Grandpa at the movies

The Academy Award nominations were announced yesterday and I'm already placing my bets on a number of Oscars.  One of the perks of retirement has to be time for movie going, assuming you can afford it.  Even though the days of 50 cent Saturday matinees (and 25 cents for a gallon of gas) have gone the way of civil public discourse, most folks can still come up with the price of a movie ticket, even old folks.  That's apparent in the fact that in 2009, at the height of the housing and banking collapse, the number of movie tickets sold worldwide jumped to an all-time high--over 1.4 billion sold-- a record 5% above the previous year's total.  Bad times bring people to the movies.

The other perk of being an Old Fart, I've discovered, is that suddenly everyone wants your business again, and they'll make crazy offers to get you in the door or onboard ship.  For example, all of the multiplex cinemas offer senior discounts.  The AMC art house near us has senior Tuesdays with admission only $6.  I consider that a bargain, compared to the regular $11 admission fee,  even though I remember when a dollar from mom would get me in the theater door with enough left over for a box of Milk Duds and a bag of popcorn.

I haven't seen all of this year's nominees in any category.  On my list of the Best Picture nominees to see still  are Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (panned by local critic Ann Hornaday), The Tree of Life, and War Horse.  I'd also like to catch My Week with Marilyn and The Iron Lady, and have heard much about the Iranian film, A Separation, which will probably hang around local theaters longer than usual due to its nomination in the Best Foreign Film category.

Of the flicks I've seen so far, I have some favorites.  That doesn't mean they will win an Oscar, but they did pick me up or make me laugh or stick with me beyond 100 minutes of screen time.  It's too early for predictions, really, but what the heck.  Isn't that the fun of Oscar night anyway--rooting for the movies and performances you loved, even if you haven't seen the competition:

Best Picture:  I'm pulling for The Artist.  A black and white silent film scoring an Oscar in 2012?  Not likely.  But the movie had my attention from title to credits.  If for nothing other than daring, it deserves a nod from the Academy, and that may be exactly what the Best Picture nomination is all about and nothing more.  But, I wouldn't rule it out as a winner.  Depending on modern actors to carry a story with nothing beyond gesture and facial expression is asking a lot.   Yet that is precisely what the leads in The Artist accomplish.  Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo both are expressive actors, totally comfortable with the physical demands of their roles.  This is made even more emphatically apparent at the end of the film when the pair, smiles beaming, perform a joyous final tap dance number reminiscent of the great Hollywood hoofers.

Best Actor:  Of the five nominees, I have seen four--all except Demian Bichir in A Better Life, which I can't find playing anywhere in the area.  George Clooney is George Clooney in The Descendants, although he is forced to move beyond his usual persona as the suave cynic in a couple of scenes.  Likewise, Brad Pitt is Brad Pitt, firmly in charge but aware of his limitations, playing Billy Beane, general manager of the Oakland baseball Athletics in Moneyball.  Of the remaining two movies, the performances are so unlike each other that it is impossible to elevate either Jean Dujardin (The Artist) or Gary Oldman (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) on comparative merit.  I'll go with Oldman, whose performance as George Smiley is controlled and understated, but never seems to waver in intensity.  He carries the movie without once drifting into the "Look at me" bravado that characterizes plenty of other actors in similar roles.

Best Actress:  Of the 2 nominees that I have seen (Viola Davis in The Help, Rooney Mara in The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo), both are deserving of an Oscar with a slight edge to Davis.  I hope to see Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady) and Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn) in the next week or two.  I probably won't see Glenn Close in Albert Nobbs, unless the popular buzz (not the Hollywood promotion machine) on that movie's behalf makes it impossible to ignore.  No pick yet.



Supporting Actor:  Of the 5 nominees in this category, I've only seen Jonah Hill in Moneyball, another understated performance.  "Understated" seems to be the operative term this year (see Gary Oldman), as well as "Silent" (isn't Max von Sydow's character in Extremely Close a mute?).   Whassup with that?  Maybe we're exhausted already from the noise of the presidential campaigns.  Besides von Sydow, the other nominees are Kenneth Branagh in My Week with Marilyn, Nick Nolte in Warrior, and Christopher Plummer in Beginners.


Supporting Actress:  Having seen 4 of the 5 nominees, I'm going to make a leap and predict that one of the two actresses from The Help will take home an Oscar in this category--either Jessica Chastain or Octavia Spencer.   My wife had to drag me to this movie, by the way, which she had seen before and was willing to see again.  I'll admit to not only liking it, but to rooting for all of the plucky female characters and against the villainous female bigot, whose character had the least depth but then, as a foil for everyone else, she probably didn't need all that much.  Other nominees are Melissa McCarthy (by far the funniest performance of the year in Bridesmaids), Berenice Bejo (The Artist) and Janet McTeer (Albert Nobbs).

Animated Feature:  My favorite category, having grown up on Disney flicks.  If two of the nominees (A Cat in Paris and Chico & Rita) have played anywhere in the DC area, I'm not aware of it.  The other 3 all made the multiplexes, which doesn't diminish what they have to offer--both visual and storytelling impact.  Kudos to Panda 2 and Puss in Boots, both derivative but entertaining.  My grandkids know the characters and best lines from their prequel movies better than their bedtime stories, and I know they'll enjoy these sequels when they are released on DVD.  My vote goes, though, to the original Rango--a weird combination of slapstick, gunslinging, eco-terrorism, and science fiction.  Plus, almost anything with Johnny Depp catches my interest.

The other award categories are drowned out by the sound of mutual back-slapping among industry technicians and insiders.  The decision made a couple of years ago to hand out some of the technical Oscars prior to the televised show has put these awards where they belong.  Serious movie buffs can slug it out in the chat rooms on their own time, about who deserved the flim editing or makeup prize.  But leave them out of Oscar night.  That's when I want the jokes and music and glitter--just like at the movies.