If you asked a movie guy — Oscar edition
TYLER WILSON/Coeur Voice Contributor | Coeur d'Alene Press | UPDATED 2 years, 11 months AGO
The late film critic Roger Ebert wrote a longstanding column called Movie Answer Man in which readers asked him all sorts of questions about movies.
This longtime Coeur d’Alene Press column obviously isn’t as popular, so people don’t ask me too many movie-related questions (How rude!) Anyway, I like to inflate my ego and answer made-up questions from fake people. Unfortunately, the questions are always super hostile, probably because I hate myself.
Anyway, let’s tackle a few fake questions in celebration of this week’s announcement of Academy Award nominations!
Hey, Tyler, it seems like you and other critics often get angry about “Oscar snubs,” as if your opinion is apparently superior to those who actually work in the movie industry. Are you really that vindictive? — Annie Anderson, Spirit Lake.
Wow, not really the tone I was hoping to lead off with, but I’ll try my best to defend myself. Of course I don’t think my opinion is superior to Academy members. While the way the Academy votes interests me, I learned a long time ago that what they choose doesn’t alter my life in any way, so I don’t get too upset when they veer away from my preferences. I like to see the movies I love do well, but plenty of them get completely ignored by the Oscars.
However, I do think the nominations can be a bit antiquated, mostly because it seems like some voters don’t bother to see many of the movies. All too often, certain titles rise to the top because of marketing campaigns and what the voters have been hounded to watch by the studios.
Ultimately, I can enjoy the Oscars while still disagreeing about the choices. And, occasionally, our interests align, like in the cases of “Parasite” and “Nomadland” winning Best Picture, two movies I personally hoped would win.
Should more mainstream movies like “Spider-Man: No Way Home” be nominated for Best Picture, or do you like being a snob about your precious subtitled movies? — Patrick Star, Bikini Bottom, Idaho.
I doubt that’s your real name, Patrick, but I’ll answer your question anyway. Certain people want to see movies like “Spider-Man” nominated because they think it’ll improve the TV ratings of the Oscar telecast. Also, I’m sure some genuinely think “No Way Home” is the best movie they saw last year. While I liked “Spider-Man,” I wouldn’t put it anywhere close to my Best Picture lineup. That being said, I find it to be of better quality than say, “Don’t Look Up” or “Being the Ricardos.”
As far as Oscar TV ratings go, I don’t care at all. If the show ends up losing viewership and it eventually moves to a cable network or streaming service, oh well. I’ll watch it there.
Do you ever get tired of watching “Oscar-y” movies around this time of year? Why didn’t you review the new “Jackass” movie? What do you watch when you’re tired of pretending you like highbrow movies? — Rick Flag, Corto Maltese, Idaho.
Hey, Rick, last time I saw you it seemed like John Cena really had your number. Anyway, yes, somewhere around January and February, I typically need a little break from the “homework” of watching Oscar contenders.
This year, I burned through a few installments of “Scream” (in preparation for the new one), watched “The Faculty” all the way through for the first time, then followed that Josh Hartnett movie up with another less-known one, the goofy cop caper, “Hollywood Homicide” with Harrison Ford. That one I watched because it was leaving HBO Max the next day. I also became the last person on Earth to watch “Bo Burnam: Inside” on Netflix. Maybe it’s about time I get around to being the last person on the planet to watch “Ted Lasso.”
Is the movie “Flee” a documentary, an animated feature, an international feature or all three? Would you have kept it out of any of those Oscar categories? Also, you’re a bad writer. — Joanne Kathleen Rowling, Bristol, Idaho.
I don’t think there’s a Bristol in Idaho, and you should consider shortening your name, Joanne. Also, maybe stay off Twitter for a while.
Anyway, onto “Flee,” the unique animated documentary feature from Danish filmmaker Jonas Poher Rasmussen. It tells the harrowing true story of a young man’s journey from Afghanistan to Denmark as a refugee. It was shortlisted and eligible to compete in four distinct Oscar categories — International Feature, Documentary Feature, Animated Feature and Best Picture.
My short answer: “Flee” is an international, animated documentary feature. I can understand the argument that it stretches the definition of documentary, in that much of the main subject’s flashbacks had to be completely recreated/dramatized without the use of archival footage. To me, however, enough of the movie follows a documentary structure, and the animation is deployed, in part, to protect the subject’s identity.
Some fight the movie’s inclusion as an animated feature because it contains a few (brief) live-action sequences. It’s also true that the animation in “Flee” isn’t as polished as that from high-budget contenders like “Encanto” or “Luca,” though the film has an intentional visual style that works for the subject matter.
I like the movie quite a bit, though I saw it after I published my list of the year’s best movies (I’d place it in the No. 11-20 range). If I voted for nominations, I would’ve marked it in three of the four categories (not Best Picture), and it’s currently my favorite documentary of last year.
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Tyler Wilson is a member of the International Press Academy and has been writing about movies for Inland Northwest publications since 2000, including a regular column in The Press since 2006. He can be reached at twilson@cdapress.com.