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Post by ThirdMan on Feb 12, 2022 10:52:00 GMT -8
Most of the Oscar nominees for Best Picture are fairly mainstream films that are readily available to the average viewer. As much as I don't care about the Oscars in general, the fact that the so-called "average moviegoer" only knows about mainstream blockbusters, for the most part, isn't the Academy's problem. I mean, they can pander to "the average moviegoer" and only nominate $100+ million blockbusters, but I doubt it'd help their TV ratings much anyways (that ship has sailed).
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Post by Jeremy on Feb 12, 2022 17:07:33 GMT -8
Readily available though they may have been, not a single Best Picture nominee last year could qualify as a mainstream film, with the possible exception of Trial of the Chicago 7. That is in part due to external circumstances shuttering theaters and postponing blockbusters, but it also reflects the increased divide between the Academy and the audiences. (Note that by "average moviegoer," I'm not referring to people who exclusively go to Marvel and Star Wars movies. I'm talking about folks who go to movies on a regular basis, see films across a variety of genres, and still respond with a "Huh?" at many of the recent films that receive Oscar attention.
I'm also not trying to thumb my nose at the Oscars (as enjoyable as such an activity is) when I point out that - for much of the 20th century, and even early into the 21st - there was a lot of crossover between Best Picture nominees and audience favorites. A number of factors outside of the Academy have caused this to change - not least the decline of mid-budget movies and the ever-widening gap between pricey blockbusters and auteur-driven indies. I don't see this changing anytime soon (especially with the continued rise of streaming providing new opportunities for niche productions), but I think it fair to say that the gap wasn't always so wide.
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Post by ThirdMan on Feb 12, 2022 18:43:15 GMT -8
I was referring to this year's Best Picture nominees. Last year's selections were definitely less mainstream, on account of so many releases being pushed back by the pandemic.
Obviously I agree that mid-budgeted adult-oriented films are becoming far less commonplace in multiplexes these days. But CODA's the only relatively obscure film on the list. Drive My Car, though perhaps not getting a wide release, has gotten a TON of media attention, despite being a foreign film (perhaps the most since Parasite). Regardless, I hope it becomes commonplace for at least one "international" film to make the Best Picture list each year.
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Post by Jeremy on Feb 13, 2022 6:08:27 GMT -8
Ah yes, this year's releases were certainly more mainstream than 2020's. And I'm not inherently against low-release films getting Oscar attention - on the contrary, I'm legitimately happy that CODA got a Best Picture nod; it's a great film that deserves a boost with wider audiences.
I'm also fine with more non-American films getting major nominations, although that does slacken the suspense in the Best International Film* category.
*I can't keep up with all these category name changes. Wasn't it Best Foreign Language Film? So glad I don't have to cover this stuff professionally.
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Post by ThirdMan on Feb 13, 2022 10:30:31 GMT -8
Were CODA on Netflix, I would've already watched it by now, but I don't really want to order Apple + for just a few films (I guess Tragedy of Macbeth is on there as well) before cancelling, because then yet another streaming company will be spamming my e-mail with ads.
Yeah, I get them not wanting to use the word "foreign", but re: "Best International Film", I mean, the Bond movies are usually produced in Europe, so why don't they, for example, qualify? (I know, they're at least co-produced by an American studio, but yeah, semantics.)
And it's true that nominating one non-English film for Best Picture certainly telegraphs the Best International Film winner, but there's a solution to that: nominate more than one non-English film (when warranted) for Best Picture, and keep doing that until an "International Film" category is no longer necessary.
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Post by Jeremy on Feb 13, 2022 20:51:50 GMT -8
Yeah, Apple TV+ is doing pretty well on the movie side, between CODA and Tragedy of MacBeth (even if I was somewhat indifferent to the latter), along with some of its earlier acquisitions. (And For All Mankind is a better show than its early episodes would indicate, which is cool.) Can't say it's an integral addition to the ever-growing slate of streaming services, but it's getting there.
Regarding this year's Best Picture nominees, I watched Nightmare Alley today. Well-produced and well-acted film with an immersive and creepy atmosphere, though it desperately needed 30 minutes lopped off its runtime. I'm not the biggest fan of Guillermo del Toro's work, but this is a step up from Shape of Water (featuring a better script and less fish sex), even if it fared poorly in most of the non-technical Oscar categories.
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Post by ThirdMan on Feb 14, 2022 16:23:54 GMT -8
i just think Nightmare Alley is inherently gonna be less compelling once the story moves away from the carnival setting. Were it three-quarters carnival and one-quarter the other stuff, I suspect the length would feel less noticeable. And how DARE you shame ladies who have fish-sex, Jeremy!
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Post by Jeremy on Feb 14, 2022 21:00:13 GMT -8
I was going to make a Troy McClure joke, but a quick search through the old posts tells me I did that a few years ago. Oh well.
I've never seen the original Nightmare Alley, but my understanding is that it devotes a greater share of time to the carnival setting than this film does. And it's a good deal shorter, and makes good use of creepy black-and-white filming. (There is actually a B&W screening of del Toro's version screening in theaters, to some added acclaim, but I don't think that one's on HBO Max.) Perhaps I'll give it a spin.
I've seen most of the major Academy nominees at this point; will probably get to the rest over the next few weeks. Even with the return of theaters, most wide-release movies are heading to streaming services more quickly than before, and the Oscar films are no exception. (West Side Story hits Disney Plus in early March; ditto Drive My Car on HBO Max.)
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Post by ThirdMan on Feb 25, 2022 12:34:03 GMT -8
Jeremy, how DARE you suggest (on Letterboxd) that Inglourious Basterds is historically inaccurate! That's TOTALLY how things went down!
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Post by Jeremy on Feb 25, 2022 13:36:08 GMT -8
False. All that talk about German people counting to three using their pinky finger rang false in the face of early 20th century cross-cultural education. Nobody would have found a deviation suspicious. This horrible inaccuracy ruined my investment in an otherwise grounded and historically literate movie.
(All that aside - as with most Tarantino films, I would preferred a shorter runtime, but it's a well-written and well-structured film that earns its outlandish conclusion. Glad I finally got around to finishing it.)
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Post by ThirdMan on Feb 25, 2022 14:52:59 GMT -8
Notice how the amount of profanity in a Tarantino film drops by, like, 85% when Samuel L. Jackson isn't in a featured role (he only has a voice-over in one scene)?
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Post by Incandescence 112 on Feb 25, 2022 20:40:42 GMT -8
False. All that talk about German people counting to three using their pinky finger rang false in the face of early 20th century cross-cultural education. Nobody would have found a deviation suspicious. This horrible inaccuracy ruined my investment in an otherwise grounded and historically literate movie. (All that aside - as with most Tarantino films, I would preferred a shorter runtime, but it's a well-written and well-structured film that earns its outlandish conclusion. Glad I finally got around to finishing it.) There's something oddly moving about Tarantino's historical wish fulfillment films. Quite sad when you're snapped back to reality. And yeah, Basterds is absurd. But at least it butchers history intentionally. Which is better than what most "historical" films do.
Also, I saw you gave Your Name a 6/10--which I basically agree with. The charge that anime films have simple and dull stories bolstered by gorgeous animation rings somewhat true there. I wonder how it would've turned out if Shinkai had that extra year he says he needed to perfect it. I wouldn't put it up there with Satoshi Kon or Miyazaki/Takahata's work.
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Post by Jeremy on Feb 26, 2022 19:45:26 GMT -8
I did feel while watching that there's something vaguely immoral about the wish-fulfillment aspect of Inglorious Basterds. Almost seems like it's coaxing viewers to deny the horrific reality as a coping mechanism. But it's at least a well-made wish-fulfillment story that doesn't pretend to be anything otherwise. (Plus, I just watched the ninth episode of Band of Brothers, and that put me in a right mood to watch Nazis burn.)
As for Your Name, that pretty much summarizes my thoughts - gorgeous animation, pretty basic story. It appears to be extraordinarily popular with teens and tweens, and had it come out when I was younger, I may have been more taken with it. But now I'm old and jaded and needlessly cynical toward the new generation of film lovers. Oh well.
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Post by Jeremy on Apr 29, 2022 14:52:36 GMT -8
What up, I'm back. Life is calming down again, so I am trying to get back to writing and to movies. I watched a bunch of stuff recently, including:
Clerks - Insane levels of vulgar gross-out dialogue in this film, but it's nearly 30 years old, so we have decent evidence that it did not corrupt our culture (or if it did, I was too young to remember it, so who cares). Certainly earns its cult status, with its deadpan humor, ironic detachment, and meandering pseudo-philosophical debates providing abundant influence on a generation of filmmakers. Some very funny moments, and surprisingly cinematic in scope despite its threadbare budget. Or maybe... because of its threadbare budget? Duuuude...
Little Miss Sunshine - Yeah, I liked this one. I know it hits all the predictable crowd-pleaser beats, but it hits them so well - and with such an incredible cast, top to bottom - that I didn't mind. Watching Paul Dano in this post-The Batman is really funny, particularly the scene where his character finally loses his mind. That's just one of many standout moments (the scene with Dean Norris' roadside cop is another) in a film chockablock with them. And the way the film deftly eviscerates the more exploitative side of child beauty pageants is icing on the cake.
Edward Scissorhands - Just an innocent little film where Johnny Depp is accused of harming a woman without substantial evidence and a lot of people get angry at him. I enjoyed it.
The Seventh Seal - I was excited to sit down with the film that inspired such early '90s masterpieces as Last Action Hero, Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey, and that delightful episode of Animaniacs. Unfortunately, while the cast was clearly committed and the cinematography striking, I found myself listlessly bored for large stretches of this film, and despite the short running time, it really dragged. Being neither a Christian nor an atheist, I didn't connect with the film's musings on religion, spiritually or otherwise, and it was tough to connect with characters who often functioned as metaphors. I'm starting to think that Ingmar Bergman's filmography isn't really for me, though I've only seen two of his productions so far (this and Fanny and Alexander - which I liked but didn't love).
Chappie - I know this is not a culturally significant film by any stretch, but I need to write a few words about it because it is one of the most peculiar misfires I've seen in some time. There are interesting ideas at play here, about the law enforcement and robotics and the meaning of consciousness, but the film is so unfocused - and the characters' motivations, from one scene to the next, make so little sense - that I could not take any of it seriously. A bizarre attempt by Neill Blomkamp to combine elements of sci-fi and social commentary that worked so well in District 9, but which clash and clumber here. Also, the title character is kind of annoying. (Side note, could Neill Blomkamp be the next Shyamalan? The downward trend in reaction to his filmography would suggest a director who peaked a little too early.)
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Post by ThirdMan on Apr 29, 2022 16:14:05 GMT -8
I would try Smiles Of A Summer Night (much lighter) and Persona (very personal and stylized) before clocking out on Bergman. Some of his films can be quite solemn and dry, but there's depth and artistry at work.
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