When this year’s Academy Award nominations were announced last week, it was striking—even for someone who makes part of his living following the film scene—to see just how many “small” films, along with the actors and actresses drawn to them by the lure of a rich role, were honored by the Academy.
It’s been a bit of a trend the last few go-rounds. When Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker quite deservedly took home Best Picture last year, the victory was the end to a David and Goliath story in which she was pitted against ex-husband (and Avatar director) James Cameron. But even with that recent history, the nominations this season still seem to mark a turning point. With the dark drama of Winter’s Bone or Black Swan, the wrenching relationship stories of Blue Valentine and The Fighter, and the inspiring isolation of 127 Hours—the true tale of a man who cut off his own arm to escape dying alone in the desert—we seem now, more than ever before, to reward films that are willing to be difficult.
And it is a reward, especially for a film like Winter’s Bone, nominated for Best Picture, which might have a hard time breaking through to viewers due to a limited advertising campaign. With a cast of unknowns and a director that few would recognize, the film—a sort of modern True Grit, following a determined young woman (Jennifer Lawrence, nominated for Best Actress) through an Ozarks overrun by methamphetamine—is a moving reflection of our changing America. It deserves a wider viewing; its nominations will help that happen more than another ad might.
Of course, there are familiar names as well: last year’s Best Actor winner Jeff Bridges is nominated again for True Grit, and Colin Firth and The King’s Speech are nominated in all the places you would expect a film about English royalty to be nominated. Randy Newman has yet another song up for a statue—the man must have a trunk somewhere labeled “Oscar Bait.” But the line between blockbuster and arthouse continues to blur; this is an Oscars round in which a best actress nominee not long ago starred in three straight Star Wars films.
Look past the expected few and this year’s award show—hosted, in another nod to changing times, by the hip young duo of James Franco and Anne Hathaway—can serve as a treasure map. Follow it to find Javier Bardem in Biutiful or Christian Bale in The Fighter for two stories of wounds and redemption; follow it to find Sylvain Chomet’s charming animated film The Illusionist. Follow it and watch 63-year-old Jacki Weaver as a woman called Smurf, the matriarch of an Australian crime family.
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Also this week: maybe you’re just not the type who gives a fig about the Oscars. You just want a night out, a fun movie and friends. If that sounds like you, you probably stopped reading this column about four paragraphs ago. But if you’re still with me, you might be interested in Out! For Reel’s third annual presentation of the Mamma Mia! Sing-Along and Anything Goes Costume Contest at the Academy of Music in Northampton on Saturday, Feb. 5.
Screened with closed captions to encourage audience participation, the film—inspired by the stage show built on the music of ’70s-era “Swedish supergroup” ABBA—is a musical mash-up of mistaken identity, Meryl Streep, and more. To further enliven the night, local judges will host a costume contest that calls for anything remotely related to the film: boas, bridesmaid gowns and Hawaiian shirts are all fair game, but this is really the chance to break out your decades-old duds. Doors open at 6:30 for the 7:30 screening; for more information, visit www.OutForReel.org.
Jack Brown can be reached at cinemadope@gmail.com.