The Golden Boy
We just got home from a good friend's place, where we cocooned in a comfortable living room watching this year's edition of the Oscars. As the statuettes were handed out and the usual blathering of "I'd like to thank so-and-so, who is no longer with us, but is definitely watching from heaven, and gave me an $80 bus ticket to Hollywood when I was young and naive, and is the person I'm thanking now for kicking me out of the house so that I can be here today to get this lovely hunk of metal" started, I thought about the predictions I made a few weeks ago. How did I fare?
Let's see:
In the best actor category, I wanted David Straithairn, and I still think he would have been a good choice. But as me, myself, and everyone else on the planet predicted, Phillip Seymour Hoffman walked off with an Oscar for "Capote." Chalk up one on my scoreboard.
Matt Dillon didn't win for Best Supporting Actor, which I'm still disappointed about. But he wasn't my prediction, which was Paul Giamatti. However, I struck out with that, as George Clooney copped a win for "Syriana." In retrospect, he was probably a smarter bet, since he was also up for honors for "Good Night, and Good Luck," which obviously wasn't gonna win, and he was a competitor in three categories, so it seemed a safe bet the Academy was handing him the Supporting Actor category. Ah, well. Score is now 1-1.
As everyone who is aware in any way about movies, the Oscars, and other whatnot from the past year, Reese Witherspoon won her first Oscar-- we saw "Walk the Line" on DVD just the other day, and she definitely did a great job. I'll have to wait and see all the performances of all five nominees first before I can say she deserved it, but her performance isn't one I'd say wasn't Oscar-worthy. The tally stands at 2-1.
I wasn't certain about Best Supporting Actress-- but I did mention Rachel Weisz, and she did win for "The Constant Gardener." Hm... ok, I'll give myself partial credit, and say 2.5-1.5. How's that?
Ang Lee got the nod for "Brokeback Mountain," but "Crash" concluded the evening by taking Best Picture. So with that surprising split, it's now 3.5-2.5. Add in "Wallace & Gromit" for Best Animated Picture, and I ended the evening at 4.5-2.5. Not too shabby, but could be better.
"Crash" came out early enough that it was on DVD a while back, and we both watched it, partly due to the buzz, partly due to the fact that it's set in L.A. I'd say that overall it was a pretty good film-- not necessarily top of the line quality, but it's a lot more watchable and memorable than most of the dreck that came out in the past year. Is it a film that will hold up 30 years from now? I don't know. What I can say is that the L.A. it depicts is unrealistic in some ways. While I can definitely buy the shabby treatment of the Mexican maid by the Brentwood housewife, some of the other stuff was over the top. I've been in different parts of L.A., and while I might get some stares if I strolled down the streets of Compton in broad daylight, and I'd definitely run the risk of getting in trouble if I drove down Crenshaw Boulevard south of the Santa Monica Freeway anytime after dusk, I disagree that L.A. is some kind of seething cauldron of hate, racism, and daily misunderstandings. That isn't to say that I think this town is an oasis, a true melting pot; I'd say the truth is somewhere in between. Sure, there's racism, there are incidents, there are still occasional carjackings and robberies and the like. But on the whole, it's a cool kind of town. Take my own neighborhood: I live in a tony part of town, but just around the corner is a Orthodox Sephardic synagogue, a Mormon temple, a senior citizen's center, a Persian shopping district, two Mexican restaurants, several Indian eateries, and much more. We have a black neighbor upstairs, childless couples, yuppies, families, little old ladies, and all kinds of people. Drive a little ways away, you'll find Korean grocers, Greek haberdashers, Jewish delis, and upscale clothing stores all on a single city block, all next to each other. I've walked around East L.A. with no problems, and the most penetrating stare I've gotten has been from a five-year-old curious about what I'm saying with my hands. *grin*
So if and when you watch "Crash," and wonder why it got the golden boy this year, focus on its ensemble cast, its outstanding performances both individually and as a group, and the overall dialogue, which is a cut above most movies nowadays. Ignore the outlandish histrionics of the overall plot, which posits that we are all just waiting to collide in hateful outbursts, any minute now.
Let's see:
In the best actor category, I wanted David Straithairn, and I still think he would have been a good choice. But as me, myself, and everyone else on the planet predicted, Phillip Seymour Hoffman walked off with an Oscar for "Capote." Chalk up one on my scoreboard.
Matt Dillon didn't win for Best Supporting Actor, which I'm still disappointed about. But he wasn't my prediction, which was Paul Giamatti. However, I struck out with that, as George Clooney copped a win for "Syriana." In retrospect, he was probably a smarter bet, since he was also up for honors for "Good Night, and Good Luck," which obviously wasn't gonna win, and he was a competitor in three categories, so it seemed a safe bet the Academy was handing him the Supporting Actor category. Ah, well. Score is now 1-1.
As everyone who is aware in any way about movies, the Oscars, and other whatnot from the past year, Reese Witherspoon won her first Oscar-- we saw "Walk the Line" on DVD just the other day, and she definitely did a great job. I'll have to wait and see all the performances of all five nominees first before I can say she deserved it, but her performance isn't one I'd say wasn't Oscar-worthy. The tally stands at 2-1.
I wasn't certain about Best Supporting Actress-- but I did mention Rachel Weisz, and she did win for "The Constant Gardener." Hm... ok, I'll give myself partial credit, and say 2.5-1.5. How's that?
Ang Lee got the nod for "Brokeback Mountain," but "Crash" concluded the evening by taking Best Picture. So with that surprising split, it's now 3.5-2.5. Add in "Wallace & Gromit" for Best Animated Picture, and I ended the evening at 4.5-2.5. Not too shabby, but could be better.
"Crash" came out early enough that it was on DVD a while back, and we both watched it, partly due to the buzz, partly due to the fact that it's set in L.A. I'd say that overall it was a pretty good film-- not necessarily top of the line quality, but it's a lot more watchable and memorable than most of the dreck that came out in the past year. Is it a film that will hold up 30 years from now? I don't know. What I can say is that the L.A. it depicts is unrealistic in some ways. While I can definitely buy the shabby treatment of the Mexican maid by the Brentwood housewife, some of the other stuff was over the top. I've been in different parts of L.A., and while I might get some stares if I strolled down the streets of Compton in broad daylight, and I'd definitely run the risk of getting in trouble if I drove down Crenshaw Boulevard south of the Santa Monica Freeway anytime after dusk, I disagree that L.A. is some kind of seething cauldron of hate, racism, and daily misunderstandings. That isn't to say that I think this town is an oasis, a true melting pot; I'd say the truth is somewhere in between. Sure, there's racism, there are incidents, there are still occasional carjackings and robberies and the like. But on the whole, it's a cool kind of town. Take my own neighborhood: I live in a tony part of town, but just around the corner is a Orthodox Sephardic synagogue, a Mormon temple, a senior citizen's center, a Persian shopping district, two Mexican restaurants, several Indian eateries, and much more. We have a black neighbor upstairs, childless couples, yuppies, families, little old ladies, and all kinds of people. Drive a little ways away, you'll find Korean grocers, Greek haberdashers, Jewish delis, and upscale clothing stores all on a single city block, all next to each other. I've walked around East L.A. with no problems, and the most penetrating stare I've gotten has been from a five-year-old curious about what I'm saying with my hands. *grin*
So if and when you watch "Crash," and wonder why it got the golden boy this year, focus on its ensemble cast, its outstanding performances both individually and as a group, and the overall dialogue, which is a cut above most movies nowadays. Ignore the outlandish histrionics of the overall plot, which posits that we are all just waiting to collide in hateful outbursts, any minute now.
posted by Mr. Sandman | 10:59 PM
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