Singer (1927) and The Wizard of Oz (1939)). I disagree with the critics who say that the story is lacking. I for one found profundity in its "simplicity" and appreciated the emotional evocation of just the visuals (the scene when the tree falls aflame left my mouth agape). In the words of Forrest Gump, "That's all I have to say about that"...
In a statement that may have me hanged by my cinema studies colleagues at NYU I will be so bold as to declare my desire to see Sandra Bullock win BEST ACTRESS for her performance in The Blind Side. There I said it! And I'm not going to qualify it except to say that it's about time that the same 4 actresses cease the juggling of the golden statuette. We know who they are and I'm ready for some new blood on the winner's podium (to reference the recently passed Winter Olympics). It's time we get past our elitist pretension and look deeper at this performance to see the genuine portrayal of an ordinary person who did an extraordinary thing. Leave the politics aside and surrender to the performance. It was a breath of fresh air... and face it, who doesn't love Sandra Bullock?
Second to last, I liked Up but would not mind the impending upset of Coraline sneaking away with the BEST ANIMATED FEATURE award. Something about the intricacy and passion in Henry Selick's stop motion pictures (James and the Gian Peach, The Nightmare Before Christmas to name a few) reminds me of the subtle potential for magic that the cinema still offers.
Lastly I'll make a case for one of the films I haven't seen but still harbor an opinion about...
--Just re-viewed Peter Bogdanovich's The Last Picture Show and found the young Jeff Bridges so engaging and classic that had I an Academy membership I'd vote for him for BEST ACTOR in Crazy Heart in half a heartbeat...
Phew! So that's my preview of the Oscars for you and now that I've gotten it all off my chest I feel relieved and hope you feel amused, informed, or even contested. It's good to harbor different opinions. After all if it can't spark debate the movie arguably has not done its job. One thing's for sure, 2009 is arguably one of the best year's for movies (in my opinion) in a while, so Sunday's Oscars is bound to be a monumental showcase! Well my lunch break's over and this is me signing out from Palisades Pictures... please comment below if you feel so inclined!!!
-Myah
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