Wednesday, December 11, 2019

FTM 517 - AWARDS SEASON BLUES & GREENS

For your consideration: Patrick and Rob talk awards season movies.



Download this episode here. (42 MB)

Listen to F This Movie! on Spotify and on Stitcher.

23 comments:

  1. Yes, stay off Twitter. Delete that app. I felt like I was in the minority watching Joker thinking it was missing something the entire time. Everyone I know seemed to think it was great and I was like it's fine, I guess. What was it missing? The Joker is missing Batman! Duh, I never even thought of that. Thank you.

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    1. (i have not listened to the podcast yet)


      i don't totally agree with that. my problem with Joker is a problem that i have with most modern Hollywood movies. specifically with Joker, they have to explain why he's crazy. he can't just be like that, it needs a reason. think King Of Comedy, from which Joker borrow A LOT, where the character is just weird/crazy. no explanation, no reasons, he just is.

      and then they explain his laugh, which... ugh, just ugh.

      the idea of the movie and what they're trying to say is good, but it is not well made

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    3. I get it. Myers went from purely and simply... evil! In Halloween 1978. To Zombie's Halloween explaining Myers comes from a dysfunctional white trash family.

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    4. I am not surprised Joker got all these nominations, I don't agree with any of them except best actor (only because I feel that if Joaquin doesn't win it now he never will) but I feel that when Black Panther got nominated for all the best pictures award and the primary push for it was its "cultural significance", I feared that they opened a door for this type of situation hence we have Joker getting all these nominations because of the "social themes" it presents.

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  2. Man, I love these freewheeling episodes! Good to have you back, Patrick - can’t wait for the Top Ten episodes

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  3. Ride or Die Strangers on a Train and Shadow of a Doubt!! I agree on the free wheeling episodes. Bring on the tangents.

    Rob I also really liked Jono Rabbit. But I am a kiwi so that could be national basis. For me when Stephen Merchant turns up, the tone or tones come together for more and it became more of a whole.

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    1. I mean I mean I'm ride or Die for Strangers on a Train and Shadow of a Die.

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  4. Thank you, Adam, for at least putting Lynch in the "Masterpiece" discussion. I think Tarantino needs to be in the mix as well and I'm not even that much of a fan boy of his.

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    1. Riske is always on my mind, haha - Sorry, I meant thank you ROB!!!

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    2. Funny slip! Riske is a part of all of us!

      I was also surprised that they took so long to mention Tarantino.

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    3. My goal is to be more like Riske.

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  5. The Nightengale wrecked me, but I couldn't stop watching. It was obviously beautifully made but I honestly can't say if it's a great movie or not because I'm never going to see it again, and have a difficult time thinking of it critically and not emotionally. Also, was the main bad guy a ringer for James Marsden or am I tripping?

    Aside from that, I think that Jennifer Kent should be able to do whatever the fuck she wants, and I'll watch it. Hopefully it'll be a romantic comedy.

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    1. Right there with you on The Nightingale, Will--so well made and so emotionally devastating. It's interesting the way Jennifer Kent is mining really traumatic territory so far in her films--The Babadook also shook me really deeply, although that one is much easier to watch because of the supernatural elements that add a layer of remove from the raw pain.

      I don't think The Nightingale will be up for any major awards, unfortunately, but I would love to see it get acknowledged for sound mixing. The combination of birds/nature sounds and the recurring hallucinatory echoes of voices really added to the atmosphere of dread in a unique way.

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  6. I loved this episode--no structure is A-OK with me! :)

    The discussion about Marriage Story feeling almost too personal to talk about really resonated with me. I expected it to be a really painful watch since I've been through a divorce myself; but I ended up finding it cathartic and comforting instead. I don't know if I could write about it in a cogent way; but it made me feel things that other movies I really love and admire never did. I think I love Blue Valentine more overall, for example, but I feel a more personal connection to Marriage Story.

    The masterpieces conversation was fun and I'd love to hear a whole episode debating that question of who has made the most masterpieces. For me, the Coens definitely belong in that conversation: Blood Simple, Miller's Crossing, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, True Grit, No Country For Old Men, Inside Llewyn Davis, and (at least for me) A Serious Man all belong on that list. I'd even make a case for Hail Caesar, although I know that was a more divisive movie for people.

    Speaking of divisive, I know Woody Allen is a lightning rod and I completely understand and respect if people don't want to talk about him. But personally, he's made SO many movies that I would consider masterpieces. Given his prolific output, there are certainly some duds as well; but I'd put these films up as masterpieces any day:
    Annie Hall
    Manhattan
    Hannah and Her Sisters
    Match Point
    Crimes and Misdemeanors
    Zelig
    Radio Days
    Shadows & Fog
    Midnight in Paris
    Small Time Crooks
    Bullets Over Broadway

    I think an argument could be made for Kathryn Bigelow--one of the few female filmmakers who has had the opportunity to make a lot of films on a decent budget. Not sure about everyone else but I think Near Dark, Point Break, Hurt Locker, Blue Steel, and Zero Dark Thirty are all masterpieces. Hell, I might even throw Strange Days on the list even though I think that one has some flaws--it's still super interesting and innovative and captures an energy that you rarely see in movies.

    Anyway--great show as always! Keep up the good work. ;)

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    1. For Woody Allen I'd also throw in Sleeper and Deconstructing Harry. He and Hitchcock were the first two that came to mind.

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  7. I loved this episode! I will say though that I thought the discussion of directors with the most masterpieces was disappointingly American focused.
    For instance I would argue the following are all in the running:

    Jean-Pierre Melville-Bob le Flambeur, Le Doulos, Le Samorai, Army of Shadows, Le Cercle Rouge and Un Flic

    Zhang Yimou-Ju Dou, Raise the Red Lantern, The Story of Qiu Ju, To Live, Hero, House of Flying Daggers

    But IMHO the director with the most masterpieces of all time has to be Akira Kurosawa-Stray Dog, Rashomon, Ikiru, Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, The Hidden Fortress, The Bad Sleep Well, Yojimno, Kagemusha and Ran. Even if you don't agree all of those are masterpieces, that's a hell of a list.


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    1. Great call out on the Melville & Kurosawa--I haven't seen any Zhang Yimou-Ju Dou but thanks for the reminder I need to.

      I was thinking of contemporary folks primarily when I wrote my comment above, but I'd definitely make a case for folks like Jacques Demy, Ernst Lubitsch, Billy Wilder, Agnes Varda; plus current international filmmakers Wong Kar-Wai, Pedro Almodovar, and honestly even Bong Joon-Ho. Bong has at least three (Mother, Memories of Murder, Parasite) and I'd make an argument for Snowpiercer too.

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  8. The directors conversation was totally unplanned and off the cuff. Obviously if we had planned it out, we would have addressed more voices. Sometimes there’s a panic factor when you’re recording a show and trying to keep the dynamic moving while using your brain to access thoughts. Sometimes it gets jumbled up and you listen back and wonder wha the hell you were thinking. I’m glad you’re bringing up more great directors, though!

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    1. You guys got the conversation started and that's the awesome thing! I love when a spontaneous conversation can prompt lengthy discussions and debates long after the initial thoughts were expressed. ;)

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  9. I found it interesting the conversation about having to decide on "the best movies" when not all the movies have come out yet (Star Wars!), and how you haven't had the time to see all the movies yet that have come out.

    I always struggle with this in my end-of-the-year lists, because I mostly see movies a while after they've come out. Last year, I offered up 5 movies for my best-of 2018, but I've seen many more in the meantime, several which were better than any on my list! Spiderverse! Burning! Oh, well.

    I think I'll do the same thing this year, which is 5 best 2019 movies, and also 5 best new-to-me movies. Which Spiderverse will be one, and everyone will wonder why, it's because I saw it in January, ffs.

    Anyways, great podcast. I appreciate how you both keep level heading about the vacuousness of many of these awards, while bringing up their role in sometimes bringing to light some stuff that otherwise wouldn't be noticed by the general public (ie. me)

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  10. Doesn't Little Women look super...political? I wonder to how many people it's news that women had to consider marrying for money and didn't own property in the old days... I never considered Little Women a story about careers vs marriage and children before.

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  11. Age of Innocence is definitely a masterpiece for Scorsese. Unlike anything he's ever made.

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