On Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 7:16 PM, Bryan <[email protected]> wrote: > > I can't even find 10 new movies a year that I'd consider "Best PIcture" > contenders. > 6 would have been a better number -- 10!? Way to go, AMPAS, you just added > another half-hour to an already too-long telecast.
I'm not sure if I like going to 10 nominees (though I can think of a lot of good arguments for it, including the traditional convention of naming 10 best films each year), but I really disagree with you about the quality of 2008 crop of films, which I think was much better than average. Not everyone agrees with me of course - Anthony Lane of the New Yorker wrote: How many movies from 2008 will bear revisiting in later years? That is the test, and it is dismaying to recall how few productions passed it." But Roger Ebert agrees with me (personally, I think I got the better end of that face-off). Here is what Ebert wrote about 2008, which speaks not only to the quality of those films, buy maybe also to the wisdom of increasing the number of nominees: "In these hard times, you deserve two "best films" lists for the price of one. It is therefore with joy that I list the 20 best films of 2008, in alphabetical order. I am violating the age-old custom that film critics announce the year's* 10* best films, but after years of such lists, I've had it. A best films list should be a celebration of wonderful films, not a chopping process. And 2008 was a great year for movies, even if many of them didn't receive wide distribution. Look at my 20 titles, and you tell me which 10 you would cut." I might quibble a bit with some of his choices (and I missed 3 or 4 of them), but I agree that most of these were very fine films. I would add more, for example Gran Torino, Cadillac Records, Vicky Cristina Barcelona and even "The Wrestler (which I did not think was top 5, but maybe was top 20). Here is Ebert's list (copied and pasted from his web site: *"Ballast<http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?category=REVIEWS01&TITLESearch=Ballast&ToDate=20091231> "* *"The Band's Visit<http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?category=REVIEWS01&TITLESearch=The%20Band%27s%20Visit&ToDate=20091231> "* *"Che<http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?category=REVIEWS01&TITLESearch=Che&ToDate=20091231> "* *"Chop Shop<http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?category=REVIEWS01&TITLESearch=Chop%20Shop&ToDate=20091231> "* *"The Dark Knight<http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?category=REVIEWS01&TITLESearch=The%20Dark%20Knight&ToDate=20091231> "* *"Doubt<http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?category=REVIEWS01&TITLESearch=Doubt&ToDate=20091231> "* *"The Fall<http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?category=REVIEWS01&TITLESearch=The%20Fall&ToDate=20091231> "* *"Frost/Nixon<http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?category=REVIEWS01&TITLESearch=Frost%2FNixon&ToDate=20091231> "* *"Frozen River"* *"Happy-Go-Lucky<http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?category=REVIEWS01&TITLESearch=Happy-Go-Lucky&ToDate=20091231> "* *"Iron Man<http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?category=REVIEWS01&TITLESearch=Iron%20Man&ToDate=20091231> "* *"Milk<http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?category=REVIEWS01&TITLESearch=Milk&ToDate=20091231> "* *"Rachel Getting Married<http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?category=REVIEWS01&TITLESearch=Rachel%20Getting%20Married&ToDate=20091231> "* *"The Reader<http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?category=REVIEWS01&TITLESearch=The%20Reader&ToDate=20091231> "*** *"Revolutionary Road<http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?category=REVIEWS01&TITLESearch=Revolutionary%20Road&ToDate=20091231> "* *"Shotgun Stories<http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?category=REVIEWS01&TITLESearch=Shotgun%20Stories&ToDate=20091231> "* *"Slumdog Millionaire<http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?category=REVIEWS01&TITLESearch=Slumdog%20Millionaire&ToDate=20091231> "* *"Synecdoche, New York<http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?category=REVIEWS01&TITLESearch=Synecdoche%2C%20New%20York&ToDate=20091231> "* *"W.<http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?category=REVIEWS01&TITLESearch=W.&ToDate=20091231> "*** *"WALL-E<http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?category=REVIEWS01&TITLESearch=WALL-E&ToDate=20091231> "* --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ TV or Not TV .... Smart (TV) People on Ice! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
