I turned on the Oscars just in time to catch the screenplay awards, where they run the text at the bottom of the clip from the nominated film. And Bradley Cooper says, “I’m reining it in,” but the super says “reigning.” Sigh. As if the world wasn’t stupid enough.
I went to bed right before Emma Stone won for Best Actress, but I’m glad she did, despite the overwhelming push for Lily Gladstone. We watched “Poor Things” the night before — it’s on Hulu — and her performance was spectacular, with a much higher degree of difficulty than Gladstone’s. I know this was assumed to be a shoo-in for the Native American actress, as Hollywood loves to give at least one award a year to make it feel good about its social principles, or just to recognize a promising newcomer. But I don’t think Gladstone was robbed; she took home a lot of statues this award season, just not this one. And Stone deserved it.
That’s the thing about the Oscars — it’s just a vote, and we never know how the other finishers did. Stone may have edged her by a one, 100 or 1,000, but in the end it doesn’t matter.
Martin Scorsese, now — he knows about robbery. The greatest living director, and he has exactly one Oscar for it. (“The Departed,” 2006.)
In other frippery from the weekend, I’ve been studiously avoiding any of the Kate Middleton speculation and gossip, because why subject yourself to that when American democracy is swaying on its foundations and she’s probably fine anyway. Then the weekend photo business happened, and I must admit: I’m intrigued. It takes a lot for the world’s serious news agencies to put out a mandatory kill on something as silly as a courtesy photo from the British royal family. But in this case, the Zapruder-film examination of it makes me wonder what might be going on.
Most of the speculation has concentrated on some obvious — if you consider going over a picture with a magnifying glass obvious — editing of some of the clothing, but to me, it’s the black hole at her midsection that looks wonky to me. The most informed speculation about what might be ailing her, in my opinion, came from a doctor I follow on Twitter, who suggested she might have had some sort of temporary colostomy for the treatment of Crohn’s disease, and it would track that the rail-thin princess wouldn’t be photographed with any indication she might be wearing a bag. It would also explain the secrecy, because ew poop. Whatever. I do hope she’s going to be OK, because who wouldn’t.
Also, the British celebrate Mothers Day in March? Really?
And now it’s Monday again. Time to get it in gear.
alex said on March 11, 2024 at 10:53 am
Must suck to be a royal. Can’t even shit your shirt without the whole world watching.
I must say I’m blown away by my new marketplace health plan carrier, a company called CareSource. A customer service rep called me this morning to ask how I like the plan so far and to answer any questions. I told him I was blown away by the call. I’ve never dealt with a health insurance company that showed any concern for my satisfaction; the COBRA people, who were costing me a fortune, were downright hostile. I sure hope that Congress renews Biden’s subsidies next year and that the millions of people who are benefitting from them understand how important it is to turn out and vote Dem.
My silver plan is excellent and will even pay for a gym membership. I’m feeling psyched. That and I’m getting a fat tax return. Life is good, even though I’m stressed out as hell about our political situation.
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Jeff Gill said on March 11, 2024 at 11:38 am
Mothering Sunday; it’s actually older than our Mother’s Day (shout out to Grafton, West Virginia, TWKWK).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mothering_Sunday
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Jeff Borden said on March 11, 2024 at 12:18 pm
Ryan Gosling owned the show last night. He’s a lot more talented than I’ve given him credit for.
The orange blob just can’t help himself. He was hate watching the show and insulting Jimmy Kimmel, who turned out a great ad lib in response. Damn, I so fucking sick of tRump. He’s like sewer gas, hovering over everything. He can’t die soon enough for me.
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ROGirl said on March 11, 2024 at 12:23 pm
I just figured she had a hysterectomy, but this is a much more interesting take on the matter.
Rocky as best picture over Taxi Driver and Dances with Wolves over Goodfellas are crimes against humanity.
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Icarus said on March 11, 2024 at 12:44 pm
I haven’t watched the Oscars (or other awards shows) in decades. Same with the Olympics. I remember when it was a social requirement so that you could partake in the water cooler conversations. But now, if need be, I can google and watch a short clip or read a quick write up and know everything I need to pretend like I was there.
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David C said on March 11, 2024 at 12:55 pm
The Palace operatives must be getting spread pretty thin working on both the Kate disappearance and the Harry and Meghan beatdown projects.
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LAMary said on March 11, 2024 at 2:11 pm
Kate, Harry and Megan AND King Chuck. He’s got the big C.
And ditto in Goodfellas and Taxi Driver. Scorsese was robbed.
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Jakash said on March 11, 2024 at 3:12 pm
I’m pleased and interested to see your comments about Emma Stone’s win last night, NN, because I’ve been curious about that movie, and certainly value your opinion.
I had barely heard of “Poor Things” before Emma Stone won the Golden Globe for Best Actress (Musical or Comedy). At that point I looked into it a bit, since we like to see as many of the top movies as we can. It has lots of rave reviews, of course, but also an undercurrent of very negative reactions. One thing I noticed was that, while it sported a 94% “top critic” rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the “audience score” is 15 points lower, which is sometimes a bad sign. On IMDB, it has a very high 8.1 average, but there are plenty of 1 and 2-star reviews countering the 9 and 10-star appreciations. Samples: “I regret watching this.” “Very bad.” “Horrible.” “Difficult to watch.”
Obviously, there are a lot of fine cinematic works of the non-superhero variety that are hated by regular folks out for some popcorn and a fun Saturday night. But the objections to the film that I’m referring to are with regard to it offering an “utterly bogus vision of female empowerment,” as stated in the review by Mick LaSalle (about whose reputation and/or agenda I know little) I’m linking to below, one of the few “rotten” ones on Rotten Tomatoes. He wrote: “Worst of all, it’s dishonest. It purports to be a feminist document, but it defines a woman’s autonomy as the ability to be exploited and not care.” There’s more that he has to say with regard to that.
There’s also a common theme among many of the negative IMDB reviews. As one commenter put it: “Throughout the film, this woman with a mind of child gets sexually abused by the adults around her.” Folks note how inappropriate that seems, regardless of the artistic intent.
If a lurker calling down from the last row of the cheap seats of NN.C Stadium might ask, I’m wondering what you think of such criticisms. Are they totally off-base, perhaps part of some kind of political backlash, or something, or is their any validity to them in your estimation?
https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/movies-tv/poor-things-emma-stone-18530863
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Sherri said on March 11, 2024 at 5:43 pm
I haven’t seen Poor Things, so have no opinion on it, but Mick LaSalle is the longtime film critic for the San Francisco Chronicle, like 40 years, and I’ve never thought of him as having an agenda. I haven’t read him regularly for a while, now, so maybe he’s become a grumpy old man, but I used to enjoy his reviews.
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Dorothy said on March 11, 2024 at 6:22 pm
I had read descriptions of Poor Things online as Jakash stated and it has put me off wanting to see it. I probably WILL at some point but I’m not ready at this time to do so. We did rent Anatomy of a Fall and The Holdovers on Saturday – watched them both and we’re thinking now that we really prefer to rent a movie for $5.99 at home. The advantages are many, included among them the ability to pause it if you have to go to the bathroom, get back to it if you get interrupted by something (you have 48 hours to watch it once you rent it), no one talking around you, snacks are MUCH less expensive in my own house, and best of all is the price.
I had a very helpful conversation with a Verizon rep about an hour ago about my deceased sister’s account. She had changed to a pre-paid account and already the phone is not working because she hadn’t paid for the next month of usage. I can’t stress enough how great this guy Alexander was. That was a pleasant surprise as talking to reps from cell phone companies usually ends up with a lot of unnecessary bullshit that no one really wants to know. If only the people who cleaned up her apartment had found the title to her car. That’s going to be a pain in the ass to deal with even with a death certificate. I really think it would be a favor to us if someone stole it and then we didn’t have to worry about it anymore.
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FDChief said on March 11, 2024 at 7:06 pm
The Winning the Internet entry re: the royal watch is a tweet from someone named Stefan Smith:
“The Princess of Wales is missing, the spare Prince is in exile, and the King is treating his illness with herbs. If this was the 1300s the French would be looking to invade.”
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NancyF said on March 11, 2024 at 8:22 pm
I saw “Poor Things” in a theater and admired Emma Stone’s bravura performance and, of course, the costumes, but I felt the sheer giddiness of the production design swamped the story. Then I read — OK, listened to — the Alasdair Gray novel on which the film is based, and wowza, director Yorgos Lanthimos took some MAJOR liberties with the text. (Gray is dead, and possibly revolving posthumously.) There’s a twist at the end of the book that subverts everything that precedes it — the “everything” that is the sole content of the movie — and there’s a socialist message that, added to the feminist message, makes the novel far more pointed and compelling. Unlike the film, with is pretty darn bawdy, the book has no explicit sex. I’ve found that Lanthimos is a director to be approached with skepticism. (I *hated* “The Favorite,” despite strong performances by Stone and Olivia Colman.)
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Julie Robinson said on March 11, 2024 at 8:41 pm
The Favourite had histrionic acting and unnecessary nudity. I guess the director likes to shock? Count me out.
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Dexter Friend said on March 11, 2024 at 11:07 pm
I was up all night re-setting this hp desktop to factory settings, which was my only option on the installation I was using. So when you don’t think of these things except every few years, it’s a struggle to do it right and today it’s much harder because passwords aren’t recognized, then new passwords aren’t either, so this will take many hours of keeping after it to get this version up to full speed.
My old pal Tony/Paul (he used an alias in secret church basement recovery meetings) suffered with Crohn’s and had multiple surgeries but never had the bag when I knew him 30 years ago. If Kate M has this disease, I might even pray for her and I don’t pray at all. It’s a tough burden , Crohn’s.
Trump said he would look into cutting entitlements like Social Security, then denied saying it, then tape was produced. The fucker said it alright. Joe Biden will destroy Trump in November at the polls.
To celebrate the end of winter, I had smoked kielbasa covered with sauerkraut, hard dark bread with melted butter, a pasta salad, and ice cream with canned sweet cherries .
Nearly a year ago, I bought a F150 V8 Triton Ford truck. The mechanic/owner of the place from where it was purchased told me he spent extra time getting it just right for me as I am a come-back repeat customer. All I had to do was get new non-aggressive tires and have the heating system flushed out. Yesterday I finally put it to the test by driving 85 mph for 2 miles on I-75 , heading to Findlay. No problems. I normally cruise at 79 mph on freeways. We all know the 70 mph limit is so out of date. Everybody is going between 75 and 80 or maybe 82 all the time on freeways. I love freeway flying, as Tom Waits called it 45 yeas ago.
My 34 year old granddaughter had her car wiped out by a wide-turning truck with trailer.
I found her a clean 2009 Chevrolet Cobalt , 70K mileage, good tires, runs great, for $4500. She thinks it’s only worth $2500.
She is going to buy some goddam POS for $2500 and it will need $3000 in repairs the first week. I am good at predicting this kinda shit. But who wants to listen to an old great grandpa who don’t know shit?
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Deborah said on March 12, 2024 at 5:29 am
I know this is an unpopular opinion but I was disappointed with Killers of the Flower Moon. I watched it on the flight back from Japan, so on a very small screen with background airplane noise so maybe that caused part of my let down. I didn’t think the acting was that great by any of the actors which surprised me. Knowing it’s a true story made it interesting as a horrific historical event but that was about it for me. The only other thing I found of interest was how I kept thinking of Trump compared to the character played by Deniro. The way that character manipulated everyone making them think he was their friend and savior, and using the dumbest people to do his bidding. Plus getting away with everything. I felt while watching it that was a comparison Scorsese wanted us to make but I haven’t read that anywhere. Is it just me? Am I finding Trump comparisons everywhere because he looms so large in my psyche?
I really wanted to find the acting by Gladstone to be Oscar worthy but it didn’t take me there. I hope she gets more opportunities for sure.
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Dexter Friend said on March 12, 2024 at 5:34 am
I just finished watching “Poor Things “.
Weird as hell with sex acts less presented artfully than as pure-porn
I don’t like this kind of movie that I found degrading.
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Dorothy said on March 12, 2024 at 1:16 pm
Deborah I don’t know very many people who saw Killers of the Flower Moon, but my daughter’s long time partner Josh did see it in October. All I remember him saying was that he liked the first half of the movie, but really hated the second half. Knowing that it’s an extremely long movie, and Josh’s opinion of it, made me realize I likely will not see it until it comes to a streaming service that I already subscribe to. And I can watch it myself to make my own conclusions. I really want to see some of the documentaries or animated films that were nominated. The Last Repair Shop is definitely one I want to see. I’ll have to add the titles I want to see to a list I keep on my phone.
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Jeff Borden said on March 12, 2024 at 1:29 pm
Man, the last movie I saw in a theater was “Super Fly” at the Music Box Theater, which also featured a discussion with the black film critic of the Boston Globe. He’s written a book on blaxploitation movies. Great fun.
The Oscar winner I’ve struggled with is “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” I love Michelle Yeoh, but the movie left me confused and uninvolved. Ah, well. One guys opinion…
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Dorothy said on March 12, 2024 at 1:34 pm
Oh Jeff Borden, me too. I watched it twice, about 3 months apart, and still did not care for it. After it won so many Oscars I thought “well maybe I missed something the first time.” I had not missed anything. I’m mostly just thrilled that Jamie Lee Curtis won an Oscar for that movie. Oh and of course Michelle Yeoh too, but I haven’t seen her in very many movies. JLC and I, though, go back a long way. We’re about the same age.
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Mark P said on March 12, 2024 at 2:32 pm
I watched Everything etc and liked it OK, but I thought it was pretty lightweight fare. Fun and original, but Oscar-worthy? Not really. My wife asked me what it was about, and all I could say was, “You wouldn’t like it.”
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Jakash said on March 12, 2024 at 2:58 pm
I’ve appreciated the interesting thoughts about “Poor Things” above, particularly NancyF’s remarks about how it’s different from the book. “Weird as hell,” as Dexter put it, is not usually much of a selling point for us. Since we don’t currently have HULU (I believe the movie arrived there about 2 days after our most-recent one-month free trial ended!), I don’t think we’ll be seeing it soon.
I was also interested to note NancyF and Julie dissing “The Favourite.” That came out in the Before Times, when we’d make a point to see almost anything nominated for Best Picture. We saw all the other nominees from that year, but whatever we heard about “The Favourite” convinced us to skip it. Of course, that was before I knew anything about Olivia Colman. Having since been impressed by her in several other things, I thought we might give her Oscar-winning performance a look if it comes up somewhere for free. Now, I’m not so sure.
I agree with Jeff B. and Dorothy about “Everything, Everywhere.” It was too much of everything for me, except for a script I might have liked better. I pondered how out-of-touch I must have become, since it was such a success, awards-wise and at the box office.
Re: Olivia Colman. A fun little snippet where she gives a shout-out to one of our favourite teas, Yorkshire Gold. (In for a dime, in for a dollar — might as well have “favourite” red-lined on here a third time rather than go with the American spelling.)
https://www.tiktok.com/@britishvogue/video/7302117590061567275
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ROGirl said on March 12, 2024 at 3:02 pm
I loved Everything, Everywhere because it wasn’t one of those long, serious oscar-bait movies that usually win. It drew me in and didn’t bore or annoy me.
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Jeff Borden said on March 12, 2024 at 4:48 pm
There’s blood on the floor of the Republican National Committee now that tRump’s toadies have taken control. Longtime staffers must reapply for positions, but the wager is only his most fervent believers will be on the payroll. With luck, Lumpy will do to the RNC what he’s done with most of his businesses.
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Deborah said on March 12, 2024 at 5:25 pm
I loved Everthing Everywhere All at Once, it was so different from anything I’d ever seen before and was so entertaining.
We’re at the Phoenix airport waiting for our flight to Albuquerque. It rained in San Francisco this morning and traffic was crawling. I’m sick of airports but after this flight to Albuquerque we have another flight to Chicago about a week later.
I’m so jet lagged, it isn’t that I sleep too much it’s that I can’t sleep when in bed. I was awake from 11:30pm last night until 5 something this morning. Then I went to sleep and had a bad dream awakening 5 minutes before my alarm went off at 7:30am. I don’t think I’ve ever been so jet lagged before, I have such a brain fog.
Once we get to Albuquerque we have a limo ride to Santa Fe where LB will have some food ready for us.
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LAMary said on March 12, 2024 at 5:44 pm
I saw Jamie Leigh Curtis and her mother Janet Leigh shopping at the Banana Republic store in Beverly Hills about 30 years ago. Mom was trying on clothes and daughter was giving thumbs up or down.
And you’ll probably like Last Repair Shop.I knew one of guys who worked there. I also know someone whose student made the film. And my kids benefitted from the existence of the repair shop.
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Dorothy said on March 12, 2024 at 6:42 pm
I talked to Jamie Lee on the phone when her daughter was a student at Kenyon and I worked in the Development office. That was kinda cool. I tried to be all smooth and everything, but inside my fluttery tummy was working overtime. At least I didn’t embarrass myself.
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David C said on March 13, 2024 at 6:53 am
I was wrong about Autopilot killing Angela Chao, but it was her Tesla that killed her. Electronic door latch releases and hiding the mechanical override release is a really stupid idea.
https://jalopnik.com/a-tesla-touchscreen-mix-up-killed-angela-chao-report-1851327161
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basset said on March 13, 2024 at 7:09 am
Trip coming up, not on the level of a week in Japan or anything like that but we’re excited about it.
One of my ancestors, actually my great-great-grandfather’s cousin, was a potter of some renown in a part of South Carolina that’s known for its pottery. He started a pottery around 1840 that stayed in business till 1937; we went down there last fall, found the site, picked broken pieces off the ground and started getting even further into the history.
We have now found the “clay banks” where the pottery got its clay, and we have made arrangements to go down there later this spring and bring some of it home so we can make a few new pots to continue the line.
They’ll be pretty rudimentary, I haven’t done anything with clay since high school art class, and getting the clay ready to use is a lot more trouble than I knew, but at some point my cousins and I will have a tangible connection to the old days. This’ll be fun.
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Jeff Gill said on March 13, 2024 at 7:56 am
Getting your hands dirty in the best way. Sounds cool!
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alex said on March 13, 2024 at 7:57 am
I have a rental car with overcomplicated electronics so I spent yesterday familiarizing myself with it lest I do an Angela Chao on the interstate.
I’m off to Chicago for a visit, but my first stop this morning will be Walgreens for some Imodium. My doctor placed me on Mounjaro about a month ago and it’s now having one of the side effects I was warned about. This is the diabetes med that’s even better for losing weight than Ozempic. Apparently you shit the pounds away. Controls blood sugar pretty well too.
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Dexter Friend said on March 13, 2024 at 8:22 am
alex, As an army medic in Viet Nam the drug I passed out more than any other was Imodium/Loperamide. A few times in my drinkin’ daze I had to take it. It should be in everyone’s travel bag for sure.
Every time I see a Genesis I think of that bone-breaking wreck of Tiger Woods. Good on you to take plenty of time to know what’s what. I see videos of Tesla renters who are thrown into Teslas with no idea how to operate the fucking things. I will just take whatever is available next week for my visit to Saginaw Bay and Caro, Michigan. I gotta visit the grave of my comrade Frank who helped me from going crazy many days when the shit hit the fan now and again in Nha Trang. We also had adventures back home, driving a VW Bug to D.C. to demand a veterans bonus (never happened), and we hit the Detroit nightclubs he knew so well. Heluva dude, from Genova, Italia until age 14, then to Cody High School, Fisher Body, Viet Nam, and back to Fisher Body until he drifted off to Ann Arbor and out of my life. One of the closest friends I ever had, dead at age 62 in 2012. I just gotta make sure his grave is kept clean. I owe him that.
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alex said on March 13, 2024 at 9:31 am
Dex, I’d forgotten it was a Genesis that Tiger Woods was driving. The company’s spin was that the vehicle had saved him from worse injuries than he received.
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