Did you see “Hustle & Flow?” 
No, really. It was a very good film (even my dear mother liked it, and she hates rap). IMO, the Oscars performance was a pretty lame interpretation of the song, and the presentation completely missed the point that the film was trying to make, and Taraji Henson didn’t do herself any favors by screaming the money note (keep your day job, hon), but in any case I’m glad it won. Most other films just tack a song onto the credits to try for their Oscar gold, but “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp” was a key moment in the arc of the characters and the story of the film. According to the writer/director, the film is about how anyone - even “the lowest form of life” - can find redemption through the creative arts (in this case, hip-hop music) and the creation of that song in the home studio was a moving and thrilling moment. One of the most deserving Oscar songs in years.
Over the same time period, 3 Oscar-nominated movies were set in New York: Gangs of New York, Ray (partially set in NY), and As Good as It gets.
As opposed to the 8 nominees set or partially set in LA.
To paraphrase several Crash fans on these boards, “Did you see the movies?”
Finding Neverland and Shakespeare in Love were paeans to the Importance of Acting. And do you seriously mean to say that Chicago and Moulin Rouge weren’t show business pictures? Your only argument might be Gosford Park, which was only partly about show business.
Note to Oscar-hungry producers: To better your odds, make sure your movie is about show biz, or is set in LA.
Finding Neverland was about the importance of storytelling. I can’t see Shakespeare in Love being about acting. If you described it as a paean to the theatre, I wouldn’t argue.
I wouldn’t call Chicago a show business picture. And if it is, it’s a rather cynical statement about show biz and the courts.
Hugh Fennyman: How much is that, Mr Frees?
Frees: Twenty pounds to the penny, Mr. Fennyman.
Hugh Fennyman: Correct.
Philip Henslowe: But I have to pay the actors and the author.
Hugh Fennyman: Share of the profits.
Philip Henslowe: There’s never any.
Hugh Fennyman: Of course not.
Philip Henslowe: Oh, oh, Mr. Fennyman. I think you might have hit upon something.
– Shakespeare in Love.
The movie is filled with references that apply to modern show business, including movie making.
Chicago isn’t about show business per se–it’s about overweaning ambitions, unloved people and cynicism of not only the press, but the judicial system. It’s a caustic commentary on “fame”.
Where is it written that for a film to be considered “worthy” or “serious” or even “oscar contender” that it cannot mention Hollywood or show business? Alot of the ugliness of life takes place off stage–and the ugliness of life is what alot of films is about.
There are plenty of films that have no mention of the above whatsoever-- in Gosford Park, the Hollywood producer et al are hardly deified–they are literally there to make numbers at the dinner table and to provide a touch of “glamor” to a weekend shoot (birds, not film!). Have you seen it?
Yes, I’ve seen the film! Admittedly, the producer is not the center of Gosford Park. I actually think he was included in a cynical attempt to garner Oscar votes. Throws a few winks and nudges and inside references for the Hollywood audience.
The L.A. Times knows how Oscars are won:
Sounds like a clear case of home-cooking.
Actually, I didn’t see it. It’s not really my kind of picture. If, as you say, the story is about redemption, perhaps I was hasty. I still have trouble, though, calling a rap a song. Guess my culture is just a little too old . . . as I am.
Does age force you to take everything at face value? I think the irony of a pimp complaining about a tough life was supposed to be noted, not ignored.
Make that “the irony is intentional”, since obviously you picked up on it. Anyway, these are the lyrics. Do you think the authors expect any sane adult to hear that and think “Gee,a pimp’s life really is hard! They have my sympathy!”
That’s silly. Robert Altman pander to some imagined Hollywood prejudice? He never won an Oscar until this year! I think you’re reading too much into this.
I don’t see the film industry as attempting to promote the film industry by making films about the film industry. I think it’s like anything else–I’m a nurse. I am also writing a murder mystery–and the main character is…a nurse! Not because I want to advance the “agenda” of nurses, but because it’s what I know. I would suck trying to write about a female electrical engineer or whatever.
That is not to say that Hollywood isn’t fascinated with itself–it’s narcissistic as hell. But an agenda? Nah.
I think some of us are mooshing together movies set in southern California, and movies “about Hollywood.” Certainly, many movies use LA as a setting – it’s convenient. But relatively few wouldn’t work exactly as well in some other setting (LA Story is one of those few). **Crash **could be set in any city with a diverse mix of races & cultures.
Movies “about Hollywood” (Singing in the Rain, Sunset Boulevard)are even rarer. The last one I can think of would be, maybe The Player? Get Shorty? **Crash **is not “about Hollywood”.