Oscar Nominees for Best Film

[Foxfyre]

The major component in great movies is great direction. I guess because audiences never see the director they assume that the actors are most responsible for success of the movie. However, that is rarely the case. Actors are skilled artists that are trained to give the director the performance he or she is looking for. The director and his staff plan each scene deciding on how each performance is to be delivered in order to accomplish the purpose of the scene which becomes a link in a chain that leads to final scene.

I believe movies are not as good as they once were because we just don't have enough good directors. In the mid 20th century about 1900 films were released in the US. By 2006, the number had increased to 11,600. By 2020, the impact of streaming services plus the huge demand for series has created a huge demand for good directors.

You can go to school and get a degree in film direction and after years in the business you can acquire the skills you need to make good movies but you still have to have the creative talent and that is what we are missing in today's productions. Too many productions lack the creative talent to touch audiences and involve them in the movie leaving audiences, bored, confused, or wondering why they just wasted two hours.

Excellent analysis and observations. I think that creative intuition isn't lacking in just movies these days but in many other creative aspects too, i.e. books. theater, comedy, music, even video games.

I have a couple of Hoyle card games for computer from early in the 21st Century designed to play bridge, spades, hearts, pinochle etc. with a variety of characters in a very realistic setting. The characters are programmed with various mannerisms and comments to you as their partner or opponent and to each other and the programming is brilliant. I bought an updated Hoyle program created in the last five years and there was no comparison. Dialogue was flat and boring and no individuality in the characters at all.

Same with an online game site I have subscribed to for years. it used to be such a user friendly social site and even the robots that sometimes replaced live players were entertaining in their expressions and mannerisms. The site was completely restructured recently when Google stopped supporting flash player and the new programming is cold, not conducive to social interaction and the programmers don't seem to know how to make things fun for people.

As our society has evolved and become more political, more judgmental, more ideological it seems to have lost something. And that might be that intuitive creativity that used to be so great.

 

[Flopper]

Excellent analysis and observations. I think that creative intuition isn't lacking in just movies these days but in many other creative aspects too, i.e. books. theater, comedy, music, even video games.

I have a couple of Hoyle card games for computer from early in the 21st Century designed to play bridge, spades, hearts, pinochle etc. with a variety of characters in a very realistic setting. The characters are programmed with various mannerisms and comments to you as their partner or opponent and to each other and the programming is brilliant. I bought an updated Hoyle program created in the last five years and there was no comparison. Dialogue was flat and boring and no individuality in the characters at all.

Same with an online game site I have subscribed to for years. it used to be such a user friendly social site and even the robots that sometimes replaced live players were entertaining in their expressions and mannerisms. The site was completely restructured recently when Google stopped supporting flash player and the new programming is cold, not conducive to social interaction and the programmers don't seem to know how to make things fun for people.

As our society has evolved and become more political, more judgmental, more ideological it seems to have lost something. And that might be that intuitive creativity that used to be so great.

I can't comment on games today because I haven't played one in 20 years.

The wife and I are avid readers, mostly mysteries and spy thrillers. She commented that the prose of these new writers is good but often the stories are trite and lack originality. Books, movies and TV series suffer from the same problem, the lack of creativity. Both TV series and movies steal the plotlines from older works, sometimes making very few changes.

There are many older movies and TV series that were masterful creations. One of my favorite creative director was Billy Wilder, a genius when it came to creating movies from scratch.

Wilder wrote the script and directed The Apartment which in my opinion is one of the best movies ever. There were plenty of romantic comedy scripts around in 1960 but Wilder was looking for something different. He wanted to create a romantic comedy that was a prelude to a romance. A movie in which there was nothing Romanic in it, not even a kiss or hug. A movie in which comedy masks underlying themes of exploitation, loneliness, and human values pitted against success in the business world. Wilder accomplished this and more.

What won the academy awards were the last scenes in the movie, particular the last scene in which Shirley McClain and Jack Lemon start playing a hand of Gin Rummy.
Mr. Baxter says, "Miss Kuberlik, I love you. I absolutely adore you". McLain smiles at Baxter and says ""Shut up and Deal." At that point the audience knew that this was the end of the movie but also the beginning of a romance which was exactly what Wilder wanted.

A second movie I think is just about as good is Marty, a low budge romantic film directed by Delbert Mann with a screen play by Patty Chayefsky with Ernest Borgnine and Betsy Blair. The success of this movie is due the Chayefsy's script and Mann's ability turn these characters into everyone in the audience who has ever felt ugly, fat, and unlucky in love which of course is most of the audience.

If you have not seen these movies, give them a try. It is filmmaking at it's best.

 

[frigidweirdo]

I have not seen any of them, will definitely watch Oppenheimer, Killers of the Flower Moon as well, but the one I most want to see is Zone of Interest.

I don't think any film has a chance to win this award from Oppenheimer.

How to Watch All the 2024 Best Picture Nominees

Ahead of the Academy Awards this weekend, here's how to watch all the movies you may have missed in theaters.

www.townandcountrymag.com

Oppenheimer is okay. If it's the best anyone can come up with... probably not much point watching films any more.

 

[Foxfyre]

I can't comment on games today because I haven't played one in 20 years.

The wife and I are avid readers, mostly mysteries and spy thrillers. She commented that the prose of these new writers is good but often the stories are trite and lack originality. Books, movies and TV series suffer from the same problem, the lack of creativity. Both TV series and movies steal the plotlines of older works, something making very few changes.

There are many older movies and TV series that were masterful creations. One of my favorite creative director was Billy Wilder, a genius when it came to creating movies from scratch.

Wilder wrote the script and directed The Apartment which in my opinion is one of the best movies ever. There were plenty of romantic comedy scripts around in 1960 but Wilder was looking for something different. He wanted to create a romantic comedy that was a prelude to a romance. A movie in which there was nothing Romanic in it, not even a kiss or hug. A movie in which comedy masks underlying themes of exploitation, loneliness, and human values pitted against success in the business world. Wilder accomplished this and more.

What won the academy awards were the last scenes in the movie, particular the last scene in which Shirley McClain and Jack Lemon start playing a hand of Gin Rummy.
Mr. Baxter says, Miss Kuberlik, I love you. I absolutely adore you. McLain smiles at Baxter and says ""Shut up and Deal." At that point audience knew that this was the end of the movie but also the beginning of a romance which was exactly what Wilder wanted.

A second movie I think is just about as good is Marty, a low budge romantic film directed by Delbert Mann with a screen play by Patty Chayefsky with Ernest Borgnine and Betsy Blair. The success of this movie is due the Chayefsy's script and Mann's ability to make these characters into everyone in the audience who has ever felt ugly, fat, and unlucky in love which of course is most of the audience.

If you have not seen these movies, give them a try. It is filmmaking at it's best.

They are both in our movie collection. And I agree both are brilliant in their own way. Some of my favorite movies are obscure low budget films but the story line, acting, directing was great. Not that Apartment and Marty are all that obscure.

 

[Flopper]

Oppenheimer is okay. If it's the best anyone can come up with... probably not much point watching films any more.

Yes considering what constitute a great movie today, Oppenheimer will most likely win

 

[Flopper]

They are both in our movie collection. And I agree both are brilliant in their own way. Some of my favorite movies are obscure low budget films but the story line, acting, directing was great. Not that Apartment and Marty are all that obscure.

There are lots obscure movies that are great films. Today most of the major studios just rent out sound stages and facilities and operate as distribution companies. That was not the case before 1960 when the fate of a film lied with the major studio heads. Many a good movie died on the cutting room floor simply because the studio heads decided to punish directors, and major stars for reasons that will likely remain buried in the past.

Case in point, Orson Wells who was probably the greatest talent in Hollywood in 1940s. He infuriated William Randolph Hearst who considered Citizen Kane a person attack. The Hearst chain of newspapers could destroy films and studios by denying advertising space and seeing that reviews were bad. The studios fearing Hearst, saw to it that Citizen Kane got mediocre reviews and was pulled within a month after it was released, not to be shown again for over a decade. Welles 2nd masterpiece, The Magnificent Ambersons got similar treatment. Welles spent serval years writing uncredited scripts. In 1946, he agreed to do a a film for Columbia, The Stranger. He wrote the script and co-starred. He received nothing for his work and never got credit for the script. He did Lady from Shanghai for Columbia with a similar deal.

His days of directing great movies were over. He made one more great film, Touch of Evil in 1953. Until his death in 1985, he made movies in Europe, wrote uncredited scripts, did documentaries, narrated films for TV and took small parts in major Hollywood productions who simply wanted his name in the cast.

The studios had blackballed him and never allowed him to make any of the movies he wanted to make. By 1955, Welles had given up all hope. From that point on he just worked to earn a paycheck until his health failed.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

I can't comment on games today because I haven't played one in 20 years.

The wife and I are avid readers, mostly mysteries and spy thrillers. She commented that the prose of these new writers is good but often the stories are trite and lack originality. Books, movies and TV series suffer from the same problem, the lack of creativity. Both TV series and movies steal the plotlines from older works, sometimes making very few changes.

There are many older movies and TV series that were masterful creations. One of my favorite creative director was Billy Wilder, a genius when it came to creating movies from scratch.

Wilder wrote the script and directed The Apartment which in my opinion is one of the best movies ever. There were plenty of romantic comedy scripts around in 1960 but Wilder was looking for something different. He wanted to create a romantic comedy that was a prelude to a romance. A movie in which there was nothing Romanic in it, not even a kiss or hug. A movie in which comedy masks underlying themes of exploitation, loneliness, and human values pitted against success in the business world. Wilder accomplished this and more.

What won the academy awards were the last scenes in the movie, particular the last scene in which Shirley McClain and Jack Lemon start playing a hand of Gin Rummy.
Mr. Baxter says, "Miss Kuberlik, I love you. I absolutely adore you". McLain smiles at Baxter and says ""Shut up and Deal." At that point the audience knew that this was the end of the movie but also the beginning of a romance which was exactly what Wilder wanted.

A second movie I think is just about as good is Marty, a low budge romantic film directed by Delbert Mann with a screen play by Patty Chayefsky with Ernest Borgnine and Betsy Blair. The success of this movie is due the Chayefsy's script and Mann's ability turn these characters into everyone in the audience who has ever felt ugly, fat, and unlucky in love which of course is most of the audience.

If you have not seen these movies, give them a try. It is filmmaking at it's best.

There is a lack of passion today.
A lack of self pride, in the sense of accomplishment. Younger people, generally speaking, are less focused on accomplishing... whatever it is they are passionate about.
Social media, the constant-constant habit of looking at a phone, literally, hours and hours everyday is turning people into drones. Passionless, goalless... they lack the will and work it takes to create.

 

[rightwinger]

Oppenheimer is okay. If it's the best anyone can come up with... probably not much point watching films any more.

I thought the same…..Good Movie

But not one I would like to watch again

 

[Foxfyre]

There are lots obscure movies that are great films. Today most of the major studios just rent out sound stages and facilities and operate as distribution companies. That was not the case before 1960 when the fate of a film lied with the major studio heads. Many a good movie died on the cutting room floor simply because the studio heads decided to punish directors, and major stars for reasons that will likely remain buried in the past.

Case in point, Orson Wells who was probably the greatest talent in Hollywood in 1940s. He infuriated William Randolph Hearst who considered Citizen Kane a person attack. The Hearst chain of newspapers could destroy films and studios by denying advertising space and seeing that reviews were bad. The studios fearing Hearst, saw to it that Citizen Kane got mediocre reviews and was pulled within a month after it was released, not to be shown again for over a decade. Welles 2nd masterpiece, The Magnificent Ambersons got similar treatment. Welles spent serval years writing uncredited scripts. In 1946, he agreed to do a a film for Columbia, The Stranger. He wrote the script and co-starred. He received nothing for his work and never got credit for the script. He did Lady from Shanghai for Columbia with a similar deal.

His days of directing great movies were over. He made one more great film, Touch of Evil in 1953. Until his death in 1985, he made movies in Europe, wrote uncredited scripts, did documentaries, narrated films for TV and took small parts in major Hollywood productions who simply wanted his name in the cast.

The studios had blackballed him and never allowed him to make any of the movies he wanted to make. By 1955, Welles had given up all hope. From that point on he just worked to earn a paycheck until his health failed.

I would love to watch movies with you.

 

[odanny]

Oppenheimer is okay. If it's the best anyone can come up with... probably not much point watching films any more.

I just watched it on a long flight, even with those shitty headphones (I missed a lot of the dialogue) I really enjoyed it. It was a quality film, well made, and never dragged for 3 hours, which is quite remarkable for me.

Check out this one, it's pretty funny and based on a true story, if you liked The Office then you'll like this, they kind of have the same style of humor.

BlackBerry (2023) ⭐ 7.4 | Biography, Comedy, Drama

2h | R

www.imdb.com

 

[Flopper]

There is a lack of passion today.
A lack of self pride, in the sense of accomplishment. Younger people, generally speaking, are less focused on accomplishing... whatever it is they are passionate about.
Social media, the constant-constant habit of looking at a phone, literally, hours and hours everyday is turning people into drones. Passionless, goalless... they lack the will and work it takes to create.

That's not just in the entertainment industry. It is an every walk of life. I think there are multiple reasons why young people today lack pride in their accomplishments. I think one of the problems is our society is just to damn affluent. When I was 12 years old, I was throwing two paper routes. I had to collect from customers, and pay for my papers every month. Everyday, I had to get up at 4am to throw my morning route and got home just in time for breakfast before I went to school. An hour after I got out of school, I was throwing my afternoon route. At 16, I added a weekend job at a local grocery The month before I started college, I was working in a bottling plant part time and did so till I graduated. Then I started working at my first full time job the week after I graduated.

Roll the clock forward 50 years and I have grandkids. They are out of high school and their goal is avoid work at all cost.

I read a few days ago that 25% of young adults turning 30 are receiving either full or partial support from their parents.

 

[Flopper]

I would love to watch movies with you.

If you watch Lincoln and Man for All Seasons tonight, ill be watching with you.

 

[Foxfyre]

If you watch Lincoln and Man for All Seasons tonight, ill be watching with you.

Good choices but our choices tonight are "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "Dante's Peak"

 

[Flopper]

Good choices but our choices tonight are "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "Dante's Peak"

IMHO,

To Kill a Mockingbird is one of the greatest movies of the 20th century, the script, acting and the story are top notch. It is number 20 on AFI's list of the best films of the last 100 years.

Dante's Peak is a typical Hollywood disaster movie. It is only mildly entertaining. The action sequences are pretty good. The rest is pretty much of a disaster. The script is not good and acting is no better.

 

[Foxfyre]

IMHO,

To Kill a Mockingbird is one of the greatest movies of the 20th century, the script, acting and the story are top notch. It is number 20 on AFI's list of the best films of the last 100 years.

Dante's Peak is a typical Hollywood disaster movie. It is only mildly entertaining. The action sequences are pretty good. The rest is pretty much of a disaster. The script is not good and acting is no better.

I agree with you re "To Kill a Mockingbird" but not so much on "Dante's Peak." I will concede that the acting and script are not the quality of 'greatest' movies, but it has a strong story line and the characters are well thought out and developed and we find it entertaining, enjoyable, satisfying again and again. There are some films that make up for some deficiencies with other qualities and draw you in in ways that aren't easily explained.

 

[odanny]

So Ted Hall was the spy, and the audio was so bad I missed it, so guess what? I need to sit thru Oppenheimer for another three hours!

Or, I could just watch this, I guess:

A Compassionate Spy (2022) ⭐ 6.5 | Documentary, Biography, History

1h 41m

www.imdb.com

 

[Flopper]

I agree with you re "To Kill a Mockingbird" but not so much on "Dante's Peak." I will concede that the acting and script are not the quality of 'greatest' movies, but it has a strong story line and the characters are well thought out and developed and we find it entertaining, enjoyable, satisfying again and again. There are some films that make up for some deficiencies with other qualities and draw you in in ways that aren't easily explained.

I don't remember much about Dante's Peak but I remember quite a lot about the movie To Kill a Mockingbird. It came out in1962 at the height of civil rights movement, JFK had nationalized the Mississippi National Guard to force the integration of Old Miss, 8 Black churches were fire bombed, civil rights workers were mysteriously disappearing, and into all this came To Kill a Mockingbird. What was strange is that that none of the theaters were refusing to show the movie and there was little in the way of protests. I think this is because many people in the South if not most, shared the views of Atticus Finch in the movie. They knew things weren't right but like Atticus they were not ready to destroy the culture they were born into.

There are so many good themes and messages in the movie being dramatized so well, that it is hard not to be touched by them no matter what you believed. I first saw the movie in 1962 in Jackson Mississippi which was in the heart of the civil rights crisis. Yet at the end of the movie, most people just sat there and slowly started clapping. Thinking, back, I find that amazing considering the time and the place.