"Last year we proved that social buzz could successfully predict the Academy Award winner for Best Picture. So this year we wanted to see what else social could predict for Hollywood’s big night."
Adapted Screenplay
Nominees:
- 12 Years a Slave
- Before Midnight
- Captain Phillips
- Philomena
- The Wolf of Wall Street
Original Screenplay
Nominees:
- American Hustle
- Blue Jasmine
- Dallas Buyers Club
- Her
- Nebraska
Actor in a Supporting Role
Nominees:- Barkhad Abdi for Captain Phillips
- Bradley Cooper for American Hustle
- Jared Leto for Dallas Buyers Club
- Jonah Hill for The Wolf of Wall Street
- Michael Fassbender for 12 Years a Slave
Actress in a Supporting Role
Nominees:
- Jennifer Lawrence for American Hustle
- Julia Roberts for August: Osage County
- June Squibb for Nebraska
- Lupita Nyong’o for 12 Years a Slave
- Sally Hawkins for Blue Jasmine
Actor in a Leading Role
Nominees:
- Bruce Dern for Nebraska
- Chiwetel Ejiofor for 12 Years a Slave
- Christian Bale for American Hustle
- Leonardo DiCaprio for The Wolf of Wall Street
- Matthew McConaughey for Dallas Buyers Club
Actress in a Leading Role
Nominees:
- Amy Adams for American Hustle
- Cate Blanchett for Blue Jasmine
- Judi Dench for Philomena
- Meryl Streep for August: Osage County
- Sandra Bullock for Gravity
Click HootSuite for the rest of Social Oscars predictions
284 comments:
1 – 200 of 284 Newer› Newest»Listen you know the ultra-liberal types in movies that nobody wants to see will win. Who gives a shit?
Movies are over. The real action is in TV.
I have not watched a single movie on that list.
The elite self-congratulatory leftists of Hollywood will hand out golden statues and applaud while Putin invades. I expect Obama and his lovely wife will attend? Priorities.
@Trooper
When you finally gonna let your slaves go free?
Spike Lee wants to know!
I am a troglodyte. Have not been inside a movie theater or complex in over 20 years. Have not watched more than two movies beginning to end in cable either.
Sorry, Troop...even television "theater" bores me now...to tears actually. Last two "series" I can recall watching regularly was "Sandford and Son" and "All in the Family."
I am old.
Judi wants, I think, to see "Son of God"...I am not sure it isn't blasphemy. Not comfortable with it...maybe the latent atheist in me? But I am only a very new Catholic, even if Irish.
Spike fucking Lee, like all the other victim-hood advocates in his ethnic group, loves to whine about all the white people who have made him rich beyond his dreams.
Ari you have to give some episodic television a try. There are many interesting series that I think you would enjoy.
Try "Deadwood" if you like Westerns.
"The Wire" or "Justified" if you like crime Dramas.
"House of Cards" or "Homeland" if you enjoy political intrigue.
"The Fall" an Irish series starring Gillian Anderson for your serial killer fix.
"Boardwalk Empire" if you enjoy historical crime drama.
"Game of Thrones" for a great medieval fantasy fix.
"Brooklyn Nine-nine" or "The Crazy Ones" for new fresh sitcoms that have a funny cast and amusing stories.
There is a lot of great stuff happening on TV.
Who gives a shit about "12 Years a Slave." It is a wet dream for liberal weenies who hate themselves and their country. Fuck that noise.
"Son of God" sounds interesting but I would give that Noah's Arc movie a pass.
12 Years A Slave is so great that I didn't even see it never will see it couldn't be dragged kicking and screaming to see it and yet I know that it is the GREATEST FILM EVER MADE because otherwise RACISSS!!!
I want reparations for all the shit the Guineas took from the Micks!
Come on, you greasers!
You know what I'm talking about!
If you want to watch a slave movie than check out the "Spartacus" miniseries on Net Flicks.
Lots of naked babes. Just sayn'
Damn straight Shouting. Those dirty Wops stole crime from the Micks and the Hebes. They took over everything. You can see it on "Boardwalk Empire."
The only Mick that survived the takeover was Owney Madden and he had to move to freakin' Arkansas and who the fuck would live in Arkansas if they didn't have to. Just sayn'
Movies are great when you're twenty. I was completely bowled over by On The Waterfront, saw it several times and really, God help me, thought it held the secret of life. Twenty. By thirty all that tripe is over. Unless you're Pauline Kael.
Trooper is basically right. The awarding of trophies by and for the entertainment industry is driven, as needed, by whatever aligns best with the (pseudo) moral energies of the current "consciences" and drivers of Hollywood's "moral" zeitgeist.
That said, from my perch it seems like this effect isn't felt all the way down the ticket. I don't know why, but I can guess.
A lot of these folks lack moral seriousness; and the entertainment industry, particularly movie-making, is a relatively tight club. As anyone who's been a part of "academia" can attest, the smaller the pond, the more petty and vicious the politics.
So, for example. In years' past, I'd have expected Philomena to be the beneficiary of the wave of Hollywood's ersatz and ephemeral moral urgency. But it doesn't seem to be the case this year. Why? Old news? Not as trendy as being against slavery? Or did the wrong person/people make the movie?
Hatin' on movies is myopic. There are great movies made every year. I LOVE the TV that Trooper lists. I think TV has caught up w/ flicks and maybe slightly passed it. The competition has been good. I need blake here to back me up that those who say there are no good movies made are usually folks like youse guys who DON'T WATCH them.
The Wop movie making power has to do with the fact that movies are the modern form of opera. Godfather. Pure operatic excess.
And, I agree w/ the politics. AIDS, slavery, holocaust, etc. are always going to win the awards. Kate Winslet even joked about it on stage. The Oscars are limo liberal personified.
That said, I don't understand the animosity toward Twelve Years a Slave -- unless it's just because the wrong people liked it.
I liked it. Trooper may call lump me in with Pete Seeger for saying it, but it's not anti-American to show how terrible slavery was (and is).
Now, if you want to bash the Lincoln movie from a few years ago...
The Oscars are a big bag of bullshit.
People who never won an Oscar as an actor: Cary Grant, Fred Astaire, Kirk Douglas, Errol Flynn, Peter O'Toole, Richard Burton, Maureen O'Hara, Greta Garbo, Orson Welles, Barbara Stanwyck, Eddie Robinson, Fred MacMurry, Ward Bond, Hank Worden, Harry Carey Jr, LQ Jones and the list goes on and on.
Actors who have won an Oscar: Sean Penn, Jamie Foxx, Roberto Benigini....aw fuck it. You get the idea.
I went to see "American Hustle" this afternoon. Not an epic; nevertheless, I enjoyed it.
Everybody knows that slavery was bad. My personal preference is not to wallow in recriminations about what Simon Legree did back in the day as my ancestors were either digging potatoes or stomping on grapes at the time.
If they want to make a good slave movie then I would recommend the classic "Slave Girls of Gor" by the legendary John Norman.
Peter O'Toole won Best Actor for Lawrence of Arabia, his most famous role.
Of if the current Hollywood knuckleheads made that movie it would be called "The Slave Girls of Al Gore" about young interns from Harvard slaving away to stop climate change. With Sean Penn, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lawrence as the Beaver.
Barbara Stanwyck: underneath her tough as nails exterior beat a heart of....nails. Born Ruby Stevens in BROOKLYN! 1907. She came from nothing and she had to build up such a fortress around herself that she could never really jettison that and play vulnerable or unguarded. Just my opinion but it's the only opinion that counts so there!
Trooper:
Again, you have a point; but don't overplay it.
For example, how many acting roles did Orson Welles even have?
To put it another way. For the folks you list as being slighted, what roles would you point to that merited an Oscar? Peter O'Toole is easy; but what about Ward Bond or Harry Carey Jr., just for example?
Father I have too much respect to lump you with Pete Seeger.
Now Daniel Berrigan...that's another story.
(He argued like a Jesuit too! Hee!)
Trooper:
I think a better complaint wouldn't be that Hollywood makes too many slave movies -- because I don't think they have, actually; but rather, about the topics they have avoided.
For example...Hollywood is still cranking out movies about the Nazis -- always a crowd-pleaser -- and yet, there is a notable reticence about the Communists.
Trooper:
O'Toole also lost to John Wayne for True Grit -- was that political?
Some years, two really, really good portrayals go head-to-head, and only one can win.
As much as I hated Gandhi and loved My Favorite Year, ... it's just possible Ben Kingsley's acting was better. (Even if the film is a pile of you know what.)
Trooper York said...
As usual Rev you are wrong. Peter O'Toole lost that year to Gregory Peck in "To Kill a Mocking Bird" another jerkoff fest for weenie liberals.
Wow, Trooper is in a dyspeptic mood, now out grumping Revenant. Thank God none of those pesky liberals have darkened the doors of this blog to push him over the edge.
I put those members of the John Ford Stock company in as a joke Father.
But I thought Orson Welles was brilliant in "Touch of Evil" and pretty damn good in "Complusion" and "The Third Man." My favorite performance of his was as Falstaff in "Chimes at Midnight."
I love scenery chewing but that's just me.
Fr Martin Fox said...
it's just possible Ben Kingsley's acting was better.
He should also have won for Sexy Beast. That was the most convincing portrayal of a sociopath I have ever seen.
Why would the Sean Peen crowd ever want to tell the truth about Communism?
Peen = Penn. Though, I like Peen better.
They gave the Duke that Oscar because he was going to die. He deserved to win several times when he wasn't even nominated. I would cite "Red River" and "The Searchers" where he lost out to Ronald Coleman in the very forgettable "A Double Life" and Ernie Borgnine in "Marty." Now Ernie was a great actor and deserved an Oscar but Marty is just a TV drama filmed as a Movie. The Duke didn't even get nominated in either of those years in two seminal roles that have been copied over and over and over again.
A Reasonable Man said....
That was the most convincing portrayal of a sociopath I have ever seen.
Oh are you still posting over at TOP?
Trooper:
I agree about The Searchers.
At least Stanwyck and Garbo were nominated for Oscars a few times, Maureen O'Hara never was. Not even for her lovely performance in The Quiet Man.
Thank you Father.
I think there is a prejudice against epic performances in genre films. It is almost as if a film makes money they shouldn't be honored. That is why the Oscars are baloney. They usually celebrate the most politically correct cause of the moment.
I will be watching "Untouchable" and "Peter Gunn" reruns on MeTV tonight.
Trooper York said...
Oh are you still posting over at TOP?
Aaaannnnddd, there he goes.
Dude don't get defensive. You know I wasn't referring to you as the sociopath.
I put you in the harmless dupe category. I enjoy your posts buddy. Comedy gold.
You can't be the Globetrotters unless you have the Washington Generals around. Just sayn'
You cannot legitimately say a movie is bad if you haven't see it. There are exceptions, but folks here are stuck in the past. I DETEST Bud Selig but I don't hate baseball. I have an affection for baseball in my youth much more than baseball as it is today, but I still love baseball. That said, the Constitution gives you every right to be a curmudgeon. It's called the Andy Rooney clause. You're a lot like Andy only from the other end of the political spectrum, Troopmudgeon..
You cannot legitimately say a movie is bad if you haven't see it.
Well, that's true.
But, I can legitimately say that I'm not going to sit through another sermon on racism or another rendition of "In The Heat of the Night."
Which is the way the movie in question has been pitched to me.
Rooney got away with a lot of commie crap because he had that crusty uncle everybody loves quality about him. Okay, so it's not a brilliant observation, it's Sunday afternoon fer cripes sake, all the blood's gone from the brain to the belly.
ST, Fair enough.
I saw 12 years last week. Absolutely incredible. One of those movies that's so strong you don't know if you can handle it twice - apart from Brad Pitt's scenes. That's great stuff.
I wanted to see American Hustle but didn't get around to it. I could still see Wolf of Wall Street but it's only playing at the shitty ghetto flicks place so I'll wait a few months and just stream it on Amazon.
I don't have to read a law to know it is crap. Isn't that the new standard?
Everybody hates stuff or can say that they hate stuff that they haven't experienced. I can think of many things that we can cite that can be dismissed out of hand without experiencing it. Heroin.
Tripe. Liberalism. Butt Sex. 12 Years a Slave. But hey if you want to experiment go right ahead there buddy.
You know the typical Hollywood Oscar winner is probably doing heroin while eating sushi having butt sex and watching their review copy of "12 Years a Slave." So it is quite possible that it will win multiple Oscars.
That is not to say if you enjoy that sort of thing that you shouldn't go to movies and support it. Knock yourself out.
I will be enjoying watching my copy of "The Alamo" for the 95th time. Let me know when we have actors of the caliber of Frankie Avalon and Chill Wills in a movie about slavery and I might possibly rethink it.
John Wayne was in a version of True Grit? Cool. I liked the Lebowski/Jeff Bridges version.
Also got a good dose of O'Toole playing the pope (Paul III) in The Tudors recently. He's got a mountain of talent.
Troopmudgeon on a great rant.
12 years is not a wallow in recriminations - it showed what could happen to anybody, and also showed how the different sorts of masters had different virtues and vices. So to assume it's about tribal antagonisms is to miss and narrow the mark very far, actually. People afraid of "white guilt" would actually be interested to know that the humanity on the part of the masters (and the protagonists' friends) vary widely and diversely, from highly noble to lowly scoundrel.
Brad Pitt's scenes will be remembered and quoted for some time to come. He plays a very awesome and driven character. I wasn't much for Fight Club, but recognize talent and awesome scenes and dialog when they're presented to me.
"True Grit" was just about the worst movie that the Duke ever made. Only the sequel "Rooster Cogburn" or "Idol of the Crowds" were worse.
(In "Idol of the Crowds" the Duke plays a hockey player..disgrazia)
I'd say a movie that gets a 96% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes isn't suffering from lack of diverse ideological appeal.
In general I probably have to see more John Wayne movies but the Rooster played by Bridges was pretty good. Maybe you should see that version? It's possible Wayne just wasn't as well suited to the part, but the character was still gritty and appealing. I think Wayne probably came across as too clean and unconflicted to do the Cogburn role.
I don't go to movies for deep insight.
Costs too much. I only go to the movies for a jolly time with the girlfriend, in the hope that I'll get some later.
My interest in movies as art ceased a long time ago. If a movie isn't fun, sexy, or full of action, I'm just not interested.
I'm the same with music. When political music comes on the radio, I turn it off.
Political propaganda movies aren't fun, and they don't get the girlfriend feeling romantic. Whether or not you like the slavery movie or approve of the propaganda message, it's clearly a propaganda movie.
I have been told sternly by dozens of musicians that I absolutely "must see" this movie because of its important message. That's precisely why I have no interest in seeing it.
No offense, but I'm sure there's not much you'd do for deep insight.
As for your friends, they can get out of it what they want. Great works appeal on many different levels. As for slavery being a "political" question, I'd hope that wouldn't be the case in 2011 but I guess some people think the question was resolved wrongly in 1865. I don't and can't find anyone who does. Nor do I feel that because a basic human issue involved politicians that it's political value overwhelms what you can get out of a story made of it. If you did, you might as well ban the works of Mark Twain and Harriet Beecher Stowe. But that would be too ridiculous a proposition for any American to agree with.
The character of Rooster Cogburn was a caricature of all the characters that the Duke had played before. It was played for laughs and sentiment which is why he won the Academy Award. He invested his own personal history in the role that gave it nuance that is just not there.
I have not seen Bridges version so invoking the ndspinelli rule I will not comment.
I will say that Bridges was excellent in Walter Hills very underrated "Wild Bill."
I mean, Les Miserables and War and Peace involved the French Revolution and military impacts of it in Russia, but I don't hear anyone complaining that they're too propagandistic to enjoy as art.
Well I think you might be wrong Ritmo because there are many who would ban "Huck Finn" because it has the N word in it.
I mean you won't even be able to read it on the field at an NFL game. That's the world we live in today.
Only certain types of art are acceptable. Just sayn'
I see nick was quick on the trigger.
Hee.
""True Grit" was just about the worst movie that the Duke ever made."
Blasphemer!
"It was played for laughs and sentiment which is why he won the Academy Award."
Well, alrighty then. You've quashed your own point. The girl over acted, but generally hit the nail on the head. Glen Campbell was a questionable choice, but whatever. It's a great movie because of Wayne, regardless that he carried everyone else.
No offense, but I'm sure there's not much you'd do for deep insight.
Ironically, I think that understanding that having a good time is the best use of my existence is deep insight.
"having a good time"
aka living in the now. There is no other time. The past is gone, the future illusory.
I wasted so much of my fucking life being serious about issues and chasing after deep insights.
What a waste!
Didn't change a thing.
Devoting myself to building an enjoyable life for myself and my family produced a big payoff. To quote one of my own lyrics:
I tried to change the world
Now I'm saving my own neck
I stamped my feet and hollered
But there was no change I could detect
For example...Hollywood is still cranking out movies about the Nazis -- always a crowd-pleaser -- and yet, there is a notable reticence about the Communists.
This is an interestingly provocative, valid point. I can think of two reasons:
1. Nazism was inherently divisive. It's easier to hate that than a message peddled by tyrants that nonetheless, pretends to be about perfection and unity. If that weren't the case, then the Catholic Church would have no adherents. (And I say that not because Catholicism can't be true, I say that because the nature of the message matters. And opposing the superiority of a murderous minority is just about the most easily rallied against theme you can get - in history or even in The Transformers and Star Wars).
2. The societies of the U.S.S.R. and China are too big, foreboding and industrial to find humane characters within their governments or interacting with them who had a chance of challenging them or impacting them humanely. There's just no story you can get out of something so damn big and bleak. It's like telling the story of an iron molecule in a steel plant.
But luckily for you, Thomas, others already did impact those serious things. Now the only task left is to find ways of appreciating the changes made or, in stranger circles, to rally against them.
It's easier to hate that than a message peddled by tyrants that nonetheless, pretends to be about perfection and unity. If that weren't the case, then the Catholic Church would have no adherents.
And, yet, the staunchest and most effective opponent of the Soviet Union, which liberals told us we were obliged to tolerate, was the Catholic Church.
The Catholic and Mormon Churches will be the last lines of defense against tyranny here in the U.S. too.
The Catholic and Mormon Churches will be the last line of defense because these are the only two institutions that continue to defend the right of people to live privately within their families, and within their consciences.
This also doesn't look like a deep insight, until you think in simple terms.
But luckily for you, Thomas, others already did impact those serious things.
Which ones?
Warning.
The difference between me and you, in nutshell, I think, is that you see human history proceeding in a line that you call "progress."
I see human history proceeding in a cyclical fashion, with the same delusions, lies and evil reappearing in a new guise in every generation.
And, yet, the staunchest and most effective opponent of the Soviet Union, which liberals told us we were obliged to tolerate, was the Catholic Church.
THen you totally misunderstand me. I said the Catholic Church has an easier message to like than did the Nazis. Theirs was not divisive or belligerent.
You can tell a story about communism going away in Poland or Eastern Europe if the outcome is clearly better, and you can use the church to do it if you want. But not about Russia or China. And even in the case of the former you have growing pains that aren't as say, well, cinematic as they might have seemed to Lech Walesa or Vaclav Pavel or others living through them. It's not a quality of life Americans will relate to.
The difference between me and you, in nutshell, I think, is that you see human history proceeding in a line that you call "progress."
I see human history proceeding in a cyclical fashion, with the same delusions, lies and evil reappearing in a new guise in every generation.
Many people hold to the latter, which can be valid up until a point. (And why do cycles only involve "delusions, lies and evil"? Nothing good can ever be repeated? Hmmmm…)
But the overwhelming majority of people do see the stable abolition of race-based slavery as a good thing. If you don't, then you're just going to have to admit that you're way too peculiar an admirer or customer of "art" for any film-maker or author who doesn't deny history to have something worth your buying.
But the overwhelming majority of people do see the stable abolition of race-based slavery as a good thing.
Here's your problem.
I wouldn't say that race-based slavery "is a good thing."
But, I would say that it's something that seems to be a persistent part of the human condition. It still exists in many place in the world, and will undoubtedly continue to exist for a very long time.
Things that exist for a very long time do so because they have some utility, good or bad. In this case, good for some people, bad for others.
And, things can get worse when people go on a crusade to fix even very bad things. People who are devoted to fixing things often commit outrageous crimes and make truly monstrous mistakes.
Hollywood Gripebox:
The problem with Hollywood isn't simply the propaganda. The problem with Hollywood is that most movies are just not that good anymore. The themes are tired, -over-used, re-worked, groan inducing.
I'm sorry but I have no idea why anyone would find Will Farrell funny. And the sequels to popular movies? For crying out loud - just take your success and call it a day.
I admit my political antennae are sensitive and that only acts to ruin the experience, and that is my problem. If others enjoy the experience of movie-going - have at it.
I do not appreciate the subtle narrative woven beneath most surfaces. It's there. You know it. Then there's the less subtle: Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris", for example. For Woody, tea party people are "fascists", and he says so openly in the film. The film isn't even political-- He just had to insert that swipe. Obviously Woody doesn't understand the history or definition of fascism because it doesn't even make sense. How can people who want smaller government be considered to want more centralized government control? Look in the mirror Woody? That's you guys.
Anyway, He went on to portray the icky people in the film as tea party people. An absolutely inaccurate description, but hey, so what, right?
Woody is funny and clever so he can add his political delusions in there and voilà - a nice propaganda lift for his cherished leftwing. Well, I'm tired of it. The asshole is a deranged pedophile anyway. Why should I continue to offer my support with my hard earned money?
Then there's the actors. Today's modern actors are way too involved in politics and they are so flipping weird about it. Remember Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher's weird "Pledge of allegiance to Obama"? F*ck. I'd rather I didn't know the actor's personal politics. But we do, because they advertise, and that ruins it for me. Hint to Hollywood: want my business? Shut up about your love affair with authoritarian leftists.
Certain actors are so repulsive-- I can't even stand to see their faces. Jane Fonda is the best example.
Sean Penn, Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts and a few others come to mind as well. No -they will not profit from me. They are over-hyped and over-used in movies anyway. Certainly there are a few actors who are so amazing in their craft, their politics can be over-looked, But I can't think of anyone off-hand.
*end gripebox. thank you.
One of the odd tenets of both Christianity and Buddhism is that evil exists for a reason.
It only follows that one should be very careful in their efforts to eradicate evil.
The results are often quite different than expected.
Lords and serfs. That's where Schmendrik's "progress" ends. But that's okay, because he sees himself if not a Lord himself at least on the team of the Lords. We won. And now we can beat the living daylight out of all those bitter clinger serfs...for their own good of course. It's plain and simple the return of feudalism. That's Schmendrick's "dream."
That was great April.
Can we suggest a topic for the next rant?
I would go with tampons or Spanx. Or wearing tampons while you are wearing Spanx.
Discuss.
Oh and by the way I totally agree with everything you said in every jot and tittle.
One of the greatest stories, ever, about how evil can take many shapes and deceive everybody is The Gentleman from Cracow by Isaac Bashevis Singer.
And amusingly, when I Googled The Gentleman from Cracow, I originally got a list of gentlemen's clubs in Poland.
Evil must exist. It will always exist. It is our behavior in the face of evil that is the question.
Do you stand against it with every fiber of you being.
Or do you vote Democratic.
Watched Gravity last night for first time. Wow, it was bad. I heard it was better for IMAX 3D, but among my many problems was the painted "Earth" in the background. They were able to graft a proper Space Shuttle tile pattern. They did an excellent job with spacecraft interiors. Why couldn't they use any of the thousands of NASA photos to properly handle Earth?
Of course, lots of technical issues, but people who know nothing of orbital mechanics won't care. I do worry how many people will watch Gravity and wonder why the Columbia astronauts could not have saved themselves.
Thanks Troop. I forgot to tell you how hilarious your little rant was at 5:40.
Tampons and spanx? I don't have a rant against tampons. Unlike Sandra Fluke and Co, I don't even expect you to buy them for me. Now if you'd like a pre menstrual rant, I can deliver.
And, things can get worse when people go on a crusade to fix even very bad things.
But clearly not in this case. Again, to find a successful film-maker or author apprehensive over much good coming out of 1865 is a non-starter. At some point it might be a good idea to accept that the Lincoln Memorial isn't coming down any time soon, no sooner than anyone would petition the removal of the Washington Monument, etc. It's a non-starter. It's not going to happen. The historical anomaly is accepting otherwise, and rejecting the historical stability offered by those people's acts.
Some developments are just mostly so good that no marketable audience finds dissent in them. And this pertains to tech advances, as well. The abolition of polio, for instance. Even there, we have cranks like Jenny McCarthy who rail against vaccination, and their ignorance is a big problem not only for their kids but for public health - but we don't pretend that she's struck upon some decent strand of feeling or thought worth creating good art about. 'Though she does have nice tits.
Shouting, I think you're just going to have to be the Jenny McCarthy of American history - if you can handle that.
When people tell me that "everything happens for a reason", I think, yeah. But it doesn't have to be a good reason. Some things happen for very bad reasons.
It's like that expression "It is what it is." Oh yeah? Well what the hell wouldn't it be, dammit!
Just to totally contradict myself because I like to do that....there is every once in a while a movie that I might possibly consider going to see in the movies.
Liam Neeson is starring in "A Walk Among the Tombstones" which is a Matt Scudder novel by the great Lawrence Block. I think it is going to be pretty good.
I like IMAX 3D when I go to see it, and find there might be a correlate in the way a gravity problem was addressed in Ender's Game. But then, I'm probably weird. I actually see a worthwhile difference in 4K UHD that others claim not to perceive, while denouncing it as much less a breakthrough than regular HD. But honestly I think they must not have eyes. UHD seems incomparably more life-like to me than this regular stuff - which isn't much of an advance to my vision at all.
If you think I'm wrong go into your local Best Buy and tell me the 4K UHD is really not that much better. What do I know about how other people see things?
Read some Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn for insight into commies.
Or talk to anyone who fled those miserable hell holes.
There are plenty of stories, but since Hollywood and commie liberal useful idiots love totalitarianism, they will never expose the evils inherent in those systems. They are on the same side.
As usual Rev you are wrong. Peter O'Toole lost that year to Gregory Peck in "To Kill a Mocking Bird" another jerkoff fest for weenie liberals.
That'll teach me to comment on something I don't give a rat's ass about. :)
I thought he'd won for that one. Oops.
Hard to believe you actually read what I wrote, Ritmo. You've pulled a Crack stunt in suggesting that my words equate to support for slavery.
And that means that the answer is that you didn't bother to read, or you were too busy formulating your triumphant answer.
I actually worked on those "tech advances," which I think you know, or should know.
Abrupt changes in political power are the rule, rather than the exception. I do have a college degree in history. Don't ever bet on any situation remaining static.
Anybody who had suggested that the end was near for the Soviet Union in 1970 would be have been regarded as a fool.
You get pretty haughty about your reading list. I have degrees in English literature, with minors in Russian history and literature and instrumental music. I also have an advanced tech degree from a very prestigious university.
You are very silly when you carry on with that schoolboy contempt with me. I have no idea why you do it, but you do the same thing with Ivy League lawyers who frequent Althouse's blog.
Wild Bill was a great freakin' movie.
And amusingly, when I Googled The Gentleman from Cracow, I originally got a list of gentlemen's clubs in Poland.
But this might not necessarily be such a bad thing...
In other words, Ritmo, that "you should read a book" thing you like to do doesn't reflect well on you.
You've been doing it routinely with people who are probably much better read than you.
Liam Neeson is actually just about the only actor who can portray a non gay man and we can believe it.
It is either him or Russell Crowe.
Sadly neither one of them are Americans. How low have we sunk?
And, now I'm off for a Sunday night gig with The Old Dawgz in the hometown club in Woodstock.
Like I said, Shouting, you have a decent point about change being a rule rather than an exception, and nothing being static… but the American audience is huge and what appeals to them appeals to them for a reason. That's all.
Well, it isn't all. I also wanted a chance to put you and Jenny McCarthy in the same sentence. ;-)
I'm just being humorous. Let's lighten things up.
Schmendrik's idea of paradise is the endpoint of history, at which point THERE WILL BE NO DISAGREEMENT with the shining vanguard. That's what a progressive means when he talks about freedom: NO DISAGREEMENT with the CORRECT thoughts and the CORRECT way of doing things, and that means EVERYTHING. NO SACRED PRIVATE SPHERE away from the CORRECT thoughts. That's what shitstain desperately wants to impose on you and me.
I have no problem with disagreement, rcpc (or whatever). I just think factless tantrums of disagreement usually indicate someone's wrong - much like your screaming CAPS-LOCK-laden post.
I'm just being humorous. Let's lighten things up.
I can't get much lighter.
Stoked up with the 420. We're debuting a couple of original tunes tonight.
Who knows who'll show up and want to sit in here in Woodstock?
And tomorrow morning it's off to babysit my granddaughter.
On of the best parts of being retired is that the conflicts of office politics are receding into nothing. And, this stuff really is office politics.
Enjoy the gig and tomorrow's job as well -
Thanks.
The Old Dawgz have been playing Three Little Birds, and we play it very well.
We sorta played it as a joke and it stuck.
I thought you guys would play "Angry Birds?"
Just sayn'
Leland said...
Watched Gravity last night for first time. Wow, it was bad.
Yes. I didn't understand all the glowing reviews. Very disappointing.
Hollywood thinking is basically what David Geffen and Steven Spielberg say it is. Everyone else is basically cowed.
In fact, that pretty much diagnoses what's wrong.
Hollywood thinking is basically what David Geffen and Steven Spielberg say it is. Everyone else is basically cowed.
Yep. Whatever you say.
That movie wasn't made with the best budgetary assets, actually. But they did it, and that's assuming it even wins. I don't know or care much for how people make competitions out of art. So Oscar gossipiness interests me little. But everyone's free to vote on the art they like, with their dollars and eyes, and that's what these things are about - regardless of some silly "academy". BTW, I didn't even know that was supposed to be tonight. Guess I should watch it, given how important so many people here seem to think it is but isn't supposed to be.
Is there a way to stream the Oscars on-line? Again, it's something I ordinarily wouldn't care to do but given how much attention so many people seem to be giving it...
So this is where the old codgers are hanging out bragging about how they haven't seen any of the movies?
I am up to the part in "The Alamo" where the Duke tries to pick up that Spanish chick in town. Pretty cool.
The Duke always married hot Latin chicks.
Liam Neeson is actually just about the only actor who can portray a non gay man and we can believe it.
Chuck Norris?
Here is what maddening, I agree w/ virtually everything people here are saying except that all movies made now suck. That's simply wrong. Many of them suck, some really suck. Hollywood is a PC limo liberal mecca. Many of the actors are just movie stars, not actors..but not ALL of them.
Nd- most movies have traditionally conservative messages, however.
If you think I'm wrong go into your local Best Buy and tell me the 4K UHD is really not that much better.
It always matters how the store, any brand store, shows their TV. If they split the signal at all, the quality suffers. I've never (fully) understand how my inlaws, who have the cheaper model Samsung LCD I have (same year too) have a much better picture. But they do, and the picture is remarkably better.
I do like the 4K, but I'm holding out for my content before I upgrade, and I may hold out for the next generation afterwards.
@Ritmo: How does !2 Years differ from "Lincoln"?
I heard that it too will be required viewing in American schools. Do you realize what a negative effect that has? When I was in middle school, we had to watch Dustbin Hoffman in 'Little Big Man" to raise our sensitivities. I would have preferred to see "The Graduate." I may have gone into chemistry sooner.
I didn't understand all the glowing reviews.
An ABC twitter poll had Gravity at number 2 Best Picture behind Her. I can understand why twitter users would go for Her, but still don't see Gravity over so many other films. HonestTrailers I think nailed the problems very well without too many spoilers.
This topic need a new tag. Something like "Crabby Men Arguing About Movies" would work.
Trooper, I hope you are going to give up arguing with FMF for Lent. He has connections.
12 Years is a different movie. As for what should be taught to kids, that's not the issue. The Graduate is/was a good film. Many good films or works are recognized as such by proving the test of time. (Should the U.S. stop the National Film Registry?) Others are so well received and so immediately popular that it's hard to believe there's something not noteworthy about them. I can tell you what I think was compelling about this movie (or Lincoln) but I get the impression that some people here have political axes to grind so large that they make them resent the idea of relating to the human condition - which is generally what the majority of good art - especially dramatic films and literature - is supposed to do in the first place.
Anyway, there are categories for visual effects so people with more pediatric or socially sensitive tastes shouldn't feel left out.
Hey I am always arguing with priests.
Father Chris in St Mary's Star of the Sea is a big time Met's fan.
Just imagine how that goes over?
Jim Bowie just threatened to take his men and ride out of the Alamo. He is looking at Colonel Travis like he wants to push him down the stairs in his wheelchair.
But that was a different movie.
Slightly off-topic, but since this is a John Wayne and Western heavy thread so far, maybe not too much.
Was doing some genealogy research last Fall and came across the name Alonzo Oden. No immediate relation that I can nail down, but he was in Texas at the same time my forbears were in Texas (a little town used to be named Oden, Texas after an immediate ancestor). So, there must be something.
Why do I care and am mentioning it? Alonzo Oden was something of a law man, as the line from Tombstone goes, a Texas Ranger. Wrote a little book called A Texas Ranger's Journal and Scrapbook, published by his daughter in 1936. Hard to find. Using my library resources, got a copy. Scanned it in. Here's the pdf.
John Wayne was a pansy compared with Lon Oden.
Alonzo was a player. He married Half Pint from Little House on the Prairie you know?
He got him some of that gingham sex. Hot stuff.
I am not watching the Oscars so I need youse guys to keep me up to date on who wins. Is it the gay movie or the black movie?
I hear they are going to have a tribute to Philip Seymour Hoffman and that douche from Glee and all the other junkies that died this year. It is supposed to star Rob Lowe, Sleeping Beauty and a bunch of chorus girls dressed up like hypodermic needles. Let me know how it goes.
Ends a entry with "how in the name of heaven can I ever live up to her idea of a 'rip-snorting son of a gun'". Seems he did. Texas hot stuff.
Should the U.S. stop the National Film Registry?
Aside from its employees, and a few folks in studio marketing departments, I can't think of any reason why anyone would care if the registry went away.
Right about now the Mexicans are playing the "Deguello."
Man there are bunch of angry and disgusted Mexicans lining up. It looks like the Home Depot Parking lot at six in the morning.
It's the movie about the boring guy who had no compelling problems that kept people on the edge of their seats. Or the one who's only problem was that there weren't enough people for him to shoot.
Aside from its employees, and a few folks in studio marketing departments, I can't think of any reason why anyone would care if the registry went away.
Same with the Library of Congress that houses it? Should a great nation pretend that commemorating its great works of art is useless to the lives of its people?
As for an example that was too popular too quickly to go unnoticed, I was thinking of The Godfather. But it's not like Italians are minorities with an interesting story of their experiences in America to tell. The shootings, another matter.
I don't get it. Slavery was violent. Why are the violence-lovers so opposed to movies about slavery? I'm pretty sure if we still had slavery then people with an appetite for violence would want to see such a flick.
There is no television where I am this week. I can't watch the Oscars, but I am wearing a tee shirt with the Mexican flag in honor of Trooper York.
Harrison Ford looked hammered.
I don't believe you Mike. You know you are really wearing a t-shirt stained with Mexican food.
That's just Tuesday.
But thanks for wearing it on Sunday in my honor.
Michael, how did I know you were in Tijuana!
On a side note, it's great to go without TV. That's the reason I'm looking for a stream. But Amazon's been great at offering me free cable seasons of great shows. Apple does it too, but the mofos charge (and require functional bandwidth that my local monopoly's too lazy to provide).
Gotta say Garbo had the right idea: get old hide your withered ass!
Kim Novak back to the coffin!
Yeah. What's up with Ford. He started speaking with a crazily gravelly voice a decade ago and didn't clear up his demeanor since. Even though in Ender's Game (how many times must I mention that movie) he still seemed on top of things, even better than he used to.
The Mexicans are storming the walls. Nobody is showing their drivers license and they are not observing the rules of war. Bayoneting the prisoners.
You know "The Alamo" was a very prophetic film.
Unless they're here to wash my car, Troop, make sure the Duke doesn't let them in.
It is coming to the time where we have to draw that line in the stand.
He has my permission to not wait to see the whites of their eyes as long as they're not carrying chamois washcloths.
i saw "Blue Jasmine" last night. I don't see why people are gaga for Blanchett. She was pretty so-so. Sally Hawkins was much better.
#oscars2014 crashed
I was into Twitter before the crash but I got out before started jumping out of Windows.
Dustbin Hoffman
Not a typo.
Trooper, The only big winner so far is Jared Leto. He played a transvestite in Dallas Buyer's Club. He is a vegan in real life! He did a very good job and gave a nice speech about his mom.
"The Duke always married hot Latin chicks."
But couldn't keep them. They were too hot to handle.
I would not want to hang out w/ him. I don't like his politics, but he is a very good actor.
The social Oscars was right about the black girl.
You all can fill in the missing noun in my 10:11.
A Kenyan woman just won for best supporting in 12 Years. I called it even though I didn't see the flick. I'm sure she was good, but politics no doubt played in the winning.
About movies today. If the Oscar Nominee BP are the best movies today - Then movies today suck.
I did like "Inside Llewlyn Davis" - but that's the Cohen Brothers, and its about 1963 Folk Singers.
Great thread - but gotta go.
Hey it will be either the black movie or the gay movie that wins everything.
A movie about an American Hero doesn't stand a chance. You would think Jackie Robinson would get a bone but that's not how it works these days. No films about George Washington. Phil Sheridan. US Grant. Audie Murphy. Meyer Lansky. Vinnie Giganti. Dean Martin. Lee Harvey Oswald. George McGovern. Elmore Leonard. Great Americans with great stories.
Everyone will forget every one of these films in a year. It is the currently politically correct flavor of the moment.
There isn't a "Friday the 13th" or a "Nightmare on Elm Street" among them.
Nobody needs an introduction... really.
Right now I am watching "Gunfight at the OK Corral" for the 106 time.
Damn but Kirk and Burt were great actors.
And man John Ireland as Johnny Ringo. None of these pussies today could hold a candle to John Ireland.
I wish I could go through life with Frankie Laine singing on the soundtrack.
Trooper York said...
Hey it will be either the black movie or the gay movie that wins everything.
Isn't that either the Spielberg (black) or the Geffen (gay) constituencies I mentioned at 7:43?
Not that Spielberg or Geffen are up for awards -- they are just the Godfathers of the two constituencies.
Ok corral ok corral
There the outlaw band make their final stand
Ok corral
Oh my dearest one must die
Lay down my gun or take the chance of losing you forever
Duty calls
My backs against the wall
Have you no kind word to say
Before i ride away
Away
Your love your love
I need
Your love
Keep the flame let it burn
Until i return
From the gunfight at ok corral
If the lord is my friend
We'll meet at the end
Of the gunfight at ok corral
Gunfight at ok corral
Boot hill Boot hill
So cold so still
There they lay side by side
The killers that died
In the gunfight at ok corral
Ok corral
Gunfight at ok corral
Hey, that white girl can sing.
I'm just saying.
They just had Liza Minelli stand up for a tribute to her drug addled mother. She looks like her ex husband only 125 lbs. heavier!
Doc is putting those knives right into the door. Second best knife throwing scene in the movies.
Best?
Britt in the "Magnificent Seven."
Now that was way cool.
In a stupid cutsey bit Ellen ordered pizza and handed out slices. None of the folks who took slices ate them but Jennifer Lawrence, she wolfed hers down. The kid is down to earth and loves to talk about food and eating. A Louisville kid, not some prima donna.
Ellen selfie tweet is up to 876 k. re-tweets.
That's not very good considering is being broadcast all over the planet.
Well who wants to retweet a picture of her junk?
I mean she isn't even using it right. Just sayn'
Lem said...
Ellen selfie tweet is up to 876 k. re-tweets.
"News" like that makes me not miss Twitter.
Althouse is right about tuning out b/c of social media BS.
Full disclosure: I'm not watching it but listening to it.
Does Vin Scully do the radio broadcast?
It really throws me off when I see Dr. McCoy as Morgan Earp. I keep expecting him to say:
"Damn it Wyatt I am a gunfighter not a doctor!"
Plus Dennis Hopper as Billy Clanton. The freaking guy is about ten years old in this. Cripes!
I guess I'm one of the few here or at TOP who aren't watching. (Despite the purported animosity toward the event expressed by them). I'll probably have to learn Chickie's invisible listening method. My intrigue inspires me to imagine that it's more adept than the Sarah Palin method of watching Tina Fey on SNL with the volume off.
I'll probably have to learn Chickie's invisible listening method.
The males in my house are in one room and the females in another. They are watching. My son is glued to a laptop as am I.
I walk in occasionally at watch-worthy moments.
TOP is hoping for a "Best Bloggingheads" category.
Since I can't watch the supposed "Event of the Century", I suppose I'll just entertain myself through other means. This guy's account comes to mind.
Earl Holliman played Charlie Basset in the movie. Man he was one lucky dude. He always got decent supporting roles like the third most important Elder brother. He hung around a long time.
Plus he got to work with Angie Dickinson on "Police Woman." I mean he had to cover for her some many times he must have got at least a handie out of it. Doncha think?
I think Hollywood should have a separate award category for best depiction of white people as scumbags. You'd probably pick 12 Years a Slave, but my choice for this year would be the The Lone Ranger. It wasn't so much subversive or even mocking of the conventions of the Old West as openly antagonistic. Not just bad but bad in an obnoxious way,
Gravity - best director?
wasn't the slavery movie nominated for best director?
Oh that's going to be a problem.
#boycott
Woody Allen? she said Woody Allen... big trouble.
#controversy.
Social Oscar Best Actor... right again.
Them Texans sure know how to make a speech.
Slave best picture.
Blanchett won? It must have been a weak field.
Hollywood's slavish devotion to PC.
When Cate Blanchett thanked Woody Allen, the name got extremely light applause and a smattering of boos. When Matthew McConnaughey thanked God, God got a healthy round of applause. There's hope for Hollywood,
I really don't get all the hate for "12 Years a Slave". The movie may well stink -- I haven't seen it and don't plan to -- but the original (true) story is an interesting bit of American history. The story, at least, is well worth knowing.
Can't we just offshore entertainment like we did other industries? The glory is past.
I'm wondering how well this campaign to never-make-a-film-in-which-a-white-guy-looks-bad will go.
Hollywood never got the memo from the RNC demanding that thou shalt not make films about slaveowners.
You guys have your own attempt at Hollywood magic: FOX. All the same propaganda (and more), much less human feel.
The humanities and arts have a well-known liberal bias. Again, if you want works that can't relate to the human condition, then check out that Leni Riefenstahl chick. But that level of detachment just doesn't seem to work well with films garnering 96% audience admiration and a shot at making it in a place as successful as Hollywood.
The motion picture industry is an iconic American institution. Why do conservatives hate America so much?
I really don't get all the hate for "12 Years a Slave". The movie may well stink -- I haven't seen it and don't plan to -- but the original (true) story is an interesting bit of American history. The story, at least, is well worth knowing.
It's a good film. Good performances all around.
Abrupt ending, but stays true to the source material.
Can't we just offshore entertainment like we did other industries? The glory is past.
What planet are you living on? Countries all over the world consume Hollywood entertainment by the billions. Where's this supposed appreciation that you believe you should have for foreign films? The funniest idea coming to me right now is you starring in Bollywood. Lol.
Hey it will be either the black movie or the gay movie that wins everything.
True, you can't spell Gravity without gay.
Revenant said...
I really don't get all the hate for "12 Years a Slave".
It's as if "Lincoln" had won Best Picture last year (I'm glad it didn't, but it was close). People don't like being told what they should watch, and vocal supporters of "12 Years A Slave" telegraphed that message. Congratulations to them, but I don't think I'll be watching either.
Rev: Conservatives hate it because they hate history, or anything that shows a national narrative in a less grandiose light than they feel their patriotism demands.
It's a great film. Socially, yes, it confronts a history in need of serious appraisal in an important way. But quite apart from that it still is a mighty damn good film - especially once Brad Pitt saves the guy's ass. His dialogues are profound.
It is not that we want all films to depict white guys as good. We just want one of them once in a while. You know a regular old white guy. Or an American hero who is not twisted into a politically correct icon of progressive thought.
You have to go to TV for that. Not in the movies.
I don't think I'll be watching either.
It's your loss, man. Why can't you watch something on your own merits? How does someone else's praise or condemnation color your own prejudice of it one way or another? Are you not capable of having your own opinions, strong or weak, on things that others feel strongly about? It makes no sense, your reaction...
Blanchett won? It must have been a weak field.
It was. Most of the women's roles nominated (outside of Dench) were underwritten.
Conservatives don't hate history. We hate how liberals twist it to conform to their world view.
You know where Lincoln was a Democrat. I am surprised they didn't have him sign an abortion bill.
He could claim the fetus was a vampire or sometime.
Rhythm and Balls said...
I'm wondering how well this campaign to never-make-a-film-in-which-a-white-guy-looks-bad will go.
That's as hyperbolic as you've gotten in while, R&B.
My whole (now 2 month long) feud with Crack began with his blogging a scathing post directed at Althouse for not watching "12 Years" -- and I'm not usually an Althouse defender.
It is not that we want all films to depict white guys as good. We just want one of them once in a while.
"Avengers" is out on DVD. Great film. :)
You have to go to TV for that.
So where's the complaint, then? TV gets to do 1/2 hr or 1 hr sketches of whatever the fuck they want. But if a studio wants to recoup tens to hundreds of millions for the budget of putting us in seats that most Americans can't get off their lazy bums to fill a movie-house for, they want it to be for something compelling. I seriously have no understanding of what's so wrong with that.
You know a regular old white guy.
Marvel Entertainment -- Iron Man, Captain America, Thor.
You know where Lincoln was a Democrat.
Lincoln was a progressive, as was the abolitionist cause. As was Teddy Roosevelt. Republicanism only became synonymous with "conservatism" when Reagan religified it. You say conservatives love history and don't distort it. Not understanding this doesn't demonstrate that, though.
Republicanism only became synonymous with "conservatism" when Reagan religified it
You forgot Barry G.
@Ritmo: This was my first barb at Crack at Lem's and reflected his imploring that we all "needed" to see "12 Years A Slave."
Before you answer, think about the absurdity that we all need to see a movie.
My whole (now 2 month long) feud with Crack began with his blogging a scathing post directed at Althouse for not watching "12 Years" -- and I'm not usually an Althouse defender.
Again, with this weird "hostage taking" behavior. Your argument is with Crack then. The argument is but a prop. The movie is a prop in his behavior. So you elevate his prop to his argument. What he feels about the film or how others should feel about it, or even how belligerently or irrationally he raves about it has nothing to do with the film's merits in themselves - or it shouldn't. Should it? Why put the film in a tug-of-war over Crack's behavior? You're simply dignifying his craziness when you do that. You take the object of his feelings more seriously than they need to be taken by, in effect, personifying (so as to antagonize) the object of those feelings.
Nothing is wrong with that. But we also have the right to say that most of these politically correct suckfests are pieces of shit. Lame preachy crapola. You know the shit that Stanley Kramer used to shit out with his eyes closed.
"12 Years a Slave" will make less than ten percent of the "Lego" movie and we will never hear the end of it.
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