The thing about Michael Moore and the Academy – they have kind of been there, done that. When people say to me, “Of course it wasn’t nominated; it was bad,” that means nothing. They have their own particular tastes, especially their Doc branch, which is notorious for choosing films in a bubble. AJ Schnack knows the scene a whole lot better than I do — here is what he had to say about the Oscar doc short list:
In my mind, the Academy’s list solidifies BURMA VJ, THE COVE and FOOD, INC. as frontrunners for the nomination – with perhaps a battle between THE COVE and FOOD, INC. for the award.
FOOD, INC. remains the only film that’s nominated at the Cinema Eye Honors, the Gothams and the IDA Documentary Awards. All three films are up for Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Feature Filmmaking at the Cinema Eye Honors, which are set to be announced January 15 – just before the Oscar ballots are due.
What strikes me about The Cove and Food, Inc. is that they are both clearly activist documentaries that will hopefully bring attention to something we all need to think about a little bit more. Both are going to cause much friction with big business. Just wait until Food, Inc. starts making some noise.
There are going to be a lot of interested parties ready to obliterate that documentary. Like The Cove, it has the problem of people not wanting to see it. If they do well at the Oscars, even if people don’t see them, they will, perhaps, become aware of what the films are saying. I’m too ignorant at the moment of the others on he shortlist to form a meaningful opinion. So we’ll just have to wait on that. AJ continues:
If I had to throw down on the other two nominees at this point, I’d go with Agnes Varda’s THE BEACHES OF AGNES, a kind of career capper for a great filmmaker, and MUGABE AND THE WHITE AFRICAN, which surprised when it led last week’s IDA nominations.
THE COVE is up for 7 Cinema Eye Honors, leading the pack at that event. BURMA VJ is up for 5, FOOD, INC. for 4. BEACHES OF AGNES is up for 2 awards at Cinema Eye – Directing and Animation. MUGABE will vie against BURMA VJ and 4 other films in the International Feature category.
7 Responses for "Talkin’ Doc Feature"
Sasha, you’re right about Moore. Been there done that. And he’s been doing it since his first TV show, which I absolutely loved. Where he and his team would hijack the CEOs and customers and make them look silly on camera over some political or social issues.
He needs a new schtick or maybe someone else to go live on camera.
The thing about The Cove, and the thing I think that will put it over as the ultimate doc winner, is that it’s an activist documentary that really doesn’t ask its audience to act or in any way change their behavior. Yes, it asks for money, but we don’t eat dolphins in this country so wanting the practice to stop is a no-brainer. You leave the theater all inflamed and outraged feeling like a good citizen but you really haven’t done a damn thing.
Food, Inc on the other hand asks you to question the very way you live and by extension make changes in your habits. I think it’ll be a tougher sell.
Those cow slaughter farms shown in that “Food, Inc.” clip are truly disturbing and truly disgusting. There’s one in California that you have to pass when you drive from Los Angeles to San Francisco on the 5 freeway. The smell is utterly revolting. The meat that they get from these malnourished, miserable creatues cannot be good.
I’m glad this movie is bringing attention to this problem, and I suspect the Academy is proud of it too for that reason. And we all know how the Academy loves to reward socially conscious and provocative movies – even if they don’t always practice what they preach…
Agree with most of Sasha and AJ’s observations, but think that Valentino has a good shot of getting a nom. The “lion in winter” storyline should appeal to Academy voters, and Valentino’s iconic status won’t hurt either.
“…we don’t eat dolphins in this country so wanting the practice to stop is a no-brainer. You leave the theater all inflamed and outraged feeling like a good citizen but you really haven’t done a damn thing.”
…which is borderline xenophobia, imo. There are three obscure species of dolphin/propoise that are endangered species: two species of South Asian river dolphin and an even more obscure Gulf of California harbor porpoise. From this perspective, there’s no argument for NOT killing them. Are we rather supposed to be outraged by the sensationalism of the filmed “Dolphin abattoir?” It’s just another in a long line of difficult to digest methods of “animal harvesting.” If the issue is finding a more humane means of killing, then why wasn’t that the doc’s focus?
This whole doc reeked of “we simply don’t kill dolphins, so why should anybody?” It didn’t have much argument going for it aside from an appeal to emotion, and I didn’t find O’Barry to be that compelling of “character.” All of this led to an ending which just seemed silly to me, because it relied on an emotional investment in everything prior.
I like dolphins as much as the next person, but I’m not going to side with anti-Dolphin killing activists simply because all they really say is “But we love dolphins!”
Bastoche, one of the key arguments in the film also has to do with the fact that dolphin meat has a lot of mercury, and they’re feeding this to Japanese children without parents being aware, so there is a health issue here, as well.
I haven’t seen Burma VJ yet, but I still hope it makes it into the nominations. What the Burmese military junta has done to the Burmese people is horrific, yet there seems to be little political will to do anything about it beyond some calls for the government to release Aung San Suu Kyi, and the media has only paid cursory attention to the issue. Everyone seems to be focused on Sudan and the Middle East, but Burma has gone virtually ignored. Hopefully some awards attention for this documentary will raise the profile of this issue, if only a little.
You’re right about the Mercury poisoning, Alan. I remember that and agree with the doc’s point. Still, though, I can’t help but feel like it’s an afterthought considering the entire picture.
I believe it was a localized issue concerning the children’s school lunch, and O’Barry’s efforts remedied that problem. I heartily applaud them for that for sure.
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