I know the Paulies are typically put out the day after the Oscars (to the extent that the Paulies are even typically put out anymore) but I hope that you’ll all forgive the extra few days wait. This year, I decided to finally get a blog going to post the Paulies along with occasional movie reviews and commentaries. Its pretty bare right now but I hope to get it touched up soon. I’d also like to get all of the old Paulies lists archived on the site so if anyone has any pre-2006 Paulies lists in their email archives, please send them along to me.
So, in brief, this was a pretty lackluster year for movies. As usual, there were some true gems (Let the Right One In, Synecdoche, NY, The Wrestler, etc.) and a few god awful failures (Revolutionary Road is almost Dogville-esque in its awfulness). But it was the great mediocre middle that seemed to dominate the box office this year. It was disturbing to see rewards once again heaped upon the undifferentiated mass of middle brow Oscar bait that chokes the cineplexes from November to January every year. (see e.g. Revolutionary Road and Benjamin Button…and probably The Reader…but I can’t cast aspersions since I couldn’t even bring myself to go see it) It was only a year ago that challenging, if mainstream films like There Will be Blood, No Country for Old Men, and Eastern Promises were recognized by the Academy. But this year, it was back to business as usual.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
The 2006 Paulies (Archive)
*For those who haven't seen them, I am trying to get copies of all the old Paulies and post them here. If you have any pre-2006 Paulies lists, please send them to me.*
Idea for a Film: “Several loosely connected stories organized around a central…no, a universal…theme (maybe, oh, cross-cultural communications breakdowns or racism). The interconnected stories should offer the illusion of depth while building towards a suitably cathartic finish that will reinforce the predominantly wealthy, educated, and politically liberal target audience’s existing feelings of smugness and self satisfaction. A multi-racial cast is a must though most of the primary “life lessons” in the film should be learned by white characters with recognizable names as this will allow the audience to relate to the film and, incidentally, help during awards season. Accept major awards. Repeat.”
Ladies and gentlemen, after a brief hiatus, the Paulies have returned (lets just pretend last year never happened) and honestly I don’t think I could have picked a better year…since 2006 was a pretty crappy year for movies and people seem to like to read bad reviews more than good ones. The “blockbuster” output was predictably deplorable with lackluster sequels and computer generated talking animals dominating the box office (that movie starring 5,000 dancing animated penguins voiced by celebrities might be the 387th sign of the apocalypse…shockingly Nicole Kidman was prominently involved). However, the more disturbing trend was the increasingly prosaic output of the supposedly indie arms of the studios. Every year it seems like the end of the year prestige pieces and films purchased from festivals get less edgy and more predictable. However, as always, some good films slipped past the quality control executives at Fox and Paramount and actually hit the dwindling cineplexes for a few weeks or found their way into a few Netflix envelopes.
Idea for a Film: “Several loosely connected stories organized around a central…no, a universal…theme (maybe, oh, cross-cultural communications breakdowns or racism). The interconnected stories should offer the illusion of depth while building towards a suitably cathartic finish that will reinforce the predominantly wealthy, educated, and politically liberal target audience’s existing feelings of smugness and self satisfaction. A multi-racial cast is a must though most of the primary “life lessons” in the film should be learned by white characters with recognizable names as this will allow the audience to relate to the film and, incidentally, help during awards season. Accept major awards. Repeat.”
Ladies and gentlemen, after a brief hiatus, the Paulies have returned (lets just pretend last year never happened) and honestly I don’t think I could have picked a better year…since 2006 was a pretty crappy year for movies and people seem to like to read bad reviews more than good ones. The “blockbuster” output was predictably deplorable with lackluster sequels and computer generated talking animals dominating the box office (that movie starring 5,000 dancing animated penguins voiced by celebrities might be the 387th sign of the apocalypse…shockingly Nicole Kidman was prominently involved). However, the more disturbing trend was the increasingly prosaic output of the supposedly indie arms of the studios. Every year it seems like the end of the year prestige pieces and films purchased from festivals get less edgy and more predictable. However, as always, some good films slipped past the quality control executives at Fox and Paramount and actually hit the dwindling cineplexes for a few weeks or found their way into a few Netflix envelopes.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)