Academy Award Nominees -- any interest?

[SimonDoom]

I’m sorry you didn’t like it.

You don't have to be sorry. Movies just hit us in different ways. That visceral, non-rational impact is part of the fun. I dislike many movies, so it's an extra pleasure when I like one.

 

[SimonDoom]

Lost all interest in Hollywood at the end of the 2010s. It's pretty much dead with the studios eliminating the mid-budget movies in favor of pumping out 'content' linked to established franchises. They are out of touch with modern American culture with all their preaching and lecturing. There's still some stuff here and there that looks interesting. Taylor Sheridan is making great stuff, but there's not enough creatives like him to resurrect it.

Agree with you about Taylor Sheridan. Sicario and Hell or High Water were both excellent. Both examples of classically well made movies with great writing and acting and super suspense. That scene with the cranky old waitress in the t-bone steak restaurant was a gem. Little things like that make you remember a movie.

 

[SimonDoom]

I was never much of a fan of the book. The first movie was slow and too bleak visually for my taste. But there was a touch of character development that seemed promising. In part two, I didn't really see it anymore. The large action scenes were okay but I am unable to appreciate them in this age of computer effects. Every movie has them more or less. And the ending with the fight and all was just cringe for me.

I understand not being a fan of the book. It's a rather cold story, and Paul isn't really that appealing a hero. I enjoyed all the world-building and intrigue of it, and I thought Villeneuve captured it well. I completely agree with you about the tedium of most CGI these days, but I thought this was an exception because it didn't LOOK like CGI. To me, anyway.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

Hollywood version of chasing the great red H...

 

[SinclairGroupLLP]

Dune 2 was great - I hope it sweeps. Wicked was also good, but I felt like it tried too hard. I do love Ariana Grande, though, Conclave was interesting and I liked it overall, but felt like the ending was contrived. Ralph Fiennes was great though.

 

[grey228]

A lot of practicalities were bypassed in the movie. She never ordered groceries either, etc. I found they weren’t relevant. The thing that felt like a plot hole to me was why the guy slipped her the advert in the first place. What did he benefit from it? Was he somehow involved?

But then it wasn’t really a movie about inventing that mystery substance, either, but rather this one person’s obsessions and self image and life’s choices.

Yes, it can be argued that way.

IIRC the dude who slipped her the advertisement was met later by Liz in a restaurant (same obviously painted on birthmark) who pretty much warns her off the psychotic split that's happening.

IDK, certain things happening in the background (i.e., shopping at Safeway in a Lethal Weapon movie) are kinda taken for granted in big Hollywood productions and stuff, but it's those small scenes where I usually thrive writing for.

This is why as much as I like the fantasy / swords & sorcery & sandals genre, I remind myself there's no toilet paper or soap in those settings. Eeeeeewwwww.

 

[karina_jayde]

Lost all interest in Hollywood at the end of the 2010s. It's pretty much dead with the studios eliminating the mid-budget movies in favor of pumping out 'content' linked to established franchises. They are out of touch with modern American culture with all their preaching and lecturing. There's still some stuff here and there that looks interesting. Taylor Sheridan is making great stuff, but there's not enough creatives like him to resurrect it.

I do like some of Sheridan's work, but his stuff absolutely includes pandering and lecturing. Some scenes (particularly from shows he's involved in) seem almost designed to be lifted from the show and spread as viral clips to get some political point across. That doesn't mean his work is bad (and in fact one of my favorite scenes from Hell or High Water can be seen as a pandering lecture) but he is absolutely guilty of it.

 

[cadeauxxx]

I do like some of Sheridan's work, but his stuff absolutely includes pandering and lecturing. Some scenes (particularly from shows he's involved in) seem almost designed to be lifted from the show and spread as viral clips to get some political point across. That doesn't mean his work is bad (and in fact one of my favorite scenes from Hell or High Water can be seen as a pandering lecture) but he is absolutely guilty of it.

His social commentary is reflective of reality and current culture in a way that the majority of Hollywood is not in their lecturing and political preaching.

More creatives like Sheridan are needed and could potentially save the industry. He doesn't seem to care if people get pissed at him for wrong-think, and that's an attitude that we desperately need to come back.

 

[LexxRuthless]

I have understood for a while now that the Academy Awards process is grotesquely similar to politicians running for office. More recently, I was saddened to see that Donald Sutherland had passed away, but then was dumbfounded to see that the man was never NOMINATED for an Academy Award.

I initially misread it; thought that he'd never WON an Academy Award. That I could believe, even though I felt like the man had brought to life so many memorable, quirky characters that it seemed like a shame. But never nominated? That's obscene.

So, no, I'm not really interested in who managed to politic their way into an Academy Award nomination and continued to campaign their way to an Oscar.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Conclave was interesting. My own views on the Church are rather less positive than the film's take on it, but I was able to suspend disbelief far enough for that. Probably helps that there's enough Catholicism in my family background for me to be aware of concepts like simony (insert @SimonDoom joke here) and 'Cardinal in pectore' (even if they took some liberties with this one for the sake of the story).

The cinematography was very pretty, and there was lots of politicking. I appreciated that the film showed not just the pomp and circumstance but the armies of nuns labouring in the kitchens, and made them more than just obedient servants.

I haven't seen much of the competition and I'm not sure I'd hold it up for Best Picture but I don't regret seeing it.

 

[cadeauxxx]

I have understood for a while now that the Academy Awards process is grotesquely similar to politicians running for office. More recently, I was saddened to see that Donald Sutherland had passed away, but then was dumbfounded to see that the man was never NOMINATED for an Academy Award.

I initially misread it; thought that he'd never WON an Academy Award. That I could believe, even though I felt like the man had brought to life so many memorable, quirky characters that it seemed like a shame. But never nominated? That's obscene.

So, no, I'm not really interested in who managed to politic their way into an Academy Award nomination and continued to campaign their way to an Oscar.

There's so many old greats who never won an award, yet their films and performances have stood the test of time.

Barbara Stanwyck never won an Oscar, yet is remembered more for her movies than several actresses of her era that won awards.

Alfred Hitchcock didn't take home the big prize either to my knowledge.

James Cagney is remembered for being the great actor he was despite never winning an Oscar.

 

[VerbalAbuse]

The nominees are out and the ceremony is on March 2, still a way off. So, do people care? Any favorites, or non-favorites? Any particular films or performances you recommend?

I don't care all that much about awards, and I don't see as many movies each year as I feel like I should, but I check out nomination lists in case there's something that looks interesting to me.

I've only seen three of the nominated films: Dune 2, Conclave, and Emilia Perez. I thought Dune 2 was a masterful interpretation of the story and is Oscar-worthy, even though science fiction movies like that almost never win (LOTR 3 Return of the King is the only exception I can think of). I thought Conclave was fine, but not special. Emilia Perez was, I thought, literally the worst movie I have ever seen that received any critical acclaim. It's a woke movie that fails to be woke. The trans lead comes across as mentally ill, psychopathic. It's a shallow treatment of the country in which it is mostly set, Mexico. Selena Gomez is in it-- one doesn't need to say much more than that; she is devoid of talent. It's a musical with terrible music and terrible choreography. The ending makes no sense. I didn't even like Zoe Saldana much, and that takes a lot because she's appealing. I wanted to see her don her Uhura costume and beam the hell out of there. A wreck of a film through and through. I cannot believe it has received any nominations, let alone 13.

I'm looking forward to seeing The Brutalist and Wicked (which actually DOES have some good music and is supposed to have a very talented lead as Elphaba). Maybe The Substance or Complete Unknown.

Any thoughts or recommendations?

Well, not everybody will agree with your LOTR 3 is a science fiction movie pronouncement.