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mdoyl44

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Posts posted by mdoyl44

  3. Posted

    I know Godfather Part 2 is playing in theaters the second week of November, so here’s hoping they do both of those movies around then. 

    I know Jaws is more of a summer movie, but of all the films left, it’s the closest thing to something scary for Halloween.

  4. Posted

    13 minutes ago, sycasey 2.0 said:

    I think it's as I mentioned above: most animation is expensive and requires a very large crew. There's a high barrier to entry, more than for live action. That's why you see so much of the interesting experimental work happening in short films (which are also very unlikely to make the AFI list).

    Definitely true, although I was thinking more in terms of reaction and assessment rather than production. An animated film can have a remarkable script, performances, technical achievement, and stunning visuals, but it struggles to find a seat at the table in these conversations. It always seems to be couched with that qualifier “for an animated film.”

    I think it’s great that we’ve seen more animated films get nominated for Best Picture in the past 10 years, but I still don’t think we’ll ever see one win Best Picture. In that same time frame, we saw a black-and-white, 99% silent film win.

  5. Posted

    I’m not necessarily saying the movies/filmmakers I’m about to mention belong on the list, but I do feel like animation is getting the short end of the stick as far as how they’re judged. Looking through the 400 nominated films, only 9 are animated - 7 of those are Disney. This feels unnecessarily limited and I keep thinking of overlooked examples.

    I know Nightmare Before Christmas and Don Bluth were mentioned already, but what about Charlie Brown, Fritz the Cat, or Rankin & Bass? These aren’t award-winning juggernauts, but they have definitely stood the test of time as being part of shared American culture. Austin Powers and There’s Something About Mary made the cut, so it’s not like we’re required to stay classy.

    In going through the list, I was also surprised to see Waking Life and Scanner Darkly were not included - I’ve only seen the latter, but I feel like that was impressive enough technically to warrant a seat at the table.

    Finally, what I think is making me feel so unsatisfied with the lack of animation on this list is that one criteria that can feel so limiting, which is they have to be American films. That’s a whole other discussion, but just to play devil’s advocate, what would this list look like if Wallace & Gromit or Miyazaki were  part of the conversation? I’m sure there are dozens of other examples I’m unfamiliar with, but those loom so large in my mind.

    Is it just me, or so animated films have to do it backwards and in high heels?

    • Like 2

  7. Posted

    1 minute ago, sycasey 2.0 said:

    One more possibility would be The Nightmare Before Christmas. It's not one of my personal favorites, but boy do I know a lot of people who love it.

    You guys. Literally grabbing a beer 30 seconds ago thinking to myself “I didn’t love it, but wasn’t Nightmare Before Christmas influential?”

    Second time this thread I’m minutes behind. I’m choosing to be heartened by that. Sign of a good board.

    • Like 1

  8. Posted

    8 hours ago, taylorannephoto said:

    I don't remember how Wall-E changed the Oscars at all so you'll have to refresh my memory. I know that Beauty and the Beast was the first animated movie to ever be nominated for Best Picture, and then Up was nominated in 2010 and it was the first year it went from 5 back to 10 slots in the BP category.

    I think there was much ado about Wall-E and Dark Knight not getting nominated when such popular classics as the Reader and Curious Case of Benji Button were. My understanding is that’s what led to the Best Picture field getting expanded to 10 slots.

    • Like 2

  9. Posted

    Cambert... I just read through this whole thread to see if anyone already made the point I wanted to bring up, and there it was, right at the end.

    I agree with the overall point that Snow White and Toy Story belong on the list because one of the criteria is groundbreaking achievement in film, for which they both definitely fit the bill. What I think is more interesting (by which I mean annoying) is that these are the only two animated films on the list, as though the only way an animated film could get on was through remarkable technical accomplishment.

    I think if there was a new list, we’d see a lot of progress in that regard... it does feel like the past 12 years or see have a lot more examples of excellent American animation. Wall-E arguably helped change the Oscars, we’ve got the resurgence of Disney, Laika Studios has entered the game, and let’s not forget the Spider-Verse (wary as I am of setting such a recent movie in the firmament, I LOVE it).

    • Like 1
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