actors part i, or "an education".

The whole world loves them. All of L.A. hates them. They infest this city like the rats in the Hollywood Hills (did you know the hills are alive with vermin?) and the cockroaches that recently shut down Philippe's. I was pondering this irony, since it's the height of the dreaded awards season, which I find more and more obnoxious every year. Like it's not enough that these people get one golden phallic-like statue for excellence in their "craft,"--there's a long and winding yellow brick road of critic's honors and award ceremonies that lead up to it, and they all generally laud the same people and performances.

So, WTF? I'll tell you wtf. I think it's because the life of the actor is so truly grueling and unforgiving and 99.5% of them go completely unrecognized (and often reviled) after a lifetime of work, that when those luck-of-the-draw .5% make it to the top of the pile, they heap upon themselves all the accolades and statues and jewels and gowns and back-end profits they can get their grubby little hands on.

Now it all makes sense.

Anyway, I was not at all looking forward to this year's holiday movie season. Nothing seemed interesting, save for a couple of indies, and even they seemed pretty ho-hum, too. "Why, oh why can't every year be like 2007?" I lamented. But now, as the mack daddy Oscars are in sight, I have to admit, I've changed my tune. There were quite a few performances that rocked my cranky little world--and no, I am not looking at you Sandra Bullock, even though you seem like a pretty nice person--and I hereby declare 2009, The Year of the Actor.

If I ruled the world, and therefore the Oscars, I would give the Best Actress statue to Carey Mulligan for her performance in An Education. Not only did she lead a cast of heavyweights (Peter Saarsgard, Emma Thompson and two of my favs--Olivia Williams and Alfred Molina) in a very satisfying, character- and story-driven film with awesome period fashions, she pulled off a complex performance with remarkable subtlety and irony. Jenny is a girl who is too worldly for her all-girls school and too naive for her dashing yet shifty, age-inappropriate suitor. This is a tricky duality to portray, and Mulligan does it. Really, really well. This is not easy. She (and the film) also convey the damned if you do/damned if don't dilemma of young women who pursued an education in the early 60's. If you thought school was for squares--you could stroll the path to hell of a beleaguered housewife. And if you studied hard and made it to Oxford, well look out, lonely teacher spinsterhood, here I come. Basically, choose the life of quiet desperation that most suits you, or do as Jenny does in An Education, and find another way out.