Awards Season 2018

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DarkImbecile
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Re: Awards Season 2018

#926 Post by DarkImbecile » Mon Feb 25, 2019 1:33 pm

domino harvey wrote:
Mon Feb 25, 2019 1:26 am
I knew this was going to be a shitshow so I leaned into my other brand and just watched French movies instead. Reading the winners afterwards provided me with about twenty seconds of disappointment versus 3+ hours, so I’m feeling okay about that decision
So, ultimately, the broadcast (separate from the awards given) was actually pretty good: relatively brisk, without many of the saggy host-driven moments that usually drag the show to a halt; my main criticism of the production would be the choices of clips for nominees, which were almost uniformly either unrepresentative of the performance or actively unflattering of the film or the actor.

As for the awards themselves, I love that Colman won out and Cuaron took the three statues he did; on the negative side, I've come around to the opinion that the most offensive win of the night was not Green Book for Best Picture (not that it doesn't leave the bad taste of a glass full of drain cleaner) but Green Book for Original Screenplay. Almost everything that's wrong with that movie is in its script, and given the competition from Roma, First Reformed, and The Favourite, recognition for that screenplay was substantially less deserved than even its bigger win.

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domino harvey
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Re: Awards Season 2018

#927 Post by domino harvey » Mon Feb 25, 2019 1:37 pm

I did watch a video of Colman’s acceptance speech. That win gave me a modicum of faith in the system, but I think the Oscars are still on awfully thin ice after this season

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soundchaser
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Re: Awards Season 2018

#928 Post by soundchaser » Mon Feb 25, 2019 1:40 pm

Colman's speech was undoubtedly the best thing about the ceremony, with Spike Lee starting by warning the Academy "do not start that motherfucking clock" a not-so-distant second.

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Feego
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Re: Awards Season 2018

#929 Post by Feego » Mon Feb 25, 2019 1:46 pm


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aox
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Re: Awards Season 2018

#930 Post by aox » Mon Feb 25, 2019 2:08 pm

colinr0380 wrote:
Mon Feb 25, 2019 12:53 pm
cdnchris wrote:
Mon Feb 25, 2019 12:51 pm
My wife was watching a morning show and they said 3hrs 18min.
Could have watched Bohemian Rhapsody in that time. But I suppose it would not have had a Lady Gaga song in it.
But it did have Radio Gaga.

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DarkImbecile
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Re: Awards Season 2018

#931 Post by DarkImbecile » Mon Feb 25, 2019 5:45 pm

Interesting commentary in IndieWire's behind-the-scenes coverage of last night's ceremony from Kino Lorber's CEO, among others, on the significance (or lack thereof) of Netflix's push for Roma in the foreign film market:
At Soho House, Kino Lorber CEO Richard Lorber took in the big picture, including Netflix’s estimated $25 million campaign for “Roma,” and whether any of its potential wins would indicate a broadening of the potential for foreign-language movies. “What would be a turning point would be if they spent 50 percent of their Oscar budget to buy 25 foreign films,” he said. “They could buy them from me. They aren’t. I have other films that are as good or maybe even better, but they’re not in the foreign-language business. They made a global crusade with ‘Roma.’”

He shrugged. “Look, I do business with Netflix, they’re great for me, and I respect what they’re about,” he said. “But the fact that they promoted this beautiful Mexican film on steroids distorts the reality of what audiences expect from Netflix, and what Netflix will do to actually support world cinema.”
Paul Schrader, meanwhile, had the best quote:
Schrader, who predicted his loss to “Green Book” weeks ago, wandered past. “You can’t compete with mediocrity,” he said, and chuckled.

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aox
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Re: Awards Season 2018

#932 Post by aox » Mon Feb 25, 2019 6:50 pm


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domino harvey
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Re: Awards Season 2018

#933 Post by domino harvey » Mon Feb 25, 2019 8:28 pm

Unsubtle yes, but it doesn’t sound so absurd or offensive... but neither does Green Book. Can liberals stop tripping over themselves to be crowned wokest?

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knives
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Re: Awards Season 2018

#934 Post by knives » Mon Feb 25, 2019 8:40 pm

The eight ball says no. Also I think their speech gives a bit of context to make coherent their choices.

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Luke M
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Re: Awards Season 2018

#935 Post by Luke M » Mon Feb 25, 2019 9:39 pm


FrauBlucher wrote:
domino harvey wrote:
Mon Feb 25, 2019 1:26 am
I knew this was going to be a shitshow so I leaned into my other brand and just watched French movies instead. Reading the winners afterwards provided me with about twenty seconds of disappointment versus 3+ hours, so I’m feeling okay about that decision
I did the same, which I always do. Haven't watched the Oscars in years. I watched My Dinner with Andre. I cracked open the bluray that I saved just for this night. Not sure why folks waste 3 hours plus to feel mostly disappointed afterwards.
Not a fan of watching the Super Bowl or American election night results, huh?


Last edited by Luke M on Mon Feb 25, 2019 9:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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furbicide
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Re: Awards Season 2018

#936 Post by furbicide » Mon Feb 25, 2019 10:39 pm

domino harvey wrote:
Mon Feb 25, 2019 8:28 pm
Unsubtle yes, but it doesn’t sound so absurd or offensive... but neither does Green Book. Can liberals stop tripping over themselves to be crowned wokest?
Doesn't it? I feel like the article offers plenty of good reasons to think it is. I'm not interested in outwoking anyone, but when a film tries super-hard to seem progressive but ends up just being totally tin-eared and condescending – as this very much sounds – then it's a valid line of critique.

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dustybooks
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Re: Awards Season 2018

#937 Post by dustybooks » Mon Feb 25, 2019 11:02 pm

The Skin synopsis reminds me of the plot of the Vic Morrow sequence in Twilight Zone: The Movie...

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DarkImbecile
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Re: Awards Season 2018

#938 Post by DarkImbecile » Mon Feb 25, 2019 11:07 pm

domino harvey wrote:
Mon Feb 25, 2019 8:28 pm
Unsubtle yes, but it doesn’t sound so absurd or offensive... but neither does Green Book. Can liberals stop tripping over themselves to be crowned wokest?
I haven’t seen this short, so I’m not judging Skin or the Slate article, but Green Book really is a textbook case of the racism faced by black characters being exploited as a plot device only to the extent necessary to move the white protagonist’s narrative arc along. The film ultimately isn’t bad because it fails to meet Film Twitter’s standards of wokeness — it’s bad because it chooses to tell an insipid story centered on its least interesting character — but that doesn’t change the fact that its view of racial politics is simplistic and naive, which is a problem when the filmmakers have chosen to tell a story fundamentally about racial politics. This isn’t beside-the-point criticism of a Noah Baumbach movie for having too many white characters, but a case of filmmakers being ill-equipped to address a topic central to the story they’ve chosen to tell.

I don’t like performative posturing that isn’t justified by the art in question either — whether it’s progressives criticizing Cuarón for making Roma while failing to be an indigenous woman or conservatives criticizing First Man because Neil Armstrong doesn’t recite the preamble to the Constitution while planting the flag in slow motion — but not all cultural criticism can be dismissed as being offered in bad faith, especially when you haven’t seen the film in question yet.

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swo17
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Re: Awards Season 2018

#939 Post by swo17 » Mon Feb 25, 2019 11:29 pm

They need to make it two awards:

Best Picture About Racism
Best Other Picture

Problem solved (by which I mean the problem of racism)

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lacritfan
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Re: Awards Season 2018

#940 Post by lacritfan » Mon Feb 25, 2019 11:49 pm

DarkImbecile wrote:
Mon Feb 25, 2019 1:33 pm
I've come around to the opinion that the most offensive win of the night was not Green Book for Best Picture (not that it doesn't leave the bad taste of a glass full of drain cleaner) but Green Book for Original Screenplay. Almost everything that's wrong with that movie is in its script, and given the competition from Roma, First Reformed, and The Favourite, recognition for that screenplay was substantially less deserved than even its bigger win.
After reading this couldn't agree more.

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Big Ben
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Re: Awards Season 2018

#941 Post by Big Ben » Tue Feb 26, 2019 1:35 am

swo17 wrote:
Mon Feb 25, 2019 11:29 pm
They need to make it two awards:

Best Picture About Racism
Best Other Picture

Problem solved (by which I mean the problem of racism)
I think it should actually be "Best Picture About Racism Solved by White People." and then Best Other Picture.

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domino harvey
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Re: Awards Season 2018

#942 Post by domino harvey » Tue Feb 26, 2019 1:36 am

Just read that Cuaron quoted by name Claude Chabrol in one of his acceptance speeches. How great is that?

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Big Ben
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Re: Awards Season 2018

#943 Post by Big Ben » Tue Feb 26, 2019 1:53 am

domino harvey wrote:
Tue Feb 26, 2019 1:36 am
Just read that Cuaron quoted by name Claude Chabrol in one of his acceptance speeches. How great is that?
He also spoke about Billy Wilder, Ernst Lubitsch and a name I cannot for the life of me remember. Said individual was a Mexican Cinematographer I believe.

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The Narrator Returns
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Re: Awards Season 2018

#944 Post by The Narrator Returns » Tue Feb 26, 2019 2:39 am

Even more than her normal state, Sasha Stone is frothing at the mouth on Twitter right now about Film Twitter being mean to Green Book.

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knives
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Re: Awards Season 2018

#945 Post by knives » Tue Feb 26, 2019 8:01 am

Big Ben wrote:
Tue Feb 26, 2019 1:53 am
domino harvey wrote:
Tue Feb 26, 2019 1:36 am
Just read that Cuaron quoted by name Claude Chabrol in one of his acceptance speeches. How great is that?
He also spoke about Billy Wilder, Ernst Lubitsch and a name I cannot for the life of me remember. Said individual was a Mexican Cinematographer I believe.
It was his normal DP the gassy goat. Also, yes, the Chabrol shoutout was a highlight.

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aox
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Re: Awards Season 2018

#946 Post by aox » Tue Feb 26, 2019 8:44 am

domino harvey wrote:
Mon Feb 25, 2019 8:28 pm
Unsubtle yes, but it doesn’t sound so absurd or offensive... but neither does Green Book. Can liberals stop tripping over themselves to be crowned wokest?
I'm not offended. I just think it sounds incredibly stupid and aloof. I am also shocked it got from an idea, to a screenplay, to production, to distribution, to an Oscar nomination, to an Oscar win without raising an eyebrow from the hundreds of people who occupy each of those steps.

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Re: Awards Season 2018

#947 Post by FrauBlucher » Tue Feb 26, 2019 9:50 am

How many in that auditorium had ever seen a Chabrol film or even know who he is.

My problem with Green Book is that they didn’t use an Italian American actor to play Tony.

Responding to LukeM, One is an athletic competition that’s decided by skill and not subjective voting and the other has a serious importance.

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domino harvey
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Re: Awards Season 2018

#948 Post by domino harvey » Tue Feb 26, 2019 10:26 am

The older members probably have, his late 60s/early 70s movies were as well-distributed and popular in the states as Bergman and Fellini. David Kalat talks broadly about Chabrol’s consistent yet contradictorily ephemeral popularity in the states on his Le cri du hibou commentary track

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FrauBlucher
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Re: Awards Season 2018

#949 Post by FrauBlucher » Tue Feb 26, 2019 10:43 am

I guess the question is how many of the younger members will take time to find out about Chabrol and perhaps Lubitsch. I'm always skeptical there is a percentage of the younger generation of hollywood that aren't interested in the older or obscure (to them) parts of film history. But I could be wrong.

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domino harvey
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Re: Awards Season 2018

#950 Post by domino harvey » Tue Feb 26, 2019 10:47 am

Probably very few, but I guess any non-zero amount would be a good thing. I always love it when someone takes their limited spotlight on stage to highlight overlooked auteurs, and of course I’m biased because Chabrol is someone I’d mention if I were up there

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