Monday, January 18, 2010

BURNING QUESTIONS: PRE-GOLDEN GLOBES EDITION

I loved It's Complicated (I have a weakness for Meryl Streep playing Meryl sans accents and wigs and heavy emoting, and for Nancy Meyer romantic comedies featuring upper-middle-class grown ups living in houses with freshly painted walls), but something about the movie bothered me. Why did the kids tearfully overreact to the news that their divorced parents had been having an affair? What's so confusing about that? Their parents' sex life is their business, not the concern of three grown kids all living away from home. I was 17 years old when my parents separated (the same age as Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin's eldest daughter at the time of their split in the film), and if they had hit the sheets 10 years later, my response would have been "Good for them!"

It took me a minute to get into The Hurt Locker, but once I did, I found it riveting. But why is Jeremy Renner (right) getting all of the attention? He was great -- and I could stare into those baby blues for hours and hours -- but Anthony Mackie (left) matched him scene for scene and was just as much of a lead. His final scene in the truck killed me! But will someone please explain the movie's title to me?

Remember when An Education's Carey Mulligan was the actress to beat? Now it's pretty much The Meryl Streep and Sandra Bullock Show.

I haven't seen Invictus yet, but why is it that every time Clint Eastwood makes a film, he's an automatic contender -- except for the year (2008) when he actually made two really good ones, Changeling and Gran Torino?

I loved Mo'Nique in Precious, and hopes she gets every award left this season, but something about her offscreen behavior bugs me. Why did she defer to her business-manager husband backstage at the Critics Choice Awards when a member of the press asked her why she isn't doing more to promote the film for which she won the Broadcast Film Critics' supporting actress prize? She could just have easily have said that she has a full-time job (her late-night talk show) and kids to take care of, so she can't show up for everything. Bigger stars snub awards shows all the time, and no one accuses them of not being team players.

Am I the only one who doesn't really care about the TV Globes? That said, I hope Jane Lynch (above) wins best supporting actress for Glee. Why? Because I love her but not the show. She was so great in Julie & Julia, and I love her as Charlie Sheens's therapist in Two And A Half Men.

Why is everyone calling Julia Roberts's comedy actress nomination for Duplicity just another case of star fucking by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association? If I remember correctly the film got excellent reviews, unlike The Proposal, for which Sandra Bullock is nominated in the same category.

And finally, a statement of fact: If Sandra Bullock beats Carey Mulligan for Best Actress in a Movie - Drama, the Oscar is hers.

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