OVP: Who is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me?

Film: Who is Harry Kellerman and Why is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me? (1971)

Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Dom DeLuise, Barbara Harris, Jack Warden

Director: Ulu Grosbard

Oscar History: 1 nomination (Best Supporting Actress-Barbara Harris)

Snap Judgment Ranking: 1/5 stars

Each month, as part of our 2021 Saturdays with the Stars series, we highlight a different one Alfred Hitchcock's Leading Ladies.  This month, our focus is on Barbara Harris-click here to learn more about Ms. Harris (and why I picked her), and click here for other Saturdays with the Stars articles.

By the time Barbara Harris had made her film debut in 1965's A Thousand Clowns, she was already a pretty big name, at least in the industry.  Harris had founded the now-legendary Chicago improvisational Second City by this time, getting a Tony nomination for her work.  Just before A Thousand Clowns would be released, she opened in the (then critically-mixed) Richard Rodgers musical On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, which earned her a second Tony nomination.  While A Thousand Clowns won Harris a Golden Globe nomination, it didn't turn into major film stardom, though with Harris (who took frequent self-imposed breaks from acting) it was always hard to tell how much of that was the actress & how much of that was Hollywood.  She returned to the stage, finally winning a Tony for what would be considered her most significant stage work in The Apple Tree, but while she appeared in films (including Neil Simon's Plaza Suite), she wouldn't be back into awards conversations until 1971, when she won her sole Oscar nomination for the bonkers-monikered Who is Harry Kellerman and Why is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me (the longest titled film ever cited for an acting Oscar).

(Spoilers Ahead) The story of Harry Kellerman is not about Barbara Harris, and in fact it's not really about Harry Kellerman, but instead about Georgie Solloway (Hoffman), a successful rock composer going through a moment-of-crisis because a man named Harry Kellerman keeps calling his lovers (past & present) and confessing lies about him.  He struggles to understand who Harry is, and through both moments of quiet introspection and conversations with his therapist (Warden), which frequently turn into elaborate fantasy sequences with Warden taking on different accents & personas, he rehashes his life.  We see the women that Georgie has loved, but because of his inability to commit or take responsibility, has lost as a result.  One of these women, Allison (Harris) is a woman that he's recently met at an audition, and whom he feels a connection for but you also get the sense that he will once again blow it.  In the last sequence, which it's difficult to tell at this point if it's reality or what is actually happening, it's revealed that Georgie is in fact Harry Kellerman, and has been calling these women to confess the worst parts of himself...right before he crashes into a mountain side.

This crash is part of the most interesting part of Harry Kellerman, as it's one of many moments in the film that Georgie kills himself, or watches others kill themselves.  As a result, it's hard to tell if he does, in fact, kill himself over the close of the film by crashing his plane into the Manhattan skyline, or if this is yet another indulgent fantasy of Georgie's.  This would be more interesting if it felt like it was part of a cogent storyline, but the problem with Harry Kellerman is that it's a total mess.  Even if you grant some leeway for the 1970's & the experimental nature of this type of filmmaking, Harry makes no sense.  There is no grounding in reality, and the film isn't strong enough on its merits to simply be a series of vignettes.  Hoffman, a fine actor & good at playing a narcissist, doesn't give us enough humanity for Georgie, who comes off as a jackass (honestly-Harry Kellerman is saying these terrible things about you because you're a terrible person), and there's not enough catharsis in the final moments to change that opinion.

That being said, if you can make it through 80 minutes of dreck, Harris is very good in this movie and while I'm shocked that the Academy noticed such a performance (Maureen Stapleton in Plaza Suite, which also starred Harris, or Eileen Brennan in The Last Picture Show would've been more traditional nominations), it's nice that they did considering she'd never be cited again.  Her Allison gets two big scenes in the movie, and Harris nails them both, giving us far beyond what's on the page (a struggling woman, attempting to understand her life).  There's a speech where she talks about the trouble of being 34 ("not old, but never again young") that literally any person in their thirties has thought countless times before.  Harris stands out, which is what she tended to do in her brief career, and is a lantern in a dreadful storm throughout Harry Kellerman, a movie not remotely as interesting as its title.

OVP: Papillon (1973)

Film: Papillon (1973)
Stars: Steve McQueen, Dustin Hoffman, Don Gordon, Robert Deman
Director: Franklin J. Schaffner
Oscar History: 1 nomination (Best Original Score)
Snap Judgment Ranking: 2/5 stars

We're going to conclude our weeklong look at some of my (unseen) films of 1973 with by far the longest movie on the docket, Papillon.  The film clocks in at 150 minutes, and like Scarecrow earlier this week, features two of the most important leading men of the era: Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman.  Unlike Scarecrow, though, Papillon was a big hit in its era, keeping Hoffman in the public eye and theoretically moving McQueen into the echelon of the era's top star...though McQueen, infamous for turning down role-after-role-after-role that might have cemented his legend, didn't make much use of the film's success (at some point we'll start featuring male performers in the Saturdays with the Stars series, and McQueen is going to be toward the top of the list of people whose career I want to discuss).

(Spoilers Ahead) The film is loosely based on a true story, about Henri "Papillon" Charriere (McQueen...Papillon is the French word for butterfly), who was sentenced to a prison sentence in French Guiana for a murder he didn't commit.  There he meets Louis Dega (Hoffman), a (guilty) forger & embezzler who needs protection, but doesn't want to escape because he's confident his wife is working to ensure that he will be freed.  Dega helps Papi in several escape attempts, the first of which lands him in solitary confinement for two years, during which time he never once outs Dega as his co-conspirator despite basically being starved and going half insane.  On the second attempt, they enlist the help of Andre Maturette (Deman), a gay man there for murder who one of the guards has developed an infatuation with (yes, there is a gay subplot, yes, it's problematic, but not nearly to the degree of Scarecrow as Maturette is at least given some dignity in his portrayal).  They succeed in escaping, though eventually they are all caught (with Papi lasting longer than the others), and are each sentenced to five years in solitary, which basically kills Maturette.  Papi wants to attempt escape one last time from Devil's Island, but Dega refuses, saying it's too dangerous.  Papi then jumps from a gigantic cliff, near certain to die, but doesn't, and is taken out to sea by a raft made of coconuts.  Somehow, the narrator tells us, he survived and went on to live a free man.

This is an incredible story, and would be even more incredible if it were true.  While Henri Charriere definitely existed, and definitely was a prisoner in the French penal system (which was truly atrocious in its treatment of prisoners, using the guillotine way later than you would have expected, legally ending in 1981 and practically ending in 1977), there's no evidence that the portion of his book where he escaped from Devil's Island is reality (records at the time indicate he was never sentenced to serve there).  This is pure Hollywood fiction, as even at the time they would have been aware that this was disputed.

I don't normally have a problem with biopics taking liberties (the reason I dislike the genre as a whole is because truth is not, in fact, stranger than fiction), but I point this out because it shows the biggest issue with Papillon-it never looks below the surface of its major characters.  This isn't because McQueen and especially Hoffman aren't capable of crafting complex characterizations, but for some reason neither actor looks beyond the page with these portrayals.  We get some incredible action sequences (particularly that final moment of Papillon jumping into the sea, swimming off into the unknown), but there's nothing there.  You spend the movie hoping it'll just be over, as it drags and repeats without any sense of character growth, and Papillon is a character that certainly could grow as he keeps beating against a system that insists on him losing his spirit.  This could've been a great movie-all of the elements are there for it-but it's just dull & pretty.

The movie's sole Oscar nomination was for its score.  The main title here is superb.  This could have been a gut-check nomination for Jerry Goldsmith, who was nominated constantly during the 1970's by the Academy, but the main theme has a windswept quality I loved.  The use of a percussion instrument (I couldn't quite pinpoint what it was, but it sounds like some sort of electrified marimba) adds texture to the music, and invites the gargantuan task that Papillon & Dega are undertaking.  Unfortunately, the rest of the music isn't nearly as inspired-we are, like the plot itself, given the same course over-and-over again, no growth in the music.

OVP: Agatha (1979)

Film: Agatha (1979)
Stars: Vanessa Redgrave, Dustin Hoffman, Timothy Dalton, Helen Morse, Celia Gregory
Director: Michael Apted
Oscar History: 1 nomination (Best Costume Design)
Snap Judgment Ranking: 2/5 stars

One of the more enjoyable parts of the Oscar Viewing Project is that you get to see movies you didn't know existed.  Usually, for me, this is some random comedy from the midst of the Studio System that got nominated for Best Score and suddenly I'm toe-tapping alongside Marion Davies or Eleanor Powell much to my delight.  Occasionally, though, there's something more recent like Agatha which peaks out as a movie that I'm staggered I didn't realize existed, mostly in this case because I'm such a fan of Agatha Christie.  I own everything she's ever written (and can see it from where I'm typing this now), and have read most of it, and yet I never realized that this biography, starring Vanessa Redgrave & Dustin Hoffman at the peak of their fame, existed.

(Spoilers Ahead) It should be noted that the film itself doesn't take place over Christie's illustrious career, but at perhaps the most mysterious moment of it-the famed disappearance of the mystery novelist that attracted massive media speculation (it was on the front page of the New York Times) at the time.  After all, the world's most famous mystery writer suddenly disappears in a moment that seems plucked from the plot of one of her books?  How could the public not eat that up?  Since that story to this day remains shrouded in enigma (the Christies were pretty mum on the situation with Agatha ignoring the event entirely in her autobiography, and at the time claiming Agatha had amnesia though they divorced soon after), this is a series of made-up events, and in many ways they lean heavily into the idea that this could be one of Christie's novels.  After all, we have Agatha largely playing a Gone Girl situation here, disappearing into a Turkish Bath (truly random coincidence-I was in Hot Springs, Arkansas last week so I actually got to see a bathhouse similar to that used in this movie for the first time!), and attempting to frame her husband's mistress for murder, while in the process attempting suicide (she's unsuccessful in both attempts).

The film features Christie (Redgrave) as a woman of deep introversion, almost socially-awkward and Hoffman as Wally Stanton, an American reporter trying to get a major scoop on the world's most famous writer suddenly disappearing in the midst of a scandalous divorce.  The two actors clearly care about these characters deeply, particularly Redgrave who puts a tenderness around the author that is lacking in the script (which realizes pretty early on that the actual plot, devoid of side characters, is far too thin and so stretches the movie to the point of tedium).  Both are fine actors, but they have zilch chemistry with each other, and cannot seem to connect at all, making their fictional romance exceedingly dull to watch.  The movie at its best shows the mind of Christie, the way that she tries to pick up things from those passing by to create her characters, or the way her plan is never said out loud, so you have to deduce it the same way you would if you were reading her novels.  Unfortunately, these are only short bursts in the film, and the rest is terribly dull.  This isn't really a lost treasure other than in describing its plot; the movie itself is best left forgotten, particularly considering all of the truly great work Hoffman and Redgrave did in the late 1970's.

The movie's Oscar nomination was for Best Costume Design, and while it's easy to see why the Oscars honored it (and a nice nod to Shirley Ann Russell, who had been doing showy work for a decade at that point and never been cited by AMPAS), there's nothing special here.  The suits are fine, but nothing memorable, and the dresses worn by Redgrave aren't particularly insightful.  Yes, she wears frocks and furs as if she's covering up something, but that's about the most basic reading one could make into such a character, and quite frankly may be due more to Redgrave than anything else. Otherwise, this is a case of another period film scoring a citation in a year that was oddly bereft of such opportunities.

Looking for a Sixth Decade...

An Oscar nomination is a truly amazing moment in an actor's career.  For many, it's the moment they have dreamt of all of their lives-the culmination of years of work, determination, and a little bit of luck when just the right fates align and nab them their career high point.

And for most Oscar nominees, that's it.  If I remember my statistics right, it's about 65% of all Oscar nominees for acting will only get that one nomination, that one moment in the sun that will be in the first two lines of their obituary.  And that's great-we'll get to all of you in the OVP (or we've already gotten to you, in which case don't get greedy).

But for other actors, that one Oscar nomination is hardly enough, and they want more.  Some of these actors enjoy quick bursts of nominations like Renee Zellweger, Russell Crowe, or (currently) Jennifer Lawrence, but we're going to focus today on people who have managed to sustain decades of Oscar stamina.

It's actually extremely rare to be able to be nominated at least one time in four different decades, and even rarer to pull it off consecutively.  As there seem to be several actors this year who are looking to get a nomination decades away from their last citation, I figured it was time to take a look at this list again.

Before we start, let's go through the people who have passed on and are no longer in the running but hit 4 or 5 decades (as the title alludes to, no one has hit six...and yes, this is a trivia article so if I missed an actor, share in the comments below).

Five Decades in a Row: Laurence Olivier (1930's-70's)
Five Decades Non-Consecutively: Katharine Hepburn (1930's-1980's, no 70's), Paul Newman (1950's-00's, no 70's as well)
Four Decades in a Row: Bette Davis (1930's-60's), Jack Lemmon (1950-80's), Geraldine Page (1950's-80's),
Four Decades Non-Consecutively: Mickey Rooney (1930's-70's, no 60's), Peter O'Toole (1960's-00's, no 90's)...both of whom never won competitive Oscars though they both won Honorary ones

Again, it's a short list, and one that has gotten considerably longer as the stars of the 1960's have stuck around further than was typical with stars of yore.  We'll start out with those actors that are still living and have already hit three decades.

Waiting for the Fourth...

Of the 18 living actors who have been nominated in three separate decades for acting awards (and for the record, the year the film came out is the beginning of the decade-none of this "Google Search Driving Miss Daisy won the 1990 Oscars" crap), some actually have to wait a few more years before they can try again as their third nomination came in the 2010's and they can't get another decade under their belt for a few more years.  Most of these actors did this in the 1990's, 2000's, and 2010's: Brad Pitt, Judi Dench, Cate Blanchett, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Julianne Moore, and Annette Bening all have nominations in each of the past three decades (it's worth noting that Bening is the only one of these eight actors who doesn't have an Oscar, (though Damon has his for screenwriting) and is one of only two actors who have hit more than three that is still alive without an Oscar-I'm just saying AMPAS, but keep that in mind in a few years when you're handing out Honoraries and Bening is still empty-handed).  The only non-consecutive actor who has scored this decade would be Sally Field, who took a 28-year gap between her second and third nods, and did this oddly with only three nominations (Lincoln, her most recent nod, is her only loss to date).  And though it's hardly worth listing all of the actors who have two decades behind them, there are a few names in this year's mix that could be headed toward a third decade of dominance (Michelle Pfeiffer and Woody Harrelson both spring to mind).

Of the actors who could jump to four decades this year, most of them don't have films out this year, but none of them are in "retirement."  Weirdly a surprising number of actors actually are ones who skipped at least one decade: Jodie Foster (missing 00's), Sissy Spacek (missing 90's), Ellen Burstyn (missing 90's), and Al Pacino (missing 00's).  While all of these actors continue to work, Foster and Spacek in particular don't appear onscreen very often and it's been years since any of them were in the sort of movie that would garner Oscar's attention.  Still, they're all legends so a random showy role could do the trick if they got back in the game in a major way.

The actors who have consecutive nominations are a bit more likely, in my opinion, to make a jump into a fourth decade.  Both Ben Kingsley and Morgan Freeman continually work in movies, and though I have to admit they both tend to be going for "paycheck roles" more than they should (they seem to be in everything), they work so constantly that a random supporting nomination once more seems probable, if not inevitable.

The three remaining actors, though, actually have films out this year with a lot of potential Oscar buzz.  Toward the top of the list is Holly Hunter, who has a major role in The Big Sick as a mother getting to know her daughter's boyfriend while she's in a coma.  Hunter is getting really solid reviews for the film and could nab her fifth nomination (in a fourth decade) this year if the buzz continues.  While their films haven't come out yet, both Frances McDormand (another five in four) who has a showy lead role in Three Billboards or Tom Hanks who may be in The Papers with Meryl Streep (directed by Steven Spielberg, in a film premise that sounds like it was made in an Oscar bait factory), both could be in the running.  Hanks is strange in the sense that his fourth decade nomination seemed certain with work in Captain Phillips, Saving Mr. Banks, and Bridge of Spies, but Oscar hasn't warmed to him like they have in the past?  Perhaps things will change this year?

Waiting for a Fifth...

Once again, we can start out with six actors who have already scored their 2010's hit and are now just biding their time until they can try again.  Three of these actors have done five decades (shockingly) non-consecutively (which means they very well could have been in the running for six if they'd had a little more luck in a certain year).  Jeff Bridges skipped the 1990's (missing for The Fisher King), Robert Duvall missed in the Aughts (but came damn close for Get Low) and Robert de Niro also missed the Aughts (probably getting closest for Meet the Parents...though admittedly not too close).  The other four actors, though, have hit every decade since the 1980's consecutively: Julia Roberts, Denzel Washington, and Daniel Day-Lewis (all, oddly enough, nominated in 1989), and have already gotten this decade crossed off.  Day-Lewis has notably won in three of those four decades.

Another twelve actors have scored four decades and are on the search for a fifth.  They range from actors who are constantly churning out films to actors who have largely retired from the cinema but are thankfully still kicking.  Though many of these actors scored their nominations consecutively, only one of the dozen is currently on a streak: that would be Diane Keaton, who has scored a nomination every decade since the 1970's (and only one nomination per decade, it's worth pointing out).  Keaton rarely challenges herself since Something's Gotta Give, but she's the sort of actor who bides her time until something brilliant randomly comes along and everyone remembers how much they love her-considering the wave of adoration coming from her recent AFI win, this would be the time to strike if she wanted to go there.

Other working actors that could make it include busy actors such as Jon Voight (who skipped the 1990's despite constantly making movies since his big break in Midnight Cowboy), Shirley MacLaine (who, had she scored for Postcards from the Edge as she was expected to and should have, would be a column down), Vanessa Redgrave (her near-miss campaigns for Atonement and Coriolanus actually mean that she could well have had the record by now!), Dustin Hoffman (who continues to make enough films often enough that he should be able to pull this off in a surprise supporting role at some point, despite missing the Aughts), and of course Dame Maggie Smith (who skipped the 1990's, but came roaring back in the past ten years as a genuine box office draw and nearly won a citation for The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel a couple of years ago).  Hoffman probably has the best shot this year for The Meyerowitz Stories, but it's not entirely clear if it will meet release date eligibility.  I'd imagine that Scott Rudin will force Netflix to meet AMPAS qualifications considering his long history with the body, in which case Hoffman is most definitely a threat, but Netflix seems to want to have it available same day as its digital platform.  We shall see, but by my count the only other one of these actors with a major film in contention this year is Redgrave, who is in Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool, though I can't tell how big her role is.

Other actors who are looking for a fifth don't work as often or are notoriously curmudgeonly about working again.  Joanne Woodward (not nominated since 1990, but extending all the way back to the 1950's with her streak, the earliest nomination for a living person in this article) hasn't appeared in theaters since 1993, and Gene Hackman (who missed for The Royal Tenenbaums due to category confusion, costing him his fifth consecutive citation) is happily retired.  Albert Finney (who missed the 1990's) hates the Oscars and only does bit parts these days, though he's the other actor (aside from Bening) who is living and has hit the 3+ decade counter, so he'd also be a decent contender for an Honorary Award (that he'd never show up for it in a million years).  Warren Beatty did finally make another movie with Rules Don't Apply, but it bombed so horribly I'm kind of scared he'll never make a movie again at this point, and he was already dodgy about making pictures to begin with.  And finally there is Julie Christie, who has resumed working if not necessarily in major cinematic work.  She skipped the 1980's and bizarrely has only received one nomination in each decade she's been cited in (much like Keaton).

Waiting for a Sixth...

As the stats above corroborate, getting a sixth is damn hard work, as there's a reason no one has done it.  Kate Hepburn probably could have had she done more significant film work in the 1970's, but she spent most of that time on the stage, and she's probably the only one who has come close until now.  Three living actors have pulled off five decades in a row, and one in particular seems determined to break yet another of Hepburn's records (not settling for a tie).

Meryl Streep is the only actor who has managed to pull off a 2010's nomination already and have five in a row (ever the showoff, she's managed to land four nods this decade).  Streep, it's worth noting, is also the only actor to have more than one nomination in five different decades (Olivier getting Rebecca made a year too late), a record that may stand for infinity.  Streep will need to continue her current stamina to hit the goal, but at this rate she could well take it in the 2020's (she'll only be in her seventies).

That is if one of the two other living actors don't go for the title first.  Both have received consecutive nominations since the 1960's, and at least one is still working.  Michael Caine, an actor you don't always think of for such lists, got his first nomination in 1966, then got cited in 1972, 1983, 1986, 1999, and 2002, and despite being 81, continues to work constantly (he was well-regarded in the recently Oscar-nominated Youth) and has made no secret about his desire to win a third Oscar for a leading role.  Just one nomination would land him the record, and put Streep in a difficult position-2030 is a long way to go to actually beat this title outright.

The other person is the recently retired Jack Nicholson, who made his last film four years ago and claims he is done with cinema, but rumors persist that he might make one step out-of-retirement to do that English-language Toni Erdmann with Kristin Wiig (they've even go so far as to hire Lena Dunham as the writer).  If that actually happens, all bets are off-it's obviously a movie that AMPAS liked (it was nominated), and Nicholson making one last role would be pretty hearty catnip for the Oscars.

And there you have it folks-a morning's dose of Oscar trivia.  Do you think that Streep, Caine, or Nicholson could take the record?  Who will be the next person to score four or five decades' worth of nominations?  Share in the comments!

Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016)

Film: Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016)
Stars: Jack Black, Bryan Cranston, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, JK Simmons, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, Jackie Chan, Kate Hudson
Director: Jennifer Yuh Nelson and Alessandro Carloni
Oscar History: No nominations
Snap Judgment Ranking: 3/5 stars

I actually reread a couple of old reviews of mine before deciding to tackle this installment of the Dreamworks' series Kung Fu Panda just to get a sense of the previous films.  Dreamworks (foolishly, in my opinion), decided to go with a Pixar-level tactic of waiting five years to come out with a new installment to one of their quintessential film franchises, hoping that overall devotion to the series could carry that long.  Considering the gross for the film was down over $100 million from the previous installment, this was probably a foolish decision (Dreamworks Animation has made several of those in the past decade), but I was also curious to read reviews because of my memory of the first two films.  I am not a fan of this animation house-despite 32 feature films, most of which I've seen, I have only really liked three of the movies they've produced, two of which of are in this series (the other being the first How to Train Your Dragon).  Revisiting what may well be the final film in the trilogy (at least I'm hoping that's the case considering how it closes) felt like a weird rush for a trio of films I initially wrote off before actually watching them and being impressed.

(Spoilers Ahead) I think there's a few reasons to really enjoy the Kung Fu Panda pictures, but one of the chief ones is that they're genuinely funny.  Jack Black is an actor of somewhat limited means, but he's a compelling onscreen presence and when he finds a role that suits him, like Po, he nails it against the wall.  Po is hilarious, albeit a character whose eventual journey to being the Dragon Master is a bit hard to follow if you hadn't immediately seen the two previous films.  I never quite know what the rules are for sequels in rehashing "scenes from the previous episode," but I will say that I felt a little lost for the first fifteen minutes or so trying to remember what had happened in the previous episode, and specifically if JK Simmons' Kai (an evil yak, because of course), was a new villain or a villain from a previous installment that I'd just misplaced in my memory.  He was, in fact, new, though here I feel like the franchise dropped the ball a bit, as no one was going to live up to Gary Oldman's evil peacock from the second installment of the series (that was a joyous creation).

The film does succeed in a number of great visual gags, though.  The fights here are some of the best I've seen in the series, and truly marvelous to behold.  The film also does a good job of balancing Po's increasing seriousness with his natural comic persona (this is, after all, still a children's movie and never had the gravitas to be able to pull off what Pixar did during it's 2007-10 Golden Age)-the scene where Po must decide whether to return to the mortal realm or not is one where the adults get what he's deciding, but for the kids it still has the playfulness where it's a panda talking to a turtle.

All-in-all, no new ground is broken here and I maintain that the second film is still the best part of the series, but there's a lot to love in this installment.  I genuinely liked most of the scenes, and felt like the movies continued to find a cultivated and strong supporting cast of players (something Dreamworks does well), except in one very obvious case: Kate Hudson's Mei Mei.  I know the story behind this part, clearly intended to be a love interest for Po that got lost in storyboarding, and originally Rebel Wilson, whose comic skills match Black's, was scheduled to play the part and then (due to scheduling conflicts) had to drop out and Hudson filled in at the last minute.  This ends up being a disaster, as her first scene feels strange (is she just a woman who is blinded by her lack of talent or is she just seducing Po-it's very hard to say?), and then she has almost no interactions onscreen with Po, but gets a ridiculously over-the-top line reading at a critically-emotional scene later on in the film where she said she was a "nunchuck chick" and yet we haven't hearkened back to her at all since her first blustery scene.  It's a badly edited choice by the directors, one where they probably should have cut her storyline entirely from the film but didn't know how to (and probably were trying to set up a potential sequel for the studio's sake), but Hudson is badly underwritten and miscast, and it wears on those scenes of the movie in a jarring way (it's the first thing I thought of wanting to write about prior to this review...never a good sign for a film I actually liked).

Those are my thoughts on (what I'm hoping, in terms of story structure) is the final Kung Fu Panda film, and by-and-large it was a successful trilogy in my opinion.  How about you?  Which is your favorite (as I mentioned above, mine's the second) and where does this rank on your Dreamworks' animation list?  Do you also feel like Rebel Wilson could have saved Mei Mei or was this simply a character without redemption?  Share your thoughts below!

Oscar Trivia: Presenting the Oscars, Part 1

All right Oscar trivia nerds, it's time to step up to the plate as a project I came up with last month and have been scouring through books and websites since to figure out (okay, one book and one website, but I don't get to do a lot of research projects in my life so indulge me) has come to a close and now we'll have some articles as a result.  I recently was googling, and could not find a list of the most frequent presenters at the Oscars.  I found lots of lists of the most-common host (Bob Hope), but never regarding the presenters and I thought that was just silliness, so I took it upon myself to come up with the list.  As I was compiling, I realized there was a whole host of trivia to come out of such an idea, so I figured why not create a blog post or two on the matter.  Therefore, we'll be having a short three-part series called Presenting an Oscar over the next week.  Today, we'll go with a straight-up list of the Top 10 most frequent presenters, as well as a little trivia about them in regard to Oscars.  Shall we begin?

(Note: People count as Oscar presenters if they introduce an award, performance, clip reel, or nominated film.  I'm not counting hosting unless you also presented a specific award and I'm not counting performers of musical numbers for this list at least.)

8. Michael Douglas (tie)

Times He's Presented: 12
First Presented: 1984 (Best Documentary Short)
Latest Presented: 2012 (Best Director)
Has He Presented Best Picture?: Yes, twice in 2000 and 2002 (the latter with his father Kirk, for Chicago, a film starring his wife)
What's His Oscar History?: Douglas is weirdly two-for-two when it comes to Oscar, having won for both Best Picture (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) and Best Actor (Wall Street).  Those are his only two nominations.  It feels like the right number of wins, but I'm surprises Douglas, a movie star for over forty years, hasn't been able to score more nominations.

8. Goldie Hawn (tie)

Times She's Presented: 12
First Presented: 1970 (Best Actor, famously stating "oh my god" before announcing George C. Scott...it's vintage flower-child style Goldie if you've never seen the clip)
Latest Presented: 2013 (Best Picture segments for Captain Phillips, Philomena, and 12 Years a Slave)
Has She Presented Best Picture?: No, and considering how frequently it's levied at the Oscars that they are pretty repetitive and sexist when it comes to who gets to hand out the top honor, this seems like a pretty damn good choice.  Get on it AMPAS!
What's Her Oscar History?: Hawn won an Oscar for Cactus Flower in 1969 and was nominated eleven years later for Private Benjamin.  It's worth noting that Goldie, despite being a frequent attender and even a two-time host of the Oscars, wasn't there to pick up her only Oscar, instead having Raquel Welch pick up her trophy.

8. Audrey Hepburn (tie)

Times She's Presented: 12
First Presented: 1954 (Writing Awards)
Last Presented: 1991 (Honorary Award to Satyajit Ray)
Has She Presented Best Picture?: Yes, four times (second only to Jack Nicholson) in 1955, 1960, 1966, and 1975
What's Her Oscar History?: Audrey won Best Actress in 1953 for Roman Holiday, and was nominated in 1954 (Sabrina), 1959 (The Nun's Story), 1961 (Breakfast at Tiffany's), and 1967 (Wait Until Dark).  Her humanitarian work also won her the Jean Hersholt in 1993.

8. Nicole Kidman (tie)

Times She's Presented: 12
First Presented: 1991 (Presented by Best Song nominee "Everything I Do (I Do It For You)")
Latest Presented: 2014 (Best Foreign Language Film)
Has She Presented Best Picture?: Not yet, though there's time considering she's relatively young by such standards.  Her ex-husband Tom Cruise did, though, in 2011.
What's Her Oscar History?: Despite a truly impressive filmography in the past decade (one could argue this number should be double what it is), Kidman has three Oscar nominations from 2001 (Moulin Rouge!), 2002 (The Hours), and 2010 (Rabbit Hole), winning for The Hours.

8. Jack Nicholson (tie)

Times He's Presented: 12 (and yes, I figured this number would be greater too, but Jack took some long breaks in presenting)
First Presented: 1971 (Best Picture)
Latest Presented: 2012 (Best Picture)
Has He Presented Best Picture?  If you are actually asking this question, you need to start watching the Oscars.  Jack always presents Best Picture, having done it eight of his twelve times at presenting.  He did it in 1971, 1976, 1977, 1989, 1992, 2005, 2006, and 2012.  It's worth noting that with A Few Good Men competing in 1992 and The Departed in 2006, he's actually presented in years where he was in the eligible picture, which is rare.
What's His Oscar History?: Jack Nicholson is a twelve-time Oscar-nominated legend.  Cited for Easy Rider (1969), Five Easy Pieces (1970), The Last Detail (1973), Chinatown (1974), One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), Reds (1981), Terms of Endearment (1983), Prizzi's Honor (1985), Ironweed (1987), A Few Good Men (1992), As Good As It Gets (1997), and About Schmidt (2002), Nicholson is second only to Meryl Streep in terms of nominations and second only to Kate Hepburn in terms of wins (he won for Cuckoo, Terms, and As Good As It Gets).  He is also tied with Michael Caine for most consecutive decades with a nomination.

8. Steven Spielberg (tie)

Times He's Presented: 12 (again, I thought it would be more too)
First Presented: 1979 (Best Director, along with Goldie Hawn no less...wonder if Spielberg could convince her to make another movie?)
Latest Presented: 2010 (Best Picture)
Has He Presented Best Picture?: Yep, three times (2003, 2008, and 2010)
What's His Oscar History?: Steven Spielberg has a truly weird career with the Oscars.  While everyone today thinks of a Spielberg film as a gimme nomination, prior to his wins for Schindler's List, it was very hit-and-miss.  He wasn't nominated for directing Jaws, The Color Purple, or Empire of the Sun, and films like Close Encounters couldn't seal-the-deal in the Best Picture race with a nomination.  Still, he has 15 nominations with three wins amongst them (Best Picture/Director for Schindler's List and Best Director for Saving Private Ryan), plus he also has the Thalberg Award won in 1986), so it's not like they haven't amply rewarded the man.

7. Dustin Hoffman

Times He's Presented: 13
First Presented: 1967 (Best Cinematography)
Latest Presented: 2012 (the Writing Awards, with Charlize Theron)
Has He Presented Best Picture?: Twice, in 1986 and in 2004 (which he co-presented with his Meet the Fockers costar Barbra Streisand)
What's His Oscar History?: Hoffman has been nominated seven times for Best Actor, for The Graduate (1967), Midnight Cowboy (1969), Lenny (1974), Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), Tootsie (1982), Rain Man (1988), and Wag the Dog (1997); he won for both Kramer and Rain Man.

5. Bob Hope (tie)

Times He's Presented: 14 (he also hosted the show eighteen times, a record that will likely stand forever considering the fickle nature of entertainment)
First Presented: 1938 (Short Subjects)
Last Presented: 1990 (Presented a montage called "My First Movie")
Has He Presented Best Picture?: No, likely because he was always too busy getting ready to close the show.
What's His Oscar History?: As Hope lamented many, many times through the years he was never able to get nominated for an acting award during his illustrious career (likely because he dabbled in comedy more than drama, and also because he was far better at playing Bob Hope than he was a fictional character).  The Academy didn't forget him, however, and gave him five honoraries in 1940, 1944, 1952, 1959 (the Jean Hersholt), and 1965.  One hopes they shell out at least one eventually for his modern-day equivalent Billy Crystal.

5. Jack Lemmon (tie)

Times He's Presented: 14 (he also hosted the Oscars four times)
First Presented: 1955 (Art Direction, which he handed out with singer Peggy Lee)
Last Presented: 1997 (the Writing Awards with his longtime costar Walter Matthau, who with eleven awards presented just missed this list)
Has He Presented Best Picture?: Yes, in 1965 to The Sound of Music
What's His Oscar History?: Lemmon was nominated for eight Oscars in 1955 (Mister Roberts), 1959 (Some Like It Hot), 1960 (The Apartment), 1962 (Days of Wine and Roses), 1973 (Save the Tiger), 1979 (The China Syndrome), 1980 (Tribute), and 1982 (Missing); he won for Mister Roberts and Save the Tiger.

4. Gregory Peck

Times He's Presented: 16 (in addition to being a major movie star, Peck also served as president of the Academy which helps in his count here)
First Presented: 1957 (Art Direction, with Eva Marie Saint who has presented ten times at the Oscars so far, nearly making this list)
Last Presented: 1994 (Presented the Quiz Show Best Picture segment)
Has He Presented Best Picture?: Once, in 1964 to My Fair Lady
What's His Oscar History?: Peck was nominated five times in 1945 (The Keys of the Kingdom), 1946 (The Yearling), 1947 (Gentleman's Agreement), 1949 (Twelve O'Clock High), and eventually winning in 1962 in To Kill a Mockingbird.

3. Tom Hanks

Times He's Presented: 17
First Presented: 1986 (Best Animated Short Film, with co-presenter Bugs Bunny)
Latest Presented: 2011 (Best Cinematography and Art Direction)
Has He Presented Best Picture?: Twice, in 2001 and 2009.
What's His Oscar History?: Everybody's favorite movie star of the 1990's has been nominated five times in his career, in 1988 (Big), 1993 (Philadelphia), 1994 (Forrest Gump), 1998 (Saving Private Ryan), and 2000 (Cast Away), winning for Philadelphia and Forrest Gump.

2. John Travolta

Times He's Presented: 18
First Presented: 1977 (Best Supporting Actress)
Latest Presented: 2014 (Best Original Song, with Idina Menzel, whose name he infamously butchered the year before...considering he'd presented 17 times at that point you'd think he could have better practiced).
Has He Presented Best Picture?: Nope, not yet, though I'm sure it will eventually happen-maybe when he eventually takes over number one?
What's His Oscar History?: Travolta is a two-time nominee, for 1977's Saturday Night Fever and 1994's Pulp Fiction.  While he's never won, I have to imagine that either an Honorary Award or an "old-age" style award is in his future as he seems genuinely popular in Hollywood and consistently makes movies, though lately not very many good ones.

1. Jack Valenti

Times He's Presented: 24
First Presented: 1966 (Honorary Award to Y. Frank Freeman)
Last Presented: 2002 (Best Documentary Short Subject)
Has He Ever Presented Best Picture?: Nope, Valenti's appearances at the Oscars almost always happened in the middle hour of the ceremony and he rarely got a marquee award.
What's His Oscar History?: For those of you saying "who?!?" in regard to Valenti topping movie stars like Travolta and Hanks on this list, Valenti was once one of the most powerful figures in Hollywood.  The head of the MPAA, he was imperative to creating the modern ratings system and spent years fighting the idea of home video (saying it would be the death of the movies).  Valenti was also in one of the most iconic photos in American history-he can be seen in the bottom left corner of the picture of President Lyndon Johnson, as he served as a media adviser for him.  Despite his repeated awards from the industry (he won an honorary trophy from both the PGA and DGA), he never won an Honorary Oscar.

And there you have it folks-we'll get into some other fun minutia of the presenters later this week, but in the meantime-who is a surprise on this list?  Who did you expect to top the list?  Do you have a favorite amongst these presenters?  Share your thoughts in the comments!

John's Favorite Shows #2: The Simpsons

In case you're new to the blog, I'm doing a countdown of my favorite television shows and their best episodes.  If you’ve missed any of them, check out the links at the bottom of this post for all of the past roundups.

Wait, what?  I read this blog regularly and I have never seen anything about a TV Show episode countdown-how could this be?!?  If you're asking that first, thanks for reading regularly and second, yeah, that's on me, not on you.  Last year I started a series of the best episodes of all-time of my favorite series, but got stuck when I hit #2 (they are some of the most-trafficked posts in the history of the site and some of my favorites, so if you haven't read them yet please click the links at the bottom of the page, and remember the date they were published if you're grousing about the fifth season missing for Game of Thrones).  It's hard not to be daunted when picking the best episodes of the television series The Simpsons, though.  574 episodes and counting, so many of them absolute brilliance, and yes, as a true fan I have seen literally every episode.  I actually started watching the show in the mid-90's when my parents had banned me from watching the show-my brother had the same idea, and we were both sneaking around watching it on different televisions when we both laughed at the same spot, thus blowing both of our covers (after that, in a far more environmentally-friendly way we perused clandestinely on the same television).

Creating a Top 10 list for it, though, was a challenge not just because of the daunting task ahead, but also because with dozens and dozens of well-rounded side characters, it's hard not to look chummy and a bit like you aren't spreading the wealth.  My favorite characters on the show are Lisa, Sideshow Bob, and Mr. Burns, and I could easily just fill up a Top 10 with those three characters as the central figures and be happy, but that would leave out Marge, Homer, Bart, Moe, Edna, and all of the other Springfield-ers that fill Matt Groening's magical world.  As a result, I tried to spread the wealth a bit, but you can judge in the comments if I did what I intended.  Since you've already waited long enough, I won't make you stave off any further.  Here are my Top 10 Simpsons episodes:

10. "Raging Abe Simpson and His Grumbling Grandson in 'The Curse of the Flying Hellfish'" (#7.22)

Possibly the prettiest episode of the series (the animation is flawless), this is also one of the greatest stand-alone style episodes, where Abe, dismissed by his grandson for being an old coot, realizes that he is one of the last surviving members of the Flying Hellfish, and has a tontine with Mr. Burns involving some priceless World War II artifacts (in true Simpsons attention to detail, the paintings depicted are actually lost WWII art).  The episode features Mr. Burns at his most diabolical, including hiring a bumbling assassin to off Grampa and consistently tries to murder he and Bart.  The episode is unique not only because it's one of the few where Homer, Marge, and Lisa don't factor in at all (this is clearly a Bart-centered episode), but also because it's so action-packed, essentially serving as a stirring adventure movie more than your average Simpsons installment.

9. "Sideshow Bob Roberts" (#6.5)

"The dead have risen-and they're voting Republican!"  So proclaims Bart in arguably my favorite line in the entire series.  This is one of the best Sideshow Bob installments in the series, a wonderful parody of the entire political system, with Bob being released from prison and promptly runs for political office against the inept Mayor Quimby.  Bob wins the election, but it turns out he was pulling a Mayor Daley-style election-style, having dead citizens of Springfield out voting for him to ensure his victory.  The political junkie in me is overjoyed by all of the detail in this episode, from Birch Barlow's blowhard impression of Rush Limbaugh to the Waylon Smithers Deep Throat aspect to the final courtroom speech from Bob.  Best of all may be Kelsey Grammar actually being a charming, confident conservative in real-life, finding a strong corollary between art and life.

8. "Treehouse of Horror V" (#6.6)

I'm just now realizing these episodes were back-to-back-awesome.  You can't do a Simpsons rundown without at least one Treehouse of Horror, where all pandemonium is thrown into the carefully structured universe of Springfield, and this is certainly the best one.  When the clever Soylent Green-parody is easily the worst of the bunch, you know you're in for a treat. You also have the brilliant "Time and Punishment," where Homer throws us into a series of visually-popping realities ranging from a world where Bart and Lisa are giants to Ned Flanders as a cruel dictator (considering he's also the devil, it's sort of a cold rag the producers throw on religious zealots in the series).  Best of all you have Homer doing his best Jack Torrance in "The Shinning," with a dead ghost Moe and a soon-to-be-axed Willie filling out the supporting cast.  I cannot stop laughing during the episode's best sight gag, where Homer continually chops into doors saying not just "Here's Johnny," but also taglines for The Late Show and (successfully) with 60 Minutes.  It's smart comedy at its brainiest.

7. "Lisa's Substitute," (#2.19)

Lisa Simpson is a tragic figure in a lot of ways.  A young woman with sparkling ideals, stuck in a house that frequently dismisses her as a kook or someone that is "outside the norm," she needed a role model, and that comes in the form of substitute teacher Mr. Bergstrom.  While both Marge and Homer have had near affairs or cheated on the family, no one did it in the emotionally-starved way that Lisa did, as she finds a newfound hope in a role model who celebrates her individuality.  The episode's best moments may not just involve Dustin Hoffman's wonderful guest spot (he was billed under the pseudonym Sam Etic), but the way Lisa blasts Homer for being callous and how Marge a-characteristically stands against her husband stating, "no little girl can be happy unless she has faith in her daddy."  In one of those rare moments in the series where Homer isn't just given a free pass, he actually apologizes, finds some solace in Lisa, and she forgives him.  It's a beautiful moment in perhaps the series most poignant relationship (Homer and his completely opposite daughter Lisa), and one that decades later is still fondly recalled by fans of the show, including yours truly.

6. "A Streetcar Named Marge," (#4.2)

I promise not to make this entire list about Homer-shaming, but if Lisa got her day against her father's oafishness in Number 7, then "A Streetcar Named Marge" gave his wife a moment of pride over Homer's callousness.  Marge is playing Blanche DuBois in a local production of A Streetcar Named Desire, but Homer is acting with indifference toward her artistic and creative side, and she fuels her anger at him to drive her performance.  The show is wonderful not just because it allows Marge to have a personality outside of being just a wife and mother, but also because it shows the weird dynamic in their relationship has to be stretched on occasion, as Homer is too unkind to Marge too often, and she reaches a breaking point.  This alone would qualify it for the list, but we also have one of the series' great B-plots with Maggie at an Ayn Rand School for Tots, where she parodies The Great Escape to get back at her teacher for taking away her pacifier.  So memorable was this story that it became the source of The Longest Daycare, which scored The Simpsons their first Oscar nomination.

5. "Bart Sells His Soul," (#7.4)

Occasionally in the 1970's, the era of sitcoms that Matt Groening would have grown up with, episodes would try to encapsulate something more important, something uncomfortable for the audience.  It was a moving experience, principally because it showed that our beloved comedic characters whom we would go to for warmth and familiarity could have their lives interrupted by a crisis.  This is probably the closest The Simpsons ever got to that, with Bart selling his soul to Milhouse without realizing its worth.  In the end he gets it back from the always kind Lisa, but in the meantime he goes on a spiritual journey, feeling lost and alone. This episode has been taught in religion classes about the nature of the soul and spirituality, and is surely the darkest moment in the history of the series.  It also proclaims that Bart is familiar with the works of Pablo Neruda, a passion I wouldn't have expected from him.

4. "Mr. Plow," (#4.9)

If ever there was a season of television that the Emmys should be ashamed for not letting be nominated for Best Comedy Series, it is the fourth season of The Simpsons.  Basically every episode from the season is considered a classic, perhaps none more iconically than Mr. Plow, Homer's snow-plowing business that creates him much success, and garners him the most familiar ditty of the series (just try not to sing it right now).  The episode features an intense rivalry with Barney, who essentially pushes Homer out of business with Linda Ronstadt somehow in tow, and has wonderful touches from Homer doing an impression of an old woman (Forbidden Widow's Peak) to God himself ruining both of their businesses at the end of the episode.  All-in-all, it might be a cliche to put it on a list of the greatest episodes, but like "Time Enough at Last" and "The One Where Everyone Finds Out," "Mr. Plow is undeniable.

3. "Lisa's First Word," (#4.10)

Once again we have back-to-back episodes, but unlike "Mr. Plow," this one is iconic for the ridiculously beautiful ending to the episode.  The characters, while trying to get Maggie to speak, stumble instead into a story about Lisa's first word.  We were still close enough to beginning of the series to get away with a story of the children being in the actual 1980's, rather than later gags where flashbacks couldn't rely on pop culture, and so you get wonderful sight gags of Homer singing Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun."  The episode's ending is what sets it apart, though, as the producers got Oscar-winning actress Elizabeth Taylor, one of the biggest stars to grace the series, to be the voice of Maggie Simpson, having her first word be "daddy."  It's a beautiful little moment that Taylor reportedly did dozens of takes to get exactly right, but it's perfect that the silent Simpson get such a gargantuan titan of acting to be her vocalist.

2. "Marge vs. the Monorail (#4.12)

For the record, the eleventh episode (since we went three out of four here) of "Homer's Triple Bypass" was also quite wonderful and poetic, but if I have to pick a favorite episode from the best season of the series, it would assuredly be "Marge vs. the Monorail," a wonderful parody of The Music Man which involves Marge trying to solve the city's infrastructure problem with the millions that Mr. Burns has been forced to spend as a result of EPA violations.  However, Marge is overruled by a huckster named Lyle Lanley, who convinces the city that they need a monorail to improve transit.  He shortchanges them on supplies and eventually they build a monorail (with Homer as conductor, naturally) that is clearly destined for doom.  The entire episode is classic, with a lovely cameo from Leonard Nimoy and the classic "Monorail Song" at the episode's center.  All-in-all, a great showcase for both Julie Kavner and the late, great Phil Hartman.

1. "Cape Feare," (#5.2)

How do you pick a best episode of a series that has run for 26 seasons?  Well, you start with an episode that would result in iconography for the series (that score!), you mix in a plot so impressively full that you don't need a B-story, and then you mix in references from everyone from Gilbert & Sullivan to Linda Lavin.  Honestly-this is pretty much a perfect 22 minutes of television, with Kelsey Grammar wonderfully-playing his role as Sideshow Bob, creating the model for pretty much every later endeavor he undertakes, while the entire Simpsons clan gets consistent humor and sight gags.  Parodying the similarly-named Robert de Niro picture of two years earlier, this shows exactly what I love about The Simpsons: it's biting, wry, and not afraid to keep the humor sophisticated, even amidst the occasional belch.

And there you have it-my list of the Top 10 episodes.  I swear you won't have to wait as long for Number One on this list as you did for Number Two, but in the meantime, let's discuss-did I make the right call for the Matt Groening series (I'm a little disappointed I didn't pick any of the episodes past Season 7, as there's still a lot of great stuff there, even if this list sort of backs up the "Simpsons classic years" argument)?  If not, the comments are there for the typing!

For more of my favorites: Girls, Pushing Daisies, How I Met Your Mother, Game of Thrones, The Office, Ally McBeal, Sex and the City, Desperate Housewives, South Park, Mad Men, The Twilight Zone, Friends, Gilmore Girls

OVP: Barney's Version (2010)

Film: Barney's Version (2010)
Stars: Paul Giamatti, Dustin Hoffman, Rosamund Pike, Minnie Driver, Rachel Lefevre, Scott Speedman
Director: Richard J. Lewis
Oscar History: 1 nomination (Best Makeup)
Snap Judgment Ranking: 2/5 stars

Part of reviewing movies is being able to separate the idea from the execution.  Sometimes, there are movies that are beyond mundane in their ideas (yet another meet-cute, yet another biopic, yet another superhero saves the world), that can work if the acting, writing, and direction stay sharp.  On the other hand (on the Barney's Version hand), you can have a clever, well-rounded story idea that never quite gets to where it's going because it meanders and loses focus.

Barney's Version tells the tale of Barney Panofsky (Giamatti), a Canadian TV producer with a massive womanizing and drinking problem, and during the first half of the film, we see him through the eyes of the three women he chose to marry (not necessarily the three women he chose to love, however).  It's unclear at first what the goal of the film is, and it becomes hazy as to why Barney is randomly remembering certain things, and the first third is horribly edited (the film cuts from a confrontation with a detective to a flashback that is wholly and completely unrelated to what the detective is talking about), though after a while you start to catch on, though the random editing is a bit opportunistic when you find the "explanation."

(Spoilers ahead) The film takes us through the three marriages of Barney's life, first his unfortunate one to a mentally ill woman (Lefevre, and yes, I believe this is the role that cost her that plum part in Twilight Saga: Eclipse) whom he assumes he knocked up, and whom he is mildly responsible for the death of (the woman had just given birth, to a baby that was clearly not the child of Barney, and in this act of betrayal he completely abandons her despite his knowing her mental health issues, and she commits suicide).  Barney moves on from her, and meets his second wife, the daughter of a wealthy Jewish family (Driver) who interestingly enough doesn't have a name (again, this works into the ending a bit), and her character comes across as a spoiled, shrill stereotype (to Driver's credit, she does what she can with the role, but over-the-top obnoxious is hard to dampen).  Of course, being that Barney has already shown himself to be a massive cad, he actually tries to run away with another woman at the ceremony named Miriam (Pike) who does end up being the love of his life, and eventually becomes his third wife.

His rampant infidelity doesn't end there, though, and while he tames it for a while, he eventually becomes jealous of Miriam's relationship with another man (whom she eventually marries, but didn't cheat with), and has a one-night stand with a fan who ends his wonderful marriage.  He spends the final third of the movie trying to win back the love of his life, and as the film starts to close, we see that he has been suffering from the early stages of dementia as the film progresses, and all of these memories are about to be gone.

Again, it's an interesting concept for a movie, but it doesn't work for a couple of reasons.  For starters, the dementia angle is hinted at way too quickly-it's very obvious from the beginning that he is starting to lose it, and the "big reveal" doesn't quite work because it's more of a "duh" moment.  Secondly, it doesn't work because when a movie completely shifts focus two-thirds of the way through, it risks making the previous two-thirds of the film seem totally unnecessary.  Why, for example, is such a huge part of Barney's life spent on his being accused of murdering his best friend (Speedman) when in the end there is such little connection between Barney and his best friend?  If it's a commentary on how we don't know what things mattered while we were doing them, that gets lost completely on-screen and is too big of a leap for the audience to credit the writers.  The film is based on a novel, and it feels like a number of things got lost in translation.

There are some solid performances throughout the film, particularly Hoffman as an aging, abrasive cop who has had a good life but nothing particularly special about it.  Paul Giamatti won the Golden Globe for his performance, so he may not have been entirely out of the running for his second Oscar nomination, and he does have his moments.  However, his persistent shift from zero to a thousand with all of his characters wears a bit (how come every single one of his characters have the exact same rage issues?), and though he probably deserved it out of one of the weakest lineups in Golden Globe history, there is nothing really special about this turn. Caveat: seriously, I've never seen anything quite that lineup before-The Tourist and Love and Other Drugs and Alice in Wonderland and Casino Jack are your competition?!?  Where was Michael Cera for the delightfully absurd Scott Pilgrim?!?

With this cast you'd assume the film received an acting or a writing nomination to be included in the OVP, but in fact it was in the Best Makeup category that it was featured.  While it is impressive and subtle that they kept the same actors throughout the movie and just aged them frontwards and sideways, I feel like this is done in almost every other film, and while more is more is typically the way the Oscars go in this category and one should be proud of a less is more sort of situation, the reality is that this is a less is less sort of scene: hair dye, new hairstyles, and a couple of prosthetics do not an Oscar nomination make.  I've still got one more to go in this category, but I have to believe that Rick Baker's going to be earning his first OVP Oscar if The Way Back doesn't get in the way (terrible, I know, but it's early).

What about you-what'd you think of Barney's Version?  Do you wish that Paul Giamatti would be able to play a different style of character?  What sort of role would spice up Minnie Driver's career?  And what would have been the correct lineup for the Best Actor in a Comedy category at the Golden Globes?

84. Dustin Hoffman (The Graduate)

84. As promised, I will be granting you two performances today to make up for my Easter absence (I also haven't watched a film yet this Easter, which I must surely take on this weekend-maybe I'll work on some homework and indulge in a little Kurosawa).

Anyway, back to the task at hand, the dapper young man at the left-for how could one pay attention to my weekend when we have the fantastic Dustin Hoffman, master of the comedic and dramatic everyman, glaring so needily at us? Though he was thirty-a tad old for a graduate, but who are we to judge?-he captured youth and vigor in his Ben Braddock.

My favorite part of Hoffman's performance, is of course, that tender need/lust/amour that he carries on with the sensational Anne Bancroft as Mrs. Robinson. The fumbling with the cigarette kiss, the shocked look he exudes with her thigh bared to the audience and he alike. The "Singleman party" line-Hoffman is a man in love, but he isn't quite sure what love is. There's something endearing and yet very real about not being to identify the emotion-and adds all the more to that ambigous ending. Hoffman may have become slightly arrogant in his old age, but look at this role-isn't a little self-love deserved with something so capable?

A Hoffman film festival? Hmm, while you could go with his creepy antics in Marathon Man or the walking man in Midnight Cowboy, I should probably recommend a film festival where I've seen the movies. Therefore, I'd lead in with The Graduate, break out the laughter with Tootsie, and end up with a good cry in Kramer vs. Kramer.