When it comes to the Oscars, I may as well have the words LOVE and HATE tattooed across my knuckles, like Robert Mitchum in "The Night of the Hunter."
Each year the nominees and eventual winners seem to have less impact than before. As one's cinematic taste evolves, there is less need to seek the approval of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for guidance toward what they deem the best movies and performances of the year.
However, the satisfaction is still there when a film or filmmaker that I admire is recognized. Not for my own validation, but for the genuine thrill of seeing a deserving artist celebrated on Hollywood's biggest night. It's like seeing your team win the Super Bowl, or at least make it to the big game.
Take the nominations for best director this year, which represent some of the finer talents working in the medium today. With one exception, this crop contains some of the best, most exciting filmmakers of their generation: Darren Aronofsky ("Black Swan"), David Fincher ("The Social Network"), David O. Russell ("The Fighter") and, of course, the Coen brothers ("True Grit"). The Coens have their Best Picture and Best Director Oscars already (for "No Country for Old Men"), and their place in the pantheon of great filmmakers was carved in stone long ago. So their nomination is akin to Quentin Tarantino's for "Inglourious Basterds" last year: It's no longer a big deal when their greatness is recognized every time they hit a home run. Now it's just expected.
With "Black Swan," though, Aronofsky returned to what he does best: subjective filmmaking. In his 2008 film, "The Wrestler," Aronofsky switched to a more objective approach, as we simply observed Mickey Rourke's title character in the real world -- with only one moment where we saw things from the Ram's point of view. In "Black Swan," the audience is placed firmly inside the head of Natalie Portman's ambitious ballerina Nina. Since Nina is going insane, we see a distorted perception of her world, where it's often difficult to delineate between fantasy and reality. Aronofsky's vision was strong, and he clearly revels in messing with the audience, especially with all that reflective mirror imagery, aural manipulation (listen for all the bird sound effects weaved through the soundtrack) and subliminal shots.
All this is much closer to Aronofsky's other great, challenging films like "Pi," "Requiem for a Dream" and "The Fountain." It's Aronofsky's directorial style, telling the story in the manner of a horror film, that makes "Black Swan" the brilliant piece of work that it is. The fact that the Academy recognized the film, certainly not typical Oscar fare, is cause for celebration.
Similarly, Fincher's work on "The Social Network" is far more deserving of Oscar love than his last film, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," for which he also received a nomination. The combination of Fincher's focused direction, in which he toned down his usual visual pyrotechnics (except for the masterful and hilarious rowing scene) and writer Aaron Sorkin's brilliant script made for one of the more dynamic major Hollywood entertainments in recent memory.
"Network" joins Fincher's other masterworks, "Seven," "Fight Club" and "Zodiac." His other movies -- "Alien 3," "The Game," "Panic Room" and "Button" -- have moments of brilliance, but all fail to cohere into fully realized great films. But one need look no further than the opening scene of "The Social Network," which beautifully sets up the story, for signs of his prowess with actors, theme and narrative. Jesse Eisenberg and Mara Rooney's back-and-forth dialogue would have taken twice as long in the hands of most other filmmakers.
