The End is Near

It finally happened. I reached my limit today. I can’t read about, or think about the Oscars any more. Today, while spending way too much time at the invaluable Oscarwatch and then spinning off to various links, posts, and commentary, I must have read a dozen persuasive arguments for why Babel, The Departed or Little Miss Sunshine will most definitely win Best Picture. As of now, it appears that The Queen and Letters… have lost what little steam they had to start with, thus making them the two contenders for upset winner. Whatever. Let’s just get it over with.

It appears that the real race is still between LMS and Departed. The fact they are so different at least makes this an intriguing race (if there really is a race to the finish between these two). Comparing these two films makes about as much sense as the old apples-and-oranges exercise. How do you do that? One is a smart, heartwarming and economic comedy; the other is an operatic crime saga. Both of them apply, with skill and panache, the mechanics of filmmaking to achieve their purposes.
In the end, they are both very good –but not great—motion pictures. Great movies didn’t get nominated for best picture this year. I think there was some rule or mandate about that. That’s why Volver, Water, Pan’s Labyrinth and United 93 aren’t on the roster. Maybe that’s why I’m so crabby. As of today, my own personal Top Ten of 2006 would go something like this:
Pan’s Labyrinth
Volver
Water
Children of Men
United 93
Casino Royale
The Queen
Little Miss Sunshine
Dreamgirls
Babel

None of my top five makes Oscar’s top five. Now, taking one last look at the various Guild and Critics awards which we have been tallying since December, The Departed takes the lead just ahead of LMS. And, if my calculations are right, Babel follows, next come Letters, and The Queen stumbles and falls. Of course, as a dependable predictor of anything, this data is absolutely useless (he sighs with rather huffy resignation, still smarting from last year’s Brokeback snub.)

My disappointment in The Departed has, admittedly, softened a bit (although the third act still lags and languishes, and I just don’t believe Vera Farmiga’s character for a second). This is, like United 93 and Pan, so much a director’s picture, that even if he had one a couple of Oscars already, Scorsese should still be the frontrunner in that category. In the early part of the movie, there is vigor, an excitement, that takes us right back to Mean Streets. Scorsese has never stopped loving the movies, or moviemaking. So even if The Departed isn’t his greatest opus (and it isn’t), it is the best directed American film of 2006. Give him the award already and let’s now focus on The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt.

So this is my last Oscar post until the much-anticipated morning after. (I say that anyway; but I’ll probably change my mind tomorrow.)