Directing
A couple of thoughts:
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I am a huge Spielberg supporter. He has contributed more to great film making in my lifetime than anyone else. I bought books on The Making of Jaws and have been paying closer attention to him than anyone in pop culture deserves. Speaking of deserves, he shouldn't be here for Fabelmans. Go away, sir.
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The co-directors of EEAaO are referred to as The Daniels. They are having so much success, they seem fine with it. I am troubled, though, because at work, my closest friend and I (who started with the company around the same time) are frequently confused for one another. Aside from being the same age, we look and act nothing alike. I bare my soul on this non-Oscar topic only because I'm worried they secretly refer to us as The Fats.
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Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert, Everything, Everywhere, All at Once
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One of my favorite debate topics in film study: is the most honored creative act original writing, or directing? Peter Benchley wrote a great book. Would Jaws have been the first-ever summer blockbuster without the ominous shark not showing itself for more than half the movie? Was the seminal genius Puzo or Coppola? The Daniels took care of that, both writing and directing this brilliant film. I don't see how anyone else could justify walking away with a statue for their comparitively two-dimensional films.
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Martin McDonagh, The Banshees of Inishirin
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The backdrop of the Irish Civil War creates a brilliant parallel without hitting you on the head with a narrative mallet. The beauty of the repeated, predictable landscape for one character v. the rugged, ever-changing craggy territory for another is just one of many devices that are brillance in celluloid (yes, we still use celluloid -- rooting for the demise elsewhere, perhaps? Mine, maybe. Take solace - I'm smoking a cigar while I write this).
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Todd Field, Tar
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Good film lifted by world-class acting. I enjoyed this one more than many. Mr. Field will have to put his fantasy of conducting an orchestra with a naked gold man-shaped baton for now.
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Steven Spielberg, The Fabelmans
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If not for Michelle Williams, Paul Dano and 10 crisp minutes of Judd Hirsch, this movie would've sucked. Sorry, hefe.
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Ruben Ostlund, Triangle of Sadness
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Brilliant movie. Give it a chance...which is more than Mr. Ostlund has this year.
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