Oscars, Here We Are (Or, Were)!

So the Oscars came and went, and I never did get around to completing this post. Oh well, better late than never.

The Last King of Scotland
Forest Whitaker plays it big, which is why he got the Oscar instead of Ryan Gosling, because Oscar voters don't take well to nuance. But his performance is effective and chilling, as he switches modes with nary a thought. Never has a portrayal of a tyrant been so charming and charismatic, yet really fucking insane at the same time. In fact, next to him, the lead actor (what's his face?) seems bland, since Whitaker takes a glorified supporting role and runs with it, outperforming everyone else around him. The story around it is gripping enough, if perfunctory at times, but Whitaker's performance lifts it above and beyond the standard confines of its White Man's Guilt genre.

Dreamgirls
Everything is BIG about this movie, its running time, the performances, the overblown songs. I can't say it wasn't enjoyable, but Jennifer Hudson is so overrated. Her acting is passable, but her singing is so completely over-the-top belt-it-out-without-nuance that it really got on my nerves, especially during that never-ending And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going (in my opinion, I Am Telling You I Don't Give a Fuck), which pretty much takes a baseball bat and smacks you on the head. Repeatedly. (OK, I admit that her rendition of One Night Only was pretty damn good.) Luckily, Beyoncé saves it all somewhat by (a) looking pretty, and (b) the editing during her solo Listen which gave me goosebumps. Eddie Murphy was another nice surprise, although he wasn't good enough to win the golden guy. Watchable, though extremely overhyped.

Half Nelson
There's nothing original in the plot or themes, but again, here's a film in which the performances elevate the material beyond their staleness into something beautiful. And since this is an indie movie, there aren't any big flowery speeches as well, which is always appreciated. Ryan Gosling is simply amazing in his complete inhabitation of his character, and Shareeka Epps proves a surprisingly good counterpoint to him. Together, they make the stock characters human, which is much more than what you can say for most other movies. Was Gosling robbed? Of course. Whitaker's role in Scotland wasn't really the lead, no matter how big he played it - he was competing in the wrong category. The Best Actor should have gone to Gosling. But hey, he's young, younger than I am, and he's got a long way to go. I have no doubt he'll turn out more outstanding work in the future.

Little Children
This has to be one of my favorites of this year so far. Todd Field is an actor's director, and so the story is kept simple, but the performances are really just fucking superb. Besides this, for an actor, Field has a great eye for visual storytelling (or maybe just a really great DP), for the storytelling is one of the best I've seen. Each close up works perfectly, each cutaway and each slow motion shot is timed beautifully. Jackie Earle Haley's performance as the pedophile lends the character great sympathy, and he ends up the most tragic figure in the film, not an easy feat to achieve. The title, for which credit must be given to author Tom Perrotta, is quite easily one of the best titles ever in its sheer perfection and delicious irony. Unforgettable.

Notes on a Scandal
Judi Dench is a scary psychobitch and I mean that in a good way, she creeped me out a lot during the film, which is not that easy to do. I went into the movie without knowing anything about it besides the fact that Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett were in it, and while I can't say I was blown away, I did think it was gripping enough. However, the thing foremost on my mind was: Why didn't I have gorgeous teachers like Cate Blanchett wanting to sleep with me when I was 15? The answer: I didn't have the boy's body, nor his smoothness - the kid's a real playa, slick as hell, and he knows it. Maybe it's the perv in me, but I was rooting for them to keep on getting it on, and I would've loved to see more sex. Ha. What I hated about the film was the Philip Glass score, where he does the same shit he does for every movie - overblown, pretentious arpeggios hammering away. In some other movie it might've worked, but it's particularly jarring here, and does not belong at all.