By George, it's more Oscar chat

I love George Clooney. Not in a sexual way, mind you - I don't swing in that direction. Not that I'm saying there's anything wrong if you do. I mean heck, I admit I was right into BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN. Well, not right into it in that sense, but if... actually, can I start again?

George Clooney is great.

Aside from his talent as an actor, his natural charisma, his inate coolness and the fact that ladies all seem to want to jump him, the guy actually has some artistic integrity about him. In Hollywood celebrities that's about as common as having natural bodyparts. With the odd exception, he rarely appears in a big-budget brainless blockbuster - he seems to pick projects that genuinely display a bit of intelligence, artistic merit or whatever. Even with something like OCEAN'S TWELVE where there was clearly money to be made, you get the impression that his main reason to do it was how much fun he had on the first one.

Now it seems his attitude is finally being rewarded with some big award nominations. Okay, so he's not likely to win the big Oscars this year (maybe a slight chance of a supporting actor gong, but that's it) but it's nice to see recognition anyway. Forgetting about his acting exploits in SYRIANA for the moment (mainly because I haven't actually seen it yet), take a look at his two outings as director.

CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND was perhaps a little over-directed but for all the stylistic overkill it was still an accomplished debut that didn't quite fall into the everything-including-kitchen-sink trap that many first time directors fall into, particularly those coming from outwith the directing profession (yeah, I'm talking about you, Rob Zombie). Nope, Clooney turned in a more-than-competant job based on some interesting source material. And, ego be damned, Clooney was happy to take a supporting role while Sam Rockwell turned in a superb lead performance.

This year Clooney has been deservedly nominated for Best Director for his second feature behind the camera GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK. Once again Clooney provides support while the spotlight falls on another actor, this time the also-nominated David Strathairn (backed up by a strong support that includes Robert Downey Jr, Patricia Clarkson and Jeff Daniels).

The choice to film in black and white is a justified one and this time Clooney reins in the directorial flourishes except where they absolutely enhance the movie. This includes seamless integration of archive footage (the movie concerns a CBS anchorman and his crew who stood up to the paranoid nutter Senator Joseph "Everyone's a commie" McCarthy in the fifties) and a score that consists only of jazz numbers being performed by a singer who happens to be recording in a studio on the same floor as the newsroom. In terms of the video footage, he may even have done too good a job - some preview audiences in the US noted that they felt the actor playing McCarthy was overacting a bit. They didn't seem to be aware that this was real archive footage, and the histrionic madman up on screen was the genuine article.

Taking a lean 93 minutes to tell a story that many directors would stretch out for an hour or so more, Clooney makes a superb job of turning in a thinking person's thriller, based on an economic script that he himself co-wrote. While on one hand it's a fascinating look at one of the more shameful periods in America's recent history it's also extremely relevant to today, carrying an important message about the power of television and lamenting its "dumbing down", a state of affairs that is sadder now than it ever has been. As long as we get a regular televisual diet of CELEBRITY TOENAIL CLIPPING, or whatever other pish the licence fee gets squandered on these days, as long as people are happy to sit and watch fourth-rate "celebrities" eating raw animal nadgers, this film will always remain face-slappingly relevant.

As much of a fan as I am of the excellent BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, the Oscar favourite, I'd dearly love to see Clooney's film recognised. It's definitely the best film I've seen in 2006. Sure, we're only in February so that might not mean much but it's my blog so I'll use all the hyperbole I want, thanks very much.

So let's hear it for the thinking man's celebrity, Mr George Clooney, a man who has spurned the big money summer blockbuster in order to take the novel approach of films that actually mean something.

Then again, if I'd spewed up the wretched celluloid vomit that was BATMAN AND ROBIN, I'd probably want to steer clear of big movies for the rest of my life as well.