tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33211251.post7880936534447050147..comments2024-01-08T19:49:13.932+00:00Comments on Froogville: If I were an AMPAS voterFrooghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06738623732860210935noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33211251.post-60479284929205224912010-03-13T00:34:58.784+00:002010-03-13T00:34:58.784+00:00Oh, I think I surrender to the experience at the t...Oh, I think I surrender to the experience at the time, JES; the evaluation at the time is sub-conscious (and probably more emotional than intellectual) - unless the film is really obtrusively <i>bad</i>. Deeper analysis only comes with later reflection.<br /><br />Tarantino's a good example: at the time, you just enjoy his films - somewhat guiltily - as a romp; it's only afterwards you start to really appreciate how <i>clever</i> they are.Frooghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06738623732860210935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33211251.post-1846330500976488272010-03-12T21:51:45.167+00:002010-03-12T21:51:45.167+00:00Well-called, indeed.
I do worry a bit about you i...Well-called, indeed.<br /><br />I do worry a bit about you in one respect when it comes to movies: you <em>do</em> take them so seriously -- almost to the point where you cease absorption in them, even enjoyment of them, because that busy brain is caught up in <em>evaluation</em>. Surely (I think to myself) someone who curates a blog about the consumption of alcoholic beverages can relax and just enjoy pop culture -- let it wash over him, as it were. But movies really seem to call forth the passionate academic in you.<br /><br />Is that true, do you think? Or, thinking back over the films you've seen in the last couple of years, are there any that you recall along the lines of: <em>That was SUCH a goofy shot-full-of-holes mish-mash that I can't explain quite why, but ye GODS did I have a great time watching it -- I don't even care how messy it was!</em><br /><br />I think the word-verif is pointing me towards Mr. Bridges next: <em>crazi</em>.JEShttp://johnesimpson.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33211251.post-6956036106687359132010-03-11T02:22:10.010+00:002010-03-11T02:22:10.010+00:00Ha! My word verification was just menall. Sadly ...Ha! My word verification was just <b>menall</b>. Sadly appropriate!<br /><br />Time was when the majority of my followers on here were ladies, but they all seem to have deserted me, or at least to have lapsed from the commenting habit.Frooghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06738623732860210935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33211251.post-37774033024858960492010-03-11T02:20:33.820+00:002010-03-11T02:20:33.820+00:00You'll enjoy Basterds, I'm sure, Cowboy. ...You'll enjoy <i>Basterds</i>, I'm sure, Cowboy. And probably <i>Crazy Heart</i> too, since you're such a C&W fan (very slight story, but Jeff Bridges and Maggie Gyllenhaal are superb in it - and it has cameos from Robert Duvall and Colin Farrell!). I'll be interested to know what you make of <i>The Hurt Locker</i>.Frooghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06738623732860210935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33211251.post-81310351561546156572010-03-10T19:08:29.178+00:002010-03-10T19:08:29.178+00:00The only nominated films I have seen this year are...The only nominated films I have seen this year are Up, which was wonderful in a lot of ways, and District 9, which was staggering. I am looking forward to IB, which I have at home, and will watch the Hurt Locker.The British Cowboyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00439277300657927816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33211251.post-8355469037524723852010-03-10T19:07:23.743+00:002010-03-10T19:07:23.743+00:00Not going to defend Avatar at all. I haven't s...Not going to defend Avatar at all. I haven't seen it, and have no real interest in it. From what I hear, I can rent Pochontas, smoke some weed, and get the same experience in 90 minutes rather than 180.<br /><br />I too have no problem with well done homage. I'm just not sure you get an Oscar for it. I think Pulp Fiction was robbed of Best Picture, but then again so was Shawshank... Forrest Gump, really?<br /><br />Star Wars is classic homage anyway. It's a really well done Western.The British Cowboyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00439277300657927816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33211251.post-78016908047332408202010-03-10T05:02:51.487+00:002010-03-10T05:02:51.487+00:00Way to go, Froog - you really did call every award...Way to go, Froog - you really did call every award.<br /><br />I didn't see An Education yet. I agree Avatar sucked and Hurt Locker's overrated. I thought The Blind Side, Up In The Air and Precious all had better claims to the Oscar.garynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33211251.post-41187924070218144842010-03-10T01:54:41.081+00:002010-03-10T01:54:41.081+00:00You're not going to stand up to defend Avatar,...You're not going to stand up to defend <i>Avatar</i>, are you, Cowboy?<br /><br />I know you're a big fan of <i>Star Wars</i>, and <i>Avatar</i> fits into a similar niche: overblown (and plausibility-free) spectacle.Frooghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06738623732860210935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33211251.post-84162537183227136162010-03-10T01:52:09.120+00:002010-03-10T01:52:09.120+00:00I have no problem with homage if it's done tha...I have no problem with homage if it's done <i>that well</i>. Cinema always has been a very referential medium, and after a hundred years or more, there isn't much that hasn't already been done.... many, many times before. And you still need the intelligence to incorporate it into your story and to make it work. I often find De Palma's Hitchcock pastiches to be a bit laboured or gratuitous; Tarantino's borrowings are always integral to the plot - to the point where you scarcely notice them (there's a lot of Sergio Leone in <i>Basterds</i>, but it's not distracting).<br /><br />I don't think <i>Basterds</i> is Tarantino's best work, and I wouldn't have given it Best Picture. It's overlong, wildly self-indulgent, and uncomfortably uneven in tone (although I suppose he'd say this is just what he was aiming for: it's kind of like those WWII comic books we used to read as kids - extreme moral bleakness and ultra-violence set in a jokey fantasy milieu). But it's the only one of the major awards contenders that is just, well, <i>dazzling</i> in its direction and its script. I don't think there was any competition in those two categories.Frooghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06738623732860210935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33211251.post-7826961500704177222010-03-09T20:02:16.253+00:002010-03-09T20:02:16.253+00:00OK - I am a big Tarantino fan, and I will confess ...OK - I am a big Tarantino fan, and I will confess that I have not yet seen IB (still sitting in shrink wrap because of work)...<br /><br />But, Tarantino in general may have a "personal vision" but he is also derivative as all hell. I don't know if you should give Oscars to people who spend their whole career doing homage to others.The British Cowboyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00439277300657927816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33211251.post-65003574195656412242010-03-08T11:24:12.238+00:002010-03-08T11:24:12.238+00:00Hmm, maybe I should have placed some bets. Don...Hmm, maybe I should have placed some bets. Don't have an online account, alas. (Wasn't able to find any way of watching it either. CCTV is wall-to-wall NPC and CCPCC coverage.)<br /><br />It looks like I managed to call every single category - though maybe it wasn't <i>that hard</i> this year. But if the bookies were still offering odds....<br /><br /><br />I was disappointed, but <i>not surprised</i>, that <i>Avatar</i> won a bunch of technical awards (including Cinematography... that's probably the most controversial one), including the one for Visual Effects which I felt would have been better deserved by <i>District 9</i> (working on about a tenth of the budget!).<br /><br />I was VERY disappointed, though again <i>not surprised</i>, that Quentin Tarantino missed out on his deserved award for the <i>Inglourious Basterds</i> script. (I saw one online poll that gave him over 70% of the votes in this category [though it also gave <i>Avatar</i> a big lead in almost everything else], so it appears that the Academy was particularly divorced from 'public opinion' on this one.)<br /><br />I couldn't say that the female acting awards were <i>un</i>deserved. But I do still feel that Sandra Bullock was perhaps being rewarded for the part (an exceptionally strong and well-written role) as much as for her performance. And, perhaps, for the inspiring real-life personality on which it was based. And because it was in <i>the right kind of film</i>: a very well-crafted feelgood picture (that wasn't quite edgy enough to win consideration in any other category: there's an awful lot of trying to make sure that <i>every worthwhile film wins <b>something</b></i> at the Oscars; hence the Academy voters thinking they'd done right by <i>Inglourious Basterds</i> with the Best Supporting statuette for Christoph Waltz). And it was a very pleasant surprise to discover that she can tackle such a substantial part. But I still feel that Carey Mulligan or Helen Mirren (or indeed Maggie Gyllenhaal, whose part in <i>Crazy Heart</i> is large enough to be considered a lead) would have been even worthier winners.<br /><br />I was unsurprised - but a little relieved - to see the male acting awards deservedly go to Christoph Waltz and Jeff Bridges.<br /><br />It is a disgrace that the marvellous <i>An Education</i> came away with nothing. But non-American films rarely make much of an impact. I don't suppose it did very good box office business in the States. And it probably didn't have much of a lobbying budget behind it in the run-up to the Oscar voting. Mark my words, though: in 5 or 10 (or 20) years' time, this will be one of the few 2009 releases that people still remember.Frooghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06738623732860210935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33211251.post-84524023934101833362010-03-08T10:10:47.384+00:002010-03-08T10:10:47.384+00:00Great comments, Froog.
THL traded at 6/4 for best...Great comments, Froog.<br /><br />THL traded at 6/4 for best picture as the drama (a disappointing show I thought overall) unfolded!stuarthttp://foundinchina.com/noreply@blogger.com