My favorite time of the year, Part II. The Hollywood Reporter has published their second Brutally Honest Oscar Ballot piece and thankfully, this one is not as bonkers and jingoistic as Ballot #1. (Sidenote: I honestly got the feeling that the actress in Ballot #1 was pretty old, for what it’s worth.) Ballot #2 is from a man in the Producers Guild. He’s very much a dude, and very much representative of what men in Hollywood think, I believe. He got his panties in a bunch at the very idea of Hustlers getting nominated for anything because it was about women drugging men, HOW DARE THEY. But he’s totally fine when the movies are about men committing acts of heinous violence within films that do not pass the Bechdel test, because of course. Because Hollywood! You can read the full piece here. Some highlights:
He loved Yesterday: “My favorite film of the year didn’t even get a nomination — I’m embarrassed to admit it because a lot of people hated it, but it was Yesterday. That movie made me feel f–king great.”
Some shade for Little Women and Ford v. Ferrari: “Two movies that I really hated were Ford v Ferrari and Little Women. The director [of Ford, James Mangold] knows nothing about racing, and admitted as much at the Q&A after it screened at the Academy — you don’t have someone putting on their goggles once they’re already driving or staring longingly at the guy in the next car as he passes him! [The 1966 film] Grand Prix had class and style and knew what it was about. With Little Women, the timeline was ridiculous — I was really confused sometimes, and I know I’m not the only one. Thank God she [star Saoirse Ronan] cut her hair, because that at least gave me a bit of a reference point.”
He didn’t like Marriage Story either: “As for Marriage Story, I needed to care for the kid, and I didn’t. And I know that those two actors [Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson] poured their souls into those roles, but it’s getting harder and harder for me to care about entitled people’s marital relationships. It wouldn’t have been that hard to say, “I’ll stay in New York, you go to LA and work for a while,” stay married, hook-up when you can and be bicoastal”
Spoiler for Parasite, thoughts on 1917 & Joker: “I love Parasite — super-smart, brilliant director [Bong Joon Ho], the movie looks great and the whole look into class struggle was terrific — but once the murdering started happening they lost me. Joker was excellent, but it’s not a best picture. 1917 was great but gimmicky, and rang a little hollow for me in the same way that Dunkirk rang a little hollow for me.”
Why he voted for OUATIH for Best Picture: “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood gave me real escape at a time when I wanted nothing more. I don’t jump up and down for [Quentin] Tarantino movies — the last movie of his that I liked before this one was [the 1997 film] Jackie Brown — but this movie made me feel good. We all have our ups and downs in this business — I’m not at the high-point of my career right now, so I could identify very much with the characters, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood gave me hope. And it leaves you thinking about what could have been in a better world: What would Sharon Tate’s life have been if this hadn’t happened? What would [Roman] Polanski’s life have been?! It puts tears in my eyes when I think about it.
He’s voting for Quentin Tarantino for Best Director: “1917 was more about the visuals than the direction [of Sam Mendes]. Joker was more about the acting than the direction [of Todd Phillips]. [The Irishman’s] Martin Scorsese has done this a lot, and often better. Listen, I’ve seen Casino, in its entirety, start to finish, 20 times — that movie makes you want to be a gangster; this one was depressing; I’m watching my wise-guy heroes for decades as old men. The Parasite guy [Bong Joon Ho] is so smart and talented. But this was an easy one: Quentin did a first-class job with Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
He’s voting for Renee Zellweger for Best Actress: “I just didn’t mesh with Scarlett Johansson in Marriage Story at all — she has a great woe-is-me speech in the beginning of the third act, but the movie just didn’t do it for me. I love Saoirse [Ronan of Little Women], but the movie was just a nothing — I actually don’t want to use that phrase anymore because that’s a Trump phrase — it just didn’t do it for me….Cynthia [Erivo] was really, really good, but Harriet didn’t really have the guts that 12 Years a Slave had — it was like the glossy Disney version of what slavery was. Charlize [Theron, of Bombshell] was brilliant, as always. But Renee [Zellweger, of Judy] was transformational — she just really nailed it, and bravo for her: She’s worked really hard, she’s not a quitter and she’s had a lot of f–king haters after her ass, but she dominated with that role.
Why he’s voting for Brad Pitt: “I voted for [Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’s] Brad Pitt because he nailed it — the buddy that everyone wants, who doesn’t have as good a life as you but who is there for you every fucking minute, that loyal friend who all of us want but most of us don’t have. I never had a man-crush on Brad Pitt, but after that movie? He’s so smooth and likable that I want nothing but the best for him.
He’s voting for Margot Robbie for Supporting: “Everyone is going on about the “snub” of J. Lo [Hustlers’ Jennifer Lopez] — f–k J.Lo. I’m allergic to that movie. It isn’t a movie about “empowering” women; it’s a movie about slipping a–hole men roofies and f–king jacking them. Roger Corman made better stripper films — they had some meaning. Florence Pugh was fine, but I didn’t like Little Women. [Marriage Story’s] Laura Dern is so lovable in real life, but she was so over the top compared to the rest of the movie that it just didn’t make sense. [Jojo Rabbit’s] Scarlett Johansson was good, but it wasn’t a command performance. [Richard Jewell’s] Kathy Bates just phoned in her performance, and it was still better than almost anybody else’s. But my choice is [Bombshell’s] Margot Robbie because I believed her character — sure I have a crush on her, but she is also so accessible as an actress. I truly felt for her after she [her character] had done the deed in the movie.
He’s also voting for Joaquin Phoenix for Best Actor, but he acknowledges that DiCaprio was great in OUATIH (I agree) and that Pain and Glory was the “the best thing” Antonio Banderas has ever done, which I also agree with. Don’t you love how MAD he was at the very idea of nominating Jennifer Lopez for… daring to play an unlikeable gangster character who happens to be a woman? He goes on and on about how much he loves Martin Scorsese’s gangster movies but he clutches his f-king pearls at the idea that a stripper could be a f–king criminal hustler. And while I enjoyed OUATIH so much more than I thought I would, I honestly don’t think it was, like, this big emotion-stirring film. But I get it, it was QT’s love letter to that era of Hollywood, before the party ended. Still, the fan-boying of Brad Pitt and Brad’s character… lord. Bros really love that sh-t, don’t they?
Photos courtesy of IMDB.
It’s funny how ultimately this person uses his experience to vote. From his perspective Taxi Driver, The Joker, any wise guy movie is about doing terrible things to terrible people so why does that not go down in Hustlers for him?
Such a childish voter.
Ok, sorry but did any of you folks SEE “Hustlers”??? I did! It was a MESS! That was like the worst movie I have seen in forever! And I went with low expectations! I was at a loss for words, it was just a terrible movie! How is it even a contender??? Shite story, terrible acting, script was like some kind of afterthought! Wow! I just…it was bad, and I am all for a good girl power movie, but that was not a cool movie at all!
So, he’s voting for Margot Robbie because he has a crush on her????? Gross!
Well, he also said that he “believed her” in the movie and really felt for her character, and it also seems he thought the other choices were pretty weak.
That’s how anyone and everyone votes, I think. Because they like or feel something. Shrug. Same goes for presidential election…
And he can’t vote for Scarlett because she didn’t have a command performance but can vote for Brad because he’s everyone’s buddy in the film?
Double standard much?
At least he’s open about how subjective the decision-making process is.
IKR???
“ Margot Robbie because I believed her character — sure I have a crush on her, but she is also so accessible as an actress. I truly felt for her after she [her character] had done the deed in the movie.”
“Sure I have a crush on her, but” – this is a great example of how stupid & unabashedly sexist the men in the Academy are. It’s just ridiculous. Also way to undermine Margot’s abilities by the whole “and I have a crush on her” – imagine a woman saying that (spoiler alert: they wouldn’t).
Also, it’s a bit gross that he votes for the woman who is victimised (margot) over one who makes men her victims (j lo). Sexism will never die.
I always love these pieces because they ultimately show how meaningless the awards are…
Not being able to acknowledge an excellent performance in a movie you didn’t like is childish and loving films about criminal men but hating films about criminal women is hypocritical.
Belli, great point. These ballots show that talk of “merit” and which movies are award-worthy are always colored by personal experiences, perspectives, and biases. The only thing this guy said that I like is that he’s over watching stories about entitled people’s marriages falling apart. Amen!
I’m sure they are cherry-picking which ballots to release. I doubt Denzel Washington’s ballot is being presented. Moonlight won. That is proof that there are intelligent voters out there…somewhere.
Absolutely Belli, you’ve said it! The fact that one can (and often does) campaign (!) for their award just shows that ultimately it’s never about rewarding people for what they’ve done with the subject of the award. It’s about other things. Like, how many friends you have among white men in Hollywood!
I just realized that for this same reason the casting couch will probably never be completely eliminated, no matter how many women and men talk about being raped and taken advantage of. It’s so sad but it is the reality.
Yes yes yes! So utterly meaningless and based on who is popular and how the voters related to. I hate how the acting categories are basically in the bag. And I love how he compares Harriet to Ten Years a Slave. It just shows the types of movies the academy selects.
But….
I would be so giddy is BP didn’t win Best supporting actor. I know it’s catty, but this whole, “I’m not running a campaign” crap is getting on my nerves. Dude, we all know you’re campaigning. Stop pretending you don’t want this. And I do think he’s a good actor and probably “deserves” an oscar at some point, but, just, erg….
Calling idiotic adults childish is a disservice to children.
Man this guy is such a douche. But I do find myself agreeing with him about Little Women and Marriage Story.
I loved Little Women but the criticism I read of Marriage Story made me understand why I didn’t like it at all.
Yes about Marriage Story! I thought it was realistic about the things that lead to the end of a marriage. In this case, it was the angst by two privileged and beautiful white people who got tired of the day-to-day drudgery of married life and wanted something different (at least ScarJo’s character). It was realistic but it bothered me so much!
Yes! I liked Marriage Story, but I didn’t find it Best Picture worthy for the reasons he stated. Maybe if they weren’t such entitled people and being bicoastal was impossible for financial reasons, sure. But clearly it wasn’t an issue for them, they just made it one.
I think in Marriage Story she just wanted out. Plus, he cheated. They would have split up anyway.
THIS. an insult to female directors everywhere that Little Women would be lauded enough to get a BP nod. We get it Academy – you’re excited you finally can say you’re not ‘totally sexist’ bc you now have a [generic attractive blonde] *woman* to nominate, who is an established director’s longtime ‘muse’ (a euphemism, appropriately). And to nominate Little Women’s SCRIPT? That script was not good…at all…& Forget all the other AMAZING films you ignored for decades by AMAZING female filmmakers, particularly WoC filmmakers. Little Women gets an Adapted Screenplay nod but Lulu Wang/The Farewell didn’t? A Joke. I thought both Little Women & Marriage Story sucked, but most of the Academy loves Baumbach & Gerwig type content- all white stories, their OG favs, sprinkled w/[entitlement]drama, reminding them of the good ‘ol days when diversity wasn’t an ‘issue’. Marriage Story I’m not surprised. The old guard loves Baumbach’s Woody Allen wannabe stories (usually based on his life only, shocker!).
Agree with him about Little Women. Greta Gerwig movie trademark: must have at least one bit of whispered bit of dialogue somewhere in the mix.
Florence Pugh looked too old to play the young Amy. The other actress looked too healthy to play the sickly Beth.
I agree with his comments on Little Women. The direction was good but the script was a mess. If you had never seen an adaptation of it, or read the novel, you would have been lost and confused, which should never happen. My boyfriend’s a director and he was able to put the pieces together but struggled a bit (even though he likes Greta’s directing in what he has seen).
I hope Parasite wins BP because it is amazing and leaves you thinking about many things. It stays with you.
I enjoyed Jojo Rabbit too even if at first it was a bit shocking, to say the least. It managed to show the same cruelty, lack of humanity, injustice, unfairness and pure depravity that other war and nazi films achieve. I cried for the last 50 minutes and the closing scene was very poignant. I hope it wins best original script.
So he wants nothing but but the best for Pitt now because of the character he played in a movie?
So, I think that’s the point. He so completely bought into Brad Pitt’s character that now he is a fan-boy of Brad Pitt. I think its a weird comment, but I think he’s more referring to how good he thinks he was in OUATIH. I cant think of an example now of course, but there are some actors that I really don’t like and its because of characters they have played, not because of the actual actor. I think that’s more what he’s saying (but the opposite.)
I read it more as him being invested in the character instead of rooting for Brad Pitt himself.
I can’t tell if he was talking about Brad being smooth and likable, or the character he was playing. It’s not super clear as he referred to most of the actors and their characters sort of interchangeably.
I was going to say I hope it’s the character, because real life Pitt isn’t so great, but the I remember hearing the character may have killed his wife? Oof.
Brad Pitt’s character in Hollywood is rumoured to have murdered his wife. The audience is left to draw Its own conclusion; though there is a very brief scene with his wife on a boat where his character has a spear fishing gun in his lap. Leo was terrific in that film, a very underrated comic actor. I liked all the performances in it. I know nothing about Brad’s relationship with his kids, and neither does anyone else on the site (unless Angelina is a secret poster). It’s not a prize for father of the year, it’s for acting. Not a massive Brad fan but he was very good.
I am behind on my awards-movies but I loved OUATIH and did not like Hustlers (not for the reasons he mentioned, I just thought it was kind of boring, which I did not expect.)
But based on what others have said, it sounds like many people here and elsewhere agree with his end result – didn’t like LW or Marriage story, etc. But its interesting to see the thought process and think about how some movie or person may win an award and its either by default (because nothing else good is nominated) or for reasons that you wouldn’t expect – like I said I wasn’t a fan of Hustlers, but not because it was about drugging men etc. It just goes to show how meaningless these awards actually are, even though they obviously have serious weight in the industry.
I found myself getting bored halfway through Hustlers and J Lo wasn’t even the best actress in the movie.
@yagotme – same here. I watched “the Hustlers” on the plane and had to fast forward starting in the middle of it. It was so boring.
Hustlers started great but really lost me towards the end, their “downfall”. That’s supposed to be the strongest part of gangster movies, but it just felt so flat here. I felt like the downfall came out of nowhere and like they barely got a slap on the wrist.
I’m surprised people talk about JLo being “snubbed” so much because she was totally mediocre. I thought the cast was definitely the worst part of the movie.
I loved Little Women. I thought the script was excellent and I especially loved what Greta Gerwig did with the ending. Brilliant!
I think it speaks to men’s lack of empathy that they have no interest in seeing what women struggle with in terms of autonomy, dreams, societal expectations and creativity both then and now. Also the structure was not that difficult. Crikey. People are simpletons.
Agree 100%. I read the book as a young teen and saw the 1995 movie around the same time and hadn’t revisited either and I had no problem following the film– timelines that aren’t linear are very common in films and tv these days (see the witcher for example) and audiences are sophisticated enough to follow along. His critique of little women (and the women characters in marriage story, hustler) speak more to this man’s lack of empathy for women and his out of date storytelling lens. What an old, cranky man!
I haven’t seen Little Women but its because I hated the book, lol.
@bellabella
white women*
Fixed it for you.
So does that mean that the women who didn’t like it, like many of us, are sexist or don’t care about women’s stories?
Feel free to come up w/more excuses 😉
I thought 1917 was incredible – the cinematography was first rate. I was pleasantly surprised by Bombshell. I think Helen Mirren & The Good Liar were robbed…
I actually agree with some of his observations, but wow did he miss the point of Hustlers. I don’t think it was meant to be empowering for women in the sense that “you can go drug men for money too!” It was meant to tell a true story ABOUT women, some of whom weren’t all that likable, and that should be okay. It’s amazing that women have to be likable in film and television in order to be accepted, while so many male roles are gritty antiheroes and stuff. That’s all women want. To be portrayed as multi-faceted human beings, not sweet young ladies.
Note: I didn’t even like Hustlers that much. I watched it on a plane and I kept stopping it to rest my eyes, lol. I found its structure kinda weird and boring. But he dislikes it for all the wrong reasons.
I agree he missed the point, and you nailed it. Women have to be “likable” and good all the time. God forbid they tell a true story about terrible women, because we NEVER get those about men, right?
I thought it was a decent movie, and the best acting work JLo has done in a long time, but I didn’t leave it feeling any of it was particularly Oscar worthy.
Also, I liked Little Women, though the timeline did bounce around a little more than it needed to, I didn’t think it was confusing. And I will give him some props for liking Yesterday, which was a really delightful, lovely, and sweet movie that I highly recommend.
Likeable and good and “victims”…not perpetrators. It kind of baffles me that likeability of a character could determine who people vote for. Also, liking Brad’s character because he is a loyal pal, never mind a probable wife killer. These awards are meaningless. I’m surprised Charlize Theron won for Monster…uglied-up and killing men. Is it because she looked so different to her actual self that voters could differentiate between her and her character, whereas J Lo flaunted her beauty in her role in Hustlers?
Agree with you ladies. Totally missed the point. He could’ve said he just didn’t think the direction or the acting was award-worthy if that’s the case, but to be mad that the lead characters were criminals and that it didn’t have as much “meaning” as other stripper films – wtf? What meaning should it have to merit your praise, sir?
So ballot #1 was racist and xenophobic, and now ballot #2 is a bro that’s crushing hard on Brad and Margot and hates JLo. Got it! The only thing I agree with him on his ALL of his Marriage Story takes. It wasn’t as great as it was made out to be, Scarlett’s acting was so so and Laura was sooo extra! I do not understand why she’s winning every award for this role.
Agree on Laura Dern, I dont get it that she is even nominated much more winning those awards. I mean, she did not have a stand out scene in the movie, just so so acting. I found Scarlet and Adam, both good in it. What I don’t understand is that lots of people find Adam Driver handsome, I think he is quite ugly.
As for Brad, his scenes in the spawn ranch was a standout, but I think he did better in Ad Astra performance wise. Also, I think Leo was good in OUATH, but I didnt watch Joker, so maybe Joaquin P is deserving over him.
I love Parasite, I hope it wins best picture, but I have not seen 1917 yet, so maybe not a fair comment. OUATH is I think overrated, its entertaining but nothing great with no plot or storyline at all.
This guy is just another white Hollywood dude bro and it shows. And the fact latent misogyny of why he didnt think J.Lo should have been nominated is evident. He doesnt like stories about strippers unless THEY are victims.
But – he was right about Harriet and The Marriage Story and Scar Jo.
I was dragged to OUATIH against my will because I just felt it was exploiting a horrific, horrific crime. BUT, after seeing it I understand why it got so much praise from critics. I thought the movie nailed the era. The pool party scene was fantastic. Brad and Leo were great in their roles. Plus, it showered love on Sharon Tate . It was the kind of movie I liked more and more when I thought about it. Marriage Story, The Irishman and Joker I wanted to forget. I liked 1917 a lot and feel it will win because Big War Film.
I know he’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but I really love Tarantino’s revisionist history movies. I always assumed that script would make right what happened to Sharon, and I loved it so much. The acting was great and it captured the era well. One of the scenes that sticks out to me the most is Sharon going to see her movie at the theater. It was so touching.
I also felt it was a love letter to Hollywood, a cartoon with soft cartoon colors, then cartoon violence. He let Tate bask in the magic hour.
The guy is assessing these films through his dude POV which is annoying.
But, I kinda agree with him on Parasite. It’s an amazing film for many reasons and I’d likely vote for it for Best Film if I were an Oscar voter, but for me, the latter part with the killings was the weakest part and it disconnected me a bit from the film.
Also, there are a few other great films this year in the genre that I feel were so woefully overlooked for acting, writing, directing, etc Us, Midsommar, The Lighthouse…
Re: Parasite; part of that disconnect is simply the director’s style, and it’s actually much less jarring in “Parasite” than his other films. It’s interesting for me as someone who’s followed his career since “The Host” to hear people say this, because being so familiar it was actually a high point to see how he managed to integrate his usual atmospheric heel-turn much more seamlessly than before.
But even saying that the director’s style is its own pill to swallow, I admit I’m surprised when people bring up the switch to literal violence as a point against the film. That was, really, the whole point of the movie; that everything up until that point was just as violent, just as damaging to the soul and spirit as a knife to the heart. It was just wielded on a social instead of an individual scale.
@KL – Thanks for the context of Bong Joon-ho’s style and previous films. I’ll have to watch them. I love Parasite, likely my favorite of the year. I commented because this was the first time I’ve seen someone articulate something that somewhat mirrored my own experience with the film.
It really wasn’t being “against the film” but more about my journey while watching… and for the very reason you shared “everything up until that point was just as violent, just as damaging to the soul and spirit as a knife to the heart”
The film was masterful…soul-crushing to watch for so many reasons. The true horror is what humanity does to itself, right?…so in the moment, the multiple actual killings took the horror to something more literal so to speak, that was personally a bit of an adjustment.
@mia girl — oh gosh, I’m sorry, I think when I enter “critical analysis mode” my comments online can come off as super cold? I didn’t think for a minute you disliked the film or were against it, my poor phrasing. I was just really excited to hear more from you on that point, so thanks for sharing.
Re: his other films, oh man, maybe in careful doses? Like……. the dude does not pull punches. Few of them are are as realistically violent as “Parasite” but they strike me as a LOT more nihilistic, so personally they were more upsetting.
Jordan Peele and Lupita deserved nominations for sure. I also really, really liked The Farewell. Zhao Shuzhen is the true supporting actress snub of the year.
Loved, loved The Farewell and agree about Zhao Shuzhen!
It kills me how Us is so underrated. It’s essentially the horror genre version of Parasite. I know it was more conceptual than a super strong plot, but I just loved it. And Lupita was awesome.
So QT can film movie after movie after movie killing women, torturing women and that’s fine art, but Hustlers depicts a real life situation and that’s to be ‘f-cked’. nice double standard dude
I don’t think his comments were THAT bad? The hypocrisy with gangster films/hustlers is annoying. Otherwise, he went through his thought process about why he voted for certain people. If I had a crush on an actor I was voting for, I’d fangirl and throw that in. Lol
And his comments about Joker and The Irishman were disparaging
What ever happened to giving awards because that was the best out of the category?…not for any other reason?
See no point in these awards, it’s all about who can brown nose the most & studios putting a shitload of money into campaigns to get an oscar.
Little women was in no way confusing and this guy is a moron. The future scenes were much much darker and the past scenes were a brighter/warmer composition.
I’m not mad at anything he said about Little Women and I’m impressed that he seems to have watched all of the movies nominated.
Why can male characters drug, rape, kill, maime, and any other disgusting and despicable behaviors, but women can’t? How did Monster win? Was it because the character wasn’t attractive? There was only one instead of a posse? There was actual planning and scheming in Hustlers? I genuinely want the f@cked up male intellect to break this down and explain why it’s okay to be a horrible man character but women committing heinous crimes is off limits. Bad behavior is bad behavior.
I don’t agree about Ford vs Ferrari at all, it was really good, really well directed. Mangold doesn’t know anything about racing? How about all space travel movies and stuff, you can’t know every technical detail about everything. Mangold did a great job as did everyone in that picture.
My hope for Parasite is gone. OUATIH is winning best picture! I’m still thinking it’s a toss up for Sam and Quentin for Direction. But Hollywood votes for Hollywood movies, and nothing says Hollywood more than creep watching the sexy “madonna” and violently murdering all the brainwashed/cult-following “magdalene” women.
i was here for his assessment…..it felt honest and straight up….. Harriet was a NOTHING BURGER yea i said it… as a black woman i was like WHEN are they gonna go deep like 12 years a slave (and even that was a 10th of the horribleness of slavery) if theyre gonna go there.
His comment on Margo Robbie….now having some understanding of how hollwood works (debauchery and in plain sight) i wonder what he truly meant by that last part (done the deed)…. smh let me take off my tinfoil hat.
People here keep commenting that these awards are meaningless but the thing is they actually are not.
There are real financial and real employment
benefits and opportunities
From Oscar nods and wins
It’s clear still that men get most of these benefits and opportunities and continually pat each other on the back as they continue to shut out or negate women and people of color.
They’re definitely not meaningless to the industry, but I think to movie fans, they’re becoming less and less prestigious, especially when we see the inner workings like these voters comments, the campaigning, and all the machinations that studios go through to push their product.
It’s all just marketing in the end. Everyone knows how subjective all awards in all industries are.
OUATIH got to me because I couldn’t help but think about what really happened. I thought it was haunting.
Me too. It left me a little sad.
After the fan boying and praising that THR is doing for Pitt and QT. There is no doubt in my mind that OUATIH will win BEST PITCURE Sunday. It’s written. Believe it or not. They released these two anonymous people picks for a reason and wouldn’t be surprised if Lara Dern got a loss. Someone doesn’t like her I see.
“Roger Corman made better stripper films — they had some meaning.”
Um, Roger Corman never made a stripper movie. Is he talking about Russ Meyer? Because his movies are textbook male gaze. I can’t think of a better example of what men think female empowerment looks like. (Also, Hustlers isn’t about female empowerment at all, but that’s besides the point here.)
I don’t know which is worse– what this guy’s thinks “female empowerment” looks like, or the fact that a voting member of the Academy confused horror auteur and indie film trailblazer Roger Corman with “the king of sexploitation” (yes, that is what he was called) Russ Meyer. Does this guy know anything about the history of his own industry?
Woof.
Not at all. These are people being placed in the commentary to boost who they want to win. They (the powers that be) want this OUATIH to win because its about HW. They are really pushing it. These two people THR chose are biased azzholes and a testament to how people in that city and industry think. They literally always have treated women as inferior dumping grounds. They are biased and will try to blackball anyone who isn’t of their social circle. Period.
FYI Brad has sung that same pity party story for three gd years so people would feel sorry for his azz.
I kinda see what he’s saying about Marriage Story and being tired of seeing entitled people’s marital problems, but think he missed the point of what broke down their relationship. The crux of their marriage dissolving wasn’t because they had different career paths and goals – it was because they lost sight of each other and one spouse – ScarJo’s character – felt like her whole identity had been erased.
It’s funny to me that this guy could somehow relate to OUATIH’s themes of loosing oneself and (re)finding your identity in the highs and lows of life but somehow could not apply that same empathy and logic to ScarJo’s female character (eye roll). And, to reduce a marriage down to just “hooking up” when you’re in town is just…no, it’s a no.
I actually shared a lot of this guy’s viewpoints. He did nail what the issue with Marriage Story was-Laura Dern is out of place in that movie because she is basically being Regina from BLL and while Driver and Johansson really act the hell out of their material, who cares about two richly rich New York-LA actor/theater types? It’s probably a marriage this Hollywood guy has seen before and that’s why he applied his thoughts to it.
Greta Gerwig is absolutely overrated as a director (and an actress.) I was very excited to see Little Women but it was a mess. It was decent but the trailer is better than the films As much as female directors are missing this year, Gerwig doesn’t deserve to be in there. If you didn’t read the book or remember the previous remakes, you could not follow the movie because of lack of difference in time transitions.
As for Hustlers, I’m sorry, this site has a lot of love for it but it’s a trashy movie. JLo is good in it but it’s a character that’s over the top enough that other performers could capture it and the movie itself is fun but just not even the caliber of a good chunk of the movies up there. I don’t believe she put a lot of work into the character part of the role, though she certainly did for the physical part.
Also, way to take comment about Brad Pitt out of context for clicks. The guy said he was so good in the movie, he wants to like him in real life. He is good in it-I actually never thought Brad Pitt was that good of an actor until I saw OUaTiH.
@ sasssbr/ I agree with everything you said and was ready to post almost the same points myself.
Especially the part about taking the Brad Pitt comments out of context and the Hustlers undeserved JLo worship. Her acting was fine but it was definitely not all that.
I agreed with almost everything he said except I loved Ford vs Ferrari even though it was not technically spot-on, as Mangold seemed to be more interested in showing the emotional impact of racing.
Noah Baumbach can say whatever BS he wants but Marriage Story is 90% HIS story (a lot of details I speculate changed to make the context/his surrogate character’s actions less awful. I’m so over white pretentious dudes getting praised for their self-involved dramas. He outright said Laura Dern’s character was ‘inspired’ (translation: based on) by the hollywood power divorce attorney Laura Wasser, who was his ex-wife’s divorce lawyer (Jennifer Jason Leigh’s = exwife). Blah blah blah.
I thought Marriage Story was awful, absolutely awful. I really can’t stand ScarJo though, so maybe that’s why. Little Women was okay, but I’m sure that Florence was nominated for Best Supporting actress because of her absolutely transcendent performance in Midsommar (and before that Lady MacBeth.) It’s weird how nominations are often a nod to an accumulation of excellent roles as opposed to for the role itself.
I sat through OUATIH and I actually hated it. My husband loved it, but I thought it was dumb as heck. I usually love Tarentino movies, too. I didn’t think Brad Pitt was very good in it, either. Leo, on the other hand, did act his little heart out.
Best movie of the year for me? Queen & Slim. Sexy, well-paced, thought provoking. Should win for best director.
Both of these ballots talked about not being able to follow the timeline but I don’t understand why people were so confused about Little Women? I understand the first timeline shift is surprising but I felt like the house was more warmly lit and there was a lively energy in the “past” while the “present” was a little gloomier as the girls grew into women and moved into the next phase of their lives.
Not liking an actor because of a character he/she portrayed is something I’ve done.
Way back to Russell Crowe’s Gladiator — sorry Joaquin but it took me years before I could like you after what your character did in that movie–LOL
I loved OUATIH. Maybe it is an age thing?
I saw it with a friend and we just were so happy to take a trip down memory lane.
The campy 60s vibe was spot on right down to the ice cube trays.
Brad Pitt has always been for me one of the least believable, most tic-ridden faux-actors out there, and it always baffled me how he made it big and ubiquitous (well, fine: star vs. actor is a thing, true). I don’t even find him attractive though YMMV on that. But something weird happened in his performances post-Brangelina, because holy cats has he become more capable, somehow, in OUATiH and Ad Astra. Finally the guy is acting and seems to have something of a depth. It’s REALLY noticeable IMO.
I’m…conflicted, to say the least.
The truth is his acting becomes better post Brennifer and with the beginning of Brangelina in movies like Babel, Burn After Reading, Benjamin Button (his return to the oscar nomiantions) lnglorious Bastards, Moneyball, Tree of Life (Again second Oscar Nom.) Movies like World WAR Z and Fury which he should’ve been nominated for ….He really returned to great roles and proved himself during thr brangelina period