John Hawkes "Marcy's Song"

What is it about singing actors?
I can never get enough. 

Related: Best Supporting Actor

NYFF: "Martha Marcy May Marlene"

Her name is Martha (Elizabeth Olsen) but we first know her as Marcy when she slips quietly out of a crowded farmhouse where women much like her sleep in huddles, like a happy litter of puppies. Her absence is quickly noted by one of the men on the farm named Watts (Brady Corbett) and Marcy hides in the forest while her once slumbering sisters and their men search for her, continually calling out "Marcy May." Once Marcy has reached a neighboring town, she makes a trembling entirely inarticulate phone call. An unidentified woman answers:

Martha, is that you?" 

Marcy Doesn't Live Here Anymore

We know instinctively that she is, though we know little else in these first few minutes of writer/director Sean Durkin's feature debut Martha Marcy May Marlene. 

The woman on the phone is Martha's estranged sister Lucy (Sarah Paulson) who whisks the young woman away from the mountains to the even more idyllic river side landscape surrounding the far less crowded summer home Lucy shares with her husband Ted (Hugh Dancy). What's comforting to us in their recognizable domesticity, is obviously alien to Martha. The narrative is all friction between the past (Marcy) and present (Martha) and shifts between them sometimes imperceptibly and other times forcefully. The past scenes become in essence an unlocking of the puzzle of Martha's life on the farm with the father/husband figure and shepherd (John Hawkes, Winter's Bone) and his free love flock (to the movie's credit the word "cult" is never uttered). These revelations about Martha's previous life have the pesky tendency to lead the moviegoer to yet more disturbing questions which will probably not have answers.

Patrick sings an entranced Marcy a song he wrote for her.

Martha... possibly hits a few of its scariest notes too obviously, but mostly it's a model of restraint and cool control. That's particularly true of Elizabeth Olsen's interiority as the title character. She's trusting that her blurry contradictory identity -- an uncomfortable mix of rigid thinking, moral confusion, and open physicality -- will be enough to sell this lost woman. The fine ensemble cast is also a boon: Hawkes brings his Winter's Bone friction of menacing stranger and filial protector and Corbett and the other cult members are a believable mix of old phantom selves fading into shadows of Patrick. In the present tense scenes, which could almost read as a satire of stories about obnovious in-laws if it had anything like a sense of humor, Paulson and Dancy sketch in a realistic background marriage that's challenged by the needy relative in the foreground. But it's the writer/director that's the movie's true star. Durkin's screenplay's rich subtext that neither Martha nor Marcy are anything like their own woman, no matter the surroundings, shines. He also makes several smart choices in the filmmaking, often eschewing the comfort of close-ups and traditional scoring, to build a quiet cumulative menace. The cinematography in particular by Jody Lee Lipes is just right with its diffuse earthy warmth as seductive blanketing for a story that's anything but.

Elizabeth Olsen and Sarah Paulson in "Martha Marcy May Marlene""What's in a name?" the doomed Juliet once asked, trying to argue their meaning of Romeo's away. But her efforts were in vain. None of us initially choose the names we're given but as we move through life, plenty of us make small adjustments, concessions, and shifts along the way to shore up our increasing ownership of self.

Before seeing Martha Marcy May Marlene, I liked its "name" a lot. Having now seen the film it's representing, the title vaults over into a thing of pure genius. Film titling is an undersung artform. You could theoretically call this movie about a somewhat nondescript girl haunted by her former life in a cult in New York's Catskills Mountains just about anything. But "Martha Marcy May Marlene" is the perfect, yet far from obvious, choice. It's a riddle, an incantation, a theme. What other name but a series of them could so accurately capture the mystery, simplicity, and loss of self, that's the haunted vacuum center of this stunning debut? A-

Previously on NYFF
The Kid With a Bike races into Kurt's hearts.
George Harrison: Living in the Material World is music to Michael's ears.
A Separation floors Nathaniel. A frontrunner for the Oscar?
The Student makes Nathaniel cram for quizzes that never come.
Carnage raises its voice at Nathaniel but doesn't quite scream.
Miss Bala wins the "must-see crown" from judge Michael.
Tahrir drops Michael right down in the titular Square.
A Dangerous Method excites Kurt... not in that way, perv!
The Loneliest Planet brushes against Nathaniel's skin.
Melancholia shows Michael the end of von Trier's world. 

Last Minute Oscar Linkage

Serious Film 3 wishes for the ceremony aside from wins
Wild Lines roots for a movie they weren't rooting for. "I take it all back" interesting post
<--- James Franco Oscar Morning footage. Adorable.
THR six things to watch for tonight.
Wesley Morris if you suffer for your art (Natalie Portman) you end up celebrated for it. In depth piece about the perceptions of screen acting changing. Liz Taylor, today's birthday girl, even gets a casaul shout out.
NPR good informative listen as Andy Trudeau runs down the nominees for Best Score. Did you know that How To Train Your Dragon uses a penny whistle and a dulcimer at the same time in its score? I did not.
Bohemea Best thing about the Spirit Awards? John Hawkes and Dale Dickey (Winter's Bone)
IndieWire Melissa Leo has a breast tattoo. #thingswedidntknow
Sunset Gun "Bette Davis Defines... Oscar" Love this.

And if you're just tuning in, YES, we will be live-blogging the Oscars tonight. See you at 6 PM EST. It's also the last couple hours to vote on the readers choice "should" wins so get clicking through the categories.

Oscar Nominee Luncheon

Oopsie. Misremembered the date on this.

Thought it was tomorrow. Guess I should have checked my own calendar right here.

Here are my favorite bits from the live stream televised portion

• James Franco at the end of his interview "Is that it? WHAT? all right". Ha. the interviews were super super short.
• Learning that Jeff Bridges is recording an album with T Bone Burnett. Interesting.
• Michelle Williams being sad that Ryan Gosling wasn't nominated but then a quick "but there are lots of other friendly faces" and she was off without even saying thank you or bye to the room.
• Hailee Steinfeld admitting she mostly only watched the Oscars for the red carpet to see what they were wearing. Well, she picked up the gift quickly (see red carpet lineups)

• That Jacki Weaver was practically invisible under the microphone. Actually that wasn't HAPPY but it was interesting. couldn't they have had one of those moving stand that goes up and down.
• Nicole Kidman was asked about other Australians nominated. Re: Jacki Weaver: "its so wonderful to see to see Jacki Weaver who I grew up watching to have this chance it says to so many actors it doesn't matter what age you are you can have a huge break."
• Nicole Kidman also said that this nomination,her third, is the one that made her happiest. Partially because of the movie but also because of how long it's been since she was last honored. "10 years?"
• HAPPIEST MOMENT Hearing that Jacki Weaver has had several offers for new movies. Yes! She says "I've never had grand ambitions to work elsewhere and suddenly i'm thrust into this milieu of excitement. i must say it's become addictive quickly. I've been saying it's the twilight of career but it appears to be the midafternoon."
• One more Jacki Weaver quote: "How do I feel? If I were a bell I'd be ringing."
• John Hawkes was very nonchalant "It's a wonderful time in my life but I'm nervous that my cover is blown" Jeff Bridges also spoke about anonymity being a gift for actors.

• Amy Adams walking out to scattered quiet journalist applause. "That was tepid" she joked. "I'm just playing" She seemed very relaxed.
• Amy when asked about Christian Bale said 'all that matters to me about working with an actor is what happens between action and cut' Interestingly vague. She then said that he stays in character between takes.
• Annette Bening telling the truth about how to combat homophobia and other such issues. " if you can open people's hearts first then maybe people's minds get opened after that."

• Colin Firth on whether people have been treating him differently: "I do get the odd bow which I put down to confusion or facetiousness."
• Helena Bonham-Carter was hilarious throughout in one of the longer interviews. Second happiest moment for me, a long time fan, was her admitting that The King's Speech has born fruit and people are interesting in casting her again. YES.
• HBC on the offer for The King's Speech "When they first approached me I wanted to play George cause that's the best part. I didn't look in the mirror and think I was a dead ringer for the Queen Mum."
• HBC on what she'll wear to the Oscars "I have no idea really. it's probably going to be a catastrophe. "

Podcast: "You Haven't Seen The Last of Us" Pt. 1

Consider this a reboot. A retooled second (third?) season, if you will. With a brand new website, awesome technical support (aside from blog import issues -- still working on it -- Squarespace has been a dream thus far), and the countdown to Oscar, it's time for the lost podcast to return home.

Katey, Joe and Nick have returned to help me kick off this year's audio Oscar-madness. Having been quiet for too long, our conversation spilleth over. Second part coming up shortly.

PART ONE (40 min)
Topics include:

• the rebirth, the return, general silliness
• Katey's Top Ten List and the drama and trauma of sculpting them
• Rabbit Hole the actors, the screenplay, the direction
• Helena Bonham-Carter escapes from Tim Burton (in the movies)
• Hailee Steinfeld's stacked deck in True Grit (which category?)
• Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams in Blue Valentine
• Golden Globe zaniness and the Precursor Police
• Matt Damon over and underappreciated.

Podcast "You Haven't Seen" Pt 1