@TatinG 1) That’s not true. The thousands of people serving life sentences for non violent drug offenses can attest to that.
There are many remarkable things about Moonlight. It is a small, quiet movie, not for people who only like bang-em-up blockbusters or superhero movies. But one of the most memorable things about this movie for me is that there are no white people in it. And that makes a huge statement about the lives of inner city minority youth.
There are some years that I would have rooted for La La Land (even though I disliked the ending). But when I put Moonlight and La La Land side by side (or La La Land and Arrival, too), it’s like comparing steak to cotton candy. This year, I was in the mood for steak.
PWC has admitted that it was one of their two reps who actually hand the envelope to the presenter who made the mistake. They even named him. It was human error.
I know what type of movies I like and don’t like. I really doubt that I’d like “Moonlight”. Actually my favorite genre are the big historical epics without too much gore, a new one of which hasn’t come out in years. I didn’t see other movies that won Academy Awards because of the topic like “Silence of the Lambs”, cannibalism, yuck, or “No Country for Old Men”, violence. I saw “Midnight Cowboy” years ago and hated it. A prostitute and a druggie. Sorry, that’s not entertainment.
@TatinG please see Moonlight before you make generalisations. It does not glorify drugs or drug dealers.
There are many movies I won’t go see. For example, I hate boxing movies – and when people tell me I should see Raging Bull because “it’s not really a boxing movie” – I reserve the right to not go see it because I can’t stand watching people hitting each other while others cheer.
So I don’t have a problem with your decision not to see Moonlight, TatinG. But I and others just wanted to go on the record disputing your reasoning that it glorifies drug dealers and drug addicts.
Yes, boxing movies are a no-go for me too. Didn’t see “Million Dollar Baby” for that reason.
And it’s not that I don’t like sports movies. I loved “Seabiscuit” and “Chariots of Fire”. No blood sports, though.
TatinG, do you have an issue with Hidden Figures, which “glorifies” people with racist and misogynist views? Or Manchester by the Sea, which “glorifies” a man who physically harms others? Or Fences, which “glorifies” cheaters? Or Arrival, which “glorifies” war mongers? It seems like… not a really difficult concept that good movies and good literature are about complex characters who make mistakes.
People who overcame a difficult upbringing like Chiron from Moonlight, their stories don’t deserve to be told? I honestly cannot at all understand where you’re coming from.
@TatinG, I have no issue with you not wanting to see Moonlight. I have yet to see it, don’t know if I will. But given that you haven’t even bothered to see it, why are you asserting that it glorifies drug dealers, drug addicts, etc.? Do you even really know what you are talking about?
^Head meet wall.
People please! There is a reason that we are fortunate enough to be ab;e tp have such a variety of options! And while some of us don’t like a genre…we can spend our money in the next theatre. I hate animal movies. Won’t see them…so sue me. One of my kids is handling a movie that, in the end, may have people protesting it. See it or not…(although a few good protesters are good for box office.
‘Is it fair to say that La La Land came back from a 2-0 halftime deficit only to lose 4-3 in extra time?’
@LBad96 yes! and then they sent in the wrong play!
@wisteria100 That scene from Manchester by the Sea - the tears were rolling down. So powerful, so well portrayed by both of them. To capture that kind of emotion on screen says so much about the actors, director, screenwriter.
For sure. Everybody has individual preferences for what they choose to see, there are so many options out there. I too don’t like animal movies, nor do I care for animated films, generally. I also don’t like films with graphic human suffering, particularly that of children. I don’t like seeing women being degraded, I like seeing them as the strong heroes of the story. It’s not that I will walk out if some of that starts happening, but I won’t purposefully go to films that I know have those kind of things in them. I avoided 12 Years a Slave forever, started watching it as I flipped through channels, and couldn’t look away. But I never would have purposefully sought out a movie with such suffering.
Well what transpired at the Academy Awards was certainly not the “surprise ending” we were expecting! i was just about ready to shut my TV and go to sleep when the guy with the headset came running out and said this is not a joke, Moonlight wins Best Picture. Moonlight is a beautiful film, exceptionally well acted but when I saw it a few months ago, nothing about it said Best Picture to me. I loved La La Land, found it charming, could see it winning but although an incredible accomplishment to have this film made, it is not an amazing sort of universal truth kind of film. I enjoyed Hidden Figures very much but again in my opinion, not a Best Picture. I thought that Fences was an awesome film and was surprised that Denzel wasn’t nominated for Best Director as well as Best Actor. Both he and Viola Davis were totally outstanding. I loved Lion but it didn’t generate the same kind of reaction as did Slumdog Millionaires a few years ago. Actually I thought Manchester by the Sea was by far the most poignant film that I saw. It was an incredible story/script, beautifully filmed and incredibly well acted.
By the way I thought that if you are going to honor Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway for the anniversary of Bonnie & Clyde maybe have a clip earlier in the evening to reference Bonnie & Clyde the film also. That bothered me.
I thought Jimmy Kimmel was fine although I really wish they would eliminate all what are in my opinion time-wasting bits that aren’t especially funny… I didn’t enjoy the tour bus or the hateful tweets and one too many parachute drops. Move it along. It shouldn’t run 4 hours long.
@doschicos : I apologize for giving away plot points, but (a) Moonlight is not a plot-driven movie, at all. (b) Two of the plot elements to which I referred appear in every ad for the movie, and were shown as clips in the Oscar broadcast. It’s hard to feel bad about discussing those. I had seen each of them several times before I saw the movie. It’s like knowing that the ship in Titanic is going to hit an iceberg. © The third plot element to which I referred was directly relevant to the question whether the movie glorifies or normalizes drug dealing. It’s not as cut-and-dried as some people here have said. I think it’s a fabulous movie, but if someone says, “I can’t watch a movie that portrays drug dealers as something other than monsters,” well, maybe that person shouldn’t go to Moonlight. Their loss.
I’ve missed Heartbreak Ridge, because I wasn’t ready to get on the Mel Gibson Redemption Wagon, and because it smells a little bit like a rip-roaring war movie with a pacifist at the center so no one has to feel guilty about watching the explosions and violence. My loss, I guess. Maybe I’ll get around to watching it.
I actually thought Jimmy Kimmel did a great job. He also was effected by this PWC fiasco. ( CPA’s sometimes are stereotyped as being boring- but this Cullinan guy certainly created some drama last night!). Kimmel had a whole closing that he didn’t get to do (and he and other people probably had worked hard on that closing) because of this nonsense with this guy handing Warren Beatty the wrong envelope.
Kümmel sure was a quick wit, with saying, “I blame it on Steve Harvey”, right away. That was funny.
Sorry, JHS, You gave away too much info about Moonlight, as you did with La La Land . You were advised then that it was not appreciated that you essentially gave away the ending to La La Land, yet gave away stuff with Moonlight anyway (which lots of folks have not yet seen, but may now be more inclined to seek it out since it just won the Oscar). I had a college roommate that gave away the ending to a movie (despite being specifically asked not to do so by those of us who had not seen it yet ). I don’t even remember what movie it was (as it was decades ago), but I still remember feeling angry that she had done what she did. She laughed about it and was quite amused that we were mad at her for telling us the ending. I can assure you that I was not amused.
The Crying Game? Everyone was hankering to let out the end to that one.