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Sandler confusion

The peculiar case of Adam Sandler continues to fascinate movie lovers into the new decade.

This is a man who hasn’t bothered to hide how much success he has found by doing the bare minimum since at least the early 2000s. Yet, like most comedians, he will branch out with serious projects once in a while. Whether for a change of pace or to be considered more legitimate by his peers, Sandler’s been rather lucky with his dramatic choices, teaming up with such talents as Paul Thomas Anderson, James L. Brooks, Noah Baumbach and even old pal Judd Apatow.

But for whatever reason, Sandler seems only motivated to do these kinds of interesting features literally once a decade. Which is frustrating for fans because, maybe surprisingly, he has versatile range as an actor – yet chooses to make a living phoning it in with lame comedies. His most recent film, “Uncut Gems” released back during the holidays, is already one of his most interesting and memorable efforts.

Written and directed by Benny and Josh Safdie, who previously had a stellar indie breakthrough with “Good Time,” the film follows New York City jeweler Howard Ratner (Sandler), who lives off the adrenaline rush of betting constantly. Everything from auctions to basketball games, to even gambling his personal interests – such as having a long-time affair with his employee Julia (Julia Fox) while raising a family with wife Dinah (Idina Menzel). Things come to a climax when Howard’s life comes to depend on selling a recently acquired gem to pay off all his debts.

Lakeith Stanfield, Judd Hirsch and basketball star Kevin Garnett appear as prominent figures in Howard’s life. Between Sandler’s unexpected range as an actor, the Safdie Bros’ potential as filmmakers and the hit indie studio behind the movie, A24, “Uncut Gems” was expected to get a lot of Oscar hype. But it ultimately ended up one of the biggest snubs of the season.

How did that happen? Rumors ranged from snobbery from Academy members – which wouldn’t be a surprise – to A24’s usually good PR team getting an unfortunate redo. Whatever the case, compared to how things were looking in December, “Uncut Gems” having nothing at the Oscars while something as incredibly hollow and ham-fisted as Jay Roach’s “Bombshell” gets three nominations is still perplexing.

While I personally preferred “Good Time” of the two recent popular Safdie movies, seeing something as frantic and relentless as “Uncut Gems” at the Oscars, SAGs, BAFTAs or Globes, would have been more intriguing than a lot of what we got.

— Megan Bianco Bizarre, boring SAGs

As the 2019/2020 Oscar season speeds along quicker than usual, this month’s Screen Actors Guild Awards remind us why they are still the smoothest-running televised awards show out there: no host and only a dozen categories within a two-hour runtime.

While I can appreciate that every person on a film’s production team is given the chance to be honored at the Oscars and Globes, the average viewer watches these events for the celebrities. The SAGs are perfect for this as it’s just the people seen on screen. I’ve always felt it’s a bit of a rip off that the TV categories are separated by drama and comedy, while film is just combined into one. Besides that, it’s a pretty breezy viewing. Movie-wise, it’s a good thing events this season are being held almost a month earlier because the acting contenders are bizarrely boring this year.

Joaquin Phoenix and Renee Zellweger won Best Actor and Best Actress again for Todd Phillips’ “Joker” and Rupert Goold’s “Judy,” respectively. While Phoenix’s win could arguably be his “makeup” year for losing previously for performances in movies like Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator” and James Mangold’s “Walk the Line,” it’s still unfortunate – I continue to not see the appeal of “Joker.”

Zellweger’s win is even more baffling because she already got an Oscar 17 years ago for Anthony Minghella’s “Cold Mountain.” One would assume it would be a rare, weak year for female lead roles. But it’s not even that – Ana de Armas of Rian Johnson’s “Knives Out” and Lupita Nyong’o of Jordan Peele’s “Us” are still around. Better yet, give Best Actor and Best Actress to Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson for Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story,” which was just one giant tour-de-force of screen acting anyway.

Brad Pitt and Laura Dern are also getting their “you’ve been around forever and haven’t won anything yet, so here’s your awards” moments as this season’s frontrunners for Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress. Dern, while fine in “Marriage Story,” was still at her best in Joyce Chopra’s “Smooth Talk,” Martha Coolidge’s “Rambling Rose,” and Alexander Payne’s “Citizen Ruth,” and her hype and SAG win for “Marriage” feels a little belated. Pitt on the other hand, has had a steady career as a good actor both blessed and cursed with good looks, distracting his potential with range. He was my favorite of the two male leads in Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” but was anyone expecting him to keep winning over legends like Al Pacino and Joe Pesci in Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman”?

The night ended on the most interesting note, with Bong Joon-ho’s Korean satire “Parasite” winning Best Ensemble Cast. Beating out “Once Upon a Time” and “Irishman,” the Guild showed some love for not only a well-performed feature, but also a foreign film. While the winners look underwhelming so far, at least we’re losing three weeks worth of Hollywood politics and attention seeking.

— Megan Bianco 4 | Thursday, February 13, 2020 •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

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