Sounds like someone from Hollywood kicked your ass and stole your lunch. Yea, a lot of people in the film industry are assholes but almost as many are mensches. There are certainly more assholes on message boards than there are working in Hollywood and the assholes that keep getting work are usually geniuses. Don't get the Kardashian reference. Kardashians don't do anything. Anyone succeeding in Hollywood is very good and possibly brilliant at something. If you want a more realistic reference than who you see in the audience at the Oscars, look at the credits following any feature film, especially the names that scroll up after the director, producers, writers and actors. I'm talking about the makeup artists, production designers, carpenters, electricians, foley artists, gaffers, script supervisors, casting directors, CGI artists, post-production supervisors, on and on… That's Hollywood, hard working people who get to the set before the crack of down and stay until everything is locked up for the night. Actors do more than walk and chew gum and do a lot more than memorize their lines. They have to get to know the characters they play and let those characters inhabit them. Then they have to deliver those lines while they are moving, hitting their marks at precisely the time and place the Director of Photography told them to. That's hard, especially if it's an action film and they're moving very fast. A-list actors are slaves to directors and DPs when they're on the set. Their work is physically and emotionally draining. It doesn't always take intellect but look at how many have Ivy League degrees. (Yale has the number one drama/theater department in the US) I'm not big on the DC/Marvel franchises but the professionals, especially the writers, directors and SFX people who work on those franchises, are masterful. The idea to make another one is a no-brainer but the collection of talent it takes to pull it off to the satisfaction of the most unforgiving fans in the world is world-class. If you don't like the self-congratulatory crap on the Oscars telecast, don't watch it. That's not really what the Academy or the awards are about, or even where they make most of their money. The telecast is just the very shortened, overhyped, public facing version of it and the means to share the important things the Academy actually does, which no one pays attention to. Filmmaking is the dominant artistic expression of our time. The award show is a fiasco but the awards themselves are important.
He's a nut job but a very good actor. Raising Arizona was a great film but hardly the best from Cage. Try Wild at Heart, Leaving Las Vegas or Peggy Sue Got Married. When he's properly cast, he's one of the best.
Judging by the ratings fall, almost nobody watches. That pretty much goes for all of the awards shows. They’ve all fallen off a cliff in recent years. The drop off makes the most sense for music. Do people even make “albums” anymore? The movie industry has a somewhat similar issue pertaining to mainstream distribution, although the mode of delivery still exists, it’s more that all the big studios are chasing “franchises” to create box office, whereas the more serious films get limited runs or go streaming. 20 years ago most of the big Oscar movies were pretty mainstream. Now it seems like they are almost exclusively art house fare, nothing wrong with that. But the result is the big awards are more prominently for movies only cinephiles had heard of, that isn’t great for getting a mainstream audience to tune in.
Uh, yea, possibly more than ever. Try Beach House, Wilco, Radiohead, Sufjan Stephens, Decembrists, Arcade Fire, Japanese Breakfast, Run the Jewels, Mitzki, Flaming Lips or Kendrick Lamar. Try reading about new music on sites like Stereogum, NME, Pitchfork, Consequence of Sound, Mojo, then listen to entire albums the trades write about. It's easier than ever with Spotify, Band Camp, Apple Music and other services.
Bear in mind that with movie theaters shut down the interest in so many of the nominees was minimal. Additionally, while they tried to replicate the "event" it was still almost unwatchable IMO. Will be interetsing to see what happens when (a)there is a full slate of movies (b) people have gotten back into the swing of going to movies (c) the actual oscars are once again an "event". All that said, I think there is the possibility none of that actually happens. My favorite night of tv every year is the Kennedy Center Honors. While they tried to do a covid version (and they were quite creative and did manage some memorable moments) it paled in comparison to the normal broadcast.
I know they technically make new music (though some of those bands I’m aware of, and haven’t done much of anything in several years). They even technically call them albums, the thing is hardly anyone actually buys albums the way they used to. Everything is streaming, and the “kids these days” seem as interested in TikTok stars. Is that considered music? I wouldn’t know. I guess on the surface it isn’t much different from mtv music videos trying to sell popular hit singles. I just can’t stomach most of it, hell even many of the bands I used to enjoy have embarrassed themselves by releasing crap. I’m actually far more interested in taking deep dives into back catalogs and live music performance at this point, or just discovering new (to me) old music.
Rich, spoiled, entitled people telling average hard working Americans who believe in conservative values how they should live. I Turned it right off,
Free country. I support peoples choices to watch whatever they want. You just missed out on some pretty good movies and enjoyment. Life’s way too short.
Meh. My wife feels the same about sports. She’s rather watch pretty actors wear pretty clothes than big sweaty guys play with balls. Our interest level on this site around a 17 year olds college decision is pretty amusing to many as well.
I’m already paying for cable and I’m not a Nielsen Box. so it isn’t much (if any) of a value add. If I go to a movie that 10 bucks or whatever directly to the gross. But yeah, I’m not exactly hard core
