Craig:
No argument here as to "Milk" being Sean Penn's best performance ever. I just felt Rourke's performance -- put side-by-side among those nominated -- was phenomenal. And I admit going in, I didn't want it to be so because of my antipathy towards Rourke. I think the appeal of "Milk" vs. "The Wrestler" (and Penn vs. Rourke) -- depends upon the expectations and biases you bring after you put your money down. For the sake of time, I'll just copy and paste portions of what I wrote earlier today -- in response to a few people who commented privately about my take/analysis of the dynamics behind Penn's win, his victory at the SAG awards last month -- and the hatred many people have out here against Rourke because of his documented run-ins, lack of professionalism, right-wing comments and his, for wont of a better phrase, overall weirdness. <<<<"Hollywood has always been uncomfortable with conservatives like Heston, Stewart, Wayne, Cagney, Hope, Eastwood, Nicholson and Rourke. But in the case of Hope, Eastwood and Nicholson, Hollywood prefers its conservatives to refrain from being outspoken like Heston, Wayne and Rourke (but I'm in no way putting Rourke in the same iconic league as Heston and Wayne). It's just a double-standard about Hollywood itself in the post-Vietnam era. ....I hope you are happy for Sean Penn's win because of his performance -- without regard to issues regarding the nobility and heroic nature of Harvey Milk himself. Because for the longest time, I felt Penn OWNED the best performance of 2008 -- slam dunk -- UNTIL I saw "The Wrestler." It was then I had to face down my own prejudices against Rourke -- and decide as honestly as I could -- who turned in the better performance. Penn was great, but Rourke's was something you see about as often, as I said, as a DeNiro in Raging Bull or a Hopkins in Lambs. I'm not kidding, I went in with low expectations, almost rooting against the picture because of all I had seen before. But the acting and the film were amazing. Not what I expected. I felt "The Wrestler" should have been nominated for Best Picture. It had an austere, hand-held, grainy authenticity many would appreciate. I so did NOT want to see the picture, but I came out feeling it was time well worth spent.">>>>> <<<<"Now as to the merits of "Milk" vs. any other film nominated in the Best Picture category. My view is "Milk" was structured conventionally like any standard bio-pic. But Penn's performance transcends the linear construct. Without him, "Milk" sinks like a dead weight TV-movie. Had "Milk" been presented more innovatively -- Harvey Milk's journey and accomplishments -- would've felt more profound and emotional with audiences of all stripes, gay AND straight. I am always hoping a film like this does more than preach to a choir of believers who know how the story ends. "Milk" is based on titanic material -- but lacks the necessary balance of subtlety, sledgehammer and innovation -- that should have left all other pictures in the dust. This is why perhaps in my view only, "Milk" does not feel "best" or even "new." It's supposed to play out like a high-stakes emotional drama, not a paint-by-numbers canonization. The national scope of the story with Anita Bryant and other "villains" are treated like a documentary. The movie's engine is Penn's charisma, not the script, and this doesn't quite feel right. And I've purposely left out the fact -- (because most people haven't seen it) -- that this same material was covered in a superior documentary, "The Life and Times of Harvey Milk" in 1984.>>>>> I'm back again. It's ironic that "Milk" is even being debated against "The Wrestler" -- when the more relevant discussion as it relates to the Oscars -- is how "Slumdog" overcame its flaws and beat everybody up. My wife and I liked "Slumdog," but it didn't move us in the same way the meditative and reflective "Benjamin Button" did, however over produced it was. Its existential ideas about the transient nature of life, love and mortality matter to anyone over 50. Maybe that's why it's a box office failure. Could its weighty ideas been explored as effectively for less money? Maybe. But what a handsome picture it is. -d. > Date: Mon, 23 Feb 2009 22:53:11 -0800 > To: [email protected] > From: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [MOPO] MOPO] OSCARS > CC: [email protected] > > At 12:18 PM 2/23/2009, David Kusumoto wrote: > >I was extremely disappointed with Sean Penn's win. Sean Penn is an > >outstanding actor who gave an uncharacteristically loose, engaging > >and wonderful turn as an heroic figure -- in what I thought was a > >conventionally structured, by-the-numbers-bio-pic capped with the > >standard "where-are-they-now" text epilogue. His performance was > >noble and deserving -- but his victory was politically correct and > >in keeping with the Academy's self-seriousness to anoint things > >historic that makes it feel good about itself (hence the standing ovation). > > > >But in my view, the demands of his role paled compared to Mickey > >Rourke's shattering, full-range performance in "The Wrestler." I am > >not a fan of Mickey Rourke and dislike him intensely. But I could > >not ignore -- having seen all the performances nominated this year > >-- what he did in this picture, from start to finish. His character > >was an exercise in total immersion, on par with what I believe have > >been the best larger-than-life performances nominated since 1980 -- > >including De Niro in Raging Bull (win), Hopkins in Silence of the > >Lambs (win), and Liam Neeson in Schindler's List (lost to Tom Hanks). > > This was, by far, Sean Penn's best performance. He's a heavily mannered > actor whose performances are always full of the things actors love: > screaming, crying, dying, being mentally handicapped. You can always > see "acting". But in "Milk", he gave a subtle, nuanced performance that > wasn't full of ticks. He relaxed into the character and stopped being "Sean > Penn, A*c*t*o*r". I thought he deserved the award (although I also thought > that Mickey Rourke was excellent). > > While not related to who should win for their performance, I thought "Milk" > a better film than "The Wrestler". Rourke and Marisa Tomei were both > great but the film was only "okay". > > Craig. > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > Craig Miller Wolfmill Entertainment [email protected] > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: [email protected] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
