Movies - Take Two. Action!

[spellbound]

The film was nominated for 10 Academy awards, but ended up not winning any. Oppenheimer was the big winner last year.

The winners of Academy Awards are the opinion of the Academy, and not necessarily of the people. It's fine that actors, directors, producers, and cinematographers can slap themselves on the back for a job well done. But calling out one best picture ignores the audience's ability to like more than one film a year. I try to see all the nominees and form my own opinion. I can like as many as I want, and occasionally be puzzled over how some films are considered great at all.

[spellbound]

Tonight on the GRIT (western movie) channel, they are showing The Secret of Convict Lake (1951). Unfortunately, the movie features a made-up story rather than the true story of the events that gave Convict Lake, California, its name. I might watch it anyway. It appears they did not film the movie at the incredibly beautiful and photogenic Convict Lake at all, although nearby Bishop, California is listed as a filming location. I'll know if the actual lake is in the movie. I have been there several times.

[SteveSly]

The winners of Academy Awards are the opinion of the Academy, and not necessarily of the people. It's fine that actors, directors, producers, and cinematographers can slap themselves on the back for a job well done. But calling out one best picture ignores the audience's ability to like more than one film a year. I try to see all the nominees and form my own opinion. I can like as many as I want, and occasionally be puzzled over how some films are considered great at all.

I agree, although last year I did think Oppenheimer was the best film I saw in 2024. All of the awards are very subjective and as you say, some films that get nominated boggle the mind.

[Hal...]

The winners of Academy Awards are the opinion of the Academy, and not necessarily of the people. It's fine that actors, directors, producers, and cinematographers can slap themselves on the back for a job well done. But calling out one best picture ignores the audience's ability to like more than one film a year. I try to see all the nominees and form my own opinion. I can like as many as I want, and occasionally be puzzled over how some films are considered great at all.

I agree with some of your statements but disagree with the tenor of your post.

Don't misunderstand me, though. I'm not defending the Academy. Hell, I don't even watch the show anymore because it feels to me more like a celebration of Celebrity, practically ignoring its original intent.

I do agree that sometimes what's nominated or what wins can be puzzling. Take the 70th Oscars, for example. That year Titanic won Best Picture and Best Director. While I agree that it was a really good movie, it was also up against LA Confidential, which I saw after the awards show. The moment the credits started rolling, I turned to my ex and said, "how did that not win Best Picture?"

Titanic was a really good movie but LA Confidential was a great movie.

After looking it up on Wikipedia, I discovered that The National Society of Film Critics, The New York Film Critics Circle, The Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and the National Board of Review all voted L.A. Confidential the year's best film. "As a result, it is one of three films in history to sweep the "Big Four" critics' awards, alongside Schindler's List and The Social Network." It was also chosen by Time magazine.

The only things it won were Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress (Kim Basinger). Grossly overlooked were Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, and James Cromwell.

Equally puzzling to me was that two of the other nominees were As Good As It Gets and The Full Monty, both good movies but Oscar worthy? I think not. Hell, there are probably a dozen movies that year I liked better.

The last nominee was Good Will Hunting. Oscar worthy? Maybe. But I liked a few better: Gattaca, Donnie Brasco, Contact, and The Ice Storm.

And speaking of being overlooked, how about Johnny Depp, Al Pacino, and Michael Madsen in Donnie Brasco? Or Sigourney Weaver in The Ice Storm?

More recently, I thought Joker was better than the winner Parasite. Hell, I'd put Joker in my top 10 of the 21st century.

I also thought Dune was the best movie of 2021 but it didn't win, either.

I don't usually expect my picks to win so I'm rather phlegmatic about it all, actually, especially now that I'm older. That said, imo the worst case of the Academy getting it wrong was Rod Steiger winning for In the Heat of the Night instead of Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke. How he never won an Oscar until The Color of Money is criminal. Personally, I think he should have also won for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Hustler, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and The Verdict.

[spellbound]

I agree with some of your statements but disagree with the tenor of your post.

Try not to read tenor or tone into my posts, as on this medium I am limited to printed words, and cannot control how those words are taken by others. I wasn't trying to imply anything. Just talking. I have nothing against the Academy, I see it for what it is, and there are very few nominated films I dislike strongly. I may occasionally disagree with some award choices, or omissions, but not enough to get angry and quit watching movies.

I don't have your memory for what awards happened what year. I, too, liked L.A. Confidential and Donnie Brasco. Gattaca remains one of my all time favorite sci fi movies. I don't, at present, have a memory of The Ice Storm. Guess I gotta watch that. I disagree with you placing The Joker over Parasite, another favorite of mine. But both are excellent movies, IMO.

As far as Paul Newman goes, I've been a fan for many years. That is because my mother liked Newman when I was a small child. As I got older, I came to appreciate that he was a great actor, and much more than just an attractive male lead. My mom came from a family of movie lovers and I knew she appreciated Paul for more than his looks. Cool Hand Luke and The Verdict, in particular, are movies I loved from my first viewing. I suspect I have seen all Paul's movies, or close to all of them.

[SteveSly]

Guess I gotta watch that. I disagree with you placing The Joker over Parasite, another favorite of mine. But both are excellent movies, IMO.

.

That is a tough one for me too. I really enjoyed both films and it is hard to pick a winner for me. I just saw the trailer for the Joker sequel the other day. Hopefully it will live up to the first film.

[boilk]

Well, frankly, I think the film that I watched last night should have won an Oscar. Ray Dennis Steckler's The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies (1964), is a masterpiece. Starring the inimitable Cash Flagg! If you know, you know.

Neil

[boilk]

I've never respected the Academy's picks. For one thing, for decades and decades they completely had it in for the genres that I love, horror and science fiction. As if no film in those genres could ever be held in high esteem. The list is endless of films that they felt forced into nominating, but would never, ever give the big prize to: A Clockwork Orange (1971), The Exorcist (1973), Jaws (1975)...hell, I thought that Star Wars (1977) and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), were way better than Annie Hall (1977).

They wouldn't give Spielberg his Oscar until he made their kind of picture, with Schndler's List (1993). Mind you, the tide finally began to turn with The Silence of the Lambs (1991), which is very arguably a horror movie, but not obvious enough that they felt comfortable giving it best picture. Nowadays at least they have finally left that disrespect and bias at the door, with many horror/sf/fantasy films winning (Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), The Shape of Water (2017) and Everything, Everywhere All at Once (2022)), but it's always going to be highly subjective and weighted towards certain trends.

An impact of a film is very personal, and difficult to quantify as to what makes it 'better', or more 'artistic', than another.

Neil

[SteveSly]

Well, frankly, I think the film that I watched last night should have won an Oscar. Ray Dennis Steckler's The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies (1964), is a masterpiece. Starring the inimitable Cash Flagg! If you know, you know.

Neil

I have seen it years ago, but don't remember much about it.

[Sturgeon's Lawyer]

An impact of a film is very personal, and difficult to quantify as to what makes it 'better', or more 'artistic', than another.

Thank you.

I answer a lot of questions over on Quora. A number of people seem really interested in questions of the form "What is your favorite X," where X might be a movie, a book, a song, etc., or any subcategory thereof (horror movie, mystery movie, "sci-fi" [ptui!], superhero, etc.), or, even worse, "what is the best/greatest X?" My answers tend to begin something like:

"Does anybody really have one favorite X?"

Art is not a contest. While any given director (to stick with movies) might well set herself up to make a better movie than, say, Casablanca, if they manage to create something that people say is greater than Casablanca, it will not by one iota reduce the greatness of Casablanca. (I picked Casablanca more or less at random; it could be anything from Citizen Kane to The Wizard of Oz to Everything Everywhere... and still make the point.)

There is no linear measurement for "greatness" of a work of art. One can, perhaps say, "This movie is great," "This movie is very good," "...okay," "...meh," "...lousy," "...a stinking heap of doggy-doo." General "stripes" of gooditude, if you will. But once you say that, say, Citizen Kane and Casablanca are both "great," there is no objective or meaningful way to say which is greater.

I may like, say, Everything Everywhere... better than, say, Jaws; but I'm not prepared to say that one of them is better than the other. And which one I like more may change depending on a variety of things ranging from my age to my mood to what I had for lunch.

I've participated in a few "what are the ten best X" type threads on this forum. No more. I always come away thinking "but what about P? Q? R? Are <the ones I listed> really better than them?"

Cheers.

[hippypants]

Beau Geste 1955 a remake. They say the second version from 1939 is the best version, but I still found it interesting. Telly Savalas was a good antagonist.

Blast of Silence low budget crime film set in 1961 NYC. Not the greatest but interesting to see NYC during Christmas in '61.

Tell Them Willie Boy is Here--okay western taking place at the turn of the century. Robert Blake as an indian, Robert Redford as sheriff. I've seen better westerns, this one was about the townspeople's prejudices with the indians. It's okay. All off a Roku channel; Movieland.

I'd agree with what you're saying. SL

I've participated in a few "what are the ten best X" type threads on this forum. No more. I always come away thinking "but what about P? Q? R? Are <the ones I listed> really better than them?"

I think more than anything, people just want some new suggestions on something new to watch...

[SteveSly]

Beau Geste

Tell Them Willie Boy is Here--okay western taking place at the turn of the century. Robert Blake as an indian, Robert Redford as sheriff. I've seen better westerns, this one was about the townspeople's prejudices with the indians. It's okay. All off a Roku channel; Movieland.

Now that is a blast from the past. I have not seen it in years, but I remember it.

[nycsteve]

Argyle , a spy movie by the guy thar did Kingsman. Sam Rockwell and H Cavelle amoung the wasted talent here. Definite potential , some amusement but really misses the mark. 2 out of 10 would be generous.

[SteveSly]

Argyle , a spy movie by the guy thar did Kingsman. Sam Rockwell and H Cavelle amoung the wasted talent here. Definite potential , some amusement but really misses the mark. 2 out of 10 would be generous.

We saw it in the theater. I would probably give it a 3 or 4, but pretty much agree with your assessment. Could have been much better.

[SteveSly]

Fall Guy: A fun movie that could have been better. Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt star in this one about a stunt man who has to try to find the actor he is doubling who is missing in action. The plot is kind of all over the place and at 2.5 hours it is a bit long in the tooth. Gosling is great and has some funny lines. There is some great stunt work in the film. The overall story is a mess and rather ridiculous. The rom com aspect of the film is kind of awkward too. Overall, it was not a great movie, but was a fun watch for the most part.

3 out of 5 stars

[hippypants]

The Lion in Winter--historical drama, I wasn't familar with the English history, but it's about which of his three sons the king will pick for the throne whenever he dies among other family drama. Not totally my interest, but it was done well, acted, dysfunctional family though, loving each other and remembering the past at times, and then shouting at each other the next. It won best picture for 1967. Movieland app

[moecurlythanu]

^ Been one of my favorite movies for decades. Iirc, it was a stage play before it was a film.
Check out The Warlord for more medieval goodness from the 1960s.

[hippypants]

Warlord, okay I'll see if I can find it. Thanks.

[nycsteve]

Unfrosted. Jerry Sinfeld on either Netflix or Prime. Watched the other night on one of those 2 , can't find it again for some reason. Funny , with a huge cameo roster in bit parts. Its almost like a stream of standup jokes shoe horned into a movie. Not a terrible thing in this case. Quick and breezy , worth the time IMO. 8 of 10

[headcrash]

Unfrosted. Jerry Sinfeld on either Netflix or Prime. Watched the other night on one of those 2 , can't find it again for some reason. Funny , with a huge cameo roster in bit parts. Its almost like a stream of standup jokes shoe horned into a movie. Not a terrible thing in this case. Quick and breezy , worth the time IMO. 8 of 10

I was surprised how much I liked this. A couple of honest LOL moments. I think you probably have to be "of a certain age" to appreciate most of the jokes and Easter eggs but if you are it's pretty funny. Melissa McCarthy and Amy Schumer are terrific. Favorite scene involves a "Mad Men" reunion. On Netflix.

[SteveSly]

Unfrosted. Jerry Sinfeld on either Netflix or Prime. Watched the other night on one of those 2 , can't find it again for some reason. Funny , with a huge cameo roster in bit parts. Its almost like a stream of standup jokes shoe horned into a movie. Not a terrible thing in this case. Quick and breezy , worth the time IMO. 8 of 10

I have been curious about this one. It seems to be getting very mixed reviews. I will probably check it out.

[hippypants]

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On--recommended by a friend. Animated with real life too. Sorty of cutsey, but lost my interest along the way. I found the voice of Marcel hard to hear. Ymmv. Netflix

Unfrosted, pretty decent, some laughs. Netflix

[Lou]

Destroy All Neighbors

On Shudder. William is a prog musician struggling to finish his magnus opus. When he accidentally kills his neighbor from hell, things spiral out of control.
This is a horror/comedy farce that I only watched due to the prog connection. It's one of those good bad movies. Klonk, you might be amused by this.

Excorcist - Believers

Was somewhat disappointed in this one. Didn't live up to expectations. Seems like they rushed through the actual excorcism part of it. 5 out of 10

[Hal...]

Excorcist - Believers

Was somewhat disappointed in this one. Didn't live up to expectations. Seems like they rushed through the actual excorcism part of it. 5 out of 10

There's been a bit of a spate of exorcism movies in the last several years and with them a decrease in quality. I even thought the one with Russell Crowe was somewhat mediocre. The last one I thought was decent was The Exorcism of Emily Rose and that was 2005.

But really, at this point, what can they do that isn't clichéd?


I'm sure you remember the hospital scene in the original Exorcist:



The guy in white, with the beard and mustache, was an actual radiological technician named Paul Bateson whom William Friedkin chose to use after seeing him perform a similar procedure prior to production. Bateson later murdered a film critic in 1977. When Friedkin read about it, he interviewed Bateson at Rikers Island. Friedkin claims that Bateson partially confessed to the murders of six gay men between 1975 and 1977. also known as the Bag Murders. Gay and part of the leather community, Bateson was partly the inspiration for Friedkin's 1980 movie Cruising.

[Sturgeon's Lawyer]

Flying Down to Rio (1933) -- This is interesting mostly because it's the first time Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers appeared together on screen, though they're supporting characters. The main story is a live triangle between a young Brazilian woman (Dolores del Rio), her fiancé (Raul Roulien, the first major Brazilian actor in H'wood), and an American band leader (Gene Raymond). Notable for large-scale dance sequences (some of them with Busby-Berkeley style down shots), the largest of which features a blatantly segregated segment with a Black singer (Etta Moten) and dancers. Also, some pretty clearly pre-Code scenes. The finale, featuring Girls! Girls! Girls! dancing on the wings of airplanes in (obviously faked with fans and rear projection) flight, is probably the funniest thing in the movie.