2019 Golden Globes Red Carpet and Awards Ceremony

[Buzz]

RE: Post # 210

I’ll try to find the link but the long and short of it is this:

The people behind all these awards shows love movies that shows African Americans suffering from slavery, racism, segregation, etc. Movies like 12 Years a Slave, Selma, The Help comes to mind. But Black Panther is completely different as the characters and fictional country were never subjugated in any way and are technologically advanced. Not something that is likely to excite the folks who do the voting.

 

[RoseRed]

I think that first of all, it's harder to separate an actor who you see on the screen (Kevin Spacey, Bill Cosby) vs. a director behind the scenes. Second of all, the thing about Woody Allen is that a lot of his films are about older men in romantic relationships with young women (I've read - I haven't watched many of them). Given that the allegations against him involve him and underage girls, people are making the link.

This thread is all I know about the issues with the Bohemian Rhapsody director, but that's my impression of people's comments about the other cases mentioned.

 

[VGThuy]

RE: Post # 210

I’ll try to find the link but the long and short of it is this:

The people behind all these awards shows love movies that shows African Americans suffering from slavery, racism, segregation, etc. Movies like 12 Years a Slave, Selma, The Help comes to mind. But Black Panther is completely different as the characters and fictional country were never subjugated in any way and are technologically advanced. Not something that is likely to excite the folks who do the voting.

I have a few friends from Africa who had issues with Black Panther and seemed angry that it made people all love this fantasy version of Africa while buying into all the negative images of the entire continent that we get hit constantly with in this country. And BP does sort of show AA suffering with the contrasting images of fantasy Wakanda and real life Oakland and all their talk about worldwide oppression and suffering of black people. I do think what makes BP different and special is that it shows black people being the heroes and doing something about it and the idea of Wakanda being a place where colonization never took place and was isolated from the rest of the World (from its true self) meant it was not interfered with is a strong statement. Some critiques I read were about how the messages seemed mixed because it seems to be saying it wasn't the lack of colonization that make Wakanda so paradise-like but the fact it got this alien natural resource. Absent that, Wakanda wouldn't be where it was in that movie. However, I thought that material was a stand-in for ALL the natural resources in Africa that has been and still is exploited with most of the people of those countries not reaping the benefits of having those materials to export.

 

[screech]

I think that first of all, it's harder to separate an actor who you see on the screen (Kevin Spacey, Bill Cosby) vs. a director behind the scenes. Second of all, the thing about Woody Allen is that a lot of his films are about older men in romantic relationships with young women (I've read - I haven't watched many of them). Given that the allegations against him involve him and underage girls, people are making the link.

This thread is all I know about the issues with the Bohemian Rhapsody director, but that's my impression of people's comments about the other cases mentioned.

One thing re: the Brian Singer stuff, is that he's not the focus involved of the movie (process or actual film). BR is Rami Malek. If Rami had been accused of anything, the criticism of the movie as a whole would be insane. The Cosby Show WAS Bill Cosby. That's why it's so intense. Kevin Spacey was the lead in House of Cards - it was his vehicle. That's why it's such an intense reaction. If the story around BR had been about Brian Singer and how it's a passion project for him, and how he put it all together, worked tirelessly to create the project (a la Ben Affleck with Argo), then I think people would be more negative in general. But BR is Rami's show, not Brian's, which in a way allows people to still focus on the positive aspects.
I don't know if I expressed that really well.

Anyway, I think any further discussion on Brian Singer should probably move to the Weinstein thread, since while yes, it's somewhat Globes-related, the topic is not really about the awards show, but about his asshattery.

 

[Vash01]

RE: Post # 210

I’ll try to find the link but the long and short of it is this:

The people behind all these awards shows love movies that shows African Americans suffering from slavery, racism, segregation, etc. Movies like 12 Years a Slave, Selma, The Help comes to mind. But Black Panther is completely different as the characters and fictional country were never subjugated in any way and are technologically advanced. Not something that is likely to excite the folks who do the voting.

Actually Selma did not get the awards it deserved. The other two did. It was baffling because Selma was historically important.

 

[Japanfan]

RE: Post # 210
Movies like 12 Years a Slave

I found 12 Years a Slave so frustrating and unrewarding because only the one slave is freed, but I came to care more about the other slaves who did not get freed than I did about him.

 

[MacMadame]

People are saying

Well but what people and how many and to whom are they saying that? Not to mention how many follow up and actually boycott.

You make it sounds like the people took a vote and said BR is okay but Kevin Spacey in House of Cards is not.

There's definitely inconsistency in how people react to these things. And it can be interesting to talk about it. But you are making it seem a lot more black and white than it is. All of these situations have their differences and their complexities both in what happened and how people react and continue to react to it.

Personally I don't think the story on Brian Singer has been written yet. If he ends up not being convicted and goes on to make many movies with hardly any hassle, then I think outrage is called for. OTOH, he may never make another movie again. (Which considering what he's accused of, seems like justice to me.)

 

[VGThuy]

Nvm.

 

[misskarne]

I also think there were quite a few people who were just happy the movie got made in the end. This movie was in development hell for a long time, there was the bust-up with Sacha Baron Cohen and other problems. Rami wasn't even the first choice Freddie; he was the third, IIRC, but he wound up being perfect.

Plus...a lot of people who saw the movie aren't going to think of Brian Singer when you say "Brian". They're gonna be thinking about our favourite curly-haired astrophysicist-guitar legend Brian May. If you did a poll around any cinema or public place, and asked, "Do you know who Brian Singer is?" you'd probably get a blank look. If there's a lack of reaction, I'd say it's more to do with a lack of name recognition than anything. Not saying that's right or wrong, but probably what's going on here. The movie was Brian and Roger's pet with John's blessing; it gave us all Rami in full flower of his talents (and introduced some of us to Ben, Gwilym and Joe in a much different light as well). Brian Singer is definitely not going to come to mind for a lot of people when talking or thinking about that movie.

 

[topaz]

Kendrick Lamar is a Pulitzer prize winner.

Thanks for correcting me. I intended to write Pulitzer not Nobel.

 

[VGThuy]

Solid points everyone. I think my reaction is that I certainly always known Bryan Singer's involvement with this project and since I follow awards campaign as a hobby, I know Fox Searchlight has really been pushing his name for a nomination and have made no sort of separation between his work on the film and the final product: https://www.foxscreenings.com/bohemian-rhapsody/categories/.

Also, he himself took the credit he felt entitled to the night of the Globes with his social media posts which irked me. And now that the film received a BAFTA nomination for Best British Film (they give that to both producers and directors) he is a BAFTA nominee for the film so his name is definitely attached. I think the cast and crew's campaign to not mention him and the way they and fans pretended he had nothing to do with this film and undermined his contribution just so his reputation won't affect the film's reputation and chances to win awards made me question the way people react to these sorts of things and wonder why some films/projects get a pass that others don't. Most people's answers have been really insightful.

 

[aftershocks]

I found 12 Years a Slave so frustrating and unrewarding because only the one slave is freed, but I came to care more about the other slaves who did not get freed than I did about him.

The British filmmaker/ director of 12 Years a Slave (Steven R. McQueen who has Grenadian and Trinidadian ancestry), changed a lot that was in the actual real story as it was written. While it's okay to change things for a film dramatization, I think one should be careful about a true story that is as senstive as this one. I wish McQueen had stuck more to portraying important details accurately. Also, the casting and motivations were not right for some important characters. So frankly, while I was glad to see 12 Years a Slave become a film, I was disappointed with the overall result. I always tell people to read the actual book, because you will get more truth about what really happened.

Frankly, I think the crazy and imaginative Quentin Tarantino's bloody mayhem with tragicomic twist, Django Unchained, actually managed to deliver a more important impact and to examine more hard truths in an interesting way than 12 Years a Slave did. While McQueen is an excellent filmmaker and some scenes were very powerful, for the most part his approach was overly serious, navel-gazing and often off-base. But at least, McQueen's film introduced us to gorgeous and fiercely talented Lupita N'yongo and furthered the career of the mesmerizing and sexy Irish actor, Michael Fassbender (even though he played an asshole in that film). Fassbender has been thought by some to be German because he speaks fluent German. He has said that he'd like to perform in a German-language film or play.

I haven't seen the director McQueen doing much of anything else, post winning the Oscar for Best Picture. He's done some short films and maybe a couple of other films that came out in 2016 which I haven't heard much about, so apparently they weren't widely successful. Last year, McQueen's film, Widows was released. I think it's still in theaters, but I don't know how popular it is, since I don't follow first-run movies the way I used to. Widows is apparently a crime genre film focusing on strong women, with Viola Davis and Michelle Rodriguez starring (Liam Neeson has a cameo role playing Davis' husband, who as the title hints at, is killed off early in the film). I've only seen preview clips. So far, it's taken in $74.2 million in the U.S.

Mr. McQueen studied fine art early in his career, and he's known for his experimental work as a film artist. His earlier films, Hunger (2008) and Shame (2011) both starred Michael Fassbender and catapulted Fassbender's career into greater recognition and opportunity. McQueen should have been Oscar-nominated for both of those films -- they are works of art and truly extraordinary filmmaking! For several years, Fassbender dated African-American actor and singer Nicole Beharie (who starred with him in Shame). Then Fassbender met Swedish actor Alicia Vikander when they worked together on The Light Between Oceans, and that was the piece de resistance for his love life, as Fassbender and Vikander were married in 2017. They live in Lisbon, Portugal.

Nicole Beharie also starred in the little known romantic film, My Last Day Without You (2011), with German actor Ken Duken. I don't think that film was released to theaters, and it's no longer available on Netflix. It can be found on STARZ (Prime Video) or purchased/ rented on Amazon. It's also possible to rent or buy the movies Hunger, and Shame on Amazon (or possibly rent from a library). Carey Mulligan also appeared in the movie, Shame.

 

[aftershocks]

Everyone, first off the accused director in question's name is: Bryan Singer.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryan_Singer

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bryan-...n-globe-award-on-social-media-causing-uproar/

And I will take the other shocking article links to the appropriate 'Harvey Weinstein et al' thread for discussion...

 

[VGThuy]

Your mention of female-centred films made by women brings to mind Frozen River (2009).

It was a wonderful film and I see on IMDB that it did receive a fair bit of acclaim, including Best Woman Director for Courney Hunt. Though I am not sure I agree with having a specific category for 'Woman' director. I understand the rationale for reverse discrimination, but think that female directors are capable enough to compete with male directors.

Today Alex Shib was at the dentist's office taking questions and someone asked him who his five favorite directors were. He came up with this exhaustive list:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DwkzZjyXcAAYf7u.jpg:large

And then came to the conclusion that we need more female directors. That reminded me of your post.

 

[Japanfan]

What about whole filmography of people that people think shouldn't be shown anymore due to the men behind them, i.e. Roman Polanski films and Woody Allen films? People are saying they shouldn't be shown anymore because we really can't separate the work from the artist.

Producers' POV is most likely whether or not a film will make money.

My position is more that viewers can choose not to see the films of Polanski and Allen, and the like.

But people still do want to see them. I think it because they are considered auteurs, and this position is seen to transcend who they are as mere people. In other words, they get a free pass of the 'go to jail' card.

SFAIK, actors flock to work in Woody Allen films.

And speaking of Kevin Spacey, he was erased from an entire film that was set to be released and had to be reshot, and people are weary of mentioning him in House of Cards or showing scenes of him in past seasons, etc. So it's like they want to pretend he was never a part of that show when he was a huge part of the success. Is it easier to just take a piece away for some projects and not others?

Yes. In House of Course, the stage was already set for Robin Wright to assume the primary role when she became President. But now we get to see her make a play to trounce her husband - I was looking forward to that.