The Academy almost always messes this stuff up.

Note:  Over the coming weeks I will be writing about the Oscars, giving you my personal, sometimes very idiosyncratic, picks on who or what should win (whether they were nominated or not), and then give you my opinion on who is likely to win from the nominees.  Today I am going to talk about Woody Allen, Cate Blanchett, and the Academy Awards, in general.

Take for instance that William Randolph Hearst and his media empire intimidated Hollywood and the Academy enough that Citizen Kane was nearly 'deleted' and/or destroyed before it was released, and that every single time one of the many nominations for Citizen Kane came  up, it was roundly booed at the Academy Awards.  Citizen Kane won only one award, for best screenplay, and that was really for Herman J Mankewicz, a recognition for all his significant contributions to building the Golden Age of Hollywood.

Or, let us talk about the Academy giving Elia Kazan a lifetime achievement award.

I would not be the least surprised to hear boos when Woody Allen's name is called at the Academy Awards next month.  Academy members are allowed to express their opinions, certainly.  Allen, himself, will not be there.  He never attends award ceremonies.  But, I am curious to see if Academy members will  boo Cate Blanchett or Sally Hawkins.  I would hope not, but like I said, the Academy almost always makes the wrong choice, or does the wrong thing when it comes to controversial issues like this.

And, I think we can pretty much forget any chance of Ms Blanchett winning Best Actress this year.  (I really do not believe Ms Hawkins had any shot at winning in her category, Best Supporting Actress.) Which is a real shame.  Ms Blanchett's performance in Blue Jasmine is certainly deserving, and is the type of performance the Academy generally adores.  But her association with Allen will likely prohibit her from taking home the Oscar.

Instead, I think, this year's Best Actress Award will go to Amy Adams.  (Much to my Wife's chagrin, who believes Ms Adams should win the Academy Award for Most Acting While Not Wearing a Bra.  When will that category be created?)

Yet, if I were King Academy Award, I would give the Best Actress Award to Barbara Sukowa for her mesmerizing, slinky, and seductive performance as Hannah Arendt.

Still, King Academy Award and the Academy could very well be agreeing with each other regarding the Best Supporting Actress category.  As elated as I am that Ms Hawkins (one of my absolute favorite movie stars right now) received her second nomination -- she should have won Best Actress for Happy-Go-Lucky! -- I think that Jennifer Lawrence and Mickey Sumner (as Sophie in Frances Ha) should share this award.  Ms Lawrence in American Hustle reminded me so much of say, Judy Holliday's sterling performance in Adam's Rib.  Or Jean Hagan's performances in Singin' in the Rain and Adam's Rib.  Or Ruth Hussey in The Philadelphia Story, etc, ... Meanwhile, Ms Sumner gave one of the richest and most complex performances I have seen this past year; an exquisite study of female friendship.

As for Best Original Screenplay, notwithstanding the controversy, Mr Allen is deserving of the nomination, but will not win.  I imagine it will go to either Bob Nelson for Nebraska or Eric Warren Singer and David O Russell for American Hustle.

If I were King Academy Award, however, I would give the prize to Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig for Frances Ha.  Seriously, for just this passage alone:

Frances: It's that thing when you're with someone, and you love them and they know it, and they love you and you know it... but it's a party... and you're both talking to other people, and you're laughing and shining... and you look across the room and catch each other's eyes... but - but not because you're possessive, or it's precisely sexual... but because... that is your person in this life. And it's funny and sad, but only because this life will end, and it's this secret world that exists right there in public, unnoticed, that no one else knows about. It's sort of like how they say that other dimensions exist all around us, but we don't have the ability to perceive them. That's - That's what I want out of a relationship. Or just life, I guess.

All my love,
xxxoooxxx

Frances Ha is a delightful modest

Little gem of a movie.  And, is a film that the Wife and I will eventually own at home and most definitely should bear repeated viewings.

Noah Baumbach is not one of my favorite directors, at all.  But, I think it was Greta Gerwig's influence -- she stars and co-wrote the script with Baumbach -- that elevate this film to greatness. That, and Gerwig's co-star, Mickey Sumner's performance as Gerwig's best friend, Sophie.

Mickey Sumner (Sting & Trudy Styler's daughter) and Greta Gerwig drink a Stella.

The film is about reckless dreaming, pride, and platonic love.  Ms Gerwig's Frances is reluctant to abandon her dream of being in a modern dance company, despite the fact that she has little talent as a dancer.  And, it is her pride that gets in the way whenever she is offered an opportunity to further her career doing something else possibly related to her art, or to fix her living situation, that finally finds her at a low point in her life, and feeling "old" at twenty-seven.

The driving force for the film is the oftentimes strained relationship between Frances and Sophie, two best friends.  "We're the same person, different hair," Frances says of her and Sophie. Frances, though, is in complete denial of Sophie's serious relationship with boyfriend, Patch, and when Sophie moves out, Frances becomes unmoored, and is forced to find herself, and her life, on her own, without a friend partner to guide her (or for Frances to become dependent upon.)

This "quest" makes up a great portion of the comedy for this film, including two fabulous talky scenes.  The first takes place the morning after one of Frances' most recent housemates has hooked up with a girl the night before.  The girl makes breakfast for everyone the next morning, and proves what a small world this is by telling Frances how she knows Sophie, too, and seems somewhat surprised to discover that she is meeting the Frances that Sophie had described to her.

The second is a real tour de force for Ms Gerwig, and is an extremely touching and moving sequence, because I know I have personally felt exactly how Frances feels at this time in her life in this particular type of social situation.  Frances by this point is "crashing" basically at one of the dance company's member's houses, and then ends up "crashing" a dinner party, as well.  Frances is well out of her depth amongst these very successful people, and perhaps, has too much to drink.  Her attempts at making herself heard and understood are frazzled and disjointed, sometimes dropped altogether, until finally through the haze of smoke and drink, she is able to articulate her personal Mission Statement for what she sees as true love.

I have been there, Sister.  A down on his luck beggar at the banquet, intimidated by wealth and breeding, rubbing shoulders with folks my own age or younger who were already so much more successful than me, folks that had figured it out already, how to live life, and made it seem so easy.  And, me, desperate to prove my worth or intelligence or passion, whilst in the back corners of my mind, feeling I would never measure up, period.

The film is shot in black and white, which plays here as crisp and refreshing, and Frances Ha's most obvious influences are mid to late Seventies Woody Allen films -- there is a nighttime interior scene in a cafe that can remind you of the Elaine's sequence in Manhattan -- and the French New Wave films of Francois Truffaut.  There are exuberant elegant character illuminating montage sequences, played alongside George Delerue music -- a composer who did much work for Truffaut and Godard -- that bring this influence to the fore, and, for fun, the script even has Sophie namecheck Jean-Pierre Léaud.

Highly recommended by me and the Wife.  (The Wife really liked it.  She liked the film so much that she was somewhat angry coming out of the theater.  I figured what made her angry was why are not all films this great? Think about how many millions and millions of dollars are spent on so many films that can not even hold a candle to this cheap black and white indie film.  At least, that is what I think she was thinking.)

Mwah, ...