“In an ideal world, this [Oscar] year would bust up the well-oiled machine and allow for a wide variety of films to be let in the door. We’re not quite there yet, partly because Hollywood is still in the grips of what might be best described as a kind of woke scare, which is like the Red Scare only it’s about monitoring films for potentially ‘problematic’ concepts and themes, [some being that] the casting may be ‘too white‘ or the directors are male or someone has a history of ‘problematic’ behavior, etc.

“Twitter is the judge and jury but no one wants to be seen as complicit [in anything outside the approved wokester safety zone, and so] they vote accordingly.

“Thus, the bloggers and critics are modulating for this potential blowback with [careful] choices. We’re all predicting the Oscar using the same method. In an ordinary year we might pick a movie [that] Oscar voters would likely go for, given what we know of the Academy’s taste. This year, we compensate for the ‘woke scare’ and we say ‘this is the movie they might go for if they are wanting to send a message that they are not racists or sexists or transphobes.’

“This was, after all, the year the Academy announced they would be mandating inclusivity in their productions and narratives going forward. That means they will likely be voting from a place of defending themselves from potential attacks.” — from Sasha Stone‘s “Best Picture – Films that Reflect The Story of America in 2020,” posted today.

A friend has warned me to watch my back. “As a white man you are vulnerable, and thus you must modulate as anyone would,” he said. “Okay, it’s not quite as bad as [a threat of] being thrown in jail but it is like blacklisting, for sure.” Which is obviously a kind of jail except that you’re not kept in but locked out.

In other words, give the Khmer Rouge a reason to slit your throat and they will slit your throat without blinking an eye. Or…you know, they’ll slip a blue plastic bag over your head. I’m not exaggerating.

Jordan Ruimy: What do you think are the odds on Sound of Metal getting a Best Picture nom?
HE: Excellent odds, no? It’s by far the most spiritual film of the lot.
JR: It just needs to be seen by enough voters. There’s no way the Academy doesn’t respond positively to this movie.
HE: Agreed. What tells you it isn’t being seen? Or has been insufficiently seen?
JR: Insufficiently, but word of mouth is starting to build. The IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes ratings are very positive, audience-wise. Isn’t it now available to stream on Amazon Prime? There is no reason.

There’s one thing I regret about Sound of Metal, and that’s the title. The only sound you can get out of metal is something blunt or raw or screechy, and that doesn’t represent where this film is coming from at all. A better title, if it hadn’t been claimed by a mid ’60s Simon & Garfunkel tune, would have been Sounds of Silence.

As long as militant British wokesters are going after Grease, we need to keep things going on this side of the Atlantic by cancelling Mel Brooks‘ The Producers (’67). It wears homophobia and anti-trans attitudes like an armband. “We’re not alone!!!” 52 years ago Gene Wilder‘s Leo Bloom went into catatonic shock over Christopher Hewett‘s Roger De Bris wearing a ball gown…what would Harry Styles say to that? Not to mention Elliot Page and Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt?

And what about Andreas Voutsinas‘ performance as “Carmen Ghia”, De Bris’ assistant who can barely control himself due to close physical proximity to Bialystock and Bloom in an elevator? What is that supposed to be, funny? It’s hateful to characterize gay men in this fashion.

Grease is one thing, but the sooner The Producers is erased from showbiz culture the better for all of us going forward. And that means hauling the 94-year-old Brooks before the judges and giving him what-for.

I’ve seen Randall Kleiser‘s Grease exactly once. Ironic ’50s nostalgia had been a thing for roughly a decade when it opened on 6.16.78, and Grease did nothing to advance or upgrade the basic package. It was made strictly for the chumps, and this resulted in a haul of $366 million and change. Definitely not my cup, but now that this John Travolta-Olivia Newton John musical is a topic du jour, I’m thinking about re-watching it. British woke twitter is apparently condemning it for being “racist, rapey, homophobic and slut-shaming.”

Robert Towne‘s definition of the essence of a good film is “four or five” fundamental, touch-bottom moments “between two people.” That’s not the same thing as Howard Hawks‘ definition of a good film — “Three great scenes and no bad ones.” But it’s close enough or at least in the same ballpark.

Yes, that’s correct — it’s time once again to ask which of this year’s presumed Best Picture candidates satisfy the Hawks or Towne requirements.

Without getting too bogged down in micro-analysis, does Nomadland measure up? I’d say “certainly” without question. Ditto Steve McQueen‘s Mangrove, Roman Polanski‘s J’Accuse (again — one has to be able to separate one’s opinion of an artist from the work itself), Aaron Sorkin‘s Trial of the Chicago 7, Florian Zeller‘s The Father (which I watched last night for the second time), David Fincher‘s Mank and Darius Marder‘s Sound of Metal.

You want me to list the great or very good scenes in each one? Sure but later. I’m going on a hike soon.

What about Promising Young Woman, Minari, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, One Night in Miami, News of the World, Da 5 Bloods and Soul?

“Bitch” is a term of derision or dismissal. It has a few different applications, but mainly it’s a blunt, angry, aggressive noun — used mainly in heated kitchen arguments or muttered under one’s breath — directed at a woman whom the accuser regards as cruel, heartless, harshly dismissive, ruthlessly resentful or viciously manipulative.

Jane Greer in Out of the Past, Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada, Rachel McAdams in Mean Girls…that line of country.

The male term for such behavior is, of course, bastard.

The implication in this History of Swear Words clip is that perhaps only woman-haters use “bitch” and that in a perfect world it would be as verboten as the “n” word. Okay, but does that go for “bastard” also? Because that would be fairly ridiculous.

The truth is that on a daily basis certain guys unfortunately earn this epithet and then some, just as certain women have arguably behaved in a way that more or less justifies their being called a bitch or “beeyotch.”

Marriages and relationships are not always a bed of roses. Arguments happen, tempers ignite and combatants sometimes deliver harsh judgments.

I was called a bastard once, back in the mid ’80s. A woman friend told me that a friend of hers, whom I knew slightly, liked me and that I should think about giving her a call. “But she’s not my type,” I said, looking to be polite. “You don’t know her…give it a chance,” my friend said. “What I mean is that I don’t find her particularly attractive,” I said. “You bastard,” she replied.

Early in Martin Ritt‘s The Spy Who Came In From The Cold (’65), Leamas (Richard Burton) pays a visit to Control (Cyril Cusack). Control: “And, uh…how do you feel about [Mundt]?” Leamas: Feel?” Control: “Yes.” Leamas: “He’s a bastard.” Control: “Quite.”

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Orange Plague to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in a call yesterday (Saturday, 11.2), and posted today by the Washington Post:

“So look. All I want to do is this…I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state….Brad, what are we gonna do? We won the election…this is a faulty election result…because of what you’ve done to the President a lot of people aren’t gping out to vote, and a lot of Republicans are going to vote negative because they hate what you did to the President…you have a big election coming up on Tuesday.”

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