Films that didn't beat the odds but should have: Leaves of Grass (2009)

I see a pattern with these posters. They're all lame. 

     

     Tim Blake Nelson wrote Leaves of Grass with Edward Norton in mind for the lead. If Norton had turned down the script, Nelson would not have pursued the project any further. That's an interesting fact to ponder when watching Nelson's hilarious, tragic, violent, and mystifying film. Not because of Norton's performance(s), which is(are) exceptional by the way, but because of the sheer ambition that fills every facet of this film. 

     Describing the plot is sort of a moot point, not because there is no plot, but because several plots are happening at the same time. I guess you could say that the film, at its most basic level, is a story about identical twins who are nothing alike. Not only are they nothing alike, but they are residing on two polar extremes of American society (Brady is a drug-dealing redneck in Oklahoma, while Bill is a Classical Philosophy professor at Brown). Norton plays both brothers with an almost supernatural confidence. Brady's accent is thick and almost indecipherable and Bill's voice has a certain quality that forces people to listen to his eloquent, brilliant thoughts. 

     So of course the estranged brothers have to meet. It has been 12 years since Bill has left town, and his mother (played by Susan Sarandon) has put herself into a rest home prematurely. 

     I won't spoil anything, so I'll just say that plot happens and before you know it the brothers are sharing the frame like a couple of Lohans. 

    A man as well-connected (he has been a character actor in nearly 50 films) as Nelson has no trouble finding excellent actors to play small parts in his film. Even Richard Dreyfuss makes an appearance as a drug baron (go figure). Nelson has made a film with the "not really twins" special effect used famously in The Social Network with a fraction of that film's budget. 

Just in case you were wondering, Tim Blake Nelson is that guy from Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?

     Not only that, but he has filled this movie to the brim with ideas. We see a lecture from Norton's Bill Kincaid that is expertly delivered and beautifully written juxtaposed with a group of guys discussing moonshine at a Waffle House; we see an orthodontist screaming for his children's "crooked teethed friends" to get braces "so the family won't fold into an empty burrito"; we see many, many brutal murders involving weapons ranging from pistols, shotguns, and crossbows. 

     The most interesting part of this film, to me, is that both brothers are brilliant. The redneck, hick brother who sells marijuana is every bit as brilliant as the Ivy League professor who can sight translate Latin. The movie does not bash the viewer's head in with the fact that these brother's are geniuses. In fact, it doesn't really say much of anything. Nelson's dialogue is so good that we don't need any exposition; the dialogue is so well-written that we just know these characters. 

      Many people compare this film to the Coen Brother's work, and I guess that comparison makes sense. Especially since Nelson appeared in one of their films. But, in a way, I feel like that's a dismissal of what Nelson is doing with this movie. This is not an actor who worked with the Coens and tried to deliver a similar package, this is a very unique and interesting voice that I'm definitely going to be looking forward to hearing for a long time. 

     It's sad that this film didn't get hardly any recognition, because it is a very satisfying and interesting experience watching this movie. 

    And just so you know, it does mention Whitman. 

Good Job, Us!

Christian Bale as Dickie Eklund in The Fighter

    
     While I'm a huge fan of Oscar predicting (and the award giving itself, if I feel it's deserved), I must admit that the whole process is sort of like, pardon my English, watching people masturbate. Woody Allen said it best in Annie Hall when he said that people in Los Angeles don't do anything but sit around and hand out awards. "World's Greatest Dictator: Adolf Hitler," he quips before he turns his car into a bumper cart.
     Well, as you could have guessed, the Oscar nominations have come out today and the arguments began, absolutely immediately, about who was snubbed and who was falsely rewarded the "nom" as people who call themselves "insiders" like to say. All of this is very interesting for about ten seconds. That is, the amount of time it takes for the brain to realize that it is watching the world's most expensive senior superlatives section of the school yearbook. Does it not feel to anybody else like we're watching an employee of the month awarding ceremony?
     The problem about this feeling I have in my gut is that it is coupled with another feeling. Perhaps an ever truer feeling that pulls me, paradoxically, into the depths. I love the Oscars. It is like the Superbowl, and I love both of the teams. I love the spectacle, the nominations, the speeches, the long, boring montages, and the arbitrarily stuffy atmosphere of it all.
     I know that it is absurd, but I love it.
    
      With that said, I'm going to ask you guys how you feel about the nominations. Personally, I'm pretty satisfied with what has been acknowledged. I have yet to see Winter's Bone and The Kids Are All Right, but I have heard that those films are great and good respectively.

"Really? Not even editing?" Joseph Gordon-Levitt said.

  
  The Shockers

• Whaaaa? Inception gets no editing nomination? 
• Say what you will about the plot, characters, narrative, or ideology of Christopher Nolan's giant budget sci-fi mindbender, but I think we can all agree that the dream-within-a-dream-within-a-dream-within-a-dream conceit worked mighty well given the convoluted script behind it. This film was well-paced and never confusing, which is a huge feat for a film that is, at times, absurdly complicated. If any award is to be handed over to this movie, it should be editing. So of course we get a nomination for The King's Speech in that category. Speaking of which--
• King's Speech gets more nominations than any other film with 12. 
• Alright, I guess that sort of debunks the whole Social Network thing we had going there. Don't get me wrong, I thought The King's Speech was an absolutely charming movie, but it seems strange that the academy, after nominating so many young names would choose to go for a more contemporary film. No, they're going with the stiff upper lip British drama based on a true story. Way to be predictable, Academy, sheesh. 
• True Grit's Hailee Steinfeld nominated for supporting actress. 
• Not really a shocker, as we all expected her in this category, but it still makes me mad. She is clearly the protagonist of that film. She is in every scene and guides the entire picture. However, she is young, not very famous, and has to make room for Anette Benning. If Natalie Portman had played the same role, with the same amount of screen time, it would have been best actress. No question. Oh well, as is life. 

Any excuse will do if it means I can use this image

Pleasant Surprises

• Amy Adams and Melissa Leo get nods for The Fighter. 
• I really did not see both women getting nominated. Melissa Leo's performance is, I think, the more note-worthy of the bunch. There is a scene between Christian Bale and Melissa Leo in that film that involves window-jumping, car singing, and lots of crying that should win an award all in itself. But hey, if the academy wants to give my favorite movie of the year some credit, go right ahead. 
• True Grit gets 10 nominations after receiving zero recognition from the Golden Globes
• This shocker is a pleasant one, much like the Amy Adams surprise. I feel, strangely enough, like I am sometimes the lone defender of the Coen's new film. It's an adaptation of a novel that spawned a famous John Wayne film. It's a tough sell, especially for the image savvy audience they have built for themselves over the past couple of decades. But that film truly deserves the honor of everything it gets. 
• David O. Russell receives best director nod over Danny Boyle
• For the past month it has been a close race between Boyle and Russell for that final spot in the directing shortlist. As a fan of both directors, I was rooting for both men, but as you all know, The Fighter holds a very special place in my heart. I'm glad that Russell got his directing nod, but I bet Lily Tomlin is playing a different tune...

What do you guys think about the nominations? Pleasant surprises? Shockers? Lets talk.