sovay: (Rotwang)
sovay ([personal profile] sovay) wrote2018-01-24 03:53 pm

So if you feel like you're in a whirlpool, you feel like you're going home

1. Yesterday's mail brought my contributor's copy of Animal Day II, the latest annual not-Not One of Us publication. It contains my poem "кот древнее и неприкосновенное животное" along with fine work by Steve Toase, Barbara Rosen, Holly Day, and Suzanna Hersey among others; I recommend both picking up a copy and sending work for the spring issue. My poem was inspired equally by reading Bulgakov and living with two black cats who like opening doors and eating dessert.

2. Last night I finished watching The Flight of the Phoenix (1965) with [personal profile] spatch, who had never seen it. It remains one of my favorite movies I have never really written about. I can recognize now all the ways in which Hardy Krüger's Heinrich Dorfmann is a deliberately difficult character with his cold equations and his monofocus and his stubborn arrogance that's just as dangerous as the threatened traditionalism of James Stewart's Frank Towns, but he was my favorite character from the first time I saw the movie and remains the one I gravitate toward, maybe because he's the outsider (the one German in a mixed American, British, and French cast: "That's it, then, that's why they never won—they didn't have old Heinrich!"), maybe because he's intelligent and anoraky and his people skills are so terrible that calling them ass would be an insult to the human posterior. I love that his chilly, rational, logical plan is the craziest dream of all, if only the rest of the cast knew it. Also I just like watching people build things. I would have loved The Finest Hours (2016) if it had just been the high seas and on-the-fly engineering of real life instead of a shoehorned—and invented—love angle which sticks out just as awkwardly as the hallucinated belly dancer in The Flight of the Phoenix.

3. David Cairns writes in memory of Dorothy Malone and then overthinks that scene in The Big Sleep (1946).

4. So, yes, the Oscar nominees. I don't understand the prominence of Darkest Hour, which looked from all the reviews like a thoroughly traditional biopic with a lot of Churchill clichés (if you must have your WWII mythmaking, at least Dunkirk was weird), and I fully expected to see at least a costume design nod for Wonder Woman and its practical Amazons, but I can't remember the last time a genre film was nominated for Best Picture and I would be fine by which I mean delighted with either Get Out or The Shape of Water; if they split the vote, at least may Call Me by Your Name or Lady Bird take it instead of any of the more obvious fallbacks. I haven't seen enough of the nominees to say much about Best Leading/Supporting Actor/Actress, but Daniel Kaluuya for Get Out would be as unusual and welcome as the movie itself for Best Picture, I have heard nothing but praise for Frances McDormand in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and I liked Richard Jenkins very much in The Shape of Water, but I'd have given that nomination to Michael Stuhlbarg. (I am pleased Octavia Spencer received hers.) Coco should take Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song, no questions. I suspect Hoyte van Hoytema will win Best Cinematography for Dunkirk even if his shaky-cam annoyed me. Either Jordan Peele, Greta Gerwig, or Guillermo del Toro would please me for Best Director, even if their chances are probably sketchy against Christopher Nolan and Paul Thomas Anderson, and all three of them (and Vanessa Taylor) could also clean up on the Original Screenplay front as far as I'm concerned. Paul Denham Austerberry et al. would be entirely justified in taking Best Production Design for The Shape of Water. The rest of the categories, I don't have enough information for opinions, but apparently this is a year in which I have a stake in the Oscars. I think it's because it feels like the Hugos. More years should.

5. The Strange Horizons 2018 Prize Draw is now live. Check it out!

So that's most of what I wanted to post when I got the news about Le Guin; I wrote about her instead and then I wrote about a noir I'd seen on Saturday and then I held the cats a lot. (Oh, God, I named my ancient and now somewhat precarious laptop half after one of her characters. Now I feel even more protective toward him.) I forgot until now that I dreamed of watching a nonexistent and impossible movie starring Leslie Howard at twenty-eight, at which age he looked and sounded like a dorky student. There were no sound films in 1921. Leslie Howard didn't even come to Hollywood until 1930. I would ask what the hell, brain, except I think it's as simple as my brain really appreciating all those pictures of Howard where he looks like a thoroughgoing nerd.
kore: (Default)

in which I have many unpleasant opinions and should probably just drop out of the whole thing

[personal profile] kore 2018-01-25 03:56 pm (UTC)(link)
I was really delighted at the quadruple noms for Get Out, and the noms for Octavia Spencer, Denzel Washington and Margot Robbie; greatly annoyed at the Bladerunner sequel, Darkest Hour and Dunkirk; and downright angry about Nolan's nomination and the entire shutout for Wonder Woman. Not that happy that TLJ got subpar noms either -- Score and f/x are pretty much gimmes, and it wasn't nominated even for costume design or overall design, which the Canto Bight casino scene alone should have secured. I did think that Hamill should have gotten supporting actor.

I also thought Fisher should've been nominated for best actress period, which led to various people lecturing me that her part wasn't big enough (//points silently to Anthony Hopkins ((and Judi Dench)) ), she wasn't that good of an actress, her part wasn't that important, &c &c. Because I am me I am also annoyed Shape of Water is getting a lot of press that Crimson Peak didn't, but that starred two women and was specifically about women's experiences and that apparently doesn't count for a whole much this year, despite what's going on outside Hollywood. Or even inside Hollywood, with the Weinstein and #metoo movements. (Oh yeah yeah, poor James Franco, "the first casualty of #metoo" as I saw him described. Gahhh. And first woman cinematographer ever! And yay for Greta Gerwig, FIFTH woman to be nominated as Best Director, in 2018. Truly we are a progressive land. She won't win, it's a sop nomination because the movie's actually popular, for an indie film; it made more money that Moonlight, in fact the most money for A24, and the year's best opening weekend per theater average. Women will pay money to see movies, who knew! Not Kevin Feige. There was some other popular movie about a woman, something something wonderful? wondrous? what was it, now....)

It's interesting how genre fans will always pull back and say "oh but this movie is just fluff, it doesn't deserve Best Picture," when infamous crap like Forrest Gump and Crash and all the other infamous examples are out there. I mean, Robbie should've gotten a nod for Suicide Squad, which was a terrible, terrible movie, but it was a breakout performance that put her on the map. But God forbid rewarding the actual performance rather than a "deserving" movie. Whatever.

But I am very happy for Get Out. I don't think it'll win Picture, Director or Screenplay, tho, because Moonlight won big last year (and what a fustercluck THAT was), and so "we should pick something else now." Because I know that's how the Academy thinks. But I would be absolutely completely delighted to be proven wrong and for it to have a sweep, because it really deserved it as a movie, as a well-made theatrical experience and an artistic refraction of society.
kore: (Default)

Re: in which I have many unpleasant opinions and should probably just drop out of the whole thing

[personal profile] kore 2018-01-25 06:42 pm (UTC)(link)
Logan is the first comic book adaptation to get a screenplay nod and I had genuinely thought it had happened before, but no, it's just taken this long.

I thought that maybe Superman or one of the Batman movies had been nominated, really! But no. It's pretty amazing, given how many movies based on comic books there are now and how important they've been to keeping movies going.

Robert Downey Jr. would have taken home a statue for Tony Stark.

Oh yes. He was great as Holmes, too. But Tony was really the role he was born to play, I think.

I recognize it was a big deal that Arrival was nominated for Best Picture last year and Denis Villeneuve for Best Director, but Amy Adams should have been in the running for Best Leading Actress and would have hella deserved it over Emma Stone for La La Land. Hayley Atwell in Captain America: The First Avenger, for God's sake, backwards and in high heels. There is an unsurprising overlap between these two areas of elision. It's just not a level playing field and it hasn't been for a long, long time. I'm hoping that's starting to shift—two genre movies nominated for Best Picture!—but it still leaves decades of deserving filmmaking out in the cold.

That is so well-said! Yes, yes yes.



Again, sorry I just grumped all over your blog, that was me being a jerk. I just felt so angry. (LOL now I'm reminded all over again how angry I was that Adams wasn't nominated. haaah.)
kore: (Default)

Re: in which I have many unpleasant opinions and should probably just drop out of the whole thing

[personal profile] kore 2018-01-25 09:04 pm (UTC)(link)
I would also have guessed either the 1978 Superman—which I know did get some nominations, although if it won anything I'm pretty sure it was Visual Effects—or one of the Nolan Batmans, based on their critical adoration. (I was going to write "fanboying," but that's unfair; my mother loves Batman Begins, although none of the others.) The fact that Christopher Reeve was ever even nominated for an Oscar for the role he is rightly and immortally identified with? Jeez.

NO, he wasn't, which is so terrible. I got curious and checked some films:

2001: A Space Odyssey (1969), Oscar for Best Visual Effects, nominated for Best Director, Best Art Direction, and Best Original Screenplay.
Star Wars (1977), six Oscars: Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, Best Original Score, Best Sound and Best Visual Effects. Sound designer Ben Burtt and John Dykstra also both got special awards. Alec Guinness was nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (winner: Jason Robards in Julia). Nominated for Best Original Screenplay, Best Director, and Best Picture, which were won by Annie Hall.
(Wow, I had no memory of it being that critically acclaimed AT ALL. Bzuh.)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), one Oscar for cinematography, nominated for Best Director, Best Supporting Actress, Visual Effects, Art Direction, Original Music Score, Film Editing, and also won Special Achievement Award for sound effects editing.
Superman (1978), won Special Achievement Award for f/x, nominated for Best Sound, Best Film Editing, Best Music Original Score.
Empire Strikes Back (1980), one Oscar for Best Sound Mixing, Special Achievement Award for Best Visual Effects, nominated for Best Original Score and Best Production Design.
E.T. (1982), nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay, won Best Original Score, Best Sound, Best Sound Effects Editing, Best Visual Effects.
Return of the Jedi (1983), Special Achievement Award for Visual Effects. Nominations for Best Art Direction/Set Decoration, Best Sound Effects Editing, Best Music Original Score, and Best Sound.
Starman (1984), Jeff Bridges nominated for Best Actor.
Cocoon (1985), won Best Actor in a Supporting Role and Best Visual Effects.
Brazil (1985), nominated for Best Original Screenplay and Best Art Direction.
Aliens (1986), Sigourney Weaver nominated for Best Actress, also nominated for Best Original Score, Best Sound, Best Film Editing, and Best Art Direction. Won Sound Effects Editing and Visual Effects.
Terminator 2 (1991), nominated for Best Cinematography and Film Editing, won Best Make Up, Best Sound, Best Sound Editing, Best Visual Effects.
Twelve Monkeys (1995), Brad Pitt nominated for Best Supporting Actor, costume design nomination.
Phantom Menace (1999), Best Sound Editing, Best Visual Effects, and Best Sound Mixing (all won by the Matrix). Also nominated for seven Razzies, heh.
Fellowship of the Ring (2001), won Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, Best Makeup, and Best Original Score. Nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Ian McKellen), Best Art Direction, Best Director, Best Film Editing, Best Original Song, Best Picture, Best Sound, Best Costume Design, Best Adapted Screenplay.
Attack of the Clones (2002), nominated for Best Visual Effects, also nominated for seven Razzies.
The Two Towers (2002), won Best Visual Effects and Best Sound Editing.
Nominated for Best Picture, Best Art Direction, Best Film Editing and Best Sound.
The Return of the King (2003), nominated for and won eleven Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Original Song, Best Visual Effects, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Make-up, Best Sound Mixing and Best Film Editing. Tied with Titanic and Ben-Hur for most wins.
(I had completely forgotten all about this.)
Revenge of the Sith (2005), nominated for Best Visual Effects and one Razzie.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, Kate Winslet nominated for Best Actress.
Pan's Labyrinth (2006), won Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Makeup. Nominated for Best Original Score, Best Original Screenplay, Best Foreign Language Film.
Children of Men (2006), nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing.
The Dark Knight (2009), nominated for Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Sound Mixing, Best Visual Effects, Best Makeup, and Best Film Editing. Won Best Supporting Actor (Heath Ledger), Best Sound Editing. Tied with Dick Tracy (1990) for most nominations for film based on comics.
Avatar (2009), won Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects. Nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Film Editing, Best Original Score, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing.
District 9 (2010), nominated for Best Picture, Film Editing, Visual Effects, Adapted Screenplay.
Inception (2011), won Best Cinematography, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, Visual Effects. Nominated for Best Original Score, Art Direction, Best Original Screenplay, Best Picture.
Gravity (2013), tie for most nominations of the year with American Hustle, nominated for ten, won seven (highest of the night): Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, Best Film Editing, Best Original Score, Best Sound Editing, and Best Sound Mixing. Nominated for Best Picture, Best Actress, and Best Production Design. "Second only to Cabaret for winning most awards without also winning Best Picture," Wiki says. TMYK.
Her (2013), Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, nominated for Best Picture, Best Original Score, Best Original Song, Best Production Design.
Ex Machina (2015), nominated for Best Original Screenplay, won Best Visual Effects.
The Martian (2015), won Best Director. Nominated for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Visual Effects, Best Production Design, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects. Won Best Film Editing (a woman, Margaret Sixel), Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, Best Makeup and Hairstyling Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing. Most winner of Oscars for an Australian film, highest winner of the night.
Arrival (2016), won Best Sound Editing. Nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Sound Mixing, Best Production Design, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing. (Other films winning one award: Fences, The Jungle Book, O.J.: Made in America, Suicide Squad, The White Helmets, and Zootopia.)

BY NO MEANS at all comprehensive, since I entirely forgot about stuff like, say, Dick Tracy. (WTF. Dick Tracy? really?) Any other suggestions for looking up....? Also I think I fucked up the release dates. Oh well, fun way to kill about half an hour. Altho Wikipedia has GOT TO STOP PUTTING INFORMATION IN MOTHERFUCKING TABLES
kore: (Default)

Re: in which I have many unpleasant opinions and should probably just drop out of the whole thing

[personal profile] kore 2018-01-26 03:47 am (UTC)(link)
(Wow, I had no memory of it being that critically acclaimed AT ALL. Bzuh.)
Me neither! That's kind of neat.


It looks like it was really well-reviewed and got a bunch of Oscars, then people hated ESB, and ROTJ was seen as a return (heh) to form. Which is weird, because now the received wisdom is ESB is the better film. (I admit, I like it better, all the Jungian swampiness, and no fucking Ewoks.)

I had also forgotten that Return of the King won Best Picture. I guess that improves the chances of Get Out and The Shape of Water.

I forgot to look up horror films -- I remember Rosemary's Baby and Exorcist doing well, and Silence of the Lambs sweeping everything ("It was only the third film, the other two being It Happened One Night and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, to win Academy Awards in all the top five categories: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, and Adapted Screenplay," Wiki says helpfully. Wiki also tells me Jaws was nominated for Best Pic. I....did not know that). Altho I dunno if I would call Silence a horror film. More a thriller? -- eh, whatever.

So that's more attention to genre film than I had remembered or noticed,

Me, too! I was kinda knocked out by the Star Wars and T2 noms. I remembered Fury Road had won a lot, but not that many.

but nowhere near as many actual awards as some of these pictures deserved.

....yeah. Sigh. Metropolis, King Kong, Bride of Frankenstein, Day the Earth Stood Still, 2001 (for the Blue Danube bit alone), Close Encounters, Alien, Aliens, ESB, Bladerunner, Matrix, Children of Men, Pan's Labyrinth, GotG, Contact, Planet of the Apes....and those are just the ones I remember because I like them.
kore: (Default)

Re: in which I have many unpleasant opinions and should probably just drop out of the whole thing

[personal profile] kore 2018-01-25 09:04 pm (UTC)(link)
AAAAAAAAAHHHH WALL OF TEXT HELL. There has to be a better way to format all that....

Also ARRRGH I forgot to check a few more.

Silent Running (1972), nothing?
Logan's Run (1977), nominated for Best Art Direction and Cinematography, won Special Achievement for for visual effects. Tied for nominations with remake of King Kong.
Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), nothing apparently.
Alien (1979), nominated for Best Art Direction, won Visual Effects.
(This seems really unconscionable.)
Bladerunner (1982), nominated for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration and Visual Effects.
(EVEN WORSE)
Dune (1984), nominated for Best Sound.
Back to the Future (1985), won Best Sound Effects Editing, nominated for Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Song, Best Sound Mixing.
Batman Begins (2005), nominated for Cinematography.
Dark Knight Rises (2012), nothin'. (Won Special Visual Effects BAFTA.)
Edited 2018-01-25 21:20 (UTC)
kore: (Default)

Re: in which I have many unpleasant opinions and should probably just drop out of the whole thing

[personal profile] kore 2018-01-26 03:53 am (UTC)(link)
I think Alien, Aliens and Bladerunner should have been nominated for Best Pic


BOO, migraine. I hope you recover soon....
kore: (Default)

Re: in which I have many unpleasant opinions and should probably just drop out of the whole thing

[personal profile] kore 2018-01-27 11:36 am (UTC)(link)
*fistbump of those with shitty immune systems*

I had the flu, then I had a sinus infection, it apparently went into my ear and then a collarbone lymph node swelled up. Hello Augmentin my old friend.
kore: (Default)

Re: in which I have many unpleasant opinions and should probably just drop out of the whole thing

[personal profile] kore 2018-01-27 07:06 pm (UTC)(link)
Aww. I love your reviews! I've just been feeling crappy and not with much brainpower, so the only comment I could probably leave is "Wow this is awesome like all your other reviews," which, well, actually that would be better than nothing, wouldn't it. I don't know how you manage to write like that when you're ill.

Writing ALWAYS counts.

Augmentin always always reminds me of "Augmentor," the dream machine in Lathe of Heaven. Antwerp!