by Sam Juliano
The first month of the year continues to race by, and for Lucille and I we managed to rest up after the previous week of frantic theater-hopping. The result is that no new films were seen, neither in movie houses nor via streaming. Tomorrow, the Oscar nominations will be announced, though for many this news has become more and more insignificant as the years progress. I do play the predictions game, and typically I love some of the choices, and dislike others. There is always one film that makes a late charge, and this year, the excellent German war film All Quiet on the Western Front seems to be that film. Whether it could go all the way and win in the Best Picture category is a tall order, but a slew of nominations and a likely win in Best International Film appears to be a near-certainty. I’ll have more to say about the nominations on next week’s MMD.
I was delighted that I was able to make some modest progress on my third novel, Roses for Saoirse over the weekend. This follows a prolonged period of relative inactivity that was instigated by the attention needed for Irish Jesus in Fairview, which is still in the initial editing stage. I am expected this first-stage editor to complete his work within three weeks at most, and then confer with the final-stage editor at around the same time the cover art completion should be forwarded. I met with my artist Andrew Castrucci once again at Rudy’s Seafood Restaurant in Cliffside Park recently to look at the initial sketches, and was mighty impressed.
Wishing everyone a safe and fruitful week!
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Wonders in the Dark 
I’d never heard of “To Leslie” until Andrea Riseborough’s colleagues started rhapsodizing over her performance. The ad hoc campaign reminded me of the petition to nominate Liv Ullmann in 1974. Signatories included Jane Fonda, Gena Rowlands, Liza Minnelli, Diahann Carroll, and Ellen Burstyn, all actresses in part because “Scenes from a Marriage” was considered a women’s picture—the audience for the 1973 TV miniseries was largely made up of Swedish women.
Back in 2018, I fell head over heels (not the ones with spikes) for the mystifying and heartbreaking “Nancy,” with Riseborough and the exquisite J. Smith-Cameron.
Word is out that “To Leslie” the film is not up to Riseborough’s level of excellence, but I’ll happily watch a fine performance in a mediocre film any day. Even in a poor one (Bibi Andersson in “The Touch” is a prime example). Have you seen “To Leslie,” Sam? Despite glowing reviews the film never opened in this neck of the woods.
Surprised that the Siren-endorsed “Decision to Leave” missed out on a Best International Feature Film nom. (What ever happened to the erstwhile Best Foreign Film?) AMPAS also high-hatted Hoyt van Hoytema’s resplendent “Nope” cinematography, arguably the best of the year. Boooo.
Will Tom Cruise ditch the stuntman machismo and return to serious acting? His great run from “The Color of Money” through “The War of the Worlds” is quickly receding. Stud or houseboy? Actor or stuntman?
George Coulouris, who was Mr. Thatcher, Charles Foster Kane’s legal guardian in the Welles monument, plays a mad scientist in “The Woman Eater,” a cruddy 1950s sci-fi horror show. Coulouris portrays this nutjob without a flicker of irony, and the effect is so jarring that I kept hearing “Merry Christmas…and a Happy New Year ” in my head. The blood of a tropical plant with wormlike tentacles can revivify the dead after feeding on pneumatic young women. (Joseph Cotten fared much better with a villainous role in a peak Richard Lester film.)
Mark, I did see TO LESLIE this past week via streaming, and have reported it on the newest MMD. I was mightil impressed with her performance, and the film was fairly solid, methinks. I think it is funny how they are now investigating the campaign, as if this was “unique” when all we ever see are studio parties and overt campaigning annually. What a joke! BTW, not only did I feel that Riseborough’s performance was up to her level of excellence, but it is has comprehensively surpassed it. And everything is natural and spontaneous, not as I noted in my capsule, a performance begging for attention.
I liked DECISION TO LEAVE, but I did not myself feel it was any kind of an expected lock for that category, the beloved Siren’s position aside. Close, All Quiet on the Western Front, Saint Omer and The Quiet Girl are all better films easily, with only the Argentinian film lagging behind.
Ha, I fon’t think I’ve seen The Woman easter, but I much appreciate that my friend!
Happy birthday to my gal Bridget Fonda.
She’s terrific, even in the absurd “Lake Placid.”
Happy Birthday Bridget! LOL on Lake Placid, but I hear ya!