Contrarian Corner: The Big Short

For this edition of Contrarian Corner, we'll have to redub it "Conflicted Corner". Lynn Lee discusses her mixed feelings about the Oscar's primary dark horse.

In this year’s Best Picture race, The Big Short is the one title that virtually no one saw coming very far in advance.  Which is appropriate for a movie about an event that only a handful of people predicted. And while it’s fallen back a little in the shadow of The Revenant’s nomination-leading surge and Globe wins, it’s still very much in play for Oscar’s big prizes. With five nominations (fpicture, director, supporting actor, adapted screenplay, and editing) under its belt, as well as a strong performance both at the box office and the Critics Choice Movie Awards, who knows?

The Big Short's ascendance hasn’t gotten it much love here at TFE, where the prevailing reaction has been a mixture of incredulity and disdain.  I get it, especially if you’re mourning the omission of better films from Oscar’s best picture lineup.  And yet, dare I say I’m neither surprised nor dismayed at its inclusion, and on the whole am pleased at its success?  Yet also oddly conflicted.

Frankly, I enjoy The Big Short, while recognizing its limitations...  

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On Those Wacky TV Globe Wins

Manuel here. While there’s plenty to talk about in terms of the Globes, I figured I’d put my TV math cap on and talk about the most obvious takeaway from the Globes TV wins from last night: the HFPA loves its shiny new toys.

Freshman shows Mr Robot, Crazy Ex-girlfriend and Mozart in the Jungle all took home prizes. (That's especially significant in the case of Mr Robot since it was produced by "Anonymous Content" who were also behind The Revenant - it marks the first time in history an independent production company has won both the top movie and the top tv prize at the Globes) 

But I was curious: how prevalent is this shiny new toy notion? We know the Emmys loves their repeat winners but could it really be that the Globes love freshman shows that they then immediately forget thereafter?

I crunched some numbers on their top categories to find out.

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Podcast: Whodunnit and Whydtheydoit... "The Hateful Eight"

When the cats away the mice will play? Something like that. This week's two part podcast marks the very first without your host (none of you needed to hear me whine about The Hateful Eight again! -- plus I was sick the day of the recording). So let's see what Nick, Katey and Joe think of it in this sure to be exciting conversation; I only have a vague notion of what they each thought of it so can't wait to listen with all of you! 

24 minutes 
00:01 Introductions & Teasings
02:00 Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight: moviegoing crowds, racial & gender controveries, Agatha Christie mysteries
19:00 Reader Question: Three comedy performances that went wildly underappreciated this past year. Nick, Katey and Joe each pick a favorite. 

Part 2 will be up shortly

You can listen to the podcast here at the bottom of the post or download from iTunes. 

The Hateful Eight. Intermission and All...

Thoughts I Had While Staring at Posters for Penelope Cruz’s Upcoming Films

Manuel here. Every once in a while I like to check in on actresses I’ve been missing and see what they’re up to and what’s next. Last week, for example, I singled out Michelle Williams and was glad to see she has two promising films landing at Sundance. This week, I wanted to see when I’d get my next Penelope Cruz fix. Sadly, it looks like she’ll be spending 2016 doing press junkets for two comedies I have no real interest in. 

Disjointed thoughts on these films, Cruz, and the actress’s post-Oscar career follow after the jump...

 

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Review: "Sisters"

Remember friends, The Force Awakens isn't the only film arriving today, even though it may be taking the lion's share of your multiplex's screens and dominating the cultural landscape. Limited audiences finally have Cannes favorite and Foreign Language Oscar frontrunner Son of Saul and the masses also have Sisters and Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip *shhhh, keep walking*.

Sisters is an interesting choice for counter-programming against the behemoth, but should satisfy its own crowds looking for a steady stream of laughs. The film would face more trouble without the trustworthy chemistry between stars Amy Poehler and Tina Fey, as it strains to set up relationships (and not just of its leads) and conflict in a murky and bumpy first act. Once Poehler and Fey are given the room to shine, the film finally finds its footing and becomes the laugh riot you were hoping for.

More...

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