THE OUTRAGE !!

* aka 'My annual reaction to the Academy Award nominations'

I say that every year, but aside from a handful of glaring omissions, the nominations have few surprises; they are becoming as predictable as the winners eventually turn out to be.

As befits my nom de plume, I will start with Best Foreign Film: of the record 61 submissions in this category, surely Volver from Spain was one of the five best (it is clearly one of the best foreign films I've seen this year); and it did make the short-list of nine announced a week ago (in a new twist by the Academy). Of the five that made the cut, I have only seen 'Water' from Canada, and let me say 1) it's not as good as Volver; and 2) "IT'S NOT CANADIAN!" Set in India, filmed in Sri Lanka, in Hindi, with an all-South Asian cast! I'm sure it was financed in Canada, and the director may be a Canadian citizen, but come on! If Canada wants to horn-in on this category (you don't see Britain or Australia pulling this trick!) they should stick to nominating those Quebecois films in French that get routinely ignored.

Obviously, the nominators failed to read my "Memo to the Academy" (alas) since they ignored 8 of my 10 suggestions -- Hollywoodland, Stranger Than Fiction, Running with Scissors = ZERO nominations! (Mark Wahlberg and Jackie Earle Haley for Best Supp. Actor they got right).

But at least in the Original Score category, they spared us the perennial overblown bombast from these usual suspects: Danny Elfman, James Horner, Howard Shore, and -- the king of bombast -- John Williams!! I won't even begrudge Randy Newman his annual spot in the Original Song loser's circle, because at least his songs are integrated into the story, and not tacked-on during the closing credits to gain airplay and free publicity on MTV2 (case in point: the totally inappropriate 'Blood Diamond rap' that closes that film). My early favorite for Original Score is Frenchman Alexandre Desplat, as much for his lush and tragic (and tragically-overlooked, except by the Globes) score to The Painted Veil as for his nominated The Queen.

That leads to my Big Outrage #1: Michael Sheen in The Queen was NOT nominated for Best Supporting Actor! (he played Tony Blair to a 'T' in what was likely THE best performance in a supporting role for the year!) Also, aside from Markie-Mark, how could they ignore the great ensemble work by everyone else in The Departed?

And which nominees stole their spots? I could go either way on this one: Alan Arkin has been playing that same "irascible old coot" in films for ages, but since Little Miss Sunshine is an industry darling (there's nothing like making back your investment!) I'll skewer the other popular choice: Djimon Hounsou in Blood Diamond. YES! I know, I know what you're thinking: "but he's so strong and black and handsome... he's good in everything." That's because he plays the same character in everything!! You know: the proud but angry black man standing up for his _____ (freedom, family, diamonds). That role was already perfected by Denzel Washington's Oscar-winning turn in Glory. But that was 1989, for gosh sakes! From the same director (Edward Zwick). Talk about dipping to that well too many times -- I'll bet he'd have written that stock character into The Last Samurai had black people been able to travel to China in the 1870s.

Big Outrage #2:
In the Best 'Adapted' Screenplay category appears ... Borat! Borat?
I have two questions:
1) Adapted from WHAT, exactly???
2) When are these writing groups going to get off their kick for celebrating improvisation? Love it or hate it (mark me in the latter category), improvisational comedy is by definition not written down! Where's the Screenplay? Half of the work is done either by the actors or the unwitting stooges they play off of. You might as well nominate those two South Carolina frat-boys in Borat while you're at it.

I'm so sick of comedies where you are forced to sit an WAIT while actors strain to work through their characters to get to something funny, in the hope that they will eventually make you laugh. I want to yell "Show me the finished product, AFTER you've workshopped this bit!" With all these accolades heaped on this type of 'writing,' audiences are condemned to suffer through another "For Your Consideration" by the supremely INSUFFERABLE no-talent Christopher Guest. You have been duly warned.

Golden Globe Predictions

Continuing a long Palmer Family Tradition, here is my official "Want/Think List" for Monday's Golden Globe Awards. That is, I list who I WANT to win, who I THINK will win, then I give myself a point for each THINK I get right. Like all Palmer family contests, the only prize is the satisfaction of winning!

Here's a handy print-out ballot if you would like to play along.

BUT REMEMBER: You cannot win if you fail to make a DID List !!
(Palmer Family Rule #1).
Enjoy the festivities!

RON'S WANT // THINK LIST
Picture - Drama: The Queen // Babel
Picture - Musical/Comedy: -none- // Dreamgirls
Actor - Drama: Forest Whitaker // Forest Whitaker
Actress - Drama: Penelope Cruz // Helen Mirren
Actor - M/C: Will Ferrell // Sacha Baron Cohen
Actress - M/C: Annette Bening // Meryl Streep
Supporting Actor: Mark Wahlberg // Jack Nicholson
Supporting Actress: Rinko Kikuchi // Jennifer Hudson

Director: Stephen Frears-The Queen // Clint Eastwood-Iwo Jima
Foreign Film: Volver // Letters From Iwo Jima
Animated Film: Happy Feet // Happy Feet
Screenplay: The Queen // Babel
Original Score: The Painted Veil // Babel
Original Song: -none- // "Listen"-Dreamgirls

In other words, expect to see a lot of pictures like this:

"Memo to the Academy"

(in tribute to Roger Ebert)

With today's announcement of the Screen Actors Guild nominations (see link below), now is a good time to continue the tradition started by Siskel & Ebert and spotlight the films and performances that usually get overlooked come Oscar time. In general, the SAGs did a better job than the Globes (Ryan Gosling in Half Nelson is a great example). But how can the SAGs consider Leonardo DiCaprio a supporting actor in The Departed? He clearly had more screen time than ANY other actor in the movie; plus, his nomination bumps any one of his three co-stars from a well-deserved nomination: Mark Wahlberg-Jack Nicholson-Matt Damon.

To The Academy:

First, two films that (inexplicably) are absent from most year-end lists, but would be worthy Best Picture nominees are Running With Scissors and Stranger Than Fiction. The screenplays for both films should be shoe-ins. Two Oscar-worthy performances from the first film are Annette Bening's tour de force lead (which rightly dominates the film) and Jill Clayburgh's unglamorous supporting turn as the downtrodden psychiatrist's wife and foster mother of Augusten Burroughs, who somehow holds that twisted family unit together. And I wouldn't mind seeing Will Ferrell, Emma Thompson, or Dustin Hoffman recognized for Fiction.

* The soundtrack to Robert de Niro's The Good Shepherd is impressive. Since John Williams did not deign to treat us to another of his tediously ponderous film scores this year (that I know of!), the Academy MAY seek out less heralded film scores, like this one and Terence Blanchard's exceptional work on Inside Man. (I'm not holding my breath).

My other recommendations are all supporting performances:

* From Hollywoodland, the early buzz surrounding Ben Affleck's affecting portrayal of George Reeves has died down, even though it is his best work ever. He is so good because of who he acts with: his dynamite co-star, Diane Lane, who brings such gravity to her character that you care what happens to the desperate Reeves.

* In two movies, former child star Jackie Earle Haley (the original Bad News Bears) makes his acting comeback in a big way. In All the King's Men, he plays Sean Penn's loyal driver; but he gives the bravest, most uncompromising performance of the year in Little Children.

* Finally, Michael Sheen should not be overlooked in The Queen. He doesn't attempt an impersonation of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, but, as with his co-star Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth, you never doubt for a moment that he IS Tony Blair.

13TH ANNUAL SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARDS® NOMINATIONS

Important Dates:
Monday, January 15th - Golden Globe Awards on NBC
Saturday, January 20th - Broadcast Film Critics Awards televised on E!
Tuesday, January 23rd - Academy Award nominations announced (8:35am ET)
Sunday, January 28th - SAG Awards on TNT
Sunday, February 25th - Oscar* Night!

The State of World Cinema (according to me)

PART I:
This post is prompted by a question I was asked by my brother over the holidays: "What's the deal with French cinema?" (it was more like a challenge, implying that it is in decline, that no great directors or films come from there anymore, etc. I disagree, as you will see in Part II). It is true at this writing the most provocative, talked-about foreign films and directors come from places like Mexico and East Asia (China, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan). And countries such as Iran, Turkey and South Korea have a wellspring of young, exciting directors making films that regularly appear on any discerning critic's top ten lists.

But European cinema is by no means dead. Its influence is forever diluted on the world stage, due in no small part to Hollywood's successful campaign of global market saturation and domination, but that is a worldwide plague (thanks, Jack Valenti). The perception in this country that European cinema is on life support is due to its competition at the local art house: the advent of world cinema from the above-mentioned countries, and with previously unheard-from 'national' cinemas springing up in art houses everywhere (films made in Thailand, Mongolia, Kurdistan even), foreign films from traditional European powerhouses get squeezed out. None of this is a bad thing: it just makes it harder for a film to get noticed...to gain traction in the American filmgoers' consciousness...to get talked about at the Evian vending machine. This is not to say that if another Bergman, Fellini, or Truffaut emerges, he would not get noticed; but their names are more likely to sound like del Toro, Kiarostami, or Kore-Eda.

The rise of American independent cinema (and its susequent usurpation by the major studio's new independent wings) further crowds the marketplace and dilutes the impact of a memorable, or controversial, European film. The glory days of the Sixties -- when the latest Swedish, Italian or French import was seen and talked-about by mainstream movie-goers in the larger U.S. cities -- are long-gone, never to return. [A silver lining: we won't have a repeat of a forgettable Swedish import like I Am Curious (Yellow) becoming a box office hit in 1967!! Factoid: Yellow represents the color in the Swedish flag; its less-successful sequel was logically titled I Am Curious (Blue).]

Before I counter the perception that French cinema is in a rut, let me suggest that the European country that we really need to worry about is ITALY. Oh, how the mighty have fallen! I'm not saying anything new: the death of Italian cinema has been lamented for the last decade and a half at least, the economic impact of Hollywood releases making Italy's decline more precipitous than elsewhere. If you consider Giuseppe Tornatore's Cinema Paradiso (1990) as the high-point of post-Fellini Italian cinema (I will acknowledge that is a debatable point without debating it), I can think of only a handful of Italian films and/or directors who have made a lasting impression since then.

Of all the major directors profiled in Peter Bondanella's excellent reference work, Italian Cinema (the BIBLE of Italian Cinema!) only Pupi Avati and Marco Bellocchio have regularly released Italian-language films during this period. [I am sad to say that since 1986's controversial "The Devil In The Flesh," Bellocchio's only film to gain international acclaim was 2003's "Good Morning, Night," which I missed.] Hard to believe, but Bernardo Bertolucci's last film in his native language came out in 1984, according to IMDB.

Who else can be counted on for consistent quality films?
* Nanni Moretti has made heartfelt, deeply-personal movies in the interim (but only Caro diario, from 1994, and "The Son's Room" from 2003 received widespread release).
* Il Postino (1994) starred the late, great Italian comic actor Massimo Troisi (I didn't realize the extent of his talent and charming star power until I saw him in good health in one of his light comedies, "I Thought it was Love" which he directed in 1991). Yet Il Postino was directed by a Brit, Michael Radford.
* Roberto Benigni has proved to be a one-hit wonder since 1998's Oscar-winning "Life Is Beautiful" (but what a hit! My enthusiasm for it has been tempered recently, when I discovered it is "Barbara Bush's favorite movie," according to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston). Harsh, but hilarious, criticism of his latest export, "The Tiger and the Snow" indicates that he is still relying on his same schtick.
* Tornatore has tried hard, but has never re-created the magic of Paradiso. [His latest attempt being 2000's Malena, starring the lovely Monica Bellucci.] The movie that has come the closest to recapturing that Paradiso magic was 1991's Mediterraneo (another Oscar winner), directed by Gabriele Salvatores. He eclipsed that somewhat lightweight film with a more complex and topical drama, 2003's excellent "I'm Not Scared," a harrowing tale of a young boy kidnapped for ransom, as told through the eyes of his rescuer, another young boy.
* Gianni Amelio had a run of three good films in the early Nineties (Open Doors, The Stolen Children, and Lamerica). The rising star director Gabriele Muccino followed Amelio's success in America with two well-reviewed releases: the romantic comedy "The Last Kiss" and "Remember Me, My Love," starring the lovely Monica Bellucci. His reward for these hits? Inevitably, his latest movie is an English-language, major studio release that goes by the title "The Pursuit of Happyness."

How many Italian films appear in any of my 'Best of' lists in the last five years? Only One (but it is a superb example of the potential of Italian cinema): Marco Tullio Giordana's La Meglio Gioventu ("The Best of Youth"). A six-hour epic produced for Italian television, it follows two Italian brothers, Nicola (Luigi Lo Cascio) and Matteo (Alessio Boni) Carati, growing up amid the backdrop of Italy's tumultuous history from the 1960s to the 1990s. Released in two parts in the U.S. in 2005, it is a worthy bookend to Bertolucci's 1900. I cannot wait for his next work. Combined with the three other Italian-language releases from 2003 mentioned above, they provide a shining light at the end of Italy's long dark celluloid tunnel.

End of Part I.

'Tis the Season

The rush to publish critics' annual Top Ten Movie Lists has come (and gone); except for moi, who dutifully waits until I see all the movies released in 2006 for Oscar consideration, regardless of how long it takes for them to reach a local theater. So look for my list by the end of the month to mid-February.

Here is a sampling of other critic's lists. I'll only make two preferatory comments to these and other critics:

1) Spare us the obligatory "I am so above making these lists...I'm only doing it for my editor...blah, blah, blah...." It's your JOB--get over it! And don't cop-out by listing them alphabetically, either! You've already set these ten apart from the rest, go all the way!

2) What's with this new trend of grouping multiple films into a single place, based on theme?
(See David Edelstein and Kenneth Turan, below). Are you saying the films are indistinguishable becasue their plots are similar? or are you just too lazy to make a choice? Again I say, '... get off the pot'!

KEITH PHIPPS , A.V. Club
[I begin with this obscure critic (whom I discovered chatting on SLATE*) because I find his list most closely mirrors my tastes in movies.]

* I'm not even bothering with SLATE's new critic, Dana Stevens: she hasn't paid her dues; AND she admitted to be more-concerned with RAISING HER NEWBORN than watching movies the first 4 months of 2006! ; AND she admits to watching them on DVD -- at HOME!!

KENNETH TURAN, LA TIMES

David Edelstein, New York magazine

David Ansen, Newsweek

Corliss and Schickel, Time
(they cannot make separate lists anymore??)

In Memoriam

In Memoriam

ADRIENNE SHELLY

(1966 - 2006)

She was the true 'indie princess' (sorry, Parker Posey, you Will & Grace sellout) -- in Hal Hartley's "The Unbelievable Truth" (1989) and "Trust" (1990). Her senseless murder in Greenwich Village last year (by some 19-year-old illegal punk from Ecuador) pushes me closer to the side of Lou Dobbs in the immigration debate. (But I still love the country of Ecuador and its people!)

For a tribute to this lovely human being, and a special message from the lovely Keri Russell -- the Waitress herself -- click here.

R.I.P.