No animated films were represented.
Not even one of the five.
Only one of the five documentaries nominated for an Oscar was on the list and I admit to being surprised at his choice, as it adds nothing new to the world.
Sigh.
White guilt.
I'm so tired of that weighing so heavily on his selections for us.
Does he not understand he's preaching to the choir?
Sigh.
This morning, after investigating the shorts we will be allowed to see out of the nominated fifteen, I have decided to attend anyway, as a voice of debate.
There's only one film I'm interested in and that's the one by Wes Anderson.
Partly that's because of the movie stars in it, but also because I enjoy Roald Dahl's books.
Plus, "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar" has magic at its heart; who doesn't need a bit of that in their lives?
My prediction: this will be the final one in Tomasz's line-up, to leave us with a sweet taste.
(Yes, the pun is intentional!)
"The ABCs Of Book Banning" is a documentary due to be a waste of celluloid.
It's to be full of quotes from talking heads, probably of dead authors who have been gone decades before the internet took over children's minds as an information source.
I understand that Tomasz is an older person, but he's well-versed in using the worldwide web, so it's a mystery why he would choose to screen this outdated philosophy.
My prediction: this will serve as a fairly neutral filler between two of the three about death.
Did I say death?
Yes, because all three of the live-action selections are centered on death.
Death of an unborn, death of a teen, death of an older woman.
Sigh.
"Red, White, And Blue" is the first type of death, following a low-income woman as she drags her daughter across state lines in the USA in search of an abortion.
[If not for Rachel Snow, I doubt I would even consider this.]
"Invincible" features the second type of death in a quasi-documentary about a 14-year-old boy following in the 1991 footsteps of "Thelma & Louise", but choosing a river in Canada to hurl his car, and himself, into.
[This one is from 2022, so I don't understand how it was even nominated. ]
"Ridder Lykke", aka "Knight Of Fortune", is about two widowers making a connection at the morgue, over a song both wives had liked.
[This Danish film is also from 2022. Why was it nominated for 2023?]
My prediction: "Knight Of Fortune" will likely be used as a filler to mute the other two from out minds, unless Tomasz missed that it's to have a happier tone at the end.
Given all the deaths of family and friends that I've had in the last fifteen years, I'm actually looking forward to this one.
As for the other two live-action ones Tomasz chose... meh.
I'll be glad when they're over, and just may take a walk down to the art gallery in the Savannah Cultural Arts Center instead of watch them.
I guess I'll see when that time comes, as I'm not a seer of the future...
I'm a seer of films.
(smile!)
1 comment:
How were my predictions?
The Wes Anderson film was, indeed, at the end.
Good for me!
Also, the Danish film served as a buffer between the other two films dealing with death.
Again, good for me!
However, I was off about the book banning documentary, as that was the first one out of the gate.
To recap, that means I was correct on screening order of 4 out of 5.
Pretty good!
And how did the films hit me?
"The ABCs of Book Banning" surprised me by giving us the thoughts of 9- and 10-year-old readers of some of the books banned from their school libraries. THAT was certainly the best perspective! Oscar worthy? No.
"Red, White, And Blue" had me wondering why on Earth the pregnant mother was dragging her 10-yo daughter with her across state lines for an abortion, but not bringing along the younger son... until the twist. Wow. Well done, and certainly on target for an Oscar. Good of Brooke Shields to add star power to this, as well as Rachel Snow.
"Knight Of Fortune" was pretty much just as I expected, meaning much better than the two-line blurb describing it. This was definitely my favorite, with an excellent insight into male grief. I do hope it takes the Oscar!
"Invincible" was also as I expected at the start, with the 14-yo juvenile delinquent garnering no sympathy from me. Then it switched POV to his family, and the effect of his selfish shenanigans on them. Wow. Message received; maybe Oscar noticed.
"The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar" truly had an excellent story and a great cast, but was marred but what may have been an intentionally horrible bit of sound editing. Sometimes the dialogue was faint and hard to discern, then it would be overly loud and blaring. Ack. No Oscar for that hot mess.
Overall, a good evening's worth for $10.
Plus I had good company: Sandy, Kal, Barbara and her new friend Betty; plus Rob and Lindsay Norman were there!!!
Very nice!
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