Fresh Loaf

The bar at the Fork & Screen

I wasn’t sure I was cut out for spending a Saturday watching all five best picture nominees back-to-back in a Buckhead dinner theater. This was the kind of activity reserved for trekkies or Star Wars and Lord  of the Rings fanatics. But work demands sacrifices, and since I’m in charge of CL’s Oscar live-blog tonight, I figured I owed it to y’all to have seen more than Pineapple Express and Slumdog Millionaire. As it turns out, I’m pretty good at sitting, watching and eating for hours on end. Allison Keene, aka the Televangelist, who came along too, ain’t too bad either. The AMC Buckhead Fork & Screen proved a decent venue, if a bit cold and noisy. But once I got my coffee and we figured out how to adjust our seats, things went fairly smoothly. When I sat down today to do my recap, Allison had already turned one out. So rather than tell you the same things twice, I’ll leave you with Allison’s tales of German indiscretions, fanny fatigue, and four out of five recommendations (with which I concur)…:

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The Southeastern Film Critics Association (SEFCA), whose members include Creative Loafing Atlanta’s Curt Holman and former critic Felicia Feaster as well as Creative Loafing Charlotte’s Matt Brunson, yesterday named Milk the Best Picture of 2008 in its 17th annual voting. Director Gus Van Sant’s powerful look at slain activist Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to hold public office in the nation, earned a total of three awards, with its other victories coming in the categories of Best Actor (Sean Penn, pictured) and Best Original Screenplay (Dustin Lance Black).

The uplifting drama Slumdog Millionaire proved to be the only other film snagging more than one prize, as it copped awards for Best Director (Danny Boyle) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Simon Beaufoy, adapting Vikas Swarup’s novel Q&A).

In the closest contest of the day, Anne Hathaway received the Best Actress award for her performance as a recovering addict in Rachel Getting Married; she beat The Reader’s Kate Winslet by two points. Winslet also earned multiple votes for her work in Revolutionary Road. (The Reader and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button open in Atlanta on Dec. 25. Other strong contenders such as Revolutionary Road and The Wrestler open in early January.)

The late Heath Ledger won Best Supporting Actor for his mesmerizing take on The Joker in the summer blockbuster The Dark Knight, while Penelope Cruz earned Best Supporting Actress kudos for her turn as a feisty free spirit in Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

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1) San Serac and Wilderness play the Earl.

2) Invasion: Christmas Carol continues at Dad’s Garage Theatre.

3) Milk continues in area theaters.

4) Atlanta Wind Symphony performs at Roswell Cultural Arts Center.

5) Twinhead Theater finishes its final performance of Choose Your Adventure: The Play at Eyedrum.

(Photo by Michaelann Zimmerman)

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Today’s Air Loaf features CL’s Chanté LaGon and Curt Holman chatting about films opening during the holiday season, including Milk, Australia, Slumdog Millionaire, Frost/Nixon, and Bolt.

Air Loaf is broadcast weekdays on 1690 WMLB-AM at approximately 8:10 a.m., 12:20 p.m. and 6:20 p.m.

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FOR THE BOYS: Sean Penn (center) stars as Harvey Milk in the eponymous drama.

On Nov. 4, same-sex marriage advocates suffered a setback when Californians narrowly passed the Proposition 8 ballot initiative ensuring that the state would only recognize marriages between men and women. The biopic Milk screened in Atlanta three days later, and its portrait of gay activism and California politics feels almost shockingly immediate, despite taking place three decades earlier.

Oscar winner Sean Penn plays Harvey Milk, a pioneering gay rights advocate who challenged hostile attitudes and institutional oppression, most notably Proposition 6, a California ballot initiative designed to fire schoolteachers suspected of being gay. In some ways Milk proves to be a tame, conventional film biography, but the post-Prop 8 climate gives it an urgency and relevance that may have been missing had it opened a month or two ago. (more…)

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