More 2014 Oscar Nominees: Nebraska, Blue Jasmine, The Hunt

1/25/14 Nebraska, nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography 2013

In Nebraska, like August: Osage County, family relationships, especially the parent and child relationship is at the center of the story; the landscape and countryside are also characters in the story. Woody Grant (Bruce Dern) is the somewhat addled, alcoholic/drunk patriarch who believes that he was won a million dollars and wants go from Billings, Montana, to Lincoln, Nebraska, to claim his prize. Since he can't drive, he tries at various times to walk, although the highway patrol and his wife, Kate (June Squibb) and kids, David and Ross (Will Forte and Bob Odenkirk) are not exactly supportive of this Quixotic adventure. Eventually, David decides this might be a good chance to spend some quality time with his dad, and against Kate's wishes, they head off on a road trip. Woody is somewhat of a curmudgeon and resents the loss of his freedom as well as his family denying his opportunity to claim his prize. Woody suffers some misadventures during the trip (including losing his dentures along the train tracks, which is a very funny scene). David and Woody take a detour back to Woody and Kate's hometown of Hawthorne, and Kate and Ross come down for an impromptu family reunion. That visit raises the ghosts that Woody and Kate long since left behind, including Woody's family, of whom Kate does not think very highly; Woody's old business partner, Ed Pegram, played by Stacey Keach; and Woody tells them all that he is on his way to collect a million dollars. None of this is done with any bravado or bragging, just a plain fact (which is Woody's style for everything). There is a great scene where David and Ross believe they are reclaiming an air compressor that Woody lent to Ed Pegram over 30 years ago; I thought that was pure comedic genius and timing. Of course, at some point, Woody has to accept that he has not won the million dollars, but you will have to see that and the other familial exchanges for yourself. In August: Osage County it's the mother-daughter relationship that gets focus and in Nebraska it's the father-son relationship and it's an interesting contrast - August: Osage County has yelling, a lot of dialogue and 'explosive' interactions (hot if you will, like Oklahoma in the summer); Nebraska is quieter, with Woody being very frugal in his words and his actions, while David and his other family members doing most of the talking, but still restrained in most of their actions and interactions (cool like autumn or winter in Wyoming or Nebraska). Bruce Dern is great as Woody, almost stereotypically stoic like his fictional Swedish ancestors. Dern is in a pool of great actors for the Best Actor Oscar, including Chiwetel Ejiofor, Matthew McConaughey and Leonardo DiCaprio, so I think it's going to be close. June Squibb was achingly familiar to the women sitting next to me (don't get me wrong, I could have done without their chatter, but it was interesting to hear the parallels in their own lives with the Grants; I think this is probably true for many of my Minnesotan/Wisconsin/Dakotan friends); Kate was feisty, cantankerous, resentful and yet very protective of Woody (I guess it's one of those, I can be angry and resentful at my husband, but you cannot moments). June Squibb had some great lines, and she has a speech where she just goes off on her in-laws and I wanted to applaud; so she not only had great lines, but delivered them convincingly. She's nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category, and that one, I think is locked up by Lupita Nyong'o. Alexander Payne directed Nebraska and he chose to film Nebraska in black and white and I think it fits the film perfectly. There is something that will resonate with everyone, especially the parent-child arc, but as I said, I think there is something that is very uniquely Midwestern to the story that struck a chord for this transplanted Minnesotan. Nebraska has a bittersweet quality that is tempered by the humor. You should totally see this movie (big screen is great, but I think you'd okay if you have to wait for DVD).

1/25/14 Blue Jasmine, nominated for Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Screenplay, 2013

I think my next project may be to watch all of Woody Allen's films and do my analysis and categorization of them because he does seem to have certain themes for his movies; this isn't scientific but to me a movie like Bullets Over Broadway is a more obvious comedy, but something like Blue Jasmine or Cassandra's Dream or Matchpoint have almost a Greek tragedy component (Blue Jasmine is probably more comedy than the other two just mentioned); the protagonist 'gets' what is coming to them. Jasmine (Cate Blanchett nominated as Best Actress) is the ex-wife of Hal, a Bernie Madoff-type character, played by Alec Baldwin, who has lost every trace of her posh lifestyle, except the feeling that she should still have all of those luxuries. This narcissistic trait grates on her sister, Ginger (Sally Hawkins nominated for Best Supporting Actress), who lost a great deal of money by trusting it to Hal, and has always struggled. Blanchett plays Jasmine with no sense of irony or humor, which makes it funny to watch her cluelessness among her friends and family, and total strangers. Poor Ginger has her own problems, including divorcing her husband, played surprisingly well by Andrew Dice Clay, and then relationship problems with her new boyfriend, Chili, oh, and her sister won't move out. Hawkins is good and can definitely hold her own with Blanchett (to see Hawkins in a starring role check out Happy-Go-Lucky). Woody Allen has written over 70 movies and I think he still has something to say; I like his movies like Blue Jasmine more than Midnight in Paris, that could have been because of Owen Wilson (not a fan) or the story with the ups and downs in Jasmine's life.

1/26/13 The Hunt, nominated for Best Foreign Film, 2013

Oh, this one will grab you and not let go until it's over. The film database I keep in my head is failing me in terms of other similar films but I know they are there. Anyway, The Hunt stars Mads Mikkelsen who was also in Denmark's entry last year, A Royal Affair, as Lucas, an aid at the local kindergarten. The young daughter of his best friend accuses Lucas of behaving inappropriately with her after he upsets her. The little girl who is perhaps six has no idea of what her statement means in the grown-up world and the firestorm she is about to set off in her village. I don't know if it's fair to say that if this happened in Copenhagen or another large European city it would have been handled differently, but in a small village where everyone knows everyone else, it creates a maelstrom that Lucas cannot escape, even though he knows he didn't do anything wrong. And I think that may be part of what makes the movie so tense and suspenseful is that as the viewer you know that Lucas didn't do anything and all you can do is watch the events unfold, hoping that everyone in the village is as insightful as you are. Unfortunately, that isn't the case, and most of his friends distance themselves. In the midst of this, Lucas reconnects with his teenage son, Marcus, who has had to spend most of his time with Lucas's ex-wife. Marcus stands by his father's side and they build a strong bond. The ending is worthy of Hitchcock (man, I hope I'm referencing the right filmmaker) and it caught me by surprise. I'm not going to lie, it was hard to watch the witch hunt, and it's amazing at how fast everyone turned on Lucas. But it is a great performance by Mikkelsen (who should have been nominated for his performance even if it would have added to an already crowded field). One other thing - apparently they don't wear blaze orange in Denmark when hunting.

1/26/13 Frances Ha, not nominated, 2013

Ok, I just watched this because Greta Gerwig was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress for Frances Ha and I wanted to see if she should have been nominated for an Oscar. And...no. I haven't had a painful movie in a while, so maybe I was due, but man alive I hated this movie. What a bunch of nothing; I don't mind slices of life without any clear end in mind, but this seemed ridiculous. I didn't even think it was very funny and the acting was amateurish at best; I think the point was to make it seem like the conversation and action was natural and improvised, but it just wasn't very good. I think people get 'ground-breaking' and 'pretentious' mixed up and I think that's the case here. Where I think Nebraska and August: Osage County can apply to a cross-section of movie-goers and almost anyone can say 'oh my gosh that happened to me', I don't think that is true here; I think it pertains to a small segment of the population, and if their lives are as meaningless as those in the film, who wants to see that. Rant over.