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I don't understand why OFFICIAL SECRETS (and for that matter THE REPORT) were greeted with such indifference, not to say hostility. There seems to be what some anti-intellectualism at play in the reviewing community, whereby worthy politically minded films are suddenly unfashionable.
I also don't understand why you wouldn't nominate 1917, one of your favorites of the year, for Best Picture.
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I don't understand why OFFICIAL SECRETS (and for that matter THE REPORT) were greeted with such indifference, not to say hostility. There seems to be what some anti-intellectualism at play in the reviewing community, whereby worthy politically minded films are suddenly unfashionable.
I also don't understand why you wouldn't nominate 1917, one of your favorites of the year, for Best Picture.
Going over the list of films I saw last year, I found a lot more films that I felt truly deserved to be considered Best than were really Favorites, so finding ten Favorites was the real challenge and 1917 barely made the cut, much as I enjoyed it.
I keep lists of my top 100 and top 200 all-time favorites, and Once Upon a Time was the only film from last year likely to make those lists, though I also really enjoyed Knives Out when I saw it a second time yesterday.
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I don't understand why OFFICIAL SECRETS (and for that matter THE REPORT) were greeted with such indifference, not to say hostility. There seems to be what some anti-intellectualism at play in the reviewing community, whereby worthy politically minded films are suddenly unfashionable.
Because as important and illuminating as these films are, they are being washed out by the tide of bullshit coming from all directions these days. Just as we need something this piercing and illuminating, we're worn down by a political apparatus designed to gaslight us into not caring.
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Posted: |
Jan 1, 2020 - 5:47 PM
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By: |
SBD
(Member)
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'Best Actor - Eddie Murphy - Dolemite is My Name
Adapated Screenplay - Dolemite is My Name'
We can only hope. Terrific movie.
'Original Song - "Not Evil" - The Lego Movie 2: the Second Part'
Really glad that "Catchy Song" got Oscar-shortlisted, but all the songs in that movie were good.
'The Worst Movies of 2019 - 6 Underground...
I remember you hating Bad Boys II and from everything I've heard about it, 6 Underground struck me as Bad Boys II to the power of 10. No way it wasn't making the list.
...Serenity'
Even before the mind-meltingly dumb plot twist, something was rotten in the state of Denmark. The shot that introduced Anne Hathaway - with the camera zooming around her and an unseen gust blowing her hair back - was goofy enough to come from a parody.
Not sure if anyone around here is familiar with the newest version of "A Christmas Carol", but between this and Serenity, I'd be amazed if, from this point on, anyone paid Steven Knight to write his name in the snow, much less a screenplay.
'Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein in Booksmart'
Marvelous leads in a fantastic movie.
'Michael Shannon as George Westinghouse in The Current War'
You mentioned a while ago in a column how terrific it would be to see Shannon playing various historical figures. This put me in mind of Elvis and Nixon (sadly, also with a now-controversial figure attached to it). Shannon didn't look anything like Presley, but he captured the King's attitude very well.
And a minor correction: Lacey Chabert played Gretchen in Mean Girls.
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Thank you for the Mean Girls correction. Since I remember "fetch" more for all the times it's been cited on the Internet than from actually seeing the film 15-plus years ago, I'd mistakenly remembered it as being Seyfried's bit.
Re: Elvis & Nixon. Wonderful as Shannon's acting was, Elvis is one of those people -- like Nixon -- whose image is so iconic that I find it distracting when the actor ISN'T doing more of an impression of them. Because of that, I actually found Spacey to be a more convincing Nixon than some other actors like Anthony Hopkins, because whatever issues Spacey has, he's a really good mimic.
Similarly, Tom Wilkinson is a great actor but I couldn't buy him as LBJ in Selma.
And I've always wondered if one of the reasons Philip Seymour Hoffman as Capote won the Oscar over Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash -- both superlative actors in great performances -- was that PSH's Capote was a more skilled impression than Phoenix's Cash.
I almost respect Serenity because the big twist made a lot of the badness in the first half make more sense, but it still meant you were watching a terrible movie for the first half (and an only slightly less bad one for the second half). It's not how I wanted to see the stars of my beloved Interstellar reunited. (and after Serenity and many other recent roles, it was nice to see Jason Clarke play a decent husband in The Aftermath).
Steven Knight has written some fine movies over the years (I even have a fondness for the much maligned Allied), but when I read that the backstory for his Christmas Carol involved Scrooge being raped as a child, I felt that this was one take on Dickens I need never watch, despite the great cast.
In its defense, 6 Underground does have astonishing stunt work. Movies like this and the John Wick series make me wish they actually would give an Oscar for stunt coordination, though I imagine the CGI era has changed that craft enormously.
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Scott, as usual, I agree with most of your choices (although I think Knives Out and Parasite are both overrated), but I'm curious why Under the Silver Lake made your ten worst list. I've seen it twice now and it's certainly a movie with plenty of problems, but it's also quite fascinating and imaginative. What about it do you dislike? Thanks!
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