Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Roderick Jaynes, the man who wasn't there

One of the most interesting Oscar night questions for Sunday (and let's face it, we're all supposed to be writing Oscar-related blog posts at this time of year) is, what happens if Roderick Jaynes wins the award for Best Editing for No Country for Old Men? I ask this question for a pretty basic reason. Roderick Jaynes does not exist. "Roderick Jaynes" is the alias that the Coen Brothers use for their editing endeavors. Here, they describe Jaynes to the AP as a crochety Englishman in his 80s. Jaynes is The Man Who Wasn't There. How often does a man edit a film whose title describes him perfectly? Especially when he isn't actually a man.

A few years back, Stephen Soderbergh's alias for cinematography also was nominated, without many people being aware that it was an nom de camera. But he did not win.

This could make for the most memorable speech come Oscar night.

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