Flight is a gripping suspense film, a friend says, about whether or not a fellow we don’t exactly admire but whom we nonetheless want to see saved or redeemed will do right by himself…or not. It’s entirely driven by character. In Leaving Las Vegas Nic Cage was fairly decisive about what he intended to do (i.e., drink himself to death), but in Flight Denzel Washington, portraying a self-destructive commercial airline pilot, teeters this way and that.

The suspense is such that my friend, who saw Flight a week and a half ago, still has scratch marks on his left arm made by his wife — her way of responding to Denzel’s predicament. Take that with a grain or not.

The KidRockVideos copy reads as follows: “The goal of [this] film is to tear down the one-dimensional political stereotypes…it reminds that what really matters is that we’re all Americans, with diverse thoughts, opinions and stances on issues. We are millions of unique, individual parts, the sum of which comprise a whole that is the shining beacon of freedom throughout the world. The film reminds us to be proud of our differences, and to never forget that we’re all in this together as Americans.”

HE response: I don’t want to know, much salute or embrace, a little less than half of the people in this country. The US of A is admired for its movies and music and wide-open landscapes and its great cities, but it’s also widely mocked and in many cases despised by millions worldwide for the bass-ackward, climate-change-denying attitudes that are largely due to American yokelism (religious, rightwing, racist, gay-hating, NASCAR, country music, etc.) and all the Tea Party nutters and conservative corporate toadies they’ve voted into office, particularly the House of Representatives.

A significant portion of this country has devolved into over-the-cliff lunacy and fact denial over the last decade, particularly since Obama’s election four years ago. Put them into green reeducation camps or convince them to secede from the union — seriously. They’re little more but stoppers and foot-draggers with unhealthy eating habits. They’re nice people when you visit (I had a really great time in Shreveport when I visited in late 2010) but later with the shitkicker music and pickup trucks and muscle cars and conservative flag-waving and all that other stuff.

MSN critic and HE gadfly Glenn Kenny will be tomorrow’s Oscar Poker guest. We’ll be chatting around 1:30 pm Eastern, by which point he’ll have seen Robert Zemeckis‘s Flight so we’ll get into that along with the awards-season razmatazz. I’d also like to set aside at least part of our discussion for an airing of classic Wells-Kenny grievances. One of them will be the Central Park Five dispute (link #1 and link #2). Please submit any suggestions for other topics of debate.

Jeffrey Wells to Mark Olsen, Manohla Dargis, Marina Bailey: “You guys should understand that last night’s presentation of Holy Motors at Raleigh Chaplin was unsatisfactory in terms of light levels. It often appeared muddy and inky in the darker scenes (which constitute a good half if not two-thirds of the film), and this was definitely not the case when I saw it on the Salle Debussy screen in Cannes. I would say without exaggeration that Leos Carax‘s vision was suppressed, diminished and underserved by a good 25% to 33%.

“SMPTE standards call for 14 foot lamberts or thereabouts. I don’t carry a professional light meter around but it looked like we were getting 10 foot lamberts, or possibly even 8. Which is par for the course for many commercial theatres, of course, but screening rooms are supposed to deliver higher industry standards.

“I was sitting there trying to feel the same voltage and engagement that I felt in Cannes and it just wouldn’t happen. Part of this was because the surprise element was gone, of course, but also because of the murk. The death-bed scene was particularly appalling. The black dog lying on the bed was a blobby indistinct ink spot. Why use a dog in a scene if you can’t see aspects of his physicality — eyes, paws, fur texture?

“One problem is that Raleigh’s Chaplin room has a silver screen for 3D presentations, and I know that silver screens have been associated with diminished foot-lambert levels in reports I’ve read about unsatisfactory 2D projection. I’ve had occasional issues with Raleigh before, so this was part of a pattern.”

Update: Thanks to Toronto Star critic Peter Howell for reminding me that the Cannes press screening of Holy Motors played at the Salle Debussy and not the Grand Lumiere. Yes, it also played at the latter but for the black-tie crowd a few hours later.

Sincere, knee-drop praise from Variety‘s Peter Debruge suggests that Skyfall may indeed be as good as all that. When, by the way, is Jay Penske going to take down the Variety firewall? He told staffers a couple of days ago it would soon be gone.

Debruge #1: “Putting the ‘intelligence’ in MI6, Skyfall reps a smart, savvy and incredibly satisfying addition to the 007 oeuvre. In Sam Mendes‘ hands, the franchise comes full circle, revealing the three-film Daniel Craig cycle to be both prelude and coda to the entire series via a foxy chess move that puts these pics on par with Christopher Nolan‘s Dark Knight trilogy as best-case exemplars of what cinematic brands can achieve, resulting in a recipe for nothing short of world domination.”

Debruge #2: “Whatever parallels it shares with the Bourne series or Nolan’s astonishingly realized Batman saga, Skyfall radically breaks from the Bond formula while still remaining true to its essential beats, presenting a rare case in which audiences can no longer anticipate each twist in advance. Without sacrificing action or overall energy, Mendes puts the actors at the forefront, exploring their marvelously complex emotional states in ways the franchise has never before dared.”

Argo was clearly the film to see yesterday for those with any appreciation at all for sharp, shrewd, crafty, etc. Naturally, young American audiences being young American audiences, Argo came in third behind Summit’s not great but allegedly passable Sinister and the decidedly low-grade Taken 2. Because young American audiences are, for the most part, obstinate, under-educated, slow-to-catch-on infants who want their pacifier.

Deadline‘s Nikki Finke is reporting that at least one exhibitor told her that Argo is playing “very old.” It’s primarily being seen, in other words, by people who were teenagers or young adults 30 years ago.

But Boxoffice.com’s Phil Contrino says that Argo‘s projected $18 million haul is more than what was initially foreseen (they used last year’s Ides of March numbers as a comparison). Given the quality and the Oscar buzz Contrino sees Argo as “a 3.5 to 4 multiplier,” meaning he expects it to earn $70 million domestic. He also says it will probably do very well in foreign territories (like Munich, which performed better overseas than here).

The Argo “cons” in Boxoffice’s weekend projection story noted that (a) “the ‘insider’ Hollywood plot has historically proven to be a hard sell to widespread audiences” (idiots!) and (b) “Social media buzz has been moderate, but not outstanding…this looks like a long-term performer more than a big opener.”

Apologies for not posting this Harris Savides tribute reel yesterday. Excellent work by Press Play‘s Nelson Carvajal. “In reality people aren’t lit…there’s no one walking around your house putting the light in the right place for you. My approach to lighting now is to light these spaces, light the rooms and let these people inhabit them, as they would in real life.”