Friends and readers,
Since I write so often about films here, it would be curmudgeonly not to admit I kept track of what was happening at the Oscars — as I did the Golden Globes, and other awards this year. The one popular movie award where my taste coincided with that of the voting majority of the academy is for Cate Blanchett’s performance in Blue Jasmine:
Here’s a shot of her in the press room at the 19th annual Critics’ Choice Awards — a better moment on film than any of those of her conventionally fashionable garb at the splash events:
I regret that from among those nominated (I would have made very different choices), Sally Hawkins was not similarly recognized nor the screenplay writer and director, Bob Nelson and Alexander Payne, for Nebraska, nor Jeremy Scahill for his important book and film Dirty Wars.
Ellen
Author: ellenandjim
Ellen Moody holds a Ph.D in British Literature and taught in American senior colleges for more than 40 years. Since 2013 she has been teaching older retired people at two Oscher Institutes of Lifelong Learning, one attached to American University (Washington, DC) and other to George Mason University (in Fairfax, Va). She is also a literary scholar with specialties in 18th century literature, translation, early modern and women's studies, film, nineteenth and 20th century literature and of course Trollope. For Trollope she wrote a book on her experiences of reading Trollope on the Internet with others, some more academic style essays, two on film adaptations, the most recent on Trollope's depiction of settler colonialism: "On Inventing a New Country." Here is her website: http://www.jimandellen.org/ellen/ No part of this blog may be reproduced without express permission from the author/blog owner. Linking, on the other hand, is highly encouraged!
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Ellen And Jim Have A Blog, Two 
Agreed. I was so glad to see her win for Blue Jasmine … but I went to bed before that happened. What a dull show–Golden Globes was much more amusing. But I’d only seen Blue Jasmine and Nebraska, both of which I like a lot. Want to see the Judi Dench one next. Laura K
Me: Yes I loved Philomena — in some ways the best film I saw in the movies all year. Cried and laughed. I guess one cannot give Judi Dench all the awards … Steve Coogan (is that his name?) was very good too. Awards are not often enough given to comedians.
Heartily agree re Sally Hawkins; also re Blanchett
This is what Cate Blanchett meant to say, but didn’t dare. Or have the time.
It’s Horrible to Be an Old Woman in Hollywood, Kim Novak Edition
http://www.slate.com
“I’m not saying movies are the most important thing in the world,” Oscar host Ellen DeGeneres said shortly after she took the stage at the Dolby Theatre last night. “I’m not saying that—because the most important thing in the world is youth.” It was a broad joke meant to implicate…
Unfortunately I couldn’t reach the facebook URL on what Ellen DeGeneres said about aging women. There’s a good movie out in a few theaters called Gloria about this but I doubt I can reach it.
Rachel: I’ll look for it, Ellen. Despite the prevailing climate in Hollywood, I feel encouraged to see in movies like Jasmine that women-centered movies are becoming mainstream, not “niche”.
Me: Yes and we are getting older women stars, but what is missing is the woman who is not “granny,’ obviously beyond sex and menopause, but the middle aged woman who is still sexually active and wants to live an independent individual life (not married anymore for whatever reason) and that’s the role we saw in Jasmine. Helen Mirren tries for it.
Rachel: “Yes! And not Jasmine, a woman who, by your eloquent description of the film, has not lived as an independent being. We need an astronaut who is not Sandra Bullock (though I dearly love her movies, all except this one) and whose story is not that of finding the right man, but of finding the right life! Helen Mirren embodies it.”
Me: How about this? in Cate Blanchett’s role we saw the woman whose tragedy is that she can’t live an independent life. She does not know how to. The alternative is Sally Hawkins’s compromise to take the man that is available and fun and kind. Neither is the ideal but we are being shown norms and weakness our society pushes women into. Mirren also does anger very well 🙂 That’s a no-no for women unless it’s over-the-top violence (which then becomes a kind of male enjoyment to watch).