Notes: David Lynch, the Oscars

    So where was I? 

    I haven’t posted in a while, primarily because I’ve been out of the country on an important mission; i.e., avoiding movies, news, and all the other things to which I usually pay inordinate amounts of attention. 

   But I’m back and ready to roll. More or less.

   First off, David Lynch, one of cinema’s most revered image makers died at the age of 78 on January 15. Much has been written about Lynch since his passing, so I’ll refrain from contributing to the appreciation barrage. Look at any number of headlined pieces and you’ll get the gist about an artist some saw as their personal tour guide through America’s darker side.

    I discovered Lynch at a long-ago screening of Eraserhead in 1977. Footnote: The theater in which I saw the movie no longer exists. I mention this because many theaters have vanished as Lynch's generation of filmmakers wanes.

    I’ve had mixed reactions to Lynch’s movies with Mulholland Drive (2001) emerging as my runaway favorite. I understand why devotes of Blue Velvet are so ardent about that movie, but I’m not one of its fans. We can argue about that some other time.

    I met Lynch once but can’t remember much about him, other than that he smoked at a time when cigarettes were no longer easily tolerated. He also said it was OK for people -- or maybe he meant just me -- not to understand everything about his movies. He wasn't being snide or condescending; he seemed to be saying that he knew that it might not be possible to connect every dot in a Lynchian puzzle. Maybe he wanted that way. 

   Lynch began as an art student; I’ve generally regarded his movies as the work of a painter who became fascinated with moving pictures. An artist with a taste for ambiguity and mystery, Lynch had a gift for creating images that suggested more than they ever spelled out.

     When I think of Lynch, I also remember the Lady in the Radiator singing the song In Heaven in   Eraserhead. “In heaven, everything is fine,'' the lyric went. The song was both sincere, and unsettling. In Heaven teased us with hope and delusion, teetering on the edge of irony without falling into its smothering abyss.

      We’ll probably have to wait a long time before another Lynch appears. Idiosyncratic talent is rare in all fields. Lynch received an honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement in 2017, but he remained an independent voice in movies. 

      All of which brings me to this year's Oscar nominations which were announced on Thursday, Jan. 23. 

     Overall, the nominations didn’t offer much to complain about.

     I would have liked to have seen Marianne Jean-Baptiste nominated for best actress. Her performance as the massively embittered Pansy in Hard Truths was more than notable.

     I would have nominated Sebastian Stan, a best actor nominee, for his work in A Different Man, not for his portrayal of Donald Trump in The Apprentice. 

     Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor received no nomination, but her performance in Nickel Boys, though small,  gave the movie its aching heart. 

     In case you've been wondering, India’s All We Imagine as Light wasn't eligible for a foreign-language Oscar nod because it wasn't submitted by for consideration by any of its co-producing nations or by India, where the film is set.

     I shed no tears that Angelina Jolie was bypassed for her portrayal of Maria Callas in Maria or that Nicole Kidman was overlooked for playing a CEO who wanted to be sexually dominated in Babygirl.  Both actresses should continue to thrive.

     One last thought: I'm Still Here received what has been called a surprise nomination in the Best Picture category. Moreover, Fernanda Torres, as a mother trying to protect her family during the Brazilian military dictatorship of the 1970s, won a nomination for best actress. 

    Some analysts argue that this year's nominations have a decidedly liberal tilt, possibly in reaction to a Trump resurgence and European authoritarianism. Maybe, but I'm Still Here would have been a worthy choice no matter what ways the political winds are blowing.  It's a fine movie, and, by the way, it's also nominated in the best foreign-language film category.

    Enough. The Academy Awards  … to use a mildly hollow but appropriate expression — are what they are.

    It's possible that Lynch, to begin where I started, will be remembered long after many of this year's Academy Award nominees are forgotten. 

   So, remember, if your favorites aren't honored or if, you're among those who don't understand the furor over Amelia Perez, or if you think The Brutalist was too long, even with a 15-minute intermission, or if you couldn't quite adjust to the subjective camerawork of Nickel Boys, or you if you haven't seen The Apprentice, or if you puzzle about Wicked being the first film to receive 10 nominations but none for directing or writing (I read it somewhere),  or if you think Edward Berger, who directed best picture nominee Conclave, should have received a best-director nomination, console yourself, and remember these words from Eraserhead.

    “In heaven, everything is fine." Didn't David Lynch say so?