The Pop Pirate

Is the race over already?

As we enter, in earnest, into the fall movie season- a season that is all but guaranteed to yield all of the major Oscar contenders- let us reflect on a few of the movies this year that will not get recognized, as deserving as they may be.

Robert Downey, Jr. in A Scanner Darkly. Here is a movie that is psychedelic sci-fi and (heaven forbid) animated, so in other words here is a movie that has zero chance of getting nominated for anything mainstream. I should clarify- if you aren't familiar with Richard Linklater's style of animation, he films actors in locations, and then animates over the film, giving the animated image the style and control of (to use a crude term) a cartoon, but an uncanny realism that would not be possible with traditional animation methods. What I'm getting to is that despite the animation factor, or perhaps because of it, Mr. Downey gives a brilliant, quirky-as-hell, fabulously truthful turn as the film's ultimate sleezeball. But will the Academy even watch it? Doubtful.

Now I'm going even further out on a limb- the screenplay for Clerks II. It's vulgar, crass and involves a donkey show, so any shot of recognition is right down the toilet. That said, where else can you get a movie that has a reformed drug dealer doing the "Buffalo Bill tuck" and then there's the comedic genius of "Pillowpants." but all the while there's an underlying beautiful story about the choices we make and the importance of friends. I know there's no chance in hell, but this screenplay deserves some attention.

Now, we look forward to the wide release of Borat. This week's Entertainment Weekly cover story asks if this is the funniest movie ever, and the buzz from all sides is becoming deafening. But a low-budget "culturally offensive" satire has a snowball's chance in Hollywood of getting recognized. Unless it does- maybe this is the year that the Oscars finally realize what actors have known for a long time: Dying is easy, comedy is hard.

posted by Jeff @ 10:55 PM