Showing all posts about film
The Oscar for the best Twitter nomination goes to…
7 March 2022
Last month I wrote that the Oscars were, for the first time, allowing the general public an opportunity to participate in the 2022 awards. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had decided to hold a popular vote, a people’s choice award, if you like, on social networking platform Twitter.
This “fan favourite” vote was one of two initiatives the Academy introduced this year, to bolster interest in the awards. In recent years television audiences have been abandoning the annual celebration of film in droves. A mere 9.85 million viewers tuned into the 2021 ceremony, compared to 23.6 million in 2020.
That’s an alarming decrease in anyone’s book. But it’s not only the Oscars who are struggling. The Emmy Awards, and the Grammy Awards, are also seeing significant declines in their television audiences. But, in the case of the Oscars, with past ceremonies clocking in at well over three-hours in duration, is anyone surprised?
While I’ve always been interested in the Academy Awards, I’ve not once sat through a televised broadcast of the event. Or I should say, an entire broadcast. I watched once, but alarmed at the glacial pace of proceedings, switched off the TV, and wandered around to the local cinema to see a movie.
When I came home, the Oscars hadn’t even reached the Best Picture award. To counter this indulgent run-time, the Academy has promised to slim down the event, and will omit certain awards all together from the live broadcast. How that will help, if at all, remains to be seen. The fan favourite vote, on the other hand, has been an overwhelming success.
Well, kind of. The proposal certainly drummed up interest, though not perhaps quite what the Academy envisaged. Twitter members residing in the United States were invited to tweet the title of their favourite film from the last year, and or a scene from a film of any age, appended with a particular hashtag.
People without Twitter accounts had the option to participate at OscarsFanFavorite. Voting for the fan favourite on Twitter seemed a little out of hand though, with the likes of Taxi Driver (from 1976), Apocalypse Now (1979), and No Country For Old Men (2007), being selected. All great films, albeit they were released well before 2021.
At least they were actual movies. Karl Quinn, an entertainment writer for The Sydney Morning Herald, spotted a film called Rochelle, Rochelle, sitting among frontrunners for the fan favourite award. Fans of nineties TV sitcom Seinfeld would be familiar with Rochelle, Rochelle, but year of release aside, there was another problem: the film does not exist.
While soon removed from the listings, its inclusion highlights the need to set firm parameters when opening the doors to everyone online. A few years ago, the Hottest 100, an annual music poll run by alternative and indie music Australian radio station Triple J, was swamped with votes for a track performed by Canadian singer Justin Bieber.
While Bieber’s nationality was not at issue — artists from across the globe feature prominently in the Hottest 100 countdowns — Triple J listeners took exception to the way some Bieber fans, spurred on by a large betting agency, were attempting to manipulate the vote. Ultimately the efforts of Bieber fans failed though.
But the question stands, was the Oscars fan favourite vote a folly on the part of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences? Again, while the final answer remains to be seen, if nothing else, the idea started people talking, and taking action. Perhaps the interest stirred up may yet make a difference.
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Bullet Train, a film by David Leitch
5 March 2022
Sandra Bullock, Brad Pitt, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson, star in what might be described as a kind of locked-room thriller, albeit set on a Japanese bullet train, in a film of the same name, Bullet Train, trailer, directed by American actor, stunt performer, and filmmaker David Leitch.
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Release of The Batman, and other films, delayed in Russia
4 March 2022
Turning Red, The Batman, Morbius, The Lost City, and Sonic the Hedgehog 2, are among films whose releases are being delayed in Russia, in response to the invasion of Ukraine.
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Australian actors overlooked at Screen Actors Guild Awards 2022
1 March 2022
Australian actors Cate Blanchett, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Sarah Snook, and Nicole Kidman, missed out being recognised in this year’s Screen Actors Guild Awards, after being nominated in a number of SAG categories. Here’s hoping those in line for an Oscar fare better on 28 March.
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Sissy, a film by Hannah Barlow and Kane Senes
26 February 2022
Cecilia (Aisha Dee) runs into old school mate Emma (Hannah Barlow) after ten years, and is invited to her hen’s weekend. But the reunion quickly takes a turn for the worse, as old tensions resurface, in Sissy, trailer, directed by Australian actors and filmmakers Hannah Barlow, and Kane Senes.
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The Film Adaptation Test of a book
25 February 2022
Telling an author you read their book is the greatest compliment they can receive, according to American poet Lee Ballentine. Anyone taking five to six hours out of their time to read a book cover-to-cover must have — in most cases — thought highly of it. The title evaded the did not finish pile: that’s saying a lot.
As an additional compliment, you could tell the author you’ll read their novel again. But with so many books in the world, who has the time to repeat read a title? Instead it might be better to say their book should be made into a film. It’s a way of saying your novel is so good, more people need to experience it, so let’s get it into cinemas. For most authors that’s probably an affirmation; it’s my guess many quietly hope their work will result in a movie.
It’s more than a commendation though. It’s an endorsement that discharges a reader from the obligation to pick up the book again. But it also makes for a useful metric in assessing a novel. If a book is worthy of being adapted for the big screen, it’s probably a good story. It’s something that should be put before a wider audience. And if not, perhaps you could settle for telling the author you read their book, and leave it at that.
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Elvis, a film by Baz Luhrmann
23 February 2022
Australian filmmaker Baz Luhrmann brings the life of late American singer Elvis Presley to film, in Elvis, trailer. Luhrmann’s movies are always worth looking forward to.
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Liane Moriarty’s The Husband’s Secret film adaptation
21 February 2022
Sydney based Australian author Liane Moriarty’s 2013 novel The Husband’s Secret is headed for the big screen. American filmmaker Kat Coiro whose credits include L!fe Happens and Marry Me will direct the adaptation.
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Studio 666, a film by BJ McDonnell
19 February 2022
Dave Grohl and the Foo fighters move into a nice old house in the country to record their tenth album, in Studio 666 (trailer), a film directed by BJ McDonnell. But things don’t quite go to plan. Grohl begins to lose his mind, and it turns out the house is a conduit, allowing maligned spiritual entities to cross from their world into ours. Ah, the trials and tribulations of the difficult tenth album…
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Twitter users to get Oscars vote
16 February 2022
Twitter users have been given the opportunity to participate in the Oscars/Academy Awards voting process this year, though it looks more like a people’s choice vote, rather than a say in the regular award categories.
From February 14 to March 3, Twitter users will be able to vote up to 20 times a day for their favorite film and favorite film moment of 2021. The winning film and scene will then be featured during this year’s Oscars broadcast.
Talking of the Oscars, Regina Hall, Wanda Sykes, and Amy Schumer, look set to be named hosts of the awards ceremony.
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