I was at an Oscars party. There were ballots drawn, door prizes, everyone sat around checking off nominees on their scorecards, everyone was TOTALLY into it. Not one griper to spoil our fun.<\/p>\n
I know it’s fun and all to bitch and moan about the Oscars – but my experience watching them is always a bit different.<\/p>\n
\nI love the human spectacle … I love the high-pitched emotions, I love the tears, I love the acknowledgement of parents, dead and alive, I love seeing them in the audience, reacting, laughing … Everyone describes it as “egotist central”, blah blah, but I just do not see it that way. I’m an actor. What I see are a bunch of people coming together who feel so fortunate that they are actually able to be paid, and not only just paid, but honored <\/b>for doing what they do. Everyone makes fun of movie stars when they talk about being “artists”, and being “thrilled to be nominated”, but I am telling you: Coming from a place of struggle, and ambition and hopes and dreams, I take those people at their word for it.<\/p>\n
Only if you have toiled in obscurity for however long, doing shitty plays on the lower east side, maintaining your hope that someday you will MAKE something of yourself, telling YOURSELF over and over and over again: “You have a right to be here, you have a right to call yourself an actor…” – because you must tell it to yourself, because nobody ELSE is going to say it to you – to feel like you have given up all hope, to feel like you will never “make it” … and then … to find yourself in that crowd, being honored for your work – whether you win or not …<\/p>\n
I don’t look at those statements in a cynical light. It IS an honor to be nominated.<\/p>\n
Not only that – but the awards themselves, and the judgment of talent is completely subjective.<\/p>\n
Well, not completely.<\/p>\n
I will say that there is obviously, to any discerning person, a world of difference between Tim Robbins’ performance in Mystic River, and what it demands of the actor – and, say, Will Ferrell’s performance in Elf.<\/p>\n
I’m not saying I think one is “better” – I am talking about the level of commitment and courage required to pull off a role.<\/p>\n
How can one say that Sean Penn’s performance is BETTER than Bill Murray’s? It is merely a matter of opinion. They both achieved greatness in their roles. Bill McCabe thinks Ken Watanabe should have won Best Supporting Actor. I think Bill is insane for thinking that, even though Watanabe is great, but I think that nobody could have topped Tim Robbins in Mystic River.<\/p>\n
It is just opinion<\/b>. It’s a matter of taste.<\/p>\n
I am babbling on like this because I was very sad that Bill Murray “lost”, although I thought Sean Penn’s performance in Mystic River was astounding. At that level, I really can see why Dustin Hoffman made that famous speech years ago, when accepting his Oscar for Kramer vs. Kramer:<\/p>\n
“I refuse to say that I BEAT Jack Lemmon…”<\/p>\n
Yes. Yes.<\/p>\n
In a way, I wish that there were no winners. That the 5 nominees would be the ones chosen as winners.<\/p>\n
It’s apples and oranges.<\/p>\n
I don’t want to be killed for saying this – but In America <\/i>was my favorite movie I saw last year. I don’t think it was BETTER than Lord of the Rings, because I don’t look at it that way. I see it as a matter of taste. Samantha Morton’s acting in that film puts everybody else in that category to shame. She is RAW, man. Her acting is bold, it is not a show-off, it is courageous. Watch the scene where she thinks she is going to lose her baby … It is the kind of acting that does not impress with its showiness, it has nothing to do with an accent, a new look, a good publicist … It is REAL.<\/p>\n
Is her performance less impressive because she didn’t “win”?<\/p>\n
Absolutely not!<\/p>\n
Some of the greatest actors in the world haven’t won Oscars.<\/p>\n
Bill Murray gave the performance of his life in Lost in Translation. It was full of heart, it was full of pathos … He took his own persona and mellowed it, saddened it … It was truly brave.<\/p>\n
I hope he continues to get roles that challenge him, and challenge our assumptions of him. He is a national treasure.<\/p>\n
And so I cannot think that Sean Penn BEAT Bill Murray.<\/p>\n
Why else do actors always get up there and praise their fellow nominees? I remember Gwyneth Paltrow bawling, “I don’t feel worthy to be up here…”<\/p>\n
People may look at her statement in a cynical light, that all actors are attention-whores, and power-grubbing megalomaniacs.<\/p>\n
People who think that do not know that many actors.<\/p>\n
Actors are some of the most generous humble loving people on the face of this earth. They have chosen one of the most difficult professions to make it in. They must accept that the chances of even making a living <\/b>are very very slim. Every single person in that auditorium knows that.<\/p>\n
That’s why actors talk about their craft in a tone of high calling. That’s why we call it art.<\/p>\n
We must believe that what we do really could matter, that we could possibly make a difference in someone’s life through our performance … because the cards are stacked against us.<\/p>\n
And so I applaud ALL the nominees. It was an amazing year, I think. For actors.<\/p>\n
Benicio del Torro –<\/b> his performance in 21 Grams is one of the most complex and unbelievable pieces of acting I have seen in a long time. Great work, dude.<\/p>\n
Bill Murray<\/b> – I cherish his performance in Lost in Translation. I cherish that whole movie.<\/p>\n
Sofia Coppola<\/b> – Unbelievable that she was the first American woman to be nominated in that category. Unbelievable. Don’t tell me it’s not a big ol’ boy’s club out there. Good for her. Nobody GAVE her that movie. She used her father, yes, but nobody outside of her family has ever wanted to give her a goddamn thing. Remember how the very same people who applauded her accomplishment last night were BRUTAL when she had the “audacity” to try to act in her father’s movie. Stay strong, Sofia. Keep writing. Keep doing what you do best.<\/p>\n
Sean Penn<\/b> – The man is a genius. He gave two incredible performances this year. It seems that there is nothing he can’t do. And yet he approaches his work with such humility. He couldn’t transform himself that much if he didn’t have humility. His acting consistently reveals stuff to me about MYSELF – and this has been true with his work for years. He’s astonishing.<\/p>\n
Tim Robbins <\/b>– His acting in Mystic River is not only the best performance I have seen in the last 5 years – but it was a complete surprise coming from Robbins. I do not think Robbins is without talent, but I have found his work in the last 10 years to be kind of smirky. What we in the biz call “commenting on his own work”. He always seems to be winking at the audience. In Mystic River he threw all that away and completely transformed.<\/p>\n
Peter Jackson<\/b> – A stupendous accomplishment. He deserved all the awards he got. But because I am me, I will say this: The Lord of the Rings <\/i>trilogy would not have been possible without the gorgeous and terrifying Heavenly Creatures<\/i>, made by Jackson years ago, a film I am haunted by to this day. If you want to see an artist at work, without the special effects, go check out that film. In my opinion, the Ring Trilogy, even with all its spectacular effects, was, in essence, an “art film”, a “mood piece” and that is why it so touched people. Jackson didn’t just <\/b>go for the effects, for the surface <\/b>– If he had, we would not have responded to that film in such an intense way. Jackson went for the relationships, for the characters, for the creation of an entire WORLD. That’s why those films work on such a deep level. I don’t believe that Jackson would have been able to accomplish that if he hadn’t already proved how amazing he was with actors and with creating imaginary fantastical realms in the terrifying Heavenly Creatures<\/i>. See that flick. Really.<\/p>\n
Jackson deserves everything he got. The commitment it took, the imagination, the courage, the vision … People will be watching those films long after Jackson dies. He has left a legacy that will continue. Amazing.<\/p>\n
I talk so much about all of this because I feel protective towards actors. I know people love them, but I know people make fun of them too.<\/p>\n
I love actors. I love everything about them. I love how they believe in what they do, I love how they love other actors, I love them in their neuroses, I love them in their generosity – I love them when they get insecure, I love them when they need help, I love them when they shine … I love watching moments like – was it Sean Penn? I wish I could remember who it was. But some big actor, before the show started, came across the aisle to shake the hand of the Whale Rider actress … and her kind of overwhelmed look – and his serious sweet face, shaking her hand, obviously saying something like, “You are so amazing … thank you so much for that movie…” I believe them when they say “It was an honor to be nominated”, and when I saw Bill Murray’s face when he lost – I suddenly remembered Dustin Hoffman’s speech those many years ago – and I thought:<\/p>\n
No. Bill Murray has not LOST. Bill Murray has not lost ANYTHING. Bill Murray has enriched my life with his performance in that film. I hope that other directors will give him chances like that again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I was at an Oscars party. There were ballots drawn, door prizes, everyone sat around checking off nominees on their scorecards, everyone was TOTALLY into it. Not one griper to spoil our fun. I know it’s fun and all to … Continue reading