Posted on 03/27/2022 11:00:25 AM PDT by Rummyfan
Everyone has a theory about the decline of the Academy Awards, the sinking ratings that have led to endless Oscar reinventions. The show is too long; no, the show is too desperate to pander to short attention spans. The movies are too woke; no, the academy voters aren’t diverse enough. Hollywood makes too many superhero movies; no, the academy doesn’t nominate enough superhero movies. (A querulous voice from the back row: Why can’t they just bring back Billy Crystal?)
My favored theory is that the Oscars are declining because the movies they were made to showcase have been slowly disappearing. The ideal Oscar nominee is a high-middlebrow movie, aspiring to real artistry and sometimes achieving it, that’s made to be watched on the big screen, with famous stars, vivid cinematography and a memorable score. It’s neither a difficult film for the art-house crowd nor a comic-book blockbuster but a film for the largest possible audience of serious adults — the kind of movie that was commonplace in the not-so-distant days when Oscar races regularly threw up conflicts in which every moviegoer had a stake: “Titanic” against “L.A. Confidential,” “Saving Private Ryan” against “Shakespeare in Love,” “Braveheart” against “Sense and Sensibility” against “Apollo 13.”
That analysis explains why this year’s Academy Awards — reworked yet again, with various technical awards taped in advance and a trio of hosts added — have a particular sense of an ending about them. There are 10 best picture nominees, and many of them look like the kind of Oscar movies that the show so desperately needs. “West Side Story”: Steven Spielberg directing an update of a classic musical! “King Richard”: a stirring sports movie lifted by a bravura Will Smith performance! “Dune”: an epic adaptation of a science-fiction classic! “Don’t Look Up”...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I highly recommend Drive My Car. Although the relationship between the protagonist and his wife is a little twisted due to the death of their child, I found it highly engrossing.
I will not be watching tonight. Wanda Sykes?! Amy Schumer?!
Is Don't Look Up a comedy or a drama?!
I cannot stand Richard Williams or Serena Williams in real life. Why would I go see a biopic featuring them?!
We are watching the end of our culture and our civilization. Does anyone but Ross Dou(bt)that?
ping
The Oscars are declining because more and more normal people don’t care about Hollyweird.
For discussion.....
All the good movies were made years ago. Nothing but dreck anymore.
I watch TCM more than anything else. Yesterday was David Lean day.
I liked The Gentlemen. Wouldnt win any Oscars but it held my attention but I like offbeat things. I had never watched the series Medium with Patricia Arquette but that also keeps me entertained..kind of creepy, weird, etc.
Oscars? As in wieners, the Meyers type?
Just before the Trump rally last night I was watching a made for tv movie from 1985 “Reunion at Fairborough.” It was free on youtube, staring Robert Mitchum and Deborah Kerr. Good movie.
Negative - it’s just that Hollywood can’t make a really good movie any more. There are other media producers, even indies, that can make good movies. It’s just like music - the Hollywood media empires can’t put out anything good, but there’s plenty of good new music out there. Just not from them.
Movies will still be made but their dominance they once held in the culture is over. A big chunk of the reason is the internet. Wokeism is another big chunk. Movies are no longer bigger than life and the stars are no longer glamorous. When you begin to feel superior to them a lot of the magic just evaporates.
Probably that good movies are too expensive to make nowadays. People with the money to throw around rather steal elections than make good movies.
Good. Except taking my daughter to a few kids movies when she was young, I have not been to the movies since 2000 and have no intention of returning. Wanted to see Ford vs Ferrari but waited until it came to TV.
Last time i watched the Oscars, the Exorcist was up for best picture.
Will the press announce the winners somewhere? I’ll need to avoid that a well.
Don’t look up is a piece of cellulite trash
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.