I don’t think I have been ever less interested in the Oscar nominations.
George Clooney in The Descendants? (The best part was watching him run in flip-flops. He is such a good actor, but not so much in this banal film.)
But not Shailene Woodley—the only good thing in The Descendants?
Meryl Streep as best actress? (I can’t even look at the ads without laughing.)
Tree of Life practically unnoticed? (The film was poetry in motion, which is likely what plagues it.)
Albert Brooks utterly ignored?
No Michael Fassbender? Shame, shame, shame.
Nothing for Rhys Ifans? Am I the only one who thought he was splendid in Anonymous?
Ryan Gosling – not even for Crazy, Stupid Love? What’s wrong with you people?
And where is Charlize Theron? And Spielberg for TinTin?
And what about Mia Wasikowska as Jane Eyre?
Or Phil Ochs: There But For Fortune (released in early 2011)?
And why does Leonardo remain, once again, without a nomination? I haven’t seen the film, and am, in this case...forgive a pun...merely projecting. But I feel he is too-often snubbed. He is great in everything.
Woody Allen for anything but prison? (I liked the movie, but can’t bring myself to choose him, ever.)
Two songs? TWO?
And where’s Take Shelter? Taking shelter?
It could largely be because Sarah is not here that I feel such disinterest. And it could be in part that one of her friends who used to vote has betrayed her in such horrible ways I am losing hair simply typing this. (It is all I can do to keep myself from writing a separate diatribe here.)
Of course I look forward to the evening gathering in numbers small or smaller. I hope to take a break from worries and wistfulness and sit back in my big comfy chair and overeat and chat with friends about haute couture (okay...fancy dresses) and plastic surgery; listen to the speeches, and wait for the best fiddle dee dee moment/s (which shouldn’t disappoint, given the best actress nominees alone). (Frankly, I wish they would give it to Glenn Close, but I am not so stupid as to believe an Oscar in this current conventional climate will go to a woman playing a man.)
While I know, too, that there isn’t room for everyone on the list, the number of people left off is higher than an elephant’s eye and could make for an extremely dull-on-set evening.
That said, I am very happy for four of the best actress nominees (the four who won’t win); delighted for Melissa McCarthy in a transference sort of way (but I have not seen the movie); thrilled for Terrence Malick; pleased by the riveting A Separation; relieved for Gary Oldman (good work, Colin Firth, ensuring your talented friend’s nomination!), and mildly surprised, but not unpleasantly so, for Janet McTeer.
Thank God there is something to look forward to, because I don’t think I am much interested in seeing many of the nominated films, despite several potentially spellbinding performances.
Anyway, when it comes to voting and Oscar pools, may the best wo/man win. All I know is that this year it won’t be me. I can’t be bothered with the odds, let alone the odd choices. Uh uh. Instead, you’ll find me in a corner of the living room smothered in potato chip crumbs and slurring, just a little, on my wine.
All the odds are,
They’re in my favour,
Something’s bound to begin...
It’s gonna happen,
Happen sometime,
Maybe this time...maybe this time...I’ll win!
Kander and Ebb
