There's an idea that's creeped into the movie industry over the past decade or two. An idea that I would say is the number one discrepancy between the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science (The Academy of "I'd like to thank The Academy" fame) and the general movie going public. That idea is that film as an art form and film as a source of entertainment don't intermingle. I'd heard the complaint before, but I was curious if there really was an issue, or whether people were complaining about something that's always been there, you know, like most complaints about modern film (no one has any original ideas, there's too much reliance on special effects, etc.).
Well, I decided to determine once and for all if there really was a growing division between the films people want to see and the films the critics faun over. Turns out, there is.
I started by just cross referencing all the top grossing films from each year and the best picture winners. I wasn't surprised to see most of my hits. Return of the King, Titanic, Rocky, The Sound of Music, and Gone with the Wind were ones I already knew would hit. The next step was to see how many years we went without having a hit. From The Broadway Melody to It Happened One Night was 5 years, as was the next gap to Gone with the Wind and another 5 year gap until Going My Way. Though the largest gap for a while happened next with an 8 year wait until The Greatest Show on Earth, there's another 5 year gap until a nearly back to back run of The Bridge on the River Kwai in 1957 and Ben-Hur in 1959. So far there's an average of about 5 years between top grossing film that are also best picture winners all the way through the 30's, 40's, and 50's. Not bad.
After that, however, we see a 6 year gap until The Sound of Music, a 7 year gap to The Godfather, a redemptive 4 year gap to Rocky, but then followed up by a massive 12 year wait for Rain Man. A 9 year and 5 year gap for Titanic and The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, respectively, bring us to the present drought of 14 Oscars without a top grossing film winning best picture. So, there's definitely a trend to have fewer films taking both honors, but maybe it's just a fluke, after all, one movie a year is a pretty small sample set.
So, I started looking at all the best picture nominees for top grossing films. The following years were all years where the top grossing film was nominated for best picture.
1934, 1935, 1938, 1938
1941, 1944, 1945, 1948
1951, 1952, 1956, 1957, 1959
1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1968, 1969
1970, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1977
1981, 1982, 1987, 1988
1990, 1997
2002, 2003, 2009
2010
Well, that pretty well sealed for me the conclusion that the Academy is really less in touch with the American audience at large. The longest we'd ever gone without a best picture nominee of a top grossing film was three years, that is, until the 80's, when we didn't have anything from 82-87, a 5 year spread that has been met or exceeded three more times in the past 3 decades and that's not including the current 8 year famine we're in right now. Here's hoping Black Panther breaks the trend and gets a nod (unless Fantastic Beasts or something somehow pulls into the lead late in the year), which would basically come down to a toss up if the Academy is more interested in honoring diversity to get away from #OscarsSoWhite or whether their more set in making sure the superhero genre doesn't get recognition outside of the technical awards.
So, what really needs to happen to get things back on track? Well, I'm probably crazy, but maybe we could take a tip from the 1927 Academy Awards. The very first Academy Awards had not one, but two top prizes. One for the most amazing movie and one for the most artistic movie. Wings and Sunrise: a Tale of Two Humans are both excellent films, and they both got top honors that night. What if we'd been awarding a most amazing movie award every year? Star Wars and Jaws might have something more prestigious to brag about, but at the same time, Rocky might have won in the entertaining category, allowing Taxi Driver to get the artistic recognition it probably deserves.
Call it a crazy idea, but I think we need to recognize as a movie watching community that there is merit to a film being entertaining and just telling a great story. We share that with studios every time we buy a ticket to our favorite franchise film, but there's no reason the film critics and experts of the world shouldn't be hearing the message as well. Yeah, there are some blockbusters that are pure garbage, but there are some that are just pure gold as well. Let's honor entertainment like we honor art. Let's recognize those that tell great stories in a consistent and reliable manner that connects with us and makes us feel like we're on familiar ground. We love movies that entertain and at the end of the day, is there really anything greater a film can do than make our lives just a little more wonderful?
Tuesday, October 2, 2018
Monday, February 5, 2018
The Last Jedi, a hot mess, or just what we asked for?
As there have been many reviews in recent weeks of the latest in the behemoth of the film world that is Star Wars, I figured it was high time I weighed in with my two cents. This is mostly due to the fact that there is a lot of negativity being directed at the film, much of which is unwarranted and nitpicky.
One such complaint is the darkness that we find in our returning hero, Luke Skywalker. Anyone that is upset that Luke is moody and impulsive and not perfectly centered with the light side of the force, apparently didn't actually watch the original trilogy, in which Luke was moody and impulsive and not perfectly centered with the light side of the force. Luke was a kid that was shown great power, and then watched three potential mentors die before they were able to truly train him. So he tries to become the mentor he always hoped to have, and gives up when he fails. Is this surprising? Not really. I came out of Last Jedi knowing that they did justice to Luke's character. They gave him a redemption arc that explained his absence, deepened his character, and, like in A New Hope and Return of the Jedi, showed him overcoming his weakness to beat incredible odds and save the good guys.
Despite some consistency, however, Last Jedi is not necessarily what we've come to expect from Star Wars, but then we need to ask ourselves, why are we complaining about variety? Let's face it, we all complained that the Starkiller base was too much a repetition of the Death Star. Last Jedi tells a wonderfully fresh story in a world that still feels very much like Star Wars at its core. If we begged for variety then, we should not fuss too much that we have it now.
There are other such complaints, but I feel confident that most of them rest on one of two main principles, "Star Wars needs to be perfect or else it's terrible", or, "Star Wars can't do anything new or different ever". I didn't like the lighting effects on Yoda - did you not see the lovely heavy black lines on the original Rancor before the special edition? Snoke's death is too short - it's built up as much as Obi-Wan's, Yoda's, and arguably even Han's. The Porgs are cheesy - umm, Ewoks? The desire to nitpick has become quite the past time for far too many of the internet's regulars, and, though I enjoy getting into the details as much as the next guy, I am hesitant to judge anything based on too heavy an analysis, especially art and entertainment.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi is a fantasy/sci-fi/adventure film. That means it's primary role is to entertain. Additionally it's supposed to tell a story, amaze and awe the viewer, and get the adrenalin going from time to time. Last Jedi succeeds on all fronts at meeting it's primary and secondary objectives. There are few films I've ever seen that were as fun to watch as this film. I had one loss throughout the film of my suspension of disbelief (seriously, who designed the throne room? It looks like a sci-fi movie set, which isn't very Star Wars-y at all), but I had remind myself to breathe at least once as well (and no, it wasn't when I first saw Adam Driver with his shirt off). Considering catching my breath is fairly rare for me, that's a big point for the film.
One of the main themes that runs through the film (and upsets the most die-hard Star Wars fans) is the subverting of expectation. Luke doesn't come round and train Rey right away, Snoke's killed rather easily, the complex plan of the main characters doesn't work, Poe's practically a minor villain, etc. I would probably argue it's a little too much, especially if you want to keep your fan base happy, but no one can deny that The Force Awakens expanded that fan base. We've got fresh blood and their entertainment should be considered as well. In the modern age of picking apart every scene and every trailer and every interview, there are too many people that think they already know exactly what's going to go down. Why would a studio invest in making a film that someone already guessed every plot point? What would be the fun in watching a movie where you read the plot on some blogger's prediction just a few days before? There's danger in being too predictable, and danger in being too unexpected. The Force Awakens erred in favor of the former, and Last Jedi in favor of the later. Perhaps the trilogy will end with balance?
Expectations and such aside, if there's anything that Last Jedi definitely got right, it knows how to be visually stunning. I know most of you are thinking of the light speed ramming sequence when I say that, which, I'll admit was a highlight, but I felt the sound (or lack thereof) was the essence of that moment. The most visually interesting scene for me was the battle on the salt planet. The red on the white was just a mix of colors that you don't see in hardly any other battle scene in film history. It took an otherwise familiar scene and made it new again. It breathed life into something that would otherwise suffer from being compared to the battle for Hoth as just a copycat of an old Star Wars trope. I've not heard that, and I don't think I will, thanks to some spectacular visual work from a great team at ILM.
Anyone that knows me well knows I can write much more, should I be so inclined. Let me know if you'd like me to address a specific issue with the film in the comments below, but for now, I'm ready to wrap up. I recommend purchasing Last Jedi. It's worth every penny, if you like the rest of the franchise, or if you're just getting into it. Last Jedi works best as part of a whole, but it's a great film in so many respects that, with some background information perhaps, there's no reason it can't stand alone to some degree as well.
Finally, we love you, Carrie. Thank you for being our princess when guys couldn't like Cinderella.
One such complaint is the darkness that we find in our returning hero, Luke Skywalker. Anyone that is upset that Luke is moody and impulsive and not perfectly centered with the light side of the force, apparently didn't actually watch the original trilogy, in which Luke was moody and impulsive and not perfectly centered with the light side of the force. Luke was a kid that was shown great power, and then watched three potential mentors die before they were able to truly train him. So he tries to become the mentor he always hoped to have, and gives up when he fails. Is this surprising? Not really. I came out of Last Jedi knowing that they did justice to Luke's character. They gave him a redemption arc that explained his absence, deepened his character, and, like in A New Hope and Return of the Jedi, showed him overcoming his weakness to beat incredible odds and save the good guys.
Despite some consistency, however, Last Jedi is not necessarily what we've come to expect from Star Wars, but then we need to ask ourselves, why are we complaining about variety? Let's face it, we all complained that the Starkiller base was too much a repetition of the Death Star. Last Jedi tells a wonderfully fresh story in a world that still feels very much like Star Wars at its core. If we begged for variety then, we should not fuss too much that we have it now.
There are other such complaints, but I feel confident that most of them rest on one of two main principles, "Star Wars needs to be perfect or else it's terrible", or, "Star Wars can't do anything new or different ever". I didn't like the lighting effects on Yoda - did you not see the lovely heavy black lines on the original Rancor before the special edition? Snoke's death is too short - it's built up as much as Obi-Wan's, Yoda's, and arguably even Han's. The Porgs are cheesy - umm, Ewoks? The desire to nitpick has become quite the past time for far too many of the internet's regulars, and, though I enjoy getting into the details as much as the next guy, I am hesitant to judge anything based on too heavy an analysis, especially art and entertainment.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi is a fantasy/sci-fi/adventure film. That means it's primary role is to entertain. Additionally it's supposed to tell a story, amaze and awe the viewer, and get the adrenalin going from time to time. Last Jedi succeeds on all fronts at meeting it's primary and secondary objectives. There are few films I've ever seen that were as fun to watch as this film. I had one loss throughout the film of my suspension of disbelief (seriously, who designed the throne room? It looks like a sci-fi movie set, which isn't very Star Wars-y at all), but I had remind myself to breathe at least once as well (and no, it wasn't when I first saw Adam Driver with his shirt off). Considering catching my breath is fairly rare for me, that's a big point for the film.
One of the main themes that runs through the film (and upsets the most die-hard Star Wars fans) is the subverting of expectation. Luke doesn't come round and train Rey right away, Snoke's killed rather easily, the complex plan of the main characters doesn't work, Poe's practically a minor villain, etc. I would probably argue it's a little too much, especially if you want to keep your fan base happy, but no one can deny that The Force Awakens expanded that fan base. We've got fresh blood and their entertainment should be considered as well. In the modern age of picking apart every scene and every trailer and every interview, there are too many people that think they already know exactly what's going to go down. Why would a studio invest in making a film that someone already guessed every plot point? What would be the fun in watching a movie where you read the plot on some blogger's prediction just a few days before? There's danger in being too predictable, and danger in being too unexpected. The Force Awakens erred in favor of the former, and Last Jedi in favor of the later. Perhaps the trilogy will end with balance?
Expectations and such aside, if there's anything that Last Jedi definitely got right, it knows how to be visually stunning. I know most of you are thinking of the light speed ramming sequence when I say that, which, I'll admit was a highlight, but I felt the sound (or lack thereof) was the essence of that moment. The most visually interesting scene for me was the battle on the salt planet. The red on the white was just a mix of colors that you don't see in hardly any other battle scene in film history. It took an otherwise familiar scene and made it new again. It breathed life into something that would otherwise suffer from being compared to the battle for Hoth as just a copycat of an old Star Wars trope. I've not heard that, and I don't think I will, thanks to some spectacular visual work from a great team at ILM.
Anyone that knows me well knows I can write much more, should I be so inclined. Let me know if you'd like me to address a specific issue with the film in the comments below, but for now, I'm ready to wrap up. I recommend purchasing Last Jedi. It's worth every penny, if you like the rest of the franchise, or if you're just getting into it. Last Jedi works best as part of a whole, but it's a great film in so many respects that, with some background information perhaps, there's no reason it can't stand alone to some degree as well.
Finally, we love you, Carrie. Thank you for being our princess when guys couldn't like Cinderella.
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