Monday night, 1.22, 11:30 pm. Bradley Cooper's cell phone rings...
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…partly in order to nominate Anatomy of a Fall ‘s Justine Triet? This really doesn’t feel right, man. C’mon! And when you boil down Jonathan Glazer’s direction of The Zone of Interest, it’s basically a one-trick thing — chillingly imply rather than show. A bit surprising that Barbie’s Greta Gerwig got the shaft but them’s the breaks.
…for standing by American Fiction through thick and thin. The enthusiasm for the respectable but not great Anatomy of a Fall has eluded me for months. I had resigned myself to a Past Lives nomination…fine. And Maestro got nominated along with Bradley Cooper!
Another surprise nomination…no real enthusiasm for his Rustin performance…pretty much ignored by handicappers…doesn’t add up but fine. Congrats to all.
Whom no one expected to be nominated for Best Supporting Actor. A very pronounced, amusing, take-it-or-leave-it performance. Charles Melton dismissed. Sorry about Dominic Sessa but I never expected that to happen.
Director Norman Jewison lived a long, rich and productive life…97 years worth. But I have to be honest and say that that only three of his films really hit the spot for me — The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming (’66), In the Heat of the Night (’67) and Moonstruck (’87).
It’s not easy to make even a mediocre film, and it’s quite the achievement to hit one out of the park. Jewison did this three times — stiff salute, full respect, good fellow.
Otherwise I could never even watch Fiddler on the Roof (’71). I was bored by The Cincinnati Kid (’65). I liked the split-screen gimmick and the sexually suggestive chess game in The Thomas Crown Affair (’68) but otherwise meh.
Jesus Christ Superstar (’73) was okay for a single viewing. I’ve never re-watched Rollerball (’75), F.I.S.T. (’78), …And Justice for All (’79), Best Friends (’82), A Soldier’s Story (’84), and Agnes of God (’85).
Jewison’s ’90s films (Other People’s Money, Only You, The Hurricane, The Statement) never did anything to me or for me. I’m sorry but they didn’t.
Last weekend Sutton (26 months) made it through her first full-length movie in a movie theatre — Wonka. When Jett was two he watched Lawrence of Arabia (i.e., “camels”) at least two or three times; ditto E.T., The Extra–Terrestrial (i.e., “E.T. home”).
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