Random Oscar Nomination Thoughts
I’ve been working at home all day, listening to commentary about the Oscar nominations. A few brief thoughts of my own.
I’m thrilled that there are no less than six nominations for The Queen, including all the top categories — acting, directing, writing, and Best Picture. Before, it wasn’t certain the film would even any nods beyond Helen Mirren’s performance. Does it now have a chance for Best Picture? Stay tuned.
The Dreamgirls snub wasn’t a surprise for me. Not because the Academy generally privileges serious dramas over comedies or musicials, though this is true (Chicago is among the exceptions). I think the Academy members showed good judgment here: Dreamgirls wasn’t that great a film. I had been looking forward to it because I adore musicals, and there aren’t enough of them on the big screen. I had never heard any of the music and knew little about the story beyond the fact that it was a backstage story about a “girl group” based on the Supremes, but there was the promise of show business rise and fall, romance, betrayal, heartbreak - what’s not to like?
The problems with the film begin with the music which isn’t very memorable, and scarcely varies from one number to another. This is a problem since much is the story revolves around the attempt to adapt a “black” sound” — soul and R&B music — to the white mainstream. But the music the Dreams and the soul singer they sing backup for, Jimmy Early (Eddie Murphy), perform before their rise and their later mainstream hits all sounds pretty much the same. The movie also lacks a coherent screeplay. Not only were the characters never developed beyond what we learn about them in the first few minutes, most of the important dramatic scenes seem to have never been written or to have been left on the cutting room floor. If the theme of the film, as it seems, is redemption and forgiveness after a betrayal, it never resonates, because the scenes of the actual betrayal (Deena falling in love with Effie’s lover Curtis, and beginning an affair with him) aren’t there. When a character goes into a decline from a drug habit, the jump from the beginning of this development to its ending is too abrupt. And so on and on. Most of the dramatic scenes are not staged credibly, and the attempts to relate the story to the social and political happenings of the fifties and sixties are unconvincing. But the acting was good throughout — Jennifer Hudson (Effie) and Eddie Murphy deserved their supporting actor and actress nominations. And their singing is amazing. Who knew that Eddie Murphy could sing? And Jennifer has a great career ahead of her.
Is Meryl Streep’s nomination for Best Actress a bit much for a performance that doesn’t take up much screen time? Who cares? She’s the great acting goddess in Hollywood and pure delight in her Devil Wears Prada role (And would the Academy dare to nominate Streep for supporting anything?).
Peter O’Toole’s nomination for Venus (which I haven’t seen): It’s his eighth, and he’s never won (though he has an honorary one). The Academy might want to show it’s love for him now; is it possible he’ll beat Will Smith or Forest Whitaker, who seem to be the front runners? On the other hand, when you think about it, Meryl Streep (one win out of every seven nominations) isn’t really doing that much better than he is.
Deserving potential nominees left out? I haven’t seen Babel and don’t know whether Brad Pitt was robbed, but I would have loved to see Michael Pena (the terrific young actor from Crash), receive a nomination for his role in World Trade Center. Or in fact, any of the other actors in that film. Unfortunately, the Academy ignored this film. And United 93, while it won a directing nomination for Paul Greengrass, was unfairly left out for Best Picture. The memory of 9/11 seems to be fading, at least in Hollywood.
More on this later, when I’ve seen more of the nominated films.
