All About Eve

"Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night!"--Margo Channing (All About Eve, 1950)

I didn't know what to expect from this film, and I still don't.  I think it needs many more viewings before I can fully understand it.  There's some great acting, and really strong female characters.  In fact, it is only the women that can see clearly, whereas the men are blind to the action going on around them (except for the most effeminate man).  I liked it, but I feel a little muddled.  Can I see Bette David scream at people again?


The Plot
The film opens with a prestigious theater award ceremony at the "Sara Siddons Society."  Theater critic Addison DeWitt, played by George Sanders, introduces the main characters who are attending the banquet, nonplussed, while the award recipient, Eve Harrington, played by Anne Baxter, waits in the wings.  He claims that he will explain "more of Eve, later. All about Eve, in fact."  Around the table are playwright Llyod Richards (Hugh Marlowe) and his wife Karen (Celeste Holm), producer Max Fabian (Gregory Ratoff), director Bill Simpson (Gary Merrill) and famous dramatic actress Margo Channing (Bette Davis).  Karen, watching her introduction, flashes back to when she first met Eve...

Addison DeWitt at Eve's Awards dinner

It's a dark, rainy night and Karen gets out of a cab, hurrying to get in to see her husband and their friends, who are recouping after a long show.  Eve, who is huddled in a doorway, approaches Karen and mentions she has been to every performance.  Karen takes pity on her and invites her in to see the play's star, Margo Channing.  Eve meets everyone backstage, and proceeds to tell them of her poor childhood in the mid-west and subsequent marriage to Eddie, an Air Force technician who died in the war.  Eve claims she first saw Margo perform in San Francisco and was so enraptured she followed the performance to New York.

Bill, Eve, and Margot at the airport.

Director Bill Sampson, Margo's younger boyfriend, comes to say goodbye before he leaves to direct a film for Hollywood.  Eve accompanies them to the airport and captures Margo's affection, who them hires her to work as her assistant.  Eve does a remarkable job but still earns the enmity of Margo's maid, retired vaudevillian Birdie Coonan (Thelma Ritter). Soon however, Margo begins to distrust Eve and suspect she is trying to supplant her.

Birdie and Eve

Eve plans a welcome home party for Bill and doesn't inform Margo until Bill says something.  Margo quarrels with Bill when she catches him entertaining Eve with jokes, and he accuses her of insecurity because of her age.  The night goes downhill as Margo drinks and picks fights with her guests.  Max Fabian takes Margo aside and admits he has agreed to audition Addison DeWitt's stunningly beautiful protegee Miss Casswell (played by a very young Marilyn Monroe).  Margo agrees to read with Miss Casswell but asks that Max get Eve a job as an administrative assistant in his office.  At the same time, Eve asks Karen for a shot at replacing Margo's pregnant 
understudy. Karen agrees to help, but warns Eve that Margo always performs.

Eve and Margot at the party.

Margo shows up late to read, only to hear from Addison DeWitt that Eve is her new understudy and has already read with Miss Casswell--brilliantly.  Margo storms into the theater and fights with Bill and Llyod, accusing them of rehearsing Eve behind her back.  Bill follows her backstage, and asks Margo to marry him, as he has many times before.  Still fearful that he will one day leave her because of her age, Margo declines and Bill leaves her.  Lloyd come home to Karen and raves about Eve's performance.  He then tells Karen he longs to teach Margo a lesson and finally put the diva in her place.  Karen remembers that she, Llyod, Margo, and Bill have planned to go to the country together that week and then calls Eve to hatch a plan to finally get back at Margo.

Karen and Margo in the car

After a tense weekend with Margo (Bill not having shown up) Llyod and Karen drive Margo to the train so that she can make her performance.  Suddenly the car runs out of gas inexplicably and Llyod goes for help.  Margo takes the time then to apologize to Karen, explaining that her fear of aging and her illustrious career have done so much to hold her back in love and life.  

Funny business, a woman's career - the things you drop on your way up the ladder so you can move faster. You forget you'll need them again when you get back to being a woman. That's one career all females have in common, whether we like it or not: being a woman. Sooner or later, we've got to work at it, no matter how many other careers we've had or wanted. And in the last analysis, nothing's any good unless you can look up just before dinner or turn around in bed, and there he is. Without that, you're not a woman. You're something with a French provincial office or a book full of clippings, but you're not a woman. Slow curtain, the end.

Karen forgives her and apologizes that Margo is going to miss her train.  As Margo asks her why she's apologizing, and scoffs that it isn't like she poked holes in the fuel tank, the camera pans out on Karen's guilty face.

Eve attempts to seduce Bill

Eve performs that night, and somehow, all the literary critics in town end up invited to the show, including Addison DeWitt.  After the show, Addison goes backstage and happens to overhear Eve making a pass at Bill, who rejects her.  After he leaves, Addison comes in and offers to help her with her career.  As he questions her back-story about discovering the theater in San Francisco, he starts to realize everything isn't as it seems.  Even so he writes a column the next day praising Eve's performance while making comments about "mature" actresses in youthful roles.  Bill returns to Margo's side to comfort her and Karen agrees that Eve was manipulative to be a party to that article.

Margot reads Karen's note.

Lloyd later tells Karen he would like to start on his next play right away, rather than wait until this one ends.  He explains he would like to cast Eve as "Cora" a role that was originally designed for Margo.  He claims that Addison manipulated a naive young girl and that Eve is truly sorry.  Karen is beginning to suspect the truth about Eve and tells Lloyd he'll give Eve that part over her dead body.  That night Lloyd and Karen join Margo and Bill at the Cub Room, and Bill announces that he and Margo are finally engaged.  With Margo gushing happiness, Karen suddenly receives a note that Eve wishes to speak with her in the ladies room.  The rest of the table encourages her to go, and so Karen goes to listen to Eve's apology, filled with chagrin at how Addison had used her and manipulated her words.  When Karen doesn't buy it, Eve turns nasty and threatens to reveal in Addison's column just how Margo had managed to miss that performance unless Karen endorses Eve as "Cora" in Lloyd's new play.

Karen remembers meeting Eve.

Horrified and a little shaky, Karen returns to the table.  Before she can speak, Margo announces that she does not want to play "Cora" in Lloyd's next play.  She and Bill are going to get married in city hall, after which she wants to spend some time at home with him.  Karen bursts into hysterical laughter, to the surprise of her friends.  In Karen's voiceover, she claims that as it turned out, Lloyd didn't need her permission, and ends up casting Eve.  Bill at first refuses to direct her, but at Margo's urging, finally agrees.  Karen claims that she never knew Bill and Lloyd to fight as much as they did over this play, but Eve always played peacemaker.  Karen decided she didn't need to be a rehearsals as much anymore.  The middle of the night before the premiere, Karen gets a call from Eve's roommate, claiming she is seriously ill.  Lloyd rushes right over, leaving Karen at home.  As the roommate hangs up, she exchanges a smile with the very healthy Eve.

Eve and Addison.

The night of the premiere in New Haven, Addison greets Eve before her performance in her suite.  Eve gloatingly informs him that Lloyd is going to leave Karen and marry her.  Her plan is that they will become a power theater couple, with her as his muse.  Addison listens, then coldly vetoes her plan.  He tells her that he owns her.  Addison has discovered her scandalous past, which includes sleeping with her married boss.  Eve's story is both more sordid and less interesting than she has told the world.  Eve falls to her bed in tears; Addison tells her she better perform the best she's ever done, and then leaves.

Eve accepts her award.

Back at the awards banquet, Eve accepts the award for the performance she gave that night and subsequent nights as "Cora."  She gives a humble speech, and then promises to return to the theater after her upcoming role in Hollywood.  She thanks her "friends" who have attended the banquet and who are staring coldly back at her.  After the banquet, she leaves in a taxi with Addison, declaring that she is too tired for the after-party in her honor and just wishes to go home.  Addison leaves her at her apartment, and, tired and depressed, she fixes herself a drink, only to see a young girl asleep in her apartment.  It is the president of one of her fan clubs, who, after taking the train from Brooklyn, snuck into Eve's apartment in the hopes of meeting her.  Although initially terrified, Eve allows the girl to take care of her, and to answer the doorbell.  It is Addison, who has come to return the award Eve left in the cab.  The girl introduces herself as Phoebe, and Addison gives her the award, telling her to ask Eve how to become a famous actress.

Eve returns home.

Phoebe lies to Eve and says the taxi driver brought the award, and then takes it into Eve's bedroom.  She tries on Eve's cape and poses in front of the mirror with the award, a determined glint in her eye.

Phoebe is the next Eve.

The History
The original story, "The Wisdom of Eve," by Mary Orr, appeared in "Cosmopolitan" magazine in 1946 and was based on a real life incident involving Austrian actress Elisabeth Bergner in the early 1940s.  It was then produced as a radio drama for NBC, but no studio thought it a worthy film project until Fox eventually bought the rights for a small amount of money and no credit stipulations. Director Joseph L. Mankiewicz combined the story with one he was writing about an actress who remembers her career while she is accepting an award.  Producer Darryl F. Zanuck and his pet director, Mankiewicz, considered Marlene Dietrich, Tallulah Bankhead, Susan Hayward, Ingrid Bergman, and Jeanne Crain as possibilities for the starring roles.  In the end they settled on Claudette Colbert as Margo and Fox's recent award winners Anne Baxter and Celeste Holm as Eve and Karen, respectively.  They edited the script to make Eve's conniving less apparent until later on in the film and to add some ambiguity to the characters before production began.

Production still for All About Eve

Right before filming, however, Colbert injured her back in a skiing accident and could no longer be in the picture.  Mankiewicz had to come up with an actress, fast, and so Bette Davis stepped in.  Although she and Zanuck disliked each other, Davis was perfect for the role--even going to so far as to fall in love with Gary Merrill, who played Bill.  They would later marry and adopt a daughter, Margot (they got divorced in 1960).  Although Mankiewicz had been warned that Bette Davis would be a terror to work for, she knew a great script when she saw one and had little to say to Mankiewicz, who described her as "one of the most agreeable and professional actresses" he had ever worked with.  Not so for Celeste Holm, who was also at loggerheads with Zanuck.  Holm claims she arrived on set and greeted Davis, who then responded with "Oh shit, good manners."  Holm never spoke to Davis again.  Davis recalls that everyone on set was a pleasure to work with, and the only "bitch in the cast" was Holm.  Davis herself was going through a tough time--she had burst a blood vessel in her throat from screaming at her current husband, William Grant Sherry, who she was in the process of divorcing.  Mankiewicz decided he liked the raspy quality of her voice and kept it.

Marilyn Monroe's early role.

Marilyn Monroe would have one of her first small film performances in the role of Miss Casswell--and was so nervous in front of the great Bette Davis she had to repeat her scenes several times before she got them right.  Margo's famous cocktail dress was made by Edith Head, but at the last minute didn't fit Davis's shoulders.  To make it fit, Davis simply slipped it off her shoulders. Zanuck changed the film's working title "Best Performance" to "All About Eve" after he heard Addison DeWitt's opening lines.  The film opened to glowing reviews from the critics.  Bette Davis won her first New York Film Critics Award and told Mankiewicz "You resurrected me from the dead."

Sketches by Edith Head

But All About Eve would be fighting against a few other popular films that year.  Long time Oscar winner Billy Wilder had started on a new film that he took care to hide from the studio execs until the last minute--going so far as to lock the script up every night before leaving the studio.  The project was Sunset Boulevard staring Gloria Swanson as a middle-aged silent movie star losing touch with reality.  The project was a hit with the critics, although Louis B. Mayer felt slighted to be kept in the dark, telling Wilder "You should be tarred and feathered and run out of Hollywood!"  Also vying for the award would be the story of a dumb blonde trying to better herself in Born Yesterday.  Although he had to be talked into it, Columbia boss Harry Cohn would later hire the young actress who had played the part on Broadway, Judy Holliday--or as he put it "that fat Jewish broad."  He released it on Christmas Day, just in time for the Oscars; it made a ton of money and Judy Holliday a star.    Last in contention was former Best Supporting Actor nominee Jose Ferrer, who took a chance and starred in the surprising hit Shakespearean film, Cyrano de Bergerac.  Everyone was gearing up for the awards.  And yet, HUAC cast a pall over everything, investigating both Judy Holliday and Jose Ferrer.

Gloria Swanson, Jose Ferrar, and Judy Holliday

Despite the vigorous race, many of the nominees would not be able to be present at the awards.  Bette Davis was filming a British movie, Another Man's Poison, on the Yorkshire moors.  Gloria Swanson and Jose Ferrer were both staring in a Broadway revival of Twentieth Century in New York.  Jose Ferrer decided that he was hosting a birthday part for his co-star on Oscar night, and rented out the La Zambra restaurant.  New Yorkers Judy Holliday, Celeste Holm, and Sam Jaffe (a Best Supporting Actor Nominee) decided to join him.  The Academy quickly set up a radio hookup in New York, should any of those actors win.

Marilyn Monroe presents "Best Sound Recording" to Thomas T. Molton

Fred Astaire was this year's host at the Pantages theater, and the show opened with a lavish medley of all the songs nominated that year, including Cinderella's "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo."  Backstage, newcomer Marilyn Monroe was preparing herself for her Awards show debut as a presenter.  She suddenly noticed that her dress was torn, however, and promptly burst into tears, claiming she couldn't go on.  Her fellow starlets consoled her while a fashion attendant worked some magic.  She pulled herself together and went onstage but barely managed to look up from the podium the entire time.  This would be the last time Marilyn Monroe would attend the Oscars.  Louis B. Mayer would win an honorary Award for "distinguished service to the motion picture industry."  Mayer would be forced out of MGM a few months later after a bitter dispute with their parent company, Lowes, Inc.

George Sanders and Mercedes McCambridge

All About Eve received a record breaking 14 nominations, 1 more than Gone with the Wind.  Only Titanic would equal this record, 47 years later.  Of that 14, the film won six awards, "Best Costume Design," "Best Sound Recording," "Best Writing, Screenplay," "Best Director," "Best Supporting Actor," and "Best Picture."  When George Sanders, who played the cynical Addison DeWitt, won his award he sobbed backstage. "I can't help it," he claimed, "This has unnerved me."  Mankiewicz was a two-time award winning director who had won both the Director and Screenplay Awards two years in a row.

Best Costumes, Black and White, is awarded to All About Eve

Though Anne Baxter is credited with lobbying to be in the Best Actress category (rather than supporting) and thus splitting the vote to ensure both she and Bette Davis would lose---in actuality this was a scheme developed by Zanuck himself.  Gloria Swanson and Judy Holliday sat at the same table in New York, and when Holliday won she couldn't stop sobbing.  The much older Swanson handled herself well and gave Judy a hug.  But she couldn't help but say, "Darling, why couldn't you have waited till next year?"  It seemed HUAC was beaten--and Best Actor winner Jose Ferrer joyfully said, "This is a direct rebuke to the people who tried maliciously to affect the voting by things that are (a) beside the point and (b) untrue."  Unfortunately, columnist Florabel Muir stated, "I didn't cast my vote to vindicate you on the charges that you may have failed to be a good American citizen.  As far as I'm concerned, the jury is still out on that category."

Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night!" 

All About Eve was #16 on  AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies in 1998, and #28 in the new list in 2007.  Eve Harrington is #23 on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains, and the above mentioned quote is #9 on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes.  In addition it won various awards in the Golden Globes, NY Film Critics Awards, Director's Guild of America Awards, Cannes Film Festival, and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.  More recently, in 1990, All About Eve was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."  The film received in 1997 a placement on the Producers Guild of America Hall of Fame. The film also earns a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.  It still enjoys revivals in indie movie houses, Bette Davis exhibits, TCM and AMC.  It is a certified classic that helped solidify Bette Davis an eternal movie star.

Bette Davis and Gary Merrill

The Verdict?

This is a movie with strongly written female characters, something that is not always common in this time period.  However, they work as a cautionary tale against women who deviate from the reinforced female stereotype of the 1950s.  Post-war America faced a labor problem.  During the war, women had been encouraged to join the workforce and replace the men who had gone to war to protect them.  Images of strong, patriotic women like Rosie the Riveter were used as propaganda to propel women to leave home and go to work in armament factories.  But when the men returned, women were expected to go back home and leave the jobs to the returning war veterans.  If they didn't, America was facing a high unemployment rate and possibly another economic depression, especially with the war factories now being deemed unnecessary.  Some women did indeed go home,  but some were still their family's breadwinners and couldn't afford to.  Thus the propaganda against working women began in the 1950s.

Birdie and Eve first meet.

All About Eve delves into the roles of women as different versions of the classic Eve, the symbol of femininity.  In a deeper sense, Eve, Karen, and Margot represent the virgin, the wife, and the crone (unfortunately), the three phases of women dating from the Ancient Greeks.  But each woman runs into problems because they are unable (or unwilling) to adhere to their archetypes.  We discover Eve is neither an innocent girl or a virgin, as she is treated in the first half of the film but in fact a manipulative, promiscuous woman who uses her femininity as a weapon.  Karen is a wife, but not a mother, perhaps the most important part of her role.  And Margot is fighting her age by pretending to be a young girl on stage, heavily wigged, costumed, and made up.  Each violates the roles they are supposed to fulfill.

Margot with Max and Bill

In a simpler sense, all three women come to grief because they fight the proper female roles that have been assigned to them by society.  Popular culture, society, even the government, want women to settle down, abandon their careers, and become "happy little housewives" as Margot once calls Karen early on.  Margot is a drunken, raging, unhappy bitch until the end of the film, when she decides to settle down and marry Bill.  She comes to the realization that she is not a women if she does not have a man.  After that, Margot, one of the most powerful women in the film, becomes silent and generic.  She must abandon her career (she couldn't be a star by playing an older woman!) and play house with Bill.

Margot watches Eve receive her award.

Karen is happy in the beginning of the film, and actually only comes to grief when she attempts to meddle in her husband's affairs without consulting him.  Her husband straying from her is a natural consequence of Karen taking an active role in her married life, rather than a passive one.  And Eve is perhaps the most cautionary tale of all.  She is perceived as sweet and unassuming until she goes after a career and attempts to usurp Margot.  She might have been able to escape her fate, but as the villain, is kept from marrying and settling down by Addision DeWitt, who unnaturally insists she remain single and further her career.  Although she has gotten what she wants, she is depressed and downtrodden by the end of the film.

Margot after a performance

In addition to the reinforcement of female roles is the emphasis on heterosexual relationships.  Both Addison and Eve have homosexual leanings, and this just reinforces their villainous natures.  They are an unnatural, unhappy pair, as apposed to Bill and Margot and Karen and Lloyd.

Margot at the cocktail party.

Despite this negative view of femininity, it is only the women in the film who can actually see what is going on.  All the men, with the exception of Addison, are ignorantly in the dark, being led by the nose by their respective women.  Addison is able to remain in control because of his effeminate leanings, but as it is a warped femininity it can only be used for evil, rather than good.  In All About Eve, women are both in control and powerless.  It is the dominant, masculine side of Addison that finally conquers Eve.  These women are all Eve--they've eaten the apple, but must pretend they haven't.

"Nice speech, Eve. But I wouldn't worry too much about your heart. You can always put that award where your heart ought to be."

All in all,  this film is a complicated exploration of women, and something I must watch again and again to understand.  And from this film I plunge into something that will seriously confuse my gender assumptions---An American in Paris.  God help me...

A look back into the 1940s

We've reached the 1950s, but before I enter that decade, I'd like to take a look back into the 1940s.

The 1940s were a turbulent time, filled with world war, the dregs of a depression, and changing social times.  Beginning with Rebecca, a dark look into lies and secrets, and ending with All the King's Men--which I suppose deals with the same material.  It would seem that not much changes during this decade.  But a look at the films show an interesting arc in the popular ideology and interests of American people
.

1940--The winner is a dark Hitchcock picture, Rebecca, where a young ingenue is sucked into her new husband's dark mansion, which is still haunted by the specter of his ex-wife.  Mr. de Winter is secretive, moody, and foreign.  The heroine is naive and foolish, but despite herself is drawn into the terrible mystery of Manderlay, her new home.  She survives the eventual fire, but the horror of it still lingers.  At the time this film won its award, the war was becoming increasing desperate, with America less than a year away from Pearl Harbor.  Like Mrs. de Winter, Americans were trying to stick their heads in the sand, but were still being drawn inextricably towards the fire.

1941--With How Green Was My Valley, you get the story of a Welsh mining family attempting to overcome oppression.  They aren't entirely successful, but there is a message of hope flickering, despite it all.  Even so it is again, a European tale, with a murky outcome and a depressingly disparate house and home.  America has been in the war for only a few months, but it has begun to take its toll.

1942--Mrs. Miniver is the story of, again, a British family.  It follows them as they attempt to survive World War II, while it is still years from ending.  This film has an uncertain ending, with some truly sad moments, but it is as a whole is hopeful.  It is more of a generic, crowd pleasing film than the other two, and shows there is starting to be some hope (or desire for hope) in the American psyche.

1943--Casablanca: the ultimate tale of unrequited love and heroism.  The film is about war, redemption, and the will to fight an oppressor.  The tide of war is turning.

1944--The strangest winner of the group, Going My Way is about a priest who saves a struggling parish by teaching the young boy's choir how to sing.  Wholesome, fictional, and filled with images of home and hope, this is the dream to show both to the young people fighting for their country, and the people who want them home.  The priests, the children, even the baseball----this is the dream of home.

1945--Coming on the heels of such an angelic film is The Lost Weekend, a film about a struggling alcoholic finally left along for a weekend by his family and friends.  He goes on a bender that almost destroys him, only to survive on a thread.  It's the end of the war, but this marks a darker time for returning vets.

1946--The Best Years of Our Lives explores the lives of returning veterans, who are having a difficult time settling back into their lives.  While it has the upbeat emotion (and ending) similar to Mrs. Miniver, there are darker scenes that reflect the sentimentality of The Lost Weekend.  When an airline pilot sits in an abandoned plane, he suffers the same hallucinations that an alcoholic might.  There are good times promised ahead, but the transition is a little rocky.

1947--In Gentleman's Agreement we see a man crusading for justice in a disillusioned world.  He wins out at the end, but at great cost personally, without a clear knowledge that he really changed things.  Like a few of these later 1940s films, it is depressing and confused, with a murky ending.  It depicts a morerealistic view of the world than the earlier, Capracorny films of the 1930s.

1948--Hamlet, the story of a confused prince, fighting for his father but constantly questioning himself and others.  While Shakespeare may not at first seem to fit with the flood of disillusioned veterans filling the movie theaters, the story of Hamlet--bloody, fearsome, and battle-filled while being psychologically disturbing--seems to fit right in.  These men and women are turning from the easy melodies of Going My Way and turning towards a more realistic approach to life as a coping mechanism.

1949--And lastly, All the King's Men, a story of a crusader who finds himself disillusioned as the man he thought would be the politician for the people turns out as corrupt as the rest of them.

Well, if anything All the King's Men puts a cap on the later half of the 1940s, a time when Americans were looking at more realistic films, versus the panoramas and epic dramas of the earlier years.  These movies, sometimes directly and sometimes indirectly, center around the war happening at home and abroad.  They arc from frightening, to hopeful, to peaceful, to disturbed, and finally to a reality fighting against a new society.  The end of the 1940s is a dark one, but with perhaps a silver lining.  We're left with a reality that may be different, but is at least real.  These aren't showy theatricals in glittering technicolor.  They are real, at times gritty portrayals of average, unlikable men.  Well--and one prince.

Who knows what the stability of the 1950s will bring?

PS-My favorite?  The Best Years of our Lives

Oscar Reality 2012

So here's the thing:

While Billy Crystal was a much, much, much more enjoyable host than last years' grating duo, this year's Oscar theme was.....boring.....

Outfits?  Okay.  Everyone looked beautiful, but aside from JLO's boobs popping all over the place (which I don't count as very unusual), no one wore anything too crazy.   Even this year's worst dressed really weren't that bad!  No one gave any crazy acceptance speeches, there was no heckling from the audience, and the host wasn't too cruel (here's looking at you, Ricky Gervais).  I almost wished Ricky had hosted.  At least then something would have happened!!

And the movies this year!  While I loved some of them, they were definitely a motley group.  The Artist was destined to blow them all away.  It was the only movie I was fully behind.  Tree of Life may be a cinematic achievement, but The Artist is and should be a fan favorite.

Favorite Dress?  Maybe it's just because I love her, but Emma Stone looked amazing in a red Giambattista Valli Haute Couture gown.  Appropriate, beautiful, and a great color for her.  She was also really funny when she presented.  Go Emma!

Favorite acceptance speech goes to Octavia Spence from The Help who thanked the academy for putting her up there with the hottest guy in the room.  Christian Bale...yummm...don't care that you're crazy.

Biggest upset was when Meryl Streep beat out Viola Davis for Best Actress.  I mean I know she's Meryl Streep, but Viola Davis was robbed.  She was the best thing about The Help and I think her chance won't come again.

Funniest moment goes to Zach Galifianakis and Will Ferrel, with the ridiculous cymbol thing.  Well played.  It's silly, but I totally giggled.

All in all, while I'm happy for The Artist, come on America is this the best we can do?  We need to step it up.  Which brings me into this year's Oscar theme: nostalgia.

Each film is filled with the desire to leave the current time and enter another, most particularly in reference to children.  Midnight in Paris is the perfect example.  The main character desires to live in the 1920s, only to discover that those during that time wish to live in the time before.  Tree of Life is a flashback to a man's childhood while The Artist is an homage to a different era while its main character comes to grips with the changing times.  The Descendants has George Clooney grappling with both his progeny and his ancestors, while Moneyball has Brad Pitt fighting the ways of the old baseball system, yet being tied by love for his daughter.  Both Hugo and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close are about the loss of innocence, and young boys trying to regain a beloved father and a time when things were better.  And War Horse is about war destroying a happier time.  War Horse is a bit of a stretch--but really, so was the nomination.

I'm not sure what this means for our country as a whole.  Even though the economy seems to be rebounding, do we still look back at a supposedly better time?  Will we find, as many of these characters do, that the better time they remembered didn't really exist?  Children seem to be at the base of most of these stories, and are secretly the most powerful.  Perhaps the current generation fears and respects the younger one?

These are just conjectures.  If I wanted to go on, I could ask why the best film here was one by a foreign country and an entirely different society.  If anything, these films are largely confused.  They lack the vision of last year's group.  Perhaps that says more about our society than anything else.

This year, both cinematically and visually, the awards were a bit of a dud.  Better luck next year?

Oscar Expectations 2012

Another year of Oscar ahead of me, and while I've only finished twenty years of movies, I have managed yet again to watch every nominated film!  Collectively, it's a much more motley group of movies this year.  Last year definitely had better films.  But I'm hopeful that this year's ceremony with Billy Crystal as host will be far better than the train-wreck of last year.  Please?

Much more fun was watching the films themselves.  My life has gotten busy, and fitting in nine films in about two weeks was not very easy.  Added to that was the fact that a few of these films were in that limbo between theaters and DVD.  I may or may not have dragged my boyfriend to a small suburban town half an hour outside the city to watch back to back movies in crumbling down theaters.  All worth it!

I've discovered the best thing about this project is watching movies that I might never otherwise decide to see.  And even if I didn't like them, I'm glad I saw them.  And in last year's tradition, regardless of how I feel about them, here they are ranked in order of "winability."  I'll start with the one I know will win and end with the one that can't possibly...

The Artist

Who would've thought that a black and white silent film would be such a hit?  Well actually....falling just above Tree of Life, The Artist is the second lowest grossing film nominated.  Because no matter how much I try to endorse this wonderful film, it goes something like this: "It's romantic, action packed, dramatic, funny---there's great scenery and costumes.  It's incredibly acted, and manages to poke fun at itself in a witty way.  And it's an homage to great classic films.  It's just...it's silent!  Well, I mean, not completely...well, there's some sound...well a little..."  Yup.  Doesn't really describe well.  The minute someone figures out it's silent, no matter how great, they don't want to see it.  Black and white? Maybe.  Silent?  Nope.  Please do!  It's all I've said and more.  It's the fantastic film Hollywood wishes they had the guts to make.  Oh, did I not mention?  It's also French.

Tree of Life

As much as it pains me, this is actually an incredible film.  I don't think I liked it very much, but after reflection, this is a film that is entirely unique.  Rather than a traditional linear plot, the plot is cyclical, weaving back and forth through the main character's memories, his present life, and the history of time.  There are no typical character roles, and sometimes the actors seem superfluous to the crazy that is going on around them.  The film reminded me of the beginning and end of 2001 Space Odyssey combined with The Sound and the Fury.  While nearly every other word in this film is an annoying whisper, and it does fulfill on the fears I had from its trailer (it's a pompous, pretentious, piece of showy art),  I can't help but enjoy the ride.  After awhile, I got used to the style and enjoyed the experience of being inside someone's head.  And the sequence describing the earth's beginning was different from anything else I've ever seen.  In conclusion, it is a completely unique film that will stand the test of time.  And you should totally watch it on some kind of hallucinogen.

The Help
Despite the difficult topic of race, this film is entertaining and heartwarming.  It is well acted, and a perfect portrayal of an era.  From the costumes to the scenery, this film shows a (somewhat glorified) version of a difficult time.  However the sometimes slavish devotion to a hit novel manages to make this film overlong--a few edits may have made it drag less.  In addition, it does not commit to the topic of race enough.  It skims the surface, and spends more time on gags and pretty costumes.  This film is supposed to give voice to the help, but I wish I had seen more of them, and less of the uppity white girls we love to hate.  While entertaining, it doesn't dig deep enough to give true weight to this film.  So while I enjoyed it immensely, and it is, by the way, the top grossing Oscar nominee, I don't think it will win.  But Viola Davis might for Best Actress!

The Descendants

And speaking of movies that dragged...thank god this film was made in Hawaii.  I forgave the slow, plodding pace because I got to pretend I was on one of the many fabulous beaches they showed.  In addition, the story was compelling enough to make me want to know more.  And of course there's George Clooney, whom I just love to watch, no matter what.  Fantastic actor.  And the others don't do too bad themselves.  The girls aren't too bratty and overplayed and his relatives aren't too "stereotypey islandy."  Really though, this is George's movie and thank God for that.  The plot twists and turns kept me guessing, the acting kept me engaged, and the scenery was...well...wow.  I need to go to a beach ASAP.  Even though it felt like it was much, much longer than it should have been, I did enjoy the film.  Not as much as some that followed, but between the weighty material and the acting chops, this movie is pure Oscar bait.

Moneyball
This is a guy's movie, no doubt about it.  It's about baseball statistics, with no romantic story line, or really any women at all.  Any women watching this movie should go into it with those expectations.  Despite the few female characters, I really liked this film.  Brad Pitt has the perfect foil in Jonah Hill.  Unlike many of the other nominated films this year, I never felt like it was dragging on.  Which is something considering it is a film entirely about sports.  There was always something catching your attention and moving you forward, and the scenes with the girl who plays Brad Pitt's daughter were a welcome relief from the spitting and sweating of the team.  Smart, funny, and engaging, this film was a surprising win for me.  It doesn't have the expected "good feeling" ending you get with most sports films, and I liked it the better for it.  Just don't expect any great romance...

Midnight in Paris
This is the best film that probably shouldn't be on here.  I love, love, love this film!  It's every English major nerd's favorite dream.  And the actors playing major historical characters are brilliant, and manage to subtlety wink at the audience at the same time.  It has the witty/off-kilter humor that is always part of Woody Allen's films, but even if you aren't an Allen fan you should like this film.  However, as entertaining as it is, it is not the stuff of Oscar films.  It's sweet, funny, but ultimately just another Woody Allen film.  I definitely loved it but I don't think it's the best film I've ever seen.  It's this high on the list because of Woody Allen.  Famous directors always get a bump.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Okay, so Hugo got better reviews and has the more famous director.  But this movie is so much better.  I mean, I definitely sobbed through most of it, but it is a 9/11 movie.      The main character, a young boy with some kind of social disorder, is both irritating and entertaining, and ultimately, extremely lovable.  Sandra Bullock and Tom Hanks both take a back seat, but make their few moments worthwhile.  Max von Sydow plays the silent, absent grandfather to Oscar acclaim, but I really thought that his young co-star stole the show.  Despite the almost graphically horrifying, wrenching scenes, I enjoyed, and was engaged by, every minute of this film.

Hugo


So this movie got the better ratings, the better director, and the bigger Oscar chops.  But it's probably my least favorite of all the films.  Which is sad because I really wanted to like it.  But is this a movie for children, or adults?  The first three quarters of this film dragggggeedddd.  And when it finally picked up, it became much more of an adult film than a child's.  I think that's the problem.  This movie floats between an adult's film and a child's film, and doesn't really settle on either.  Plus the kid is creepy.  Sasha Baron Cohen is the only relief, and every minute he wasn't on film I got bored again.  Scorsese reverts to his biggest problem--he's so in love with his films that he can't bear to clip them.  Hugo could have been a great movie with some serious editing.  It's a beautiful film to look at, especially in 3D (which I don't always like) and a tribute to the early age of film.  But if you want to see a film tribute...go see The Artist.  It's much better.

War Horse

So I expected to hate this movie.  As one of my best friends said so eloquently, "I know World War I isn't as sexy as World War II, but did they have to add a horse?  Why not just make a film about the war??"  So with my expectations pretty low, I was pleasantly surprised.  Mildly surprised.  Okay it wasn't the worst movie on here (see Hugo).  The main character is almost creepily obsessed with his horse, and his high pitched whining (the boy's, not the horse's) really started to grate.  But it was filmed like Gone with the Wind, with sweeping panoramas liberally painted over with bright colors.  I was entertained throughout the film, and despite myself, really wanted to see the damn horse get through.  But Best Picture?  Sorry Spielberg...I think not....

That's it!  As far as the other categories, I think Viola Davis in The Help will get "Best Actress," although My Week with Marylin's Michelle Williams may give her a run for her money.  "Best Actor" is anyone's game, with Brad Pitt, George Clooney, and Jean Dujardin all contenders.  "Best Director" will probably go to The Artist, but should go to Tree of Life. My prediction?  The Artist will sweep pretty much everything, with a few bones tossed out to the remaining films above.  Fingers crossed for a Bridesmaids win in pretty much anything--that's guaranteed to be an interesting speech.

I have my thoughts on this years theme...but that will have to wait!  Got to start cooking.....