The first time I ever came across the word “overreach” in print, it was when I was reading a children’s encyclopedia. I don’t remember if the article was about France or the French Revolution (I guess it must have been the latter), but I do remember the little portrait of Robespierre and the caption beneath.… Read More Too Big to Die
You know, because I’m grouchy, and because “Oscar” and “Grouch” go together, ha ha. Rules! Most importantly, the Grouches hold themselves to movies that it is not impossible to imagine the Oscars themselves might have given attention to. Ways in include production companies that the Oscars have awarded in the past, filmmakers the Oscars have… Read More 1st Annual Grouches: 2019 Movie Year Awards
Every article has its roots in Twitter unless it’s plagiarized from Reddit, and I guess this one is no different. A few days ago Elijah Wood took to Twitter to express a sentiment that was common not just among fans of Uncut Gems, but fans of Uncut Gems in high places: “truly baffled that Sandler wasn’t nominated and Uncut… Read More What Makes an Oscar Movie
1) The first thing I did, before I even began making predictions or thinking about how things might go, is check to see if any of these movies out for Best Picture had 11/2 odds. I speak, of course, of the 15% rule that The Ringer’s Kevin Clark frequently refers back to, which proclaims that any… Read More 91st Academy Awards: Quickly Scribbled Thoughts
Since the announcement of “Best Popular Film” was made several hours ago, the general reaction has been something along the lines of “All this does is pander further to some non-existent audience at the expense of condescending to movies that make money.” Let’s take those one half at a time. First, I am generally speaking… Read More Best Popular Film: An Okay Idea Eighty-Nine Years Too Late
Dir. Jeff Nichols. Starring Ruth Negga, Joel Edgerton, Nick Kroll My humble definition of a biopic is “any movie which makes months, and preferably years, of a real human being’s life into its plot.” By my own definition, I would say that Loving qualifies as a biopic of Richard and Mildred Loving (Edgerton and Negga,… Read More Loving (2016)
In the latest edition of our conversations, Matt and I bring friend and former roommate of the podcast Josh aboard to talk about my recently completed “Better than the Oscars” project. We did chat about it, though we predictably spread the conversation a little wider than my ranking and write-ups. What follows is a lightly… Read More Baumann and Burch Conversations #7: Better than the Oscars Recap and Discussion
You can follow this link to vote in a poll on which Best Picture winners are the greatest of all time, and to give your opinion on the Oscars ceremony as well. Caring about the Oscars—really caring, the way I did ten years ago—is silly. No one seriously pretends that the Academy Awards are given… Read More Better than the Oscars 2018: Ranking the Best Picture Winners, and Who Should Have Won
The difference between the Academy Awards in 1932 and 2018 is as stark as the difference between baseball in 1932 and baseball now: it’s obviously the same sport just at a glance, but it could hardly be more different in terms of execution, style, and personae. How can one compare the first ceremony, which honored… Read More The 90th Academy Awards and the Possibility of Another Grand Hotel
Seeing Things Secondhand 