movies this week: snubbed!

Oscar nominations were announced this week, which means that the major contenders are in wider release or in re-release. So Austin finally gets a chance to see Million Dollar Baby, like it or not, and Sideways is popping out all over. (I would rather see Eternal Sunshine again, but no one asked me.)
I don’t have much to say about the nominations, except to mention the movies that were overlooked entirely. I am thinking in particular about one movie. You know which one, don’t you? So entertaining and enlightening. Perhaps a bit controversial (conservatives have been ranting against one of the main characters), but I felt it had so much to offer every one of us. A sincere and sweet tale about Triumph of the Human Spirit, which is just what the Academy seems to like, and yet it did not receive a single nomination. Perhaps that’s because it wasn’t about the triumph of the human spirit exactly, but still I cannot understand why it was snubbed so entirely.
Of course, I am talking about my boyfriend’s favorite movie of 2004 and in his opinion, possibly the best movie ever made, The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie.
The Academy Awards do include a category for animated film, and while I can understand that The Incredibles were something extra-special (in fact, I think it should have been nominated in the general Best Picture category), and that a lot of people did seem to like Shrek 2, it is sad to see that Shark Tale is in there but our absorbent and yellow and porous friend is not. I suspect political conspiracy, perhaps due to the influence of these alleged “family” groups that are currently accusing SpongeBob of being a gay icon who promotes such shocking values as tolerance.
Or maybe the Academy is full of humorless Philistines. You be the judge.
Alamo Drafthouse, however, is undaunted by the lack of industry awards bestowed on The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, and is showing this masterpiece of silliness next month. You can go on Saturday morning and enjoy lots of sugary cereal with your movie, or you can go at night and have a beer.
In the meantime, there are other movies opening in Austin this week, but none of them have singing pirates in them. A shame, really.

New movies in Austin this week:
Alone in the Dark—Two things—”based on a video game” and “starring Christian Slater as a paranormal detective”—ought to tell you everything you need to know about this movie. Oh, and Tara Reid plays an anthropologist, whom you can tell is very intelligent because she wears glasses and keeps her hair up in a bun. This might be fun to watch on late-night network TV in about 10 years. Maybe.
Hide and Seek—Robert De Niro and Dakota Fanning play a father and daughter struggling with grief after his wife/her mom commits suicide. The daughter invents an invisible friend and otherwise goes round the bend.
I just checked Robert De Niro’s filmography and the most recent film of his that appeals to me at all is Jackie Brown, from 1997. He and Michael Keaton both.
Million Dollar Baby—It took long enough to get here, geeeez. I’d like to see this movie, but I think I’ll wait a weekend to avoid crowds. I want to see this movie because I heard it’s a good old-fashioned boxing movie, which I think I would enjoy, and not because everyone is bowing and scraping in front of Clint Eastwood.
(Okay, I just found out it is playing at Galaxy Highland, so maybe we won’t wait. Hm.)
Notable events/revivals in Austin:
Austin Jewish Film Festival—Playing at Arbor Great Hills, 1/29-2/4. One of the highlights of this film festival is the documentary Paper Clips, about kids who decide to collect 6 million paperclips as a Holocaust memorial.
Imelda—Playing at Alamo Village on Wed. 2/2. Documentary about Imelda Marcos, which looks intriguing. Please note that this is at Alamo Village, not Downtown (where they usually show the Texas Documentary Tour films).
Son of Blob—Playing at Alamo Downtown on Wed. 2/2 at midnight. Larry Hagman directed this 1972 sequel to The Blob. Cast includes Burgess Meredith, Dick Van Patten, Cindy Williams, and Bud Cort. Also, it’s free. Kinda makes me wish I didn’t have to get up early on Thursdays.
Spike & Mike’s Sick & Twisted Festival of Animation 2005—Playing at Alamo Downtown almost nightly through Feb. 14.
The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie—Playing at Alamo Downtown on Sat. mornings 2/12 and 2/19, and Wed. night 2/16. The Sat. morning tickets don’t seem to be on sale yet, or else (horrors) they’re sold out … I need to email Alamo and find out for sure, because I’d love to go.
(The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie is also playing at Tinseltown South this week in case you just can’t get enough of him.)
Other Oscar-nominated movies currently playing in Austin:
The Aviator—Playing at Alamo Lake Creek, Barton Creek AMC, Galaxy Highland, Gateway, Tinseltown North, Westgate.
Finding Neverland—Playing at Arbor Great Hills, Barton Creek Cinemark, Tinseltown South.
Hotel Rwanda—Playing at Arbor Great Hills.
The Incredibles—Playing at Barton Creek AMC, Tinseltown North and South.
Kinsey—Playing at Barton Creek Cinemark.
Ray—Playing at Barton Creek Cinemark, Gateway, Tinseltown South.
Sideways—Playing at Alamo Lake Creek, Dobie, Arbor Great Hills, Barton Creek AMC, Metropolitan, Tinseltown North, Westgate.
Vera Drake—Playing at Arbor Great Hills.
If you want to see a particularly good film that I do feel was overlooked for awards, possibly because it was shot on digital video, I recommend you rent Baaadasssss!. I think it is even better than SpongeBob, but my boyfriend gets very sad when I say things like that around him.
At home, I still need to see Gunga Din. We also have The Cooler and my boyfriend has Bottle Rocket. I’d like to see The Big Red One but Alamo Village is showing it only at noon, which is kind of a pain to work into my schedule. I wish we’d have more showings of The Big Red One this week, perhaps replacing some of the Oscar-nominated films, but that’s the business.