I'm unhappy with "Crash" as best picture. I saw it, and found it to be a liberal's fantasy of America as comprised of white people who are essentially racist, and who constantly act on their racism, causing non-whites to regularly experiance tangable, un-ambiguous examples of overt racism that they could easily prove, and successfully articulate, to any human on earth. Since this violates what I have come to understand about America, most of the film's story fell dead flat with me. I notice that all the film's producers and writers are honkies, a group that some would insist lack qualifications to expound on racism in the US. If "Crash" accurately depicted the US, Nadir would have no trouble rattling off a list of recent outrages visitted upon him by the many whites scared of his existance in their neighborhood and stores, and Tom would be able to relay a similar list of all the nasty things random white folks say when blacks aren't around.
If you remove that essential element from the film, I think what's left was pretty good, though. I certainly agree with the point that the same person in different situations can act heroicly or horribly.
Syriana fell flat for me for similar reasons, depicting another aspect of the world that liberals imagine to exist: a massive international conspiracy wherein shady charactors pull levers that dictate all world events, which we are all powerless to affect, and in which The Rich Get Richer and The Poor Get Poorer. The truth is out there! When that brave young man at the end of the film goes off to impliment a suicide bombing, it reminded me of what it must have been like for neo-confederate apologists explaining why those poor white guys go lynch a nigra every now and then.
I loved Capote. There's a world that truly exists for me. A wierd, gay NY writer covering a sensational murder, acting in bizarre and contradictory ways.
Bareback Mountain I didn't see. I admit that I'm off-put by the prospect of seeing manlove manifested. And I'm disappointed that the "gay cowboy" movie was really about sheep herders. What a cop-out! If the original story was about sheep herders, was the author scared to make cowboys gay? And if so, why not for the purposes of the film have the guts to make the gay guys cowboys.
And why have them find love on Double Entendre Mountain? Why feed all the idiot jokesters like me such easy ammunition, "Brokeback Mountain"? There's an infinite number of titles that don't demand sendups.
Walk the Line was a lot of fun, just like Ray; nothing great, but lots of fun. Nothing untrue or repulsive about it. I could have lived with it winning anything.
Good Night and Good Luck, I didn't see. Mostly because I've lost my enthusiasm for 100% opposition to McCarthism, now that I have come to learn that there really were commies in the govt and they really did want to end democracy and support Stalin. We're very lucky that the anti-commies won, at least I think so. I haven't examined this topic enough to have a firm opinion on McCarthy; I simply no longer hold my previous 100% opposition to McCarthy, which -- upon reflection -- wasn't based on a great deal of consideration, and certainly no critical thought. I percieved that Good Night was -- like Siriana and Crash -- premised on a reality that would ring falsely with me (assmumed villians and assumed heros that I could not assume). So I made no effort to see it.
I see that the top 10 grossing movies of 2005 were either repulsive enough on their face that I refused to see, or that I saw and declare unwatchably aweful. I don't even remember what came out in 2005 other than what got nominated or was on the top money list.
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The only one out this collection of movies that I have seen was Crash and actually thought it was very good. Though it was quite over-the-top in it's dipiction of the various characters, I thought the premise of the story and the way it exposed the fact that everyone, black, white, brown, yellow, have their stereotypes and bigotries was very interesting and thought provoking. I thought it was quite good. I enjoyed it. The acting was excellent.
I think I know all need to about Syriana. From everything I've heard, it's nearly unwatchable. I understand that the story line is practically impossible to follow. Sounds to me like it's nothing but a load of anti-American bunk, created by a typical clueless Hollywood elite, George Clooney.
My mother said she saw Capote the other day and said it was very good and she's usually pretty picky about movies.
Everything I've heard about Brokeback is that it is a very good movie. And I know several people who said it changed the way they think about homosexuality for the better. Unfortunately, most men will probably not see the film. I plan on watching it at some point. Probably not till it comes out on DVD. I agree about the choice of the title. They could hardly have picked a worse one from the standpoint of it being open to endless jokes.
My wife watched Walk The Line the other night with her girlfriend and said it was very good.
Haven't seen Good Night, Good Luck either, but again, from what I hear, it's simply an extremely biased, propagandized view of the McCarthy hearings and as you said Paul, in retrospect, there really was a significant communist threat in this country at that time that needed to be dealt with and supposedly this film does not acknowledge this in the least. It simply touts the same old McCarthyism bullshit.
I was disappointed that Cinderella Man wasn't a winner. That was an excellent movie. A great period piece about depression-era America. It deserved to win something.
It cannot be possible to make a film worse that King Kong... although Tim Burton gave a noble effort with Wonka. I got sucked into seeing those movies, and they made me feel unclean. I'm certain that that the latest Star Wars was unbearable.
Maybe brave Goerge Cloney will play assassinated filmmaker Theo Van Gogh in a biopic. That really would be brave! And portray a dangerous world that really exists.
What Paul is saying is that any movie which doesn't fit his worldview is not an acceptable nominee for an Oscar. This is complete bullshit.
If I took this tact, many great films from Gone With the Wind to The Silence of the Lambs to Taxi Driver to The Lord of the Rings would be excluded. We shouldn't expect movies to convey reality exactly, and we should always remember that a film is a combination of the director's, writer's and actor's visions of the story and characters. Movies are supposed to be fun.
I thought Crash was good. I saw flaws in how it depicted the black characters' racial attitudes, but that was insignificant. I thought something was going on between Nona Gaye and Brendan Fraser that was left on the floor in editing, but I don't know for sure, so this is insignificant.
Didn't see Brokeback Mountain, and have no desire to see it. I don't generally get excited about westerns, love stories or gay films, so it hits a trifecta for me. If the wife happens to put it on the Netflix list or it comes on HBO, then I might see it.
Haven't seen Capote, but want to. Haven't seen Syriana, but want to. Haven't seen Munich, but want to.
Good Night and Good Luck was awesome, not because of the politics, but because it was a damn good movie. It wasn't biased. It simply expressed Murrow's views.
You guys should be ashamed that you are allowing your politics to keep you from seeing a great film. I think you are both intelligent enough to watch it, enjoy it and not have it taint your mutual admiration for Joe McCarthy. You should both put Bulworth on your Netflix list as well.
Also if you haven't seen The Constant Gardener because of your raging capitalist support for the pharmaceutical industry and its genocidal practices in Africa, then you are missing out on another very good film.
What else? I hear the Penguin movie was really good. Tsotsi is a must see, I hear. I'm also looking forward to the Johnny Cash film.
Saw Dave Chappelle last night, by the way. Great entertainment that offers excellent insight into racial attitudes, politics, the music business and is just damn funny.
Oh, yeah! Did you guys see the Enron film? No. Of course not. That would challenge your faith in your chosen religion, capitalism.
Nadir: How could you possibly conclude that I hold adhering to my worldview as a requirement for the oscar? I didn't dismiss Crash because it violates my world view; I found it impossible to embrace because it relied at its foundation on something false. Taxi Driver and Lord of the Rings and Silence of the Lambs also create their own worlds, and can also only connect with people for which those worlds ring true. I have never been able to sit through Gone with the Wind and Driving Miss Daisy because they, like Crash, consistently have important charactors behaving in ways, during situations crucial to the story, that I find perposterous.
Perhaps if I had experiance as a pimp or prostitute I would trouble settling into Taxi Driver.
Your view of me and the Enron situation reveals a profound misunderstanding of us free-marketeers. We abhore the Enron people.
Furthermore, I have seen uncountable hours of films touting the leftist perspective; I doubt that you have seen many films touting a rightist perspective.
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