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pilight
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 Posted: 02/09/22 8:21 pm ::: Oscars |
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Let's look at the Best Picture nominees
BELFAST
Weirdly unengaging, considering Branagh is telling an autobiographical story. It lacks the intimacy you'd expect from the logline but maintains the too cutesy kid stuff.
CODA
Cliché Indiewood hokum. When it's focused on Ruby's teen crush it's fine. When it inevitably veers back to her "eccentric" family it's stuff we've seen a million times before, just with sign language.
DON'T LOOK UP
Hated it. This is satire by way of sledgehammer; an unfunny, self righteous screed masquerading as entertainment. Jackass Forever has more nuance and subtlety. That it got nominated at all is a testament to the Academy's recent shift to reward politics over quality.
DRIVE MY CAR
The first two thirds of this film are mesmerizing. It's a slow burn of grief trying to morph into remembrance. The last third, when all the subtext becomes text, is an overload of exposition and doesn't work as well. It's long and slow in a good way. It'll never win but it's well worth your time.
DUNE
Two and a half hours to get half a movie. The 1984 version is 20 minutes shorter than this and a mess but it at least had an ending. Extremely frustrating film.
KING RICHARD
Well made hagiography. In reality, Richard Williams is complicated, controversial, and easy to dislike. In this film, made with the approval of the Williams family, all that is barely even hinted at. It doesn't have the story beats of a typical sports movie. It also has a minimum of conflict or drama. Will Smith gives a strong performance.
LICORICE PIZZA
This would get my vote among the nominees. I'm usually just lukewarm on Paul Thomas Anderson but he nailed this one. It's got all the shaggy dog qualities you'd expect from Anderson but it's kept in focus by a marvelous lead performance by Alana Haim.
NIGHTMARE ALLEY
Bradley Cooper is no Tyrone Power. OTOH I never thought Joan Blondell was right for the 1947 version of this film while Cate Blanchett is amazing. This film looks great, of course, and the downbeat ending is well earned. It suffers from changes in popular sensibilities between the 40's and today, particularly in regards to how therapy and psychiatry are viewed.
THE POWER OF THE DOG
I don't like this as much as many people do. It really comes back to Benedict Cumberbatch, an actor I have never cared for. Many people thought casting him against type in this film was intriguing. To me it just made the eventual character reveal too obvious.
WEST SIDE STORY
I'm a sucker for musicals and this is as good a one as you're likely to find. Comparisons to the 1961 version are inevitable. Both are great in different ways. The one weakness is Ansel Elgort, who's just not believable when he tries to portray Tony's infatuation with Maria. It's weird that the one movie star is upstaged by the relative unknowns that make up the rest of the cast.
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Last edited by pilight on 02/09/22 10:06 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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toad455
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| Posted: 02/09/22 9:08 pm ::: |
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| Agreed about "Don't Look Up". Didn't get it at all or understand the hype. The WSS remake did well in most areas when comparing it to the original, but the ending was badly directed. Belfast was a bore. Loved Licorice Pizza, my friends didn't. Those are the only nominated films i saw.
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PUmatty
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| Posted: 02/09/22 9:40 pm ::: |
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Of these 10, I have only seen Dune and King Richard. Agree with you pretty much on both of them. That said, I really enjoyed King Richard despite its many flaws and found Dune actively unengaging.
Was disappointed to see Tick, Tick ... Boom not show up in Picture, and I wish Andrew Garfield had a chance to win the award that already has Will Smith's name engraved on it.
The best movie I have seen this year is (pretty easily) Passing, so was disappointed to see it snubbed everywhere, especially Ruth Negga's stunning performance. It joins a long list of movies that are just too good for the Academy.
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pilight
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| Posted: 02/09/22 10:18 pm ::: |
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Passing is very good. Ruth Negga has been great in everything I've seen her in. Even her brief appearance in Warcraft.
I enjoyed King Richard but I have zero desire to ever see it again. Dune looks really good and I'm sure I'll like it better when it's finished.
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Howee
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| Posted: 02/11/22 9:59 pm ::: |
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| toad455 wrote: |
| Agreed about "Don't Look Up". Didn't get it at all .... |
You ARE kidding....right?? I liked it. Thought that - in most ways - the role was beneath Streep, but I was tickled at how much she must have relished the role, quality or not. But yes, it's NOT Oscar material.
The Power of The Dog was okay enough as a story....I didn't see any particularly amazing acting in it, and I thought it was a bit disjointed (?).
Passing was QUITE good, imo. I'm also disappointed that it didn't get a nod.
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Luuuc
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| Posted: 02/11/22 11:10 pm ::: |
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I thought Don't Look Up was a massive waste of acting talent. They did ok with what they had, which was an awful screenplay. So yeah, I very much agree with pilight's assessment, except that perhaps "sledgehammer" might be understating things a tad. I went in wanting to like it but I was horribly betrayed.
Dune is the only other one I've seen. It wasn't the complete mess that the original was (understandable, since it only told part of the story) but the only things I liked about it was that the visuals & audio were top notch - so I'm glad I saw it at a cinema. The story itself was nothing special. (Not bad or anything, but I would hope that a Best Picture nom would be a little bester than this. Lean year I guess)
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Iluvacc
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| Posted: 02/14/22 1:24 pm ::: |
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Ditto on the Passing and Ruth Negga love. She was just sublime, a shame the Oscars didn’t recognize it. I’m anxious to see Rebecca Hall’s next project, very interesting backstory as well.
King Richard was your typical feel good sports film, however Will Smith and especially Aunjanue Ellis were great! She killed in that kitchen scene.
I’ll view Westside Story once it arrives on Disney +
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GlennMacGrady
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| Posted: 02/14/22 8:44 pm ::: |
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Never even heard of any of these movies other than Dune and West Side Story. Given that I've gone to a movie theater only twice this century, I guess I don't pay much attention to what used to be a national cultural tradition and treasure.
I did see Dune via streaming. It was better than the clunky 1984 production, but hardly Oscar-worthy by classic standards. But maybe none of the nominees is. |
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Howee
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Luuuc
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| Posted: 02/14/22 9:39 pm ::: |
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It feels like most of the creative effort goes into TV these days. The standard of TV shows is pretty high these days.
Which maybe leaves movies as a format more focused on showcasing big screen special effects and audio. (That's sure what Dune's intent seemed like to me anyway)
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pilight
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| Posted: 02/14/22 9:51 pm ::: |
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| GlennMacGrady wrote: |
| hardly Oscar-worthy by classic standards |
I don't know what that even means. Surely Dune reaches the meager standards of Anthony Adverse and Anne of the Thousand Days.
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tfan
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| Posted: 02/14/22 11:00 pm ::: |
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| They do seem to be stuck making movies that are focused on stuff that looks better on a giant screen and sounds better in a theater than on a TV, giving someone reason to go to the theater. But then the movies appear incredibly dumbed down.
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jammerbirdi
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| Posted: 02/15/22 6:11 pm ::: |
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I'm sure I enjoyed pilight's characteristically brief reviews more than I would most of these nominees. I have seen Don't Look Up, however, and liked it very much. Maybe it's because I don't see many movies now and I'm easily dazzled. I'm a sucker for any film, from Mr. Smith Goes to Washington to DLU that shows how our political system is in the hands of unelected super elites and the fact that this one takes the catastrophic results of that to an apocalyptic conclusion and presents that to the masses via a star-studded cast had me pointing at the TV screen looking at mrs jammer and mumbling unintelligibly with popcorn falling out of my mouth. The knowledge of film, film history, film makers and current talent in this thread is impressive. I can't keep up but y'all go ahead._________________ Every woman who has ever been presented with a career/sex quid pro quo in the entertainment industry should come forward and simply say, “Me, too.” - jammer The New York Times 10/10/17 |
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pilight
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| Posted: 02/15/22 7:03 pm ::: |
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| It's weird that there are three remakes among the Best Picture nominees. Don't think they've had that many in one year before.
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PUmatty
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| Posted: 02/16/22 12:57 pm ::: |
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| pilight wrote: |
| It's weird that there are three remakes among the Best Picture nominees. Don't think they've had that many in one year before. |
Not really. West Side Story and Dune aren't really makes of previous movies. Rather, they are new adaptations of the same source material. (I don't know enough about Nightmare Alley to know for sure how it fits).
Calling them remakes is like saying "The Tragedy of Macbeth" is a remake of the 2016 Michael Fassbender movie.
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pilight
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| Posted: 02/16/22 1:19 pm ::: |
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| Nightmare Alley is based on a book. I've never read it so I can't say how closely either film follows the text.
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mercfan3
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PUmatty
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GlennMacGrady
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pilight
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| Posted: 03/28/22 7:54 am ::: |
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| Coda takes best picture. It's fine. I always enjoy seeing Marlee Matlin.
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PUmatty
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| Posted: 03/28/22 4:24 pm ::: |
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My reaction to this year's ceremony really crystalizes that I am a messy bitch who loves drama.
Where is my popcorn ...
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Howee
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jammerbirdi
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| Posted: 03/28/22 5:15 pm ::: |
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| pilight wrote: |
| Coda takes best picture. It's fine. I always enjoy seeing Marlee Matlin. |
Well of course I have a story. Working in the restaurant the night she won for Children of a Lesser God. Dead night for us but a lot of take out and delivery. Ceremony is over. Got a pick up order for ‘Matlin.’ We’ve been watching the show all night but it’s the big city so the name barely registers. Then this guy in a full on black tux comes in to pick up the order. I’d been burned for ‘making’ a celeb connection before but this guy’s got the tux on, it's Oscar night, so I remember I just pointed to the check stapled to his order and said, “Matlin?” He instantly said, “She’s my daughter.” Pretty cool. I congratulated him and I THINK he might have said she was in the car but I don’t remember really.
And then, they came in a couple times after that. The family and Marlee. Few things. She was SO young looking in person. Beautiful girl. I don’t know really how to say this or whether it’s even okay these days, but I was taken aback at how profoundly deaf she was. Like she was struggling with what was going on around her and frustrated. She was edgy. I guess winning a best actress Oscar I thought that her deafness was maybe something partial or that she was absolutely a master of the challenges it presents but that didn’t seem to the case. Really felt for her.
She looks amazing. Like she hasn’t aged much in like 30+ years. (God has it really been that long?)
But on a different note, every time I think of this, her dad coming in the restaurant in a tux (you see people everywhere in gowns and tuxes on awards show nights) I’m reminded of this thing I heard someone say you should do on Oscar night. lol. Rent a tux, get the wife or girlfriend in a gown, and after the show is over, show up at all the places you frequent, grocery stores, etc. lol. Just needed to pick up a few things on the way home.  _________________ Every woman who has ever been presented with a career/sex quid pro quo in the entertainment industry should come forward and simply say, “Me, too.” - jammer The New York Times 10/10/17 |
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jammerbirdi
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| Posted: 03/28/22 5:17 pm ::: |
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| PUmatty wrote: |
My reaction to this year's ceremony really crystalizes that I am a messy bitch who loves drama.
Where is my popcorn ... |
I’m personally appreciating the big reveal but otherwise I’m not touching this. _________________ Every woman who has ever been presented with a career/sex quid pro quo in the entertainment industry should come forward and simply say, “Me, too.” - jammer The New York Times 10/10/17 |
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But I didn't think it expressed a lot of people's frustration with the lack of changes made to protect our environment/prevent global climate change .
Never being a Will or Jada fan, I had no idea of the *history* with Rock, etc.