The Pitters' Place

https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/15/entertai ... index.html

Blah. God dammit, now I have to actually watch fucking Mank.

Hugely disappointing that Da 5 Bloods didn't get a BP Nom and that Delroy Lindo was snubbed for any kind of acting.

I haven't even heard of Mank, but Oldman and Fincher? Sign me up.

As usual, I've seen basically none of the movies listed (too busy watching stuff from previous years to ever see stuff from the current year). I know PIxar basically always wins best animated feature; but is this the first time that not one but two of the nominees have been Pixar? Soul was great, and I'll probably watch Onward soon.

I really like Delroy Lindo in general, though I don't think I've seen him in anything where an Oscar nod would be realistic.

I think if Da 5 Bloods had come out in like, October or November of last year he would have been a more likely contender.

It's just a bummer because Lindo's character in that movie is I think easily one of the most interesting characters from American cinema in the last five or so years.

Raxivace wrote: ↑Mon Mar 15, 2021 2:15 pm Blah. God dammit, now I have to actually watch fucking Mank.

I really liked Mank but it kind of had a "Aren't we all such delightful cinephiles or what?!" thing going going on which I'm guessing got on some folks' nerves and might strike you that way, too. I didn't mind, I liked that this was what they were doing. It looked like the actors were having a blast.

I'll probably watch Mank tomorrow or the day after, we'll see what I have to say then.

I gotta be honest though, having not seen any of the BP nominees yet this is a depressingly bland sounding list after how wild last year was.

Saw The Mole Agent (one of the documentaries nominated). Pretty good and very moving, but the central conceit was ultimately pointless. They could have made it a more traditional documentary instead of attempting to spice it up.

Faustus5 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 18, 2021 9:59 am Saw The Mole Agent (one of the documentaries nominated). Pretty good and very moving, but the central conceit was ultimately pointless. They could have made it a more traditional documentary instead of attempting to spice it up.

Is this the one people are saying is mostly staged?

Raxivace wrote: ↑Sat Mar 20, 2021 3:54 am

Faustus5 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 18, 2021 9:59 am Saw The Mole Agent (one of the documentaries nominated). Pretty good and very moving, but the central conceit was ultimately pointless. They could have made it a more traditional documentary instead of attempting to spice it up.

Is this the one people are saying is mostly staged?

Probably, but I think that's a misplaced critique.

I'm not spoiling much, but here's the idea: an old guy is hired to go into a nursing home and "spy" on it. He's been hired by the daughter of a woman who is staying there and he's supposed to keep tabs on her and see if she's being abused or otherwise not sufficiently cared for. They give him spy glasses to take video, he's got a spy pen with a camera to do the same, and he uses his cell and coded language to make routine reports.

Now, if the documentary consisted of his footage and cell phone video/audio of his reports, that would be one thing. But no.

You see, there is a documentary crew at the nursing home, operating out in the open with full awareness by the staff and residents, and as this old guy is a new resident, that's the excuse they have for focusing their attention on filming him and his activities. 99% of all the footage is from this crew, making a completely standard documentary that is very moving and informative. The "spy" stuff is completely superfluous. There is no reason for it to exist other than making the viewer think they are about to watch something different and edgy.

In the end it is just a sad documentary about the loneliness of very old people abandoned by their families to live out their days in an assisted living facility. As such, it's pretty good. It didn't need to be anything more than that.

Well that was underwhelming. 'Like just from a production standpoint there were some baffling decisions- who approved that "In Memoriam" segment being so rapid? Why not on end on Best Picture?

I didn't hate Nomadland but didn't really like it much either- not what should have won Best Picture even among this crop IMHO. I would have taken The Father or Judas for that- maybe even Minari too.

Mank having more Oscars than Citizen Kane is an insult tbh.

Just checked out the 2021 BP nominees and... I've been living under a rock. Never heard of these movies, except for Sound of Metal which I saw earlier and liked, if only for how it immerses you into the aural world of the lead + Riz's performance.

But I did learn that the Nomadland director is going to direct Marvel's Eternals, which features Jon Snow and Robb Stark, so that could be interesting.

Eternals is out theaters already, and while I don't have any real interest in seeing it it has had a pretty mixed reception so far.