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“This is just what grown-ups do.”
Forrest Miller, Conan Neutron, J. Andrew World, and Kristina Oakes are joined by friends of the shows and ACTRESSES Lauren Chouinard and Kt Baldassaro as we continue on with our coverage of Oscar Nominees to include the unfairly snubbed (to our sensibility) May December which was nominated for Screenplay and nothing else.
We feel like this movie maybe hit a little too close to home for some. Rather than a traditional biopic, May December doesn’t just tell the story of a notorious tabloid romance that gripped the nation, it is also Natalie Portman’s Elizabeth Berry holding a mirror up to indict both Hollywood and us as consumers for how we commodify and devour the stories of people.
A good actress plays a bad actress trying to learn from a great actress. It is criminal that Moore and Portman were not nominated for the Oscars in their respective categories. Then again, what this movie has to say about the career of acting and the nature of the biopic is fundamentally devastating. A mirror of the predatory nature of storytelling on people’s lives.
Stylistically impeccable, meticulously acted and just a wonderfully nuanced and multilayered slow boil of a film full of powerful and uncomfortable moments. Todd Haynes always seems to shine when there is an unorthodox domestic situation where somebody is cornered or trapped. That is precisely what this is.
Relative newcomer Charles Melton also shines with great delivery, body language and a vulnerable innocence. This film is well done, devastating, unsettling, and smart. Is sadly provocative a thing?
Ultimately it is a great study in character and the stories we tell ourselves, for whatever reason. The ending is a wrecker as well.
A few crazy quotes.
“Who was in charge?”
“Insecure people are very dangerous, aren’t they? I’m secure. Make sure you put that in there.”
“God, I can’t tell if we’re connecting, or if I’m creating a bad memory for you in real time, but I can’t help it.”
It is so sad and true to form that the Academy has snubbed it. History will vindicate this smart and challenging film.
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