Some thought’s from last night’s Oscar broadcast.
- People often tell me I see connections between movies that no one else does. For example I think that Rober Zemeckis’ Contact and Ridley Scott’s Prometheus tell thematically similar stories. And I have argued at length that Star Wars Episode 2: Attack of the Clones is essentially an extended tribute to the early films of Ridley Scott. For the record, I know I’m right on Episode 2, and I think I have a strong argument on Prometheus. This year after seeing the brilliant and disturbing Poor Things, I saw connections between it and last year’s Best Picture nominee Triangle of Sadness. Both deal with the conflicts between economic and social classes, and how women can acquire both social and sexual power. Both also have highly disturbing scenes in which the power dynamic changes suddenly. After watching last night’s Oscar telecast, I also realized that Poor Things Bella Baxter (played by Oscar winner Emma Stone) has a lot in common with Margo Robbie’s Barbie. Both characters become gradually aware of deep issues about their existence as they move from being little more than a toy into fully realized human beings. They also both have to come to terms with themselves as sexual beingsWhat do you think?
Margot Robbie from Barbie, Emma Stone from Poor Things, and Dolly de Leon from Triangle of Sadness.
- Like my Dear Wife and college friend Rich Ness, I wonder why the Academy had an elaborate interpretive dance number going on during the In Memoriam segment. It was almost as if the producers didn’t trust the audience to care enough about cinematic history to stay tuned in. The presentation on TV actually made it hard to see who was being remembered. To me, this is one of the best segments of the show. Fill the screen with names and images.
https://youtu.be/sM_JK8h42BA?si=m28RwWCqLQwT1C5l
- I’m a big fan of short films. And while I do not doubt for a minute that Wes Anderson made a brilliant series of short films for Netflix, I really didn’t like him taking home the Oscar. Not because his short lacked merit. I just think that shorts are place for filmmakers just entering into the industry to have a chance to make their mark. Of course an iconic director with access to a top notch crew and a strong budget can make a winning film.But that’s not really the question. I felt the same way when Kobe Bryant’s Dear Basketball, an animated short I adore, won. I mean how is an indie animator supposed to compete with a film directed and animated by Disney legend Glen Keane and scored by John Williams.
- It’s ok to give an Oscar for Best Song to a tune that is fun and makes you want to sing along. This is no slight to Billy Ellish and her brother Foinneas O’Connell who have won two Best Song trophies for relatively downbeat songs in 2021 and 2023. But if you think about which song defined the summer hit Barbie, it was Ryan Gosling’s I’m Just Ken that had everyone talking, not Elish’s What Was I Made For. I thought Disney botched it back in 2021 when they nominated Dos Oruguitas from Encanto rather than We Don’t Talk About Bruno that both charted and was on every child’s lips.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmG0983hPUs