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Brutally Honest Oscar Ballot: 'Roma' Just an "Expensive Home Movie," "About F—ing Time" for Spike Lee
- Thread starter Saya
- Start date
A Star is Born is up for digital rental now in the US, so it's only VICE that isn't. The digital availability of all of these movies made the Oscars a bit weird for me this year. I've been seeing all the BP nominees in theaters for the last 7 years as part of Best Picture Marathon/weekend events, and this year was the first year that I skipped. Too many movies that I could just watch at home for free, or had already seen.
The write-up seems pretty spot-on this year and I agree with almost everything written. The Favourite will end up being the movie from the nominee list that I liked most, but a bunch of these shouldn't have made the list because they aren't very good. Nominating Bohemian Rhapsody and Black Panther over Eighth Grade? Give me a break.
Roma was great. I have never seen a "home movie" with that level of quality. Screw this dude. The only thing I didn't liked about Roma was the PRI propaganda hah. That shitty political party was the #1 ruler of the country back in the 70s so I guess it makes sense it appeared plenty during lot's of scenes in the movie.
I look forward to these features every year before the Oscars. I actually thought this one was pretty good. I may not agree with him on all points, but he had sound reasoning for his choices and it sounds like he watched enough to be informed. It bugs me to no end when some of the voters are like "I didn't watch any of these but I know the Pixar movie so I voted for that."
The Charlottesville footage is what made the damn movie. Without it its kind of just a run of the mill film about the odd circumstances of a police investigation. The whole transition from the window watching the burning cross, to the cut to the actual footage of Charlottesville with David Duke saying vile racist shit and who we have just watched being used for light comedic effect was powerful. It cements the fact that there is still a ton of racist views and sympathizers in this country.
The "take it or leave it" aspect of Roma makes me question whether it'll be able to bring home the Best Picture Oscar in a preferential ballot situation even if it lands the most 1st place votes thanks to its pedigree (it's my favorite film from last year) and the $50+ million that Netflix is spending solely to land this prize. I mean, this guy didn't get it and still placed it 4th - so clearly he's not actively trying to sabotage it, which is pretty darn kind for a "brutally honest" ballot that refers to Roma as a "home movie".
I just have to imagine that anyone that "doesn't get it" but actively really wants something else... ANYTHING ELSE... to win in its place is going to be far more inclined to rank it 8th or not rank it at all.
Some of us already knew this to be the case without needing that footage spliced in with the subtlety of a sledgehammer to ensure that message resonated. But, and I'll digress, I can see it proving to be a worthwhile inclusion for folks who live in a bubble and aren't attuned to current events the way I am. I think including that footage may well prove to be more worthwhile in a decade or two for folks revisiting Spike Lee's filmography.
As for me, I just found it tacky and unnecessary.
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One of the worst things about the Oscars is that they have been so wrong about the awards for so long that it winds up being a never ending cycle. They didn't recognize Spike Lee's groundbreaking early work, so now they are going to recognize one of his later middle of the road efforts. But to do that they have to ignore movies that are actually currently vital, like Blindspotting or Sorry to Bother You. Of course 30 years from now the cycle will continue when they recognize those filmmakers for some 6/10 movies they make late in their careers.
I only saw BlacKKKlansman like a couple weeks ago but yeah, Spike is finally getting that Oscar, they're going to be making up for past major snubs just as they have many times before.
BlacKkKlansman was my original pick. It's the most unique of the bunch, and if it comes to it arguably pound for pound the best.
I was hoping "brutally honest" meant like "embarassing" or "showing sexism/racism" but it was more the "devoid of hype" and "fair" kind of brutally honest and now I'm disappointed.
Well, complaining that Roma was a TV movie is pretty dumb.
Well, complaining that Roma was a TV movie is pretty dumb.
I fucking hate snooty-ass film people who think any movie that makes more than $10 at the box office is 'mainstream' and therefore a 'cash grab.' And I say that as someone who works in the industry, surrounded constantly by these people.
Maybe read the article, because he mentions all the things he likes.
There were so many others that were ignored since then goddamnit.
Remember the
I didn't see Roma but I agree with BP I don't even know why it's there. It's no better than most marvel pictures. Endgame was better.
At this point? The average age of an Oscars voter is like 68. Most of them don't even watch the vast majority of these films and haven't been active in the industry for years. It's always been this way, the Oscars have always been a 6 hour long self congratulatory wankfest where Hollywood gathers its "elites" (high brow producers and A-list actors/directors) to tell each other how amazing they all are while ignoring the dozens of rapists, pedophiles, and predators sitting in or adjacent to the ceremony itself. It's always been this way. None of the voters know fuck all.
The awards also stopped meaning anything as they're now no longer "must see TV" in an era where if anything interesting or compelling happens you can just look it up on youtube immediately instead of relying on water cooler talk the next day.
I think BlackKklansman, Sorry to Bother You, and for that matter Moonlight, and I Am Not Your Negro were all better than Beale Street. It was pretty turgid.
Nice to see Bohemian Rhapsody and A Star is Bon rightly called out. Thought all the whining about Black Panther was bullshit when those two were on the ballot.
Out of those nominated, Roma is still my favourite and Blackkklansman and Green Book both a close second.
Out of those nominated, Roma is still my favourite and Blackkklansman and Green Book both a close second.
I will die on this hill, black Panther imo is an average movie. I found it dull and was genuinely bored more than once. The social impact is amazing, far over due and I applaud it for that. But as a film taken in isolation, it will not age well. In thirty years people would see it had been nominated for best picture and people will say "what?". Especially when the social importance of the film is felt less strongly. It is a significant film, but it is not a good film. If you enjoyed it, power to you, I did not
Man, I watched the best live action short category that this Academy member calls the strongest category of any... they were mostly all well made dour slogs. Skin was definitely the best one.
Green Book being nominated for best picture is really bad. It's too cute take on racism is embarrassing.
Green Book being nominated for best picture is really bad. It's too cute take on racism is embarrassing.
There are at least three other movies in the best picture category that will be forgotten and mocked for having been nominated in the first place long before Black Panther.
I'd like to see The Favourite win for Best Picture and Spike to win best Director for BlacKkKlansman.
Infinity War had the good guys losing, half the universe and most of the fan favorites dying, turned the big bad who was anything but a threat into one of the best villians in film, and mixed 20 movies worth of development into a well constructed and balanced film. It is many things, but not a cash grab in the slightest.
I wonder if there will be any reflection from the Academy that the reason they are slipping into irrelevency is their not just ignoring but slandering the very genre of film that is keeping their way of business going? I'd put Infinity War above most of the BP nominees.
I wonder if there will be any reflection from the Academy that the reason they are slipping into irrelevency is their not just ignoring but slandering the very genre of film that is keeping their way of business going? I'd put Infinity War above most of the BP nominees.
