“A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is braver five minutes longer.” – Emerson
There is no doubt that America is changing. You can feel the old ways reaching out their talons to pull us back into the past but it isn’t going to work. With asshats in silly costumes representing the Tea Party driving our government to shut down for the first time in 17 years (because things were better when women didn’t have the right to vote and we owned human beings as slaves?), all to prevent President Obama’s implementation of healthcare, which is now the law of the land and a live-saving relief to many.
But big change often requires a shift in perspective. Most of us hold onto what we’ve been taught to believe, even if it goes against the grain of progress. We can count on the younger generations to come at their future with an open mind. The rest of us will have to wait it out, rejoicing or suffering as the change comes down upon us.
The current Oscar race — or the films that display the most vitality within it right now — represent a range heroism. Not for God and country so much, but for individuality and resourcefulness. Probably the most resonate of these at the moment is Paul Greengrass’ magnificent Captain Phillips, which had its Los Angeles premiere last night, with the real Captain in attendance. How easy it would have been to make a film where a hero defended a ship against evil invaders — just give them a bigger boat, perhaps, better clothing and weapons, do not humanize them in any way. But Greengrass and screenwriter Billy Ray were determined to tell this story truthfully, not through the lens of nationalism. Therefore it’s not possible to watch Captain Phillips without feeling for the gunmen.
Captain Phillips, as embodied by Tom Hanks, is an unlikely hero. He was never trained to get himself and his crew out of a hijacking. He was simply sent to deliver food aid to countries in need. He survives — and not one of his crew is killed. The American military that swarmed the scene is visually depicted in the film as the most powerful force in the world, and it is. One of the most memorable shots is the tiny lifeboat where the Captain is being held hostage in the center of massive Navy ships. It doesn’t end well.
In Alexander Payne’s stark, moving depiction of old age, heroism could have been defined as success. The American Dream, as it’s been sold and packaged to us, has to do with buying things. Expensive things. We can short-cut it by winning some kind of a once-in-a-lifetime jackpot, like the lottery or Publisher’s Clearing House Sweepstakes. In beautiful, heartbreaking detail we watch this silly dream broken down and simplified by Payne and screenwriter Bob Nelson until it evaporates. Heroism, then, isn’t about winning a million bucks and showing your family how successful you FINALLY are. Heroism is about showing up. It’s about sticking it out in spite of the worst traits people can develop in old age. It’s about finding the real buried treasures in one’s past, those that you never recognize until they are long gone. It’s about tiny heroes facing down big dreams.
Like most of us, the characters in Nebraska are awash in missed opportunities, failure and compromise. The American Dream dangles before us like an ever-vanishing carrot. It’s almost never achieved because it’s really a lie. That’s the dirty secret you discover once you’re old enough to realize you’ve been had. No matter how much money you make, no matter how pretty your wife is, or how big your house is or how many boats you have or how many times you get laid by the most beautiful hookers in the world — you can’t possibly find everlasting happiness.
Failure in Nebraska is to be endured. Unhappiness is the guaranteed result of chasing the American Dream if you don’t read the tiny print. Get the job, get the marriage, have the kids, get the house. What happens to the film’s main character, played by the brilliant Bruce Dern, is that he forgets he’s supposed to simply endure the life he’s been handed. He wants to believe there could be some magic left. One last play to find that elusive pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. No more carping from his wife, nothing but admiration from his children. What he gets, however, is exactly the opposite. That is, until the film’s silent hero, his son (Will Forte) steps up. Heroism here is unexpected, but all the more moving because of it.
Sandra Bullock can’t save anyone in Gravity. She doesn’t save humanity. She can barely save herself. Heroism here doesn’t come in any way we’d expect. The will to live amid life’s many disappointments and unpredictable tragedies does take exceptional courage. When you lose everything that’s important to you your own life might seem disposable. Anyone who has ever gone through something as painful as a death in the family, losing a child, or a terminal illness knows that there are those moments when life really doesn’t feel like it’s worth living. And even if it did, you wouldn’t necessarily be one of those who deserved to be living it.
It’s an unexpected heroism that drives Bullock’s character throughout Gravity. Unexpected not because she isn’t well trained to withstand survival out there in space, but because she is given the opportunity to abandon the will the live at all. There it is, presented to her in all of its alluring glory. And yet, the funny thing about unexpected heroes, they rise up just when you have all but written them off.
The quiet endurance of Forest Whitaker’s Butler is juxtaposed against the more literal definition of heroism as embodied in his son. But make no mistake, there is heroism in Whitaker’s character who plays a butler to many presidents without ever asking for a raise. He shows up day after day to do his job. He has pride in his work and has to swallow a good deal of shit on a daily basis. He’s seen the best and the worst in the men he served. And yet, when it comes time for change — the change that took so long to enact — he is brave enough to take hold of it and summon the courage to finally get that raise.
His heroism maybe isn’t the kind that wins medals — and perhaps it isn’t the kind that even lands in history books. But sticking to the job to give your kids a better life — what could be more heroic than that? Whitaker, an astonishingly good actor, depicts that invisible hero so well, with traces of shame lining his face at times, even if he has to put on a smile and greet the white tourists with a tray of cookies.
Men like him helped build this nation, and helped to pave the way for that skinny kid with the funny name to become president. The Butler itself has been made by one such hero, a man who was probably underestimated by anyone who came in contact with him and continues to be underestimated today. But the strength and the courage of Lee Daniels, the first African American director to be nominated along with Best Picture is that unlikely hero. This is part of the reason The Butler resonates, no matter what the Wall of Noise on Twitter thinks.
In the film 12 Years a Slave, there are many such silent and invisible heroes. Each one of them forced to live in a manner that is both unnatural and repulsive — and yet, they must live as mule and whore to the slaveowner just to stay alive and not get beaten. They must accept losing their own children because they can’t be kept together during an auction. A grown man must bow his head and accept being called a “boy.” What could be worse than having to abandon all sense of self just to stay alive? That’s what the main character in the film does. He spends 12 years pretending to be a slave just so that he can eventually return to his family.
There is something beautifully mysterious about every line on Robert Redford’s face. The pretty boy — maybe the prettiest in all of Hollywood history — is long gone, yet his own life and history can be traced in the deep lines on his face. Those famous hips and legs still strong but definitely showing age, and his hands, though aged, still work well enough to keep himself alive in All Is Lost.
The J.C. Chandor film is a metaphor for not giving up, quite literally. To manage that requires heroism that comes from deep within. Redford’s character appears to have no idea whether or not he will live. But he uses his best nature-given tool, his brain, to try everything within his power to ensure he will. I think that when we get to a certain age we are simply written off. To many, Redford’s age was seen as the end of something that once was. To be seen as is for man like that — lines and all, without a lens filter — is its own sign of heroism. And yet, many people facing old age don’t see themselves as vital, resourceful human beings with much life left in them. All is Lost would not have had the same resonance were it about a man in his 20s. Well, we kind of saw that movie and it was 127 Hours. In that film, James Franco had to recall all that he had waiting for him at home to gain the will to survive. But in All Is Lost, Redford doesn’t even have those tools at his disposal as an actor: it is purely the will to not give up until everything is gone.
It’s funny that some people feel the film has an ambiguous ending. To me, it isn’t ambiguous at all. I suppose that’s because I’m a pragmatist who doesn’t believe in magical forces. It probably also helps that I could never see this movie as having Redford “find God” at the end. No, to me, survival is as primal as breathing and thirst. You do it because you have no other choice. Therefore, there is no question to me how the film ends.
I suspect, when this season comes to a close, heroism will be the centerpiece of most of the final films. We are in desperate need of heroes now, not just those who fly in with capes, but real ones, those we pass every day without looking them in the eye. Heroes who show up to teach our kids in school, who care for our elderly, mothers who raise disabled kids, and the people with no money to buy food who somehow find the will to carry on another day.
I suppose some films that aren’t really about heroes, but are about anti-heroes, won’t do as well in this climate, despite the popularity of Breaking Bad, Hannibal, Mad Men and House of Cards on the small screen. There is still a big part of our culture that believes in movies as a transformative experience. Some moviegoers would never buy a ticket to a film if they didn’t think it would take them to unexpected places, good places, dark places, places where our dreams are buried and rediscovered.
It could turn out in the end that George Clooney’s Monuments Men is the best of these. The story of unexpected heroes who rescue and liberate great art from the hands of the Nazis. Word about Clooney’s film is the most quiet of all right now, and one has to wonder whether we’re not all being punked by a movie that is mostly bypassing the Oscar circus. It still seems to have all of the ingredients for a Best Picture winner — but it will have to duke it out with 12 Years a Slave, Gravity, Captain Phillips, The Butler, Nebraska and whatever else is coming next.
How I see the race right now of the films that have been seen:
1. 12 Years a Slave
2. Captain Phillips
3. Nebraska
4. The Butler
5. Gravity
6. Inside Llewyn Davis
7. All is Lost
8. Fruitvale Station
9. Labor Day
10. Blue Jasmine
Films that will likely bump one of those:
1. The Monuments Men
2. American Hustle
3. Saving Mr. Banks
These three above could turn out to be the strongest films in the race. There is no way of knowing yet as they haven’t yet been seen. Some will be seeing American Hustle around, since it’s test screening at the moment. Some have seen Saving Mr. Banks already, as Jeff Wells at Hollywood-Elsewhere wrote about. From early word over there it sounds like a solid contender. Clooney film is the only mystery guest in this year’s Oscar race. I can’t wait to see how that one turns out.
The truth is that the job isn’t as predictable as it may sound.
You may want to include a vegetable garden in your landscaping
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AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY will get nominations for Best Picture, Best Actress (Streep) 2 Best Supporting Actress (Roberts & Margo Martindale), Best Adapted Screenplay. Probably will not get a nom for Director. Supporting Actor is a maybe, but with several in contention, they will split the vote.
Not to nitpick, but for those of us that don’t know the Captain Phillips story, maybe remove the line where it spoils the fate of his crew, the movie will be a lot less suspenseful to watch now that I know what happens to them.
@alexww,
Thanks for looking out for other fellow readers.
You were not being nitpicky at all.
I am not a hater and I usually read Sasha’s articles with joy and my own traditional ice-breaking line is, Thanks and such. But the moment I’d spotted that part you’ve also mentioned, I started quickly skimming through to the end and moved on to any other thread and never looked back (until now — I’ve come to check out certain readers’ comments I believe I might find interesting).
Yours is a fair comment in my opinion. (I’ve decided not to put it into words back then because, to be honest, I was hesitant and — as you’ve just said it — not sure if it would be just me against the world with my nitpickiness.)
Wow, it was a major news story when it happened and I’m sure the movie was made knowing the audience knew the fate.
Plus, South Park’s take on the event has already been seen, and since that’s one of the top episodes they’ve ever done, you should have seen it. If not, you need to step up your game.
I accidentally read that and felt spoiled. It was a major news story but I already forgot what happened. I usually skim Sasha’s articles in fear of spoilers but I was lax that time.
Rufus, just because it already happened in real life doesn’t mean everybody watched the news. I will say that I’m faaaaar more in tune now with world events probably in the last 18 months than I ever was before. I kind of hate that I wasn’t better about that stuff before but since I didn’t know the fate it’s kind of sucks to read a spoiler.
Note: The real Captain Phillips said that he never felt empathy for the gunmen/pirates.
Good article – thanks for the link, Bob. Men We Reaped is now on my must-read list.
Racism will – and should – continue to dominate discussion in the US, but in fairness to American cinema, they are dealing with something still relatively recent in history. Atonement is not easy to achieve.
Slavery and racial exploitation was not invented south of the border and I’m still waiting for British, French, Belgian, Portuguese and even Arab filmmakers to address their roles in its roots.
yet another good read…. thanks
A O Scott on American amnesia re: race:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/29/movies/conversation-about-race-has-not-brought-cultural-consensus.html?ref=movies&_r=0&pagewanted=all
Al,
I don’t go to film festivals, but I do try to see movies on opening day. It does get a little frustrating this time of year; all we know is what those either in or in the orbit of the industry tell us.
Thanks Tony. Yeah I hear ya. I see movies only when they come out in Wide Release.
Otherwise, there are only like 2 theaters locally in Minneapolis that show limited release movies such as The Bling Ring, The Wrestler, and Capote.
I just get all of my knowledge from the internet, and great sites like Awards Daily here.
This question is for all commenters:
Do you guys (and girls) all have access to these films before they come out? Do some of you work for the industry?
You’re comments are (in-the-know) kind of comments where a lot of you seem to know about these movies before common people like me even have a chance to see them. And Yes, I am a normal common person who has to wait until movies come out to see them. But I am okay with that.
Al,
I’ve seen Gravity, Nebraska and Saving Mr. Banks, but I do not work in the film industry. I’m a musician who happens to live in LA, which allows me to attend quite a few test screenings of films for free, many months before they are released to the public. Its definitely one of the better perks of being here, as far as a film nerd like me is concerned.
Well, I guess your comment answers the question I asked you on another thread: American Hustle and Walter Mitty were pretty high on you BP predix list and I wondered if you’d seen them already…
Please keep us up to date if you see any more test screenings! 🙂
Cool!! That’s definitely a perk of living in California. I live in Minnesota, where the only movies that tend to pre-show here are movies from The Coen Brothers. But I don’t even have that kind of access. I know that they pre-showed A Serious Man here at least.
Thanks for letting me know.
I’m a normal movie-goer in SE Bumblebutt, Massachusetts. Therefore I don’t see movies until they’re released wide and then sometimes those don’t even make it here. This year I intend to watch more online because I can’t keep up otherwise. But so far, it’s been mostly in the theater and redbox for me. Otherwise, I’m guessing based on popularity and Oscar history when I say what I think will and won’t make it. But I usually don’t predict. I generally like to cheerlead for my favorites but I’m usually late to the party.
Thanks for letting me know.
I say, it’s better to be late for the party, but still be there, than to not show up at all. 🙂
Yeah, I rent a lot of Redbox movies as well. Sometimes I rent from iTunes also. I’ve actually been going to the theater much more this year than for the past 5 or 6 years. I had gotten annoyed with theaters for a while. I would just wait for the movies until they came out to purchase on Blu-ray.
BTW: Bumblebutt (freaking hilarious!) LOL 🙂
Part of me doesn’t like that in 30 comments, no one has even come close to engaging Sasha’s theme of heroism and anti-heroism.
I could do that, but on the other hand…in the last month or so, Sasha has been singularly uninterested in bantering in these comment threads. So why bother?
I guess it’s a chicken and egg thing and part of me doesn’t blame her. I’m less worried about chicken’s eggs and more about these robin’s eggs that look suspiciously like pearls cast before swine. Hers and mine. Oh well, when some of the more literate commenters here – you know who you are – feel like taking the bait and engaging with Sasha on her terms, I’ll be here to support/spar with you.
im not sure if this post is sarcasm or not? please tell me your being sarcastic because you just wrote a paragraph on the tea party and obamacare lol. granted you were responding to someones post but yeah….
but when the author constantly writes articles about hating jennifer lawrence, how so and so is a racist white voter, how a woman still hasnt won this an that award when many “literate commenters” give her their opinion on the matter and she still does it – um it gets old? granted, this particular article was very well written and she was spot on about forest whitakers heorism which i appreciate since i enjoyed the butler – i still sometimes seriously tend to block out some of her writing and read the actual comments in the thread.:/ i enjoy the site and think its very well run – think shes a great writer – but i think the author has a lot of bitterness and negativity that comes out in her writing consistently that it doesnt always showcase her in the best light – and honestly i just like to come to message boards and enjoy myself and have fun and theres nothing wrong with that… and im sorry if this wasnt too *literate* for you..it is 4 in the morning.:)
superkk – fair enough. I don’t dispute that, i’m just lamenting that zero people took up sasha’s theme (do an f5 search for ‘hero’ on the page if you don’t believe me). maybe she’s turning off people with the identity politics, not sure
“I’m just lamenting that zero people took up Sasha’s theme (do an f5 search for ‘hero’ on the page if you don’t believe me), maybe she’s turning off people with the identity politics”
I think it’s safe to say that Sasha likes to stir some debate with her “identity politics” and that she actively uses this (her) platform to make a case every time she sees an opportunity…these days, though, if people got riled up every single time Sasha beats a very dead horse AD would be like a cesspool…
Only speaking for myself: I find it hard to engage with the discussion when Sasha revisits her old tropes (misogyny, racism, white males in general etc etc). Sometimes it gets too much (like last week, when she equated cinephile’s lack of love for Oprah as “textbook misogyny”), and then my temper flares for a moment or two…but Sasha rarely contributes to the comment’s section anymore (I’m sure she has her good reasons), so what’s it worth anyway?
The problem, for me, is not so much what Sasha believes in. As a European liberal I agree with her in principle about a lot of things. It’s the way she presents issues that troubles me and provokes me: the arrogant (cocksure) way of her words, the misplaced analogies, her lack of nuance.
THIS is the kind of article where I go directly to the comments’ section to avoid getting unduly annoyed.
At this point I know when to skip Sasha’s words and when it’s “safe” to read them (the prognosticator side of her is usually harmless fun).
I don’t see Labor Day (might get acting categories) or Fruitvale Station making it to the Oscars. 12 Years A Slave and Gravity will probably compete with the latter taking most technical awards and the former getting all the acting and directing awards… the toss up there will be cinematography (we think it’s a lock for Gravity, but maybe the Academy will think VFX awards will compensate for not awarding it cinematography).
umm m1 where do you live at lol? some of those i can understand but fruitvale was definitely open in a wide release at many theaters for at least a good 3 weeks.
anyway going to see gravity this weekend and captain phillips the next. very excited!!:) nebraska/12 years a slave…eh.. might have to watch those online lol
All this talk/praise for Fruitvale Station, Before Midnight, The Spectacular Now, The Way Way Back, Frances Ha, Short Term 12, In a World, etc. makes me really interested in seeing them. Why did I not see these movies in theaters? Oh, wait…very few of them came near me.
I still think ‘Short term 12’ has a shot
Of course it does. A LONG shot. The biggest obstacle it has to overcome is that there were several indie films this year that can not only rely on star power in case of a potential awards campaign, but also managed to widen their audience and deliver excellent Box Office. That’s why even if the Academy wants to ‘feel’ edgy and go for a few more indie films than usual, there will be several that simply has MORE (= Box Office and/or Star Power and/or Oscar-savvy distributor) going for them than Short Term 12.
Those are Fruitvale Station, Blue Jasmine, Mud, The Place Beyond the Pines, Before Midnight, The Spectacular Now, The Way Way Back, and if it makes money (my bet is it will) even Dallas Buyers Club.
Yeah, yeah, I know. Short Term 12 received a very strong 85 MC score which is impressive of course, but not enough when the others have similar or better critical consensus AND/OR spectacularly better Box Office AND/OR considerable star power.
Having said that, it is a certified long shot. IF critics groups embrace it at the end of the year, anything can happen. The Academy relation won’t hurt, either.
Phantom
Thanks for your reply ‘short term 12’ doesn’t have star power but a great performances all across the board I agree with you its box office might hurt its chances its only in 55 theatres and its done a little over 811thousand I think Cinedigm should have released it in a couple more hundreds theatres
I think John Gallagher Jr is a star, at least in my book. He was awesome in Spring Awakening and he’s easily my favorite thing in The Newsroom. I don’t think he’ll ever be A-List but damn, he’s more interesting than most any other actor right now.
I for one am grateful for the ACA. Some of us us looking forward to a 26 hour work week.
NEAR-LOCKS
(= Omission, though clearly possible, would be shocking.)
1. Twelve Years a Slave (If it can avoid early peak syndrome…)
2. Gravity (If BO doesn’t disappoint and the Academy gets over their scifilitis.)
STRONG CONTENDERS
(= Should make it without a hitch…unless most unseens HIT.)
3. Nebraska (Clearly not as flashy as the competition, still Payne’s best.)
4. Captain Phillips (Now it only ‘needs’ decent Box Office.)
5. Inside Llewyn Davis (They do love the Coens and festival word has been great.)
6. Philomena (British crowdpleaser with Dench, Frears and Weinstein.)
ACTORS BRANCH
(= The most dominant Academy branch CAN overrule critics.)
7. The Butler (Like they could say no to an Oprah/Harvey push.)
8. August ((Like they could say no to the Streep-Roberts-Clooney-Weinstein quartet)
9. Dallas Buyers Club (IF it gets traction in three acting categories.)
10. Prisoners (I predict Actors will eat it up. Will the Academy ?)
MOST PROMISING UNSEENS
(= Potential late entry emerging as the one to beat.)
11. The Wolf of Wall Street (The 2014 rumors don’t really fly.)
12. Her (Aronofsky considers it one of the best in recent years…)
13. Saving Mr. Banks (If critics don’t HATE it, it is probably in.)
14. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (We’ll know more on Saturday.)
15. American Hustle (I’m not buying all the hype. Not yet anyway.)
PROBABLY TOO INDIE
(=Sure, a few can always make it…but this isn’t the 70s anymore.)
16. Blue Jasmine (Could it be REALLY all about Blanchett ?)
17. Before Midnight (They can honor the core trio in adapted screenplay.)
18. Fruitvale Station (Fading buzz, still Harvey could turn that around.)
19. Mud (First screeners have decent track record.)
20. Stories We Tell (Wishful thinking. Still, I won’t give up…not just yet.)
My guess is that in the end unseens will knock out at least a few from the middle (5-10). Which unseens will knock out which ‘filler players’ that I don’t know.
P.S. Also, I wish people would talk about it MORE : What Maisie Knew…a heartbreakingly quiet little masterpiece.
Other than the omissions of ALL IS LOST and LABOR DAY… I’m not trying to insult the quality of any other list I have seen on here as of late….but this is likely the most complete recent list I’ve seen here….thank you!
Thanks, if I made a list of 25, All is Lost and Labor Day would have been featured, but frankly, I don’t see either getting closer than that. I could be WAY off, I know, and clearly I have great passion behind a few questionable rankings (I’m probably the last one still considering Stories We Tell), but I think that other than the leads (Robert Redford, Kate Winslet), those films won’t get the considerable traction in the main categories that is expected of them right now. Obviously I could be seriously underestimating both films, still that’s how I see it.
P.S. Winslet is widely considered vulnerable in the Best Actress race – mainly because it already feels like we might just have the final quintet THIS early on (Blanchett, Bullock, Dench, Streep, Thompson) – but frankly, considering how MASSIVE the Best Actor race turned out to be this year, I honestly don’t think Redford is safe, either. IF the Academy embraces his film, sure, but if they don’t…
Phantom
Where you’d rank ‘short term 12’ on your list. I think it has a shot at a BP nom rotten tomatoes 99% metacritic 85 that’s better than most of the movies on your list. As for Best Actress I don’t thin all 5 spots are ‘locked’ I believe Larson will break through and even maybe Adele E
1. It would be my #26 after my top20, Labor Day, All is Lost, The Place Beyond the Pines, The Way, Way Back and The Spectacular Now. Reasoning in my other ST12 comment further down.
2. Forget Rottentomatoes, the Metacritic score is much more reliable when you want a summary of a film’s critical consensus ! Seemingly spectacular Ninetysomethings on RT often translate into unspectacularly low seventies on MC. Also the Academy rarely goes for ‘the best’ or the ‘best reviewed’…if they did, for example there would be A LOT more foreign language films in the Best Picture category (not to mention genre films, especially comedies and sci-fis).
3. The Best Actress top5 isn’t ‘locked’, it’s early October for Christ’s sake BUT few would doubt that there ARE five remarkably strong contenders already in the mix and it’s hard to imagine any of them NOT making the cut in the end. Having said that with Marion Cotillard and Nicole Kidman out of this year’s race, Felicity Jones and Julia Roberts placed in supporting and Adèle Exarchopoulos being the unknown lead of a young-skewing, controversial, foreign language film (four things the Academy rarely embraces), I would say that if there WILL be someone making the top5, it will be either Kate Winslet (my #6), the yet-unseen Amy Adams (#7) or Brie Larson (#8). Problem is it does feel like that with the quintet mentioned above, it will be incredibly difficult even for Academy darlings like six time nominee Winslet and four time nominee Adams to make a dent in the race, let alone relatively unknown Larson, lead of a tinytiny indie.
“unspectacularly GOOD”
Seemingly spectacular Ninetysomethings on RT often translate into unspectacularly low seventies on MC.
Sometimes yes, but Rotten Tomatoes also includes a critical average to go with the percentage. Short Term 12, for example, has a 99% but also has an 85 average on Rotten Tomatoes (which is pretty amazing). The Spectacular Now has a 91% and a 78 average (which is a great score and pretty close to what it has on Metacritic). Enough Said has a 95% and a 77 average. Not to mention that Rotten Tomatoes keeps track of more reviews than Metacritic does. So I think you are being a little unfair in disregarding Rotten Tomatoes.
I prefer Metacritic over Rottentomatoes. I hate the system of the latter, I think it’s ridiculous. Basically if a film gets a 6/10 from every critic, it has a 100 % score indicating a masterpiece even if the average rating (in small letters) is just a 6.0 BUT if the same film gets a 5/10 from every critic, it has a 0 % indicating an epic disaster…even if the average rating is perfectly mediocre 5.0. All the seemingly spectacular ninetysomethings with the unspectacularly good sevenpointsomething average ratings are simply MISLEADING as hell.
I also prefer the 40-45 CRITICS featured on Metacritic. These are professional film critics from decent publications therefore we may disagree with them but at least they know their stuff. That cannot be said about the hundreds of ‘critics’ (a.k.a. anyone with a keyboard) featured on Rottentomatoes. There is a reason they have All Critics and TOP CRITICS sections for every film. The Top Critics section is basically a poor version of the MC critics’ critical consensus.
David
I have gone from dearly hoping that you were not working for Short Term 12 to dearly hoping that you ARE, so that you’re not doing this much work for them for bupkis. I think it was Heath Ledger who said “If you’re good at something, never do it for free”
I loved “What Maisie Knew”…Overall a very good cast, good story (it is the same old story but told from a different perspective)…I wish Julianne Moore got more attention.Not her best performance, but definetely above average…
Oh, don’t worry, Julianne Moore may still have an Ace in her pocket this year : playing the extremely flashy (=Oscary) Margaret White role in Carrie.
Considering she’s having a great year already with two acclaimed turns in two well-received indies (What Maisie Knew, Don Jon) AND she is widely considered as one of the very best Oscarless actresses – the Academy tends to make those previously snubbed leading ladies settle in supporting (Judi Dench, Cate Blanchett, Renée Zellweger, Anne Hathaway, Melissa Leo, Penelope Cruz, Whoopi Goldberg etc.), in the end she could have a winning narrative AND emerge as the late frontrunner in the Best Supporting Actress race…that is if the film isn’t spectacularly trashed by critics.
sympathies
I don’t belong to either the Tea Party or Occupy Wall Street, although my sympaties are more with the former than the latter. At least the Tea Party folks clean up after themselves; they don’t crap on police cars or rape their cohorts.
The Tea Party doesn’t want to go back to the days of slavery or of women not voting; that’s such a baseless charge. It believes that government has gotten too big, and indeed government has.
As for shutdowns, check your history. The democrats did it several times during both the Carter years and the Reagan years.
Sure, Obamacare will help people who have pre-existing conditions, but it is loaded with problems for the vast majority of people.
To movies: I won’t be able to see Captain Phillips for another 10 days, but I truly doubt that I will “feel” for the gunmen/pirates.
Does anybody rly give a fuck if someone poops on a cop car? Does it threaten the economic stability of the most powerful nation in the world, and possibly also of several other countries internationally? And all for what, because of the very concept of making some steps toward joining the rest of the civilised world in having a medical system that’s available for all?
But no, sure if a group of uneducated, impoverished men mount a desperate, and eventually futile, attempt to earn the respect of the all-powerful western world and to nab a few dollars in the process, nah, don’t feel for those guys. Feel for the wealthy, privileged homophobes, sexists, racist elites in the GOP.
This shutdown isn’t going to threaten the economic security of the nation.
The racism and sexism charges are so tiresome. The former is too ridiculous to take seriously. As for the latter, it only makes a twisted kind of sense, if sexism = being pro-life, in which case, so many women apparently are against their own sex.
I don’t even have the time to respond sufficiently to your nauseating opinions.
Awww, Paddy, I feel such an immense sense of loss at being deprived of your words of wisdom.
Comparing OWS to the Tea Party is a false dichotomy. The Tea Party appears to be in charge of the GOP, and OWS is a fringe group that doesn’t have any power within the Democratic Party. There is no OWS caucus in Congress. We have a two-party system with one party in the mainstream, and one party completely out of its mind, seemingly wanting the country to fail.
As for government shutdowns during the Reagan administration, yes, they happened – and they lasted a few hours, as Congress hurried to approve emergency spending measures. They weren’t comparable to the ’95 shutdown, or the current shutdown.
,I>As for shutdowns, check your history. The democrats did it several times during both the Carter years and the Reagan years.
But those shutdowns didn’t keep people from going to work or getting paid. Government employees kept going about their business, assuming Congress would eventually reconcile, as it always did. That changed because of Carter’s AG (blame him if you want, you seem like the sort of person who needs to cast partisan blame).
http://www.npr.org/2013/09/30/227292952/a-short-history-of-government-shutdowns
The GOP knows this is unprecedented (other than 1995); in their districts they LIKE taking credit for breaking the mold to shake up Washington. Thus it’s particularly disingenuous for any of them to say “he started it!” (meaning Reid or whoever) But don’t believe me, they’ll be punished for that hypocrisy by their constituents soon enough.
Obamacare won’t affect the 85% of us who have coverage; our rates may move a smidge, but I see my car/home/cable rates changing all the time, I don’t call anyone a traitor over it. So your statement about “vast majority of people” is utterly false.
As for slavery and women’s suffrage, how about you link me to the part of the Tea Party Patriots website where they condemn Ron Paul’s views on restaurants refusing blacks or Todd Akin’s views on rape. Or any official Tea Party website. Oh right, I guess they kinda let that stuff slide. I wonder why?
Every group has a few crazies. The DNC, CBC, ACORN, they’ve all had people say and do outrageous things. Did NOW disavow Bill Clinton?
I wouldn’t worry too much if I were a congressional Republican. I think that districts loaded with non-essential (speaks volumes itself) federal employees are probably represented by Democrats already. (A few Senate Dems should be worried, though.)
The millions of people who get Obamacare will get insurance, but will they really get health care? Will they have access to good doctors and hospitals? How long will wait times be?
Premiums for everyone else will go up a “smidge?” Covering pre-existing conditions and eliminating maximums may be good things, but they’re not going to be cheap. What about the people who don’t get to keep the doctor(s) whom they liked? Or those who went from full-time to part-time?
“I won’t be able to see Captain Phillips for another 10 days, but I truly doubt that I will “feel” for the gunmen/pirates.”
No man is born evil and there is usually a remarkably complex, often mysterious reason why some of us TURN evil. I don’t think when an auteur like Greengrass decides to turn his back on the ‘everything has to be black and white’ approach, his intention is to make the audience feel for the bad guy…only to make them understand the bad guy a little better. We have to understand that we have one thing in common with all the bad guys : he is a human being just like us. So exploring how one human being can turn so horrible and another can’t, is an endlessly fascinating theme in our lives. Who knows how WE would have turned out, had we had THEIR childhood ? That’s a question we can ask but never ever get the answer even if we convince ourselves that we would have never turned out so horribly, not under any circumstances, because…well…because we are BETTER (?)
I for one cannot wait for this film mainly because the director opted against the safe route of simply demonizing the enemy. If I wanted to see films about characters strictly defined as the villains and heroes, I would just walk down memory lane and stick to the Walt Disney fairy tales of my very early childhood OR accompany my childhood friends for films like White House Down (btw, funniest parody of 2013), because that’s exactly where the kind of black/white hero/villain approach you’re looking for belongs : magical fairy tales and mindless action films.
I find a problem with the list. I love Alexander Payne, but based on reactions at festivals it’s placement really seems like wishful thinking. Inside Llewyn Davis, in my mind, has better chances. The same with Labor Day. I’m almost certain of that.
My dark horses (NOMINEES):
A: OC
The Wolf of Wall Street (uncertainty over release date)
Monuments Men
I don’t see Labor Day, Blue Jasmine, Fruitvale Station (sadly), or All is Lost making the cut when all is said and done.
Harvey Weinstein said he predicts that Prisoners will get a Best Picture nomination.
Philomena’s release date got moved from Christmas Day to November 22nd, to give it an Oscar push. I believe that both Philomena and August: Osage County will get Best Picture nominations.
Hang in there, Jasmine!
Good piece!
Curious why you leave Dallas Buyer’s Club out of your top ten. You have seen it, correct? Is it just that you don’t think it will ultimately be something the academy goes for other than the performances? Could very well be, just surprised to see it not on there.
Question mark movies besides the three you listed above that COULD surprise and get a best pic nomination…and surprised they are mentioned:
Philomena
Her
Out of the Furnace
Dallas Buyer’s Club
August: Osage County
**aren’t
I loved NEBRASKA so much, I also think the wife in the ‘You can all go and fuck yourself’ scene was just as heroic as her son in the end. Excellent directing, intelligent writing, wonderful acting…my favorite kind of film.
GRAVITY was fantastic, too, and if heroism is the theme here, Clooney’s Kovalski definitely deserves a mention. What a fantastic performance from Bullock, who knew she had THIS in her ?
As far as memorable cinematic heroes go, I can’t wait for THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY exploring the simple notion of an ordinary man with dreams of being extraordinary and though I won’t see it til December, I assume Ron Woodroof is damn heroic in DALLAS BUYERS CLUB, too, helping all those people despite his previous prejudices.
…and in the end, isn’t it ironic that in the time of all those superhuman/superhero sequelsprequelsreboots, the most memorable heroes of cinema are the ordinary men exceeding their very own expectations about their limitations ?