Watching the Oscars..

[shadowkat]

And at times disagreeing with the Oscars...while I get the sound editing for Bohemian Rhapsody, not sure I get the best editing Oscar -- it's a film that I thought was in desperate need of a good editor. LOL! But then I really don't get why that film was nominated at all. I wouldn't have nominated it. Why do people love bio-pics, they are always awful and filled with cliches? They keep nominating them, and afterwards...no one remembers them or sees them again. Quick list the ones you remember and enjoyed. I stopped taking the Oscars seriously when the biopic of Gandhi won. The only one's I thought were good? Lawrence of Arabia and ....that's about it. I'm legitmately drawing a blank. All the others were problematic. Will state VICE like Lawrence is interesting because it breaks the rules of biopics and reimagines the bio-pic, not only that -- it mocks the bio-pic and itself, by stating we have no idea about the personal life of this man -- he was private, we're making it up as we go. So two - Lawrence of Arabia and VICE.

I'd have nominated any number of films instead.

Also Roma got Best Foreign Film (which means it won't get Best Picture) and Best Cinematography (which it deserved). I'm hoping it gets best director.

Black Panther is picking up all the set design and costume awards -- and deservedly so.

The best supporting went as expected to Regina King (If Beale Street Could Talk) and Marshala Ali (for Green Book).

Ah, I was RIGHT - and I didn't even see it -- the best animated film went to "Spiderman : Into the Spiderverse". Hah. Agree with that -- most innovative, everything else didn't break the boundaries.

Also, the Oscars changed their minds and decided to perform all the oscar nominated songs -- after they got so much push-back. They also chose to show all the awards, after the push-back.

Uhm...First Man for best visual effects? Really? SMH. I'd have gone with Avenger's Infinity War -- far more complicated.

Well...Cooper and Gaga delivered the best musical performance so far -- that song is the best thing about Star is Born, along with the performances, but the story alas has been told too many times. I gave the synopsis of it to my mother over the phone and she said, "yep, same story as the Garland/Mason version". Cooper is very good in it, but...the story is paint-by-numbers by now.

I wish they'd gone with Emily Blunt for the Mary Poppins nominee instead of Bette Midler...but oh well.

Well, Green Book just won best screenplay -- which means it won't win best movie. Best Screenplay NEVER wins best movie.

Black KKKlansman got best adaptated screenplay -- which is interesting. This means it won't get best moive either, but we knew that. Also, I think Spike cursed a mean streak -- so it was blanked out. I want Spike's glasses by the way the purple glasses and his outfit. I love the purple suit and cap.

Black Panther deservedly won for Best Original Score.

Shallow won for best song as expected. (It really didn't have much competition. The Black Panther song didn't even get sung -- or if it did I don't remember it -- at the ceremony. And I can't remember it anyhow.) Lady Gaga gave a tearful speech, but didn't really say anything that no one else did. The most interesting speech of the night was Spike Lee's which was also the most incoherent, because he had troubles reading his own writing.

Rami Malek predictably won for Bohemian Rhapsody. It should have gone to Christian Bale, but Bale ruined his chances when he said what he did at the Globes. After that -- I knew Malek had it. Both were disappeared into their roles, and admittedly Rami was admittedly the best thing in Bohemian Rhapsody and the only reason to watch the film. There is no other reason. At least it means Bohemian Rhapsody won't win Best Picture.

So right now...I've no clue what will get best picture. It's wide open. I can't imagine it being VICE or Star is Born. So leaning towards Black Panther -- which would be a huge game changer if it happens.

I'm pretty sure Glenn has this sewed up...let's see if I'm right. Actor categories are very political. Wow -- the best actress Oscar was a huge upset -- it went to Olivia Coleman for the Favorite, which means The Favorite won't get Best Picture.

So...whoa, I'm thinking Black Panther will win? That would be huge -- for so many reasons. Will they do it? Unless, either Green Book or Star get it -- which is typical and I don't see happening. Star hasn't gotten anything but best song all night. That does not bode well. And Vice only got makeup...which means it won't win. The big winners so far have been Roma and Black Panther, also Bohemian for editing and acting. I'm pretty sure Alfonse Curaon will get best director. Ryan Coogler was overlooked for Best Director.

Let's see if I'm right...

I'm right. Alfonse Curaon got Best Director...which means...ohhhh...

Damn. It went to Green Book. The film I haven't seen because I've seen it before.

Sigh.

Comments

[cjlasky7]

...Sorry to Bother You didn't even get nominated for a single award.

Given how the night turned out, this really bugged me. Riley's Welles-ian (H.G. and Orson) satire and Ryan Coogler's comic book Afrofuturism make Green Book feel even mustier than it is.

I think, twenty or thirty years down the line, STBY will be remembered as one of the most distinctive movies of this era, the way Putney Swope and The Ruling Class are revered from previous eras. (Look for the Criterion Collection edition in 2041.)

[shadowkat]

Green Book ironically won after I had a lengthy debate with a college friend about whether it should be called out for pandering and furthering systematic racism. She was arguing that it should be called out for furthering the magical white savior relationship and if it won it had negative implications for race relations, while I argued that at the end of the day it's just a movie and we have to be careful not censor expression or read too much into it. Providing example of Huck Finn - which can be interpreted both ways and has. Also there were people who had enjoyed it and found it to be uplifting story about an interracial friendship. (I had bigger issues with Bohemian Rhasody, but I also have not seen Green Book -- the trailer didn't interest me at all.) Now, I'm wondering if my friend had a point? Then again, how many of the former Oscar winners do you remember? For me, very few. And most of the films that won have not held up well and been forgotten, while those that didn't or weren't nominated...are still being discussed today. Awards really are a snapshot of the sentiments and politics of the industry at the time, but outside of that...sort of meaningless.

[cjlasky7]

Read Vulture's list of all 91 Best Picture winners. There are some forgettable ones in there, but there's even more great movies, as well.

If Driving Miss Daisy came out in 1964, with (say) Sidney Poitier and Bette Davis, it might have been groundbreaking. In 1989, it felt a little musty, but right in the Academy's wheelhouse. Do the Right Thing was just a little too frightening, so the members retreated to something safe.

In 2019, we had at least five major motion pictures (Green Book, Black Panther, BlacKKKlansman, STBY, If Beale Street...) interrogating the topic of racism, and of the five, Green Book is generally agreed to be the LEAST interesting/complex take on the topic. Green Book may be a good two-hander with Viggo and Mahershala, but it's a little irritating that (30 years after Daisy) this take ("white guy teaches black man about real life") still gets the nod when there are so many other options available.

It's only a movie? Yes. But the movies and the people who produce them reflect our society in a million subtle ways. Retreating to past comforts is not a positive sign.

[shadowkat]

True, except...Driving Miss Daisy hasn't held up well and is rarely seen, while Do the Right Thing is studied in film schools and has held up remarkably well.

I don't think this will help Green Book make more at the box office or get more attention than it has to date. It's a bit musty around the edges, and the critics did not like it. There were three films nominated that were NOT loved by the professional film critics, Bohemian Rhapsody, Green Book and Star is Born. All were considered grade B efforts at best. And...I've met the people in Hollywood who vote for these films ...they aren't the best judges of film.

It's funny, I was discussing this with my cubical mate today. And he made an apt comparison to the MVP baseball picks by sportswriters -- and how insanely subjective it was. This threw me for a bit of a loop -- because there is "objective" criteria available. We have batting averages, how the player did in the field, number of pitches thrown, etc. But a lot of the judges/voters based their choices on political bias -- they didn't like the Yankees, or they didn't like the player personally - which should be irrelevant. And this is SPORTS!

Movies, books, music is even worse. And nothing is more political than the Oscars. If the awards had been held prior to the Globes or in January? Christian Bale would have won for Vice. Politics kicked him to the curb. (I knew after the Globes he'd never win...sigh. Even though, based on purely objective criteria -- he should have won. Malek just did an impression, Bale embodied Cheney. But Bale will do more roles, and get nominated again...and has already won.)

In regards to movies..from an objective perspective? I'd have given it to Roma. And based on your break down of Sorry to Bother You? I'd have nominated it, and based on co-worker's breakdown of If Beale Street Could Talk -- nominated those two films instead of Bohemian Rhapsody and Star is Born. I have no idea why anyone in their right mind would nominate Star is Born and Bohemian Rhapsody, both were feel-good paint by numbers flicks with no real lasting value. And did little to break new ground in film.

But.. the Academy Awards has never been about that. They aren't film scholars or critics, they are actors and filmmakers who don't watch that many films (even though they get all the DVDs sent to them for free months in advance of voting and go to free screenings). People who do it for a living, don't tend to make good judges of the craft. I think they are either too close to it, or something.

[beer_good_foamy]

Riley's Welles-ian (H.G. and Orson) satire and Ryan Coogler's comic book Afrofuturism make Green Book feel even mustier than it is.

Exactly. Why do we always need to take a step back when the world gets scary and praise the safe option? Lean into the turn, ffs.

I think, twenty or thirty years down the line, STBY will be remembered as one of the most distinctive movies of this era, the way Putney Swope and The Ruling Class are revered from previous eras. (Look for the Criterion Collection edition in 2041.)

Yup. I just hope it gets to be the starting point of a long and successful career for Boots Riley.

[shadowkat]

Agreed.

Awards don't really assure people of long or successful careers so much as box office dollars do...just look at F Murray Abraham.

And lately they've been awarding "small" movies. And often not that interesting. I remember seeing Rain Man with my brother, who despised it -- he said it was a boring road movie that didn't do anything interesting with the visuals. And...Rain Man has not held up well. It's rarely seen now, nor for that matter is Driving Miss Daisy, while Spike Lee's Do The Right Thing, which had been overlooked has held up well and is studied in film school and various sociology courses around the country.