Team Jacki Update: We Need a Battle Cry. Any Suggestions?

jacki_foam_finger225.jpgLongtime proponents of Animal Kingdom co-star Jacki Weaver were thrilled this morning to hear their hero's name announced among this year's five Best Supporting Actress Oscar nominees. And the Australian legend's warm if brief response has just come over the transom at Team Jacki HQ: "I'm elated to the point of euphoria. I feel like I'm in a walking dream. I'm so relieved that all those millions of Australians that wanted me to get this nomination aren't disappointed. Happy Australia Day." Aw! To you as well, Ms. Weaver. That said, this got serious today -- and we need more than press statements. We need a slogan; we need a battle cry.

Suggestions are more than welcome, but I'm kind of fond of adapting New York Jets linebacker Bart Scott's televised rant after last week's stunning upset win over the New England Patriots. And while the analogy here may be a slightly awkward fit -- the Jets, while fitfully competitive, were dispatched Sunday by the Super Bowl-bound Steelers -- it's the spirit of the thing that makes my spirit (and confidence) swell with every listen:

So, uh... let's see. "To all the Jacki nonbelievers! Especially you, Fox Searchlight! Way to have our back, Paramount! Anybody can be beat! Felt great! Poetic justice! We know we're a much better team, and we came up and represented ourselves. We're pissed off! All you nonbelievers, disrespecting us and talking crap about the defense! Helena Bonham Carter couldn't stop a nosebleed! See you at the Oscars! CAN'T WAIT!"

Something like that? I mean it's got to work for somebody eventually.



Comments

  • Donald says:

    How about "Not bad"?
    Sorry, but that's how I feel (though I guess I am glad to see her nominated). It's solid, but nowhere near great... It's ok, that's about it.

  • Jan Kubicki says:

    I agree with Donald. I was underwhelmed, not by what she did or didn't do, but the role itself was a disappointment. I expected a hellfire role, but she didn't have one Oscar-worthy moment. I expected her [SPOILER REDACTED]. The whole film was a letdown. Maybe you folks at Movieline hyped her too much.

  • First of all, jerks, the title of this post isn't Come Kick Dirt on Jacki Weaver's Oscar Chances. You had two interviews in the seven months since the film opened -- and the entire last four months since we started Oscar Index -- to knock her performance, the film, her odds, whatever you wanted. Now that she's actually nominated, which I told you she would be all along, you wriggle out of your caves for the mere opportunity to piss on something positive. Mission accomplished, I suppose. I'd rather have an empty comment well and be one solitary guy quietly waving a flag than have this conversation with a couple predictable haters on a day when I was otherwise happy.
    Second of all, regardless of where we stand on Animal Kingdom -- and honestly, I've had perfectly pleasant conversations with plenty of people (even at this site!) who've liked it a lot less than both of you -- don't show up and drop spoilers on the first day when the widest audience this film has ever had may actually want to _see the fucking movie_. Are you crazy?
    Third of all, Lord knows we must not have hyped it nearly enough since anyone who's bothered to read anything about Weaver's role/performance knows it's not intended as a "hellfire role." Melissa Leo already devoured all the category's scenery anyway; there is none left for Jacki.
    Anyway, there are plenty of other related posts around here for you to troll on, so do it there. Let the smallest constituency of this year's Oscar class have this one.

  • anna says:

    I'm so glad she got nominated!

  • MA says:

    Hey STV,
    Both barrels blazing today! Props.
    Anyway, to the topic at hand -- the Jacki Weaver battle cry.
    We Australians cheer on our sporting heroes with the rather tribal chant of "Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! Oi! Oi! Oi!" Granted, it sounds like a skinhead war bellow, but still, I think it's something with which we may work.
    So I'd modify it to:
    "Jacki! Jacki! Jacki! O! O! O!"
    O, of course, for Oscar.
    If one were pressed for time, you might simply chant "Jacki O!" though there'd be the risk of people confusing Ms Weaver with that nice Mrs Kennedy lady.

  • Quirky- says:

    Stu, can I just say I love you after that? Like, I really, really, love you.
    Plus, Jacki Weaver is the nicest woman you will ever meet in your life. More than your mother or grandmother. I literally still get goosebumps thinking about the night she actually recognised me after I'd met her two years earlier.
    Thanks as always for the Team Jacki love.

  • S.T. VanAirsdale says:

    Thanks! Love you, too, and couldn't agree more about Ms. Weaver.
    And I should probably semi-apologize to the first commenter, who is hardly a "hater" but was unfortunately in the wrong place at the wrong time with his ambivalence. He didn't know this parasite was on his tail. Alas.

  • S.T. VanAirsdale says:

    Thanks! Jacki O is actually kind of awesome -- perfect for a T-shirt! I need to get on this.

  • Nathaniel R says:

    how about...
    "Suck Eggs!" ?
    sorry. that sounds too negative. I just love that line reading of hers "i'm not trying to tell you how to suck eggs" Hers was the single nomination to be happiest about yesterday as the cards were really stacked against her since
    1) underseen film
    2) no coattails as the film got no attention in other categories and precious few debut director precursor nods which is so weird and wrong.
    3) not famous
    4) old (and Oscar likes their ladies way young: see Hailee)
    i am so thrilled. I've been cheering her on since the summer.

  • NP says:

    STV already said it, but it bears repeating: a great performance isn't always about chewing the scenery to smithereens. Unfortunately those are the kinds of performances that get the most attention, and the major downside to that is that powerful (but subtle) performances like Weaver's get overlooked by people who need obviousness and in-your-face antics to be convinced that an actor's giving a good performance.