sycasey 2.0

That's not what Amy said. She said he jumped up to stand on the couch ONCE, then sat back down. But the popular memory is of him bouncing up and down on the couch, which is not what happened.

The Spoolies nominees are in! Vote here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd4ksDNwTf1m4tzc4pdRuZrhuNsIpzNJGc48fPTa6LhVU_cRw/viewform Best Original Screenplay Eighth Grade - Bo Burnham The Favourite - Deborah Davis & Tony McNamara First Reformed - Paul Schrader Roma - Alfonso Cuarón Sorry to Bother You - Boots Riley Vice - Adam McKay Best Adapted Screenplay BlacKkKlansman - Spike Lee, David Rabinowitz, Charlie Watchel, & Kevin Willmott (Based on Black Klansman, by Ron Stallworth) Can You Ever Forgive Me? - Nicole Holofcener & Jeff Whitty (Based on Can You Ever Forgive Me?, by Lee Israel) If Beale Street Could Talk - Barry Jenkins (based on If Beale Street Could Talk, by James Baldwin) Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse - Phil Lord & Rodney Rothman, story by Phil Lord (Based on Spider-Man, by Stan Lee & Steve Ditko, with characters by Brian Michael Bendis & Sara Pichelli) A Star Is Born - Bradley Cooper, Will Fetters, & Eric Roth (Based on A Star Is Born, by Alan Campbell, Robert Carson, Dorothy Parker, & William A. Wellman) Best Youth Performer Zain Al Rafeea - Capernaum Elsie Fisher - Eighth Grade Thomasin McKenzie - Leave No Trace Ed Oxenbould - Wildlife Milly Shapiro - Hereditary Millicent Simmonds - A Quiet Place Best Voiceover Performance Bryan Cranston - Isle of Dogs Bruno Ganz - The House that Jack Built Jake Johnson - Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse Shameik Moore - Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse Ben Winshaw - Paddington 2 Best Production Design Annihilation - Mark Digby Black Panther - Hannah Beacher & Jay Hart First Man - Nathan Crowley & Kathy Lucas Roma - Eugenio Caballero & Barbara Enriquez The Favourite - Fiona Crombie & Alice Felton Best Costume Design Black Panther - Ruth E. Carter Crazy Rich Asians - Mary E. Vogt The Favourite - Sandy Powell Mary Poppins Returns - Sandy Powell Mary Queen of Scots - Alexandra Byrne Best Original Score Black Panther - Ludwig Göransson First Man - Justin Hurwitz If Beale Street Could Talk - Nicholas Britell Isle of Dogs - Alexandre Desplat Suspiria - Thom Yorke Best Original Song "When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings" - David Rawlings & Gillian Welch (The Ballad of Buster Scruggs) "All the Stars" - Sounwave, Kendrick Lamar, Anthony Tiffith, & SZA (Black Panther) "Hearts Beat Loud" - Keegan DeWitt (Hearts Beat Loud) "Shallow" - Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando, & Andrew Wyatt (A Star Is Born) "Suspirium" - Thom Yorke (Suspiria) Best Sound Mixing Annihilation First Man Hereditary Roma A Star Is Born Best Sound Editing Annihiliation Black Panther First Man A Quiet Place Roma Best Makeup and Hair-styling Black Panther The Favourite Mary Queen of Scots Suspiria Vice Best Visual Effects Annihilation Aquaman Avengers: Infinity War Christopher Robin First Man Best Stunt Coordination The Ballad of Buster Scruggs Black Panther Mission: Impossible - Fallout Night Comes for Us All Upgrade Best Ensemble Cast Avengers: Infinity War The Ballad of Buster Scruggs Black Panther The Death of Stalin The Favourite If Beale Street Could Talk Best Cinematography Cold War - Lukasz Zal The Favourite - Robbie Ryan First Man - Linus Sandgren If Beale Street Could Talk - James Laxton Roma - Alfonso Cuarón Best Film Editing BlacKkKlansman - Barry Alexander Brown The Favourite - Yorgos Lanthimos First Man- Tom Cross Roma - Alfonso Cuaron & Adam Gough Vice - Hank Corwin You Were Never Really Here - Joe Bini Best Animated Feature Incredibles 2 - Brad Bird Isle of Dogs - Wes Anderson Ralph Breaks the Internet - Rich Moore & Phil Johnson Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse - Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, & Rodney Rothman Teen Titans GO! To The Movies: Peter Rida Michail & Aaron Horvath Best Documentary Feature Free Solo - Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi & Jimmy Chin Minding the Gap - Bing Liu RBG - Betsy West & Julie Cohen Three Identical Strangers - Tim Wardle Won't You Be My Neighbor? - Morgan Neville Best Non-English Feature Burning - Lee Chang-Dong (South Korea) Cold War - Pawel Pawlikowski (Poland) Revenge - Coralie Fargeat (France) Roma - Alfonso Cuaron (Mexico/United States) Shoplifters - Hirokazu Kore-eda (Japan) Best Supporting Actor Adam Driver - BlacKkKlansman Hugh Grant - Paddington 2 Mahershala Ali - Green Book Michael B. Jordan - Black Panther Richard E. Grant - Can You Ever Forgive Me? Sam Elliot - A Star Is Born Best Supporting Actress Cynthia Erivo - Bad Times at the El Royale Elizabeth Debicki - Widows Emma Stone - The Favourite Rachel Weisz - The Favourite Regina King - If Beale Street Could Talk Best Director Alfonso Cuarón - Roma Barry Jenkins - If Beale Street Could Talk Bradley Cooper - A Star Is Born Lee Chang-Dong - Burning Lynne Ramsey - You Were Never Really Here Spike Lee - BlacKkKlansman Best Actor Bradley Cooper - A Star Is Born Christian Bale - Vice Ethan Hawke - First Reformed John David Washington - BlacKkKlansman Rami Malek - Bohemian Rhapsody Best Actress Elsie Fisher - Eighth Grade Lady Gaga - A Star Is Born Olivia Colman - The Favourite Toni Collette - Hereditary Yalitza Aparicio - Roma Best Picture A Star Is Born BlacKkKlansman The Favourite First Reformed Paddington 2 Roma Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse

Yeah, but what's the temperature these days?

Right, I understand the phenomenon of bars showing World Cup games and having all the flags displayed. Same thing happens in America. In this movie there seem to be exactly three national flags prominently displayed (both in the bar and in the restaurant), only two of which actually make sense: 1. Canadian flags (makes sense, they're in Canada) 2. Italian flags (makes sense, it's an Italian neighborhood) 3. American flags (what?) This may lend credence to the theory that everyone in Little Italy, Canada, is actually transplant from New York, hence the accents.

Seriously, though, check out this trailer at 0:19 and then again in the upper left at 0:49. Why are there American flags everywhere? Is this a thing that happens in Canada?

My big question here is why the Italian restaurants and bars in Canada all saw fit to have Italian, Canadian AND American flags hung up on the walls. Was this also part of what confused everyone into doing New York accents?

On the "sexism" tip, I will also point out that the plot of this movie basically posits that if you are a woman who spent years in a prestigious, competitive culinary school in London, you can manage to be almost exactly as good at cooking pizza as a dude who fucked around his Little Italy neighborhood for his whole life.

I have a kind of personal relationship to this film: when I was a freshman in college, I was a tall guy with long black hair (and more of a tan than I have now), plus I was very quiet while walking through the halls (as I tend to be before I get to know people). Some folks watched Cuckoo's Nest and nicknamed me "The Chief," a name that stuck with my friend group all through my college years. So of course I vote yes to keep this movie's cultural relevance going, so my college nickname still makes sense. I'd also like to say that Paul really brought it with the film analysis this week! Talking about the shot compositions and what they mean to the scenes -- a new level from him! (I already know Amy has this level, being a professional critic and all, but it was a nice surprise to hear it from Paul too.)

I think her bullying of Billy at the end of the movie tends to color people's view of her actions throughout, and I think that's how the filmmakers designed it. For most of the movie you just get this subtle discomfort about Ratched and how she treats the patients, but no obvious or concrete mistreatment. It's not until the end that you're certain she's just trying to control people and not to help them. That said, I think we get our first big hint in how she handles McMurphy's request to watch the baseball game. First she offers up a vote, assuming that the other patients will never cross her. Then once McMurphy convinces the rest of the group to vote with him (unanimously!), Ratched expands the pool to include people who are not mentally capable of voting. Then once McMurphy gets that extra vote anyway, she declares the vote closed. Is she TECHNICALLY breaking any of her own rules there? No. But she's definitely shifting the ground whenever it looks like McMurphy is about to win. It's not a big leap to call this a metaphor for how authoritarian governments take hold (something Milos Forman was very familiar with). She's a villain from the start; it's just not obvious because she seems so outwardly "reasonable."

If you want to participate in the "Spoolies" Awards, here's the form: https://www.facebook.com/groups/unspooledpodcast/permalink/630016014123264/

Not a Simpsons clip, but . . .

I think one of the problems is with looking at documentaries as "news reporting." They are not. They're just not fictionalized, which sets them apart from the usual narrative films you see; they are, however, assembled footage of real life events intended to point you towards whatever artistic message the filmmakers want to deliver. There should be no expectation of "covering everything" or being "unbiased." My issue with RBG is that I don't feel like it was all that focused a take on its subject. Won't You Be My Neighbor? definitely was, IMO. Your mileage may vary, of course.

I haven't seen all the animated nominees, but I strongly suspect Spider-Verse really is the best movie.

1. I think Green Book and Bohemian Rhapsody (especially) shouldn't be anywhere near Best Picture, but once they got the Golden Globes I knew this was a done deal. Haven't seen Vice yet. 2. I'm happy that Roma is getting a lot of love. First, I think it's great. Second, it's a black-and-white foreign-language film from Netflix. That's a lot to overcome, but it got the most nominations. 3. Minding the Gap getting a nomination is great! I can't explain why the Mr. Rogers doc didn't. (I also agree that RBG is just an okay doc about a great subject.) 4. Ethan Hawke deserved a nomination and had won almost all the critics' prizes going in, so it is weird that he's not in. 5. Black Panther isn't my personal favorite MCU (that's Guardians of the Galaxy), but it's one of the better ones and has a social message to help its campaign (always helps with the Oscars). Ryan Coogler is a legit talent who wasn't recognized for Creed. I'm cool with it being in the mix. 6. It was a GREAT year for movies. The Oscars just didn't get enough nominations for First Reformed or Eighth Grade or If Beale Street Could Talk or most of the more deserving American films this year. So, par for the course there.

Bingo. Yes, there are things happening in Sonny's life. Mostly they happen to him, not driven by him.

Exactly. He's the "observer" character, and by nature a passive person. That's why he's still in town at the end. I remember also being "not impressed" by this movie the first time I watched it (must have been in my early 20s?), but this time it played much better. Maybe it was more about knowing what to expect: there's no central plot and no major incident, and that's the point. It's giving us a true "slice of life" in a dull, decaying small town. This time I was able to take that as a given and see how Bogdanovich used it to comment on other things, like the transition from movies to TV (he doesn't like it), or a tribute to black-and-white cinema, or how one generation of kids interacts with the prior generation of parents. On that last point, it's interesting how Bogdanovich doesn't portray his "coming of age" as a pure rejection of the past, like plenty of other filmmakers were doing at the time (compare this to Bonnie and Clyde or Easy Rider or The Graduate) -- it's more elegiac about things that were lost while also acknowledging that the past can't continue. Given that, it's not surprising to hear Bogdanovich in his interview still pining for the great stars of the past.

I'm not sure the movie really has a "main character" . . . the town is the main character. Sonny is just the one who observes the most stuff. Anyway, that Simpsons reference is too recent for me to find any shareable clips of it, but nice to know they've now done one!

It's actually a very well-moderated Facebook group . . . which tells you just how hard it is to moderate on Facebook.

The thing that is baffling me is that in this week's podcast she even said she probably hasn't been using the right word and explained herself . . . yet we keep seeing these threads.

Honestly, I think MOST of that group is in your corner here . . . but the thing about Facebook is that it's hard to stop anyone from just starting up their own new topic, even if it's about something that's already been talked to death.

I find that this has been the case with other Eastwood-directed stuff too. For example, with Million Dollar Baby there were a lot of people who saw the ending and took it as a "pro-euthanasia" movie and all that that entails. I didn't see it that way; I saw it as a movie about a boxer and a coach who become a surrogate father-daughter pair, and have their love for each other challenged in the most difficult way possible, a way that had no "good" answer. That was the point: the morals were too murky to easily judge his actions. Eastwood seems to want his movies to live in that unsettled, in-between space. Sometimes that results in a movie that feels too weightless and "about nothing" (Changeling would be one of my go-to examples of this), but this is where I think some of the obvious and on-the-nose metaphors in the Unforgiven script are helped by Eastwood presenting them in such a flat and unfussy way (IMO, an unsubtle writer like Paul Haggis was also helped by having the Eastwood approach laid on top of his script). He just lets it all sit out there, so you can make of it what you will. I guess you can also wonder about how much of this is intentional (it could just be laziness), but I see the approach repeated a lot in Eastwood's work so I think it probably is intentional.

Oscar wins do seem to give films a leg up in making it onto the list. The AFI's guidelines even specifically mention that awards recognition should be a major criterion for voters, so I suspect that's a big part of it. So Unforgiven probably makes it because it's a way to get Clint Eastwood on there and it's his most-awarded work. Also, welcome back to the forums, Pomatto!

Yup, and the fact of the Schofield Kid desperately wanting to be such a gunslinger while also being literally myopic.

I very much disagree with Amy's take that the movie is aggrandizing Will as a character. To me the tone of the scenes she referenced (the conversation with the prostitute and the final shootout) is far darker than that. It seems to me that the whole arc of his character is that he was never really devoted to being a non-violent family man. That's why he can't properly ride a horse or handle a gun when he's playing that role. He can't enjoy sex, so he refuses the offer (meanwhile his buddy Ned has no problem enjoying himself). It's only when Will fully commits to being the killer that he's able to take down Little Bill's whole posse (and it's no coincidence that this only happens after Ned has been killed). To me that's not aggrandizement, that's an examination of the dark heart of the classic Western. The camera putting you in Will's POV in that final scene is a challenge, not a ploy for sympathy.