I’m back on the movie saddle again! Saw three good movies this past weekend, each with some unique flaws.
THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS (2009)
I had heard that this was something to see, a nearly pure surreal Terry Gilliam movie experience that the director had not made in a long while. And the Blu-rayified visuals were amazing. The thing I forgot about Gilliam films is that there’s a lot of difficult narrative directions, and a kind of sly, subversive attitude (maybe leftover from Monty Python days) that gums about both a casual understanding of the plot and the film’s movement towards a satisfying conclusion. That’s pretty clear here… I thought that perhaps the setting of a film often being inside a wild fantastical world of the mind would allow cinematic inventiveness to run rampant, while allowing something more logical to serve as an anchor for those of us wanting to see more than wild images. But no luck here… it’s not nonsensical, but it’s purposely difficult, which might just make me want to watch it again!
I had read good things about this Apatow-produced comedy, and of course there were plenty of laugh-out-loud and gross-out moments. After making my way through Funny People, Knocked Up, Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Superbad, however, I might be getting tired of this new comedy formula. There’s a mostly common element to these movies, which involve honestly blunt, likely improvised dialogue, at least several uncomfortably gross situations (vomit usually being featured), and a kind of redemption of characters for their debauchery earlier in the movie. I’m not lumping all of these movies into the same broad category, but this film reminded me to be wary of rushing out to see another one of these types of movies, unless they really offer something unique and unprecedented.
Closer was on my radar for a few reasons, but with my obsession with completion of lists, it had the honors of containing one of AV Club’s best film scenes of the decade, and moreover, viewing it would complete two sets of Oscar nominated categories for that year, as both Natalie Portman and Clive Owen were nominated for Best Supporting Actress and Best Supporting Actor.
That scene that was highly regarded by AV Club is stunning, serving as an intense full throttle version of the intricate character interplay that takes place and really brings up all sorts of questions about the meaning of playing roles in relationships. Now for simple non-fussy escapism, couple involve themselves in role-playing to spice their companionship up. But Closer perfectly demonstrates what happens if that desire to not play your honest self snowballs into a point where some kind of game is being played, even when situations call for the most intimate, honest moments. The fault of this movie, despite the great performance, is that its theatrical leanings (it was based on a play) do reveal themselves a little too plainly. I guess there is nothing wrong with filmed versions of plays, but I do not want something cinematic to remind me that I could be viewing a form of art in its true, original medium. I’m not sure if the play version, could reveal the twist so subtly at the end. I did have to pay a little extra attention, as most movies with a suprising but completely perfect turnaround usually ram the twist into your head.
But, for some fun, since I did satisfy my Oscar nomination completion fetish with this movie… why don’t I quickly summarize and choose my own favorites among the 5 performances?
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Until Closer, the only year in the past decade where I had seen all nominated Best Supporting Actor performances was 2000. Including Clive Owen’s supporting performance in 2004, the other nominees were.
Morgan Freeman – Million Dollar Baby – Plenty of a powerful performance, but I don’t remember it being much more that a perfect Morgan Freeman. I imagine Invictus, which I haven’t seen, required a lot more stretching for him. I think the gravitas he brings to his characters is a real gift regardless.
Alan Alda – The Aviator – We all know that the Oscars give out honorary nominations and sometimes winners for a performance that isn’t monumental in and of itself, but nonetheless deserves to be recognized to acknowledge an iconic career. The Aviator was a massive film packed full of actors, actresses, and big scenes, and I did not really see this performance stand out, especially as it was always in the shadow of DiCaprio’s tour de force performance. Still it was kind of a squirmy Alan Alda doing his thing.
Thomas Hayden Church – Sideways – I remember in the Who Will Win / Who Should Win columns that come out before Oscar time this role was the one recognized as deserving to win in a year in which Morgan Freeman wouldn’t be in the running. It was very engaging watching Church’s sleazeball antics manipulate and contrast Giamatti’s attitude towards his own life. I can’t tell whether it might be too over the top to be believable, but Sideways, despite its merits, did have adopt some hypercharacterization to move the film along.
Jamie Foxx – Collateral – Shortchanged Jamie Foxx only won one out of two Oscar nominations that year. I have not seen Ray, but since was a fine performance. I suppose it didn’t stand out as anything special, but relative to other action movies, where the hapless schmo caught up in a criminal enterprise could really be played to type, Foxx gave us something unique and honest.
I suppose I could distant myself from my most recently watched performance, since Closer was so sharp and brutal. But I probably think my favorite would go to Church in Sideways. I remember watching the movie for the first time and really not understanding where this character came from, and when you have a performance that defies expectations, you know it has that extra quality that makes it better than the other solid nominees.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Upon viewing The Hours from 2002 and North Country from 2005 (neither exciting prospects) I will have some more complete sets of Oscar nominations in this category from the last decade. Until now, the gorgeous Natalie Portman’s performance in Closer completes my first supporting actress set…
Cate Blanchett – The Aviator – This involves the actress pretty much being completely absorbed by a character with well known tropes. Pretty stunning.
Laura Linney – Kinsey – I do think of Linney’s turn in this film whenever I see her in something, and then start thinking about how finely constructed the film and performances in this movie were overall, which made it great because the subject was so fascinating to begin with. Her performance added calm and humanity to a movie that was overall about breaking very strict taboos.
Virginia Madsen – Sideways – A solid performance but not entirely complex given the conflicted characters in this movie.
Sophie Okenedo – Hotel Rwanda – I can’t be upset with this performance. It’s just that given that I have read a few long articles about the absolute hell of the Rwandan genocide, the movie was not as powerful, and that has to do with some of the lightness in which the main character’s struggles were treated.
So, overall, it’s close between two finalist I have to stick with the actual winner Cate Blanchett because of her complete escape into the performance. Linney’s character was essential to Kinsey but she does have some mannerisms in her movies that are consistent and prevent you from seeing entirely different characters in each of her movies.
