Thursday
Mar192015
Ask Nathaniel
Thursday, March 19, 2015 at 12:37PM 
For Monday's Q&A, let's do things a little differently. No questions about actresses! (GASP!) I know it's slightly bewildering and terrifying and confusing to talk about other things but let's stretch past our natural impulses for a night. See if our brains work like that? If you're prepared to try, ask a question in the comments and I'll pick a handful plus to answer on Monday evening. Remember you're more likely to be picked if your question wouldn't require a 1000 word article on its own to answer.
Reader Comments (34)
Are there any movies you're afraid to re-watch because you hold them in such high esteem and are afraid another look will change your opinion? Which ones?
What's one movie (love it, hate it or in between) that you've watched and thought to yourself "I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall during the filming of this"?
This question might break the rules, but I'll try anyway. You've been asked to do a lot of ranking, and here's one more:
Could you rank the 20 nominated performances from this year from your favorite to least?
It might spoil your medal ceremony too, but I'm curious to see how you think everyone stacks up.
I was thinking about this the other day, but there are a few directors who have so many fans or are widely admired by critics that when I watch, I just go "meh" or worst, like actively find their work dull. For instance, after watching Alphaville by Godard, I just end up developing an allergy for his work. Or Hong Sang Soo, I just don't get why his aesthetic is so dull image-wise and yet people find his camera techniques so good.
My question is: What widely-celebrated directors' filmography do you dislike or not understand?
I love science fiction movies but awards bodies tend to shy away from the genre even when it is great. One thing I like is that sci-fi films are often ambitious so even when they are not perfect, they are often still interesting.
So to recognize interesting films doing interesting things (and to give me some viewing recommendations), what are your 5 favorite (i.e. released in 2000 - 2015) science fiction films? and why?
Which years do you think had the most uniformly strong group of Best Picture nominees? And the most uniformly weak?
Nathaniel, please name your Top Ten Actors and your favorite (not best!) film from each one.
Mine:
1. Albert Finney—Murder On the Orient Express
2. Paul Newman—The Towering Inferno
3. Robert Donat—Goodbye Mr. Chips
4. Al Pacino—The Godfather Part II
5. Dustin Hoffman—The Graduate
6. William Powell—The Thin Man
7. Gregory Peck—To Kill a Mockingbird
8. Jack Nicholson—The Border
9. Jack Lemmon—The Days of Wine and Roses
10. (tie) Michael Caine—Children of Men; Robert Duvall—Network; Marlon Brando—A Streetcar Named Desire; Gene Hackman—Night Moves
Happy Friday!
Name your favorite Director(s) of the '60, '70 & '80.
I really loved director Robert Altman's work, he had a full range of hits and misses, but I loved his influence on the film. (ie: over-lapping dialogue, camera work, large casts)
1. Do you have a favourite Altman film ? Or perhaps it's easier to name a top 3.
2. I feel that Joe Wright is a director who seems to have been influenced by the
"Altman Style". Please Agree or disagree.
What are three classic films you have never seen, and why have you put them off?
All-time favorite TV shows?
If actresses are off-limits, I'll just recycle my last question: East of Eden opened in NYC on March 9, 1955. (Dean died at the end of September, and Rebel Without a Cause opened in October.) Any thoughts or plans for the blog for the 60th anniversaries (which AMPAS so far seems to have forgotten)?
I don't know if this violates the "no actress" rule, but I do have a question about the banner featuring Brad Pitt, Nicole Kidman, Lupita Nyong'o, and Ralph Fiennes. Do these represent your favorite performances from those respective years? If so, what was it that vaulted them above the other Gold Medal winners in those years? If this is indeed the case, I'm particularly interested in choosing Pitt in Moneyball over Christopher Plummer in Beginners (mostly because they're both so soulful and feel lived in, I couldn't easily decide myself).
What's your favorite and least favorite best Animated Feature winner at the Oscars?
And what would you have chosen if the award has existed earlier (like the 90's or even 80's!)
Do you ever use a movie or performance as a shorthand way to describe something?
Example: my friends saw "27 Dresses" against their judgment one time and it was so excruciatingly boring that the background actors/action were far more interesting than what viewers were supposed to pay attention to. So now they say of weak-plotted or -acted movies that "they were a total '27 Dresses' movie."
Which young up-and-coming director would you like to pair with your favorite up-and-coming actor in a director/muse relationship? What would be the subject of their first movie together?
What are your interests outside film and actresses?
Which non-film related book would you recommend for people to read?
Who do you think at the moment is a highly overrated actress not necessaerily bad but overly praised beyond her skills.
What are your Favorite tracks from the new REBEL HEART album and why? Assign a director of your choosing to direct Madonna's next music video!!
Which movies from the aughts would you take back to 1950's Hollywood to show them how the future of cinema would turn out in hopes of influencing which projects would get greenlit for decades to come?
MARK -- rule breaker! ;)
You and Nick have an inside joke about Bradford Young's being your collective boyfriend. How did you first come in contact with his work, when did you first notice his genius and how would you rank his movies (specifically regarding his work as DP, not an assessment on the movies as a whole, though you are free to rate them too, if you want to).
Also, with what directors would you like to see him work with and what type of projects would you like to see him lense next?
Still on the crafts department, I loved your gushing about Milena Canonero on the last podcast, so I am curious about how you first came to her work, what made you fall in love with her and how you rank her movies. Her filmography spans decades, so maybe a ranking would be more like a Top Ten Tuesday material?
Who is / are your Celebrity Boyfriend? Celebrity Husband? Celebrity Boy Toy?
Which branch of the Academy is the best at consistently choosing really good nominees?
What does Ewan Mcgregor have to do to get an oscar nomination?
What film set, taking in mind color schemes, evocative moods, and lighting, would you most like to inhabit. Ignore modern conveniences like air conditioning and pleasant smells. Name a few, and why you are drawn to their worlds.
Which pre-20th century era is your favorite for period films?
Are there any films (which) that you often watch when you're feeling down?
What's your biggest guilty pleasure movie? Or a movie that most of the readers would be surprised that you happen to love.
Thoughts on arguments like "if you remove how long Boyhood took to film it is actually pretty average" or "if you take away the one-shot gimmick of Birdman it is just a well-crafted stage play on camera"?
What are your five favourite horror movies!?
Nat, I was wondering what your favorite Best Picture-winning films are. Have you ever made a Top Ten of your favorite Best Picture winners of all-time? I'm particularly curious where you would rank Birdman and 12 Years a Slave (since I know you loved both films)...
Re- cast the main roles (Michael Keaton, Emma Stone, Edward Norton,Naomi Watts and Zach Galifianakis) of Birdman as if it had been released 20 years ago, in 1995?Or whichever of them you feel like recasting