Never bet against Disney

by Cláudio Alves

While not all of Disney’s movies get Oscar gold, it’s never a good idea to bet against the studio. This year, Captain Marvel, Dumbo and Aladdin failed to conquer any nomination, but many other Disney properties got in the race, even in categories people weren’t expecting them to. Think of Maleficent: Mistress of Evil’s makeup nod, for instance. It’s true most of those movies don’t seem like frontrunners, but if we trust in the patterns of Oscar history, then we can be assured the House of Mouse will earn a couple of statues come Hollywood’s biggest night. 

To prove this point, let's peruse the last decade of the Academy Awards and explore Disney’s many nods and victories. Notice there’s at least a win per year…

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A note about the comments

... I've sadly been informed that since the comment moderation was turned off the impostors have returned to ruin the fun for the rest of us. If you're a long time reader I deeply apologize for this. I hate for people to feel they are being discredited or falsely represented. But as I've conveyed before it's an impossible lift for the site to change its whole commenting system, as some have casually suggested and others have demanded, during our busiest time of year. The site is run from pure love of movies (and awards silliness) and not from a bank account or endless free hours (everyone has a day job) so our time and energy is best used on delivering content and not on spending needless money or time to worry about boring things like operating systems and software. Thank you for your patience as we return to a moderating system so we can better ferret out the people who aren't really here to discuss movies but to shit stir. 

We'll rethink after Oscar season is over. Until then big hugs and deep gratitude  to everyone who wants to talk about the movies with each other. That's why we do this. Please continue doing so and we'll do our best to approve comments as soon we can peruse them in an effort to weed out the trolls. 

Spike Lee chosen as Jury President for Cannes 2020

by Murtada Elfadl

We were just talking about Cannes’ impact on this year’s Oscars and they went and announced Oscar winner and bonafide cinema legend Spike Lee as the head of the jury for next year’s festival. Lee’s Blackkklansman started its Oscar winning journey at the 2018 festival, and that jury headed by Cate Blanchett awarded it the Grand Prix or 2nd place.

Lee has had a long relationship with Cannes since the 1980s...

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A long take is a held breath.

by Cláudio Alves

Long takes are a constant subject of fascination for filmmakers and film lovers alike. The technical challenge inherent to them makes many directors salivate at the prospect of showing off their craft. At least, that's what, as an audience member, it sometimes feels like. Though, to characterize the long take as a mere tool of formalistic showmanship would be wrong. Depending on the case, this mechanism can be transformative, capable of bending the audience's perception of time, their attachment to what they're watching and sentimental engagement.

In 1917, Sam Mendes uses the long take as a key to sensorial immersion and ever-tightening tension. Each cut is a blink, a breath, a repositioning of the eye and recalibration of the senses. It's something that's a convention and brings comfort to the viewer. When you take it away, one feels as if the action never stops, like there's no time to breathe or to disengage with the narrative. A long take is a held breath and it can be a gloriously suffocating thing to experience…

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Cannes' Oscar Impact

by Murtada Elfadl 

The Cannes Film festival is not usually a bellwether for Oscars. That happens with the trifecta of late August / early September of Venice, Telluride and Toronto. However this year several movies that premiered in the main competition and in adjacent sections have been nominated for Oscars. Two of them  - Parasite and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood - scored multiple nominations and are expected to win a few and are considered favorites for the big prize, Best Picture... 

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