Oscar marathoners: We are not alone

Ellen, right, and I are comfy in the dark.

And this is what’s so thrilling about Oscar marathoning. I put out a call tonight on Facebook inviting anyone to join me in knocking off the supporting actor category at the late show of Creed. I heard not a peep, yet when I showed up at the theater, who’s waiting in the lobby but a fellow sojourner, Ellen Stucker! Imagine. We live in separate towns. It was like a mini-flash mob. We compared lists and notes, enjoyed the flick, then exited our dark sanctuary into the darker night to cram another day.

I recall with bittersweetness (nonpareils) the friends I made at West End Cinema in D.C. — the only place that showed the documentary shorts and truly the highlight of the season. Some people would come from Baltimore or farther just to lap those up, and we’d all pull out our crumpled lists. It was an annual pilgrimage for many of us. If any of you are still reading this blog, let’s meet up somewhere for Anomalisa.

Meanwhile, the documentary shorts are among the most inspiring and riveting categories. If anyone has any leads on where I can inhale them before Feb. 28, do tell.*Note: Funny thing — turns out the last time I blogged about this same phenom, I used the exact same headline!

Oscar marathoners: We are not alone

One bonus of bingeing on Oscar-nominated titles each February is the discovery of arthouses and plush venues while crisscrossing the metro area like a madwoman. The other perk? Stumbling upon fellow crazies.

I don’t mean the guy who followed me out of the theater after the “Philomena” late show insisting on discussing religion and waiting to hold the door that exited to the deserted parking lot (I darted out a different way, Mom). I mean those kindred spirits also trying to knock down as many movies as they can in a single month.

At West End Cinema in D.C. yesterday, I met Jonathan; the mother-daughter team of Cathy/Cathi/Cathie/Kathy/Kathie/Kathi/Kathey (didn’t get the spelling) and Lauren (safe guess); and a woman who left before I could get her name (no, it wasn’t like that). We composed the entire audience for the showing of Documentary Shorts B.

I was unkempt, unwashed and unprepared for any socializing as it was the fifth movie of my week atop my day job. As we sat there in semi-darkness, I first heard the sniggering when I unfolded my old-school mobile app — a stapled, crumpled checklist of every movie nominated for any Oscar, with all manner of scrawling and check marks in the margins. It was a laugh of recognition and understanding, like those at the comedy club when the joke is on you.

The mother shared the secret of her same list, and then the five of us opened up to compare notes before and after the screening, swapping insights, histories, families, dreams. That’s what movies do — they are a coagulation of inspiration and reflection.

Impressively, the mother-daughter team hailed from Olney, Md., and Baltimore, respectively. Why come so far for one rare screening? “You can’t legitimately say which one is gonna win if you haven’t seen them all,” Lauren declared. She spoke for us all.

Jonathan was missing only a handful of titles — he didn’t have the list in front of him, so he wasn’t sure. We complained to sympathetic ears about the dirty trick Oscar pulls by nominating movies not released in the States yet, such as animated feature “Ernest & Celestine,” a British import, which none of us could see before the envelopes are opened; it comes out later this month. If it doesn’t win, we probably won’t bother.

And what’s with foreign films, indies and shorts being 2010-2012 productions but still qualifying for the 2014 awards ceremony? The distribution date is like a sell-by stamp on a canned good. Very iffy.

The lobby at West End Cinema, two blocks north of the Foggy Bottom Metro stop.

It was a rollicking good time with newfound friends, whom I hope to run into again next year at West End Cinema — a gem of a salon, which, incidentally, is hosting a special screening tomorrow, March 2, of a certain live event that shall not be named in a party atmosphere — if anyone is looking to commune with other cinema buffs.

Our little band of brethren chatted afterward — but it was only a little past 6 p.m., so on my way back to the suburbs to catch a 9:15 feature at Cinema Arts in Fairfax, Va., I wondered what else I could squeeze in. My phone had died and I could no longer check movie times. On the Metro, I spied a guy hidden behind the WaPo “Weekend” section with the movie grid nearly visible and plopped down beside him. As I leaned in for a better look, he scooched over. Oh.

So what the heck. I had time. At both Courthouse and Ballston, I hopped off the train and walked to the respective box offices to check whether there was anything I could see I hadn’t seen.

It wasn’t likely.

Moonlighting at the movies

Best Actress Academy Award (Photo credit: cliff1066™)

My second job each February: cramming on all of the Oscar-nominated movies. And I mean ALL of the nominees, not just the Best Picture category.

Fios On Demand and the Hulus and Netflixes of the world make it easier to be an expert. I have never been as close to a total sweep as I am this second.

But I’m running out of time.

Some flicks shall remain beyond reach. Among the doc shorts, “God Is the Bigger Elvis” is tied up in some copyright loop. Nyah-nyah, I won’t root for it, then. GO, “Barber of Birmingham”!

And now that our girls are grown, I am gleefully skipping all of the animated features. (Unless someone wants to rent me a kid?)

I can’t, and have no desire to, see the third “Transformers” flick, because I don’t have 3-D capabilities at home and it won’t play any other way. A convenient excuse. And “Real Steel“? Please, no. It’s “The Champ” with robots. Let’s just say it won’t — can’t possibly — win.

Cannot find three of the five nominated full-length documentaries, nor four of the five foreign films, although “Bullhead” is coming soon to a theater near me, West End Cinema in D.C. Not soon enough. Pity — shame — I didn’t go out to the arthouse cinema more in 2011. The import I did see, “A Separation,” has to be the most important. It remains my favorite film experience of the year, with “The Descendants” a close second.

Of all the Oscar-touched films I can see … ye gads, I still have eight left, and we are four days (and four nights) away from the Oscar gala.

Still need to squeeze in:

• “Midnight in Paris” — a must, nominated for Best Picture and Original Screenplay;
• “W.E.” — which was brought back by a very thoughtful and hip theater in Shirlington, nominated for costume design;
• “Drive,” for sound editing — and my work pal Jon Briggs’ top pick for everything (I believe it’s the only one he saw);
• Both sets of live-action shorts and animated shorts, playing at the local cinema arthouse. They collectively count as two movies, in my scheme;
• The final “Harry Potter” installment  — I have missed the last three, but who cares, read all the books;
• “The Rise of the Planet of the Apes.” I am tempted to skip this one, except I secretly hope it pays homage to the original, which I saw in theaters 44 years ago and whose final twist gave me my first lesson of how movies can power light bulbs in the dark (i.e. spark imaginations).
• “Margin Call,” which actually looks good. Original screenplay and adapted screenplay have always been among my pet categories.

My picks so far? To be fair, I can review only those categories for which I have seen every nominee. Starting with perhaps the toughest call, and the earliest in the program:

Best Supporting Actress

MY PREDICTION: The smart money is on Octavia Spencer of “The Help.” For me, though, her character Disneyfied the movie. The anachronistic, undignifed prank sank it. Sure, I laughed and cried, but it was pure manipulation. Should we vote for someone simply because her character was written well — with sass and sell, ah, so memorable for American audiences? She did a fine job — all the nominees did. Janet McTeer‘s pathos, Melissa McCarthy’s mirth, B. Bejos’ mime. Yet …

MY PICK: Jessica Chastain. A win for her would still help “The Help,” but she was no caricature, having to invent a woman both comic and complicated. She also deserves the bump for enduring the hack job that was “The Tree of Life.”

Cinematography

MY PREDICTION & PICK: “Hugo” and “War Horse” are probably close contenders but, because they could win in other categories, this Oscar goes to the misunderstood (for good reason) “The Tree of Life.” Mind-blowing cinematography is all this psychotropic tripe has going for it, besides such winning performances as those of Jessica Chastain, Brad Pitt and the kid playing young Jack — oh, and sadistic dinosaurs, exploding frogs and lots and lots of foliage.

To be continued … gotta watch more movies.