I think I can. Probably. No, I'm going to tough it out! Okay, maybe it's not in me.
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Festival guy to World of Reel‘s Jordan Ruimy about David Cronenberg’s Crimes of the Future: “If people thought Crash was divisive back in ’96, this is going to create way more chaos and controversy for sure. The last 20 minutes are a very tough sit. I expect walk-outs, faintings and real panic attacks (I almost had one myself!) at the Lumière theatre. No hyperbole, I promise.”
“Lea Seydoux’s role is way too bonkers and RADICAL to contend for a Cannes Best Actress award in my book, but I’d love to be proven wrong. I see no precedent in Cannes for a performance of that caliber or genre gaining momentum with a jury…I mean. Seydoux basically plays a (very oft-naked) Gina Pane-like artist of the near future.”
Synopsis: “Saul Tenser (Viggo Mortensen) is a beloved performance artist who has embraced Accelerated Evolution Syndrome, sprouting new and unexpected organs in his body. Along with his partner Caprice (Lea Seydoux), Tenser has turned the removal of these organs into a spectacle for his loyal followers to marvel at in real-time theatre. But with both the government and a strange subculture taking note, Tenser is forced to consider what would be his most shocking performance of all.”
Pic costars Kristen Stewart, Scott Speedman, Welket Bungué and Don McKellar.
World of Reel's Jordan Ruimy has reviewed selections from a fair number of anonymous Oscar ballots (he includes links to 13 but claims there are seven more piggy-backed or bunched in).
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Kristen Stewart night at the Arlington, 15 or 20 minutes before the show began. Masks are no longer mandatory in California, but the SBIFF greeting staff was asking everyone to wear them anyway…fine. I put mine on, smiled at the ushers and walked into the cavernous theatre.
Ten minutes later I was sitting in my usual third-row aisle seat with my mask off, in line with standard protocol (masks worn standing but not sitting). A lean, white-haired provocateur in a plaid jacket (one of the swells who always wait until just before showtime to arrive) came over, did a theatrical double-take and said, “I was just wondering why everyone is wearing masks except you.”
That wasn’t true, in fact — several people sitting in our immediate vicinity (including Charlize Theron, two rows away) weren’t wearing them.
HE reply (calmly): “I’m not wearing my mask for the same reason that sitting restaurant patrons don’t wear them. Plus the CDC says they’re no longer mandatory.”
White-haired guy: “But this is a private event and the festival has asked everyone to wear them.”
HE: “Unless you’re sitting down. Or unless you’re Charlize Theron or Kristen Stewart or Roger Durling or Anne Thompson. Or unless you’re invited to the after-party.”
White-haired guy (leaning over to inspect my press badge): “But but but….”
HE: “Look, I’m not a mask dilletante. I’ve been masking for two years and I’m triple vaxxed, but the mandatory mask stuff is basically over.”
White-haired guy: “You may not be a dilletante, but you might be a jerk.”
HE: “Okay, I’m a jerk.”
So the (apparently) likely winner of the Best Picture Oscar was directed by Sian Heder and the locked-down Best Director Oscar winner is Jane Campion. So women are definitely ruling the roost on 3.27.22. A white male winning in either category is a strict nyet.
With Oscar voting beginning on Thursday, 3.17, and ending on Tuesday, 3.22, women everywhere will be voting for this pair — where is the downside in not being on Team Heder-Campion?
With The Power of the Dog finished as a Best Picture winner and eight other nominees (Belfast, Don’t Look Up, Drive My Car, Dune, King Richard, Licorice Pizza, Nightmare Alley, West Side Story) more or less scratched due to this and that factor, CODA seems like the most likely champ.
I hate to admit this but where else can I go?
CODA has only three nominations (Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Oscar), and a film with three noms or less hasn’t won Best Picture since the late ‘20s and early ‘30s — Grand Hotel (’32) had only one Best Picture nom but it won — Best Picture winners Broadway Melody of 1929 and Wings had three or fewer.
The New Academy Kidz (virtue-signallers, gender and POC representation is everything, down with white males) believe that West Side Story can’t win because (a) it flopped commercially and (b) it’s a white man’s movie (directed by a white man, originally written by an English white man, adapted by a white man in the mid to late ’50s, recently re-adapted by a white screenwriter).
The New Academy Kidz don’t like King Richard for Best Picture, apparently, because they don’t like that the story was focused on a gnarly, obstinate, not hugely likable man of color (i.e., Richard Williams). Sends a mixed message — they only want POC characters who are 100% sympathetic.
In the view of “Yvan,” an Awards Daily commenter, the state of the Oscar race is about mediocrity prevailing.
“Yvan“: “CODA, Will Smith and The Eyes of Tammy Faye? After all of the great films and performances last year, this is what’s it come down to? I’m gonna keep following along in hopes of Kristen Stewart or Penelope Cruz prevailing on Oscar night but wow, DeBose aside, this is shaping up to be an exceptionally bland set of TV movie winners.”
In a recent Gold Derby Best Actress discussion, Tom O’Neill stuck his neck out by saying there’s a lot of heartfelt support for The Eyes of Tammy Faye‘s Jessica Chastain. Right away Deadline‘s Pete Hammond said “I haven’t heard that,” and a second later IndieWire‘s Anne Thompson (or was it Variety‘s Tim Gray?) said the same.
O’Neill didn’t argue it out and later that day an HE commenter said “that was a gulp moment…O’Neill being shut down on the Chastain schpiel and being told ‘okay Tom, let it go.'”
And that, ladies and germs, set the stage for tonight’s wowser SAG awards surprise…Chastain has won for Best Actress!
None of the know-it-alls were that enthusiastic about her performance. They were all “yes, okay, a good performance but it was mainly about Jessica having worn a ton of silvery eye makeup.”
Which, generally speaking, low-rent SAG-AFTRA voters are always impressed by, of course. The first thing that your basic SAG rube votes for is “most acting,” and the second thing is “most dramatic physical alteration…weight gain or loss, fake nose (The Hours), loads of base and mascara,” etc.
Chastain beat The Lost Daughter‘s Olivia Colman, House of Gucci‘s Lady Gaga, Respect‘s Jennifer Hudson and Being The Ricardos‘ Nicole Kidman.
HE to Awards Daily‘s Sasha Stone: If I’m not mistaken you said not too long ago that Kidman is probably the front-runner for the Best Actress Oscar. If she ever was a front-runner, she’s certainly no longer that after tonight. She’s actually finished, I would say. (Probably.)
One by one the presumed front-runners have fallen by the wayside — first Spencer‘s Kristen Stewart, then Gaga, now Kidman.
HE to Academy: You can’t give the Oscar to Jennifer Hudson — well, you can but you won’t. And you don’t want to give Colman a second Oscar so soon after the first. And so the only tenable nominee to vote for is Parallel Mothers‘ Penelope Cruz! Who delivered the greatest performance among the five nominees anyway!
Posted last September:
Hollywood Elsewhere will be gladly returning to the Santa Barbara Film Festival next week. I’ll remain there for eight or nine days. The SBIFF is the friendliest, sexiest, easiest-to-navigate major film festival in the entire civilized world. Start to finish, it feels a sea breeze. And with the new CDC ruling we might not have to wear masks all the time!
The Directors of the Year Award tribute on Thursday, March 3rd (Spielberg, Anderson, Branagh, Campion, Hamaguchi) is the kickoff event.
On Friday night Spencer‘s Kristen Stewart will sit for a longish, in-depth interview at the Arlington while receiving the Riviera Award.
The next day brings the dual Writers and Producers Panels on Saturday, 3.5.22. The writers will include Kenneth Branagh, Jane Campion, Zach Baylin (King Richard), Maggie Gyllenhaal (The Lost Daughter), Sian Heder (CODA), Adam McKay (Don’t Look Up), Denis Villeneuve (Dune) and Eskil Vogt (The Worst Person in the World), and will be tossed the usual softball questions by IndieWire’s Anne Thompson.
The Producers Panel, set for the afternoon of March 5 and moderated by the mild-mannered Glenn Whipp will include Laura Berwick (Belfast), Miles Dale (Nightmare Alley), Kevin Messick (Don’t Look Up), Rita Moreno (West Side Story), Sara Murphy (Licorice Pizza), Mary Parent (Dune), Tanya Seghatchian (The Power of the Dog), Patrick Wachsberger (CODA), Tim White (King Richard) and Teruhisa Yamamoto (Drive My Car).
The SBIFF Virtuosos Award ceremony will happen at the Arlington that evening (Saturday 3.5) with TCM’s Dave Karger moderating. Belfast‘s Ciaran Hinds, Caitriona Balfe and Jamie Dornan, plus Ariana DeBose (West Side Story), Alana Haim (Licorice Pizza), Emilia Jones (CODA), Troy Kotsur (CODA), Simon Rex (Red Rocket) and Saniyya Sidney (King Richard).
The following morning (Sunday, March 6) will launch the Animation Panel, with SBIFF executive director Roger Durling moderating.
Not to mention King Richard‘s Will Smith and Aunjanue Ellis receiving the Outstanding Performers of the Year Award in a ceremony that begins at 8 pm on Sunday, 3.6 at the Arlington theatre, (b) Penelope Cruz receiving the Montecito Award on Tuesday, 3.8 at the Arlington, (c) Benedict Cumberbatch receiving the Cinema Vanguard award on Wednesday, 3.9 at the Arlington, (d) Javier Bardem and Nicole Kidman receiving the Maltin Modern Master Award on Thursday, 3.10 at the Arlington, and (e) a ten-year anniversary screening of David O. Russell‘s Silver Lining Playbook with a Russell q & a to follow.
The SBIFF runs from March 2nd through 12th.
My sincere apologies for late wake-up — I couldn’t fall asleep until 2 am. But all hail HE’s own Penelope Cruz (Parallel Mothers) for having snagged a richly deserved Best Actress nom, and in so doing having seemingly stolen Lady Gaga‘s ardently-campaigned-for Best Actress nom. Further cheers for King Richard‘s Will Smith, an almost certain lock to win Best Actor. Congrats to The Power of the Dog and director Jane Campion — obviously locked to win Best Picture and Best Director. Congrats also for Netflix having finally overcome fogeyish anti-streaming sentiments. Congrats to Drive My Car (four noms), director Ryusuke Hamaguchi (Best Director) and Justin Chang. Congrats to Guillermo del Toro for his Nightmare Alley being Best Pic-nominated. And…first cup of coffee, updates and additions as the wake-up process continues.
SNUBBING the obviously deserving Spider-Man: No Way Home is shameful, obstinate, ignorant, narrow-minded and blind. Sony should’ve offered streaming & screeners earlier in the game.
BEST PICTURE
“Belfast”
“CODA”
“Don’t Look Up”
“Drive My Car” / hats in the air for the Uncle Vanya-stamped grief monkeys! And that red Saab! And the 87 cigarettes smoked during the 179-minute running time.
“Dune”
“King Richard”
“Licorice Pizza”
“Nightmare Alley”
“The Power of the Dog” / OBVIOUSLY LOCKED TO WIN
“West Side Story”
SNUBS: “Being The Ricardos”, “tick, tick…BOOM”
BEST DIRECTOR
Kenneth Branagh, “Belfast”
Ryusuke Hamaguchi, “Drive My Car’ / SURPRISE!
Paul Thomas Anderson, “Licorice Pizza”
Jane Campion, “The Power of the Dog”
Steven Spielberg, “West Side Story”
SNUB “Dune”‘s Denis Villeneuve
BEST ACTOR
Javier Bardem, “Being the Ricardos”
Benedict Cumberbatch, “The Power of the Dog”
Andrew Garfield, “tick, tick, BOOM!
Will Smith, “King Richard” / CERTAIN TO WIN
Denzel Washington, “The Tragedy of Macbeth”
BEST ACTRESS
Jessica Chastain, “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” / Tom O’Neil was right! The others were wrong!
Olivia Colman, “The Lost Daughter’
Penelope Cruz, “Parallel Mothers”
Nicole Kidman, “Being the Ricardos”
Kristen Stewart, “Spencer” / EVERYONE THOUGHT SHE WAS TOAST…what happened?
SNUBS: Lady Gaga, “House of Gucci” / GAGA MAFIA STUNNED!
Jennifer Hudson, “Respect”
Tessa Thompson, “Passing”
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Ciarin Hinds, “Belfast”
Troy Kotsur, “CODA”
Jesse Plemons, “The Power of the Dog”
J.K. Simmons, “Being the Ricardos”
Kodi Smit-McPhee, “The Power of the Dog”
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jessie Buckley, “The Lost Daughter”
Ariana DeBose, “West Side Story”
Judi Dench, “Belfast” / WTF?
Kirsten Dunst, “The Power of the Dog”
Aunjanue Ellis, “King Richard” / YES!!! HE’s choice to win!! Because she stood up and stood out!
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
“CODA”
“Drive My Car”
“Dune”
“The Lost Daughter”
“The Power of the Dog”
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
“Belfast”
“Don’t Look Up”
“King Richard”
“Licorice Pizza”
“The Worst Person in the World”
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
“Dune”
“Nightmare Alley”
“The Power of the Dog”
“The Tragedy of Macbeth”
“West Side Story”
BEST FILM EDITING
“Don’t Look Up”
“Dune”
“King Richard”
“The Power of the Dog”
“tick, tick…BOOM!”
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
“Dune”
“Nightmare Alley
The Power of the Dog
The Tragedy of Macbeth
West Side Story
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
“Cruella”
“Cyrano”
“Dune”
“Nightmare Alley”
“West Side Story”
BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
“Coming 2 America”
“Cruella”
“Dune”
“The Eyes of Tammy Faye”
“House of Gucci”
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
“Don’t Look Up”
“Dune”
“Encanto”
“Parallel Mothers”
“The Power of the Dog”
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“Be Alive,” “King Richard”
“Dos Oruguitas,” “Encanto”
“Down to Joy,” “Belfast”
“No Time To Die,” “No Time to Die”
“Somehow You Do You,” “Four Good Days”
BEST SOUND
“Belfast”
“Dune”
“No Time To Die”
“The Power of the Dog”
“West Side Story”
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
“Dune”
“Free Guy”
“No Time to Die”
“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”
“Spider-Man: No Way Home”
BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
“Drive My Car” / Guaranteed winner
“Flee”
“The Hand of God”
“Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom”
“The Worst Person in the World” / HE’s favorite!
Asghar Farhadi‘s “A Hero” snubbed!
BEST ANIMATED FILM
“Encanto”
“Flee”
“Luca”
“The Mitchells Vs. The Machines”
“Raya and the Last Dragon”
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
“Ascension”
“Attica”
“Flee”
“Summer of Soul…or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised”
“Writing With Fire”
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
“Audible”
“Lead Me Home”
“The Queen of Basketball”
Three Songs for Benazir”
“When We Were Bullies”
BEST ANIMATED SHORT
“Affairs of the Art”
“Bestia”
“Box Ballet”
“Robin Robin”
“The Windshield Wiper”
BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT
“Ala Kachuu – “Take and Run”
“The Dress”
“The Long Goodbye”
“On My Mind”
“Please Hold”
Early tomorrow morning our suspicions and predictions about what the none-too-hip, stay-at-home-except-for-groceries, life-has-mostly-possed-them-by Academy members are preferring as far as the allegedly finest film accomplishments of 2021 are concerned.
I can attempt to describe the pit-of-hell depression I’m feeling about what will happen tomorrow, but I’m not sure I can do it justice.
All I know right now is the bottom line, which is that Hollywood Elsewhere has staked out three hills that I’m ready to die on or die for…three contenders that will have to be at least nominated for the Academy to maintain at least a smidgen of respect in my eyes.
Hill #1 is Parallel Mothers‘ Penelope Cruz for Best Actress — apparently a dicey situation but who knows? Hill #2 is Spider-Man: No Way Home for Best Picture — an apparent no-go despite the obviously necessary hosannah response to a single film having kept exhibition alive in late ’21 plus Anne Thompson saying last weekend that she’s heard that Academy members are having trouble coming up with ten nominations…God! Hill #3 is King Richard‘s Will Smith for Best Actor — a safe bet. (Smith will probably win, in fact.)
It would be outrageous, of course, if West Side Story fails to nab a Best Picture nomination, but it probably will.
Everyone is depressed about the Oscar noms…about life, the pandemic, wokesters working overtime to ensure that the Republicans will take the House and possibly the Senate next November, inflation, everything. Barring a huge surprise or two, the only thing anyone will be talking about tomorrow are the snubs. HE lives for the snubs.
Cutting to the chase, here are Sasha Stone’s predictions plus my own comments in the form of an NGE classification (i.e., Not Good Enough). What that really means is that an Oscar contender should ideally represent an exceptional or transcendent or highly combustible effort. If the effort in question is just respectable or professional or moderately approvable, then it’s not good enough for an Oscar nom. Another NGE factor is a contender who is very popular or even locked in for political reasons. (You know who I mean.) If a contender doesn’t have an NGE, it’s more or less okay in my book,
Best Picture
Belfast (Globes/Critics Choice/PGA/SAG/DGA/BAFTA pic) / no comment
The Power of the Dog (Globes/Critics Choice/PGA/DGA/BAFTA pic)
Licorice Pizza (Globes/Critics Choice/PGA/DGA/BAFTA pic) / NGE, although it’s okay
Dune (Globes/Critics Choice/PGA/DGA/BAFTA pic) / NGE
West Side Story (Globes+/Critics Choice/PGA/DGA)
Don’t Look Up (Globes/Critics Choice/PGA/SAG/BAFTA pic)
King Richard (Globes/Critics Choice/PGA/SAG)
CODA (Globes/Critics Choice/PGA/SAG) / NGE
tick, tick…BOOM! (Globes/Critics Choice/PGA)
Being the Ricardos (PGA)
Alternates: Nightmare Alley (Critics Choice), Drive My Car, House of Gucci.
Best Director
Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog (DGA)
Kenneth Branagh, Belfast (DGA)
Paul Thomas Anderson, Licorice Pizza (DGA)
Denis Villenuve, Dune (DGA) / NGE
Steven Spielberg, West Side Story (DGA)
Alternates: Guillermo del Toro, Nightmare Alley; Adam McKay, Don’t Look Up; Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Drive My Car
Best Actress
Nicole Kidman, Being the Ricardos / NGE
Jessica Chastain, The Eyes of Tammy Faye
Olivia Colman, The Lost Daughter
Lady Gaga, House of Gucci / NGE
Jennifer Hudson, Respect
Alternates: Rachel Zegler, West Side Story; Tessa Thompson, Passing; Kristen Stewart, Spencer.
Best Actor
Will Smith, King Richard
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Power of the Dog
Denzel Washington, The Tragedy of Macbeth / NGE
Andrew Garfield, tick, tick… BOOM! / NGE
Javier Bardem, Being the Ricardos
Alternates: Leonardo DiCaprio, Don’t Look Up; Peter Dinklage, Cyrano
Best Supporting Actress
Ariana DeBose, West Side Story / NGE
Caitriona Balfe, Belfast
Kirsten Dunst, The Power of the Dog / NGE
Aunjanue Ellis, King Richard…SHOULD WIN!!
Cate Blanchett, Nightmare Alley / NGE
Alternates: Rita Moreno, West Side Story; Marlee Matlin, CODA; Nina Arianda, Being the Ricardos; Ann Dowd, Mass; Haley Bennett, Cyrano; Martha Plimpton, Mass.
Best Supporting Actor
Kodi Smit-McPhee, The Power of the Dog / NGE
Troy Kotsur, CODA / NGE
Ciaran Hinds, Belfast
Jared Leto, House of Gucci…too broad, Al Pacino was better.
Bradley Cooper, Licorice Pizza
Alts: Ben Affleck, The Tender Bar / NGE; Mark Rylance, Don’t Look Up / NGE; Mike Faist, West Side Story…SHOULD WIN!!; Jonah Hill, Don’t Look Up; J.K. Simmons, Being the Ricardos.
Again, HE’s top films of 2021:
1. King Richard
2. Parallel Mothers
3. West Side Story
4. Spider-Man: No Way Home
5. The Worst Person in the World
6. A Hero (Amazon)
7. Riders of Justice
8. No Time To Die
9. The Beatles: Get Back
10. Zola
11. Cyrano
12. Licorice Pizza
13. The Card Counter
14. In The Heights
15. The Last Duel
Nobody’s watched very much, ongoing Covid pall, no Golden Globes, delayed Critics Choice awards, no sense of box-office momentum, no sense of in-person screenings and in-person conversations, “after a while the Zoom stuff gets really old,” the crashing and burning of Kristen Stewart, the pro-Lady Gaga mafia, etc.
Anne Thompson #1: “Nobody likes Spencer, let’s be honest…critics liked it but the guilds don’t like it, it’s an art film and an acquired taste.”
Anne Thompson #2: “Steven Spielberg and West Side Story are fragile, at best.”
Anne Thompson #3: “You could say Lady Gaga is the [Best Actress] front-runner, but I refuse to believe that. In interviews she tries to convince you that she’s giving you the real Gaga, but she’s totally fake.”
With Oscar nomination voting having ended two days ago, the just-out 2022 BAFTA nominations won’t be influencing anyone about anything. If you ask me they’re only “meaningful” as a clear indication that Kristen Stewart, whose BAFTA snub of her Spencer performance follows the SAG omission of a few weeks back, is almost certainly finished as a Best Actress Oscar nominee.**
On top of which the BAFTA nominators ignored Parallel Mothers‘ Penelope Cruz…what is effing wrong with these guys? We’re talking about a thoroughly degenerated set of aesthetic values. They don’t even nominate the year’s finest female performance?
The BAFTA Best Actress nominees are House Of Gucci‘s Lady Gaga (a premonition that she’ll probably win the Best Actress Oscar is truly soul-crushing), Licorice Pizza‘s Alana Haim (rounding out the pack), CODA‘s Emilia Jones (forget it), The Worst Person In The World‘s Renate Reinsve (superb performance, great part), After Love‘s Joanna Scanlan (who?) and Passing‘s Tessa Thompson (minimalism, no voltage, no nothing).
Awards Daily‘s Sasha Stone: “Reading anything into the acting categories is basically like fan fiction role play for Film Twitter.”
All but one of BAFTA’s Best Film nominees are the usual nod-outs — Belfast, Dune, Licorice Pizza and The Power Of The Dog. The surprise (to me at least) is the nomination of Don’t Look Up, which has run hot and cold across the board. It got in, I’m guessing, because it says the right things about political imbeciles and climate change. Meanwhile I am still deeply, deeply depressed about the likely triumph of The Power of the Downer Dog
Outstanding British Film nominees are After Love, Ali & Ava, Belfast, Boiling Point, Cyrano, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, House Of Gucci, Last Night In Soho, No Time To Die and Passing. I can’t muster the passion to even speculate. God, this is so boring.
Sasha Stone’s bottom line: “The BAFTAs aren’t really the BAFTAs as we once knew them. Meaning [that] they aren’t really a consensus vote. They are a tightly micromanaged jury vote to spare the membership embarrassment or bad headlines for not being inclusive enough.”
BAFTA declaration: “Juries are made up of industry experts, with each jury comprised of BAFTA members from a diverse range of backgrounds, experience, gender, location and age groups.” Translation: “It’s more important for the BAFTAs to be sensitive and supportive of artists representing historically marginalized cultures and tribes than to select the ‘best’ in this or that category, whatever that actually means.”
In other words, a signification portion of the BAFTA nominees have been decided upon by woke-minded jurors. It’s basically political bullshit. The BAFTAs used to be about the usual factors — popularity, the “due” factor, estimations of quality, reflections of Academy sentiments. Now they’re almost worthless — woke whores, a dog-and-pony show by way of Twitter.
** BAFTA’s Stewart snub can also be read as a rejection of Pablo Larrain‘s flourishy, “Diary of a Mad Princess” fantasia.
It was decided early on that Kristen Stewart‘s Princess Diana in Spencer would be campaigned for Best Actress, and I mean before anyone had seen Pablo Larrain‘s film. Once I saw it in Telluride I knew for a fact that it stunk, and was basically a dream-trip, loony-tune Diary of a Mad Princess. Knowing all the while that Olivier Assayas’s Personal Shopper is easily her best movie ever.
Did Stewart’s “people” even consider promoting her Personal Shopper performance for Best Actress? Of course not. Because your empty-Coke-bottle Academy members never vote for a lead character in a scary movie.
So I feel rather badly for Stewart — she knocked it out of the park almost six years ago and nobody gave enough of a shit. She does a decent job as crazy Diana in the mediocre, mostly-painful-to-sit-through Spencer and people are going “oh, she’s so wonderful!” Because she’s playing the tragic princess.
For me, Personal Shopper deliver the biggest high of the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. It left me breathless and even a trembling a bit.
“Assayas taps a wellspring of thought on forms of communication [while drawing] parallels between 19th century drawing room seances and Skype calls. In Personal Shopper, death is just another form of alienation, a physical remove from a person we once knew. Words themselves come under close scrutiny, and Assayas asks if we can ever truly connect with another person if we’re not standing right in front of them and communing fully with the senses. The incessant buzz of a smartphone becomes an attention-grabbing scream from out of the ether.” — Little White Lies’ David Jenkins.
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