Saturday, December 10, 2005

Mrs Henderson Presents Oscar Bait

All throughout pre-season, you'll hear tales of screening buzz. Oscar voters love this. love that. love this AND that. "They clapped!" Etc... The hilarious thing about this is you hear almost the same thing for each movie. They love Geisha! They love Cinderella Man! They love The Producers! In other years it's been the same -- They love Phantom of the Opera! They love Cold Mountain! etc... It means nothing.

Or if it does then "consider this." They love Mrs. Henderson Presents...!

I just got back from seeing Mrs Henderson Presents w/ an upper west side audience (wealthy cultured blue hairs = same demo as AMPAS voters). Much hearty laughing right from Judi Dench's first comic lob on through till the end of the film. Sniffles in the right place. Applause at the end. No fidgeting. A seemingly very pleased enthusiastic crowd. So is Mrs. Henderson Presents a contender?

It's about the theater = Oscar bait. It stars a clear Academy favorite (Dame Dench)= Good Luck Charm. It's from a previously nominated director =Always good to have respected names involved. It's a period piece with WW II as backdrop =Oscar bait. It's from Harvey Weinstein = Oscar chain puller supreme. We need a comic nominee = Right time? Right place?

Why exactly did it get written off in the first place? Someone remind me.

13 comments:

Kris said...

Because it doesn't have anything to emotionally connect to. It's lies there, false.

And an upper west side audience is nothing much like an Academy dempgraphic. Not sure where you got that inclination. The two groups share merely a disconnection from the rest of the civilized world. Nothing else.

And you might want to take Chris Plummer off of your supporting actor chart in full. He isn't in The New World enough to even consider. One gets the feeling his work is on the cutting room floor. Gyllenhaal has a much better shot.

adam k. said...

I dunno... why did it get written off? It's rotten tomatoes score isn't so great, but it's leaps and bounds ahead of Geisha's.

Do you suppose Hoskins could end up with a golden globe lead comedy nomination before his inevitalbe supporting oscar nom? a la Robert Preston in Victor/Victoria? It seems like that type of role. I'm considering throwing him in my predictions for that last lead actor slot.

NATHANIEL R said...

ok kris. i'll bite.

why are the two groups nothing alike?

upper west side blue hairs and
academy members.

both are older
both are wealthy or accustomed to spending time/working with the massively wealthy.
both live primarily on the coasts or are bi-coastal.
both theoretically love movies more than the average person.

if these two groups are really nothing alike maybe they should stop holding all those screenings at the DGA theater or placing these academy and sag one-week qualifiers primarily at upper west side locations.

i'm being a bit cheeky really.

but just not sure how they're so vastly different as to make it not worth joking about a little.

russtifer said...

I'm not much of a fan of Mrs. Henderson (I also felt it seemed far too "false" for its own good), but I don't deny its chances for its performances. I continue to doubt it will perform well elsewhere in the final big eight, however, unless it pulls a Golden Globe surprise.

Anonymous said...

Looks like Judi Dench placed 2nd in LAFCA so she's probably a lock for Actress.

Hell, you can bump that up to 1st place since Vera Farmiga doesn't have a shot.

Anonymous said...

I think Harry was holding back until he got Huffman almost lock in for a nom....

Glenn Dunks said...

I never stopped doubting this movie. I had it in my last round of predictions and I still do have it there.

It seems too Academy friendly in a year when not many movies are. Munich apparently isn't. Memoirs is apparently just not good. Brokeback has possible setbacks. Walk The Line seems like it could fade. It just sounds logical at the moment. A WW2 costume movie with Judi Dench and Bob Hoskins about a theatrical show.

I dunno. It may very well fall off if box office isn't great or whatever, but right now I'm still predicting it.

Glenn Dunks said...

Okay, now I am doubting it. Very much so.

Have you seen the box office for the movie? I wrote:

"It may very well fall off if box office isn't great or whatever"

well, it's box office ain't great. Not even remotely close to it.

adam k. said...

Well Dench, Hoskins, and the costumes seem like locks, so that will help. Screenplay and score are at least possible. And that's enough categories to support a best pic nod. Just a matter of if the voters like it enough... either this or P&P would be the period comedy type nominee... unless they cancel each other out and leave all five spots to dramas (very possible).

Glenn Dunks said...

Yeah, they may think Walk The Line fulfills their Musical/Comedy quota.

We'll see. Early days yet...

Anonymous said...

Reviews from "serious" critics in the UK were mixed to poor which doesn't bode well for strong home town support.

But Dench is probably safe for a nod. Sort of like Bening getting a nod even though Being Julia was dismal.

You've made me more interested in seeing it. Thanks.

Ash said...

An upper west side audience is exactly like an academy demographic nathaniel! They pride themselves on their seemingly hippness while nominating and awarding good but not amazing films like Million Dollar Baby, The Aviator, Cold Mountain, Chocolat, Life is Beautiful, and Finding Neverland. I have little doubt that Mrs Henderson Presents will score big time. Mr Tapley is just wrong on this one.

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