Upthread in my review of A Real Pain I mentioned nearly the same idea. Culkin was just doing his usual stuff. Nothing worth a nomination let alone a win.
Edward Norton did a phenomenally better job.
And yet people in the movie industry chose to award him the Oscar.
Yes, I know there are a lot of politics, personal relationships, favoritism and the like going on. It could also be that something in Culkin’s performance resonated with other actors more than the general public.
Either way, the idea of acting as a competition is absurd on its face, not to mention fully subjective.
I thought his was an Oscar-worthy performance, but putting him up for supporting actor is just category fraud. That Oscar belonged to someone like Edward Norton, not someone who was clearly playing a leading role.
Conclave
Very much recommended.
Wow, this was terrific. If you are expecting a boring movie about the cardinals conniving behind closed doors to become pope, you would be mistaken. It is a fascinating and well performed movie about the cardinals doing that.
I was gripped all the way and near the end, when the votes are clearly about to be enough to pick a new pope, I found myself thinking “please please please” about who I wanted it to be. That’s impressive for an entirely fictional movie.
I found the ending satisfying and I think this would have been a much better Best Picture movie than Anora.
Oddly enough, the film Conclave appears to have been really well timed, given that a real papal conclave seems likely soon.
Comparing the two, Anora gets the nod from me because I never knew where the story was going next. The ending of Conclave was pretty predictable especially the identity (Chekov’s Cardinal) of who would ultimately become the new Pope.
I thought Conclave was pretty good, but you’ve touched on something that robbed it of a lot of drama for me. A veritable saint has wandered into their midst, like it was pre-ordained. Also, it required a twist at the end, or sudden revelation, and my wife and I both guessed incorrectly, based on the medical procedure being in Geneva, but we did get a twist. That said, she liked it way more than me. .
I see your point, but that folds into the ‘artsy’ avant garde bit, it explains the soft core we were all watching for half an hour before. See the vital nudity had a social message, if you don’t vote for it during the awards you’re an uncultured prude.
And zombie films are body horror, at this point I think everyone is on board with violent, sexy and gross.
The fact that he exists at all is implausible, but that he was off the radar until the conclave relates to my previous point:
So - quite clever, but also with a light tinge of implausible dramatic convenience.
Yes, it’s quite the dramatized, almost soap opera like, story. It’s just well made and well acted, which really does a lot of the heavy lifting.
Concur. Twelve Angry Men, for example, is also not totally free from the implausible-dramatic-convenience thing, but it’s a classic, and I think Conclave will be too.
Oh, I’m not sure about that. 12 Angry Men is much more gripping in my opinion. Love the Henry Fonda film version the best.
Animal Crackers
Pretty funny, certainly even more hilarious to an audience in 1930. I’m trying to seek out the best Marx Brothers movies, but quite a few don’t stream on any service I have. This one was free online at Youtube.
Groucho is good, Harpo gets a little bit to do in the final portion of the movie…but is not used much otherwise. Chico gets a lot of good lines in this one; I daresay he might be the funniest thing in it. Zeppo shows up and does nothing but be a straight man.
A couple lines got through that were pretty surprising.
“Signor Ravelli’s first selection will be “Somewhere My Love Lies Sleeping” with a male chorus.”
“We took some pictures of the native girls; but, they weren’t developed. But, we’re going back again in a coupla weeks.” <—Anthony Jeselik would approve…a dark, strange joke.
Anyway, a cute movie. Not hilarious to me, but if you went in 1930 you got a lot of stuff crammed into one movie. A great showcase of talent.
A Complete Unknown (2024). This has already been mentioned several times. It has my heartiest approval, As I said in the Oscars thread, it pisses me off that Timothée Chalamet didn’t get Best Actor.
I mentioned much earlier that when my son was over for dinner and movie night some time ago, The Substance and Poor Things turned out to be an inspired double feature. The next time he was over was with his fiancé and movie night was The Brutalist – to quote Conan O’Brien at the Oscars, “it was so interesting that I hoped it would never end, and fortunately, it didn’t” 
Yep, a double feature in itself!
But the tone and nostalgia of A Complete Unknown was just what I hoped it would be, and suggests the perfect double feature for next time: Inside Llewyn Davis, followed by A Complete Unknown. BTW, for those who may not have noticed, the character of Dave Van Ronk, which the former movie is based on, also appears in the latter. Not surprising, as he was a contemporary of Dylan, hung out in the same scene, and was a major talent in his own right.
Just watched The Gorge. Everyone else in this thread preferred the romance to the action, but I’m the opposite. The action appealed to me more than the romance. Yes it was full of clichés we’ve all seen before, but they were handled well enough, and I think as an action adventure it’s a good way to waste a couple of hours.
Anora, 2024, Amazon Prime.
Not too sure why this one was Oscar worthy, but that’s fine - the Academy no more needs to keep to the aesthetic I grew up with than I do, tbh. But was a fun romp, everyone was enjoyable, a definite don’t-watch-with-your-children movie, and Inna said the Russians acted like real Russians would in such a situation (and no complaints about the quality of the Russian language from her, a rare win).
Blade Runner, 2049. First time I’ve seen it since it came out in the theater, I think I liked it even better this time. Really a good story and mood.
AMC aired the first 3 John Wick films.
I liked the first film. The 2nd was ok. The suicide scene in the tub was twisted and sick. Especially when Wick confirms she cut deep enough to kill herself.They’re chatting away while she bleeds out.
The 3rd was just tedious. I find it disturbing that Wick seeks out help while completely ignoring the consequences. All those returning characters get killed for helping him.
Wick even goes to his Russian family and gets several killed and a lady stabbed through the hands. Yet Wick never shows any loyalty or allegiance to anyone.
There’s a 4th film out that I probably won’t watch. 3 is enough.
The soundtrack was outstanding - for both action and romance scenes.
I agree. The music in the Wick films is very good.
Halle Berry was exceptional in Wick 3.
I erred by watching 3 Wick films in a row. The violence and body count is too excessive.