2008: The Year that the Rat Beat the Bat

If you've spoken with me for more than five minutes, then you know that I think the fact that The Dark Knight wasn't nominated for Best Picture is a tragedy within both film and human history. Back when it happened, I assumed that all of the nominees weren't as good. But now I know for certain. Still, that's not what this blog entry is about. So I'll just point out my thoughts on the films that were nominated, I won't mention Batman again. I promise.

Know what the curious case of Bruce Wayne is? He's never been in a Best Picture nominee. Tragic, I know. However, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was put to film, and though he doesn't fulfill the requirements of a summer action movie archetype while simultaneously dealing with issues like the duality of man and the morality of how far one can and should go for the greater good, it's still a good movie. I actually felt a bit strange when finishing the tale about Brad Pitt living his life in reverse. The movie was really well done in a classical style. By that I mean that for some reason the style reminded me of a movie from the 50s (in a good way). It never really pulled me in and made me part of the story. There's no real deeper meaning to the film (at least not that I could ascertain) but it was certainly visually stunning and well-acted. I suppose the point of the film is that he comes to appreciate everything he has in life because he starts off in the worst physical shape of his life and becomes stronger. Or maybe there's no point to the film other than to entertain. I have no idea, but whichever way you look at it I feel like it was mostly nominated because it was classy and came out in December. It's a good movie, but it's not overly great.

Want to know what my favorite scene in The Dark Knight is? It's coincidentally the same as the director's: the interrogation scene. Well, Frost/Nixon isn't quite on that level, but it is really good though (as interrogations go). As it is based on a stage play (and real events, but mostly the stage play) the film is almost entirely fueled by acting. And Michael Sheen and Frank Langella really deliver as David Frost and Richard Nixon, respectively. On top of that, I liked the angle from which the film approached Nixon. Because something that I dislike within films is inaccuracy due to bias. Did Nixon do some pretty shady stuff? Sure, no one's arguing he wasn't. But that wasn't everything that he did when he was president. So the movie really gives the audience a chance to recognize with the man and see the Watergate situation from his perspective. It also gives him a chance to talk about the good things that he did before his paranoia took over. So I really liked that the film offered multiple views on the situation, to the point that you don't see it as Frost vs. Nixon (which is why I love that the movie has a slash in the title) but you instead see the similarities between the two men and how they come to respect each other. The acting is also fueled by an excellent script and tight, intense directing from Ron Howard. Out of the films that were actually nominated, this was easily my second favorite after the year's winner.

Know what has more calcium than Milk? Batman's bones. Nice segue, right? I thought so too, well I'm referring of course to Milk which is the biopic that follows the life of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay politician to be elected in California. The story didn't particularly pull me in, because once you've seen one movie about overcoming oppressive societal issues, you've seen them all (from a film perspective anyway, not having lived through any of the events in the film it's tough to see it from any other viewpoint). What really impressed me was Sean Penn's performance. And that takes a lot for me to say because I think that Sean Penn is a whiny jerk, and I highly enjoyed seeing puppet Sean Penn being slaughtered in Team America. But, you've got to give him props for his performance in this movie, it really is quite good. The film itself has some strong moments, including a particularly well-framed death scene for Milk, but I feel like the performance was more deserving of praise than the film itself was. In order for a film to be nominated, everything has to click. And by that I mean: the acting, music choices (or lack thereof, in a case like No Country for Old Men), directing, dialogue, and everything should be as top notch as possible. I felt that Milk was a slightly above average film with a way above average performance. So I'm glad Sean Penn was recognized, but the other elements didn't quite live up to that standard.

Know who's the only dude driven enough to resist the wiles of Kate Winslet? Batman. (also Sam Mendes, apparently) Well, 15-year-old German kid isn't either of those people, as the first 45 minutes of The Reader prove. And prove. And prove some more. Ever seen porn with good acting? You have if you've seen this movie (or HBO). The first 45 minutes are solely based on this kid's infatuation with Kate Winslet, which is certainly understandable (especially if he's seen Titanic) but is it particularly necessary? The important aspect to the movie is supposed to be the fact that he reads to her and allows her to be open to an entire world of imagination and art that she previously had no exposure to. The fact that she allows him to carry on with her in exchange for reading her a book basically makes her a hooker. Then later on in the movie when the kid is in law school, we see her on trial for war crimes because she was also a Nazi. So she's a Nazi hooker. And we're supposed to feel sympathy for this woman because she can't read. If she was only a Nazi or only a hooker I probably could, the fact that she's both is pushing things a bit (and this coming from me, the guy who has shed tears for Benjamin Linus the mass murderer and Lex Luthor the criminal mastermind). I don't know whether it's the fact that they didn't portray her in such a way that we felt pity for her, or the fact that the end result of the movie was: "he taught a Nazi to read. Yay?" but either way, I wasn't sure what to think of the film. On one hand, certain aspects of it were well done. On another hand, it was pretty creepy. I should point out that Ralph Fiennes does a great job as the kid as an adult (don't feel like looking up the name) but I do have a hard time viewing him as a protagonist. See now, if the romance had involved the adult and Kate that would've made more sense. Voldemort and a Nazi? Adorable.

Know what's awesome? A playboy billionaire who fights crime. Know what's also awesome but not as much? A Slumdog Millionaire who needs to brush up on his Dumas. I really wanted to dislike this movie, because everyone told me to watch it when I was fuming about the Oscars. I really wanted to dislike it up until five seconds into watching it and then I loved it. Of the nominated films, I definitely agree that it was the best one. It's funny, touching, uplifting, all of these things without overdoing any of them. I would actually compare the movie to M. Night Shyamalan's last great outing: Signs. The point of Signs was that even bad things can happen for a greater good in the long run. It was a movie meant to inspire hope in the shadow of 9/11. Well, Slumdog is similar in that it shows how all of the moments of suffering that the boy endured in his life led to him being able to answer the questions to a game show he shouldn't have been able to win. First off, who doesn't love a story about someone who's been put down sticking it to the man? I know we've seen it a gazillion times, but there's something far more interesting about a character who's been marked from birth as inferior, or as a "rat" in this case (that's where my blog title comes from: characters' feelings in the movie. Not my being a racist. Please don't ACLU me). To make an obscure pop culture reference, in the original Metal Gear Solid video game, the twin with the superior genes (hard to explain, just roll with it) grew up thinking he was the inferior one. As such, he pushed himself to becoming an expert in all of the talents he didn't think he had. Had he grown up knowing he was superior, he probably would've been a bum (also an easier boss fight). So since the characters in the film have all been put down from birth as outcasts of high society, this creates a setup for poetic justice at its best. Because the experiences of oppression that the main character lived through were the very things that allowed him to overcome this oppression. From high society's point of view, it's the classic Greek tragedy situation where the person you put down rises up but only because you fought so hard to put him down. The film is creatively done, wonderfully directed, and as I said before, it makes all of its points without having to strap the audience down and explain its meaning. When a film's meaning is screamed too loudly, it becomes an agenda. And thus: annoying. I'm looking at you James Cameron.

Well, that's the roundup for 2008. As though my agenda hasn't been clear (I recognize my hypocrisy), The Dark Knight not being nominated is right up there with Hitchcock not winning anything and Jimmy Cagney not even being nominated for White Heat (that was when the Academy started going downhill, and that was years ago). But, Batman will live on in our hearts. And of the 5 films actually nominated, 2 were definitely deserving, 1 might've been, 1 had an excellent performance, and 1 had Kate Winslet. So that's more than I can say for other years I suppose. Next blog entry: oil, Michael Ceran offspring, and Keira Knightley. Sweet.