Hereafter and the Academy

Steve Pond over at The Odds has a report about Clint Eastwood’s Hereafter doing very well there.¬† Says Steve:

And from what I hear, Eastwood’s drama – three interlocking tales of people around the world affected by death or near-death experiences, with Cecile de France and Matt Damon (left) – was very well-received by an AMPAS crowd that I’m told filled as much as 85 percent of the 1,000-seat Goldwyn.

One Academy member who was at the screening said the reaction to the film was “terrific,” with sustained applause at the end of the film. Others concurred, but thought the attendance might have been a bit overstated.

It’s worth remembering that Hereafter got rave reviews from the LA Times’ Kenneth Turan, the New York Times’ AO Scott, TIME mag and Roger Ebert. Those are probably, arguably, the most influential group of critics when it comes to the Oscars. Full stop.¬† It doesn’t seem to have the same momentum that Gran Torino had, and it doesn’t have the same bravura performance as Invictus’ Morgan Freeman, for instance. But it is a lucid meditation on loss and grief. It is ultimately optimistic. This is significant for an artist of Eastwood’s stature to be looking back on all that he’s seen in the past 80 years and still finds it to be a worthwhile experience. No bad, I’d say. Hereafter will make my top ten of the year.