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| Daniel Day Lewis in “There Will Be Blood” |
I’ve had a love affair with them going back to when I was a kid. Being a performer
for twenty-five years, I know a bit about what it takes to excel in the arts.
The truth is, once a performer it never leaves your bloodstream. Maybe that’s
why I fell in love with radio, too (though that’s also due to growing up listening to the brilliance of Harey Caray and Jack Buck announce Cardinal baseball games!).
But today’s Oscar’s has a blight on them for me. The true best picture is only nominated
for two awards. “American Gangster” got robbed. It’s the finest achievement,
most sprawling and daring epic of the year. It got ignored in the important categories.
Juno?
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A nice little movie, but a joke, especially when compared to the fine work
of the other films it stands next to, particularly when you include “American
Gangster.” It’s part of what makes Hollywood look so silly sometimes. When
they ignore epic masterpieces like “American Gangster.” The film likely to get the nod is “Michael Clayton,” which is a very fine film, no doubt, and even likely to win best screenplay.
The truth is that maybe Denzel’s depiction of a violent, successfully, drug
dealing entrepreneurial thug was just too much in a year where all things revolve
around the hope of Barack Obama. It wouldn’t be the first time Hollywood, represented
today by the Academy through the Oscar’s, bowed to political correctness and
cowardice. It’s a rancid vein in our culture that never ceases to wield its influence. There simply is no other reason why “American Gangster” would get slighted as it has. On the merits of judging filmmaking, by any standards of excellence, it belongs in the Best Picture category.
But one would be remiss in not mentioning the remarkable Viggo Mortensen and his performance as “Nikolai” in “Eastern Promises.” Every performance he gives gets better and deeper.
The Coen brothers for best director of “No Country for Old Men”? Maybe.
However, the obvious snub of “American Gangster” does not ruin the anticipation of one particular nomination that I hope will end
in an Oscar. Daniel Day Lewis, always brilliant, but in “There Will Be
Blood” simply breaks all barriers. He is quite simply the Brando of the
21st century. No one related to the craft of acting can compete. His performance
is simply the stuff of legend. It is a marvel. It is the best performance of the year.
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