change for the american movie
Jack Hittinger
Issue date: 2/28/08 Section: Arts
Usually, when I watch the Oscars, I get the feeling that there's some half-baked crap going on. The host is typically a blowhard and they always wait ten minutes between giving out awards - even for the ones no one cares about, like "Best Sound Mixing." I'm still not sure how that differs from "Best Sound Editing," and they never explain it.
And yes, while it is nice to get those little guys some screen time, there are only about seven categories anyone really cares to see.
Imagine my surprise this year, when I actually looked forward to watching the Academy Awards.
Not because I was excited to see if Eddie Murphy's bazillionth "Eddie-plays-a-fat-guy-a-fat-girl-and-a-nerd" flick (and yes, that movie is a "flick") would win the award for Best Makeup Design.
No. The important thing about this year's awards is that I've actually seen more than one of the movies nominated for the major awards. Seen and loved more than one of those films.
The Coen brothers' stunning adaption of Cormac McCarthy's "No Country for Old Men," which won Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Director(s), truly deserves recognition as one of the greatest films of the past five years, if not our generation.
Likewise, Paul Thomas Anderson's "There Will Be Blood," winner of "Best Cinemetography," lingers in the memory days and even weeks after a first viewing. An immersive film, it's almost a stretch to believe that it was actually made so wonderfully.
If this sounds like formulaic praise I apologize. But there's a certain kind of pleasure in seeing such seemingly "niche" films get nominated for big-time awards.
The Coen Brothers have been making strange and diverse films for years (think "Big Lebowski"), but only "Fargo" has ever been nominated for the big award, in 1996. It lost to "The English Patient." (At least it wasn't released a year later, when it would've lost to... "Titanic.")
"No Country for Old Men" might not be the Coen Brothers' best work, but it's now certainly the most widely known. And that's a great thing. Maybe it will encourage mainstream viewers to go out and watch some of their lesser-known works like "Miller's Crossing" or "Barton Fink." (I assume that everyone under the age of 30 has seen "Lebowski" … but go watch it again anyway).
The real question, I think, is whether or not American movie-goers are finally starting to shun blockbusters like "Transformers" and "Pirates of the Carribean" (winners of zero Oscars).
Probably not. But if films like these are any indication, maybe it will begin to turn that way.
Two Quick Hits:
Is it just me, or does it feel like I've already seen "Juno" already… even though I haven't really? It's at least the feel good movie of Hillsdale College. (For the record, I intend to see it at some point soon… but I'll really be seeing it twice…)
Also, Cate Blanchett got robbed. For those of you who didn't see Todd Haynes' "I'm Not There," Blanchett plays Bob Dylan.
I know nothing about "Michael Clayton" but I'm damn well sure that Tilda Swinton wouldn't have convinced me that I was actually watching "Highway 61"-era Dylan.
Hillsdale College Collegian 2008
And yes, while it is nice to get those little guys some screen time, there are only about seven categories anyone really cares to see.
Imagine my surprise this year, when I actually looked forward to watching the Academy Awards.
Not because I was excited to see if Eddie Murphy's bazillionth "Eddie-plays-a-fat-guy-a-fat-girl-and-a-nerd" flick (and yes, that movie is a "flick") would win the award for Best Makeup Design.
No. The important thing about this year's awards is that I've actually seen more than one of the movies nominated for the major awards. Seen and loved more than one of those films.
The Coen brothers' stunning adaption of Cormac McCarthy's "No Country for Old Men," which won Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Director(s), truly deserves recognition as one of the greatest films of the past five years, if not our generation.
Likewise, Paul Thomas Anderson's "There Will Be Blood," winner of "Best Cinemetography," lingers in the memory days and even weeks after a first viewing. An immersive film, it's almost a stretch to believe that it was actually made so wonderfully.
If this sounds like formulaic praise I apologize. But there's a certain kind of pleasure in seeing such seemingly "niche" films get nominated for big-time awards.
The Coen Brothers have been making strange and diverse films for years (think "Big Lebowski"), but only "Fargo" has ever been nominated for the big award, in 1996. It lost to "The English Patient." (At least it wasn't released a year later, when it would've lost to... "Titanic.")
"No Country for Old Men" might not be the Coen Brothers' best work, but it's now certainly the most widely known. And that's a great thing. Maybe it will encourage mainstream viewers to go out and watch some of their lesser-known works like "Miller's Crossing" or "Barton Fink." (I assume that everyone under the age of 30 has seen "Lebowski" … but go watch it again anyway).
The real question, I think, is whether or not American movie-goers are finally starting to shun blockbusters like "Transformers" and "Pirates of the Carribean" (winners of zero Oscars).
Probably not. But if films like these are any indication, maybe it will begin to turn that way.
Two Quick Hits:
Is it just me, or does it feel like I've already seen "Juno" already… even though I haven't really? It's at least the feel good movie of Hillsdale College. (For the record, I intend to see it at some point soon… but I'll really be seeing it twice…)
Also, Cate Blanchett got robbed. For those of you who didn't see Todd Haynes' "I'm Not There," Blanchett plays Bob Dylan.
I know nothing about "Michael Clayton" but I'm damn well sure that Tilda Swinton wouldn't have convinced me that I was actually watching "Highway 61"-era Dylan.
Hillsdale College Collegian 2008
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