American Sniper & The Imitation Game >>>>> Interstellar

Cilogy wrote:

BlairCo wrote:I've given up hope that Interstellar is gonna win anything.

it already won our hearts

it certainly did

my god

it really is absolutely mindblowingly amazing

damn

Skyab23 wrote:

ArmandFancypants wrote:Having seen all the BP nominees now...

There is no way in hell DuVernay was snubbed. It's "Achievement in Direction" not "Achievement in Crossing the Line"

Damn right. I'd like to hear your expanded thoughts on this, as I was thoroughly unimpressed with DuVernay's direction. Oyelowo's performance, yes, and Carmen Ejogo as well, but not DuVernay.

Well, it's not very well written for starters, and actually... it's not that conducive a story for a filmic entertainment. Most things that happen within the narrative are anti-climaxes. There's the obvious one, but then there's the FBI harassment and logging that has... no impact on what happens and no payoff, really. Minimal at best if it's just delaying King's arrival by one day. There's this engineered antagonism between the existing rights group in Selma and King's people... you have that really brilliant scene where he manipulates one of them into coming around and then you have the two of them arguing for... no real payoff. There's the climax that is a staid, conflict-free courtroom scene... where's the film here? It's the three violent scenes it seems, and the anti-climax scene of King deciding to go back. That's not enough for a film, I'd say.

DuVernay meanwhile tries to do all sorts of things to liven it up, but it's just visually incomprehensible when it shouldn't be. I'm not normally a line nazi, but she just don't give a damn and you're looking at scenes from all over the shop without any real visual through-line. That's OK if you have thematic justification; this doesn't. I mean, there's so much ample opportunity here as well, between King being portrayed as a ruthless, master manipulator, and Johnson as a more measured negotiator, and the sorta-contrast between the two but everything's just thrown in there as if the significance of what is happening is enough to justify the work. It isn't, IMO. I actually feel bad for Oyelowo for putting in good work in a largely empty vessel.

Yeah, she's no Ozu.


-Vader

This sounds like an odd topic for Ozu to cover.

Cop 223 wrote:This sounds like an odd topic for Ozu to cover.

Ozu shoots from any angle he chooses regardless of standard rules of composition and direction.


-Vader

Vader182 wrote:

Cop 223 wrote:This sounds like an odd topic for Ozu to cover.

Ozu shoots from any angle he chooses regardless of standard rules of composition and direction.


-Vader

I've only seen Tokyo Story and it was ages ago, but doesn't Ozu hold his shots like a motherfucker anyway?

ArmandFancypants wrote:

Vader182 wrote:

Cop 223 wrote:This sounds like an odd topic for Ozu to cover.

Ozu shoots from any angle he chooses regardless of standard rules of composition and direction.


-Vader

I've only seen Tokyo Story and it was ages ago, but doesn't Ozu hold his shots like a motherfucker anyway?

He does, but he breaks the 180 degree rule constantly. The fact you didn't notice is probably a testament to his skill.


-Vader

Vader182 wrote:He does, but he breaks the 180 degree rule constantly. The fact you didn't notice is probably a testament to his skill.


-Vader

I think also though that when you hold your shots for a long time you can do that. When there's a lot of cutting (too much, in Selma's case) it's totally disorientating. The rule is for bearings as much as anything IMO (and you can of course express character and plot with your left-to-right and vice-versa choices).

ArmandFancypants wrote:

Vader182 wrote:He does, but he breaks the 180 degree rule constantly. The fact you didn't notice is probably a testament to his skill.


-Vader

I think also though that when you hold your shots for a long time you can do that. When there's a lot of cutting (too much, in Selma's case) it's totally disorientating. The rule is for bearings as much as anything IMO (and you can of course express character and plot with your left-to-right and vice-versa choices).

Relevant:


-Vader