After seeing Jonah Hill presenting at the Oscars, I finally Netflixed Superbad. I'd enjoyed Knocked Up and have been trying to watch The 40 Year Old Virgin going on forever (every time we record it on cable, we never get around to watching it), so although I know Judd Apatow is the flavor right now, I haven't immersed myself in his work. The cool thing about Superbad is its melding of the heart Apatow and crew showed in Knocked Up with the best parts of the high-school comedies I loved from the 80's. It's like John Hughes cast Farmer Ted as Samantha and told him to keep it real.
Jon Stewart's comment on classic spectacle meeting modern tech.
I haven't seen the film yet, but I've been listening to the Once soundtrack for a few weeks and it's superb, even out of context. I think once I see the film and know how the songs fit the story, I'll be able to see why everyone seems to be in love with Once.
Three Academy Awards for The Bourne Ultimatum. Well deserved for that rare franchise that just keeps getting better.
The last thing I liked about the Oscars this year? The concern over the low ratings. I don't think it's an issue with the show as much as it is with the process the Academy Awards have adopted over the last several years. The campaigns that studios are able to wage are creating an atmosphere where the nominations are not terribly surprising and the winners are all but anointed (in the public's eye) before the statuettes are even handed out. Promoting a movie once the nominations are out is one thing, but pimping a film as award-worthy to the industry to get an early jump should be frowned upon. Nominations should come from the membership without influence from the studios. Once nominated, promote on an equal-time model. Parity in promoting nominees would mean a big studio couldn't overwhelm the efforts an independent makes in trying to get voters to recognize their nominees, or that the race is decided by whomever yells the loudest and soonest. So Variety makes a little less money, so what.
It might not hurt to make a good movie that has such appeal as to be popular while you're at it. The fact that No Country For Old Men hasn't made a profit is criminal, but the idea that the industry seems to have (as reflected by releases over the last four or five years) that popular movies should be dumb and great movies don't make money is a crock. Some movie is going to come out soon and smash that idea to pieces. The public is waiting not-so-patiently to see that movie.
No comments:
Post a Comment