Oscars 2019 or The Academy Why so Corrupt?!?!?!?

Oscars 2019 or The Academy Why so Corrupt?!?!?!?!

It has been almost 24 hours since the Oscars has ended. I had time to sleep on the winners, take in the shocks, take in the morning news, and reflect on what I saw. To all the winners congratulations and if your name is brought up it is issues with the current system in place.

The Oscars tends to bring out the worst in my ci ephile friends we can protective of films and actors we love that year. I am no exception. I'll be upfront and honest. Last night it was funny watching Deborah Hildebrandt scream everytime Bohemian Rhapsody won an award. I was preparing myself to how many FBombs might fly with my group of that film won Best Picture. It was the winningest film of the night unfortunately. I think the film should have taken two awards sound mixing and best actor. I am not sure what the voters saw in that film.

I am sure as I write that my mail bag for my birthday and Christmas will be filled with that film im various formats.

That just leads me to questions how does a film get nominated, selected, and win in it's category. Are there improvements to be made? Simply the studios pick who they think should be nominated for each category and then the nomimees eventually get selected from that pool and people from within the industry vote.

So the Oscars biggest problem in our age is that they are controlled by the major studios. It is honestly a corrupt system that leads to holding films back to a certain period for release and allowing the studio to make more money offnofna film the public normally wouldn't see. What happens is simple whether it is intentional or not people get snubbed, nominated for the wrong categories, and the right films don't get the attention.

Let's take a look at a few areas of controversy. The definition of Best Actor or Supporting Actor. When Olivia Colman won last night I was excited for her, but the studio put her in the wrong category. Not Olivia's fault. PS Olivia best speach of the night. Olivia's character was a supporting character in The Favourite. The film centers around Emma Stone's character. Clearly Emma while recognized herself was nominated for the wrong category. Poor Glenn Close sorry girl, but even Olivia knows that award belonged to you. You got snubbed Glenn.

Now to two other categories Best Foriegn Film and Best Animated Feature. Best Animated was created after the controversy that followed Beauty and the Beast's loss and Foriegn Film falls into category of segregation for me to make sure neither style of film wins Best Picture. Yeah in online post I said Roma was not my cup of tea, but that doesn't mean the film was not great because it was I made that clear in my post as well. The film didn't speak to me.

The film that did speak to me was SpiderVerse. Spider Verse was hands down the most groundbreaking film I have seen in almost 20 uears. To give you context I was speechless when I left the theater. The last film to have that effect on me was Dark City.

The two types of films in these categories have never won best picture. It's the hahaha you have your prize go home category because you will never win. Indirectly those categories segregates those films from having a chance. I am not sure if it is time for them to go or not.

What I am sure is the Oscars needs some changes to the system to be more in line with today's world and be more popular with the at home viewing experience.

The necessary changes to the system

1. The selection/nomination process

The Oscars are a global thing and more studios exist besides the big boys. It is time for a vasectomy. Yes a vasectomy.

All nominations should come from approved film critics across the world who work within the industry. After that list has been narrowed down and a committee of film critics narrows down that list of films to an appropriate number. A semi final round will begin of voting with the critics. The top nominations of that semifinal round make the final round.

2. The Final Round Voting Process
This is a 3 way weighted vote
1. Critics their vote counts towards 50 percent of the final votes
2. Industry Workers 25 percent of the weighted vote (Actors, Directors, Producers, and etc.)
3. The public vote
The Academy should take a page from the Rock Hall setup an online vote to where the public can register and vote. Give us the at home viewer a reason to watch the Oscars and a stake in it.

Nobody has seen more than the critics their vote counts the most, but each party has a stake. While at the same time eliminating studio control. I know it's a pipe dream, but its how you find out the true winners.

The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot

The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot

Written and Directed by Robert D. Krzykowski

Cast
Sam Elliott - Old Man Calvin Barr
Aidan Turner - Young Calvin Barr
Caitlin FitzGerald - Maxine
Larry Miller - Ed Barr

Opening Thoughts: Growing up in my household, with as as big as a movie fan I am you might be surprised if I told you my mom is just not into cinema. She has only been to the theaters once in the last five years as context. So there are not many actors or films she speaks about. One thing is for sure she doesn't understand my passion for films.

However she will talk about one actor with a passion of love. That actor is Sam Elliott. To my mom, Sam Elliott screams what man should be inside and out. A moustache, hairy chest, and a sense of sensibility few actors have that makes him attractive to  both women and men. Outside of Robert DeNiro, Sam Elliott is the actor I have watched with my Mom.

So anytime I get a chance to experience  a new film with Sam Elliott I cherish those moments. That said watching Sam in a film that appears to be an exploitation is nothing I have experienced before. This may work for him and may not the film seems outside of his wheelhouse.

Well at least the trailer looked fun and hopefully the film lives up to that. The film from that trailer looks like it came from the mind of Quentin Tarantino. I just can't see Elliott in a Tarantino film it's so not Elliott.

Plot: Calvin Barr, an ederly man, is a man who appears to be just going through the motions at this point in his life to survive. Barr, doesn't seem to have a lot of friends and wants to keep his past a secret even from his closest relatives and best friend Ed Barr.

The past is eating him alive from the inside, on any given day you will find Calvin in a dive bar drowning his regrets in liquor. Those regrets, especially when drinking trigger PTSD moments to where he remembers his past like it was happening right now. Calvin as result looks like a sad excuse for a man and an easy target for criminals to take advantage of at his age.

One day on his way home from the bar a group of young hooligans decide they want to mug Calvin and steel his car. What they didn't expect was Calvin to fight back with cat like reflexes. Calvin easily subdues the men, but that moment triggers flashbacks of his past that he wish he never did and regrets.

The next day Calvin finds himself in his younger brother's barber shop. Ed can tell Calvin is troubled, but nothing Ed can do can get Calvin to open up to him. So Calvin is reliving, a period in his life feom the late 1930s to mid 1940s by himself.

That past finds Calvin in a relationship with a young school teacher Maxine. The relationship appears to be one that most of us would long for, but with the United States going into World War II every man wants to join including Calvin. Maxine doesn't want Calvin to join. Calvin is already an accomplished person with musical talent, Maxine knows Calvin doesn't need to join.

Maxine ultimately decides to end their relationship based on Calvin's decision to join the war amd go back to her hometown to teach. Ultimately it's this decision of what if that bothers Calvin years later. Yet Calvin is also bothered by the assassination of  Adolf Hitler he carried out back then.

It is those skills years later that brings the CIA knocking on his door asking him to search, hunt, and kill the bigfoot that is carrying a virus that could wipe out more people than the 1919 Spanish Flu virus. Calvin refuses because he is pacifist that can't live with the blood of another person or creature on his hands. The thing is Calvin is one of the few people immune to this virus and quickly realizes he has no choice but to accept this mission because the fate of the world relies on him not just mankind, but animalkind as well.

As Calvin prepares for the showdown with the bigfoot he finally opens up about his past to Ed. Ed finding it hard to believe supports Calvin and understands this may be the last time he sees his brother alive.

Who wins in the final showdown Calvin Barr or the Bigfoot?

Review: What I thought I might see going into this film, is not what was delivered after I watched the film at the Film Bar Phoenix. With RLJE films attached and the title of the film, I expected an exploitation film. What I saw in the theater played out as a classic western in which a lawman regrets something of his past and must atone for what he felt was his sins years later in order to move on. An atonement that requires that lawman, or some instances a criminal, to come out of retirement despite the fact he or she don't want to.

In alot of ways this film is comparable to Unforgiven or First Blood. Krzykowski should be applauded for this. What Kryz did was give such an outlandish concept, but made it believable as a serious film worthy of being in Sam Elliott's catalog of films. The fact he went this route  makes me excited to see more of his films in the future since this was his directorial debut as feature film director.

Special shoutouts should go to Larry Miller and Caitlin FitzGerald as well. Sam always delivers in his performances no matter how bad his films are. Aidan Turner I have had similar experiences im both film and television with. Larry Miller is a great character actor in films like The Nutty Professor and Necessary Roughness, but he always plays the villain in roles that I have seen him in. I have never seen Miller play sympathetic character that you are supposed to like in a film. It's the first time I saw him break this mold and honestly I want more of it.  Caitlin on the other hand provides a performance that is perfect you love her and you want Aidan to end up with her. You can feel what she is thinking without having to hear her say it. I am hoping she becomes a bigger actress.

The film, including the forest scenes, were shot in Massachusetts. I think the most breathtaking scenes cinematography wise happen in the forest. I wish this sequence longer because of those shots.

That said this film does have its flaws. With Krzy making this a serious film, the design and how the bigfoot scene played out was cringeworthy at times. This is probably the biggest flaw of the film having a bigfoot that didn't seem frightening and an exploitation fight sequence when the rest of the film up til that sequence was serious took the film back a notch or two. The bigfoot throwing up in Calvin's mouth while funny just didn't seem to belong.  The bigfoot looked like tje witch from Henson's Dark Crystal again just out of place.

The other flaws of this film develop in the aftermath of the showdown and unexplored opportunities with Calvin and Maxine when he returned from WWII. I just wish that aspect was explored more.

Final Thoughts: I'm glad I saw this film in the theater. Overall everyone attached to this project delivered. Sure the film has its setbacks, but the good outweighs the bad. As far as 2019 goes, this is the best film off the 27 films I have seen this year in the theater. That said the year is early and I would give this film a 7/10. So as you can see I don't think the film is great, but the film is worthy of watching in the theater and good for repeat viewing. If you can deliver that then as a team you accomplished what uou were meant to. If this was Sam's last film I would be okay with it.

Side News: I  don't know anybody who loves Sam Elliott as much as my Mom does more than Shelly Grant of BS Movies Podcast. I love BS Movies Podcast and while I have influenced both Brian Haas and Shelly Grant into watching films they have also influenced my cinematic journey.

BS Movies wants to take their show on the road throughout cinemas across the nation. Films are a passion of love and that is what they want to share on their road trip. However to share that passion of love it does cost money and they are looking for support to take this show on the road. BS Movies has started a wonderful Indiegogo project with wonderful perks.

To see more about this project visit this link

igg.me/at/bsmovies

Spotlight Look: Happy Death Day 2U

Happy Death Day 2U

Opening Thoughts: It's no secret I love horror films and Happy Death Day, aka the horror version of Groundhog Day. Plus as a bonus Blumhouse has been knocking horror out of the park. The main cast and crew return so the film should have a certain feel a familiarity to it. The only downside I could see happening with a film like this is an outplayed concept and a PG-13 rating.

Plot: Ryan Phan, that Asian roommate from the first film, wakes up in his Kia and slowly makes his way back to his dorm room. On his way there, Ryan just keeps having the strangest things happen to him. Ryan walks in on Tree and Carter making out and gets kicked out of his dorm. Ryan then makes his way to the lab only to find out the Dean is going to shutdown his experiments. A machine that has the ability to open doors to another dimension.

What can go wrong with a machine like that? Well apparently an alternate universe version of him decides to kill him and close the loophole. Thing is Ryan wakes up the next day and realizes he is having DejaVu and enlists the help of Carter and Tree to stop the madness. Only for Ryan, he doesn't have the smarts to stop the madness in an explosion Tree wakes back up in an alternate universe having to live her Death Day over and over again.

Does Tree live? Can the madness be stopped? What is different in this universe? Can Tree make it back to her own Universe?

Review: Happy Death Day 2U as a sequel has its flaws and successes like any sequel would. Quite honestly I found the first 20 minutes boring and somewhat repetitive of the first film. Then all of the sudden it's like Christopher Landon took the Happy Death Day bible and threw it out the window.

Sure the film is a horror comedy, but you are given the explanation of why the day was repetitive. This time they decided to go all out with science fiction aspect to the film that oddly works. The film in many ways ia funnier than the first film and Tree's crew grows into a rag tag team of Big Bang Theory misfits and I love it.

The big flaw with this film was simple the Babyface killer. It was just boring to repeat the killer and in an alternate dimension I knew who the killers were well before we got to the reveal. So I hope with the next film they go with a new killer and a different day.

Final Thoughts: I will leave you with this I think the deaths are better and the makers of the film were not afraid to go all out this time for a laugh.
The issue with this film was a boring start and lack suspense with the killers with me. I do think there was enough explored in this alternate reality that was new and along with new teammates to make fans of the first movie happy. While the film was more outlandish and funnier than the first film the small flaws hold this film back. I really think from the 20 minute point on this is a superior film to the first one especially with science Fiction added. That said the film gets a 6.5 out of 10 from me while the first film is still a solid 7.5 out of 10 for me.

The Legend of Billie Jean

The Legend of Billie Jean

Director: Matthew Robbins
Writers: Mark Rosenthal and Lawrence Konner
Starring:
Helen Slater as Billie Jean Davy
Christian Slater as Binx Davy
Richard Bradford as Mr. Pyatt
Peter Coyote as Lt. Ringwald
Keith Gordon as Lloyd Muldaur
Martha Gehman as Ophelia 
Yeardley Smith as Putter

Opening Thoughts: This is a film I have passed many times on the video rental shelf and in stores to buy. I never had the interest to watch the film because honestly the cover never interest me. Well when you love films this is one of those ones your relatives send you in a set with other films. About my only experiences I remember with Helen Slater was watching Supergirl in the theaters at the age of 5 and a few years later Michael J Fox got the hots for her in The Secret of my Success. That said looking at the box the film does say PG-13 that just came out at that time and maybe trying to push the limits for an MTV Video watching generation. Pretty much the new trend from that era was throw a bunch of pop songs in the movie and make the film one giant music video. So hopefully if I don't like the film at least the music will get me through it.

Plot: Billie Jean Davy is a fun, free spirited, and extremely attractive girl the boys just can't keep their eyes off of. Hubie Pyatt, a spoiled jock with a muscle car, is one of those boys who decides the time has come to get into Billie Jean's pants and make her his girl. Billie knows how to putsmart him and does her best to keep Hubie at bay. The problem for Billie is her younger brother Binx. Binx is a hot headed individual who decides to take it upon himself to protect Billie one day at the beach.

With every action there is always a reaction, Binx's actions get him jump and his MotoScooter stolen by Hubie's gang. Billie tells Binx to stay calm and let her fix the situation. Billie speaks with Lt. Ringwald  of the police and he tells her not to worry about the situation these things are harmless pranks that tend to blow over and the person will give you back the scooter no harm no foul.

Ringwald's optimism doesn't pan out when Binx recovers his scooter damaged beyond belief. Billie pays for the repairs and approaches Hubie's father Mr. Pyatt at his shop to pay for the damages around $600. The thing is Mr. Pyatt is willing to give Billie the money, but only if she repays him with sexual favors.

Billie tries to escape the situation, but Billie is trapped until her Binx enters the store. In complete confusion, Binx shoots Mr. Pyatt and Billie escapes. Binx And Billie along with their friends Orphelia and Putter flee the town in Orphelia's family station wagon to avoid being captured by the police.

Billie becomes the leader of the group as they try to out maneuver the police, FBI, and Mr. Pyatt. The longer their escape goes the more the group becomes folklore larger than life. Thus the legend of Billie Jean is born that all teenagers want to ve.

The question is can these kids avoid being captured? Who will they cross paths with  on the run? Does thing end well for this group or will they meet the same fate as Bonnie and Clyde?

Review: The Legend of Billie Jean has a lot going for the film before even watching. A phenomenal cast across the board that would make you stop. A soundtrack featuring the DiVinyls, Billy Idol, and Pat Benatar. A story that in concept grabs you and makes you want to the film. I certainly enjoyed watching the film, but with all that going for the film there was something just off putting about this film at times.

Most of the offputting things about Billie Jean simply comes down to poor writing or lack of common sense from the writers and director of the film not from performances. To simply put it, there are bang your head against the wall moments in this film not one, but multiple times throught out the film. Sure I have gimmies in just about everything I watch, but the gimmies in the film stretch my patience.

1. Lt. Ringwald is written as a moron in this film. What police officer is not going to take a report and investigate the theft of a vehicle especially if witnessed? Honestly this film shouldn't have even gotten to the point of the kids being on the run from the law.

2. Mr. Pyatt's actions he make him a good villain, but man how does not end up in jail when both the police and the FBI knowingly watch him interfere with their investigation and multiple attempts in trying to capture the kids.

Quite honestly these are unforgivable when you think about it and you just can't look past. You throw in 80s lingo cliches like the interviews with the teenage public watching  the escape and their opinions not being portrayed well either. The filmmakers just didn't do their job in fixing obvious issues even a child could see is wrong.

That is a shame because the rest of the film is great and despite being dated in some ways the film has been become more relevant now then when originally released.

Despite that the film does have a certain charm to it mostly Putter and Lloyd being the redeaming factors. Yet those redeeming factors may not be enough to save the casual viewer from not liking this film.

Final Thoughts: Billie Jean is one of those I like, but because of its flaws I find hard to recommend to people. So if you like my description of the plot watch the film, if not then don't force yourself unless you can catch the film on tv or streaming. That said in the era of the MeToo movement this film has become more relevant today then back when released.

Because of how the film became more relevant now then back when released, I am going to make a rare recommendation in that this film should get remade under the right circumstances. Those circumstances requires the following from me.

1. A female writer
2. A female director
3. A female producer
4. A female cinematographer
5. A female composer

Billie Jean just won't get the justice she deserves unless it falls under those circumstances. I hope this can happen, but only time will tell.

With all this said despite  that I like The Legend of Billie Jean, the fact is I want to give this film a good rating yet I can't. If I gave this film a good rating I wouldn't be true to the film, the viewer, and myself. So Billie Jean you get a 5.5 out of 10.