Hooray for Hollywood!t

Back in the day, I went to the movies fairly often. I was never a super-fan, never much of a cinéaste, but I've always enjoyed going to the movies. I just don't go all that much. 

Especially now.

First there was the video store. If you weren't the type who needed to see a blockbuster the day it was released, picking up a couple of VHS tapes on Friday of recent movies would set you up for the weekend. (Seeing a movie when it's just released has never been my thing. The only movie I ever saw on Day One was Darby O'Gill and the Litle People. That was in 1959, when my sister Kath and I, along with some friends, put on dresses and our Sunday shoes - because you wouldn't go down city (Worcester for downtown) in shorts and sneakers - and took the bus down city and queued up with hundreds of other kids to get our tickets.)

And then there was Netflix. And then there was streaming.

I now can go years without actually setting foot in a movie theater. 

And I don't watch all that many movies on TV, either. If I'm in the TV mood, I'm just as apt watch news, or baseball, or HG-TV, or whatever's on PBS, or an HBO or other series. Sometimes I'll watch a movie. Sometimes I'll even pay $5.99 for the pleasure. But movies are just not that much of a thing for me.

Until  few weeks ago.

Although I rarely watch the Oscar's - I think I've seen it in its entirety once or twice - when February rolled around, I decided to check out a couple of the films nominated for Best Picture.

I started with The Holdovers. I like Paul Giamatti and knew that it had been filmed in Massachusetts. It was free, so why not? I much enjoyed it. They really got the look and feel of the early 1970's down, and - bonus! - the skating scene was filmed at the rink behind Worcester's City Hall. That rink didn't exist in 1971, but it was fun to see it made famous. And Giamatti did a good job as the sad-sack prep school teacher. So did Da'Vine Joy Randoldph (Mary, the school cook) and newcomer Dominic Sessa (as Angus, the kid who was left behind) in their roles.

I guess that whetted my Oscar nominee appetite. Past Lives - which I'd never heard of - was also free. Why not? I found it pleasant enough (sweet and vaguely interesting) - with some great NYC scenes - but was just as glad it was free. 

As was Oppenheimer, which I loved. I also loved Cillian Murphy in it, which surprised me. I only knew him from Peaky Blinders, And I found it and him creepy. But I'm now a member of Team Cillian, having promoted him from creep to heartthrob. 

Maestro was a tough one. I wanted to like it, and I quasi did, but I really couldn't get past Felicia's accent and, to lesser degree, Lenny Bernstein's. Did anyone other than Katherine Hepburn ever talk like this in real life? That flute-y, Wasp-y elite accent? Admittedly, I didn't grow up around flute-y, Wasp-y East Coast elites, but I've spent my entire life in New England, and have met plenty of Wasp-y East Coast elites over the years, and no one talks like this. (No one talks like the Kennedys, either.)

I was ready for a break, so final gave in and watched (for free) Barbie. I thought it was adorbs, and loved every moment of it, especially the sets and outfits. I've never been much of a Ryan Gosling fan. I find him way too slight. But he was made to play Ken. This was just a fun one. 

My freebie luck ran out, and I had to pay $5.99 to watch Anatomy of a Fall. Worth every penny. German actress Sandra Hüller was brilliant as the writer who may or may not have pushed her writer manqué husband to his death. And it was interesting to see the court scenes. If it was an accurate depiction of the French judicial system, I hope I never get in trouble with the law en France. 

Zone of Interest wasn't streaming yet - at least not where I could see it - so I got myself over to an actual movie theater to watch it. (Other than two rerun films I saw at the funky Stella Theater in Dublin when my niece Molly was studying there, I think the only movie I've seen in a theater since covid was Banshees of Inisherin.) I found Zone gripping and terrifying. Talk about the banality of evil. And once again, Sandra Hüller,who played the wife of Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss, was brilliant. 

I saw Zone on Sunday. On Monday, I was back at the (same) theater to watch American Fiction. This is the movie that the word "mordant" was made for. Very sharp, very biting, very funny, very touching, very true. Leslie Uggans had a supporting role as the materfamilias slipping into dementia. (She's still beautiful.) I was a bit weirded out that I was the only person watching this film. But most folks aren't hanging around doing nothing at 1:30 in the afternoon on a workday/schoolday.

I don't believe I've ever been to the movies two days in a row, let alone three, but here I was on Tuesday, checking off my ninth Academy Awards nominee: Poor Things. Capsule review: WEIRD AF. I could watch Emma Stone in anything, even with black hair that doesn't quite match up. I've never liked Mark Ruffalo, and this didn't change my mind. Overall, interesting but way too much phantasmagoria to my liking. That said, I liked the sets.

This left Killers of the Flower Moon, and the only way to see it was to pay the big bucks to play it on Xfinity. But by this point, I'd seen all the other nominees, so why the $19.99 hell not? As the reviews have pretty much all said, it is long. Way long. Luckily, my sister Kath called while I was watching and I didn't bother to put it on pause and our 40 minute convo broke it up quite nicely. I don't feel like a missed a thing. I've been a Scorsese and DeNiro fan since Mean Streets, which was 50 years ago, and what I saw was fine - interesting and beautifully made.

Having seen all of the nominated movies, my Oscar goes to Oppenheimer. Best Actor? I've seen all he perfomances other than Colman Domingo (Rustin). My vote goes to my new bae, Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer), with Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction) as my first runner up. I didn't see Annette Bening, who I always like (Nyad), but saw the rest, and Best Actress goes to Sandra Hüller (Anatomy of a Fall). Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon) is my second choice.)

I saw all the Best Supporting Actor performances. Go, old bae Robert Deniro (Killers of the Flower Moon). But I'm happy if anyone other than Mark Ruffalo wins. Since I haven't seen Nyad, I missed Jodie Foster for Best Supporting Actress. I'm sure she was fine. And I missed Danielle Brooks (Color Purple). I'm not familiar with her, but ditto on the fine. I vote for Da'Vine Joy Randolph (Holdovers). 

Will I watch the Academy Awards? Probably not. But come Monday morning, I'll be checking to see how I did.

Meanwhile, I feel that seeing ten first run movies during the month of February was quite an accomplishment.

Hooray for Hollywood!