"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
LATIMES has an interesting theory on Meryl Streeps nomination over Amy Adams and Annette Bening. Meryl you slydog!
Though Streep is an award season staple, many were actually surprised by her Oscar nomination. Her performance in “Florence” was not one of her better-reviewed turns, and pundits predicted her slot would instead go to Amy Adams ("Arrival" or Annette Bening ("20th Century Women&rdquo. But at the Golden Globes earlier this month -- where she was the recipient of a lifetime achievement award -- Streep delivered a stirring six-minute speech denouncing then President-elect Donald Trump. It was arguably the most rousing moment during the telecast, and may have swayed Oscar voters in her favor. (The Globes took place on Jan. 8; Oscar ballots were due Jan. 13.)
LALALAND received the 14 least deserved Oscar nominations since last year's movie about the guy who crawled through snow.
"If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers." Thomas Pynchon, GRAVITY'S RAINBOW
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." Philip K. Dick
My blog: http://www.roscoewrites.blogspot.com/
Looks like I'll be spending the telecast futilely rooting for Hell or High Water, Ruth Negga, and Michael Shannon.
I was surprised by all the love for Lion, a movie that no one is talking about. Cinematography, really? Over Knight of Cups? And how is Dev Patel supporting, but Geoffrey Rush was a lead in Shine? Academy logic.
"LALALAND received the 14 least deserved Oscar nominations since last year's movie about the guy who crawled through snow."
The cinematic masterpiece that you side-swiped was a throwback to Hollywood's golden era. It was an unvarnished survival saga that provided insights into the abject harshness of life for trappers in an unorganized territory in the early 1800's. I know of no trapper today but am acquainted with several people who are trying to get cast in some gaul-awful pseudo reality TV survivor show. The movie wasn't everyone's cup of tea. But, its fans, among whom I count myself, found it refreshing. Carry on.
javero said: ""LALALAND received the 14 least deserved Oscar nominations since last year's movie about the guy who crawled through snow."
The cinematic masterpiece that you side-swiped was a throwback to Hollywood's golden era. It was an unvarnished survival saga that provided insights into the abject harshness of life for trappers in an unorganized territory in the early 1800's. I know of no trapper today but am acquainted with several people who are trying to get cast in some gaul-awful pseudo reality TV survivor show. The movie wasn't everyone's cup of tea. But, it's fans, among whom I count myself, found it refreshing. Carry on.
The Revenant was my kind of movie, Hork. I'm drawn to movies that attempt to accurately depict the rough and tumble existence of non-elites prior to the advent of film cameras, even if they are slightly embellished accounts. As a kid, my parents only took me to see westerns and war movies so the image of the heroic male lead on screen is difficult for me to escape. However, I don't care for survivor-themed reality tv shows one bit. They seem rather kitschy like most televised pro wrestling.
All the "Hidden Figures" love seems to come from the #OscarsSoWhite backlash. I don't think it was a good movie and the performances were fine, but not award worthy.
As for La La Land, I finally saw it tonight, and while I loved Stone/Gosling's chemistry, I'm not sure I'd give her a "Best Actress" award for it. But, there is a undeniable charm she has. But same with Lawerence winning - I don't think that performance really said "Oscar" but she does have a certain charm.
"All the "Hidden Figures" love seems to come from the #OscarsSoWhite backlash. I don't think it was a good movie and the performances were fine, but not award worthy."
We should also consider that Hidden Figures has been doing wonders at the box office (considering the box office "poison" of three black, female leads), telling many a story they haven't (but should have) heard and really resonating with audiences. Given the amount of films the Academy can nominate, I'm happy to see a box-office crowd pleaser sneak into the mix.
Hidden Figures's nomination wasn't surprising. It's this year's The Help, which also got a nomination. But it's also a better movie than The Help, imo.
Glad you dug it, javero. For me, THE REVENANT was the funniest film ever made about the filmmaking process, about a major movie star in search of an Oscar who signs on for an Art Western by a Foreign Director, and finds himself crawling through snow, wearing fake-blood-soaked period costumes and prosthetic wound makeup, crawling through more snow, spitting up fake blood, crawling through some more snow, riding the rapids, crawling through still more snow, riding a horse off a cliff, crawling through snow, rescuing a damsel in distress and suffering an attack by stunt coordinators hiding behind a phony CGI bear after crawling through still more snow, and in the film's most inspired meta-cinematic touch, the producers managed to buy the film's actual star one of those knickknacks.
LaLaLAND is such a bore it isn't even worth the trouble of mocking.
"If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers." Thomas Pynchon, GRAVITY'S RAINBOW
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." Philip K. Dick
My blog: http://www.roscoewrites.blogspot.com/
"All the "Hidden Figures" love seems to come from the #OscarsSoWhite backlash. I don't think it was a good movie and the performances were fine, but not award worthy."
I enjoyed it as a feel-good middle-of-the-road movie, but agree it isn't award worthy (then again, a lot of feel-good- middle-of-the-road movies that aren't half as good as "Hidden Figures" often get Oscar nods or even win Oscars). But there was no need for Oscar to award it to counter the #OscarsSoWhite rep this year, as this year there were a quite a few worthwhile movies that aren't so white, some of which - Moonlight and Fences primarily - got well deserved Oscar nods.
Agreed, but I think Moonlight and Fences are in a much higher bracket compared to Hidden Figures which just felt pandering and overtly Hollywood. But, hey, it's an interesting story - albeit told in a very uninteresting way - and I'm happy to see its success! I just like the more off-beat fare like Moonlight.
I am perfectly OK with a film celebrating women, particularly women of color, getting all the praise and every award. Frankly, our country could use that right now.
"It does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are 20 gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg."
-- Thomas Jefferson
I'd rather see Hidden Figures get awards attention than La La Land. It's no masterpiece, but it's a solid, well-crafted movie that's thoroughly enjoyable. I do think that Janelle Monae deserved a nomination over Octavia Spencer, but both were very good.
Outside of critics, I don't know anyone who has seen Lion.
I am a firm believer in serendipity- all the random pieces coming together in one wonderful moment, when suddenly you see what their purpose was all along.
I saw Lion and quite enjoyed it. I didn't know too much about the story, so I had low expectations. Actually liked it more than La La Land, Manchester and Moonlight.
Jane, go see ARRIVAL. There is a bittersweet undertow to the movie, but it is a beautifully calibrated story not about aliens at all, but about how we humans live our lives. And it fills you with a great joy by the end. Sublime. Maybe the best truly feel-good movie of the year.