Posted on 02/20/2005 5:37:25 PM PST by Former Military Chick
RE: "That sounds about right. Titanic was a wonderful movie. It's very hip to dislike. Phooey"
Phooey indeed, Borges. Titanic may not have been the actual best picture of 1997 (HELLO L.A. Confidential and Good Will Hunting), but I've never really understood the acrimony aimed at the film in some quarters. I thought that it was one of the best recent examples of the type of grand, "widescreen" filmmaking that Hollywood used to churn out in the 1950's, only better than even some of those. A spectacularly entertaining combination of desperate romance pitted against sometimes harrowing challenges and disasters, the film boasts a propulsive storyline based on a most interesting chapter of the 20th century (though some of the dialogue IS pretty weak), seamless special effects and good acting to boot (is there a finer actress under 30 than Kate Winslet? I'll save you the time, NO!).
With Titanic and some of the most energetic and intelligent action films ever made under his belt (including the Terminator films, Aliens, and the Abyss), James Cameron can afford to rest on his laurels for a little longer, though I wish he'd get off his duff already and get back in the game.
You are quite welcome. Do that a lot myself when trying to figure out why my son in the state of Washington is still sleeping when I call him at 9 am!
RE: "And Best Picture winners tned to be on the conservative side with an exception here and there."
And how. Despite how much many FReepers tend to bash the Oscars (and Hollywood in general) as some kind of den of iniquity, etc., I'll bet not a single one of them has passed up Mel Gibson's stirring, old-fashioned, VERY conservative BEST PICTURE winner Braveheart.
I'll also bet that Mel isn't exactly sending his Oscars (for directing Braveheart and producing it) back marked return to sender out of some kind of "moral"
outrage over the "snubbing" of the Passion.
I am also posting Ben Stein's threads from here on FR. I hope you have a free moment to give them a look.
Frankly, his most recent offering sharing his experience hosting a military family was just out of this world. He does more than talk he walks the walk. We need more patriots like Ben speaking out in Hollywood.
Ben Stein: One of Them (Tribute to Arthur Miller)
Ben Stein: How Was Your Day? (Ben shares of his hosting a military member and family) AWESOME
Ben Stein: Tribute to Ronald Reagan (It's Ben need I say more)
Ben Stein: Special Deliverance (another amazing essay)
Gratitude (If not today, tomorrow, and every day, when?) [Ben Stein]
Ben Stein: Christmas Peace (The voice of a true American Patriot - most read)
Seems to me the Academy really blew it by not having it in the major award categories. If they had, the audience for the Academy Awards might have doubled - good for the advertisers, network, stars, etc.
As it is, they may even be boycotted somewhat for the snub. And this after a year of costly duds: Alamo, Troy, Alexander ....
The Passion is timeless as well a masterpiece. Hopefully it will be shown every year at Easter on the big screen throughout the Bible belt. That alone will send a big message...
'Good Will Hunting' was total schlock! :-) Did you really think that was better then Titanic? 'Boogie Nights' that year maybe but GWH?
Cinematagraphy is a major cateogry! A film can get by with bad acting but with bad cinematagraphy a movie is unwatchable.
I ended up watching the John Gibson show and skipped the first hour of the SNL retrospective and am glad I did.It was not that good(The SNL show)
Please add me to your Ben Stein ping list!He's quite a guy.
Schlock? Nah, not at all.
For me, Good Will Hunting passed the test for what seperates a truly great movie from a basically good one with flying colors: A good story, well told. Involving, entertaining, and even rousing sometimes, the excellent performances from Robin Williams and Matt Damon made me really feel the NEED to see Will Hunting take his life into his own hands and reject his "victimized" nature in favor of letting his natural talents bloom. In fact, Robin Williams delivers one of the absolute greatest, most devastating speeches I've ever heard in my life at one point in the film ( you know the one: "You're just a kid...").
Nothing in Titanic can match that scene, and nothing can match the scene where Ben Affleck (and what happened to HIS career?!) finally forces Matt Damon to realize that he's been using loyalty to his blue-collar lifestyle as a curtain for his fear of achievement, and that the thing his buddies really want most for him is to see him advance farther than they ever could in their lives.
There was a piece posted months ago around election time, a very long one, that would be worth your time looking up, sorry I don't know the name. Basically it was Ben visiting a town in "flyover country" and relating the patriotism he found expressed there. Sorry I cna't be anymore specific but I recall being completely engrossed in it. If I find it in my files I'll FReepmail it to you.
is this the article?
http://www.cnsnews.com/Culture/archive/200407/CUL20040729c.html
Happy to do so! Glad you enjoyed the show. I am fan of the old SNL days, way back when it was funny (funnier).
If I am right, then the price will be paid by a decreasing box office for the non-children fare.
RE: "I am fan of the old SNL days, way back when it was funny (funnier)."
Saw the program too. I especially enjoyed Garrett Morris's shocking story explaining how he got the inspiration for one of the most painfully funny SNL sketches in history.
Sing it with me now: "I'm Gonna...Get me a shotgun and kill all the whities I see!"
No, this one begins when he is in the town, describing it. And it's loooooong.
Thanks for the bump. I'll enjoy reading the thread.
If your total universe of film experience is limited to a half dozen "blockbusters" a year for how ever many years you've been around, then you might not realize how large the gap is between what Mel Gibson acomplished and 99.9 percent of films made since the medium was invented.
Ignoring The Passion for major categories would have been like ignoring Gone With the Wind because it glorified the Confederacy or Ben Hur because it glorified Christ. Frankly, if either of those films were made now in the current Hollywood climate of anti-Christianity and political correctness, they'd probably be overlooked too.
PS: The awarding of nominations and prizes is based on nothing but opinion and so I expressed mine. I tried being polite with you but I guess that doesn't work with some people.
PING
Thanks
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