Word: distinctives
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...late 2005 and two of them, Mrs. Henderson Presents and TransAmerica, picked up Best Actress nominations. Dench, taking her fifth acting nomination in nine years, can get nods even for walk-through performances, displays of the Dench hauteur, which is what her role here is. Huffman has a distinct shot: beloved in three strong acting communities (Chicago, New York and L.A.), blending mainstream work (in TV's Desperate Housewives) with indie stuff (TransAmerica), plus she plays a sympathetic, slightly freakish outsider, in a role requiring lots of makeup. Oscar loves that: see recent awards for Nicole Kidman in The Hours...
...against Paradise Now, a very good film on an incendiary subject (a Palestinian suicide bomber). Three years ago, the exemplary satire Divine Intervention was denied a Foreign Film nomination because Palestine, whence the film originated, was deemed "not a country." That rule was changed, and there's a distinct possibility that on Oscar night the winner will be "from the Palestinian Authority." Can Hamas' election victory scuttle a movie's chance at Oscar...
...Unfortunately, though, as one goes through the book, a distinct malodor of misogyny begins to build. All the main characters are men, most of who have horrid relationships with shrewish wives or girlfriends. This theme reaches its nadir in the depressing story titled "Bedridden," about a woman we never see and who never speaks, hidden under the bed covers since she has somehow been "re-shaped to please men" as a sex slave. The twist of the story - that men kill each other to become her "master" - doesn't make up for such a nasty premise. To be fair...
...Although the average age at marriage in the U.S. is 25 for women and 27 for men, educated people tend to marry even later, according to Professor of Sociology Martin K. Whyte. That makes the few members of the Class of 2006 who are already engaged a distinct minority—especially at a school like Harvard, where marriage is hardly the first priority for most graduating seniors...
Schizopolis is the name of a metaweird movie that Steven Soderbergh once wrote, directed, photographed and starred in (playing two roles, of course). It might also be the name of the artistic fiefdom he has created. Few Hollywood directors have such a distinct signature--or, rather, two of them. One part of Soderbergh's brain makes can't-miss caper films and weepie dramas (Ocean's Eleven, Erin Brockovich) with the town's priciest talent. Another part is indelibly indie: he will shoot an ad-lib HBO series about lobbyists (K Street), or remake a mystical Russian...