Word: oscars
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...Then as now, an "independent" company was a subsidiary of a big studio. The division, though, remains clear: studios make their regular movies to earn money, and their indie movies to earn prestige which, as Oscar time nears, can mean the same thing. Look for Brokeback, between now and March 5, to double the $51 million it has cadged so far at the domestic box office. Munich may get a little bump, and the others will see their big business at the video store...
...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 and Theron in Monster. In fact, I've just talked myself into saying she'll snatch the prize from till-now front-runner Reese Witherspoon, whose turn as June Carter Cash is lovely but clearly a secondary role in Walk...
...Hustle & Flow! I'm also pleased that Joaquin Phoenix emerged from Witherspoon's shadow to get a nod. A win for either of them would be fine by me, but the race seems to be between Hoffman and Ledger. Hoffman's Capote is a stunt, a caricature, the kind Oscar often rewards, but it's also a great performance. Ledger, his character's emotions so internalized he's nearly made mute by his passion and guilt, would dominate any other year. But in the leading actor categories, I have to go with the Huffman-Hoffman ticket...
...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...
...Capote will make do with Hoffman's Oscar. Good Night, and Good Luck is the kind of movie you invite to the Oscar party but don't ask to make a speech. That leaves Crash. It's the most Hollyuwood kind of indie picture: amazingly low-budgeted (about $5 million), serious to the point of solemnity, and with a cast of top stars doing charity work: smallish roles in a film with big, social ambitions. The actors' branch of the Acaademy is the largest, and they may have an itch to reward the kind of film that makes actors look...