proteanme

I love the Academy Awards. It’s a cheesy kind of love, I know, but I’m not embarrassed by it. There’s something about the mix of scripted and unscripted that works. I gotta say that I’m really pleased about some of this year’s awards, especially all the accolades for The Hurt Locker, which I saw when it opened here. It got under my skin, in part because it’s an edge-of-your seat, intense kinda movie, and in part because it gave me a visceral look at the drug of war, which is the drug my dad was addicted to. I didn’t want to be attached to the film winning so much, but inside I was, especially given that it was up against another war movie that glorified vengeance. In my mind, revenge is about suffering, but I don’t want to write a long post here on wrath. Not right now. Because I have been nurturing a crush on Katherine Bigelow since I read a profile of her in the Times. She’s a bad ass director and on top of that she was a painter, can talk about art and appeared in Born in Flames. And she’s tall. And she’s fucking hot. Of course I have a crush. And I’m way, way psyched she won best director, not just for breaking the barrier, which needed to be broken because this fucking gender shit is so remarkably old, but because she really rocked the screen. If you haven’t seen the movie. Go see it.

Plus, I’m always happy to see Helen Mirren. She’s hot. She’s British. And she makes everybody who gets on the screen with her seem about a thousand times better.

I have this dreamy play list in constant rotation. It’s a little sad and a lot of longing and I can’t stop listening to it. I don’t even wanna stop. It feels like I’m poking around at all the corners I’ve kept covered up so tightly, prying loose old memories, shaking the dust off things I forgot I ever wanted in the first place.  A bit of re-remembering.  It’s funny I could have forgotten what it is to imagine.

The song that’s breaking my heart right now, is Cat Power’s cover of Joan Baez’es Song for Bobby.

Just saw There Will be Blood, and . . . No Country for Old Men is still my favorite movie for 2007. Frankly, I thought Blood needed some editing and it was too narrowly focused on Daniel. I’m pretty sure I’m in the minority here. I even looked at my watch at the 2 hour mark, and found myself a little bored during the last 45 minutes. But, I love that Paul Thomas Anderson makes big, ambitious and imperfect movies.

I’m going to check out some of these flicks, although calling a a film the best experience you’ve ever had at a movie in your entire life (see the last line of Grindhouse) leaves this reader a little suspect of the writer’s reviews. I mean what about the experience of seeing a movie with a date you’re smitten with, and you touch legs, or hold hands, or she whispers something in your ear. I like that experience a lot. Exaggerated commentary almost always hits a nerve for me. Also, I’d remove Talk to Me from the list. Forgettable and predictable.

No Country for Old Men. Blew my ass away and I’m not trying to be clever. I’m glad I didn’t read the book. I just barely scanned reviews. The Coen brothers stepped back and made something without the mark of Coeness on it, if ya know what I mean. It was stunning. Roger Ebeert said, “This movie is a masterful evocation of time, place, character, moral choices, immoral certainties, human nature and fate.” I thought this was a much more challenging film than I’m Not There. I immediately want to see it again. Next up – There Will be Blood.

A few thoughts on some of this year’s serious films.

• Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead – A bit of a modern day Shakespearian tragedy. Great film.
• Gone Baby Gone – The first half is really good, but then the story falls apart, which I assume is Dennis Lehane’s fault. Stiil, worth seeing.
• The Assassanation of Jesse James… – Like a painting. Plus Brad Pitt’s acting (with more than 30 films under his belt) lends some proof to the theory that practice can make you better. Not great, mind you, but better. See this one on the big screen.
• American Gangster – Montage plus soundtrack is not a substitute for actual narrative and actual acting. Had potential, but boring. Wait for the DVD.
• I’m Not There – Yes, Cate Blanchett should win the academy award. It’s ambitious, and I want to love it, but I keep forgetting I saw it. A little fragile to hold your full attention on the small screen.
• Michael Clayton – Hard not to like anything with Tilda Swinton. The ‘practice theory’ I mentioned in reference to Brad Pitt holds for George Clooney too. I ask myself if the film is mysogonistic and I duuno. See it for yourself on DVD.