No Regret
Update: It's 1:32 pm, and I've changed my mind about yanking Josh Brolin. I was weak. Brolin is back in. Original 1:21 pm post: Earlier this week I withdrew Josh Brolin's W. performance from the Oscar Balloon, and I feel badly about it. Every press person I've spoken to thinks his performance is spot-on and emotionally genuine -- they all get the sadness and the lost feeling at the end. But nobody would stand with me and call it Oscar worthy. Nobody did any cartwheels in the lobby about it, as I did.
Probably, I guess, because the film was not a volcano or a motorcycle. It was measured, straight, sharp, and rigorously based on reported and researched facts. Whatever else it is or was, it didn't start any fires. So I gave up. Does that make me a consensus columnist, unwilling to stand against the tide? To some extent, truth be told, yes. But in other ways, no. I've been a stand-aloner all my life, but you have to pick your fights.
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on October 26, 2008 at 12:16 PM
comment #1
iamjoe
says ...
I'm sad to see you write these words, Jeff. I saw W this morning at a 10am screening, here in downtown Chicago. And Brolin was just mesmerizing, and that was the only thing people were talking about on the way out in a quiet shuffle. Josh Brolin was nowhere to be found in this performance; he channel the good ol' boy that W is.
There's a great reason that probably explains why people haven't joined you in praising Josh Brolin for his well deserved nomination. Even though we have found our voice and have taken to the streets to stand and say "NO MORE" to the prospect of a solid aborted mess of a McCain/Pain administration, Brolin's performance (and the whole film to an extent) reminds us that we never yelled loud enough in the last 8 years at the Bush Administration.
That's our shame.
Put Josh Brolin's name back up; we need to support him for pulling the curtain back for us to see.
Posted by iamjoe
at October 26, 2008 1:21 PM
comment #2
gruver1
says ...
Wells to iamjoe: You've shamed me. You're right. He goes back in....thanks. Screw the other Oscar handicappers. I just got weak there for a bit.
Posted by gruver1
at October 26, 2008 1:31 PM
comment #3
AndrewOwens
says ...
Yeah, remember last year the whole debate about whether the Oscar Balloon should be who you think SHOULD be nominated, rather than who WOULD be nominated (or am I remembering that wrong?). I always thought it should be your "perfect world" vision of the Oscars rather than just the usual-usual handicapping.
Posted by AndrewOwens
at October 26, 2008 1:39 PM
comment #4
iamjoe
says ...
Good deal Jeff!
Now I'm wondering at my "McCain/PAIN" Freudian slip misstype. That HAS to be on a t-shirt somewhere.
Posted by iamjoe
at October 26, 2008 1:46 PM
comment #5
knightrider76
says ...
Jeff, so you were gonna remove Brolin because the movie was not a "volcano" or "motorcycle"? Cmon! And you're saying that Kristin Scott Thomas vehicle is?!?!? I'm sure 100 times more people have heard of the movie "W."
Posted by knightrider76
at October 26, 2008 2:20 PM
comment #6
LexG
says ...
Anyone notice that maybe for the first time on film, in W. Brolin suddenly looks like his old man?
I never saw ANY family resemblance whatsoever in over 20 years of Josh in films, yet now when he plays Bush, he's the spitting image of James.
Posted by LexG
at October 26, 2008 2:45 PM
comment #7
raygo
says ...
It's likely he could/should get a Golden Globe nomination, and although I consider them crap, it could generate the needed buzz.
Posted by raygo
at October 26, 2008 4:45 PM
comment #8
Midwest Doug
says ...
Applaud your stance, Jeff. But WTF the Oscar Balloon? Is it who you want to win, who you think deserves to win, or who you think will win?
Posted by Midwest Doug
at October 26, 2008 4:47 PM
comment #9
clancy
says ...
Point one: Brolin Will get a Golden Globe nomination if they can find a way to submit the film in the comedy category.
Point Two: Brolin provided us with one of the great presidential portraits ever. He follows only, I would say, Hopkins in "Nixon" and "Amistad", Jeff Bridges in "The Contender," and Gambon as LBJ.
Posted by clancy
at October 26, 2008 4:51 PM
comment #10
actionman
says ...
Brolin was fantastic but the film was far from spectacular. I enjoyed thoroughly but the film, overall, could have been so much more and something so different. I know that you should never criticize a film for what it isn't or for what you wanted it to be, but in this case, I feel that W. is a film that Stone should have made a few years down the line.
As an example of immediate and up-to-the-moment filmmaking, it's an interesting experiment. I'm glad I saw it in the theater.
But one thing's for sure -- Brolin should get a nomination.
Posted by actionman
at October 26, 2008 4:51 PM
comment #11
Kristopher Tapley
says ...
"Screw the other Oscar handicappers."
Who else is taking him out anyway? In a field of seven or maybe eight strong possibilities, Brolin is right in the thick of it in my opinion.
Posted by Kristopher Tapley
at October 26, 2008 4:53 PM
comment #12
Sabina E
says ...
Josh Brolin is an AMAZING actor. Ever since I saw him in No Country, he's now one of my top 5 fave male actors.
Posted by Sabina E
at October 26, 2008 8:40 PM
comment #13
StoneFan1
says ...
Brolin WILL BE nominated! Bank on it!
Posted by StoneFan1
at October 26, 2008 9:52 PM
comment #14
StoneFan1
says ...
I think how "W." performs overseas will be important. It'll max out at $30 million in North America.
Posted by StoneFan1
at October 26, 2008 9:53 PM
comment #15
janee
says ...
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Posted by janee
at May 18, 2011 6:46 AM