I finally watched All Quiet in the Western Front. Took a while to get my wife to agree to watch. It was long and she hid her eyes from the violence. While the movie was very will photographed, it is an example of how a movie may not be the best place to recreate a work of literature. I read a translation of Remarque's book in the late 60s when the Vietnam War was raging - the book's lesson seemed compelling then. But the recreation of a series of scenes in ones minds is different from passively watching scenes in a movie. So an honorable effort but a failure in the end. Just too long and there was no narrative to speak of. That was the point of the book - but a movie needs something else -at least if that long.
I am curious if the group here are really surprised about the controversy re the nomination of a white person from a movie no one saw? In fact entertainment reporters need to write something. And somewhere (before I even read anything) I heard something about the "whitest oscars in years."
The number of nominees in any category is only a handful, and since only whites are a large enough group in the US to always have one of their group nominated in any category, we will no doubt hear about which group was slighted (blacks, asians, hispanics) until the story becomes a non issue.
Re All Quiet on the Western Front - was happy you discussed. I will watch it.
Interesting to juggle War = Bad with the War in Ukraine (so Good?)
See, the idea that this is “the whitest Oscars in years” is just weird, at least very specifically with regard to the actress categories. There are three Asian nominees, one African-American nominee, and one Hispanic nominee. That’s actually a pretty diverse slate, all things considered.
Sure, but this is not about my issue. The thing is that this is what pops up in an internet search and in what amounts to click bait.
Yours is useful perspective, but didn't you anticipate some comments about race, if only because media needs to have so much content now compared to pre-1980. And based on the small sample size (I am an insurance underwriter, so excuse my reference to sampling) every group has an excellent chance to be disappointed almost any year.
Also - as a businessman we deal with performance evaluations which force ranking ones employees. The top performer's value is exaggerated and the one at the bottom negatively so. In fact the differences in a typical group of 10 employees usually small - that is each produces about the same (most seasoned employees CAN do the job ).
Imagine a similar matter among seasoned actors. Those who did not get nominated likely did as good a job as the ones nominated. So they no doubt will mutter to their friends, and reporters they know. The mutterings are already being reported (as in the LA Times piece)/
Re Oscar noms -- it occurs to me that anyone in the movie biz, heck arts in general, has constantly "not gotten the part" during their career And in the interest of self esteem, it's comforting to think that there was some unfairness.
I picked this show to give Sonny Bunch one more chance! His arch remarks about a great movie was the final straw. None of the reviewers, while declaiming depictions of war, mentioned Paul’s relationship with Kat, a transcendent character. World War One was the pivot of all modern history and the worst war in which to be a soldier. This story illustrates the humanity of soldiers on both sides, and the commentary that places upon the Germans of 1918 the responsibility of subsequent events is shallow and ill taken. We don’t know the future and they didn’t either. Yes, Sonny, war is bad and so are you.
I finally watched All Quiet in the Western Front. Took a while to get my wife to agree to watch. It was long and she hid her eyes from the violence. While the movie was very will photographed, it is an example of how a movie may not be the best place to recreate a work of literature. I read a translation of Remarque's book in the late 60s when the Vietnam War was raging - the book's lesson seemed compelling then. But the recreation of a series of scenes in ones minds is different from passively watching scenes in a movie. So an honorable effort but a failure in the end. Just too long and there was no narrative to speak of. That was the point of the book - but a movie needs something else -at least if that long.
I am curious if the group here are really surprised about the controversy re the nomination of a white person from a movie no one saw? In fact entertainment reporters need to write something. And somewhere (before I even read anything) I heard something about the "whitest oscars in years."
The number of nominees in any category is only a handful, and since only whites are a large enough group in the US to always have one of their group nominated in any category, we will no doubt hear about which group was slighted (blacks, asians, hispanics) until the story becomes a non issue.
Re All Quiet on the Western Front - was happy you discussed. I will watch it.
Interesting to juggle War = Bad with the War in Ukraine (so Good?)
See, the idea that this is “the whitest Oscars in years” is just weird, at least very specifically with regard to the actress categories. There are three Asian nominees, one African-American nominee, and one Hispanic nominee. That’s actually a pretty diverse slate, all things considered.
Sure, but this is not about my issue. The thing is that this is what pops up in an internet search and in what amounts to click bait.
Yours is useful perspective, but didn't you anticipate some comments about race, if only because media needs to have so much content now compared to pre-1980. And based on the small sample size (I am an insurance underwriter, so excuse my reference to sampling) every group has an excellent chance to be disappointed almost any year.
Example: https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2023-01-24/oscar-nominations-2023-oscarssowhite-again-black-actors
Also - as a businessman we deal with performance evaluations which force ranking ones employees. The top performer's value is exaggerated and the one at the bottom negatively so. In fact the differences in a typical group of 10 employees usually small - that is each produces about the same (most seasoned employees CAN do the job ).
Imagine a similar matter among seasoned actors. Those who did not get nominated likely did as good a job as the ones nominated. So they no doubt will mutter to their friends, and reporters they know. The mutterings are already being reported (as in the LA Times piece)/
This discussion had better include Bridge on the River Kwai, the best war movie EVER, imho! And it debuted in 1957, as did I.
Re Oscar noms -- it occurs to me that anyone in the movie biz, heck arts in general, has constantly "not gotten the part" during their career And in the interest of self esteem, it's comforting to think that there was some unfairness.
I picked this show to give Sonny Bunch one more chance! His arch remarks about a great movie was the final straw. None of the reviewers, while declaiming depictions of war, mentioned Paul’s relationship with Kat, a transcendent character. World War One was the pivot of all modern history and the worst war in which to be a soldier. This story illustrates the humanity of soldiers on both sides, and the commentary that places upon the Germans of 1918 the responsibility of subsequent events is shallow and ill taken. We don’t know the future and they didn’t either. Yes, Sonny, war is bad and so are you.
War: bad!
You’re so clever just to repeat your insipid opinion. I’ll cheerfully go back to ignoring you. You: bad!