MADness—the Blog

Don DeLillo:

Everybody remembers the killer’s name, Norman Bates, but nobody remembers the victim’s name.  Anthony Perkins is Norman Bates, Janet Leigh is Janet Leigh.  The victim is required to share the name of the actress who plays her.  It is Janet Leigh who enters the remote motel owned by Norman Bates.

That’s from DeLillo’s new novel, a slim volume called Point Omega.  The opening and closing sections, “Anonymity” and “Anonymity 2,” take place on consecutive days in a museum gallery exhibiting Douglas Gordon’s 24 Hour Psycho, a screening of the Alfred Hitchcock film that slows the events of its 109-minute running time so the action extends one full day.  It’s an interesting experiment—both the book and the Gordon installation.  DeLillo fans will want to check out Point Omega, but Psycho fans may want to also.  It’s just 117 pages—it flies by in any case.

You can read it while listening to Bernard Herrmann’s frightening score featured on the front page today.  But DeLillo got me thinking:  is it true that “nobody remembers the victim’s name”?  I do.  It’s Marion Crane, and the point of course is that she’s the bird.  That’s an important point in understanding the film, and in understanding Hitchcock, for that matter.  Sir Alfred had a fascination with birds and with actresses of a certain type, especially at that time in his career.

Perhaps “nobody” is overstating it then, but DeLillo does have a point.  People are more likely to describe the victim in the shower as Janet Leigh.  She’s a real person.  It’s more scary that way.  Marion Crane’s death is unfortunate, Janet Leigh’s is tragic.  People often confuse actors for their roles, and when a character experiences sheer terror, we’re more apt to identify with the actor than just the role.  Norman Bates, on the other hand, is more scary than the real-life Anthony Perkins.  Bates is the stuff of myth.  We love to demonize—to make the monster non-human—and it’s easier to do that with Bates than with Perkins.

There’s not much to say about the show.  The two hosts, Martin and Baldwin, hardly did anything to make the night memorable.  I remember reading stories about Billy Crystal when he was hosting—there’d be four or five months of tireless preparation that went into the show, especially the opening act.  It showed.  It was funny.  Something to remember.  I suppose they don’t do that anymore.

But we’re not tuning in for the show anyway, right?  There are the awards!

The big winner, I was glad to see, was The Hurt Locker, winning Best Picture, Best Director, and six Oscars altogether.  I have lost track of the times I’ve been disappointed at the end of an Oscar show, so it’s gratifying to see the Academy do the right thing.

Tom Hanks, oddly, didn’t read the ten nominees.  Was that intentional, or did he forget?  Or was I nodding?  One other oddity:  the reading of the prize winners was not consistent.  Kate Winslet’s “…and the Oscar goes to…” was a contrast to the reading of other presenters, ”…and the winner is….”  Which is it these days?

The final tally:

6 — The Hurt Locker (Picture, Director, Original Screenplay, Editing, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing)
3 — Avatar (Cinematography, Art Direction, Visual Effects)
2 — Precious (Supporting Actress, Adapted Screenplay)
2 — Up (Animated Feature, Score)
2 — Crazy Heart (Actor, Song)
1 — The Blind Side (Actress)
1 — Inglourious Basterds (Supporting Actor)
1 — Star Trek (Makeup)
1 — The Young Victoria (Costume Design)
1 — El Secreto de Sus Ojos (Foreign-language Film)
1 — The Cove (Documentary Feature)
1 — Music by Prudence (Documentary Short)
1 — Longarama (Animated Short)
1 — The New Tenants (Live-action Short)

For what it’s worth (not a lot, actually), I was 16 of 24 on my predictions.

On the first day of the year—also the first day of this blog—I said not to expect a list of my Top 10 Movies of 2009.  I’m not one to go back on my word, but in the interest of looking one more time at films from last year—and today is a good day for that—I’ve put together a list of the five films of 2009 that I found to be the most enjoyable.

1. The Hurt Locker
   A movie that is topical, engaging, and leaves you with plenty to think about is the kind of movie that I especially enjoy.  The Hurt Locker had that in spades.  Best movie of the year, and the most enjoyable too.
2. District 9
   The sci-fi genre is hardly among my favorites.  I like movies that are human-scale.  When the fate of the world hangs in the balance, I tend to yawn.  When the ultimate, epic battle of good vs. evil is unleashed on the screen in all its CGI splendor, I tend to look at my watch hoping it’ll all be over soon.  But every so often there’s a sci-fi film that transcends the genre, and this past year District 9 was that film.  Like the great sci-fi classics of the past, it’s not about effects and action.  It’s about human beings living through difficult circumstances.  It’s a smart film with lots to offer for thinking people and enough of an adrenaline rush for the fanboys.  It will be remembered long, long after all the fuss about Avatar has died down.
3. In the Loop
   A satire with a political edge that’s spot on.  It’s the rare English-language film that might have been helped by subtitles, but I just wish that American films could be this kind of funny.
4. Inglourious Basterds
   I went into the theater expecting to be disappointed.  What I’d read about the film was less than glowing, and I was finding Tarantino less interesting with every movie he made.  But the movie had me hooked in the first scene and never let go.  The plot is so far over the line you almost have to admire the audacity.  I’m not sure that I look back fondly on some parts of it, but I sure did enjoy the hell out of it.
5. Up
   The Carl & Ellie sequence is one for the ages, and the rest of the film is quite good too.  I hope not to sound too much like an old fart to say I’m glad they’re still making movies that I can see at the theater with my four-year-old son and have us both enjoy the experience.

The Best Picture award will be the presented tomorrow night at the end of the ceremony.  The name on the award may be a misnomer.  The award is truly an award for English-language films.  That’s how it’s worked historically.  Foreign-language films have their own category—which is great since the foreign films can use all the attention they can get, but it’s a mistake to think that those films are any less worthy than the English-language Best Picture nominees.  In fact, it’s clear that the foreign films are better than some of the B.P. nominees, and over the years the real “best picture” is often among the foreign titles.

The filmmakers behind the five nominated foreign-language films were featured at a symposium at the the Academy today.  It was a great event—a special honor for the nominees, and a special treat to be in the audience.  Clips from each of the films were presented, followed by a panel discusssion with the directors.  The program was moderated by the Mark Johnson of the Academy, who made the point that this past year was the best for foreign-language films in the years he’s been running the awards committee. 

It’s a shame that more Americans don’t see foreign-language films.  There’s a small and loyal following for foreign films, but the larger audience stays away.  I’m not sure why that is.  Is it too hard for Americans to read subtitles?  Do Americans just not care what happens elsewhere in the world?  Whatever it is, it makes it hard for a filmmaker or company to release a foreign-language film in the U.S. and make money.  Which means that many of the world’s great films never even make it into the U.S. market.  In fact this year’s Oscar entry from Peru still doesn’t have a release scheduled here.

What can you do about it?  Go see a foreign-language film.  You won’t be disappointed.

You may want to start with this year’s nominees.  Three of the films are playing now, and the Argentine film opens in a few weeks.

It takes three days for the accountants at PricewaterhouseCoopers to count all the ballots of Academy voters.  They’ll be done sometime today, at which point exactly two people will know the names of the winners.  The rest of us get the news Sunday night.

In the meantime we can make predictions.  If we didn’t make predictions, we wouldn’t have any surprises.  I hope there might be a few at the big show, but at this time it all looks very predictable.

You can take a look at what I see in my crystal ball, my picks for the Oscars.

Best Picture

• Avatar
• The Blind Side
• District 9
• An Education
• The Hurt Locker
• Inglourious Basterds
• Precious
• A Serious Man
• Up
• Up in the Air

The winner:  The Hurt Locker
The verdict:  Oscar gets it right!  All the talk is that it’s a two-picture race.  If so, it really shouldn’t be close.  Avatar is technically stunning and visually imaginative, but it doesn’t compare to The Hurt Locker as a complete film.  With District 9 in the running, sci-fi fans have another place to put their vote.  That should help Kathyrn Bigelow’s film.  I’ve read that the new preference voting procedures also will work against Avatar, but I don’t think anybody really knows which film will benefit from the new process.

Best Actor

• Jeff Bridges Crazy Heart
• George Clooney Up in the Air
• Colin Firth A Single Man
• Morgan Freeman Invictus
• Jeremy Renner The Hurt Locker

The winner:  Jeff Bridges
The verdict:  It’s about time!  I can’t seeing anyone else winning, but if there is a longshot winner, it’ll be Colin Firth.

Best Supporting Actor

• Matt Damonin Invictus
• Woody Harrelson The Messenger
• Christopher Plummer The Last Station
• Stanley Tucci The Lovely Bones
• Christoph Waltz Inglourious Basterds

The winner:  Christoph Waltz
The verdict:  A terrific performance and a well-deserved win.  The dark horse is Woody Harrelson.

Best Actress

• Sandra Bullock The Blind Side
• Helen Mirren The Last Station
• Carey Mulligan An Education
• Gabourey Sidibe Precious
• Meryl Streep Julie & Julia

The winner:  Sandra Bullock
The verdict:  Somehow the thinking with Academy voters seems to go like this:  Meryl Streep gave a great performance this year, so let’s give her a nomination—but let’s give the Oscar to someone else.  It’s been 27 years since her last win (she has 16 noms altogether), and there’s no reason to keep her waiting any longer.  Perhaps if they had preference voting for Best Actress (it’s only used for Best Picture, though), Streep would have a third little man for her mantel.  That said, my rooting interest here is for Carey Mulligan.

Best Supporting Actress

• Penélope Cruz Nine
• Vera Farmiga Up in the Air
• Maggie Gyllenhaal Crazy Heart
• Anna Kendrick Up in the Air
• Mo’Nique Precious

The winner:  Mo’Nique
The verdict:  No contest.

Best Director

• Avatar James Cameron
• The Hurt Locker Kathryn Bigelow
• Inglourious Basterds Quentin Tarantino
• Precious Lee Daniels
• Up in the Air Jason Reitman

The winner:  Kathryn Bigelow
The verdict:  The headlines will be:  A Woman Wins (Finally).  Bottom line:  Bigelow deserves it.

Foreign Language Film

• Ajami Israel
• The Milk of Sorrow (La Teta Asustada) Peru
• A Prophet (Un Prophète) France
• The Secret in Their Eyes (El Secreto de Sus Ojos) Argentina
• The White Ribbon (Das Weisse Band) Germany

The winner:  A Prophet
The verdict:  It’s a powerful film, but not the kind of material that often wins the Oscar.  I have not yet seen the South American films so I can’t judge, but the buzz for the Argentine entry is strong, and it has an excellent chance to win.

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

• District 9 Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
• An Education Screenplay by Nick Hornby
• In the Loop Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
• Precious Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher
• Up in the Air Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

The winner:  Up in the Air
The verdict:  A smart screenplay.  Writing is a lot more than dialogue, but the dialogue is what people remember, and the dialogue in Up in the Air is sharp and reminiscent of Hollywood classics of the past.

Writing (Original Screenplay)

• The Hurt Locker Written by Mark Boal
• Inglourious Basterds Written by Quentin Tarantino
• The Messenger Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman
• A Serious Man Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
• Up Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy

The winner:  The Hurt Locker
The verdict:  The Hurt Locker by a nose, but don’t count out Tarantino.

Animated Feature Film

• Coraline Henry Selick
• Fantastic Mr. Fox Wes Anderson
• The Princess and the Frog John Musker and Ron Clements
• The Secret of Kells Tomm Moore
• Up Pete Docter

The winner:  Up

Art Direction

• Avatar
• The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
• Nine
• Sherlock Holmes
• The Young Victoria

The winner:  Avatar

Cinematography

• Avatar Mauro Fiore
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Bruno Delbonnel
• The Hurt Locker Barry Ackroyd
• Inglourious Basterds Robert Richardson
• The White Ribbon Christian Berger

The winner:  The Hurt Locker
The verdict:  I wouldn’t mind seeing The White Ribbon win, but I’m a sucker for black-and-white.

Costume Design

• Bright Star Janet Patterson
• Coco before Chanel Catherine Leterrier
• The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus Monique Prudhomme
• Nine Colleen Atwood
• The Young Victoria Sandy Powell

The winner:  Coco Before Chanel
The verdict:  Everyone in the know is picking The Young Victoria, but I need to be a contrarian somewhere.

Documentary (Feature)

• Burma VJ Anders Østergaard and Lise Lense-Møller
• The Cove Louie Psihoyos and Fisher Stevens
• Food, Inc. Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein
• The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith
• Which Way Home Rebecca Cammisa

The winner:  The Cove

Documentary (Short Subject)

• China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill
• The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner Daniel Junge and Henry Ansbacher
• The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert
• Music by Prudence Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett
• Rabbit à la Berlin Bartek Konopka and Anna Wydra

The winner:  Music by Prudence

Film Editing

• Avatar Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron
• District 9 Julian Clarke
• The Hurt Locker Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
• Inglourious Basterds Sally Menke
• Precious Joe Klotz

The winner:  The Hurt Locker

Makeup

• Il Divo
• Star Trek
• The Young Victoria

The winner:  Star Trek
The verdict:  A well-liked sci-fi film (though I was lukewarm) gets its one Oscar.

Music (Original Score)

• Avatar James Horner
• Fantastic Mr. Fox Alexandre Desplat
• The Hurt Locker Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
• Sherlock Holmes Hans Zimmer
• Up Michael Giacchino

The winner:  Up
The verdict:  Michael Giacchino’s score was just terrific.

Music (Original Song)

• Almost There (from “The Princess and the Frog,” by Randy Newman)
• Down in New Orleans (from “The Princess and the Frog,” by Randy Newman)
• Loin de Paname (from “Paris 36,” by Reinhardt Wagner, Frank Thomas)
• Take It All (from “Nine,” by Maury Yeston)
• The Weary Kind (Theme from “Crazy Heart”) (by Ryan Bingham, T Bone Burnett)

The winner:  The Weary Kind
The verdict:  I’m not sure it was the best song in the film, but it’s the best of the nominees.

Short Film (Animated)

• French Roast
• Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty
• The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)
• Logorama
• A Matter of Loaf and Death

The winner:  A Matter of Loaf and Death
The verdict:  Never bet against Nick Park.

Short Film (Live Action)

• The Door
• Instead of Abracadabra
• Kavi
• Miracle Fish
• The New Tenants

The winner:  Kavi
The verdict:  Picking winners when you haven’t seen the films is a little like picking racehorses based on their names. 

Sound Editing

• Avatar
• The Hurt Locker
• Inglourious Basterds
• Star Trek
• Up

The winner:  Avatar

Sound Mixing

• Avatar
• The Hurt Locker
• Inglourious Basterds
• Star Trek
• Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

The winner:  Avatar

Visual Effects

• Avatar
• District 9
• Star Trek

The winner:  Avatar

MAD Puzzle No. 3 is here.  Somehow February slipped by without a new puzzle.  Busy times.  Expect more in March.

This one’s a themeless.  You can get it at the Puzzles page.