Wasn’t aware of the gross Brody stuff. That sucks.
Don’t look up is the rare film I could not get though. Had to quit around 30 minute mark.
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It was definitely hard to sit through looking at jlaw’s haircut.
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Traffic (2000)
I’ve felt that I owed this a proper watch for some time, knowing that once upon a time the conventional wisdom was that it was in a three-way heat with Gladiator and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon for a Best Picture win, but unfortunately it just didn’t land for me (and I’m therefore left perfectly happy with how that race turned out).
The movie devotes a not insubstantial two and a half hours to several stories, but they all end up feeling underserviced to one degree or another. The character progressions of Erika Christensen and Catherine Zeta-Jones feel much too abrupt, which created a real disconnect in trying to get attached to their stories.
There were certainly some very compelling scenes. Unfortunately, they felt scattered, and at no point did it really feel like the movie picked up significant momentum. I guess I mostly come away not really getting why this one came so close to the big prize.
2.5/5
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Been a long time since I’ve seen them, but I remember at the time being quite disappointed that Crouching Tiger didn’t win that.
It wasn’t a Green Book > Roma level robbery, as Gladiator was pretty damn good, but I can’t imagine that the English language should have gone 91 for 91 before Parasite (I guess technically 89 for 89 if you don’t count the silent films).
I watched Crouching Tiger not that long ago. It’s good, but I don’t have the grand raves for it that others do. I’m overdue for a rewatch of Gladiator, so I’ll see how that holds up when I get back around to it. I thought it was excellent then though.
Roma didn’t land for me at all, unfortunately. I have no regrets about it not winning.
No real question that a foreign-language winner should have happened before Parasite, but the Academy clearly spent years not giving them their due consideration and thus frequently didn’t even nominate them. Pan’s Labyrinth should have been a strong contender in the 2007 ceremony (and really would have been a better winner for Guillermo del Toro than The Shape of Water ultimately was), but it wasn’t nominated. It did win Best International Feature, but it deserved a crack at the whole thing.
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I have mixed feelings about the expansion of BP to 10 nominees, but the change is definitely a good one for exposure to non-English films. There were 3 such nominees last year and I’m not sure any would have made the cut if the limit had been 5. (It probably would have been Oppenhimer/Killers/Barbie/Poor Things/Holdovers).
I definitely think Pan’s Labyrinth gets a BP nomination in a field of 10, but it actually didn’t win the Foreign Language/International award. The Lives of Others did (another 10/10 film in my opinion).
Oh you’re right about Pan’s Labyrinth not winning, I trusted the initial Google result that didn’t just qualify it as a nominee. The Lives of Others was indeed excellent, so no real complaint about that result.
I’m pretty much fully in favor of the expanded BP field without significant reservations primarily because I don’t trust the Academy’s exclusion choices in a five-film category. Though it also seems clear that the Academy has changed its membership makeup for the better, so it’s possible that they would be better than they were in the past. I don’t know; feels like a moot point. I can’t imagine it’s ever going back. It’s just that in this case I don’t really wish for it to.
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what movies have you seen recently that were better than “good”?
this isn’t a trolling question btw, I think watching movies several years removed from their release is a good exercise but I never do it, very rarely rewatch anything.
honestly I htink the oscars should be on a 10 year delay. maybe 20.
Miller’s Crossing
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
JFK
The Wizard of Oz
Blue Velvet
Quiz Show
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Double Indemnity
Fight Club
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127 Hours (2010)
It was tough to rev myself up for this one, given that the star is James Franco and the premise guaranteed that the movie would be one where my time spent exclusively with the star would be of a much greater concentration than usual. I liked Cast Away a lot, but the capable hands of Tom Hanks go a long, long way. On the other hand, traditionally I’ve had little respect for Franco the actor, and that was well before any headlines began to make him look even worse. However, seeing the notice this received from the Academy made me want to give it a go all the same.
It’s a good movie for sure. I think the sound design and the way this movie was shot were both pretty top-notch; Danny Boyle and his crew deserve a lot of credit for the filmmaking on display. As for Franco, would I say that he elevated the material? I would not. However, the degree of difficulty in pulling off this part seems incredibly high, and simply holding this movie together and meeting the material where it is constitutes a significant feat in and of itself. I tip my cap to the performance and acknowledge that the Oscar nomination for Franco seems well-deserved.
It’s a compelling story, and while there were inevitable lulls where my attention would begin to wane, they were never overly long, and the payoff at the conclusion of the movie is very well done and feels like it rewards the investment of time. Recommended viewing. Currently on Max. 3.5/5.
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Fargo
First time watch last night. One of those “I should have seen this by now” movies.
Surprisingly knew very little about the film going in besides the directors/writers, setting, the three main actors and something about a wood chipper.
Interesting premised that hooked me almost instantly. It’s listed as a black comedy, but I found myself wishing they had gone with more of crime drama. The story was certainly strong enough for it. I definitely enjoyed the film, but some of the scenes that focused on the MN/ND accent were a little too cutesy and got annoying very quickly.
Also I was surprised that Frances McDormand won Best Actress for this. I’m not at all saying it was bad; it just didn’t seem Oscar worthy. Maybe it was just a down year; I haven’t seen any of the other nominees (and hadn’t even heard of two of the films).
And William H Macy got nominated for Supporting Actor? I would have guessed that he had more screen time than McDormand did.
Anyway, solid film. Is the TV series any good? This did make me want to give it a shot.
I’ll give this an 8/10, but if I were ranking Coen Brothers films, I think I’d have Burn After Reading above this one.
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If you didn’t like the cold-weather scene with the two dudes hooded up and the running “kinda funny-looking…just in a general sort of way” descriptor of Steve Buscemi by every local, that would be very distressing.
Season 1 is excellent. The seasons are different casts in different times within the same universe. I think I liked season 2 but I barely remember it and it was notably weaker than season 1. And then at some point I fell off with the series. But season 1 stands alone as a great TV season.
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Yes. That was perfect.
The annoying parts were when they overemphasized the “yeah, dontcha know” accent. (Or it just seemed like overkill to me. I do remember wishing they stopped doing that so much while watching.)
The TV show is my all time favorite show. It has 5 seasons all in different parts of the Fargo universe. The weakest is the Chris Rock 4th season, but mainly just because it’s kind of repetitive (it’s still excellent). I think season 1 is about as close to perfect as TV can be for me. Martin Freeman is stunning in it and he was robbed at the Emmys.
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Big +1 to season 1, that’s really excellent tv. I think season 2 is regarded as equally strong, but though I still enjoyed it it was definitely not as good for me. Didn’t watch the rest.
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The TV series is pretty good each season is a separate storyline and cast. S1 is excellent, the next couple seasons were very good, S4 I lost interest in and never finished and S5 while i think critics liked it I didn’t really.
Season 5 was great but it was an extremely hard watch due to the themes. Juno Temple was amazing.
Fargo losing Best Picture to The English Patient is truly some vintage 90s Academy. Utterly silly.
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