The moon is what you pay for. . .

The Latest

The Past

About Me

The Vault

Links

Home!

Tuesday, February 10, 1998

Psssst. I'll let you in on a little secret. I'M SKIPPING CLASS NOW FOR NO REASON. Well, other than the fact that I overslept a bit and I'm exhausted. But no GOOD reason, I guess. I'm also going to lie about it. HA! Boy, am I clever! Actually, the senioritis is creeping over my entire body at this point and I don't know how much longer I can last.

I'm going to the Bahamas for Spring Break! Yay! Seven days of insanity and debauch. How can I study before then?

Woke up early for the Oscar nominations, but missed them by about ten minutes. The nominations are about as unsurprising as last year's were shocking. Let's take a look at what we have, shall we?

Best Picture

"As Good As It Gets"

"The Full Monty"

"Good Will Hunting"

"L.A. Confidential"

"Titanic"

As I mentioned, no surprises. On the other hand, no real disappointments, either. It would have been nice to see "Boogie Nights" or even "Jackie Brown" take that fifth wild card spot from "The Full Monty," but "Monty" is an interesting choice in itself, and probably deserving. I'm just glad that "Amistad" didn't make the cut--that piece of overblown pap deserves to be buried in the dust of film history forever.

Best Actor

Matt Damon, "Good Will Hunting"

Robert Duvall, "The Apostle"

Peter Fonda, "Ulee's Gold"

Dustin Hoffman, "Wag the Dog"

Jack Nicholson, "As Good As It Gets"

Here's where a smidge of disappointment begins to creep in, at least in my movie-lovin' heart. Where is Kevin Kline for "In & Out"? As you'll note if you look at the Best Supporting Actress nominees, Joan Cusack got nominated for her work in "In & Out," which was decent but hardly Oscar-worthy. Kline held this movie together for me. His work hit all the right notes in a role that could easily have slipped off-key at many moments. The balance he demonstrated in portraying this gay man who at first doesn't realize he's gay but then does and yet has a hard time dealing with it and all the time can NEVER be any kind of queer stereotype--it was remarkable work.

Also disappointing, though expected, was the omission of Ian Holm for "My Sweet Hereafter." Such a subtle performance that really resonates in many different ways and that opens up so much to close examination after repeated viewings. My friend Steve and I saw the film over Christmas break, and left it with two different impressions of Holm's character. How many actors working today can play a role so well that you even get one distinct impression, let alone vary the nuances of a performance to open that character up to several interpretations? But this omission was really no surprise--"Hereafter" just hasn't maintained the kind of buzz that other small movies like "The Apostle" and "Ulee's Gold has."

I don't want to get into predictions just yet, but I will predict that this will be the most difficult category to accurately get a bead on. LOTS of old-guard actors who are going to look VERY deserving when the Academy sits down to vote. Then again, Nicholson could easily ride the buzz from the Golden Globes into a shoe-in win. We shall see.

More Academy Awards nominations and analysis later in the day. I'm off to make some sense of my wasted morning. OH, and get this: Mattel is putting out a set of Barbie & Ken dolls patterned after Mulder & Scully from "The X- Files," complete with miniature FBI credentials and everything. What a world we live in. . .

Questions? Comments? Great thoughts?

Retrace your steps. . .