The 2013 Academy Award nominations (snooze…) were announced today, and it is Washington, D.C., it appears, that really should be getting “best actor.”
Three films, Zero Dark Thirty, Lincoln, and Argo were among those nominated for Best Picture. In a time when the American public views Congress with less esteem than cockroaches, it is no surprise that Hollywood has risen to the occasion. As I understand it, Zero Dark Thirty highlights the CIA’s role in hunting down Bin Laden and Lincoln opportunely focuses on a president in the midst of civil strife. Only Argo, as reviewed by National Review‘s Charlie Cooke, highlights a time when Washington, and specifically President Carter’s administration, was less than up to the task. Cooke recommends the movie heartily.
On the other hand, some have expressed surprise that the Dark Knight Rises batman film, a favorite among conservatives, was shut out of a nomination for visual effects.
See the full list of nominees here.
I am proud to say I have seen none of the films nominated for best film, a feat I hope to repeat in years to come.
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Les Miz was solid.
I just don’t care to see most films in theaters any longer. Partly because I deplore MOST of what the Hollywood Collective puts out.
I DID see a very fine documentary on the Chosin Reservoir battle recently, which I recommend to everyone.
I’m like you. No theaters.
In protesting against Hollywood and their assault on me and my culture, as well as the crap they foist upon the world, I now download movies from proxy sites overseas. Most are up within a day or two of opening in theaters, and ironically, many are tagged with the caption appearing every few minutes, “SAG Evaluation Copy”. Go figure.
If I’m going to be propagandized, I sure won’t pay for it.
Nothing more patriotic than stealing…
Think of it as paying what it’s worth.
I haven’t seen any of these movies either. They hold no appeal for me.
But while we’re at it, Paradise Academy nominates Daniel Craig in Casino Royale (instead of Skyfall)and the TV Series The Good Wife (Chicago based series).
I hadn’t been to the movies in ages. The only movie I made an effort to see last year…
ACT OF VALOR, starring some Navy Seals… I recommend
I got it on pay-per-view, and recorded it.
One thing I wish I could readily do with streaming video sources, which would allow me to end my use of satellite TV.
Likewise, I do not patronize cable TV or printed news propaganda sources.
Of the three, I’ve seen only Lincoln.
The opening scene is a very cheesy and clumsily contrived vehicle simply to get in a recitation of the Gettysburg Address, portions of which are reverently spoken in sequence to Lincoln by several enthralled, starry-eyed soldiers who meet him at a mustering station. Would have been better to have had a scene of Lincoln delivering it himself, if it needed to be in the film at all, should you ask me.
That criticism aside, the balance of the film was spectacular. The acting was phenomenal, Day-Lewis was entirely convincing and believable as Lincoln, and Tommy Lee Jones nearly stole the film. Even James Spader was spot on.
Sally Field was good, too, though the film treats her character much more sympathetically than most historians have.
Overall, I rate it a great film. Not quite as great as Schindler’s List, but the 2 and a half hours flew by.
Like you, I think the opening was contrived and cheesy. However, the rest of the film reminded me of drunk staggering from lamp post to lamp post with fill in between. And historians know that Mary Todd Lincoln was crazy and a shrew, but I think she was portrayed a little better in order to avoid the Mary-Hillary comparisons.
My wife loved it, and she says that reading Sandburg’s voluminous tome,’Lincoln,’ probably ruined me on the film. I think she may be right, because the film never supplanted the imagery formed by those incredible books.
What shocked me I reading those 2 books were the Catholic services transcript in NY & Boston immediateltpy after.
They were unbelievable & just chock full of bile & base hatred for Lincoln. I think Abe was a lot less popular than sentimental. Retrospectives could ever relay.
That was far more going on than anti slavery.
In a time when the American public views Congress with less esteem than cockroaches, it is no surprise that Hollywood has risen to the occasion.
The PPP post you link is dated January 8. The next day, they released another one (boldface mine):
You betcha. Who needs RINOs like Richard Lugar when Real Conservatives™ like Christine O’Donnell are available? The PPP piece continues:
November 2014 is a long way off, but these numbers are cause for concern. A bigger cause for concern is that the GOP coalition just lost an election it should have won going away—and afaik is responding with business as usual.
2. I am proud to say I have seen none of the films nominated for best film, a feat I hope to repeat in years to come.
Ditto. However, since you’re starting an organization to study and modify American culture, maybe you should reconsider.
Sheesh, that’s a strange thing to be “proud” about, especially for a supposedly conservative American patriot. “Argo” is a taut drama that recounts the heroic story of a brilliant CIA clandestine officer who risked his life to save those of four Americans trapped by some of our worst enemies. “Lincoln” is thankfully not a biopic or a piece of hagiography, but a realistic portrayal of a crucial political decision in what Americans were once proud to call our glorious history. And “Zero Dark Thirty,” whatever its inaccuracies or omissions, is a celebration of our use of national power to take deserved vengeance against a principal author of the worst attack on American soil.
What’s not to like? What about any of these movies is merely a tale about “Washington?” Why would anyone spurn every film because generally Hollywood produces a lot of crap? I honestly don’t get it.
So much Hollywood money is used for Democratic Party interests that buying a movie ticket really is an act of collaboration with the occupying power. My 94-year-old father needs me to take him to movies. My mom didn’t want to see “Lincoln,” so I’ve been drafted to take him. I vowed never to see anything by the makers of “Munich,” but you can’t stand on ceremony against your dad. I’m in the 12th year of my boycott (one slip: a $6 early-bird of the soccer movie The Damned United), but whenever I feel too full of myself I think, “This’ll bring ’em to their knees…”
I’m about to watch the 2 Lincoln vampire movies if that counts 🙂
rip to mkv, toss onto nas. stream to tv/pc/droid x.
then delete when I want 🙂
Saw Lincoln. Excellent visuals, excellent acting, and overall I thought it was pretty boring. 🙂
It had, of necessity, to be all about the acting, the plot and outcome being foregone conclusions. Lack of suspense is not the same as boredom, IYAM.