Hollywood’s pre-Oscar week is always a source of anxiety. But, will voters feel better if there are some positive changes? “feel good”Movie is named Best Picture
The debate over CODAThe moment in each year when studios are unhappy about the omniscient streaming moguls, and film nerds complain about how the “big spend” distorts voting preferences.
The Academy asks, “Has anyone actually seen the movies?” Many Oscar voters this week are still trying to catch up, wondering why the rules of Oscar keep changing.
It seems like yesterday that the studios were still studying how to ban streamers and not embrace them. They were also still throwing lavish parties for voters – especially Golden Globe voters (remember them?).
Throughout all this, the cast of characters has changed. Ted Sarandos made big investments to promote Roma in 2018 to remind us of Netflix’s expanding ubiquity. Elon Musk, a mercurial man of many talents, had performed a similar ritual in 2018 for the benefit of Netflix. The Big Sick. Both Netflix and Amazon were not across-the board winners at that time.
Hollywood also recalls the time when Disney boss Michael Eisner ran full steam to win the Oscar in 1994. Pulp Fiction. Disney had just spent $60 million to buy Harvey Weinstein’s Miramax to win some kudos, but it failed to bump Schindler’s List.
Critics at the time complained that box office results played too big a role in determining Oscar voting – hence hits like OliverConsistently, the big prize was won. There’s no danger today of history repeating itself: Neither CODAnor The Power of the Dog registered magic at the ‘plexes.
Oscar 2022 became my defining moment when I bought my ticket. West Side StoryIt was watched by five other people. When would people awaken again?
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Writers Guild voters realized last Wednesday that they could no longer vote for the brilliant Norwegian comedy-drama with a terrible title. The Worst Person in All of the World. Even BelfastFor similar technicalities, the limit was removed.
The bottom line, of course, is that the basic apparatus of hit-making — the festivals and the interview circuit – were by and large missing in action.
Even Harvey Weinstein’s ghost suddenly appeared before us, however alarming that may be.
For his extravagant campaigns in support of films such as “The Godfather”, Opprobrium was heaped upon him Shakespeare In Love The King’s Speech. There was just too much intrigue and noise. But now, both voters and filmmakers are dealing with the other end of the spectrum: the sounds of quiet.
Artists must be heard to advocate and defend their art. The process was becoming more complicated.
Kathryn Bigelow wondered aloud if she made the right decision in putting aside her creative agenda and focusing on the promotion of the Oscars 2008. The Hurt Locker. She won, but it was a costly victory.
Ken Branagh was asked the same question this year. He has worked hard to get attention to it. Belfast. He asks the same question. “Has anyone seen my movie?”
Gil Cates, who deftly produced 14 consecutive Oscar shows, used to explain that he’d loved the circus as a child and, to him, the Oscars represented circus time. It was fun. There were leaps, and there were also falls. There was always an audience.