#OscarsSoPolitical
Alright, stop whining. No, not you hair-on-fire leftists who would trade your time-travel murder of Hitler to go back to 1947 and get Fred Trump to pull out (although you do need to relax, people...you're going to have a stroke). I'm talking to the "I'm not watching it" crowd. You know who you are. You used to tell me "I never watch TV -- I don't have the time", until I started probing with:
"24?"
Great show!
"Homeland?"
She's got those crazy eyes. I think she's crazy in real life, too.
"Scandal?"
My wife got me addicted.
"Uh...you know those are all on TV, right?"
{silence}
Here are the arguments for "Just watch it":
#1) I'm going to make predictions. Just like I did about the election.
You love it when someone is wrong and you can shove it down their throats. We all do. You particularly love it when I'm wrong. So give yourselves a moment. Check out the choices I would prefer win and the predictions about what will win -- two chances for me to be wrong; two chances in each category for you to come back and dump on me.
#2) They're going to make fools of themselves.
This is the capital of narcissism. You know all about that, now that every amateur psychologist in the world has diagnosed the President from afar. He may be rife with it, but if he's the most powerful narcissist of our time, Hollywood is the Mordor to his raging Orc. They're all going to try to get the President to react to them the way he did to Meryl Streep, which means they're going to fail wildly. We're going to forget about bulbous Marlon Brandon's stand-in Sacheen Littlefeather and Vanessa Redgrave's "Zionist hoodlums" (although we'll never forget Faith Hill:
-- , because one of these self-absorbed performers is going to go for the Fences (see what I did there?) and get themselves tangled up in barbed wire. We don't have a great term for this in English (as we do in German -- schadenfreude), but we do have Nelson:
#3) Art is what separates us from the animals. Movies are art.
Here we have to invoke the Tiger Woods rule: Separate the work from the man. Tiger was a spectacular golfer. He was the Babe Ruth of golf -- changed the game entirely. Tiger, apparently was also a despicable man. But I wasn't friends with him and never was going to be. I only know who he is because of his golfing ability. I'm not suggesting he gets a pass for his behaviour, but I'm not his judge and jury -- just a guy who occasionally watches golf on TV. This could easily also be called the Woody Allen rule.
More importantly, what are we doing here? Not "The Internets" here...the planet here. Most of what we do is pass time, doing the absolutely necessary functional things to ensure we can continue to pass time. But some small portion of what we do is create things that didn't exist before that express emotions -- sadness; genuine laughter; empathy; rage -- art. And if we're not creating art, observe, analyze and appreciate art. It's a thin line between us and those other animals (and I commuted on packed trains for years, so I know some of you have no line between you and varmints at all) -- so darken that line and enjoy some art, even if it's perpetrated by self-absorbed fools. The world is full of them (hell, you're reading words from one of them right now). At least these self-absorbed movie fools are making art for us. Enjoy.
We did ok this year, but off our pace a tad. Not a reflection of our commitment to the quest, but maybe a reflection of our differences of opinion(s) with the nominating people. Just shy of 81% of the nominations.
Strangely, we didn't see any movie nominated for Makeup. I don't know how to feel about this. Clean, maybe?
Best Documentary
I never lead with this category and I don't know why that is. Perhaps because the guy referenced above who constantly preaches to me about how much TV he doesn't watch (while pointing out the anachronisms in episode 4.16 of NCIS Las Vegas) also tells me repeatedly that "movies are supposed to be escapism -- they're supposed to remove me from reality, not bludgeon me with it". I don't agree with this. Movies are supposed to be art. Usually storytelling is at its center. But art, nonetheless. Ken Burns made art. Leni Riefenstahl did, too. Where my head starts to hurt is when I think about documentaries about art (like The Mystery of Picasso). Is this art about art? It's so circular, I fear I'll go back in time (and then there's that conundrum again -- stop the march of Hitler, or stop Fred Trump's hump?)One reason to lead with Best Documentary is that I think this category was stronger than Best Picture. I thoroughly enjoyed all five of these (something I can't say about the Big 9 in 2016) and think the winner is one of the best pictures of the last 30 years.
Life, Animated
I loved this movie. It's uplifting to the point where you feel a part of the Suskind family for the duration of the film. In another year, it wins, but this is not another year.
13th
This should be mandatory viewing for anyone who thinks we're in a post-racial world (or are even close to such a thing). Ava DuVernay does a decent job of trying to present a fair amount of counterpoint (though, in the end, she's preaching), but it's compelling material presented in a compelling way.
Fire At Sea
The view of refugees we're missing with all of the political noise. Love the scenes of the Italians at home, in their kitchens, living their lives just like my wife's ancestors.
O.J.: Made in America
The longest documentary ever nominated and not the only O.J. movie made last year, but unbelievably compelling. To present material we all know like the backs of our hands in a new light is an accomplishment. It get appropriately recognized with a gold-plated naked man tonight.
Best Picture
My biggest gripe here isn't the hype over weak, indie-type films (Manchester by the Sea; Moonlight) or good-but-not-great musicals (you know who you are, L-train) but the lack of hype for Hidden Figures (one of the best named movies, too) and Lion! Admittedly, Lion (like Philomena a few years back) resonates in my family of an adopted son and an adopted bloviating blogger, but this true story is beautiful, well-filmed and acted, and moving throughout. I'm truly at sea with the odds in this category and the omission of Captain Fantastic (more on that below).La La Land
Ryan Gosling can't sing. I'm not talking Florence Foster Jenkins bad, but it's enough to make you say "couldn't you get a guy who can sing?"
Fun movie that I enjoyed more than my wife**, but we both agree it shouldn't win (though it looks like it may).
**-This is a comparison of our reactions to the movie, not a comparison of my enjoyment of a film and my enjoyment of a wife. I'm not suicidal, here.
Arrival
I completely geeked out on this one. We had aliens and linguistics experts mixing it up; pig-headed military guys nearly blowing up the whole planet; all against a backdrop of international politics? Phew...I'm light-headed just typing this. This could be considered a rip-off of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, but I consider it different enough to stand alone. Any similarities should be considered to be a paean to that great Spielberg film from the '70s.
I'll spare you the predictable Mel Gibson rant (but, really, are we ready to apply the Tiger Woods rule to this guy? You're going to call me a hypocrite, aren't you?) The legitimate (movie-only) complaint here is that Vince Vaughn completely rips off R. Lee Ermey's Gunnery Sgt. Hartman from Full Metal Jacket while Gibson channels his inner-Spielberg to produce Private Ryan Goes to Okinawa. It's redeemed by a great story and a performance by Andrew Garfield that made me cry. No Medal of Honor here.
Hell or High Water
Speaking of rip-offs, Jeff Bridges owes half his pay to Tommy Lee Jones for his {cough} inspiration from his portrayal of Ed Tom Bell in No Country. Highly entertaining movie that does not belong on a Best Picture list that didn't include Captain Fantastic. I feel badly that director David Mackenzie lost both of his parents while filming this movie, but this isn't America's Got Talent, where the backstory gets you into the finals.
Manchester by the Sea
Casey Affleck was awesome, doing a brilliant job of the before-and-after picture of a man coming off a self-inflicted tragedy. But this is a beautiful indie-film, not a made-for-the-ages Best Pic nom. Even the trivia page on IMDB is weak. Sheesh!
Moonlight
At the risk of antagonizing my fellow snowflakes (nee: bleeding hearts), I liked but didn't love this movie. Mahershala Ali was great (and I was already a fan from House of Cards), but I found myself having to work to stay engaged. It's a great story presented not in a compelling way. Let the bashing begin.
Fences
Loved it. But this was a great play redone as a movie that looks like a play. Denzel was awesome. Viola Davis was even better (though I thought Stephen Henderson gave a surprising, if not scene-stealing performance). Tony, yes. Oscar, nope.
Hidden Figures
Loved the name. Love, love, loved the movie. I'm a guy who does musicals and has a daughter who wants to make a career out of them, and I think this was clearly better than the 3Ls. Come on, people. This is just a better movie. I'd be happy if this won BP, but it won't.
Lion
I cried for 2 hours. Twice. This is shot in a way that makes you feel a child's fear, feel a young man's guilt, feel a girlfriend's anguish, feel a parent's powerlessness but also endless capacity for love. I'm getting choked up typing this (largely because some of the complexities presented in the movie are familiar), so I'm likely over-rating this film. But it's clearly a great one. Highly recommended, both to movie fans and Oscar voters alike.
People
Men:
Viggo Mortensen gets mentioned first, not because he'll win (he won't) but because he was in my 2nd favorite sleeper film of the year: Captain Fantastic is a wonderful story, filled with laughs aloud, complexity and characters you both root for and against at various points in the film. By the way, my favorite sleeper film of the year is The Lobster. If you laugh at those twisted videos on Unilad that my cousins keep posting on my FB page, you'll laugh out loud at The Lobster. But if that kind of twisted humour makes you grimace a WTF, stay away. Trust my instincts on your behalf.Any of the men not named Gosling deserve to win Best Actor. It's a close race between Denzel, Andrew Garfield and the younger Affleck, with the latter pulling it out in a close race.
In Supporting, Dev Patel should be a favorite because he could easily have been nominated for Best Actor (but doesn't appear until about an hour into the movie), but there is some overwhelming support for Mahershala Ali. I wonder how much of this is subject matter/backstory/weak category year. Oh, and Michael Shannon (who I loved in Boardwalk Empire) didn't deserve to be here for this performance, so I think it's the Ben Carson effect -- Ali looks better standing next to Shannon.
Another overlook -- why wasn't Sunny Pawar nominated? This 8-year-old was awesome (and made us, as parents, say things about his cuteness that our kids wouldn't have liked hearing -- mercifully, this post is way too long for any of them to read. #theupsideoflaziness)
Women:
I have a feeling Portman is going to get gifted a statue for pulling off a recognizable historic character. That's some Streep schtick, Natalie, so don't get comfortable with it. This is a good time to recommend watching Florence Foster Jenkins. This is some laugh-out-loud stuff, along with some cringe-worthy moments of discomfort and then tremendous relief. Particularly if you're a musician/singer, FFJ is a must-see.I preferred Ruth Negga in Loving, but think she's got no shot. I look forward to seeing her in more movies.
Supporting is a stacked category this year. Any of them should win. My pick is Nicole Kidman in Lion (with the aforementioned bias alert in full force here), but I'm certain Viola Davis will win and I will be happy about that.
Miscellany
Film Editing
How can I comment on this without seeing the unedited film? (Is Batman a transvestite? Who knows?)
