The various analyses I’ve seen online project the possibility that Conclave could sneak in under ranked voting, where the favorites divide up the number one slot too much and Conclave wins on its 2nd and 3rd choice votes. Not exactly a ringing endorsement of its timelessness.
But I don’t think the nominees this year have any stand outs that hold the potential for becoming a timeless classic. Not that to be viewed as a “timeless classic” means a film isn’t notable and won’t live forever in a certain subset of viewers. They just won’t penetrate the general public consciousness such that 20 years from now mentioning them will “ring a bell” with a substantial portion of the general populace, even those who haven’t seen them.
I took a pass through the list of Best Picture winners and tried to identify the “timeless” ones for the general public and could only find three (Gone With The Wind, Casablanca, and The Godfather) out of 82 winners prior to 2010 (didn’t want to include anything after 2010 because they are too recent to judge). And, no, I don’t think Lord of the Rings is going to be in the public consciousness in 60 years (about the same time from its debut as the debut of Casablanca’s debut is to now).
I’m not really sure what you are using as your criteria to identify something as “timeless.” I’d argue these films are definitely in the public consciousness as well:
West Side Story
Lawrence of Arabia
My Fair Lady
The Sound of Music
The Godfather Part II
Rocky
The Silence of the Lambs
Schindler’s List
Titanic
I definitely think LOTR will also be in that list.
I guess it depends on what you mean by “timeless”. I won’t define it, but I will list the Best Picture winners (prior to 2010, as in your case) which I love, and which in many cases, are among my favorite movies of all time:
Marty
West Side Story
My Fair Lady
The Sting
Annie Hall
Amadeus
Schindler’s List
I have my own favorites/great movies that break my heart not to include on the “timeless” list. I was deliberately conservative in my selections, looking for films a random twenty-something (i.e. someone who was not alive for the release and doesn’t see a lot of movies) might recognize in at least a vague way and know something about. I considered Sound of Music, but didn’t include it because that would be my generational bias (as a child, we watched this one a lot). And if Sound of Music doesn’t make the cut, other musicals aren’t likely to meet the cut. I think I missed Rocky. Its fame transcends the movie itself. It should probably be added. But my point is that out of about 100 Best Picture winners, maybe 10% or so transcend the generation that saw them when they were released, and I don’t really see any candidates this year.
Anyway, I think this is a digression. We could discuss further and maybe define clear criteria in another thread, but I think I’ll concentrate my remaining contributions to this thread to this year’s Oscars.
The gap between the number of nominations for “Emilia Perez” (13) and the critical and audience consensus on it (mediocre and kind of offensive in several ways) is easily the biggest I have ever seen in my entire life. How very strange.
I have not seen it but I did see an extended clip of one musical number and it was terrible.
Huh. I thought she was good and would not be shocked if she won, but there wasn’t much she could do with the character as written. A lock seems overstated. Felicity Jones was also excellent and had a much fuller complex character to work with.
I haven’t watched The Brutalist yet but plan to, as it’s now out on Amazon Prime, but goddam – three and a half hours!! This was obviously intended to be a Great Epic. I found it interesting that the film technology used was a sort of mini-IMAX. IMAX uses 70mm film moving horizontally, so that the frames are lengthwise across the film rather than across the width, and thus much bigger. The Brutalist does the same thing only with 35mm film. The actual prints distributed to theaters – at least, those theaters that still have film projectors – are 70mm with a conventional frame orientation. It somehow ends up with an aspect ratio of 1.66:1, similar to the square-ish aspect of IMAX.
The sheer audacity of running time and film technology may help this three-country production (US, UK, and Hungary) win Best Picture if the actual content holds up to the same extraordinary standards.
In regards to The Brutalist’s 3+ hour run time, I do have to say that watching it in theaters with the intermission made it feel much shorter. The first half goes by very quickly, and then the break in the middle means you’re not just sitting in one spot for 3 1/2 hours. I’ve watched it 2x in both IMAX and on 70mm and I agree I think it may not play as well on a small home screen.
After the recent guild wins, Anora looks to be the odds-on favorite to win.
I was greatly shocked to learn that it was not that kind of day.
Emilia Perez. Went in knowing nothing about it except a glancing knowledge of some social media controversy. Enjoyed it well enough, though it tried to cover a lot of ground, and there were some abrupt tonal shifts. Zoe Saldana was surprisingly great. 68 on my 0-100 scale.
The Substance. Reminded me of a lot of films; bits of Triangle of Sadness, James Wan’s Malignant, even The Elephant Man. I appreciate a movie that decides to go all the way with something, especially body horror, and it went even further than that. Nominated I think because Hollywood loves movies about Hollywood, even if this wasn’t explicitly about Hollywood. Demi Moore was excellent. 74.
The Brutalist. The third rough movie in a row. I don’t know how I feel about the character of Laszlo Toth, coming out of that. I mean, obviously he went through hell (as did his wife and daughter), but sometimes the film swerves into that tortured genius trope. I also learned that I more appreciate watching a horrifying character like Mr. Harrison when brutality and fascism feel at a safe distance. I dunno. 72 on the scale for me, though it’s clearly a more Oscar-y movie than the first two.
Today is Nickel Boys, Anora, and Wicked. I read the latter when it came, otherwise I know literally nothing about those movies, including even who the actors are. Today is sure to be more lighthearted!
I’ve now seen all the Best Picture nominees except Nickel Boys. The oddsmakers have Anora and The Brutalist as the favorites to win. I’m going with Anora as my choice, but wouldn’t be crushed if The Brutalist wins.
The Shorts packages have been in theaters for two weeks now, Here are the nominations.
Animated Short Film Beautiful Men In the Shadow of the Cypress Magic Candies Wander to Wonder Yuck!
Live Action Short Film A Lien Anuja I’m Not a Robot The Last Ranger The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent
Documentary Short Film Death by Numbers I Am Ready, Warden Incident Instruments of a Beating Heart The Only Girl in the Orchestra
I saw the animated and live shorts in the theater. Haven’t seen the Documentary package and probably won’t before the awards.
I don’t have any clear choices for the winners, but my favorites are Magic Candies (Animated) and I’m Not A Robot (Live)
When I started the thread, I was thinking in terms of winners as “movies you really liked”, which is a dumb preamble to an Oscars nomination thread. So, keep your actual preferences coming!
It was pretty clear to me (listening to post-film comments) that some of the audience was unprepared for this, including the couple who brought their teenage son (15/16-ish), who sat immediately next to me. As the movie progressed, he pulled his hoodie up and around his face, he uttered some “oof” sounds at key moments, and he went out to the lobby in the middle of the big ending scene.
Nickel Boys - 87…moving and difficult, and it will stick with me. I initially thought it was my favorite of the six I’ve now seen, but I go back and forth between that and…
Anora. 88. Manages to be both very funny and very heartbreaking. Mikey Madison is something.
Wicked. 60. Slow until the last 20 minutes. Very obvious beats. Good singing and acting. Tired of Jeff Goldblum being himself.
I just got back from seeing these and I won’t remember a single one this time next week. A very disappointing group of nominees compared to previous years.
It’s funny, at Wicked last night we were well above the median age, and the movie ended with all the kids clapping for the movie. At A Complete Unknown we were reasonably well below the median age, and at the conclusion all the older folks clapped for the movie. Kind of sweet, all of that.
A Complete Unknown: 62. I enjoyed the musical bits, but the song selections were way too on the nose to match the scenes, and the dialogue was obvious and clunky. Also, I got tired of all the adoring/astonished/rapturous expressions every time he played a new song. I get it: he’s good. Chalamet did a pretty good job, some of the other actors were terrific (including Ed Norton). And: the 1965 Newport Festival reaction to Dylan was way too negative in the film, but it makes for a story.
Conclave: 73. Kind of a mystery wrapped around an organizational process meeting. Clever and gripping. Some scenery chewing.