Let's Call The Hole Thing On (Patreon)

A rare blowout in this week's request poll, with Tsai's The Hole defeating Kim's A Bittersweet Life 70% to 30%. This was my second Tsai joint (after Vive L'Amour), seen at NYC's Cinema Village in 1999; I'd completely forgotten that it was part of the "2000 vu par…" project, which also included Hartley's The Book of Life and McKellar's Last Night, among others. (There were 10 films total, ostensibly exploring life at the turn of the millennium.) Pretty sure I dug it, though not to the extent that I flipped for What Time Is It There? a couple of years later. Doesn't seem to be readily available anywhere at present, alas. But I'll figarrrrrr something out. 

(I'm back home from San Francisco, incidentally, with full access to my video library once again.) 

At random, just because I happened to come across it earlier today, here's a post I made to the nerd chat group 20 years ago, in a thread soliciting FYC Skandie candidates. (Written in the pseudo Vern-acular I then frequently used.)

At first I was not going to take part in this thread on account of I figured it would only do the harm since many people are leery of the so-called D'Angelo Effect that memorably resulted in Hillary Swanky still finishing third for Best Actress four years ago and of course the landslide of points not awarded to Christopher Kattan in Boning the Monkey. [2023: That was sarcasm. I had argued against Swank and in favor of Kattan. Voters constantly ignore me.] But then certain unnamed parties ordered me not to take part (offlist) and so here are my three FYC items. They are all from pictures that I was Mixed on but that are still worth the seeing if you missed them and as of today they are available on the home video.

Best Supporting Actor: David Morse, The Slaughter Rule

In the Voice pole most people mistakenly put him in the lead category but the picture is about Ryan Gosling not him. This is one of the best portraits of wounded gay masculinity the American cinema has ever seen in my opinion. His emotions are volcanic and you can see the strain that tamping them down is causing him throughout the picture and it is harrowing as all hell. If the rest of the picture were as combustible as Morse's performance the cinemas would have caught fire in my opinion.  Except the cinemas did not show this picture really which is too bad. 

Best Scene: The shoot-out, Open Range

I was not too big the fan of Dancing With the Wolves and I did not see The Postman (But Not Il Postino) but Kevin Costco really redeems himself as the director with his classicalistic work in this picture. In fact I can barely remember why I did not fully enjoy this picture to be frankly honest, I think it was something to do with the [2023: r-word I no longer use elided] romance involving Annette Benning.  However she is not involved in this particular scene I am talking about so that is okay. What this scene is is people shoot at each other with guns and it is awesome. I am usually a stiff board during the gun battles but this one has the startling authenticitude and Costco somehow makes it chaotic but also coherent at the same time. I am sorry but there is not one scene in Kill Bilge that is as exciting as this scene. [2023: Only Vol. 1 had been released at the time, though I probably would have said the same about Vol. 2.]

Best Supporting Actress: Anna Kendrick, Camp

No doubt people will bitch when the obscure Anna Kendrick [2023: That was not sarcasm; she was obscure at the time] shows up on the ballot and complain of the D'Angelo Effect but be advised that there is already the groundswell of the support for Ms. Kendrick, I am just trying to get more people to see this self-evidently awesome performance. Voters like thanksbud who hate musicals on account of their homosexual panic [2023: That was a joke; do not e-mail me complaining thanksbud, thanks bud] will not be too impressed but everybody else's jaw will drop when she performs her big solo and suddenly seems about 30 years older than everybody else. It is like when Jody Foster turned up in Bugsworth Malone. Mark my words Kendrick will be winning Oscars opposite Anthony Hopkins 10 years from now. Unless he is dead. [2023: Stop marking my words. She did get Oscar-nominated once though. And ten years after I wrote the above she was starring in a film with Meryl Streep.] Also this scene is the pretty good Best Scene pick also.