I'm Not There

Date: December 18
Location: Landmark Art Cinema (Atlanta)

I returned to the excellent midtown Atlanta theater where I saw Pan's Labyrinth about a year ago to catch Todd Haynes' unique Bob Dylan biopic. I wish South Florida had a theater like this, with big posters of classic films in the lobby, eight large screens showing indie fare, employees and patrons you can just tell are film lovers. If I ever get a big-money job offer in Atlanta, this movie theater will be a check in the 'pro' column.

The film is fascinating and often transcendent. It's an art film in the truest sense of the word — eschewing simple things like plot and narrative in favor of a scattered exploration of the "many lives" of Bob Dylan. This is the kind of movie ensemble awards are made for... all the actors are terrific, with Cate Blanchett and young Marcus Carl Franklin the standouts. Tying everything together is Dylan's music, used to tremendous effect from fade in to fade out. Not every scene is successful, but so much of the film works so well that it easily ranks among the year's best.

Overlooked performances

Every year, the critics groups and the Academy inevitably narrow their focus to a group of about 6-7 actors in each category. The Oscar nominations almost always come from those shortlists — it's the reason the winner of our annual contest usually goes 25-out-of-30 or better.

But of course there are many more performances just as worthy of awards each year that get lost because their films weren't well-received overall, came out too early, flew too far under the radar or some other unfortunate combination of events.

So rather than heap praise on the Julie Christies and Marion Cotillards, the Javier Bardems and Daniel Day Lewises, I'm going to look at each acting category and sing the praises of some wonderful performers who won't hear their names called at year end.

Stay tuned for the first installment soon.

Bug

Date: December 17
Location: Clifton Living Room

An extremely creepy exploration of loneliness and paranoia, Bug is the opposite of a feel-good movie. The film is based on a stage play (and obviously so, as it is dialogue-heavy and takes place almost entirely in a motel room) about a beaten-down (literally and figuratively) woman who finds comfort in the arms of a paranoid schizophrenic and eventually comes to share his obsessions. It really is quite fascinating, despite the grisly subject matter, and features an outstanding performance by Ashley Judd. Judd started out with such promise a dozen or so years ago but chose to pursue a career in TV-worthy crime flicks. Here, she reminds us what a raw, vital actress she really is, delivering one of the best performances (male or female) I've seen all year. It's a pity she's being ignored by the award shows.