The day I saw 127 Hours (met Franco), Blue Valentine (met Harvey Weinstein) and Black Swan; Examining Best Actress - Hereditary and The Wife

The first time I saw "Black Swan" was at the Hamptons Film Festival. I had just started writing for Awards Daily, having a week earlier written about "The Social Network" after seeing it at the New York Film Festival, and I was feeling a great deal of pressure to write the next big piece.

I saw "The King's Speech" on the first night of the festival, and although I found it quite pleasing (before the race for Best Picture tarnished it for me) I wasn't very inspired to write. The next day I had one of the most incredible film festival/film watching experiences of my life.

In addition to covering the fest for Awards Daily, I was also assisting to manage the box office. The first memory of the day was being interviewed by a Brazilian journalist about the Oscars, watching James Franco be interviewed next (where I also saw him pretend to be high for the camera), ushering Franco (who was suddenly substance free for me) to his screening of "127 Hours," which I then watched.

The next screening I saw was "Blue Valentine," where I met a very disheveled, somewhat distant Harvey Weinstein, followed by more work at the box office. I remember wanting to say so much to Weinstein. He had played a huge part in distributing so many movies that shaped me as a cinephile, particularly "Pulp Fiction" and "The Crying Game," but I said very little other than, "you look sweaty."

That night there was a premiere screening of "Black Swan" (at which Madonna attended!) that I decided to pass on in order to watch "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest." I remember struggling to stay awake during the screening because I had not gotten any sleep the night before..something that became a trend in my Oscar coverage over the next 4 years. Stay up all night on adderall, get nothing done, sleep, finally get some mediocre shit done.

After the film was over there was a special midnight screening of "Black Swan," and for a moment I considered skipping it. When "Hornets Nest" ended, I only had a few minutes to trek the mile or so to the cinema. I started running, which somehow invigorated me (I was out of adderall) and I arrived at the theatre, not sweaty (perhaps that was because I didn't sexually harass anyone on the way), but awake.

My first thoughts when the credits rolled were: "Was that any good? I think it's good...Natalie Portman was amazing. Yes...that was amazing. Holy shit, that was one of the best films I've ever seen. I bet everyone else must have hated it. I don't know what the hell I'm talking about."

As we got out of our seats and started heading toward our festival homes I asked a variety of people what they thought, and everyone, I mean everyone, loved it. To different degrees, but still....

I talked so much about "Black Swan" in 2010/2011 and watched it many, many times in those following years. In naming it the best film of 2010, I said:

“Black Swan” is a polarizing film. Even amongst the people who love it. Is it a film about a mental breakdown? Is it a movie about the dark side of being a woman? Is it a metaphor for what it takes to achieve perfection on stage? Or is it just a camp masterpiece? I am beginning to realize that it is actually all of these things. One sign of a great director is not laying everything out on the table and believing their audience to be intelligent enough to apply their opinion to the canvas the filmmakers have laid out, creating a lasting, meaningful film experience. Aronofsky does that here.

First off, the story is great. It's simple. It's Swan Lake hyperrealized. And it is anchored by some of the year's best performances. Barbara Hershey's Erica Sayers would eat Mamma Rose (Gypsy) alive. If the Academy ignores her...well, it will be a mistake. Mila Kunis may get a nomination because she is young and hot, but she deserves one too. She is the heat in the film. She is hilarious, sexy, and perhaps, vindictive. But the film belongs to Portman (and Aronofsky...will get to that in a sec.). She is not simply cold. She is not simply unlikeable. Her character's journey (as I have said many times) is one of the most intricate and exciting things I have seen on film. (It is so good, no one really addresses the "braveness" of her lesbian sex scene.) She should win the Oscar. The film might not win Best Picture, but if the Academy denies her this, they are even more insane than they have been in the past.

Then there is Aronofsky. As the film unfolds, you almost don't know how to feel. Or what is going on. The pace seems a little off. The story seems a little bit campy (enough with the Black Swan/White Swan references. Enough with the white/black costumes and set) I have seen it 3 times now, and that feeling remains every time. Why? Because it should.

In the midst of #metoo the "dark side of being a woman" theme is even more present, especially in the times Thomas (the great Vincent Kassel) pushes himself on Nina to elicit the Black Swan and when the creepy man fondles himself on the train.

In discussing Portman I said:

“It's my turn,” says Nina, near the end of the film as she is preparing to take on the 2nd act of “Swan Lake,” where she is supposed to seduce the prince as the Black Swan, the evil twin to the White Swan, the role to which she most easily relates. And it is her turn indeed. Sorry Annette Bening. Natalie deserves every award she gets. Some have said that women don't respond to the role. Or that Nina is cold. I say, bull. This film deals with the issue of what it takes to overcome the obstacles of being the subservient woman. Nina will not simply be the new “little princess.” It also shows the extent some performers will go to be perfect. To feel. It's not as easy as it looks, and although we (artists) don't go, quite, to the extreme Nina does, sometimes we come close. Method, indeed.

I think that the underlying theme that still speaks to me the most is that of perfection. Nina wants to be perfect, and her psyche splits in order to achieve that. I relate. Just look at the fact that I was using adderrall to attempt to write about these incredible films, when the films themselves should have been all I needed. Not only did my desire to be great split my poor brain into a million little pieces, it did the same with my spirit. Thank goodness I didn't end up like Nina when I discovered what was going on.

Looking at this year's Best Actress race alongside Portman's deserved win is interesting. I revisited "Hereditary" last night and stand by my initial thoughts. I think the film is a complete mess. There are scenes that are absolutely terrible. The first time Annie (Toni Collette) meets Dowd's character outside the support group and the scene outside the grocery store (or wherever they are) when they meet again in particular.

Part of the problem is the fact that due to the way Charlie is portrayed the audience never gets to empathize with Annie's loss. I for one was glad when the kid lost her head. The clucking was getting on my nerves and certainly not scaring me. When the film was over last night, I had absolutely no problem finding sleep. Not a good thing.

Collette, who is so good in some of the quieter scenes, overshoots her mark so many times, that I simply cannot get behind this performance. It's all emotion and reaction with little to no depth. You don't feel the least bit of backstory here. If you want to see a fully realized character like this, watch "The Exorcist" and see how it should be done with the amazing Ellen Burstyn.

I don't blame Collette, though, because she is a great actor, I blame the director. She deserved someone who could better guide her through this.

People really, really want to like her. I wanted to like her...and the film. But it's just not good. The public got it right on this one. The critics, in my humble opinion, did not.

If you look at Glenn Close in "The Wife," you see the other end of the spectrum. It is an incredible fully realized portrayal. I believed from the moment we see Close on screen that we were watching a woman who had decades of history. I didn't know where the story was heading (and will not spoil it here) but I will say that where Close travels is miraculous. Her battle with codependency, deception, love and resentment is a fascinating character study.

Will that get her an Oscar nomination? Who knows? I highly doubt fans of this type of performance will be as vocal as those of Collette's. It really takes a performance that shows, but also delivers. That's what it seems to take to win Best Actress. Just look at recent winners such as Frances McDormand, Jennifer Lawrence, and (of course) Natalie Portman.