B-Movies & Couch Classics
Reviews of Movies Often Overlooked or Forgotten

Oscar Preview
by Arik Ben Treston 

Ah, I love Oscar time. It’s that time of year when I get to list other great works or performances by the nominees. They may be in the award spotlight at the moment, but you can be sure they also have plenty of amazing work in their wake.

First, we should discuss the woman who deserves to win the Best Actress award, Ellen Burstyn. Her performance in Requiem for a Dream (Unrated, Artisan Home Entertainment, 1999) was phenomenal and gutsy. Burstyn portrayed an elderly mother who gets hooked on diet pills (as her son is wrecking his body shooting up heroin with his friends). She bulldozes through this role totally unselfconsciously and with no regard for how horrible she is made to look. It is obvious that Burstyn put everything she had right up there on the screen. She makes you care about her tremendously. If you are a fan of hers, check out the newly restored edition of The Exorcist. While there are some good added scenes, the film didn’t need much more to achieve classic status. It is still to this day one of the best-done horror films of all time. From the lighting to the music to the excellent performances by all involved, this film continues to pummel wannabe movies out of the way.

Think Benicio Del Toro (Best Supporting Actor nominee, Traffic) is either a new face in cinema, or got his start in The Usual Suspects? Well, he actually goes back quite a way. His first substantial role (unless you count Duke, The Dog-Faced Boy in Big-Top Pee-Wee), was playing Robert Davi’s bad-ass-assistant in the James Bond film License to Kill (PG-13, MGM Home Video, 1989). His charm and charisma, ably displayed in many of his recent roles, is evident in its inception here as the evil Dario who tries to do our man Bond in. The nerve!

Marcia Gay Harden is very likely a long shot for Best Supporting Actress for Pollock against heavyweights like Francis McDormand, Judi Dench and the hottest star of the year, Kate Hudson. If you would like to see her in a superb film, rent Miller’s Crossing (R, 20th Century Fox, 1990), one of the best mob films ever made. This was the Coen Brother’s third film (after Blood Simple and Raising Arizona) and it sure was a charm. Crossing starred another nominee, Albert Finney (Best Supporting Actor for Erin Brockovich) as well as excellent performances by Gabriel Byrn, John Turturro, and Joe Polito. This film was crafted with care and class. While it may appear ‘over-the-top’ at times, all of the elements work in its favor.

While Jeff Bridges did a fine job in his nominated role for Best Supporting Actor in The Contender, it isn’t as good as many of his past performances — in fact, this might be a nomination designed to help make up for the lack of awards he has received in the past. If you have never seen (and most haven’t) the film Fearless (R, Warner Home Video, 1993), then you should. (Incidentally, it also features the aforementioned John Turturro and Benicio Del Toro in small roles). Bridges is a man who survives a plane crash and begins to lose his fear of … anything. Rosie Perez co-stars as a woman who lost her baby and is convinced it was her fault. These two people from opposite sides of the track share a common event and become close, trying to heal each other’s wounds. Australian director Peter Weir (Dead Poet’s Society, The Truman Show) has put together a thoughtful and moving film that doesn’t insult the audience’s intelligence. It is a film that should be rediscovered for the gem that it is. Bridges has the uncanny ability to make his roles seem like they were tailor-made for his talents; you truly believe Bridges is whatever character he portrays on the screen. From The Dude of The Big Lebowski to Jack Lucas in Terry Gilliam’s wonderful The Fisher King to his Duane Jackson of The Last Picture Show, Bridges embodies a true sense of how to live in his character and become one with it.

Here are some quick takes on nominees and the earlier films you can see them in:

Joaquin Phoenix 
Best Supporting Actor for Gladiator — watch him be a great teenage sleaze in the Nicole Kidman comedy To Die For.
Joan Allen 
Best Actress for The Contender — watch her portray a blind woman in peril in Manhunter, the fabulous prequel to The Silence of the Lambs.
Willem DaFoe 
Best Supporting Actor for Shadow of the Vampire — see him play a disgusting, dentally-challenged wretch who gets too close to a shot-gun in David Lynch’s twisted Wild at Heart.
Steven Soderbergh 
Best Director for Erin Brockovich and Traffic — watch his 1998 film (and one of the best of that year) Out Of Sight with George Clooney, Ving Rhames and Jennifer Lopez. Funny and smart with a tinge of drama, this film only gets better on repeated viewings.