Oscar thoughts

A wee bit o' commentary on this year's Oscar nominations.

BEST PICTURE

Atonement - Even my most romantically minded friends have shrugged this off as a watered-down The English Patient. I won't be seeing it. I loved The English Patient, but would have no patience for a dilution of it. Not too mention my issues with Kiera's pretty, but distracting, pout.

Juno - WTF? Don't get me wrong, I dug Juno in a big way and will definitely be putting it on my 2007 top ten list, but "Best Picture"? Go figure. Like the film itself, this nomination is a pleasant surprise.

Michael Clayton - Solid picture, to be sure. One of those glossy, smart numbers where the Hollywood machine is humming at its well-oiled-machine best. But not a hall of famer, by any means.

No Country for Old Men - Hells yeah! Just hand the Coens' the statuette now, please.

There Will Be Blood - I haven't seen it yet, but will shortly. PTA is a master. DDL is a master. But I can't imagine this film having the lingering visceral impact of No Country for Old Men. Sorry.


BEST ACTRESS

Cate Blanchett - I'm sure she was great, but been there, done that.

Julie Christie - I'm sure she was great. Did you know she dated Warren Beatty? True story.

Marion Cotillard - OMG. Just give her the statuette now. "Transforming herself for the role" doesn't begin to describe it. She tore my heart out as Edith Piaf.

Laura Linney - She was absolutely great in The Savages, and I had to overcome a pesky Laura Linney issue to admit that. But she's gotta wait her turn for Oscar gold.

Ellen Page - She was decidedly great, but deadpan wryness isn't the toughest thing to pull off—let's be honest.

BEST ACTOR

George Clooney - He was good, but that's what he gets paid for, right?

Daniel Day-Lewis - Just give it to him. He's been gone long enough to play the comeback card and everyone is raving about this performance.

Johnny Depp - Johnny's great, but I doubt a singing cannibal part will earn him a golden boy.

Viggo Mortensen - Viggo who? Nah, just kidding. But he's in Linney's boat. He needs to pay a couple more dues.

Tommy Lee Jones - I didn't see In the Valley of Elah, but I think he deserved to get a "Best Supporting Actor" nod for No Country for Old Men. So did Josh Brolin, for that matter.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Cate Blanchett, Ruby Dee, Saoirse Ronan, Amy Ryan and Tilda Swinton.

Of this crew, I only saw Tilda's performance. She was terrific in Michael Clayton, especially in one small moment where she lays her clothes out on her bed to prepare for a big day at work. Her fragility in that scene was breathtaking and heartbreaking. So I vote Swinton.


BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Casey Affleck - Didn't see it, but Casey's good.

Javier Bardem - Just give him the statuette, please. The gas station scene alone earned him this.

Hal Holbrook - A sentimental swing vote might give it up for Hal.

Philip Seymour Hoffman - Didn't see this performance, but he was terrific in The Savages. Still, PSH needs to let someone else have a turn at the thank you podium.

Tom Wilkinson - He played crazy real good, but not Oscar good.

BEST DIRECTOR

Paul Thomas Anderson - No doubt he should come in second.

Joel Coen and Ethan Coen - Hells yeah! The other dudes shouldn't bother getting tuxes.

Julian Schnabel - Too artsy outsider-y to take home this prize, but good for him getting nominated.

Tony Gilroy - Solid job, Tone, but competency don't equal transcendency.

Jason Reitman - A promising fresh eye and smart, funny storyteller. You go, boy. But since you are a boy, resume-wise, gotta wait your turn.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Diablo Cody for Juno - If Diablo don't get it for Juno, I don't know what up. Brilliant + box office is tough to beat.

Nancy Oliver for Lars and the Real Girl - Mixed reviews, baby.

Tony Gilroy for Michael Clayton - Again, solid. Just not remarkable.

Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava, Jim Capobianco for Ratatouille - It got a 98 on Metacritic, but still, it's about an animated rat. This is when that "It's an honor just to be nominated" line comes to mind.

Tamara Jenkins for The Savages - If Diablo don't get it, Tamara should. What a lovely, insightful film she scribed (and directed). Bravo.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Paul Thomas Anderson for There Will Be Blood - Something tells me PTA might take this one as a consolation prize.

Christopher Hampton for Atonement - Eh. War-torn love story. He probably wrote it in his sleep.

Ronald Harwood for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - This seems like it would've been a challenge, but again, too outsider to win.

Sarah Polley - I'm sure she did a fine job. Good on her.

Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for No Country for Old Men - I'm midway through the book, so can say the Coens' didn't have too much work to do here. Three words: amazing source material.

Kiwis are Irie

While the humor and song stylings of HBO's Flight of the Conchords range from hilarious to ho-hum in season one, overall it's hard to resist the deadpan charm of Bret and Jemaine. I admit, I'm developing quite a crush on the lambchop-sideburned Clement.

I've just caught up on the show on DVD and episodes like "Sally," "Drive By" and "Girlfriends" get more and more delightfully nuanced with each repeated viewing. It's clear everyone involved in this show is lavishing it with TLC and I thank HBO for that.

Above is a clip of my favorite song parody from season one. A lovely French 101 pop ditty with a 1960s groove. Genius.

Telling songs in the shuffle of life

Now you can read your iPod contents like mystics read tea leaves.

Here's how:
1. Put your iPod on "shuffle."
2. For each question below, press the "next" button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THE CORRESPONDING SONG TITLE DOWN IN THE EXACT ORDER OF APPEARANCE, NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS.
4. Bear in mind that absolutely nothing evil will befall you if you choose to ignore this survey.

I've included my iPod's "answers" to the questions (along with some commentary in parenthesis) below. Let me know what your answers were, if you wanna.


HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF?

"Deep in a Dream” Chet Baker

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?

"Broken Arrows” Jose Gonzalez

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?

"Lazy” David Byrne (very apropos)

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?

"A Little Trip” Vinyl Kings (I hope it’s to Paris)

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?

"Lonely As Can Be” The Concretes (not really, luckily)

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?

"What Child Is This?” Vince Guaraldi Trio (probably true)

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?

"Here We Go Again" Vinyl Kings (hahaha)

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?

"Linus and Lucy" Vince Guaraldi Trio (Charlie’s more compelling food for thought)

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?

"Here Comes Everybody” Autolux

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?

"When You Play the Violin” The Gothic Archies (Huh. I have no musical ability.)

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?

"Turn On/Off” Inara George

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?

"Ghost Mountain” The Unicorns (whoa, eerie)

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST??

"High and Dry" Radiohead

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR?

"Catch My Disease" Ben Lee (too perfect for a germphobe like me!)

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?

"Love Can Strike Twice” Flotilla (what does this foretell?)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?

"Wait for Me” Sean Lennon (something nice about that)

What's the frequency, concrete?

A fitting way to sum up the Concrete Frequency concert I saw last night at Disney Hall would be to paraphrase what one blonde-locked singer/songwriter said on-stage during her between-song patter: Just when you're about to give up on Los Angeles, it has a way of showing you something beautiful.

I'd never been inside Disney Hall before, so that in itself was a treat. A spectacular silver sculpture on the outside, the venue's interior is warm with cherry-toned wood everywhere. Some have complained the acoustics are too good, amplifying every cough and candy wrapper, but when the music is soaring, no complaints can be heard.

The line-up featured 14 artists—most of whom I wasn't familiar with, but probably should be. I'll just give a shout-out to my favorites below. Each was asked to perform two songs inspired by city life, acoustic-style. All the performers were clearly humbled and honored to be playing in such a hallowed hall, which made the show even more moving.

Biirdie
What a great discovery! I dug Biirdie's sound so much, I bought their CD in the lobby on the way out. Their "LA is Mars" was the perfect opener for the night. Great vocals, great melodies, great band. One to watch, as they say.

Zooey Deschanel
Well, hello! Zooey has been a favorite actress of mine since I first saw her in All the Real Girls, but I think her best performance so far has been as a guest star in Weeds. Hilarious and adorable. One day, I hope to write a movie for her. I can't really explain why, since I've never written a movie before. But I digress. The whole actress-who-wants-to-sing thing has been done to a crisp, but Zooey delivers. Let's just put it this way. When she performed, it was just her voice and her guitarist's strumming filling the grand arches of Disney Hall and those rafters were ringing with her clear bell tones. Really, really remarkable. I hope I get to see her perform in her own show one day. I've heard she's got an album coming out. Hooray!

Inara George
Inara is a love. I've only met her in passing thanks to mutual friends, but everyone who knows Inara loves Inara. She's got an angelic voice and incredible range, plus is just darn cute. She performed two lovely songs with revered Brian Wilson collaborator, Van Dyke Parks, including one from her upcoming album. Hooray!

Sondre Lerche
I have Sondre's first album, but kinda lost track of him after that (except for his instant classic "(I Wanna) Call it Love"). Based on his entertaining stage persona and energized song stylings, I'd like to see his full show sometime. Speaking of full, it's pretty clear Sondre's full of himself. But the boy has good reason to be.

Kyp Malone
Kyp Malone of TV on the Radio closed the show and was a show-stopper to be sure. His hilarious mumbled musings on city life and bombastic vocals gave a nice yin, yang and a bang to wrap up a wonderful night. I'd like to see more of the Kypster, too.

For the love of Lars

It was while on-stage in a comedy improv show that I decided to learn more about Ibsen. (You didn't see that comin', did ya?)

Based on an audience suggestion, my improv mates and I were supposed to imitate his playwriting style in a scene. I had no idea how to do it, but faked it and got a mild laugh from the audience. A lot of improv is just faking it, so no big deal. But, post-show, I felt it was my responsibility to find out more about the celebrated Norwegian. So I went online to the lazy-assed researcher's choice, Wikipedia. Luckily the entry on Ibsen was thoughtfully presented.

As I read through it, the similarities between Ibsen's work and that of my favorite filmmaker, Lars von Trier, fell into sharp relief:

"[Ibsen's] plays were considered scandalous to many of his era, when Victorian values of family life and propriety largely held sway in Europe and any challenge to them was considered immoral and outrageous. Ibsen's work examined the realities that lay behind many facades, possessing a revelatory nature that was disquieting to many contemporaries."

Aha! As von Trier did in his eviscerating masterpiece Dogville and its less magnificent, but no less moving, sister film Manderlay.

"Ibsen largely founded the modern stage by introducing a critical eye and free inquiry into the conditions of life and issues of morality. Victorian-era plays were expected to be moral dramas with noble protagonists pitted against darker forces; every drama was expected to result in a morally appropriate conclusion, meaning that goodness was to bring happiness, and immorality pain. Ibsen challenged this notion and the beliefs of his times and shattered the illusions of his audiences."

Hmmm. Brings to mind von Trier's Breaking the Waves and Dancer in the Dark—two dramas so emotionally devastating, I don't think I could handle a second viewing of either.

Having stumbled upon this Ibsen/von Trier similarity, I Google'd the two blokes' names to find out if anyone else had made this comparison. Humorously enough, good olde von Trier included a tongue-in-cheek Ibsen joke in his recent office comedy The Boss of It All. In a very funny scene, one of his characters "outs" Ibsen as being an idiot. Reading that brought a grin to my mug. It was like Lars and I had shared a little inside joke.

Yes, despite the somberness of most of the films mentioned above, von Trier does have a wicked sense of humor. It revealed itself a bit in the documentary The Five Obstructions (a great film exercise any creative person should see). But now his twisted sense of play has unfurled itself in all its snide glory with the subdued, but brilliant office farce The Boss of It All.

This quietly clever comedy is set in the dimly lit halls and conference rooms of a Danish software corporation that has a fictional president at its helm. The real president, a man named Ravn, has created a "fake president" in a foreign country. Upon this ghost executive Ravn is able to blame all manner of unpopular business decisions. A habeas corpus situation occurs and Ravn must scramble to produce a "live" faux leader. So he hires an actor to impersonate "the boss of it all." Lucky for us, the actor he handpicks decides to take this role—as he would any role—very, very seriously.

The slow simmer of the story asks for some patience, but the plot of it all pays off swimmingly in the climatic meeting showdown. The dialogue is superb throughout. I'd say von Trier's finest skill is his ability to dissect and reflect human behavior with uncanny—and, OK, usually unflattering—precision. The acting is terrific throughout the ensemble cast, but especially in the faking-stoicism-to-perfection performance of Jens Albinus as the hired thespian in question.

Upping the ante, von Trier creates interludes in the action with bitterly self-mocking bits of narration. He also does a kind of jump cut hiccup trick in certain scenes—stuttering from one take of a moment to another—while the dialogue continues seamlessly. This editing sleight of hand creates a kinetic feeling of imbalance and subtly mimics the redundant patterns of office life.

You know, I've tried to talk friends into seeing von Trier's films and it's an uphill battle. I suppose it's because his films seem like so much work to watch. I remember years back convincing a Taco Tuesday movie night crew to see Breaking of the Waves when it was first released. They loathed it on exit. One of my friends actually gave me the finger as the credits rolled. BUT a day or two later, they were all gushing about it. See? See?!

So for those of you who've been leery of Lars, perhaps The Boss of It All will be a nice way to dip your toe into his genius oeuvre. To paraphrase the lady lawyer character in the aforementioned comedy, the words in dogma films are sometimes hard to hear, but that doesn't make them any less important.

More Lemon in '08

I've finally landed on my New Year's Resolution for 2008.

To be more like Liz Lemon, the sassy, somewhat self-sufficient leading lady of the critically acclaimed sitcom 30 Rock.

For those who have been living under a rock, Liz is the hilarious, yet harried, heart of the funniest show on TV. She's played by the delightful and talented Tina Fey. To paraphrase Entertainment Weekly, Liz Lemon is the Mary Richards of the now.

So, in 2008, I hereby swear to be more like Liz Lemon. In every day and every way.

Witty. Spirited. Kinda free. Kinda now. LEMON!

Walk Hard to Juno

Despite my good intentions, I only made it to the cineplex twice during my holiday break. What follows is my take on the two films I witnessed.

Walk Hard
Silly good fun is to be had in this parody of the cliche-prone music bio-pic genre (more specifically, the overly praised Walk the Line). Walk Hard was brought to you by the suddenly prolific Apatow crew. I'm guessing the remarkable success of Knocked Up has given Judd green light privileges ad infinitum—or at least until his predictable future downslide into drugs, dildos and despair.

John C. Reilly is pleasing, as always. He plays a kind of musically gifted Gomer Pyle who struggles with childhood misery before a rise to fame, followed shortly by a decline into drugs, dildos and despair. Jenna Fischer does a very nice job de-Pamming herself in the June Carter Cash-ish role. Nice to see so many Groundlings and SNL cast members getting screen time, too.

The humor is Zucker Brothers-esque (think Airplane, although it doesn't soar to those heights). The music is polished and pleasing. The performances are very charming. In summary, if you want to see a movie that will require little else aside from toe-tapping and knee-slapping, Walk Hard is for you.

Juno
While I had sworn on a stack of IUDs that I wouldn't see Juno until it hit DVD due to its exhaustive over-marketing, I ended up buying a ticket for it on a whim.* I'm really glad I did.

Juno wasn't the joke-a-minute quirkfest I'd expected from the trailer that ran ad nauseum. The film actually has a very sweet heart to it. Diablo Cody, the former stripper who penned the script, should be a proud movie mama. Based on the smart, fresh humor her dialogue** exhibited, I bet she'd be a lot of fun to hang out with—potential lap dances aside. Juno offers an appealing lo-fi soundtrack and animated title sequence, too.

While the lead actress, Ellen Paige, is getting a lot of well-deserved praise for her turn as the knocked-up teen with deadpan (labor and) delivery, I was also impressed with adoptive mother Jennifer Garner. She walked the line between annoying up-tightness and motherhood-melting sweetness very nicely.



*On a whim = Being too buzzed to leave the theater complex after two post-Walk Hard glasses of champagne quaffed in the company of the famed Skinny Arbuckle.

**I've heard a few people complain about the self-conscious cleverness of the Juno script. Yes, it is heavy-handed in the quirk department. No, there is no real teen (or adult, for that matter) who talks with that kind of crazy-high batting average of smart/funny/pop culture-reference-packed pronouncements. Yes, the scenes where Jason Bateman's character bonds over music and horror films with Juno are self-congratulatory overkill. Yet...yet. Unlike the quip-spewing Gilmore Girls, who I could never bear, I wish the girl named Juno was real. Some of the stuff she said is like the stuff I think, but don't say because it's way too eccentric. The dialogue will annoy many, decidedly (mostly dudes who won't have the patience for it). But I think it's worth suspending a little disbelief to enjoy the ear candy.