2006: The Year that Queen Elizabeth Dealt with the Loss of Jason Bourne at the Hands of Marky-Mark

2006 was an interesting year for film, and by interesting I mean full of injustice. I can't disagree with the winner, but one or two (more specifically: two) of the nominees really shouldn't have been there. And though I'm not sure I'd suggest that Casino Royale should have been nominated, I would like to point out that it's an incredibly good movie (not just a good Bond movie, just a really good movie) and for more on that subject look to my previous post. However, two movies that should have been on the list that weren't were Pan's Labyrinth and The Prestige. But, we'll get to that later.

And by later, I mean right now. Pan's Labyrinth was the movie with the Mexican director that was really good and got nothing, and Babel was the movie with the Mexican director that was 2/3 so-so and got nominated. It's one of those intertwining storyline films (which I do really like, including one I just watched called The Air I Breathe which is a really good, little known film) but it doesn't do a very good job with it. Because two of the storylines really connect, one sort of does, and one doesn't at all except in the minor way that they had to force. The movie is supposed to be about communication, and I get that because of the title and because it was rammed down my throat in every scene. Plus the movie is in a total of four spoken languages and one sign language. The movie plays well in the two main storylines involving an American woman who is shot by accident and the kids who accidentally shot her. But to me that wasn't really a "lack of communication" story, although there are aspects to it that are, it was more of an unfortunate accident story. Then there's the story about the children of the two Americans, and how they spend the day with their Mexican nanny who takes them south of the border to experience a birthday party in Mexico. That storyline is charming at first, but turns sour when they try to bring the kids back over the border. They end up on the run from the border police, lost in the desert, yadda yadda yadda. Once again, it didn't play like a communication problem pertaining to languages, just a stupidity problem. They didn't produce the papers that the border police needed to let them pass, which I guess is an injustice because no one ever smuggles anything over the border right? Of course not, those police are there to be imperialist jerks, no other reason (CLUE: I'm being sarcastic). Even so, if it was those three stories it'd be a pretty good movie. But most of the movie (or at least what felt like most of it) centered around a deaf-mute Japanese girl dealing with the suicide of her mother. She is sexually frustrated to the point that it's quite disturbing (I won't even say why but let's just say calling her behavior "flirting" would be like calling the Civil War a "skirmish"). Once again, it's supposed to be about her trouble communicating, but EVERYONE understands what she's trying to convey with her actions. Everyone at the restaurant, dentist's office....pretty much everywhere (if you catch my meaning). And how do the filmmakers link it to the rest of the story? Oh, this is good: her dad gave the gun to the guy who sold the gun to the guy whose son shot the American lady by accident. Yeah that really belonged in the movie. If someone wanted to make her whole story a movie on its own, or part of another movie, I wouldn't be a fan but at least it'd make sense. This was too much of a stretch, and the movie pretty much dragged on forever because of it. So if you want to watch a movie of its type, watch Crash or Traffic and see how it's done.

Let me emphasize though that I don't have problems with subtitled movies, because I loved Letters from Iwo Jima (the alphabetization method seems to be serving my segues well this time). This is Clint Eastwood's sister film to Flags of our Fathers and though I'd say the films fit together really well, this is definitely the better of the two. Flags deals with the treatment of the war heroes when they get back home and the effect that it has on their respective psyches, whereas Letters deals with the battle itself, which is more interesting. However, it wouldn't be as interesting if we saw it all from the American point of view, so it was the right choice to put the Allies story after the war and the battle story from the Japanese point of view. The film doesn't cast the Japanese as completely sympathetic or completely bad, because that'd be unrealistic. It shows some of the soldiers as being steadfast in their quest for patriotism and honor (to the point of suicide at times) and others as frightened men looking to survive. Much like many of Eastwood's recent films, the movie has a quiet and contemplative value to it. Loud and exciting things happen but they're not there to overwhelm you, they're there to make you think and to make you appreciate the silence accompanying the finality of death in battle. Many scenes are even beautiful in their own way, further solidifying Clint as one of my favorite directors. Overall, the film doesn't chart enough new territory to be the winner but it's certainly deserving of the nomination.

Yeah those Japanese soldiers were pretty crazy, blowing themselves up for the Empire and stuff. On that note, let's talk about Little Miss Sunshine. I fricking love this movie. It's obscure, it points out stuff that's stupid about society, and it's darkly funny. Those are the three things I love most about comedy. The movie centers around a family who are all misfits in their own way as they drive out to California to support the main character in her quest to become Little Miss Sunshine (one of those disturbing titles given to tweens who win beauty contests that are judged by creepers and former cheerleaders). Although she's less the main character than the mcguffin that drives the story and causes the other characters to discover things about themselves. Because they're all broken people in one way or another and see themselves as losers. But the payoff for that comes when they finally reach the pageant. Abigail Breslin's character does a minor striptease as her "talent" to become Little Miss Sunshine. At first you're thinking: "whaaaaaaaaaaaaat is going on?" But then you realize: it shouldn't just be this scene that's creepy, the whole frigging pageant is creepy! Everyone there was a loser, because everybody is a loser in their own way (paraphrase from Glee). Eventually, the rest of her family gets up on stage and dances with her. It was their way of giving a big "screw you" to the holier-than-thou people in the audience (and everywhere). The way that they conveyed this message without being too obvious and while also being hilarious is very impressive. This is another case where it's not quite at the level of Best Picture, but I'm glad it was nominated.

But I wasn't glad that The Queen was nominated. Not because I don't like it. But if they wanted to give a nomination to a British director with a British cast, how about The Prestige? Nope, that'd make too much sense. I had very mixed feelings about this film, because while I think Helen Mirren did a really good job playing Queen Elizabeth II as she deals with the death of Princess Diana and the ensuing media circus, it's almost a one-woman show (or might as well be). Michael Sheen also does a really good job as Tony Blair, and I actually thought his role in the movie was a lot more interesting and enjoyable. If he was in it more and it was more about their relationship and called The Queen and Tony Blair or The Queen and I or Lizzie n' Friends I probably would've liked it a lot more. But since it's mostly about Helen Mirren putting on a really good impersonation of the queen for an hour and forty minutes or so, why is that grounds for rewarding the whole movie? A Best Picture should be excellent in as many ways as possible: pertaining not only to acting but also directing, writing, etc. There was one really interesting shot in this movie and a few good pieces of dialogue, but overall I felt like I was watching a really, really good Lifetime biopic.

Well that brings us to 2006's winner, which is quite an excellent movie but I have what a court case would call a "concurring opinion" with regards to the victory (a concurring opinion being an "I agree, but..." situation). The movie, of course, is The Departed: Martin Scorsese's remake of some Asian movie no one has seen. While it is certainly a deserving movie, I think the only reason it won was so the Academy could say: "remember those two times you lost to a movie about a boxer and that one time your movie about a boxer didn't win? Or that time your movie about a guy getting out of the mob lost to the movie about the guy getting into the tribe? Sorry about that bro." Scorsese had been deserving of an Oscar for, no joke, 30 years exactly when he finally won. So it was a bittersweet feeling when the movie and its director won, because you have to ask: would it have done so with different circumstances? The same question is posed with regards to Heath Ledger's award for playing the Joker. Should he have gotten it even if he hadn't died? Absolutely, no question in the mind of anyone logical. Would he have gotten it? Maybe not. But anyway, The Departed has a stellar cast, sharp writing, and classic Scorsese storytelling and directing. It's funny, it's awesome, it's sad, it's powerful, it's unexpected, it's a truly great film. And I hold it in a special place in my heart because I saw it by myself in a theater with not too many other people early on opening day, and I felt like I had this awesome movie all to myself. Until a bazillion other people saw it of course, but still. It's also rewarding in the second, third, and so on viewings. Bottom line: it's on my list of stuff with The Godfather and Seinfeld that I like to call my: "if someone doesn't like it, you should raise your eyebrows in a suspicious manner at them" list.

So overall 2006 was a good year because Marty, the man, was the victor. Though this wasn't my favorite film of his (probably Raging Bull) it's certainly one of his best. There were some films on the list that shouldn't have been there though, and every time I see one that's not deserving it's like spitting on The Dark Knight some more. And so my journey into the heart of darkness known as the Oscars continues...the next batch will include violence in the Middle East, racism in the West, and oh yes, gay cowboys. This one's going to get me in trouble. So tune in next time for: Domenic's demise!