The entire quote is from The Hollywood Reporter‘s Sheri Linden, and it comes from a 12.9.21 “Critics Conversation” between herself, David Rooney and Liva Guyarkye….here it is:
Linden: “There’s a terrible loneliness at the heart of Ruth Negga’s remarkable performance [in Passing]. Clare’s vivacity is at once an expression of audacity and an act of hiding. In very different ways, Negga’s character and Kirsten Dunst’s tender turn in Power of the Dogreverberate with a nation’s calamitous history — Who is valued? Who decides? But it’s on an intimate, moment-to-moment level that these two performances tore my heart out.”
So Dunst’s Rose Gordon, a kind-hearted, hard-working mother of a teenage son (Kodi Smit-.McPhee) and recently married to Jesse Plemon‘s fleshy, ginger-haired George Burbank only to run afoul of his brother, the snarly, menacing Phil (Benedict Cumberbatch) and thereafter descends into alcoholism…how exactly does poor Rose’s plight mirror our shared “calamitioushistory“? I’m completely mystified as to what this means.
Rose’s story seems like a local matter to me…a family drama, a matter of Phil’s malignancy, a cattle-ranch issue. In what way does this reflect on anything national, then or now? Or state-wide even? Who apart from those who live and work on the Burbank ranch…who cares what poor Rose is going through?
Friendo: “Kim Kardashian looks good — you have to give her that. She allegedly lost 20 lbs. after getting Covid. This, either way, is how to be super-successful in 2022, by virtue-signalling while growing an empire. ‘I’ve chosen myself’ — no shit, sweetheart. As in ‘I’ve chosen my brand, my wealth, my obsessive self-attention,’ etc. She really did crack the code, didn’t she? She’s now the symbol of our modern Gilded Age. And, as ever, she does absolutely nothing in terms of innovation, ideas, creating, devotion, design…even adventure-seeking. Imagine all of her fans, most of them living in poverty, trying to be that. How could they ever?”
“The big winner, nomination-wise, was The Power of the Dog…12 nominations, one for every person who saw it. Lady Gaga was a surprise, not being nominated, but the biggest snub in my opinion…I’m actually even angry about this, I’m kind of embarassed to say…[the biggest snub was] the unforgivable omission of Spider-Man: No Way Home.
“How did that not get one of the ten nominations? There were only 11 [half-decent] movies made this year. Forget the fact that [Spider-Man] made $750 million [domestic] and it still going. This was a great movie, and there were three Spider-Men in it! One of them was Andrew Garfield, and he was a Best Actor nominee.
“You’re telling me Don’t Look Up was better than Spider-Man? It most certainly was not.
“When did we decide that a Best Picture [nominee] always has to be serious? This was not the point when they started making films. Ben-Hur…chariots of leprosy. Frankenstein…a monster powered by lightning. Fantasia…Mickey Mouse on an acid trip. The Wizard of Oz…flying monkeys and a witch. These are great, classic, Oscar-level movies. There’s northing wrong with serious movies, a lot of them are fantastic and deserving, but when did ‘serious’ become a prequisite for earning an Academy Award?”
From Richard Rushfield‘s latest Ankler post, “Behold, The Incredible Shrinking Oscars…Again“:
“So the Academy exists to ratify the esoteric choices of guilds and 400 critics groups; critics who themselves are largely now unread, except by each other. But of course, it was impossible to hold the theatrical category to any viewership standards once the floodgates opened to the streamers, which are a black hole of information from which only glimpses of light emerge. And instead of taking public reaction into account, it’s just thrown out the window, and Oscar can become…another critics’ film circle?
“Which, if you’re looking at it from a perspective of honoring craftsmanship in cinema, is wonderful.
“If you’re looking at it from a perspective of maintaining a mass medium’s connection with a mass audience, then well, what would you say is the level of public excitement for one’s local critics’ circle announcements? Have you sensed an unfulfilled public demand for more of those?
“As one friend put it, ‘For years the promotion of movies and moviegoing was the collaboration of studios and the press. That’s over. The press has taken up streamers and indies to ‘save’ indies [the Eric Kohn / David Ehrlich aesthetic] and studios have all but said fuck it.’
“So in the Best Pic category, we have a cluster of films that were…flops, disappointments, underperforms, at best given a Gentleman’s C for COVID. And then a bunch of films whose audiences are total mysteries.
“To put it another way, is there any evidence that there is a single person under 40 on the planet who has watched a single one of these movies?”
“America has done a very poor job of dealing with Covid. We’ve had more deaths, as a percentage of the population, than any other large, wealthy nation, with the disparity even wider during the Omicron wave than it was before. Why? Because so many Americans haven’t behaved responsibly”…senior among them Joe Rogan.
“I know I’m not alone in feeling angry about this irresponsibility, which has been encouraged by politicians and other public figures. There are surely many Americans feeling a simmering rage against the minority that has placed the rest of us at risk and degraded the quality of our nation’s life”…and my simmering anger at Joe Rogan is a part of this.
“Oh, and don’t tell me that how you behave during a pandemic is just an individual choice”…like Joe Rogan has said from time to time. “I don’t claim any special expertise in the science, but there seems to be clear evidence that wearing masks in certain settings has helped limit the spread of the coronavirus. Vaccines also probably reduce spread, largely because the vaccinated are less likely to become infected, even though they can be.
“More crucially, failing to get vaccinated greatly increases your risk of becoming seriously ill, and hence placing stress on overburdened hospitals.
“Also, think about the burden of proof here. You don’t have to have 100 percent faith in the experts to accept that flying without a mask or dining indoors while unvaccinated might well endanger other people — and for what?
“What this means, in turn, is that those who refuse to take basic Covid precautions (i.e,, Joe Rogan) are, at best, being selfish — ignoring the welfare and comfort of their fellow citizens. At worst, they’re engaged in deliberate aggression — putting others at risk to make a point.”
...and The Power of the Dog might be Roma. If you're a seasoned adult with a realistic mindset, you might as well face this possibility. Mainly because immaculatecraftaside, The Power of the Dog is a slow, grim slog (even its admirers admit this) and King Richard is "real", heartening, inspiring.
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There are a few good HE & Twitter comments, but the best chat thread about the Oscar noms and especially the Lady Gaga snub is at datalounge.com, the legendary gay gossip site.
Let no press or industry person overlook the simple fact that for weeks and weeks Hollywood Elsewhere stood resolute and alone against the stiff winds of seeming indifference…the only name-brand columnist who stood up and waved weekly flags for the beautiful Penelope Cruz and her deeply rooted performance in Parallel Mothers. Who else consistently stood hard and faithful as much as I? Who else single-handedly generated a Cruz bandwagon on a week-by-week, never-say-die basis?
All the other award-season Yodas and semi-dispassionate handicappers were either Doubting Thomases or cautious fence-sitters…damp-finger-to-the-wind equivocators. If you want to make it in this business you have to have heart.
Penélope Cruz:
-Didn’t get a Golden Globe nod -Didn’t get a Critics Choice nod -Didn’t get a SAG nod -Didn’t even make the BAFTA *LONGLIST*
A few days ago Santa Barbara Film Festival honcho Roger Durling posted a chat with Parallel Mothers star and Best Actress contender Penelope Cruz. I meant to post it right away, but I let other stuff overwhelm and I failed to muster the discipline…my deepest apologies.
But this really has to be said and withoutequivocation to all Academy members: Penelope Cruz gave the deepest, richest, most emotionally fulfilling lead female performance of 2021…by far. Way, way above the realm of her illustrious competitors (Kidman, Gaga, Stewart, Chastain, Colman). You simply can’t watch Parallel Mothers and not come to this very conclusion. It’s not possible — not if you’re honest with yourself.
Remember that Penelope has already won 2021 Best Actress awards from the National Society of Film Critics, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the San Diego Film Critics Society as well as the Venice Film Festival’s Best Actress award last September.
Everyone thought Kristen Stewart's shot at a Best Actress nomination was toast. Spencer is roundly despised so how did she pull it off? Variety's Owen Gleiberman called it, I suspect, when he posted a 1.15.22 column titled "Why SAG’s Best Actress Snub May Have Done Kristen Stewart a Favor."
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All hail director, special-effects wizard and high-frame-rate advocate Douglas Trumbull, who has passed at age 79. His SFX bona fides include 2001: A Space Odyssey, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Blade Runner and The Tree of Life; he directed Silent Running and Brainstorm. I remember the 60 fps Showscan process….first saw it in ’83!
“Visit to Trumbull Village,”‘ posted on 8.10.18: “Restoration guru Robert Harris and I spent most of today (Friday, 8.10) visiting the legendary Douglas Trumbull — special-effects designer and innovator (Close Encounters, Blade Runner, Tree of Life), director of Brainstorm and Silent Running, the Thomas A. Edison of knockout movie concepts and visuals — on his sprawling estate in Southfield, Mass.
“The highlight was experiencing (watching sounds too bland) Trumbull’s Magi, a mindblowing digital 3D projection system that delivers images at 120 frames per second and hefty woofer shake under your seat, and which turns you around in a way that feels pretty damn unique.
Douglas Trumbull, Robert Harris outside Magi projection facility.
“Harris picked me up this morning at the new Danbury train station. (The old train station, located 150 feet to the east, is where Robert Walker‘s Bruno Antony disembarked in “Metcalf” in Alfred Hitchcock‘s Strangers on a Train.) We drove up interstate 84, over to Route 8, northwest on 44 and then due north on 272.
“We pulled into Southfield a little after noon. We stopped at the Southfield Store for a rest and a light lunch, and arrived at the huge Trumbull compound (four or five large residences, a “mad genius” workshed, a couple of soundstages, a projection facility, a couple of garages, meadows with grazing donkeys and goats and towering trees all around) at 12:45 pm, give or take.
“The Trumbull compound seemed larger than George Lucas‘s Skywalker Sound facility in northern Marin County. Try 50 acres. It’s homey and at the same time a kind of high-tech village. You need to drive to get from one end to the other.
“Full of energy and sharp as a tack, Trumbull led us over to a “Magi pod” theatre, which seats 60 and uses a large, curved concave screen. He explained that Magi integrates virtual reality and augmented reality (seat rumblings), and that it’s the kind of thing that could re-energize moviegoing in an era of fading cinema attendance.
Boilerplate: Magi captures and projects images in 3D, 4K HD and 120 frames per second. Trumbull has developed a prefabricated “Magi Pod” theater, as most theatres are incapable of delivering the right stuff. Magi Pods can be shipped and assembled in a week. Each seat faces the center of a 36-foot-wide by 17-foot-tall screen. A 32-channel, surround-sound system provides strong, needle-sharp audio. The system produces a picture that’s way more immersive than regular 3D or IMAX.
“Trumbull and a collaborator are writing a script called Lightship. I didn’t grill him on the specifics, but it’s some kind of high-tech, high-dynamic, eyeball-popping hair-raiser. Trumbull intends to direct Lightship with most of the principal photography to be captured in the compound.
“Harris and I pushed on a little after 3 pm, and were both back at our respective homes less than three hours later.
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”
I’ll definitely be watching this limited Hulu miniseries, which launches on 3.3.22. The Dropout stars Amanda Seyfried as Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes, a young biotechnology entrepreneur who was busted for frauding data concerning her now-defunct blood-testing tech company.
The alarm bells and the downswirl happened between 2015 and 2018. Holmes is now looking at several years in a federal slam, plus potentially paying out millions in restitution and fines; sentencing is scheduled for 9.26.22.
The Dropout costars William H. Macy, Laurie Metcalf, Elizabeth Marvel, Kate Burton, Stephen Fry, Michel Gill, Michael Ironside, Hart Bochner, James Hiroyuki Liao, Sam Waterston, Kurtwood Smith, Anne Archer and LisaGay Hamilton.
