tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post3483998629369491087..comments2024-03-24T13:26:57.317-07:00Comments on Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule: THE SLIFR-THLRB OSCAR CLUB: Notes on the Once and Future Queen and The Last King of ScotlandDennis Cozzaliohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01954848938471883431noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-66993958847457756562007-02-22T21:05:00.000-08:002007-02-22T21:05:00.000-08:00Well, we've gone from Anonymous to Nobody. Progres...Well, we've gone from Anonymous to Nobody. Progress! But I have to admit to being a little confused about Dr. Garrigan, the Scottish character played by James McAvoy. A recent interview with Idi Amin's son, who now lives in Uganda, indicated that he "knew" the doctor. But another story (Wikipedia) says the character is loosely based on a Bob Ackles, a white man who started Uganda's first airline and both worked for Amin and was imprisoned by him. Sounds like Garrigan was somewhat shaped on Ackles. Actually, the more I think of it, I really do think McAvoy has been sort of unjustly overlooked, much as Anne Hathaway was in favor of Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada. Whether you like his character or not, McAvoy really is the star of the movie, and I thought he did a good job. I found myself caught up in his relationship with Amin, and it's Amin's reactions to him that fuel the movie. The same with Streep and Hathaway.The 'Stachehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03426658288145524160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-33241150014052713972007-02-22T20:11:00.000-08:002007-02-22T20:11:00.000-08:00I thought that pic of O'Toole was Willem Dafoe for...I thought that pic of O'Toole was Willem Dafoe for a few seconds.<BR/><BR/>I agree that Whitaker should get the Oscar for his performance, though I didn't like the movie much, especially upon discovering afterwards that the POV character was completely fictious. <BR/><BR/>Admittedly I was, like TLRHB, immersed in the story, but I was troubled that we were supposed to feel so horrified by the... "ordeal" of the final ten minutes, after not seeing a single Ugandan victim. Not for PC reasons; it just was so gruesome (the first movie ever to make me feel ill) that it seemed to be trading shock value for sympathy.<BR/><BR/>But at the same time I acknowledge the movie's strict adherence to the character's blinkered point of view (perversely the only reason I liked the Marie Antoinette movie). So it very effectively conveyed the doctor's shock at his sudden treatment -- it's just too bad he didn't exist, which I think undermines the scene's (if not movie's) potency.<BR/><BR/>It reminded me of the similarly over-the-top experience suffered by Robert Carlyle at the end of <EM>To End All Wars</EM>. It likewise felt completely gratuitous, only it had the legitimate excuse of having actually happened.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-44724835830492519782007-02-22T16:00:00.000-08:002007-02-22T16:00:00.000-08:00"Don't ask me to describe "an O'Tooley kind of fee..."Don't ask me to describe "an O'Tooley kind of feeling." Please."<BR/><BR/>I can only guess it has to do with consuming a lot of Scotch. :-)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-87774390753491908312007-02-22T15:23:00.000-08:002007-02-22T15:23:00.000-08:00I can't remember for sure, but I think the Academy...I can't remember for sure, but I think the Academy gave Paul Newman his "put him out to pasture" award a year or so before they gave him his actual Oscar for <I>The Color of Money</I>. As far as Peter O'Toole goes, even Susan Lucci eventually won... You know what I mean? I'm getting an O'Tooley kind of feeling in the final hours here... (Don't ask me to describe "an O'Tooley kind of feeling." Please.)Dennis Cozzaliohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01954848938471883431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-91597144344563488292007-02-22T15:19:00.000-08:002007-02-22T15:19:00.000-08:00Poor Peter O'Toole, the Susan Lucci of the Oscars....Poor Peter O'Toole, the Susan Lucci of the Oscars. I thought he should have won for Lion in Winter, personally. Even My Favorite Year would have been a good time for him to get a "pity Oscar." Is he the first actor to get a nomination *after* his Lifetime Achievement award?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com