The Academy Awards Go Poof!

The members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are insiders prone to voting for friends and trends and are rarely in touch with any true sense of art! They keep a sharp eye out for popular trends rather than artistic achievement.
by Charlie Leck

What exactly happened last night? The Academy cast its votes and they were announced. Something went wrong and it all became more and more clear to us (the people who go to the movies). Argo was a fine film. If it was the best picture of the year then I’m a lowly simpleton (and there are many ready to cast a vote for that). And, Zero Dark Thirty was also a fine, fine film. But, Lincoln? Lincoln was a triumph – a masterpiece – a brilliant work of cinematic art! There are simply not comparisons.

The members of the Academy vote for their choices based on a number of political connections and personal likes and dislikes that we, on the outside, will never understand. The perception of the Academy as the standard for determining the best of anything has been diminishing year after year for nearly two decades now. Last night it hit rock bottom and it became clear that the whole shebang has more to do with personality than art.

Lincoln simply should have been the best picture and Steven Spielberg should have been the best director. There ain’t no two ways about it!

It was a year of remarkable films and movie-goers were the real winners this year. However, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is nothing but a vague shadow of its former self! There are so many other awarding organizations that have a better grip on the realities of cinema and they are the honors to which we should be paying attention. Real theater people have begun to disregard the opinions of a bunch of people who are trying to either curry favors or repay them with their votes (the Academy).

Last night’s big show was as weak and distasteful and as even the Academy itself. My feeling after watching it was simply: “Who cares?” I’ve read the reviews in the major newspapers across the country and they are all essentially negative. Viewership is down for the show and, after last night, I can see why! Bad jokes and bad decisions!

Glen Whipp, writing long after midnight last night for the Los Angeles Times, said it best and I recommend his column to you if you are even interested in this subject. He tells us what the Academy really is and why we should disregard it.

But, as a movie-goer (who dips into the popular movie offerings at main-line theaters) how do you beat a year like this (in alpha order)?….

Argo

The Hobbit

Hyde Park on the Hudson

Les Miserables

Life of Pi

Lincoln

Sessions

Silver Linings Playbook

Zero-Dark-Thirty

It was a triumphant year for Hollywood, but not for the Academy!

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JULIE & JULIA

I can only tell you that I loved this movie and it injected my soul with happiness!
by Charlie Leck

I’m no movie critic! Make note of that before you read further. Nevertheless, I have strong feelings about this movie, Julie & Julia, and, after seeing it last night, I can't let go of them. Scenes keep playing themselves over in my head and I keep hearing that wonderful whooping voice of Julia Child (or was it Meryl Streep?).

This was one of the most delightfully entertaining movies I have ever seen. I don’t think I have enjoyed two hours in a movie theatre any more than I did as I watched this sparkling, joyous and tender production.

And of Meryl Streep, on whom I have had forever a staggering crush, I will let the NY Times movie critic, A.O. Scott, express it perfectly for me:

“By now this actress has exhausted every superlative that exists and to suggest that she has outdone herself is only to say that she’s done it again. Her performance goes beyond physical imitation, though she has the rounded shoulders and the fluting voice down perfectly.

“Often when gifted actors impersonate real, familiar people, they overshadow the originals, so that, for example, you can’t think of Ray Charles without seeing Jamie Foxx, or Truman Capote without envisioning Philip Seymour Hoffman. But Ms. Streep’s incarnation of Julia Child has the opposite effect, making the real Julia, who died in 2004, more vivid, more alive, than ever”. [A.O. Scott, NY Times]

If she doesn’t win “Best Actress” for this one, there is no justice beneath the heavens – none!

Scott calls this film an imperfect meal. He says that Amy Adams (as Julie) is simply “overmatched by her co-star and handicapped by the material.” That is so, but I think it is meant to be that way. Julie is a simple, cute and energetic person, but she is not Julia; and who, except Streep, could be? The contrasts were intentional – just as were the contrasts between Paris and the Queens. Paris is a city no one wants to leave and nearly everyone wants to get the hell out of the Queens.

However, for the sake of argument, let’s say this was an imperfect movie. Scott also cleverly points to the Julia Child philosophy.

“But an imperfect meal can still have a lot of flavor, and the pleasures offered by this movie should not be disdained. Julia Child knew what to do with a broken sauce or a half-fallen soufflé: serve it anyway, with flair and without apology. What would Julia say? What she always said: Bon appétit!” [A.O. Scott, NY Times]

I disagree with Scott. Please understand that. To me, this was a perfect meal. I thought Ms. Adams was brilliant in her roll, but who wouldn’t look a bit less talented when paired with Streep in a film? She’s also done it to other young actresses in other wonderful films as well. And one also needs to remember that Adams did not have the extraordinary character to play that Streep was so fortunate to draw.

As I said in beginning, I am no movie critic. I don’t know how to review a movie. I can only tell you I loved, loved, loved this wonderful movie and I will see it again more times (awkward grammatical stumble intentional).

END

[An omelet the Julia Child way as demonstrated by Julia Child!]