^The late release thing is super common these days sadly, it was more noticeable this time because everything was pushed back a month or so.
voltch posted...
I think King's Speech was a better film than Social Network, but Social Network was better directed.
Fair, I can respect that!
LiquidOshawott posted...
Its hard to fault the Oscars for picking Kings Speech, great film and far from the worst best picture movie (Looking at like, Argo and Crash here lol). Its more about its relevance and how its portrayal of Zuckerberg still remains relevant.
And yeah you're right I was getting swept up putting it all together. The director pick was much more egregious, in isolation King's Speech isn't bad as far as standard Oscar fare goes. Related, I saw a graphic on twitter of the Best Actor wins in the 2010s and man that is a bland-ass list!
Yesmar_ posted...
If anything, the Oscars would benefit from *actually* being more political. Where are the Marlon Brandos sending up fake Native Americans to refuse awards on their behalf? People think the Oscars are political now? Does the name Sacheen Littlefeather ring a bell?
Agreed, people call any statement 'too political' now but the speeches are all super generic and no actors actually take a stand anymore. They'll be "woke" as a brand but very few of them actually put their money where their mouth is, they really live in a different world. I can't see anyone these days doing something like Brando did back then, none of them want to rock the boat if it'll hit their career.
As for the rest of your post I do think it's a bit unfair for you to blame the consumer, rather than capitalist society at large. Corporations have successfully taken over the cinemas like the studios did in the 50s, there was a period where they didn't know what they were doing so auteurs had more of a say but that is long gone. Everything is machine driven and the gelatinous mass of Disney continues to grow and consume everything in its path, sanding down any edge or spark of originality along the way.
I mean look at Chloe Zhao, she could be a really exciting filmmaker but she's already been swept up into the Marvel ecosystem. I don't think it's the consumer's fault, there are just much fewer options now. Mid-budget films are hardly getting made and indies have their audience but the blockbusters are so frequent that people don't really get a chance to slow down and look at what else is out there. I absolutely agree that the Marvel/Disney stuff is ruining what is left of cinema and the future looks very bleak on that front, I just don't think it's the fault of adults 'infantilising' themselves.
Slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.
Next up: Final Fantasy IX