Whisper campaigns
You know a movie is a formidable Oscar contender when a whisper campaign starts making the rounds against it. Or: if they aren't whispering against you, you're not really in the game. What are the current whisper campaigns? I was told this morning that some are calling Little Miss Sunshine "this year's Sideways"...in other words, too marginal, too blue-state-ish, doomed to lose, etc. Dreamgirls, they're saying, "is entertaining but isn't all that good." The Departed "isn't about anything." Remove the aura of Helen Mirren's performance and The Queen is "just a pretty good British TV movie." None of these are very mean or ugly. Has anyone heard any that would qualify as deplorable?
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on January 10, 2007 at 1:05 PM
comment #1
alan
says ...
Babel is this year's Crash. Can't get much more deplorable than that.
Posted by alan
at January 10, 2007 1:24 PM
comment #2
VedaPierce
says ...
That Kate Winslet isn't attending this year knowing she'll receive her honorary statue in 2035.
Posted by VedaPierce
at January 10, 2007 1:35 PM
comment #3
Mr. Gittes
says ...
The Departed isn't about anything? Ummm.....what? At least it wasn't like Crash, where it was trying to be about something but failing miserably at it.
Posted by Mr. Gittes
at January 10, 2007 1:52 PM
comment #4
EveHarrington
says ...
These things tend to fizzle though when reality intervenes. Like that old chestnut about how Dreamgirls only appealed to black and gay audiences. Can't remember where I read that one ... oh wait...
Posted by EveHarrington
at January 10, 2007 2:04 PM
comment #5
Chris Molanphy
says ...
I would actually agree with that quip about 'The Queen' completely. Having seen it back in October and thought, "Decent, three-star movie made way better by Mirren," I remain stunned that this thing is a Best Picture contender.
Mirren truly does deserve all these statues she's walking away with (boring/predictable as it is), but the movie? BBC Sunday night all the way.
Posted by Chris Molanphy
at January 10, 2007 2:24 PM
comment #6
Josh Massey
says ...
Alan nailed it.
Posted by Josh Massey
at January 10, 2007 2:28 PM
comment #7
Doug
says ...
Scene by scene, "Crash" was the best written, best acted and best directed film of last year. The Academy, SAG, and the WGA got it right.
Posted by Doug
at January 10, 2007 2:57 PM
comment #8
JD
says ...
Scene by scene, "Crash" was the most manipulative, obvious, and dishonest film of last year. The Academy, SAG, and the WGA got it wrong.
And isn't the whole "The Departed isn't about anything" line the reason Scorsese and other great filmmakers never win Oscars? Most members of the Academy are too dumb to understand what Scorsese is up to. That was certainly the case with The Aviator, arguably his most misunderstood and deceptively complex film.
Posted by JD
at January 10, 2007 3:09 PM
comment #9
dobbsy
says ...
Earth to Wells: You run a site devoting to dishing on who will or won't win awards. People resort to shorthand. They're expressing their tastes, some more literately than others, but that's what it is that you do. Don't knock the rock, my friend.
For the record: Pan: genius. Apocalypto: thrilling, groundbreaking. LMS: Lampoon Vacation with an indie tan. Queen: Terrific Brit TV pic. Departed: entertaining gangster pic with nary an idea in it's thrilling head. Babel: PC babble. COM: PC horsefeathers. Dreamgirls: half pic, half pizzazz. Venus: genius. United 93: groundbreaking and daring. Volver: another Pedro gem. Lives of Others: masterpiece. Notes: terrific performances, runs out of conceptual gas. Little Children: edgy, riveting, runs out of conceptual gas. Borat: funny but condescending. Everything else: either who cares or tell me what I missed. Oh yeah, one more: Pirates: These people must be stopped.
Posted by dobbsy
at January 10, 2007 5:32 PM
comment #10
T. S. Idiot
says ...
The Departed isn't about anything? Honor, loyalty, and identity are nothing? As with Marty's other films, it's a fascinating contemplation of the complexities of American male behavior. Even though I feel Infernal Affairs handles some of the themes better, The Departed is a million times deeper than the simplistic moralizing of Dreamgirls. And thanks to JD for standing up for The Aviator, one of the best films ever about wealth and power, as well as the conflicted neuroses of a certain type of American male.
Posted by T. S. Idiot
at January 11, 2007 11:39 AM
comment #11
dobbsy
says ...
TS: Saying something is does not make it so. I suggest Lajos Egri's "Art of Dramatic Writing" as the referee in our discussion of "Departed." When I analyze the dramatic development of Damon, Nicholson, DiCaprio, I don't see moral conflicts, what I see are guys damaged by life and living out their fates. Not as interesting as Terry Molloy, nope, none of them. Don't see moral dilemmas. What is Damon's moral dilemma? He's been brutalized since childhood and can't break out of the monster role he's been forced to live out.
Posted by dobbsy
at January 11, 2007 4:05 PM