Smack-down: Best Picture, 1995

Sunday (tomorrow) The Final Oscar is hosting one of its "Smackdown" contests, where an invited group of bloggers re-think The Academy's final selection of what it considers the "Best Picture" for a specific year. Just as it's "an honor just to be nominated," for me, it's an honor to be asked to participate. Thanks to Malcolm for asking. The winner that year was "Braveheart"—a good pick, really—but we'll see what happens when all the votes are tallied and Malc' does his "Price/Waterhouse" on it.

Here's what I wrote for "Smackdown: 2008 Best Picture" (which Malcolm will mercifully edit, as I do go on a bit!). It was a very good year.

The Nominees:

Apollo 13 (Ron Howard) A labor of love for director Howard and star Tom Hanks—both space-junkies, who looked to the Apollo program as an Ultimate Adventure and the astronauts as gods. After a previous television movie about the "Moon-shot That Wasn't" ginned up a melodrama in the NASA control-room, complete with heart-attack (fictional), Howard, producer Brian Grazer and Hanks determined to tell the dramatic-enough story of the astronauts and NASA personnel, who found their carefully-planned third Moon-landing Mission becoming an improvised rescue operation to save the three astronauts (Hanks, Bill Paxton, and last-minute replacement for Gary Sinise, Kevin Bacon), who, through a dramatic explosion on board, found themselves running out of power and oxygen half-way to the Moon.

That story is known, but what the production excels at is showing the travails that any flight in space contains—the violent buffeting of launch, the creepy stress noises the capsules make even in the best of times, the difficulty of navigating in space during a propellant burn (complicated by having to fly backwards, and track stars amidst a stream of ice crystals). These are details left out of the history books and make the trips look far more hair-raising than the cool demeanor of the astronauts show. And even though the outcome of the mission is known, Howard manages to make it a nail-biting experience. An all-star cast (including Ed Harris as Mission Controller Eugene Krantz) does a superb job of displaying grace and determination under pressure, while the film also makes plain, in its quieter moments, the daunting isolation and lonely vastness of space—even in the astral neighborhood. As far as space movies go, it truly is "its finest hour."

5 stars


Babe (Chris Noonan) Charming "Awww"-inspiring story about a pig, who through a defiance of his own herd-instinct, and the assistance of his co-conspirators in the barnyard, saves his bacon by providing a function other than consumption and strives to become a working animal—by learning to herd. A technological marvel, the film boasts live-animal performances merged seamlessly with animatronics and CGI enhancement to give the audience the animal perspective on their insular societies.

Far more sophisticated than a simple "talking animals" movie, Babe gives its creatures distinctive functions and personalities invisible to the human farmers (James Cromwell and Magda Szubanski), who see them as mere workers or food. It's a more humanistic (if I can use the speciest term) and apolitical version of "Animal Farm." As a film, it runs contrary to formula by providing a climax done in quiet silence and comically distant long-shots. It is a "family film" that does not limit itself to the family of Man. "That'll do, pig."

5 stars


Braveheart (Mel Gibson) Gibson's second directorial outing and first true Epic about 14th century Scotch freedom fighter William Wallace, who defied the English king (Edward Longshanks, played by Patrick McGoohan), over their policies invading Scottish freedoms and, indeed, dignity. Braveheart is a gritty, stirring story given to hyper-theatrics and a kinetic presentation style during the bloody battle scenes that has been emulated (but rarely matched) by every subsequent historic sword-and-sandal film.

It provides a great starring role for Gibson that neatly ties in with his martyr screen persona (whether he is "Mad" Max or Detective Riggs), and his final fate—publicly drawn and quartered (which may be a screen first)—is discretely accomplished inches off-screen. The film boasts other great performances by Brendan Gleeson, Brian Cox, McGoohan, Angus MacFadyen and Sophie Marceau. It may be out of place to mention it in an article that includes a talking pig movie, but The Times declared "Braveheart" second in it's "10 Most Historically Inaccurate Movies" (for instance, the "primae noctis" decree that is made so much of wasn't used, if it even existed). Gibson defends the credibility gaps, saying they made more "cinematically compelling." Can't argue with that.

5 stars


Il Postino (Michael Radford) Remake of "Ardienta Paciencia," (which was made in 1985 by the book's author), the screenplay for "Il Postino" boasts five authors, including the star Missimo Troisi, who postponed heart surgery to make the film, only to die of a heart attack the day after filming wrapped.

A sunny, affectionate film—reminiscent of "Cyrano de Bergerac"—it tells the tale of the upheaval the Italian island of Salina experiences when the poet Pablo Neruda (Phillipe Noiret) temporarily settle there, a political exile. Because his notoriety overwhelms the little island post-office with fan-mail, the sickly son of a fisherman, Mario, is hired to bicycle Neruda's mail to him. The two develop a bond through Neruda's poetry, and Mario's appreciation for verse enables him to win the affections of the waitress he secretly longs for.

Very popular at the time, Il Postino has faded from memory somewhat, its influence in the culture less than the other nominees, although it garnered five Oscar nominations—Picture, Director, Actor, Adapted Screenplay—winning the Award for score (As the Academy appears to be tone-deaf, they can be counted on to vote for the composer with the most exotic name). A pleasant-enough film experience, its presence on the "Best Picture" nominations is a bit inexplicable.

4 Stars


Sense and Sensibility (Ang Lee) Adaptation of the Jane Austen novel that manages to take the English classic and blow it free of mold and dust. Credit must go to an extraordinary adaptation by star Emma Thompson, who manages to embody the wit in the story that most everyone seems to have forgotten. The almost hysterical imperative to marry informs and dominates the lives of the three girls in the Dashwood family, and the circumstances and complications that surround their interactions with potential suitors runs the gamut of emotions, all presented by an impeccable cast of actors, who would dominate cinema for the next decade. That it is the first English-language film of Chinese director Ang Lee makes it astonishing, but it really shouldn't be—the lives of the Dashwoods are as foreign to modern audiences as they were to Lee. But everyone understands love and heart-break. And Lee's first big-budget film benefits from his keen eye for detail and landscape—not only of the rural English countryside, but also of the human heart.

Any film that can take its source material and improve it while showing proper respect for that source is one that all films should aspire to. To make it "cinematically compelling" in that transition makes it the best a film can be.

5 Stars - Winner

Generally, the 1995 Best Picture list is a good crop of films that have had staying power, and, frankly, it's a bit tough to choose between the Apples and Oranges to determine which is the Best Film between them. The one that's a bit of a stretch is "Il Postino," but you can attribute that to the "Miramax effect" of aggressive Oscar campaigning. (Here's a list of the films that could have been nominated: Before Sunrise, The Bridges of Madison County, The City of Lost Children, Clockers, Dead Man Walking, Get Shorty, Heat, Leaving Las Vegas, A Little Princess, Twelve Monkeys, Toy Story, and The Usual Suspects—you be the judge). But for me, of the five, Sense and Sensibility is the winner this time. A "woman's picture" butch enough to have the sense and sensibility to question the romantic tropes, and even the sanity, of its flawed but all-too-human soldiers of love, Ang Lee and Emma Thompson's film is one of those costume dramas more concerned with the people inside the costumes trapped inside their times and mores. They are not extraordinary people. They are all too ordinary and completely relatable in their gifts and flaws. And the gentle way that the film-makers communicate the absurdities of the romantic rondelets while giving them the participants the respect they are due sets it apart from the other films in the list.

Of the nominees, I own two on DVD, Babe and Sense and Sensibility.

Boys Don't Cry

Boys Don't Cry, (Peirce, 1999) Teena Brandon is trouble in trouble and so is Brandon Teena. From what we can piece together about her life growing up as a girl with a sexual identity crisis and what we see on-screen of his brief time living out his dream to be accepted as a man, there are elements of character that cannot be escaped or maybe do not change, whichever gender we are. Boys Don't Cry is a tragedy.

Whether we know the real story or not, the farther you travel into the movie, the more certain you are that there is never going to be an escape. Brandon (Hilary Swank) cannot escape the prison of his body, Lana (Chloe Sevigny) cannot escape the confines of Falls City, the small mining town to which Brandon flees the 'big city' of Lincoln, Nebraska. John (Peter Saarsgard) cannot escape his sociopathic rage when his world is threatened by the arrival of Brandon.

Peirce often shows us the bare, flat Nebraskan landscape as cars race by, their headlights merging into a solid line of motion. Is it a contrast to the lives of these people who aren't going anywhere - even when they talk of Graceland and Memphis and Tennessee? Instead, they drink to get out of their heads as they lie to themselves trying to make their world a better place. Which it never is.

It's a sad and at times brutal movie that is moving without trying to be too profound about its subject matter. It is almost a love story. Almost.





Boys Don't Cry is available on DVD from 20th Century Fox.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (aka Le Scaphandre et le Papillon)

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Schnabel, 2007) So what do you expect from a movie based on the story of a man so disabled that he could only communicate by blinking an eye, and who manages to write a book about his experience as a sufferer of 'locked-in syndrome'? You would probably expect to be moved, to feel both pity and admiration for the subject of the movie and to learn of the frustration that you anticipate he must feel. Welcome to The Diving Bell and the Butterfly: unsentimental, funny and often brutally honest.

Dr. Lepage: We want you to take it easy for a few days.
Jean-Dominique Bauby: What do you think I'm doing now?

The beginning of the movie is a stunning tour-de-force, especially Janusz Kaminksi's use of point-of-view camera work, taking us inside what Schnabel imagines it must be like to awake from a coma to find your mind is fully functioning but your body isn't. We see and hear what Jean-Dominique Bauby (Mathieu Almaric) is experiencing as he struggles to understand what has happened to him.

Jean-Dominique Bauby: I decided to stop pitying myself. Other than my eye, two things aren't paralyzed, my imagination and my memory.

We watch his tortuous escape from the diving bell of his isolation through the patient work of his speech therapist, Henriette Durand (Marie-Josée Croze) his physical therapist, Maria Lopez (Olatz López Garmendia aka Mrs Schnabel) and finally publisher's assistant Claude (Anne Consigny), as he finally frees his imagination to take flight as a butterfly.

Papinou Bauby: "Having a mistress is no excuse for leaving the mother of your children; the world has lost its values."

Because it is evident from his memories and what we can piece together about him that he was a social butterfly - a man devoted to a selfish life for which he is never apologetic. He abandoned the mother of his children, and even when she returns to care for him, he does not treat her any differently just because he is now utterly dependent. Yet, we also see the positive in him not least in the tender relationship he has with his father (played by Max von Sydow) and with his three children. The movie is equally uncompromising with those that seek to help Bauby. We see the doctors as compassionate but clinical just as we see some of his carers as well-meaning but bumbling.

It would have been easy for Schnabel to have succumbed to a more clichéd film of the indomitable rise of the human spirit. Instead he shows us a more nuanced and balanced portrait that recognizes both strengths and weaknesses.

Elizabeth - The Golden Age

"I am your Queen - I am myself". There is so much we know about Queen Elizabeth I and so much we don't. We know more about what she did than why she did things. We know more about her role as monarch and less about her as a person. Not that this is so surprising - even taking away the distance of time, that is pretty much true of anyone we think we know. The tension between the public face and the private persona.

In Elizabeth - The Golden Age (I guess they realized they couldn't call it Elizabeth II), there was plenty of scope to explore this tension. Elizabeth is monarch of a divided country. She is the Virgin Queen, admired, we are told in the history books for her devotion to her country but under pressure too to marry, not just to produce an heir but also to make an alliance that will help protect England from its adversaries. This is the time of the Spanish Armada, a time when England was under threat from the most powerful country in Europe, when England was isolated and under the threat of invasion. Much like it would be 250 years later and again 400 years later. A time of conflict between two versions of the same religious faith with one determined to destroy the apostates because they have God on their side. Within the country, there are many who would support her overthrow. Well, you get the picture - there are plenty of themes here that would resonate with a modern audience.

But this Elizabeth is Good Queen Bess - Bette-Davis style. Though we see a little of her crisis of conscience over the death sentence for Mary Stuart, we see far more swash-buckling CGI as the filmmaker rewrites history for the convenience of the movie pitching Sir Walter Raleigh into the heat of the battle like an earlier Captain Jack Sparrow even though he actually spent the entire time firmly on dry land. Such distortions are to be expected and don't really interfere with the purpose of such a movie (this is not a History Channel documentary after all) but they are also symptomatic of why this movie was so disappointing.

It is as glossy and vibrant as its predecessor though it is a little disconcerting to see how clean this Elizabethan Age was. It was almost bearable to have the characters speak a strange mixture of modern English with a few archaisms thrown in for effect but in the end the movie was too over-blown and empty.


Where there could have been interesting contrasts between her public face and her private needs, between her sense of duty and her need for control, the movie sets up situation after situation and then shies away from them, preferring instead to go to the next great wide shot. Clive Owen starts out playing the foil to Elizabeth - theirs is not only a sexual but also an intellectual game they are playing with each other and he is willing to take great risks not just to advance his plans to open up the New World but also to entertain the thought of a relationship with her. Yet, the movie just meanders. It is not just that he becomes dull as she tells him, it is the movie. He dutifully straps on his high leather boots, dons his pirate shirt and does his best Erroll Flynn impersonation. Thank goodness, Samantha Morton is there to play Mary Stuart. Geoffrey Rush seems completely wasted as Walsingham and by the end, Cate looks like she can't wait to get back to playing real people like Jude Quinn.

Mulholland Dr.

SPOILER: I had the strangest dream last night. I dreamed of people dancing the jitterbug and then I saw this cute blonde girl and she was laughing and she was happy and she was there with her mother and father and they were old. There was this black limo snaking up Mulholland Drive and in the back seat there was this other beautiful woman. She must have been a movie star and then the car stops but the woman says that its wrong and then the driver says no its OK its a surprise and there's another guy in the front who gets out and goes to the back door and the girl looks scared and then there were these kids joyriding down the hill and one of the cars crashes into the limousine and everyone was dead except the beautiful woman. She starts walking down the hill toward the city lights and she gets to Sunset Boulevard but she gets scared by a drunken couple walking down the street so she hides in the front yard of one of the houses but she is hurt and she needs to go to sleep. The cops come to investigate the accident on the hill and they realize that there was someone in the limo that is not there now and they talk just like in the cop movies in the 60's. In the morning she wakes up and she is asleep outside one of those apartment complexes you get in LA with a central courtyard. An older woman is walking out to a cab carrying a small case. The driver is struggling with a much larger case which he puts in the back of the cab and then the woman goes back for some more stuff. It looks like she's going away somewhere. The young woman just watches for a while until the older woman gets in the cab. Then she runs into the apartment complex. I don't think the older woman sees her even though she looks in her direction. The older woman goes back to check everything is switched off in her apartment and to pick up her keys and the young woman is hiding under the table but the older woman doesn't see her. Then the blonde cute girl is coming out of the airport with this older woman who looks like her mom and she looks really excited to be there like she has never been to a place like this before but when she gets outside the old woman says goodbye and so does her husband and they are not her mom and dad but just two people she met on the plane and then she thinks that someone has stolen her suitcases but the cab driver has just put them in the back of his car for her and it is like everyone is talking like in the movies in the 1930's and then the blonde girl arrives at the apartment complex and she meets the manager who looks like she was in the movies in the 1930's and talks like it too and she is staying at her aunt's apartment and it is the same apartment but she doesn't know that and she is very excited and looks around the apartment but then she finds the black haired woman's dress and then she finds the black haired woman in the shower and she doesn't understand and she thinks the woman is a friend of her aunt and she feels embarrassed but the black haired woman has lost her memory in the car crash and doesn't know who she is but she says her name is Rita because she sees the name on a movie poster in the bathroom but later the blonde finds out she is not a friend of her aunt's but she feels sorry for Rita because she was hurt and there's this diner with a man and his analyst and the man had a dream about the diner and that's why he wants to be in the diner with his analyst and in the dream the man sees a scary man out back of the diner only he sees him through the wall and the analyst wants him to go out back so they do and there is a scary man and the patient collapses and then there is this film director and he is in a meeting with these scary guys who work for an old man in a wheelchair and there is a problem with the espresso and there is a problem with the movie because the scary guys want the director to put this girl in as the lead but the director doesn't want to and he goes outside and he trashes the scary guys limo and then he goes home and finds his wife in bed with the pool guy and he gets mad and pours pink paint over her jewelry but the pool guy throws him out and the dialog is really bad again and then he finds out he has no money and he goes to hide out in a sleazy hotel but the manager throws him out so he has to meet the cowboy who looks like Tom Mix and the cowboy tells him he has to choose the right girl and then everything will be alright. The blonde girl tries to help the beautiful woman remember who she is but all she has in her purse is about a million dollars in cash and a strange-looking key but then she remembers a name and then they make out or that might be later and then they go to find the apartment of the woman but it is the wrong apartment because this woman Diane has swapped apartments with another woman but the blonde girl breaks in and they find a dead body but before that the blonde girl goes to an audition for a movie and she is wonderful and this agent wants to introduce her to the film director who is making a movie about the 50's. There is these two young guys talking in an office about a car accident and it might be the same accident and then one guy shoots the other because he wants this black book but he accidentally shoots through the wall and hits this woman so he has to kill her too but while he is trying to get her into the office he sees a cleaner so he has to kill him too but when he shoots at the vacuum cleaner then the alarm goes off but he escapes out of the window and then the blonde and Rita go to a magic show and then I woke up. But when I went back to sleep, I started having the dream again except this time it was different because the blonde girl wasn't Betty anymore, she was Diane and she was the one living in the apartment and Rita wasn't Rita but she was Camilla and she was a big star and she was making a movie with the film director and Diane was in love with her but she was not in love with Diane anymore and Diane got mad and she paid the hit guy to kill Camilla and there was a bunch of other stuff but none of it made much sense and then the dream was over.

So I thought it would be a great idea for a movie even if it didn't make a whole lot of sense and maybe they could get one of those directors like Cronenburg or Tarantino or the Coen Brothers or David Lynch to make it with some older actors who could remember what it was like to talk like they did in the old movies and maybe some new young actors who hadn't made it in Hollywood yet just like it happens in the movie and then maybe everyone would be intrigued by it and they wouldn't really understand it but that would be all right because they would say that you don't need to understand it because it is art and he always makes movies like this and it is like the emperors new clothes with these guys because they are so clever and they know everything about the movies so they can play with the conventions even if it looks like they don't know what they are doing and maybe it might even get nominated for an Oscar.