As I’ve generally forgotten about who won what by the day after I don’t normally give a toss about the Oscars.
Having spent many years in HK I hope and pray this stunning 30-minute film about the China’s ruthless crushing of the democracy protests in 2019 wins the Short Doc category this time around though. Would ultimately be great to see a win motivate even more people worldwide to tune into YT and see Xi and his mates in the Chinazi party for the brutal thugs they really are.
Though much longer and not free to watch (it costs £4.99 to rent and a little bit more to buy), Ai Weiwei’s Cockroach on Vimeo on Demand is every bit as good.
Great tip, Jaygee. I’ll look out for it.
I tend to share your indifference about the Oscars. But at the same time, as a volunteer at our local community cinema, I know that an Oscar here or there will help us to get bums on seats. When we can re-open that is.
Do Not Split or the Ai Weiwei film would be perfect for us.
Interesting Oscar facts that I just learnt.
Between 1939 and 1966, there were two Oscars for cinematography. One for black and white, one for colour.
In 1948, British cameramen won both Jack Cardiff (Black Narcissus) and Guy Green (Great Expectations).
Since 1956 there has been an Oscar every year for best foreign-language film.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Academy_Award_winners_and_nominees_for_Best_International_Feature_Film
Here’s an interesting ranking of all the Best Picture Oscar winners to date:
https://www.esquire.com/uk/culture/a36208123/best-picture-oscar-winners-ranked/
All wrong, of course.
There’s something very unedifying about the Oscars; the whole self-congratulatory smugness of it, the absurdity of thinking that so-and-so’s acting in a major Hollywood production is objectively better than Billy out of Eastenders, etc. I still take an interest though. I’ve seen all the Oscar nominated films this year and I don’t think there are any five-star films among them. I’d probably give Best Picture to Trial of the Chicago Seven, but then I’d put it at number 93 in the above list.
Hi @Gary. I watched the Spanish film La Platforma (The Platform) on Netflix a few weeks ago, after your recommendation, and thought it was great. Utterly compelling from the start, so thanks for highlighting it.
I started watching in Spanish but the rapid dialogue got the better of me, so I switched to subtitles.
Obvio.
That Esquire list was rather entertaining and quite informative too.
I just posted it on my Metaldog Moviegoer page on Facebook. Thanks @Gary!!
Interesting article in yesterday’s Times about which of the Oscar nominated Brits pulled off the best American accent. They reckon Carey Mulligan in Promising Young Woman and Raz Thingummy in Sound of Metal were perfect. Borat got the lowest marks for his accent in Trial of the Chicago 7.
I too have spent many years in Hong Kong. I was living there when the first Occupy protests began. It was one of the most remarkable things I have ever seen. Kids, mostly, camped out on the main arterial roads in Central and points east, creating their own micro community and showing unbelievable resilience.
When the protests turned violent in 2019 there was an inevitability about the crackdown, but the extent of it has been a shock to everyone. There is no freedom of expression anymore in Hong Kong. Journalists and publishers have faced intimidation for a few years now, but this week the first journalist was jailed for simply doing her job.
It’s very sad to see China go to such lengths to suppress free speech. It is willing to kill the golden goose, it’s gateway for foreign business.
There’s still the occasional good piece of writing in the SCMP, like this:
https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3130639/stay-or-go-hongkongers-there-no-easy-answer
My previous (American) employer had an office in Kowloon near the harbour, and an R&D team in the University of Science & Technology. I spent many a happy week there. I once had three all-expenses paid days to myself when the person I’d gone to help was taken poorly. I could have flown back early, but I chose to stay and be a tourist.
Kowloon reminded me, funnily enough, of Reading.
I had plans to take my family there when they were old enough. They are now, but I doubt I’ll ever go back. What a shame.
The people I met in HK were all lovely. My heart goes out to them.