I have had a very busy Winter here watching the screeners for the SAG Awards as I have been on the nominating committee. It amazes me that so much money is made on so many films and so many of them fail to really capture the imagination. I received 30 - 40 screeners and was sent invites to the in theatre screenings of 15-20 more. In truth, I was able to watch the DVDs for at least 15 minutes each.. enough to get a feel for the performances but only about 5 or 10 of them really captured imagination:
DOUBT...... wow, what an amazing script. It so carefully walks the line between believing one thing or another which gives the title perfect justification. Kick as performances from Phillip Seymore Hoffman, Meryl Streep (though you can still see her working a bit harder than she has to.. she is still great to watch), and especially the performance of Viola Davis as the mother of the young lead boy in the film. I really think that Viola Davis is a frontrunner for best supporting actress for this film. Go watch this film! John Patrick Shanley is the playwright from who's play this film was adapted. It is a faithful (pardon the pun) restaging that is made more profound by the great camera work and the way the cinematographic elements support the conflict of the film. The scene that I believe I gave Brett and
titled
A Lonely Impulse of Delight
is by this same writer.
FROST / NIXON...... you might think the world had enough representations of Nixon in it but I have always loved the work of Frank Langella and his portrayal of Nixon is almost sad. Nixon certainly comes off as egotistical, greedy, and myopic but in the end one is left wondering what it was in Nixon that led to this "confession" of his crime on television. In Langellas hands, the weight of Nixon's conscience (who knew he had one) is palpable in those moments leading up to his spilling the beans. The climax of that scene is worth the price of admission. It is a shame it takes so long to get there. The portrayal of David Frost by Michael Sheen was good but the transition from TV Host to "serious investigative interviewer" was a bit abrupt for me and I did not buy the watershed entirely. Still, good film.
MILK...... poor Heath Ledger. The sad man offs himself because he gave his all to The Joker (what a way to go, huh - my dear boy why don't you just try acting?) and it looks like people will hardly remember that performance when comparing it to so many other good ones later in 2008. At the head of the pack for Best Actor is certainly Sean Penn as Harvey Milk. The way he captures Milk's grace, tenacity, and personality is just great. Josh Brolin as Dan White who killed Milk in 1978 is also quite good as are Victor Garber as Mayor Moscone who is also assassinated and James Franco as Scott Smith, Milk's lover. In the end, though, it is Penn who's performance is to be contender for the statue. The film itself was more engaging than many biopics I've seen but I was left wondering if anyone not familiar with or engaged in the gay civil rights battle would find that it loses its momentum in the middle.
I am tired but I promise to come back tomorrow with my thoughts on SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON, APPALOOSA, AND THE VISITOR. I post this info as a way of creating discussion about these films or others you may have seen. Please chime in!
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