What Has Happened To The Movies?
By
Leonard Zwelling
My first recollection of a motion picture theater was when I was about three and my parents took me to see Pinocchio (no, I didn’t see Bambi first and weep when his mother was shot). Instead, I was petrified by the whale and we left the theater. I recovered.
Throughout my life I have seen hundreds of movies, in theaters and on television. I have appreciated the in-theater experience. Lately, however, I avoid the movie theater. It’s very pricey, even at senior rates. People are rude—talking during the picture and using their cellphones. And, the floor always seems to be sticky. Still, on special occasions I do go to the theater. Seeing Oppenheimer in the theater was worth the effort. It was a great film and deserved the Academy Award.
Flash forward to this awards year.
It turns out that I have seen eight of the ten films nominated for best picture. Really, I’ve seen seven and a half. Last night, the BW and I tried to watch the best picture winner, Anora. I cannot relate the entire plot, because after about 30 to 45 minutes, I had had enough. If I had wanted to watch soft core porn, I can stream that on the internet, I am told. I have never tried. No wonder this film was not a choice on the plane to Panama. It would offend the sensibilities of many in the seat next to you. The entire first third of this film (that was all I watched) is sex. Period.
Now I am not a prude and I understand that there are moments in a script where sexual situations might advance the story. Not here. Sexual situations ARE the story. Apparently, a sex worker eventually meets and marries the scion of a Russian mob family and then other stuff happens. I don’t know because I didn’t stick around for the ending. I couldn’t spend any more time with these people, much as I felt about the performances in A Real Pain. Remarkably, the lead actress in Anora and the supporting actor in A Real Pain walked off with Academy Awards. By any measure, Demi Moore’s performance in The Substance and Jeremy Strong’s in The Apprentice were superior to the performances of these winners.
None of the eight nominated films on that Academy Awards list that I saw (ok, seven and a half) are worthy of greatness. Some were technically impressive (Dune Part 2). Some were audacious in concept (Emilia Perez), but I would never see any of them a second time, even on TV.
If you want to know why the rest of America can’t quite grasp what Hollywood is doing other than super hero movies and shoot-‘em-ups, take a look at this list.
Hollywood has given us great films long before I was born and for many years since. Lately, I wonder who is calling the shots in Hollywood. Who decides what gets made?
Whoever it was that thought making a soft-core pornographic Cinderella film was a good idea must be laughing now. I assume it is Sean Baker who produced, wrote, and directed Anora. He definitely gets the last laugh. I doubt it will make back his money unless it is repackaged as what it is—an X-rated film looking for legitimacy.
I have no idea what the Academy’s voters were thinking. Adrien Brody played the same part he played in The Pianist in The Brutalist. It worked both times. Of the four acting winners, only Zoe Saldana deserved her Oscar and she won for supporting actress in a film in which she was really the lead.
It’s not news that Hollywood is a little nutty, but this year it was nuttier than usual. I think I’ll go stream Annie Hall or Lawrence of Arabia. Those winning films I can understand.
6 thoughts on “What Has Happened To The Movies?”
What’s your top 5 (or 10) of the greatest films of all time, including foreign language films?
Many decades ago, I was probably ~ 7, my parents were watching a film on the local PBS, French. I only caught a few minutes of it, then bedtime. But I never forgot what I saw, it was so haunting. Only this year did I figure it out- ‘The 400 Blows.’
Similarly, a glimpse way back then of a crime chase thru a sewer system, and an image of fingers struggling thru a storm drain- ‘The Third Man.’ Powerful stuff.
Lawrence of Arabia
Annie Hall
Moonstruck
The two Godfathers
Citizen Kane
Casablanca
Manhattan
MASH
Bonnie and Clyde
The Graduate
and there are others.
The Wild Bunch
A Hard Day’s Night
Animal Crackers
Duck Soup
The Manchurian Candidate
My Favorite Year
Chinatown
Interstellar
Arrival
Great movies. Manchurian Candidate- the original (Sinatra) one, or the remake with Denzel Washington, Liev Schreiber, Meryl Streep – or both? Never saw the original, but the remake was beyond creepy, amazing cast.
If you haven’t seen the original, you haven’t seen the movie.
Black and white. Involves assassination and was released just before JFK assassination so didn;t have a lot of showings. I did see it in the theater. Great film. Way better than remake.
You gave up on Anora too soon. It takes a hard unexpected turn in the second third of the movie and an equally unexpected turn in the final third. The way Baker plays with genre conventions is an absolute joy to watch.
The final few scenes are perfect, and the film ends absolutely where it should. No cheap closure. Mikey Madison 100 percent deserved her win, as did the film. The fact that Baker not only wrote and directed but also edited is astonishing.
It’s also one of only four films ever to win both the Best Picture Oscar and the top prize at Cannes (Parasite, Marty, and The Lost Weekend are the others). And Baker’s the first person to win four Oscars for the same film.
Baker ought to have considered the fact that starting his film with pornography might turn off his audience. I’ll give it another try, I guess.