Catch up with the idea behind these weekend posts here.
I was talking with a friend this week about “the test of time,” as it were. She posited, as have many, that “The King’s Speech” is not the film we’ll remember 10 years from now. I don’t know that “The Social Network” is either, frankly, but I also don’t subscribe to the law of time’s judgment when it comes to these things, either.
The film I’m likely to remember most this year? The one that occupies my mind more than most? If I’m being honest? “Biutiful.” I have a lot of respect for what’s going on with that film, but I still believe it has inherent flaws that keep it from a certain pristine quality. Flaws that won’t take on new characteristics with time.
I think it’s become a bit facile to go there so quickly. “Time will tell.” Etc. I actually think time can kill a film. Just look at the revisionism of films that lost the Best Picture Oscar to admittedly greater works. The haze of hindsight is not always a great lens to look through, and the inherent subjectivity of this stuff means, to me, you’re best bet is an educated take in the moment.
But I thought I’d throw it out there for you to chew on today.
Elsewhere, if you were on the fence with a Hailee Steinfeld prediction, Melissa Leo may well be shooting herself square in the foot with an embarrassing (everyone’s talking about it) self-promotional campaign. Pete Hammond’s story hit Deadline last night literally minutes after I was talking about the situation with a few USC Scripter attendees. Add in the video thing she did for the Globes and you have the perception of a diva on the loose, and one that could see an Oscar slip out of her grasp.
Anyway, plenty there to talk about, but if you want to address other issues, feel free. You know the drill. Open thread.
[Photo: MGM]
Comments
94 responses to “CINEJABBER: The test of time”
How long has Leo been doing rogue? if oscar ballots have already been cast does anything really matter anymore, or am I missing something?
Leo’s justification for this is pretty shallow and presumptuous. She’s been a part of such acclaimed films as The Fighter, Frozen River, and 21 Grams, and has six projects wrapping up or in production, and all she wants is a magazine cover?
Bashir: Ballots went out Tuesday.
I just feel bad for Leo, really. She obviously craves acceptance and reward. And yet, this is not the way to go; in my opinion.
I have nothing against the woman. None of us know her personally. And I think she’s a great actress.
But this sure shows chinks in her armor (literally and confidence-wise), and I think the self-campaign is a misjudgement, for sure.
Whether or not it ‘does her in’ for the win is yet to be seen.
On a separate note: I think the films I’ll remember most from 2010 (for various reasons) will be Inception, Black Swan, and Another Year. I absolutely love The Fighter; but I don’t think it necessarily defines “2010”.
It’s so funny because this is precisely against what Mo’Nique was trying to prove last year. After Mo’s classy “let the performance speak for itself” campaign, voters might be turned off by antics like these.
I was thinking the same thing recently, Sasha Stone from Awardsdaily has brought up this time issue a lot with how The King’s Speech wont be remembered and The Social Network will. But then she goes on to say how much of a disappointment it is that Rocky won over the movies it was up against. which one is remembered? Rocky. though, it does depend on the circles you run around with but if you’re going purely on numbers, I’d say Rocky.
and of the 10 this year, id say only Toy Story 3 and Black Swan will be remembered heavily. Toy Story 3 because Disney lasts forever through new media format purchases and theme park rides. and Black Swan because its rare we get a good “horror” film up for high end awards, and when we do, its usually remembered…The Exorcist, Silence of the Lambs, etc.
Honestly? I can barely remember half the films that were nominated in the last decade…
Inception, Toy Story, Social Network, and Black Swan will be remembered. True Grit will begin to look dull in hindsight. And King’s Speech will become another English Patient/Shakespeare in Love in Oscar history. Kids Are All Right will unfortunately go the way of many other indie comedies like Little Miss Sunshine and Juno and only be slightly remembered via re-runs on TBS/TNT.
No one is going to remember The Social Network ten years from now either. In fact, no one is going to remember the The Social Network in a few months.
I also don’t buy into this “test of time” argument. AMPAS voters are not fortune tellers; people vote for movies which moved to the core, not movies they predict might stimulate audiences in 2050.
Who even remembers Oscar-nominated movies? Winner or not, they seldom stand the test of time. The movies which have stuck with me over the five years? Y tu mama tambien and The Dreamers, none of them Oscar winners.
Kyle, that doesn’t necessarily an indeciator of them being unmemorable. I’d say that the thing that you can remember close to 50% says otherwise, actually.
The reaction to Leo’s campaign is quite said. I don’t care what a nominee does or doesn’t do, it should always be the performance that matters. If voters are looking at anything else, THEY are the shallow ones.
“Black Swan will be remembered”
Funny, people said the same thing about Monster when Charlize Theron “uglified” herself and won an Oscar for her physical transformation. Keep dreaming buddy.
Afrika, Roger Ebert had it in his top 5 for the decade.
I would say that one of my best friends – and an ardent film fan – would have ‘Monster’ in his Top tier for the decade.
This may sound silly, but why in 2040 would anyone care that a movie “defined” 2010? We’ll just look back at whatever we consider the best-made movie.
Melissa Leo: There’s nothing wrong with a character actress wanting her just due and winning in the character actress category Best Supporting Actress. There are 3 other nominees who are possible threats to her victory: Amy Adams, the little girl and Helena (I starred in Fight Club and lost my Best Actress bid to Helen Hunt) Bonham Carter.
we will remember THE SOCIAL NETWORK, BLACK SWAN and TOY STORY 3. Period.
I’m in New York this week and the Leo Gimme A Cover Implosion is all everyone I’m running into is talking about. And not in a good way. Just based on what I’m hearing, it’s backfiring and The Fighter is looking at losing one of its Oscar locks.
With the ballots having just gone out and Academy Members now having the opportunity to make their final decisions, the last thing, the LAST thing you want as a nominee is for someone to pause before choosing you and consider an alternative. To have that moment of doubt. You get doubt and you’re in big trouble.
Make it as easy for them as possible. THIS is the time when you, as a nominee, have to be absolutely perfect. No gaffes. No mistakes. No stupid decisions. No “funny jokes” which could be misunderstood or misinterpreted. That Leo doesn’t get this is just mind-numblingly unbelievable.
This marathon is far, far from over and Leo’s just suffered the equivalent of a massive leg cramp. She can still finish, but it ain’t gonna be pretty and Steinfeld could easily sprint right on by.
Kind of sad because her work is so, so strong and she’s now running the risk of being remembered by some as the also-ran Oscar Contender who blew it because she really, really wanted to be on the cover of Vanity Fair or Vogue.
(nothing wrong with that, by the way. just don’t broadcast it in a huge, news making way the week Oscar Ballots go out!)
It’s worth noting that it is very helpful to look at other groups of human beings with expertise in film.
The AMPAS has made mistakes, but NSFC and NYFCC didn’t go for “The Godfather.” (NYFCC did choose Citizen Kane in 1941.) Ultimately looking at groups underscores how challenging it is to see excellence far down the pike.
“Singing in the Rain” did not get a BP nod from AMPAS, or NYFCC. I believe it got a nod or win from WGA, though.
The idea of Leo shooting herself in the foot actually crossed my mind watching the SAG Awards when she used her acceptance speech time to make a political statement about the merging of SAG and AFTRA. Honestly, it’s always kinda bugged me when actors do this. It just doesn’t seem like the time or place, and I think it can certainly backfire on the actor, regardless of whether the audience agrees with their statement or not.
I think the actual photos bother me more than the idea of self-promoting yourself. The plunging neckline. The (fake) fur coat. She even LOOKS like a diva.
What will be remembered? Having given this some thought I keep coming back to Inception. There’s an awful lot about it that’s memorable in its parts, and I think it’s memorable as whole, even if a lot of people (me included) wouldn’t say it’s the year’s best.
Though if the question is what film moment from 2010 is most memorable, I’d probably go with the ending of The Ghost Writer.
As far as the test of time goes, I think Pixar is a pretty reasonable candidate for having a couple of classics. Maybe “Toy Story 3” will be the one that lives on.
To me it’s Inception and How To Train Your Dragon the ones that’ll endure the test of time out of how amazingly well they were put together. Dogtooth could endure it too, because… when will I ever see something like that ever again, I don’t know.
But from last year’s nominees, I think it’s District 9 the one that I’ll hold on to more dearly. It kicked so many consecutive asses I still can’t believe it got a Best Picture nod. It’s over the top as hell, but it’s so fun with Wikus’s quirkyness to the surrounding gory violence. The prawn robot, the sweet weapons, the exaggerated villains everywhere, the african setting, it’s all just… most awesome.
Glad to see my comment that was removed with a link to that Leo story showed up somewhere. I’ll admit it’s a little bit out of bias, but I’m still rooting for her.
@Andrej-I thought it was a video game that wanted to be taken seriously because it had commenrary. But that’s me.
You never really know what movies end up being the ones that stand the test of time. Just think of The Big Lebowski, a flop at the time it came out, and now such an enormous cult classic that when Jeff Bridges departs this world, it might even the The Role he’s remembered for most, above those that won him Oscar wins and nominations.
And wasn’t it just said on a recent Oscar Talk (said by a commenter here) that all the Oscars are is a snapshot in time of the collective opinion of 5,000 people. And that’s the greatest truth about it all. They’re not voting to predict what film will stand the test of time, they’re just voting for what they like best right now.
I think The Social Network will stand the test of time for sure, along with Black Swan, Toy Story 3 and Inception.
I think a couple films that were under appreciated this year will also do it. I think Blue Valentine will for the unbelievably raw and brilliant performances by Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams. And I think Shutter Island will. It wasn’t as well received when released, but I think people will look back on it and really appreciate what Scorsese was doing with a genre movie.
Awesome I think Leo’s performance in Shutter Island is the thing people will come back to not Scorsese’s direction.
The film that will stand the test of times — i can see toy story 3, obviously which pixar film don’t. Black swan, mainly for natalie Portman performance. Shutter island for sure, as most Scorsese films do stand the test of time. And inception, i feel like inception will be standard of blockbuster film for the years to come. I don’t know about social network yet but i’ll guess we see….
Drew: Your comment wasn’t removed. It’s probably in the system if it contained a link, as they are held up for moderation.
Gotchya
Helena Bonham Carter needs to win.
Drew:
I don’t think the Apartheid/Nazi commentaries from District 9 are as relevant as most reviews I’ve read are pointing out. The plot is all about this guy who’s mutating into an alien and desperately tries to get back to normal amidst all the controversy and chaos his transformation generates. The analogies are there, but they were so transparent they were barely a sidedish to the whole thing.
However, I think it’d make for a nice co-op shooter videogame.
*Helena Bonham Carter needs to win.*
Sarcasm?
Black Swan and Inception mainly but also smaller films like Dogtooth and Four Lions perhaps.
Admiration might grow for Shutter Island, about Social Network it may go either way…
IF Leo’s campaign sways voters … couldn’t they be towards a very deserving Amy Adams?
Afrika:
She does. Amy Adams has shot at Best Actress this year with the Joplin bio-pic. Why jinks her chances in that race for a lousy Supporting Actress prize just because she’s over due on the 3rd nomination? Children shouldn’t win acting Oscars because they’ll never top such an achievement as they grow into adulthood. That Australian character actress can now use the nomination as leverage to get roles in Hollywood productions. Bonham Carter not agreeing with the hype behind her King’s Speech performance, coupled with her best-in-show performance in Alice, her forever cool Marla Singer role in Fight Club, and losing to Helen Hunt for Best Actress makes her the most worthy possible winner.
Why did you put a picture from “Dances with Wolves” at the top of the post?
It certainly used the Apartheid, which I believe the director had either lived through or was connected to in some way, as a selling point and a way to further the films messages. All of which I agreed with. And while I felt it had an interesting conept behind it, the fact that it was reduced into a video, or a shoot-em ET as I like to refer just diminsihed the movie for me and kept me from taking it seriously and caring about anything that happened.
I would be so happy if Jacki Weaver or Amy Adams won. The Leo thing is so tacky and it’s funny to me how that relates to her performance/character in the film.
I thought of it the other way around. I think the Apartheid commentary was so literal it didn’t really help much the movie if that was a selling point for it. If you can embrace the action secuences and aesthetic, then it’s all good, awesome fun, but if you were expecting deep analogies for racial segregations in african countries… wrong movie.
To me, Let Me In may be the film that’s remembered years from now. It’s pretty F’ing amazing.
It was an interesting idea up to the point of dumbing it down with an all out assualt on the senses that didn’t add anything to the film for me. The themes of government, corproate control, and xenephobia were all there. When you use the Apartheid as the basis for the backdrop of the film, then yeah, maybe you should’ve expected something other a mindless action flick. At least with how the third act was.
I guess they probably should’ve just disregarded the whole the thing all together and made a seperate film.
@ Afrika’s #12 post
If you read a little furth down you’ll find my argument. I dont think your ‘Monster’ comparison has anything to do with what i’m purposing. I’m strickly talking about the horror genre getting Academy nods and wins, not Natalie’s performance.
Well… curiously enough, from the same year there’s Avatar. Similar concepts of xenophobia, alien invasions and corporate militias.
And again, I wasn’t a huge fan of the third act lol. What do you think helped get both those film BP nominations?
Yeah, but let’s enjoy the little things while we can. Even with 10 slots, I don’t think getting two or more action packed sci-fi movies for Best Picture will be a frequent event, let alone be it a front runner like Avatar was :(
“Toy Story 3” and “Inception” are the only movies that will be remembered 10 years from now. That’s quite obvious – they are the only movies nominated this year that are worth SOMETHING. “Toy Story 3” is even a masterpiece and it should win. I wonder how it could loose anything to “The Social Network” or “The King’s Speech”.
Rabbit Hole is the one film that will withstand the test of time. Just look at all those films Nicole’s been in – Moulin Rouge (I think this is Kris’ favorite), The Hours, The Others, Dogville, Birth, Nicole has an eye for films like these when she’s at the top of her game. Do you agree?
Oh, I’d also like to add Eyes Wide Shut and To Die For.