Chief Dan George was the first Native American actor to be Oscar-nominated (i.e., Best Supporting Actor, Little Big Man). He also won the New York Film Critics Circle trophy for this performance (“Old Lodge Skins”).

HE agrees that Barbie’s Greta Gerwig completely deserved an Oscar nomination for Best Director, certainly for the imagination, moxie and spunk that lifted her pink epic off the ground.

The idea of Anatomy of a Fall s Justine Triet or The Zone of Interest Jonathan Glazer taking her slot…I really don’t get it.

Unless the Academy’s mostly male director’s branch had a bug up their ass about Barbie’s misandrist satire…who knows? There’s no question that Barbie pretty much despises the XY community or at least regards them with a measure of contempt or pity…c’mon.

That said, “Marty the Martell”’s 1.23 Reddit post struck me as moderately sensible and perceptive as far as it went.

A 4K Italian Bluray of Woody Allen’s Coup de Chance will be released on 3.18.24 — roughly two months hence. Which means that the pirates will soon after be streaming it, which of course will lower whatever value it has stateside.

I personally regard Coup de Chance as a very valuable viewing opportunity. I’ve spent several months begging to see it.

I’m told that a certain U.S.-based distributor is looking to open (or at least stream) Coup de Chance a couple of months hence, give or take. That’s not going to work out too well once the Italian Bluray pops.

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Spoken or written by Pauline Kael, presumably during the ‘70s or ‘80s. (It appears in “Conversations with Pauline Kael”, published in ‘96). She could have been talking about the ‘50s and ‘60s films of Stanley Kramer or the ‘60s films of Norman Jewison.

Thanks to Albert Finney (aka “Eddie Ginley”) for posting this quote.

L.A. Times film writer Jen Yamato, one of the most vocal and persistent advocates of diversity casting and the concept of identity and representation mattering as much if not more than merit in motion pictures, has been jettisoned by her employer in a major wave of dismissals.

On one hand I feel badly for any journalist who’s been cut loose, but on the other hand Yamato has sought to condemn and marginalize HE for reasons that I felt were rash, Salem-like, erroneous and cruel so I can’t shed too many tears. I hope she understands.

This morning’s Oscar nominations came from inside the bubble, and therefore reflected inside-the-bubble values up and down the line (cultural, cinematic, anti-Joe and Jane Popcorn).

Jeff and Sasha kicked their impressions around as best they could, and…well, here they are.

Again, the link.

“It Can’t Happen Here” was published during the heyday of fascism in Europe, which was reported on by Dorothy Thompson, Lewis’ wife.

“The novel describes the rise of Berzelius ‘Buzz’ Windrip, a demagogue who is elected President of the United States, after fomenting fear and promising drastic economic and social reforms while promoting a return to patriotism and ‘traditional’ values.

“After his election, Windrip takes complete control of the government via self-coup and imposes totalitarian rule with the help of a ruthless paramilitary force. The novel’s plot centers on journalist Doremus Jessup‘s opposition to the new regime and his subsequent struggle against it as part of a liberal rebellion.”

From Sasha Stone‘s “Oscars 2024: Oppenheimer Takes the Lead as Outrage Rises Over Gerwig“, posted earlier today but cut down to size here or, you know, partly Jeffrey Wells-icized:

“The Oscars have a branding problem. One, for the last six or seven years the awards have been used as a propaganda delivery device for sensitive lefty values (most white folks are bad, almost all POCs are wonderful, brainwashing school kids is good, LGBTQ trans-pregnant-men values are absolutely glorious). And two, the Oscars are now under the “inclusivity mandate” that was implemented this year. Most films had already wokified themselves but now that it’s official, it’s olly olly in come free.

“Boiled down: We all have the evil seed inside us, and the only way to rid us of it is to mandate that we vote a certain way — we have to like certain movies, read certain books and accept the changes the industry made to cover their own ass so they wouldn’t be called racists. Example #1: The critical opinions of Bob Strauss.

“The climate of fear we’ve all been living through since ’18 or thereabouts goes almost entirely unaddressed by people who cover film. They (we) just pretend like it wasn’t happening, that people weren’t losing their jobs, that every word uttered has to be carefully monitored so as not to commit a thought-crime.

“One of the reasons our country is divided is that Hollywood abandoned most of the country to chase sensitive-lefty, Barbra Streisand-approved utopia. And the people who cover awards and the industry aren’t saying boo. They never have and never will. ‘Just keep your head down, make the best of it,’ they say.

“But you can’t solve a problem you can’t even name. If you’re relying on the most high-profile outlets to talk about the truth, you’re wasting your time. They won’t. They can’t. All they can do is what most of us are supposed to do, write from within the walls of the royal court and forget about the masses beyond the castle walls. At least until heads roll.”

There may be something to the rumor about Paul Thomas Anderson having rewritten significant portions of Killers ot the Flower Moon, at least during the later stages. After reading a Charles Bramesco tweet that passed along the PTA rumor, I checked with a person with ties to the KOTFM show, and he didn’t pour water on it. He called Anderson “an artist” and said “anything he may have done [rewrite-wise] could have only helped.” That’s a little vague but it’s certainly not a blanket denial.

Jordan Ruimy update: “I don’t want to name names here, but two sources of mine, one of which worked extensively on Scorsese’s film, are confirming Bramesco’s claim — PTA did, in fact, take part in rewriting a good portion of the script. There might, or might not, be a few trades reporting on this soon. If I was able to corroborate it then it’ll be very easy for them to do the same.”

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Posted this morning: “I need to create a list of noteworthy narrative films that were regarded as unmistakably ‘important’ in their day.

“Films whose advocates and defenders said to naysayers ‘no, no…you need to sink into this film and try to understand…the subject is really important…seeing and understanding this movie will be good for our souls…the fact that it’s simply been made has improved our standing in the eyes of God.. we are better people for it.'”

Off the top of my head: Killers of the Flower Moon (anti-Native American racism), The Public Enemy (prohibition-era gangsters), I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang (flawed justice system), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (governmental corruption), The Best Years of Our Lives (returning WWII veterans), Gentleman’s Agreement (anti-Semitism), Crossfire (anti-Semitism), Home of the Brave (racism), The Lost Weekend (alcoholism), Inherit The Wind (religious yokels), To Kill A Mockingbird (deep-yokel racism), Seven Days in May (rampant militarism, Curtis LeMay), Brokeback Mountain (homophobia)…what others?

Yesterday morning smarty-pants emcee and gabbermouth Bill McCuddy (NPR’s “Talking Pictures” plus “Sitting Around Talking Movies”) predicted that Tuesday morning’s Academy nominations “are going to lean into Maestro more than you think.”

Everyone knew Carey Mulligan would be nominated for Best Actress, of course, but above and beyond that…who knew?

This morning Bradley Cooper’s impressionistic Leonard Bernstein biopic tallied seven Academy Award nominations — Best Picture, Best Actor (Cooper), Best Actress, Best Screenplay (Cooper and Josh Singer), Best Makeup (Kazu Hiro), Best Sound and Best Cinematography. Seven!

Congrats to Cooper and colleagues, and congrats to McCuddy.

Monday night, 1.22, 11:30 pm. Bradley Cooper‘s cell phone rings…

Cooper: Hullo?
Mysterious baritone voice: Bradley? This is Charles Melton.
Cooper: What?
Mysterious baritone voice: You know who this is, right?
Cooper: No.
Mysterious baritone voice: You don’t recognize my voice?
Cooper: No.
Mysterious baritone voice: I’m that upper-echelon Academy guy…you remember…and I’m calling to offer you a choice. We can fix or change the nominations any way we want until the very last minute, and a few of us really loved Maestro so we’re offering you a special deal.
Cooper: Yeah?
Mysterious baritone voice: The deal is you get to pick your category. Do you want to be nominated for Best Actor for playing croaky-voiced, chain-smoking Leonard Bernstein, or do you want a Best Director nomination for Maestro?
Cooper: You can fix this?
Mysterious baritone voice: Yes, we can.
Cooper: Obviously Best Director….Jesus.
Mysterious baritone voice: Okay, but now I have to put on my asshole hat. We decided before calling you that whatever category you chose, we’re putting you into the other category.
Cooper: What?
Mysterious baritone voice: We decided this in advance. No offense.
Cooper: You fucking prick. Fix it back. I want Best Director.
Mysterious baritone voice: That’s a no-go, Brad. Besides we’ve already blown off Alexander Payne and Greta Gerwig. And you know why? Because Justine Triet and Jonathan Glazer were voted in. Sorry, man, but there’s no room. Plus we decided. Be happy with Best Actor.
Cooper: I am happy with Best Actor but I told you I would’ve preferred Best Director, and then you pulled the rug out.
Mysterious baritone voice: Sorry, man. That was mean but not my call. I just work here.