As always, all topics are open for discussion, but let's try to focus here on the BEST NEW MOVIES:
1. Which of the 2022 Oscar nominees have you seen? Comments?
2. Best NEW movies you've seen that AREN'T on the list?
As to what qualifies as a NEW movie ... I find the Oscar qualifying formula cumbersome, so I'll be flexible here. I'm ok with Letterboxd or IMDB dates, which usually show the date a film first premiered in a festival even if it hasn't yet reached a theatrical or streaming release. I'm also ok with awards cycle dates, which may include films with earlier festival premiers but that were held back from a theatrical release to qualify for awards consideration in the succeeding year. I'm for a big tent here, but let's think in terms of films that either premiered or were released in 2021.
I like Patton too, but this is a "what has Hollywood done for me lately?" question. What are the best new films you've seen? What would you recommend to friends?
To my surprise, I've actually seen four of the ten Oscar-nominated films (CODA, Don't Look Up, Drive My Car, Dune) and a fifth, Belfast,, is on my list.
I've not yet seen enough 2021 movies to have a top ten list, but the films I readily recommend are After Yang, Old Henry, The Most Reluctant Convert: the Untold Story of C.S. Lewis, and Montana Story. I'd give an honorable mention to CODA, The Dig, I'm Your Man, and Drive My Car. These may make my top ten list eventually, but there are too many promising 2021 films I've not yet seen. Not all of these have reached theaters or streaming yet, and most of them are not on Netflix; viewership is becoming siloed by the streamers and it takes a bit of work to find the good stuff. I know that Dune, West Side Story, and Belfast have had some highly favorable reviews from freepers. My own picks are movies that I thought were (1) very well done and (2) culturally conservative in tone (i.e., movies that I would recommend to the "nuke Hollywood from orbit" crowd), which was my starting point in launching the movie ping list. Any others?
Your picks?
Movie Ping List:
Thumbs up or thumbs down on the Academy picks?
What are the hidden gems the Academy voters missed?
Drop ass, pedowood.
Hollywood is a sewer of pagan filth.
I’m so out of it.
I don’t recognize the name of most current actors, I’ve never heard of most of these films. I just have no desire to consume their dreck.
I saw Dune......
.....a sleeper
Ghost Busters afterlife
For best clean jokes.
What do
libtards and atoms
have in common ?
They both
make up everything.
/
What do you call fish
with no ‘ eyes ‘
Fsh.
/-).
.
The only one i’ve seen, or heard of, was Dune and it was pretty good, primarily the visuals. The best thing I’ve seen recently was that series Reacher on Prime. It was great. Much better than the Tom Cruise movies.
I think the last time I tuned into the Academy Awards was 1974. No interest in watching leftist hacks congratulate themselves.
I haven’t seen any of the movies up for an award but I can guarantee you that the 1947 original Nightmare Alley is a thousand times better than any of them. If you haven’t seen it, look for it on TCM or rent it sometime. Fantastic movie.
Did I read this right? Some of these movies have not reached the theaters or streaming services yet? If that’s true How can any of us have an opinion about them?
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Academy Awards were a publicity ploy started during the time when the future of many in the motion picture industry was uncertain because the silent film era was ending. One need only look at its founders to understand this. They were all bigs in silent films. Over time, due to a confluence of events, them importance of the Oscars was way over inflated. Notice how today they are gradually waning because the events that gave them birth and sustained them have largely ended.
Did Dinesh’s documentary on 1/6 get nominated for documentary?
Haven’t seen too many movies this year
and of the following, 3 are fully or
partially animated:
Tom and Jerry
Clifford the Big Red Dog
Many Saints of Newark: A Sopranos Story
Sing 2
Recent years have had me seeing some
music related movies
Bohemian Rhapsody
Yesterday (what if almost everyone
forgot the Beatles?)
Rocketman
Bohemian Rhapsody
Blinded by the Light (British Springsteen fan)
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (lots of
late 60s pop)
“And the Oscar goes to...La La Land..
No wait. We read the wrong card, actually
it goes to Moonlight”
Ever notice that there is a “best picture” every year?
Even the years when they all stink.
Ever since the two greatest movies in history got snubbed, “Commando” and “Team America: World Police”, I’ve been boycotting the Oscars.
I have seen all the nominees except “Drive My Car” which I haven’t found on any streaming services yet.
My nominee for best picture would definitely be “Dune”. I had all the best elements of drama and narrative that made it an important and historic film.
“Power of the Dog” was a very slow and nuanced period piece. Cumberbatch was amazing but the overall story just didn’t interest me, and I left before the ending although my wife liked it.
A real gem is “Belfast”. It is a very personal account of the child Kenneth Branaugh growing up among the sectarian strife between Protestant and Catholic families living in Belfast in 1969. Kind of “Jo Jo Rabbit” meets Harold Wilson. One special mention would be for an almost unrecognizable Judi Dench who plays the rock-solid Grand Ma with amazing authenticity.
“King Richard” was a straightforward but very satisfying “rags-to-riches” tale about the Williams tennis stars and their rise from Compton to the world stage. Will Smith was great, but I think Cumberbatch will still win out for best actor.
I don’t know why “West Side Story” was nominated. I don’t see why Spielberg tried to improve on this classic and it seemed more like a vanity piece than a fresh take.
I also agree that the remake of the 1947 film noir, “Nightmare Alley” with Bradley Cooper replacing Tyrone Power was a really intense and dark psychological improvement on the original. The 1947 version pulled its punches in its ending and this version went all the way to the Twilight Zone which feels more realistic to a modern audience. Not a nominee but it should have been as an adaptation.
Go Dune!
Plot description of zpower of the Dog:
By the time that Peter comes to stay at the ranch for the summer break, Rose has become an alcoholic. Phil and his men taunt Peter, and he sequesters himself in his room, dissecting animals and studying diseases. In a secluded clearing, Phil masturbates with Bronco Henry’s scarf. Peter enters the clearing and finds a stash of magazines with Bronco Henry’s name on them depictin
I think I will skip it but can see why is popular with Hollywood
I don’t see current movies. But I thought the ads for ‘Belfast’ looked like it would be good.
I don’t know the list but I don’t think I saw any of them. Saw previews for Dune, looked ridiculous. It never worked as a movie the first 2 times and that giant earthworm thing has been copied more times than a star wars plot.
Is Dune all woked up? Been avoided after the last blockbuster could have been wonderful nut they hacked the story with so many “innovations”.
They did get the baron pretty well right and Sting too.
I still can’t get the “tell me of you HomeWorld, Usal.” earworm out of my mind.
The frightening little girl/assasin was a scary cross between It Clown and Wednesday Adams.