‘06 Forgotten Flicks And Perfomances
We’re just days away from that magical Sunday night when Hollywoodland is on parade, displaying cleavage, heinous tuxedozation and the coronation of yet one more Anglophile acting job.
Ah, the Oscars. Can’t live with ‘em. Can’t live without ‘em.
As usual there are any number of performances and films that have been egregiously disregarded. Here’s one guy’s opinion on some legitimate cinematic bon mots that should be considered during your next visit to the rental shoppe.
Helen Mirren is a dead lock for Best Actress. We love those Brits playing royalty, don’t we? Which means the elegant and wrenching performance by Penelope Cruse in “Volver” will miss out. Pity.
The female actor that really got hosed — Read: no nomination — is Catherine O’Hara. She plays the cleverly named Marilyn Hack in Christopher Guest’s otherwise disappointing “For Your Consideration.” Her character is an actress in a film within the film called “Home For Purim.”
Some obscure internet blogger uses the words Oscar and her name in the same sentence. Let the delusions begin. She is funny. She is poignant. She is dead on in her portrayal of how the hope for fame and a gold statuette overwhelms good sense and perspective for those in La La Land.
She shoulda been a contenda. Hell, she is a contenda. It’s just that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences nominating muckety mucks didn’t think so. Guess her performance hit too close to home.
“For Your Consideration” is less good than its predecessors, “Best In Show” and “Waiting For Guffman.” But it is worth a rental for O’Hara’s boffo performance. I thought it was the best of the year.
Another film totally forgotten come award time has been “Hollywoodland.” It’s the fictionalized story of the mysterious death of real life actor George Reeves. He played Superman in the original TV series. Was he killed? Was it an accident? Suicide?
The excellent film noir looks at it, examining the whole Hollywood culture at the same time. Ben Affleck gives his best performance ever as Reeves. The luscious Diane Lane is yet again excellent as the studio head’s wife who takes Reeves under her wing. And into her bed.
I also thought Ellen Page in “Hard Candy” was top shelf. The movie examines the nasty world of pedophilia, but in a manner that asks who is the victim, who the predator? Tis not an easy flick to watch. But Page’s acting is exemplary.
My favorite flick of ‘06, and legitimately one of the best, is “Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story.” It never made it to Louisville theaters. Or those in many other cities for that matter. It features Steve Coogan, is funny and revelatory and way entertaining. It tells the tale of actors and how an unfilmable, dense novel makes it to the screen. Most clever the manner of this flick, and well worth your time.
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