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Lights! Camera! Play Button!

Image result for oscar nominations

Well, that changed everything.

In 2019, Netflix scored its first Oscar nomination for best picture. A year later, the streaming service is leading the field in total nominations.

Movies released by Netflix earned 24 nominations this year, nearly doubling its all-time total. Leading the way for the company this year are The Irishman and Marriage Story, which earned 10 and 6 nominations, respectively—including best picture nods for both. As Netflix’s impact on the world of cinema becomes increasingly undeniable, the younger and more diverse film academy is no longer shunning the streaming service as the old Hollywood guard tried to do.

In addition to its two best picture nominations, the haul from Netflix, which released its first feature in 2015, reached virtually every category, from acting (where it received seven nominations) to writing to visual effects.

Netflix’s 24 nominations were two more than Disney’s total, even when combining all of the nominations earned by Disney’s various studios into a single number. (Disney’s empire now includes 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight.)

Netflix
24 nominations
Disney
22
Sony
20
Universal
13
Warner Bros.
12

 

Counting its two best picture nominations, the haul from Netflix, which released its first feature in 2015, reached virtually every category, from acting (where it received seven nominations) to writing to visual effects.

Netflix’s 24 nominations were two more than Disney’s total, even when combining all of the nominations earned by Disney’s various studios into a single number. (Disney’s empire now includes 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight.)

Threatened by the implications of Netflix’s arrival on the film scene, the members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences—the industry professionals who vote on the Oscars—had resisted awarding the streaming service with nominations. Hollywood has not been pleased with Netflix’s decision to release most of its films to subscribers online the same day that they’re put in theaters, which challenges the century-old relationship between distributors and theater owners. Nor are they happy with the small number of theaters that Netflix does allow its movies to be screened in.

But now voters are clearly warming to the idea of internet flicks, and we are entering the third age of television; streaming.
Though film viewers might not be in movie theaters, more people are seeing these films than if they were given a traditional theatrical release. Director Martin Scorsese—as Hollywood as Hollywood gets—said that he wouldn’t have been able to make The Irishman with a traditional studio. The major studios were unwilling to take on the financial risk of the three-hour mob drama, the director said. The deep-pocketed Netflix, however, was more than game, since it didn’t have box office receipts to worry about.

Netflix has used those deep pockets to launch historically expensive Oscar campaigns, hoping to woo voters the old-school way, with lavish parties and elaborate advertisements. The result has been an annual increase in Oscar nominations for the streaming service:

Helping Netflix’s case is a voting pool that has grown more diverse in recent years, in reaction to controversies like #OscarsSoWhite. In 2016, after the second consecutive year of an all-white slate of acting nominees, the academy made a much-publicized effort to invite more women and minority members. These new members, many of whom hail from outside the United States, are probably Netflix users themselves and can understand the appeal of releasing a film to everyone in the world at the same time.

While it may have helped Netflix ingratiate itself among the Hollywood elite, the change in membership hasn’t adequately addressed the actual problem it was meant to correct. The acting nominations this year were still blatantly homogeneous. Nineteen of the 20 nominees were white. The only black nominee, Cynthia Erivo, was nominated for portraying the former slave and abolitionist, Harriet Tubman. As usual, all five directing nominees were men.

That’s another area where Netflix can help the industry improve. The service has championed Oscar-worthy films directed by diverse filmmakers or ones featuring diverse casts, like 2017’s Mudbound and this year’s dramedy, Dolemite Is My Name, starring Eddie Murphy. Dolemite Is My Name was not nominated for any Oscars, even though its costume designer, Ruth E. Carter, became the first black designer to win an Oscar in history last year.

Netflix’s record nominations total is only going to convince even more talented filmmakers that the streaming service is a smart place to take their films. A world in which a majority of nominated films are distributed by Netflix and other streaming services may not be so far off.

Isn’t It Rich?

Joker trailer

Joker may be the most anti-comic comic-book movie ever set to film. Violent, grim and deliriously unconcerned with superhero tradition, Joaquin Phoenix’s rubber-bodied portrayal of Batman’s arch nemesis has, like Heath Ledger’s performance before him, permanently altered the definition of a comic-book villain.

Directed by Hangover and Old School veteran Todd Phillips, Joker is a superhero story as might have been imagined by Travis Bickle, and this fractured entry into the DC Comic Universe is by far the most deranged installment yet. Joker feels as informed by Taxi Driver and Network as by DC Comics, and that’s the joy of the 70’s-infused origins story; It dovetails nicely with the DC Universe, but never quite feels borne of it.Image result for taxi driver movie

Joaquin Phoenix is the titular character, Arthur Fleck, an odd, lonely guy who lives at home with his mother (a wan Frances Conroy) he love-hates. Arthur works for a grimy rent-a-clown business, and nothing ever goes right for him. That’s clear from the moment we meet him: spinning signs in downtown Gotham he gets jumped by a mob of punks.

As Arthur’s decline continues, he gets angrier and more isolated as the world’s saddest punching bag. When Gotham’s social services close down, Arthur learns he can no longer receive counseling there, or get his meds. (He carries around a little laminated card that he holds out whenever he laughs inappropriately, which reads, “Forgive my laughter, I have a brain injury.”) The one bright spot of his dreary life is watching a Johnny Carson-style talk-show host, Murray Franklin (Robert De Niro), on television. Arthur dreams of being a stand-up comic and someday being on the show. Like Bickle, Fleck will eventually get his wish, but not before a dramatic transformation.Image result for robert de niro joker

As you’d expect, Arthur’s downhill slide continues. He’s beaten up by a group of drunken Wall Street suits and draws a gun on them that he got from a co-worker (another Taxi Driver nod). Before long, Arthur becomes an Occupy Wall Street-style vigilante folk hero representing working stiffs tired of corporate manipulation. He inspires the masses to don clown masks, march in the streets and carry “Kill the Rich!” placards as they face off against city authorities.

All the while, the movie paints a painfully human portrait of Arthur, another break from superhero tradition. Arthur may have found a neighbor love interest, played by Zazie Beetz, but it could all just be in Arthur’s mind. So, too, may be his suspicion that he’s more a part of the Bruce Wayne’s family tree than he once thought. But in the mess that is Arthur’s brain, reality is always a guess at best.

Some scenes in Joker can’t help but fall into the trope-blender of all superhero films, and Batman fans will surely take exception to the re-writing of some age-old Caped Crusader canon. But Phillips and Phoenix are clearly unconcerned with Dark Knight conventions (or breaking from them), and the climactic scene of Arthur nearing his big TV break builds much the same tense dread of Bickle’s inevitable showdown with pimps and drug dealers. If Dark Knight left you asking it to send in more clowns, there’s no such worry with Joker. They’re already here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMQPeovhP7w

 

After Summer Slide, Hollywood Looks for Fall Comeback

Image result for hollywood fall 2019 preview movies

Hollywood could use a hero. After a forgettable summer at the box office, the movie industry is looking for an autumn resurgence in ticket sales. With the box office at $3.9 billion for summer 2019, Hollywood registered its second-worst season in theaters in 12 years. And coming back to match last year’s pace won’t be easy.

The film industry has less than four months to bring in about $3 billion in ticket sales if it hopes to tally more than $11 billion for 2019. For the past four years, movies in the U.S. have rung up at least $11 billion annually.

But that string is in jeopardy this year, even with the success of Avengers: Endgame, the highest-grossing film in Hollywood history. Endgame raked in $858 million in ticket sales, or more than a quarter of all summer ticket sales. And with no clear cinematic juggernaut on the horizon, studios will be  hard-pressed to keep its pace at the box office.

“Summer 2019 started off strong thanks to Avengers: Endgame hitting theaters in late April, but struggled thereafter, as tentpole after tentpole performed below expectations at the box office,” noted Sandy Schaefer of ScreenRant. “There were still a few hits along the way (John Wick 3, Spider-Man: Far From Home, The Lion King), but in general audiences seemed a bit underwhelmed by what Hollywood had on the menu. Studios are no doubt hoping for a better turnout over the next four months.”

To create one, studios are bringing several high-profile films to theaters for autumn, including:

Joker (Oct. 4)Image result for joker movie

Joaquin Phoenix plays wannabe stand-up comedian Arthur Fleck in this origins story about Batman’s perennial rival. Warner Bros. is serious about making Joker an awards contender (the studio screened it at this year’s Toronto and Venice’s film festivals ahead of its October release. Director Todd Phillips “is certainly a ways away from his Hangover trilogy days with this Scorseseian crime drama,” Schaefer says. ,”It’s anyone’s guess as to how comic book fans (or viewers in general) will respond to this one.”

Gemini Man (Oct. 11)Image result for gemini man

Will Smith play elite assassin Henry Brogan, who is preparing to retire, when he’s suddenly targeted and pursued by his deadliest opponent yet: his younger clone. “It’s the latest ambitious offering from director Ang Lee, whose previous ‘experiments’ have always been compelling, even when they’re only partly-successful,” Schaefer says. “That should remain the case here.”

Terminator: Dark Fate (Nov. 1)Image result for terminator: dark fate

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton and Edward Furlong reteam in this tale of Sarah Connor joining forces with a soldier from the future to protect a young woman who’s being hunted by a time-traveling Terminator. “Terminator fans have already been burned by the promise of a fresh start for the series twice, but maybe – just maybe – third time will be the charm for this struggling property,” Schaefer posits.

Doctor Sleep (Nov. 8)Image result for doctor sleep

Set 40 years after his terrifying stay at the Overlook Hotel, Dan Torrance (Ewan McGregor) helps a teenager who’s targeted by a dangerous cult for her own “shining” abilities. Judging by the marketing, Doctor Sleep has the makings of an engaging continuation of (director Mike) Flanagan’s ongoing exploration of trauma and grief through the horror genre,” Schaefer says. “That it also salutes Stanley Kubrick’s Shining movie is just icing on the cake in some ways.”

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (Dec. 20)Image result for star wars the rise of skywalker

he Skywalker Saga draws to a close as Rey, Finn, and Poe Dameron fight back against Kylo Ren and the forces of the First Order. “It’s the final chapter in the story of the Skywalker clan, and needs to leave audiences clamoring for more when the galaxy far, far away returns three years from now for its first ever post-Skywalker narrative,” Schaefer notes. She points out the movie is already “keeping fans busy as ever with their speculation in the meantime (especially where it concerns Palpatine’s unexpected return from the grave).”

While studios have fallen behind last year’s record-setting ticket sales, Schaefer believes there are enough big guns in the lineup to take up the slack. “October and November will be loaded with even more franchise offerings than usual, in addition to a number of director-driven films aiming to make some noise.” she says.  “Finally, December will round things out with the now-customary assortment of potential crowd-pleasers and prestige releases.”