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Published: 2007
Category: Beyond Classification
A few months ago, Hollywood decided I'm an Academy voter --- or that my opinion matters --- because I started getting DVDs of 2006 movies “for your consideration.”
And yet I've said nothing here about them.
Why?
Babel: I haven't watched it. As far as I can tell, it's “Crash” all over again --- no sooner do you meet a character and start to know his/her story, you're jerked somewhere else. To me, multiple plots aren't a signal that “we're all connected” or some such blither --- they're the tipoff the movie has no center.
The Departed: Another I haven't watched. Why? I know this is bravura filmmaking, but great style's only half of a great movie. A film also has to say something. In the middle of an ugly war, Martin Scorsese --- “our greatest American director” --- chose to make a movie about violence without a clear message about violence. My view: If you follow the news, you've had your full quota of nastiness. I expect better from Scorsese.
Letters from Iwo Jima: The one DVD that didn't arrive. I might have loved it. But seeing it would have meant a babysitter, and I'm feeling tight this winter.
Little Miss Sunshine: I wrote about this film when it first came out. Loved it then, love it now. (Among other reasons: It's one of the few recent movies in which money is an issue. In most films, the characters are comfortable without apparent work --- or even intelligence. And I sit there, thinking about bills and feeling dumb.) Saw it again a few weeks ago; without the surprises, it's a different film. And, I'm happy to report, an even better one.
The Queen: Okay, so I have such a wicked crush on Helen Mirren that I'm hot for her even when she's in dowdy tweeds and a Barbour jacket. But beyond my crush, this film entertained. And moved me. For I saw a message here that applies to politics well beyond Diana's death --- a woman who is rooted in the past processes new information and changes her mind. (Gee, who doesn't that remind you of?) And the film's Tony Blair is so much better than the real one....
But that's not to say the five films nominated for Best Picture are the year's five best movies. I thought Pedro Almodovar's “Volver” and Deep Metha's Water were head and shoulders above anything I saw last year. And I had warm thoughts for “Dreamgirls,” “Children of Men,” “History Boys,” An Inconvenient Truth, “The Devil Wears Prada,” “Casino Royale” and --- sitting down? --- “Rocky Balboa.”
But wait: Is the point of a Butler to wax snide about the Official Culture? No. A thousand times no --- I'm here to point you to better. Or, at least, different. So, using the nominated films as a launch point, let's see if I can produce suggestions for other films that are just as satisfying, if not more so, than the Oscar nominees.
If you loved Little Miss Sunshine....consider the so-called dysfunctional family in Off The Map. And for a family that's seriously funny, try The Castle.
If you were touched by “Letters from Iwo Jima”.... consider two war movies with more political bite: Battle of Algiers and Bloody Sunday (by the director of “Flight 93”).
If you loved “The Departed”.....you will be dazzled by Get Carter.
If “The Queen” strikes you as a moving portrait in dignity....don't miss Mary Astor in Dodsworth.
And if the international flavor of “Babel” appeals to you....you'll be thrilled by East-West.
But enough about movies. There are bigger questions: Who will wear the best/worst dress? Make the dumbest acceptance speech? Have the guts to say something off-the-grid? And --- my favorite --- how many times will we hear the two deadliest words in the modern lexicon: “passion” and “journey”?
Answers on Monday. Maybe.