I've often felt that hip, auteurist movies that LOOK like traditional Oscar movies can often overcome the curse that plagues hip, auteurist movies that don't.
I think this is a key factor in the large nomination totals for films like The Thin Red Line and There Will Be Blood, and going further back, Barry Lyndon and Cries and Whispers (and maybe to a lesser extent stuff like The Piano, Gosford Park, The Elephant Man, Apocalypse Now, etc.)
I think a period-y or epic element gives these kind of films a huge leg up over movies like Leaving Las Vegas and Eternal Sunshine, which are hardly inaccessible, but lacking in the superficial elements Oscar voters seem to gravitate toward first.
Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
More than ever, it's apparent to me that this is one of the strangest Best Picture nominees ever from the Academy. I don't know what they were thinking, because it's so far from what they usually go for, but I'm glad they were thinking it.
I don't get it either. I could very easily see this film paying off with noms for Director, Score, Cinematography, Editing, and maybe Sound Mixing. It's not the kind of film that attracts attention for Screenwriting let alone attention from the largest voting bloc in myopic Hollywood. I remember at the time thinking about The Truman Show and Gods and Monsters were probably safer bets than The Thin Red Line and Elizabeth. In retrospect, Elizabeth makes perfect sense. It's a historical drama with conventionally dramatic narrative, totally accessible. Beyond that between Gods and Monsters, The Thin Red Line, The Truman Show, and Waking Ned Devine, I think Malick's film might be the least likely choice.
"How's the despair?"
Watched The Thin Red Line for the ?th time today. This is one of the most important, formative films of my lifetime, and it's one of the few films that, in many ways, feels like I'm seeing it for the first time every time. (A couple of John Ford films give a similar feeling--Liberty Valance and How Green Was My Valley especially--but very few others.) More than ever, it's apparent to me that this is one of the strangest Best Picture nominees ever from the Academy. I don't know what they were thinking, because it's so far from what they usually go for, but I'm glad they were thinking it.
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The Original BJ
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SPOILERS ABOUT WHITE BELOWOscarGuy wrote:BJ:
SPOILERS
Now you've gotten me thinking about it and I'm not 100% sure myself. I saw it for the first time several weeks ago and I believe it has something to do with the will, but I can't recall at all what happened there.
I know, right? I don't understand why just because the protagonist changed his will to give all his earnings to his ex-wife she would be accused of murdering him.
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OscarGuy
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BJ:
SPOILERS
Now you've gotten me thinking about it and I'm not 100% sure myself. I saw it for the first time several weeks ago and I believe it has something to do with the will, but I can't recall at all what happened there.
Edited By OscarGuy on 1249313686
SPOILERS
Now you've gotten me thinking about it and I'm not 100% sure myself. I saw it for the first time several weeks ago and I believe it has something to do with the will, but I can't recall at all what happened there.
Edited By OscarGuy on 1249313686
Wesley Lovell
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." - Benjamin Franklin
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." - Benjamin Franklin
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Crossing the Bridge: The Sounds of Istanbul (2008) Fatiah Akin 6/10
Cry Tough (1959) Paul Stanley 3/10
Home in Indiana (1944) Henry Hathaway 4/10
Nightwatching (2007) Peter Greenaway 7/10
Cry Tough (1959) Paul Stanley 3/10
Home in Indiana (1944) Henry Hathaway 4/10
Nightwatching (2007) Peter Greenaway 7/10
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
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The Original BJ
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I just watched Kieslowski's White, and I have a question for anyone really familiar with the film (and you'd have to be pretty familiar with it)....
MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW
How exactly does the protagonist frame Julie Delpy's character at the end? I watched the last half hour a second time to try to figure it out, but I still don't get it -- how come the police show up at her hotel room and why do they suspect her of murder? I could be completely dense for not understanding this, but it's really bugging me. I understand THAT he frames her, but I feel like I'm missing a crucial detail that's preventing the plot from falling into place for me. Can anybody help? Thank you!
MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW
How exactly does the protagonist frame Julie Delpy's character at the end? I watched the last half hour a second time to try to figure it out, but I still don't get it -- how come the police show up at her hotel room and why do they suspect her of murder? I could be completely dense for not understanding this, but it's really bugging me. I understand THAT he frames her, but I feel like I'm missing a crucial detail that's preventing the plot from falling into place for me. Can anybody help? Thank you!