Oscar season proper has just started. You might have noticed the For Your Consideration ads springing up. As it’s been almost every day for the past four years, to paraphrase Springsteen, our lives have been “one long emergency.” By the end of it, by now, most of us – Oscar voters included, are spent. We’re feeling tapped out emotionally. We’re exhausted by the news cycle, social media, and the utter absence of normal life due to a global pandemic. How do you get both? How do you get the Trump era AND Covid? Well, we did. But the powers that be deem that Oscar season must thunder onwards, regardless. We are in the thick of it right now, what has been, in the past, the hottest time for films and performances and publicists to make their case.
Gone are the glitzy screenings – Clarence Moye and I attended a few of those last year which feels now like the last time civilization pulsed with unknowing life. In a sense, they had gotten a wee bit out of control. They were getting too exclusive, too “rich”, creating a Hollywood process that was too cut off from the country to have any worth beyond a very tightly contained machine that supposedly is about finding the year’s best. But it isn’t that, and it never has been. It is about what thousands of people can agree upon is best.
Had there never been yet another national catastrophe on January 6th, there is a chance we could have rallied back into the awards season, and pulled together with enough cohesion to make it all go down as usual. April is still a long way away and who knows, maybe most of our anxieties will be a fading memory by then. Maybe they won’t be. In a sense these past few weeks of real life moving much faster than any of us could keep up with it, have changed everything.
Even if we wanted to, there is no way we can all put on a happy face. Not unless we are meeting the demands of the moment and the reality show just lost its popular villain. Or did it? Will the Democrats go forward with an impeachment trial in the Senate? It seems inevitable. Partly because the Democrats are nowhere near done with Trump. He’s still the main focus of Twitter even after he’s been permanently banned. The Never Trump Republicans want to purge Trump permanently because they know what a force he is in their party and they fear no candidate can win without Trump’s ideology (which is partly his false promise of taking on the “radical woke left”). Both sides want a conviction to prevent Trump from being able to run again. I could not help but see the glint in Trump’s eye when he gave his last televised speech, like any good villain on a reality show that tells the audience, “Don’t worry, I’ll be back.”
Season Two of the Donald Trump show might be even more off the hook than Season One. How could anyone resist? How could Twitter resist? They can’t. AOC will ensure that Trump be held accountable for however many legit crimes can be pinned on him, and the war will rage on. The show will continue to dominate the ratings and the Oscar race will somehow be happening underneath it. Unless that doesn’t happen. Honestly, Twitter did Trump a huge favor by banning him. Now he’s free from that awful addiction. I sort of wish they would ban me too so that I could be free. But that’s besides the point.
I think this year’s Oscars will look an awful lot like the Democratic National Convention with inclusion and talented diversity taking the spotlight, peppered with the odd celebrity making awkward jokes written for them by the same old wisecrack dad-joke hacks. (I guess that was last year. And the year before. And the year before – not that there’s anything wrong with it.) In a nightmare scenario, they’ll get Alec Baldwin to play Trump and host it. Honestly, it might do better in the ratings that way. Half of America, as I’ve come to find out, hates the Oscars, along with Hollywood, since the Oscars have gone all on left-leaning ideology, unapologetically — and again, because petty sour-grapes Trump injected into their heads that Hollywood and books and stuff are the “enemy of the people.”
The Oscar race might be able to slide by unnoticed by Twitter. It’s theoretically possible that voters will do finally do everything right this year to escape being hashtagged into submission. That is not outside the realm of possibility. Not to sound cynical but one always wonders who is really being helped by Hollywood going woke. Is it the marginalized groups asking for equal time or is the upper middle class folks who feel they must repent for their wealth and privilege. Or perhaps that is too cynical of a way to look at it.
This might be the year, for instance, the first woman of color wins Best Director and Best Picture. It might be the first year that a black actress wins since Halle Berry in 2001, making her only the second in 94 years of Oscar history. There might be a Best Picture lineup that is full of great films by and about women, people of color, women of color. There might be a black woman in Best Director for the first time if Regina King makes it in for One Night in Miami.
It also might be the year streaming becomes the norm and more widely accepted as part of our new reality. Maybe a lot of people will simply decide they can live without theaters. After all, those of us who cover the race have long been granted unprecedented access to movies, and even many of the movie writers who don’t live in New York or Los Angeles are able to see movies before actual screeners arrive. That means anyone can cover the race and live anywhere. Will studios revert to the old way when all of this is over? Or will they continue to offer screener links to people like me, giving me a good reason to move away from Los Angeles.
Apple and Amazon, now in the news for Big Tech overreach (in my opinion), both have movies in the race and while these films are so good they are making the Oscars an offer they can’t refuse — On the Rocks, One Night in Miami, Wolfwalkers — they are also part of the myriad ways we interface with our own lives – you iPhones, what we buy on Amazon. At some point, Google is likely to get into the movie distribution game. It’s an odd point to be for sure, to see such an overlap all competing with the giant, Netflix, that still dwarfs all of them in subscribers. But that’s where the game is. That is where the money is so that’s where the heat is in film: streaming. It’s less at the studios which begin to look a little hoary and clunky now, having to coordinate with actual movie theaters and get actual people to come to the theaters, pay money and watch a movie on the big screen. Devoted moviegoers love that, but if they can somehow reach 70 million who are just sitting in their homes – all the better.
The long-resistant Oscars have become the validators for the streamers that offer other ways of connecting and contacting you, other ways of advertising to you. What it means for them to get Oscar nominations is a gold standard for breaking into the world of art and film. It should mean for everyone out there more opportunity, less dependence on the market to make that opening weekend (which is one thing that helped destroyed old-school Hollywood), and the critics have not helped. Actors, filmmakers and everyone else now has an open door if they want it to pitch an idea and get it seen in ways unimaginable before.
I still feel like the films that speak to the moment are at the top of the pile – and that pile has shifted a little bit, for me anyway. The best film of the year, to my mind, is still David Fincher’s Mank. And I know people think, oh she loves Fincher movies and so that is why. That’s true but it doesn’t change the fact that it is a perfect movie that reaches higher than any other, just from the pure filmmaking aspect of it. It’s such a high reach to say so much and to get so much about the era exactly right. I remain in awe that this perfect work of art exists at all, let alone that it’s about to have to run the gauntlet in the Oscar race, which destroys all beautiful things.
But Chloe Zhao’s Nomadland is also a film that seems to speak to the sadness of the time we’re living through, or it does to me anyway. It’s a movie about the internal life of a woman that’s just beautiful and fascinating throughout. Lee Isaac Chung’s Minari also resonates because it’s a film about America at a time when the world was not turned upside down. This is a family just making it work and there is something soothing about that.
I do expect these three films will be remembered by the Globes and by the industry. After that, it gets a little tricky with the many offerings from Netflix, all of them are good, but they all can’t get in. Mank is already one of those. But there is The Trial of the Chicago 7 which is well liked by Oscar bloggers so far and often predicted. It’s one of the few big cast Oscar movies that actors might take to. Then there is Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom which has Chadwick Boseman and Viola Davis as strong acting contenders and that seems well placed. Malcolm & Marie, Pieces of a Woman are two more.
We have several films that revolve around Civil Rights eras of the past that seem to be very much at the forefront now. Judas and the Black Messiah – which is excellent. And The United States vs. Billie Holiday, featuring a bravura performance by Andra Day. There is One Night in Miami, a meditation on the various points of view from black icons on one night in a pivotal time of American history.
There is The Father, which features two powerful performances by Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman. And of course, there is one of the few uplifting films of the year, News of the World with Tom Hanks. Honestly, it might end up being the ONLY feel good movie in the lineup, the one film that doesn’t have a bittersweet ending. It’s just all the way sweet. There is something very attractive about that kind of movie right now. After all, movies have always served that purpose in year’s past. They take us away from trauma and into a happier, more easily understood place.
Either way, this was a year for the record books, 2020. Most of us have come out of it transformed. I know I have. I know it’s made me look differently at the world, at my place in the world. At the Oscars, and their place in the country, in the industry and in the world. We seem to be in the midst of big and dramatic changes with not a lot of leadership to put us in any kind of order that makes sense. Hopefully that will change.
This is the week the Golden Globes begin voting. Here are the other significant upcoming dates:
Screen Actors Guild Voting Begins (Jan 11)
January 11, 2021
Golden Globes Voting Begins (Jan 13)
January 13, 2021
Writers Guild (WGA) Nomination Voting Begins (Jan 29)
January 29, 2021
Golden Globes Nomination Voting Ends (Jan 30)
January 30, 2021
We’re heading into the thick of it. Let’s hope this thing holds together.
Timely observation on how the times we’re in can probably shape the Oscar race this season. I honestly think that it will somehow influence the voters on what film they would like to get nominated and eventually win. That is why I think this will be Fincher’s year and Mank to take it in the end. Aside from being a really good film to begin with (I would rank it as one of Fincher’s best), it’s very uplifting. Not to mention, a celebration of the craft of the industry it belongs to.
The question for me now is, will this trying times we’re in give advantage to the “comedy” films compared to previous years? I honestly believe that the top 4 films of the year for me are comedies. These films may give the voters some sort of nostalgia of what used to ve our lives and the comfort that at the end of the day, we will all be alright and be able to survive these uncertain times: Soul, On the Rocks, French Exit, Let Them All Talk, Emma., The King of Staten Island, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, Palm Springs. I would like to add The Personal History of David Copperfield but it might be too 2019 to be remembered by voters. Also, will Sia’s Music be eligible this awards season? It’s effect is very effervescent and I wonder if the Globes will consider it in Musical/Comedy category?
There is One Night in Miami, a meditation on the various points of view from black icons on one night in a pivotal time of American history.
I tried to watch ONIM, but only got 1/2 through. Maybe because I knew the story of all the characters having read their autobios and followed them for decades. Nothing new to me, but maybe the younger generation will get something out of it. It really felt like a stage play. I left the movie when they were on the rooftop. I couldn’t care what they talked about. Sorry.
For me a great movie remains great no matter who made it, like last year’s “Parasite”, so not a racial thing, I still do think Nicole Kidman should have won over Halle Berry.
Hey all! As much as I myself roll my eyes at the whole “announcing your departure” thing, I’m gonna be a hypocrite and do it anyways – I no longer care to keep giving this site clicks and reads. I’m not trying to “cancel” Sasha, or burn her at the stake, I don’t think she’s “evil” or irredeemable, or deserves to be censored or taken off Twitter or *whatever* – I just, very simply, no longer find it worth following her, because frankly, her opinions and takes etc. on twitter (and often, here) are just … well, I’m not going to go into it, since it won’t do anyone, including myself or Sasha, any good, suffice it to say it’s finally been enough to make me just leave. I know, I know, that makes me just another “insane leftist,” but I’ll have to live with that.
Anyways, after 11 years of conversations here (beginning when I was 16! I really grew up with this site!!), I’m a bit sad that I won’t have my favorite film community to discuss movies with – awards season has always been my happy place (not because of the Oscars, which as Sasha always says – I might be misquoting – ruin everything beautiful, but because of the movies, and the discussions).
I’ll be on the look for new communities and groups, but for now, the only reason I’m writing this (I know that losing one random reader isn’t going to bother Sasha or anything, I’m not even really trying to “make a point”) is because I thought I owed it to everyone to thank you all for being such a great, reliable community, so many of you are so wildly more brilliant than I can hope to be when it comes to movies, you’ve really changed how I watch them! It’s been a fun ride!
*cue the “have fun on your way out” responses to this comment* – I’ll try …
PS I’ll probably be rooting for Mank come April … !
You’re not alone. This site is not the same since Green Book won Best Picture, for reasons I don’t think I have to explain. I’ve been here for 6 years and this is such a great community! This community was the reason why I didn’t leave this site in the last season. It’s so full of experts and people with good taste!
But this year I see no reason to be here. While I don’t always disagree with her and I don’t think she’s malicious or evil, I can’t take Sasha opinions anymore. I’m not what she calls “left” (god, how she misuses that word), but her political takes are problematic to say the least. And there are other forums like Gold Derby, which I’ve also been following for a long time but I’m more frequent there this year.
It’s not to say I’ll never be here again. As I said, I love the comments here so I’ll probably still visit here sometimes. But as you said, I don’t feel good giving clicks and reads to Sasha posts.
Hope I see you on GD!
Just so you all know, AwardsDaily has been around since 1999. Ryan came aboard around 2006. He is the one who has really built up the comments and the community. There are a lot of writers here who work really hard to deliver content day in and day out. I have shared my thoughts on Twitter and on Substack as to keep them off of THIS site as much as possible for their sake because they are great people and should not be punished because of what I think.
I don’t think you’re an evil leftist at all. Back around 2010 when I began advocating hard for black actors and filmmakers I had a massive exodus. The entire forum and I parted ways and people screamed at me for being too activist, too “woke” (though that hadn’t yet become a thing). I lost a lot of readers then. But this is how you change and evolve in life. And I absolutely support you doing what you need to do. What I can’t do is not write honestly. I have to basically call it as I see it and hope that I can eventually persuade others to see it my way. We have a problem on the left right now and it is, to my mind, making movies worse, journalism worse, objectivity worse, our ability to see each other as human beings. But remember, I’m 55. I’m no spring chicken. I have to use my time wisely and that means I want to try to wake people up to what I see is a dangerous path towards suffocation…
Someone once told me way back when that if you want to be influential don’t be boring. Be someone people can’t ignore. I really took that to heart. My writing and my thinking is contrary and controversial. That has only really bothered people in the era of Trump as the the left became much more closed off and punitive. I know to most people they do not see this yet, at least not in the comments here. But people write me all the time thanking me for saying what they don’t have the courage to say. Every day someone contacts me.
I definitely understand you wanting to go — I’m just not the right fit for you. You might like AwardsWatch or NextBestPicture. Both of these sites are probably more in keeping with your ideology. I know Ryan will be sad to see you go, as others here will be.
I wish you all the best regardless.
Thank you, means a lot. I’ve scoped out GD over the years, but find it a bit overwhelming and confusing to follow – but I do like that there seem to be a ton of commenters. Does it have specific forums for discussion or is it spread over the individual articles? I’m going to try AwardsWatch for a while, but I might try GD too, and I also hope to see you there!
I’m sorry to read you won’t be around. The community of regular characters and voices add so much to this site. And i hope you find your ‘pockets of bliss’ as i call it and a happy place, as,now, more than ever, a happy place or little pockets of bliss are vital!
Super sad to see you leave, this has always been such a great community so it’s always sad to see people go – especially those who have been around even longer than me (I first discovered this site 2011, joined the community 2012 – I think you have 2 or 3 years on me).
Out of interest are there any other similarly great communities you follow? I don’t plan on leaving (I don’t always agree with Sasha’s perspective but I at least understand/ appreciate why she feels the way she does), I only ask because I feel like Sasha will retire at some point (every year she seems to hint that she wants to) and when that happens it would be nice to know where all the people from this community will be on the internet!
Hey there – thanks for this, it means a lot. I’ve been looking at AwardsWatch (shout out to Sasha for the recommendation) – they don’t appear to have a big community of commenters, which is a shame, because there’s a good bit of content. I’m going to start commenting there, maybe tonight, actually – and it’s extra nice that they also use Disqus.
I emailed you to say arrivederci, Alex, (just a 10-word message) — but your only contact info I had was an addy from 2018.
All I can say is: Shane! Come back!
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/be9020d0b160a7f78d65cea6df42db3fefe5284df3b27bcffe3385436e86a414.gif
Thanks Ryan. I haven’t received anything from you on my email – maybe you have an older email? I’ll go ahead and respond to you on the last email exchange I’d had with you, so that you have my most up-to-date one.
I, too, would have begged a dashing cowboy-donned Alan Ladd to not leave me alone in the middle of 19th C Wyoming – but for very different reasons than the kid in Shane, I’m sure …
great! yes, I see now that your old inactive email is similar to your good new one, but it was @ yahoo.
I figured that was the culprit!
Sorry to hear that you feel that you have to go, your good taste and intelligent argumentation will be missed.
Thank you, it means a lot, I always especially looked forward to reading your comments, you’re so brilliant and reliable. I’ve already broken my own “rule” of not reading this site (which in my original comment was more punitive than I’d meant it to sound anyways – my concern isn’t so much not giving Sasha clicks as it is simply about not engaging with her writing through my comments anymore, and thus excusing myself from the community). Glancing at the comments on her last article – if they’re any indication of the directions this site and its community will be taking, it looks like I chose the exact right moment to leave; that’s all I have to say about that. But I did want to respond to some of the kind comments left for me on this post like yours before fully cutting myself off, for the time being, at least.
It’s not easy to be in a position to defend an issue that I know nothing about, Alex. I haven’t seen Run Hide Fight and it would never occur to me to have an opinion about any movie based on who distributes it.
But we know how some people are at the Daily Wire. Say the name three times and a dozen Beetlejuices show up, right? That’s the only thing that made that particular comment page messier than we’re used to seeing around here.
I can guarantee you that none of those people will be showing up to offer their opinions about Nomadland or Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. They were here yesterday for one reason: they saw a hot link in their realm and took it as an invitation to come see what was happening. Most of them were not the least bit interested in talking about the movie. Most of them were here to pick a fight.
A fight is what they wanted, so a few our of friends here gave them one. The very last thing I wanted to do was get involved in that comment mess, but I’m not going to let our friends face a battle from outsiders without my backup.
None of that had anything to do with the Oscars. Whatever merits Run Hide Fight may have as entertainment, movies like that never come within 1000 miles of the Oscars.
So most of our readers here just ignored the whole thing. It doesn’t interest them, and therefore it doesn’t bother them.
Yesterday’s unusual disruption was over as fast as it flared up. Readers who wanted to push back just did what they always do to be AD’s Neighborhood Watch. Disqus gives us handy tools to deal with these things. Flagging troublemakers sends alerts to moderators and enough flags will automatically kick the rudest intruders to the curb.
I could’ve stood back and let the Disqus filters do their thing. But a couple of jerks needed accelerated action. (Crude personal insults directed at Sasha, staff writers, or other readers have to be shot down, so we took care of that.)
In a funny way, the Run Hide Fight post created a parallel situation for us. Each of us had to decide how we want to handle an unexpected angry invasion. Some of us chose to Fight (and we won). Some of us chose to Hide or simply Ignore (I admire anyone who here who simply avoided those comments and continued unaffected with regular Oscar and Movielover business). Others might chose to Run – either log off the site till the uproar died down, or Run further away, more permanently (I understand that impulse, but it’s the option that makes me the most sad).
Over the past 14 years, I’ve often been called ‘guard dog’ and ‘lap dog’ – (as if being called a dog, one of god’s greatest creations, is an insult? 🙂
If you saw me barking in those comments yesterday, you would know that the job of guardian doesn’t mean being a muzzled flunky.
But sometimes I’m just a Border Collie — a frisky workaholic who can sometimes overreact to threats — and nothing bothers a Border Collie more than when a valued member of the flock decides to wander away. Especially when it’s someone’s departure that will sadden the rest of the flock.
We’re all so very sorry to see you go, Alex, and I’m not the type of person who can blithely say: “Farewell. Have fun finding a place where you’ll be happier.” I know the other options out there, and you’re not going to find what the AD community offers anywhere else. For better or worse.
I ignore things that bother me online every day. For example, there’s no question that twitter has pockets of awfulness. But that never fazes me, because I’m too busy enjoying the good things I find there with 100k mutuals. We spend our time focusing on the good things and paying no attention to the bad things.
But if you find in your heart that you can’t do that anymore, Alex, I completely understand. I know I speak for dozens of your AD friends when we say we’re grateful for the years you shared with us here. And the Border Collie part of me is glad that emails exist, so you and I don’t lose sight of each other altogether.
I’m sorry to hear you had to finally make that decision. No matter where Awards Daily heads, we’ll always have that 2000s Golden
Age with Sasha & this site. Nothing can take that budding Oscar/film
buff experience and gratitude away from us. I grew up with it as well, since 2003. I agree that there have been a few negative developments across the 10s, and that the Sasha content
just isn’t as readable or versatile or welcoming anymore (maybe just another eventual victim of Web 2.0 trends and running the site for so long), but I can’t help keeping abreast of it during awards season out of nostalgic habit and for her race instincts, and she has assembled other good writers here, plus the loyal comments crew. She has a lot to be proud of. But understandable that there comes a time to move on if the grass is greener.
Far be it from me to try to lecture you – I respect your ability to make your own decisions. But in my view, the true insanity, not just on the left but in the entire society, is how we let this devilish creature called postmodern politics stand in the way of our interpersonal connections. It saddens me deeply to hear that you would give up on a community you enjoy frequenting, as you yourself said, just because of some opinions shared on the fake reality show that is called politics these days. In my opinion, any discussion, any interesting thought you and others share on these pages, about films and awards any everything else, is much more real and much more valuable than the endless and pointless churning of online political debate. I will be very sad to see you go, and sincerely hope that you will reconsider.
This.
Thank you for your very kind goodbye – you can see my response to Claudiu above for more details; I simply can’t afford to not think about politics, but I am hopeful that things might change in the future of the site, and I hope the community stays strong so that I might rejoin it some time.
Sorry to hear that! As for me, I consider twitter in large parts as a toxic place that I avoid to visit (I know this is for sure generalizing). What Sasha writes in her articles is always a good start into a discussion. If people disagree and elaborate their own point of view – about the Oscar race or about politics – that´s the true benefit, isn´t it? I really never felt the urge to always agree about the stance in any article on this site, and I visited this site since the times it was called “Oscarwatch” – life is complex, different views exist! But of course I do understand that politics – especially in this time and in the US society – is a very controversial topic and feelings are running high… anyway, all the best to you!
I just wanted to say thank you for this note – you can see my response to Claudiu above for a more elaborate explication of my reasoning … my issue unfortunately isn’t the presence of debate or discussion or critique, it’s a bit deeper than that.
You could read the comments alone and not read the articles at all, except for the factual ones announcing award results and such… (And whatever else you know won’t annoy you. I don’t care about politics so nothing annoys me, nor the opposite, but I understand why it does others, who do care.) Anyway, if you do decide to leave, I and others will be quite sorry to see you go. 🙁
Thank you Claudiu, that’s very kind, and I’ve always enjoyed reading your comments. I might continue to catch up on the comment boards in the future – but I don’t think (barring big changes) that I’ll be contributing to the conversation. I personally cannot afford to not care about politics, and I promised myself I wouldn’t go into specifics, but as I said last week – suffice it to say that Sasha has said enough to make me simply quit. Really, it’s been a few years in the making. The thing is I actually *do* empathize with Sasha’s general concerns about cancel culture. I myself have been trying to adopt a less punitive mindset towards people who do not commit physical violence, or espouse or support explicitly hateful speech and ideology, and I do think that there is a big issue on the left (of which I consider myself a part) in which all bad things are flattened in such a way that they all demand the same amount of outrage. I disagree with that mindset and I’m trying to avoid it. But with Sasha, it’s been a long (years-long, now) pattern of writing and belief which I simply cannot even bring myself to associate with. I don’t know her personally, and I hope she is more reasonable in person, but all I can say is that I’m being *very* charitable with my words right now, because there’s a lot I can say. I don’t think she’s “evil,” but her writing here and especially on twitter has been misguided enough (again, I’m being very charitable in my phrasing here, out of respect for other commenters, for people who know here) to very actively alienate me, in fact, to make me feel completely unwanted and even disgusted as an audience – in fact, I have often felt guilty for even tolerating it and giving her the benefit of the doubt for so long, although I’ve always tolerated it in the name of something I love, specifically, talking about movies.
I don’t believe in “cancel culture” – at least when it comes to non-explicitly-hateful (racist, mysoginist, homophobic, transphobic, etc.) or violence-promoting opinions – but there comes a point when enough is enough. This is not cancelling, it’s just the effects of actively alienating your readers under the supposed goal of “telling the truth” (which is so often used as an excuse to gaslight).
It would be one thing if Sasha was just a contributor here – but it’s her whole website, the content is hers, and I know I wouldn’t be able to keep myself from getting enraged and writing out ranting comments (I suppose, like this one lol) against her on her articles, and ultimately, that’s not doing me any good, so I might as well stop. I considered only commenting on articles written by other contributors on the site, if only as a way to get some of my own thoughts out there again (I’ve seen a bunch of movies recently and I realized I really don’t have anyone to talk to about them!), but I don’t think I’m ready yet. In fact, I wish I could have sent all of my responses on this thread through DM, although that’s obviously not an option on Disqus (and probably for good reason).
“I considered only commenting on articles written by other contributors
on the site, if only as a way to get some of my own thoughts out there
again (I’ve seen a bunch of movies recently and I realized I really
don’t have anyone to talk to about them!), but I don’t think I’m ready
yet.”
Yeah, exactly – that’s more or less what I was suggesting, as well! That sounds very doable to me. I think I would at the very least do that, were I in your position. I understand that it’s hard knowing that it is still the site of somebody you disagree with so strongly (to put it mildly), but there are people like that everywhere, for all of us. 🙂 (I’m not saying you’re right to dislike her or her opinions, nor that you’re not right – I simply don’t know, there’s clearly way more information here that I would need before I could even begin to have a semi-informed opinion on that, so I’m just staying out of that part of the discussion altogether.) We can’t just shut out the entire world and give up the things we love because of a few people we just can’t get along with and would rather avoid as much as possible… It’s not worth it, in any case, at least in my opinion. So I do hope you indeed consider this option, or something similar. 🙂 Whenever you’re ready, of course. Because we really will miss you here if you leave altogether – I, at least (although I’m sure I don’t speak for myself alone), have always liked your posts very much and thought you were one of the most thoughtful, interesting and intelligent people here…
‘One Night In Miami’ arrived today! Yay! I just watched it and enjoyed it immensely. It was interesting to have watched Ma Rainey recently and before that, The Trial of The Chicago 7. Such great ensembles this year. Wonderful storytelling and with two of those adapted from the theatre, made for compelling movie experiences.
I liked One Night In Miami a little more than Ma Rainey – perhaps it was the fascination with the 4 men at the centre; whereas I didn’t feel connected to ‘Ma’ herself, but to Chadwick Boseman’s ‘Levee’. For me, Ma Rainey just fell short of great (8 & 3/4) I give One Night in Miami a 9 – the same score as Chicago 7 and Mank. And Clemency which I only saw recently. Anything that scores a ‘9’ or above, represents a great movie for me. But with movies like Parasite, 1917, By The Grace of God, A Hidden Life last year all getting 9.5 from me; I have not been blown away by anything i have seen in recent weeks. Mank obviously the most cinematic and dense, but i was really moved by Regina King’s film, and that heart factor is often what pushes a film into the higher rating.
Whilst Leslie Odom Jr was great (he won me over during ‘Chain Gang’ ), i thought Kingsley Ben-Adir is equally Oscar worthy for nomination. I hope BAFTA get behind their fellow and recognise him. He made an awesome Malcom X. The four actors in the ensemble were superb. Yes it was stagey, but opened up creatively where it could be, and claustrophobic as required for the scenes in the hotel room. Another great ‘Best Cast In A Motion Picture’ contender, for sure.
My only quibble, and this shows how great a film it is, that I am quibbling with something so minor, as athletic and powerful as Cassius Clay was, one of the first shots of Eli Goree as Cassius was shirt off, coming out of a pool, and his body was way too sculptured (a very 21st century or late 20th century beefy, contoured look. As much as I enjoyed the view, i wouldn’t have shown it, as Clay’s body back in 1964 was not like that! It took me out of the belief that I was back in 1964 (the year i was born!) and watching these real life figures – something that was SO successfully depicted and characterised by the casting, the costumes, the choreography & the direction overall. It was an honour to be in the company of Sam Cooke, Jim Brown, Cassius Clay and Malcolm X! Really impressive debut for Regina King.
Can we have an Emmy sized category this year please for Supporting Actor? 3 from Chicago 7, 2 from Ma Rainey and 2 from One Night In Miami. What the heck, make it ten! Squeeze Bill Murray in there, he is all crumpled anyway! And add one more from Chicago 7 and One Night In Miami – everyone else misses out sorry! Better luck next year. So many men, so little time. Great year for supporting actors.
This sounds great, looking forward to see it this weekend. I was not that positive about Ma Rainey and Chicago 7, but anything I heard about Miami really is promising a worthy contender.
Edit: Excellent film, a pure quality work. Regina King does a truly remarkable job in adapting a stage play without making the nature of the source ever obvious. The dialogues and the plot appeared natural and the conflicts between the characters never felt forced or overblown to me. In fact, the plot takes place in one hotel room for a large part of the film, but if it still feels dynamic and cinematic you know that the director succeed – that said, I hope King gets nominated.
In terms of the great ensemble I want to back up what Dave wrote: Kingsley Ben-Adir is the real deal!
It is always so exciting to discover ‘new talent’ (even if they have been around a wee while). That is always a big part of the wonderful gift of cinema. The four actors worked so well together and physically captured and inhabited the eminent gentlemen they were portraying. Regina King’s excellent eye and ear for performance was definitely her strength here. You are so right, Dominik – the performances hit the spot without feeling overblown or self conscious. That is so hard to get right – when the words are being recited by historical figures of that magnitude.
1917, such a mediocre gimmicky movie of the moment gets 9,5 over actual modern classics such as OUATIH, Marriage Story, or The Irishman??
Looool!!
I like what I like, and you are welcome to do the same; but absolutely no need to diss someone else’s choices in so doing.
Seriously, what about respecting other people’s opinions, or expressing disagreement in a mature way, is so difficult for some people to understand?
I’m curious, though… if a 9 is great in your personal system, how many 9s do you typically give out a year? And how many last year? The personal nature of this stuff always intrigues me, for some reason. In my personal system, a 7 is very good, 8 is excellent, and 9 is above-and-beyond (but I don’t give half points). I usually have 5-6 9s a year, but last year I only had 3 (Parasite, Little Women, Portrait of a Lady on Fire).
Yes, and curious he or they (don’t know the commenter) votes up his own comment whilst voting mine down. Says a lot about his/their style of discourse!
Yes I have been rating films for decades, and for ages; no matter what the first movie was – i would give it an 8 – (it would normally be an Oscar contender – around January the first week) and then everything that follows would be compared to that score. So a constant? A ‘control’ experiment? Not sure what i am channellng from my youth. But then, as i began seeing more and more films – I began looking beyond the Oscar fare, and further afield and was committed to seeing 100 + films every year. Last year (thanks COVID – one positive) – I saw close to 160. Out of those there were 25 films that I ranked at 9 or above (i give quarters and half scores). I have never given a 10.
These ‘9’s’ are films that not only tick lots of boxes in storytelling – great acting, writing, production values but that have impacted me in some way – been touching or illuminating or just mind boggling. If and when i get a chance later in the year, I try to rewatch those 9’s and see if i feel the same way on a second viewing. Some high 8’s get bumped to 9. ‘The Farewell’ last year was one such movie. It didn’t ‘speak’ to me as much on the first view, i was irritated by Awkwafina’s performance but the second viewing, i saw through different eyes and also after a year of the pandemic and I had softened to it, and was very moved by its elements. ‘Marriage Story’ the same – way more impressed the 2nd time. Conversely The Two Popes lost ground on the second view.
Last year I gave 9’s to Judy & Punch, Hearts & Bones, Sequin In a Blue Room, Dolemite Is My Name, Marriage Story, The Two Popes, Parasite, Jo Jo Rabbit, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, A Beautiful Day In the Neighbourhood, 1917, Pain & Glory, A Sun, Blinded By The Light, An Impossible Love, Linda Ronstadt: The Sound Of My Voice, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, By The Grace of God, Little Women, Honey Boy, A Hidden Life, Seventeen, The Guilty, Richard Jewell, Queen & Slim.
There’s more info perhaps than you wanted to know, Will, but thanks for asking, and great to see we shared your Big 3. Reading your system, for a film to get a 9 – it has to be pretty special and I see that is so! Has anything taken you by storm so far this season yet?
More information than necessary is my entire ethos.
You run circles around me! I love movies so much, it is a testament to my scattered interests and lack of time management that I probably only average one new one a week. Earlier in the year, I work my way through some unseen classics. Later I make sure to see all the Oscar and Spirit contenders, and try to catch a bunch of the Sight&Sound/Film Comment winners too. I wish it were more, but the upshot is that most of what I watch is pretty darn good. In my town we are lucky in that the BART runs through (one of the US’s biggest rapid rail systems), so if I am willing to take the trip I can use my Christmas money and be in Berkeley or San Francisco in under an hour and scope out the old art house theaters over the break.
So I have yet to begin my viewing for last year at all! I kept holding out foolish hope that I could return to a cinema, but that was not to be. Plus I found I was in such a haze quarantined with my family I kept instead finding myself retreating into the continuing comfort of TV comedy, much of it British: I grew weirdly fond of The Inbetweeners (the Will character stole my name and teen identity) and rekindled my love for Mitchell & Webb (Olivia Colman IS Julie from Numberwang!). I will say that if we are still on last year, I did really love Marriage Story and Pain and Glory (you me and everyone else). Honey Boy was indeed a find: rawly honest and with some beautiful flourishes; in hindsight, the sudden ending hits even harder now that we know Shia has been perpetuating the cycle of abuse, unfortunately. Several of your other 9s passed me by: surprised myself to realize I have yet to see A Hidden Life… The Tree of Life is a 10 for me.
I should say that I do give 10s, but very rarely and almost always only on a rewatch. Of course there is no such thing as objective perfection, but I define it as a film that I think is both essentially flawless, multifaceted, and so emotionally effective or artistically distinct that it shifts my view on the artform and becomes a part of me in some way. A 9 is something that I think is essentially flawless, or an incredible accomplishment on multiple levels, and has such notable artistic and/or entertainment value that I will feel confident recommending it to anyone interested in film regardless of what their typical preference might be. More recent offbeat ones have been Shoplifters, The Other Side of Hope, Taxi Tehran… there is just too much wonderful stuff out there!
“I did really love Marriage Story and Pain and Glory (you me and everyone else)”
Yup, me too… 🙂
“I should say that I do give 10s, but very rarely and almost always only on a rewatch.”
Same. Probably even more rarely, in my case.
I give quarter and half scores too. 🙂 Because I rate each movie for 4 different things (technical, story/screenplay, message/impact and overall, which is the most personal of the four), then average them. I never really go below a 7 on any of the 4, and I don’t remember giving anything a 6 ever, nor four 7’s, so it’s more like a 1-5 system where 1 never happens, but, anyway, most movies I see in any year are in the 8-8.75 range. The 9’s are contenders for my top 10 and I rarely (these days) get to 9.25 or higher. It takes rewatches for a movie to get there for me.
I actually also give +’s and -‘s, to more easily separate them when I rank them for various things. (Meaning an 8+ is better than an 8, an 8- is worse than an 8. No 10+, but 10- exists, of course.)
I have 3 perfect 10’s, all-time (also reached after multiple rewatches), and one of them you would both never guess and never agree with. 🙂 (I’ll mention and defend it if you’re particularly curious.) The other two are the first two Godfather movies. Neither those nor the third one are in my top 5 all-time, maybe not in my top 10, even, because other movies have an even more personal and stronger impact on me. (Having rewatched them more recently than the three in question might also have a little bit to to with that, but probably not a great deal.) These three are just the only ones I can’t find anything about that doesn’t work perfectly (or close-enough to it), as far as I’m concerned.
“Some high 8’s get bumped to 9. ‘The Farewell’ last year was one such
movie. It didn’t ‘speak’ to me as much on the first view, i was
irritated by Awkwafina’s performance but the second viewing, i saw
through different eyes and also after a year of the pandemic and I had
softened to it, and was very moved by its elements. ‘Marriage Story’
the same – way more impressed the 2nd time.”
Sweet! Those are two of my top 3 of the year. 🙂 (Plus One is in second place, after The Farewell.) I posted my rankings earlier; you might have caught that. Anyway, I loved both (all three, in fact) on first viewing and rewatches only strengthened this. The Farewell was my only 9.25 for last year. I had twelve 9’s (Plus One not being one of them – 8.75, and it was 8.5 before the rewatch, yet still in my top 2, which was somewhat unusual), out of 80 movies seen, which is about the average per year. Two 7.25’s, one 7.5 and one 7.75, the rest between 8 & 8.75.
Three 9’s so far for 2020, out of 16 movies seen. Wolfwalkers, Mank and Colectiv. Nothing yet below an 8, though one movie came very close and I was probably too lenient with it because it was still somewhat enjoyable at times.
Wow, all three (Parasite, Little Women, Portrait of a Lady on Fire) also happen to be in my Top 10.
I never asked… do you mind sharing your top 10? Inquiring minds wish to know…
As you beautifully expressed in your last state of the race (or the one before – not sure now), whether the trauma and life changing elements of 2020 will impact on what films people love and which films people ignore will be interesting. Cinema has often (not always obviously) been about an escape, a distraction – visuals and stories that sweep audiences into another reality, another person’s shoes.
Do we want to look in the mirror this year? or is it a year to hark back to stories and themes that are safe and comfortable and nostalgic. Perhaps the Academy of 20 or 30 years ago may have been more sentimental – now with a younger and more diverse (well, getting there anyway) membership = will they seek out fare that is further reminder of how different life is – or embrace fanciful, or traditional stories? I don’t know the answer, and not sure what films fit into either sphere, but there is a point where the cataclysmic events internationally (especially politically for Americans) are just too much – and a movie might be a panacea – but which movie? Personally I am still drawn to those that either most speak to my sensibilities, or are just so majestic and illuminating, that even if they are a mirror to what’s going on today, they can help, rather than hinder the processing of that trauma that you describe in your post.
Movies have always been about healing for me. Even dark films have curative qualities. I don’t underestimate the need for those, especially in this year.
“Movies have always been about healing for me. Even dark films have
curative qualities. I don’t underestimate the need for those,
especially in this year.”
This.
thanks Claudiu – glad it resonates with you too 🙂
100%!
This is a truly beautiful statement, Dave. Personal and poignant. Thanks for sharing!
I fall back on quoting Roger Ebert: “No good movies are depressing. All bad movies are.” Indeed, even if a work is darker in tone or content, if there is artistry and a human impulse clearly available, I find myself nourished and uplifted regardless. A sort of catharsis from confrontation, and having a fictional space to reflect and meditate on difficult truth, perhaps. Curative is an excellent word.
I have found there is an interesting generational component in terms of appreciation for well-crafted escapism. I do not know the ages of everyone else here, but I am in my late 20s. I find that among many of my age group, especially the creatively-minded ones, the stark awareness of the magnitude of the must-solve challenges facing the world in the decades upcoming seems to have reduced, rather than strengthened, the appreciation of escapism as a value. It is like everyone lives with the constant awareness that it will soon all be up to us and we have no time to waste. So laughter is valued as much as ever, but it is always tinged with that awareness; nostalgic panaceas, as you put it, just seem like phoniness or waste. I took a snapshot at college of a row of lockers I found: they were decked out with cheerfully colorful sticky tape, each piece with a written message saying “Everything is not going to be okay.” Almost everyone walking by would smile brightly, as if they were relieved to acknowledge that the opposite was pablum, so we could be free of it and go about making it okay ourselves. Not sure how I feel about it all, but it is a marked shift.
Thanks Will for your appreciation and for your soulful reflections on the state of the world and how art provides different panaceas for different folks. Great quote from the late and great Ebert. How missed is he in the culture?
It is a fascinating question posed in your comment about generational variance and how much that plays into the way we devour and appreciate or don’t appreciate certain movies. I made an assumption you were older than late 20’s, based on your articulate, respectful and informed contributions, and that speaks volumes about my biases or assumptions. I’m 56 (so twice your age) but we meet on this site, all of us, as lovers of cinema and impassioned about the award giving process. We come from a range of countries and socio economic backgrounds which also are ingredients as to the way we look at movies and which we seek out. Like my moniker, i like to think I am constantly questioning and evolving as a cinephile and wanting to hold a mirror up to world i inhabit and see if I am missing out on stories and a societal texture that could be better explored.
I have learned so much in the dozen years I have visited this site as it is such an illuminating place to hear other voices, read about other movies and storytellers and have preconceptions, challenged or affirmed!
Films are truly a gateway are they not? And this site is definitely one of the nicer places in the jungle that is the internet. I too put extra value on people and stories that make my world a little bigger. We all only get one life… I don’t understand people that wish to just remain in perpetuity. But I think I have been undervaluing the necessary idealism that pure comfort provides. At Christmas my parents were watching While You Were Sleeping for the 794th time. I sat down and caught the end and it occurred to me… I need a little bit more of this once in a while.
Assumptions are a funny thing. We all have them… My job until recently was as a library page (checking in and putting books away in carts). This happened multiple times: an older person would come up to me and insist that I help them with the computer. I had to gently say that I (a skinny young man with glasses) had no idea about the computer software, but the plainly dressed older woman they were standing four feet from has multiple Masters degrees and installed it all, so she would be the one to ask. They always acted either confused or like I was shirking my responsibility. It was a hoot.
Awards voters, don’t screw it up like you did last year by allowing something like a basic gimmick of the moment like 1917 to win precursors such as the Globes and the Guilds
Choose something truly worthy like Da 5 Bloods or Minari, don’t screw it up this time around.
I think Promising Young Woman will be a top5 player in the end with nominations in picture, director, original screenplay, lead actress and maybe even supporting actor and editing.
Not happening but I also loved the costume design and the art direction.
If it does happen, I’m expecting Mulligan to win (as she should!)
If I chose the nominations it would get 10 – picture, director, screenplay, actress, supporting actor, cinematography, editing, costumes, art direction and makeup/ Hair.
However, I think on its best day it gets like 5 and on its worst day it gets 1 (screenplay). I feel like we can take supporting actor, art direction, cinematography immediately off the table and probably costumes and editing.
Enjoying Asian-Americans finally getting their time in the sun of late. Some other western democracies barely have any Hispanics or African-Americans, but we do have sizable Asian populations and can probably relate better on that multicultural front (although the Pan-Asian thing is more of an American concept to me). 20th Century South America also had a couple political leaders of Asian extraction.
I think this is an apt year for America to look abroad and choose films from elsewhere. An escapist year. Da 5 Bloods being period African-Americans abroad in Vietnam feels right for the moment. It won’t win Best Picture or anything, but will get support. Those 2008/09 winners Slumdog & Hurt Locker, similar vibe right now imo. I also think abroad family dramedies like Babyteeth will get a look in.
*although not really period, in fact it looks into a Trump voter a bit, but not too much. Father-son dynamics, ptsd, land mines, glowing advocate, old men, all Oscar-friendly.
If Nomadland wasn’t there, Minari would be getting talked up big time. Isn’t it actually a GOOD thing that we have so many oddball and off the beaten path movies contending for Oscars? Isn’t it great that the cynical Miramax/Weinstein Oscar-bait template isn’t dominating the field anymore. Once people realize that a good film that happens to be different looking isn’t “woke” but simply a great film, that’s going to be a happy day for this film buff and I suspect many others.
I don’t think the spectre of Trump is going to be the ugly thing in the finishing kick of this season. It’s going to be the culture warrior’s obsession with China and the higher Zhao ascends, the uglier the invective hurled at her from certain corners will be (and this isn’t a left/right thing either). I predict some really shameful shit will go down and I will be curious if she manages to hold on to the Eternals gig when the dust settles.
“Isn’t it great that the cynical Miramax/Weinstein Oscar-bait template isn’t dominating the field anymore.”
I, for one, am very cautious about predicting oddball/off-the-beaten-path films to get a nomination. The Academy has proven repeatedly that it is happy to snub such films, even when they are predicted as certain nominees. If Beale Street Could Talk was one.
Not to be nitpicky, but I have a really really hard time classifying Beale Street as oddball or off-the-beaten path in terms of Oscar contenders. It’s a beautifully filmed and culturally relevant period romance, and a pretty linear literary adaptation by an Oscar-winning director. This is not to say Beale Street is not an extraordinary, transcendent film. I found it to be just that. It’s just that it is firmly in the Oscar wheelhouse.
I think at least half of the Oscar contenders in recent years would be viewed as odd or out of the box when looked at in comparison to those 12-15 years ago. 2018 was the major exception to the trend toward acclaimed, artistic indie fare becoming dominant. It is clear to me that it was a semi-concious choice on the part of voters because of the Popular Film category debacle (not just Green Book & Bohemian Rhapsody, no Beale Street in best pic, no First Reformed except in Screenplay, no WGA winner Eighth Grade in screenplay, etc.)
It is, indeed, so so exhausting. I have yet to have someone – anyone – explain to me what being woke is, or why it is this (supposedly) major social problem.
It’s like… women – half of the planet – have been de facto barred from creative control in film until recently, and even now that is mostly the case. For no real reason except structural prejudice, and at what must be a great loss of us in terms of breadth of available storytelling. So like you said, if my being super happy that the likely winner of this year’s best director Oscar is not just a hugely talented up-and-coming filmmaker but in addition a woman of color in a historic first is “woke”, then this film buff is going to keep on being “woke”.
Woke and anti-woke is just an excuse for smaller thinkers to have blood curdling arguments over meaningless things.
Exactly. Inconsequential and immaterial.