Disputing Tapley's Downerism
Red Carpet District's Kris Tapley believes that The Great Debaters, Juno, The Kite Runner and Once may have an Academy edge this year because their feel-good currents are more instinctually appealing than the rampant downerism of Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, In the Valley of Elah, Into the Wild, Margot at the Wedding, Michael Clayton, No Country for Old Men, Beowulf, There Will Be Blood, Things We Lost in the Fire, Zodiac, etc.
I can sympathize with anyone who felt bothered or brought down by Margot's relentless neuroticism, but the other dark-toned dramas listed by Tapley are -- hello? -- major uppers for anyone with any appreciation at all for the rudiments of bright, impassioned, sharply crafted filmmaking.
These efforts by Sean Penn, Sidney Lumet, Susanne Bier, David Fincher, Joel and Ethan Coen, Tony Gilroy, Paul Thomas Anderson, Robert Zemeckis and Paul Haggis are, before anything else, thrilling to sit through. They don't bore, they don't twaddle around, and they constantly engage, disturb and provoke. Even Margot at the Wedding has its virtues in this regard. Any industry person who doesn't understand this needs to find a job making refrigerators or selling cars.
There is no such thing as a very good or great movie that brings people down, regardless of subject matter. "Sad" or "solemnly moving" is not the same thing as "depressing." There is nothing lower in the movie-watching universe than the kind of person who sits through Au Hasard Balthazar and comes out saying "whoa, bummer...the donkey died." The only truly depressing movie experience is when you're watching something gross, tacky, incompetent or ineffective.
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on November 9, 2007 at 10:10 AM
comment #1
mutinyco
says ...
If they go with the downers we could see a list that's in the spirit of the Academy's nominees in say '75-'76...
Posted by mutinyco
at November 9, 2007 10:50 AM
comment #2
JD
says ...
I've read most of these scripts and/or seen the movies and I think Margot is pretty much the best screenplay, second only to There Will Be Blood. And what about The Darjeeling Limited? I know you didn't like it Jeff, but it was more warmly receieved than many of the films on your list... and it has a significant feel-good component.
Posted by JD
at November 9, 2007 10:54 AM
comment #3
Craig Kennedy
says ...
Call me a glutton for punishment I guess, but to paraphrase Katrina and the Waves, I left No Country For Old Men walking on sunshine.
Woah-oh.
And the ending was perfect.
Posted by Craig Kennedy
at November 9, 2007 11:05 AM
comment #4
T. Holly
says ...
Can't wait for Wells' speech, err review, about the attributes of the movie "Beowulf."
Posted by T. Holly
at November 9, 2007 11:10 AM
comment #5
Alan Cerny
says ...
Don't have a problem with up endings or down endings, as long as they're earned. Most of those films earn their endings.
Posted by Alan Cerny
at November 9, 2007 11:15 AM
comment #6
Kristopher Tapley
says ...
Funnily enough, I agree with you here for the most part. But that's because you steered the ship in another direction.
Posted by Kristopher Tapley
at November 9, 2007 11:28 AM
comment #7
poodleskirt
says ...
Wells -- speaking of "Margot at the Wedding" -- I saw you at the AFI screening on Saturday night. You asked Baumbach a question... didn't you think he came off like a smug, arrogant prick?
Also, don't you think "Diving Bell and the Butterfly" should figure in as an award contender? Picture, director, and definitely the cinematography?
Posted by poodleskirt
at November 9, 2007 11:45 AM
comment #8
JD
says ...
poodleskirt, people always call Baumbach a "smug, arrogant prick." I'm assuming this is because they don't get his dry, very often self-effacing wit. Are there other reasons because I've never seen any evidence that he's a "smug, arrogant prick"?
Posted by JD
at November 9, 2007 12:28 PM
comment #9
BNick
says ...
Can we include the superb and tragically ignored "Lars and the Real Girl" in that collection of feel-good movies? It was something of a tearjerker at times, but definitely in a good way. I felt so great after the movie that I went to see it again.
Posted by BNick
at November 9, 2007 12:54 PM
comment #10
poodleskirt
says ...
JD, I worship at the shrine of Noah Baumbach... he's a phenomenal w/d, have always been a fan since "Kicking and Screaming" (which does not hold up so well) and "Mr. Jealousy" (which is even better than I'd remembered). I was excited to hear him speak. And I'm telling you, his answers to the questions at the Margot Q&A the other night were so off-putting and completely lacking in humility. If he aspires to be the next Woody Allen, he could stand a few lessons in how to engage a roomful of cinephiles.
Posted by poodleskirt
at November 9, 2007 1:33 PM
comment #11
truefaith
says ...
How about ACROSS THE UNIVERSE? I'd nominate that for a Best Picture Oscar in a flash....certainly over ONCE. However, if ACROSS THE UNIVERSE doesn't get the nomination then I hope it's THE KITE RUNNER.
Posted by truefaith
at November 9, 2007 2:09 PM
comment #12
Kristopher Tapley
says ...
"Are there other reasons because I've never seen any evidence that he's a "smug, arrogant prick"?"
Do his movies count?
Posted by Kristopher Tapley
at November 9, 2007 2:30 PM
comment #13
BurmaShave
says ...
" How about ACROSS THE UNIVERSE? I'd nominate that for a Best Picture Oscar in a flash....certainly over ONCE. "
Ahhhh! You weren't by any chance one of the 700,000 purchasers of the new Eagles album, were you?
Posted by BurmaShave
at November 10, 2007 6:55 AM
comment #14
arch451
says ...
I usually don't mind bleak movies, but I saw Before the Devil Knows You're Dead last night and I have no desire to see it again. Fargo is much better and at least has a few normal folk to provide some contrast to the villians. Also, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead did not benefit from the non-linear storyline. Why couldn't they just tell the story as it happens? What did it gain buy continually jumping around in time? It came across as a gimic rather than a technique to enhance the the storytelling.
Furthermore, how could you leave out The Assassination of Jesse James as an Oscar hopeful? Have you already given up on any hope of the best movie of the year being nominated?
Posted by arch451
at November 10, 2007 2:24 PM
comment #15
elizlaw86
says ...
I find it odd that Tapley thought INTO THE WILD wasn't uplifting. Ultimately, the film WAS uplifting. The kid learned the greatest lesson from his journey into the wild, that family, that human relationships are the greatest gift of all. I found the film very hopeful, spiritual and, actually joyful. Not Hairspray joyful but joyful nonetheless in a very meaningful way. It's certainly not a depressing trip like Elah, or Butterly or No Country. At the very least Into the Wild is redeeming and I, for one, care about that when I go to the movies.
Posted by elizlaw86
at November 11, 2007 1:28 AM