There was plenty of originality this year and by virtue of the screenplay Spike Jonze wrote and conveyed for “Her” and its futuristic view on relationships and their unfortunate continual difficulties Mr. Jonez seems to be the front runner. I have accepted this but it certainly wasn’t my favorite screenplay of the year. “Blue Jasmine” is Mr. Allen’s Tennessee Williams contribution of the 21st century. If they can make a musical out of “Bullets Over Broadway” they sure can make this a dramatic juggernaut on the great white way! There were two scripts which had several lives and incarnations and stops and starts, “Dallas Buyers Club” and “Nebraska.” The former for several production turnovers and the latter for Mr. Alexander Payne’s insistance on shooting the film in black and white or not at all. They gave the foundation for great performances. Mr. Bruce Dern waxed poetic about the simplicity of Mr. Bob Nelson’s script. Every single word held weight. The script I had thought would be the one to beat was “American Hustle.” It was a madcap, twist of a roller coaster ride and it incorporated some truths about a totally different era, the 70’s. My heart says “American Hustle” and my head believes “Her” will be Spike Jonze’s first of many Oscars to come.
Tag: Bruce Dern
Best Actor Goes to…My Heart and My Mind picks…
This years race is one that will be studied for years to come by new kid on the block actors as a strong, strong year. It may be 1973 strong and has the potential of giving the world the most shocking surprise win since Art Carney (Harry and Tonto) beat Albert Finney (Murder on the Orient Express,) Dustin Hoffman (Lenny,) Jack Nicholson (Chinatown) and Al Pacino (Godfather Part Two; the biggest shock in Oscars history!!!)
Is Bruce Dern going to win by tribute or is the statue going to a much younger man?; his character was “Harryesque.” Liam Neeson was the center of “Schindler’s List” and failed to win one of the many awards bestowed the film on Oscar Night; which makes me think Chiwetel Ejiofor may be the prime focus of “12 Years a Slave” and may suffer the same fate. Christian Bale was fantastic and as great as he was I believe he gave a more deserving performance in “Out of the Furnace” a little seen film that disappeared way too soon. So, the dark horse favorite is a movie star who also happens to be a tremendous actor; Leonardo DiCaprio I feel should have a few of those gold guys already but he has not stood at the mic as anything but a presenter. The amazing performance he gave in “The Wolf of Wall Street” was one of naivty, greed, rebellion and command that just carried a whole movie which was no short length. Matthew McConaughy had a great year-like Tom Hanks he started in lighter fare and has worked hard to make people forget the rom-com, stoner “daze” and he went all out capturing the unlikable yet charismatic duality of Ron Woodroof.
My heart goes with Leonardo and my head says Matthew!
Awards Season: “Nebraska” Screenplay-Best Writing
Awards Season: “Nebraska” Screenplay-Best Writing
Awards Season: “Nebraska” Screenplay-Best Writing
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