Stylus' Alternative Oscar Picks
Some very interesting picks.
For example, in Best Supporting Actor:
Steve Carell (Little Miss Sunshine)
During the more implausible scenarios in Little Miss Sunshine—a teenager takes a vow of silence to honor Nietzsche, an ex-lover who should be safely tucked away at Yale turns up in a remote gas station, a hospital loses a corpse—Uncle Frank raises his eyebrows in bemusement. Then, without fail, he accepts his bizarre circumstances. The man is an outsider to his dysfunctional family, silently and hilariously commenting on the action with every line of his face. Steve Carrell brings a welcome injection of irony to an absurdist comedy. Just before the suicidal scholar schtick gets old, he unleashes the Frat Pack comedy and joins the zaniness, shuffling birdlike into glass doors with his shoulders shrugged to the sky. [L. Michael Foote]
Skimming through that list I didn't feel much urge to read more deeply on any of the nominees with whom I wasn't already familiar, just because nominating Jack Nicholson was a credibility killer for me. Even more than nominating SBC.
Steve Carrell blew me away in LMS. I went in fully expecting to be put off by him, but instead I was completely interested and invested in his character. He put such depth and unspoken pain and ache into the characterisation that I felt every inch of what he was going through. Carrell really impressed me.
From a few days ago:
Will Fonebone be able to enjoy the satisfaction of turning in a vitriolic review?
See for yourself!
(Note that the editors accidentally broke up the first paragraph, which makes the hidden message not work. So treat the first two paragraphs as one until they fix it if you feel like decoding it - ...which I do recommend. [eta: They fixed it!])
I just decoded the secret message and laughed so loud I made Matilda yelp. Fonebone is totally Teh Awesome.
Oh! Has anyone seen the previews for Grindhouse? It was like travelling back in time to a 70s drive-in theater. With one scene, Rose McGowan has completely wiped the stain of Charmed off her career.
Also, the trailer for Room 1408 shows that Stephen King's best, scariest short story has been Hollywoodized into two hours of shit jumping out at you and yelling "BOO!". It looked like a train-wreck merger of Panic Room and 13 Ghosts. Ugh.
