FWIW everyone I know—myself included—who actually saw Hacksaw Ridge thought it was a mistake to even earn a nomination. It seemed like the weirdest nomination by a considerable margin.
Ha! Great clip, trig.
Yeah, maybe this year there were some Academy members who were just as sick and tired as we are with Hollywood constantly awarding films about Hollywood.
Very strong crop for Best Picture this year. Hacksaw Ridge was like Full Metal Jacket if Norman Rockwell directed the first half and Paul Verhoeven directed the second half. It bugged the hell out of me until the last 5 or 10 minutes when I kind of got caught up in it in spite of myself. Basically when it was revealed that a couple of the hokiest moments actually happened.
Rick Perlstein convinced me in Nixonland. Bonnie & Clyde was the film – four months before The Graduate – that basically was the film that put its claws deep into society. I mean it seems weird to consider now, but…
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The BAD GUYS are the protagonists. I mean, that was unthinkable, even with the relaxing of the Hays Code.
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The protagonists aren’t just bad guys, they’re KIDS. And they’re stealing and killing the establishment.
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And then at the end, even with the shoot out scene, there’s like no joy or happiness in finally vanquishing those uppity kids. Because it feels like the real bad guys won, not the bad guy protagonists.
If Vietnam was already pouring gas onto popular youth culture in the 1960s, Bonnie & Clyde was the match.
I watched it today and I’m confident to say, totally not worthy.
I could put at least ten movies on that list in its stead.
I thought Lion was pretty good. But really not that great. I get the nomination, and I’m okay with it. I just don’t think the movie-making is all that good.
-xtien
I think I agree with Joe Posnanski’s take from mid-week on Moonlight versus La La Land.
Moonlight is the most important and most enduring movie of the bunch. La La Land is probably a better film.
If it was up to me American Honey would’ve swept all the awards, but sadly, it’s not.
Also, Isabelle Huppert should’ve won Best Actress, but I don’t think too many saw Elle, which is a crime.
And Toni Erdmann got fucking jobbed by The Salesman for Best Foreign Film. The Salesman was pretty good, but Toni Erdmann was superlative. Another thing to blame Trump for.
I thought of the Full Metal Jacket comparison as well, since that’s clearly what this movie is doing.
Except, instead of those directors I’d say, “If the guy who directed the first half of the trailer of Armageddon directed the first half of the movie and the guy who directed the trailer for “Saving Private Ryan” directed the second half of the movie.”
It’s a great idea for a story. But Mel Gibson just makes war porn in the end.
-xtien
Well okay then. Time to watch that again.
Thank you, sir.
-xtien
Elle is one of those movies I’ve really wanted to watch, but have been scared to watch.
-xtien
We found a love in a hopeless place, Dingus.
Dingus, you just didn’t like the E-40 lyric, “Star Wars? Nope/ Yoda? Yup.” (Actually, I don’t even know if you guys liked the movie, because I couldn’t see it on initial release and then I never went back to the podcast, just in case you guys were going to rain on my parade. By the way, I also remember skipping the 3x3 that week just in case your conversation carried over at all. I believe the topic was whispers. All of mine would be from The Tree of Life, obviously.)
If I was an Academy voter able to see 20th Century Women in 2016 that would’ve surpassed American Honey for my favorite movie of the year. So that would’ve been my sweeper. Except maybe cinematography, which I might give to Moonlight.
Among the nominees I slightly prefer Manchester to Moonlight, but I was rooting for Moonlight because it’s so unlike past Best Picture nominees, much less winners. Looking back at the past few decades the only movies that stand out to me as being as unique are The Tree of Life and Beasts of the Southern Wild. I didn’t see any others that people would potentially walk out of. Though Moonlight is probably more one that a lot of people wouldn’t even walk into. “Wait, there’s no scene where Brad Pitt plays a school counselor that tells him ‘It gets better?’ That’s not a movie.”
-Chris Webb
Wow, so this topic really blew up after I went to bed last night. I can’t remember the last time Qt3 actually talked about the Oscars like this. So well done to the Oscar Accountants!
Gladly, in all this hubub, everyone forgot that Suicide Squad won an Oscar last night.
Or that La La Land actually won 6 Oscars, and Moonlight actually won 3. So I’m not really crying for any of the team of La La Land. They did not get robbed.
Indeed, it’s Manchester by the Sea that was robbed for best picture!
I kid. I would’ve preferred it won, but out of Manchester, Moonlight, and La La Land they were all so good none of them could’ve “robbed” each other no matter the outcome. Now if one of the other pictures had won…