[ | | | 8 interested person(s) ]

Congrats to the Crash crew on winning the golden naked man. Really a good film with a great message about race and class and the social fabric of America. Brokeback had a great message as well don't get me wrong I just thought Crash was well done and brought to light what so many Americans don't think is a problem anymore. Best quote of the night?

“For those of you keeping score at home, Martin Scorsese, zero Oscars; Three 6 Mafia, one.” -Jon Stewart

Not an exact quote but you get the idea. Also I guess I called a couple people that weren't even nominated sorry David Cronenberg still thought you ruled. Loved the moment when Jon talked about tearing down the huge Oscar statue on stage so that democracy could reign in Hollywood. Classic stuff. Was it me or was the montage and the anti-DVD kick the Academy was on get really annoying after awhile?

Update:
Lets just say that No Frontin' was not a Crash fan.
Be sure to read the comments here as JT has some great commentary on the movie.

8 interested person(s)

Jim Hendry said... @ 3/06/2006 07:47:00 AM

Sorry man, have to disagree. Thought that film was terrible, regardless of its "message".

We can argue 'bout it if you want, but yeah, hated that flick.

K said... @ 3/06/2006 07:56:00 AM

Seriously JT? Man I liked Crash. What didn't you like about it? Don't have to argue can just discuss. You think Brokeback was a better film?

I didn't neccessarily think it was best picture but it was far from "terrible." There are some notable films I didn't even get a chance to see...Good Night and Good Luck, Constant Gardener, and Squid and the Whale.

Jim Hendry said... @ 3/06/2006 08:11:00 AM

I felt that it really didn't address anything, and was by and large an empty film. LA is out of touch a little, something Clooney mentioned as being a positive thing, but really this film came off to me as a racism-by-numbers flick that is old news to most of the country. I live in New York, and this movie was insulting to me in the way it portrayed racism.

That may sound a little pompous, but my filmmaker friend [who loved it] pointed out to me that all her friends in NYC had a similar reaction.

I thought Crash made no contribution to the issue, and came off as that liberal [I use that word w. caution] effort to make a deep and profound statement without ultimately saying anything.

I see why it won: the Academy does like to feel important in awarding films about "heavy" issues, and it's hard to openly hate this film for fear of being seen as someone who is not ok with what the movie is trying to say.

Message aside, I felt it was pretty poorly written. It was overcooked, overstated; every character acted true to their given template until their big over-the-top epiphany, whatever that was.

They didn't feel like people, but dolls that Haggis was just moving to exact environments at precise moments just so they could fulfill whatever message or arc he wanted them to follow.

Nothing seemed to be earned in this movie, lesson-wise. Each character was one-dimensional and almost caricature to me, until their big realization (that came complete with an intense, emotional score just in case we weren't paying attention) that is.

Must admit I didn't see Brokeback or Munich, but if I had I may have found them more deserving. I thought Good Night & Good Luck was absolutely superb, and perhaps should have won instead. Constant Gardener was a great film too [not nominated for Best Picture, maybe because it came out way early in the time window for this year's awards].

Apologies if some of this is repetitive and/or non-sensical - writing off the top of my head.

What did you think about Crash?

K said... @ 3/06/2006 08:50:00 AM

I can certainly agree with your point that many of the characters were one-dimensional and almost caricatures, yet I let that slide given the amount of storylines happening in the movie.

Surely the issue of race and class were trivialized in the film I wouldn't argue with that, yet at the same time the movie revolved around that which I found honorable.

Regretably I didn't see Good Night and Good luck the clips they showed looked amazing. Even in black and white the angles lighting etc looked superb. Again I am no movie expert I don't know the ins and outs of film making I just say what I like and what I don't on the basis of my taste really.

Crash I think you are right didn't teach any lessons and at the end had a type of emptiness to it. Perhaps the lessons of media censorship and news ethics (which I am assuming were the main themes of Good Night and Good luck given what Murrow believed in) would have been a better lesson. Again I can't speak to that...once its out on DVD I will be able to.

I still don't think race and class get enough play in movies and I think its a fine line to play when they are addressed. On one had you have people that don't feel its an issue (which means you have to make it fairly basic and clear cut to make your point) and on the other hand there are those who are very much aware and involved in the discussion especially those living in large cities, NYC, Chicago etc. Those involved see the over simplification of the issues insulting and trivialized as you said.

I liked it, I agree that the issues and characters were over simplified and too clear cut. I found that it was obvious that issues as weighty as race and class don't play out in the real world like they did in Crash but its hard to fully evolve them in 113 minutes.

Just my 2 cents.

Jim Hendry said... @ 3/06/2006 09:10:00 AM

I definitely see what yr saying, so maybe from that standpoint it is the deserving winner. Brokeback was the favourite, but again I don't think that should have won just due to its aggressive campaign to the committee etc etc.

And yeah, I tend to let the issue re: one-dimensional characters slide sometimes when watching movies, but this was a little more apparent to me with Crash. The way I see it, part of the skill of filmmaking involves taking all these pieces of a puzzle and fitting them together flawlessly, cracks and fissures hidden to the average eye. In a movie like Crash, I felt that the gaps were not well covered.


GN & GL was excellent and astute in addressing that issue of censorship, and it used Murrow's tale to nicely mirror the general unspoken censorship that exists in today's media [aka noone ever questioning the president, the administation, for fear of losing media credentials], and may well have been a more worthwhile winner. I think you'll like it.


That being said, another thing that bothers me is the lack of release for all the small winners & nominees aka best docs, best foreign lang features, best shorts and best doc shorts.

It would be nice if the Academy could do what Sundance did this year, and put all the shorts online for people to watch and enjoy. Otherwise, some of them might never been seen, regardless of their Oscar win!

Anonymous said... @ 3/06/2006 11:25:00 AM

golden naked man. I love it.

* said... @ 3/07/2006 03:29:00 AM

K,

I feel like a jackass now for what I wrote. I disliked the movie but I'm sure there are plenty of intelligent people (like yourself) who enjoyed it. Let's just say I can be a bit volatile. I hope you weren't offended and understand that I tend to speak in hyperbole to shock for entertainment value.

K said... @ 3/07/2006 06:45:00 AM

Hey NF I liked the post. I don't expect everyone to like everything I like or agree with me.

You like JT I think made some valid criticisms of the film and brought up things I hadn't even thought about. Thats what makes discussion so great.

You are going to have to do alot worse to offend me.

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