And then the sun itself will turn us all to sand

[sovay]

Spurred by a gloomy desire to know what the hell movie Spike Lee's era-defining Do the Right Thing (1989) lost Best Original Screenplay to at the 62nd Academy Awards, spatch and I just spent the last hour reading Oscar nominations and results from 1990 onward, an activity punctuated by frequent cries of "[X] was robbed!" "[Y] should have been nominated!" and "That was poop!" I had forgotten how many years I had opinions about. I've seen even more of those movies now. I have more opinions.

The answer to our original question, by the way, was Dead Poets Society. My opinion about that is: "That was poop!"

Comments

[sovay]

It occurs to me that The Shape of Water probably did so well with the Academy due to it being a love letter to classic Hollywood, in among its more notable (to me) virtues.

Interesting! I agree that it's in dialogue with movies, and Giles watches a lot of musicals, but I had not thought of it as a Hollywood love letter in the same way as, say, The Artist. (A love letter to creature features, yes.) You may be right.

[alexxkay]

Giles' television is the least of it. Protagonist lives above movie theatre. Multiple (if brief) scenes set within that theatre while Technicolor epics play. An extended pastiche/homage B&W dance number.

[sovay]

Protagonist lives above movie theatre. Multiple (if brief) scenes set within that theatre while Technicolor epics play.

That's what I mean by "in dialogue with movies."

An extended pastiche/homage B&W dance number.

In which Elisa is given voice by no less than Renée Fleming, one of whose signature roles is the protagonist of Dvořák's Rusalka. I agree that all of these elements exist in the film and contribute to its themes and its characters, but they do not seem to me the point of the film, which is why I do not think of it as a love letter, any more than I'd call Truly Madly Deeply a love letter to classic Hollywood just because it involves a lot of people (dead, but who's counting) ardently watching old movies.

[alexxkay]

We are agreeing more than not. I think my main point is that the Academy would see it as a love letter.

[sovay]

I think my main point is that the Academy would see it as a love letter.

That's fair. I have, as was the point of this post, a lengthy history of thinking the Academy was off track.