Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings
Tax the Rich
Movie MondayTax the Rich
First a word about the Oscar awards from last night, which I didn’t watch but when did first-hand experience ever stop an American from commenting on a subject?
To approach this circumlocutiously, I’ve been watching a lot of movie credits lately. I’ve decided this is because I’m knitting more complicated stitches and can’t stop to reach the remote as the credits roll. What I’ve found, even assuming one-third of those listed on only getting paid by having their name placed in the credits (no money changes hands but this is a bullet for a resume), is that all movies are small businesses (less than 100 employees) and many, many are big businesses. (I think I counted 100s of names in the POTC credits.) So you can say that when a movie goes into production, it’s creating a new business which may be in existence for a year or more.
Using the laws of commerce and not the laws of art (Art has laws?), it makes sense that the Oscars award those movies which are going to bring in the audiences and thus keep these businesses going. That’s why the Oscars almost always play it safe and very, very seldom do dark horses, small indies, get an award or even a nod at nominating time.
Looking at The King’s Speech and Colin Firth as Best Actor, you see a perfect example. I like Firth but I see him, the person, in every role he plays. He’s entertaining. A Single Man from last year looks interesting but I’m still watching Colin Firth play a gay man. But then, establishment movie making really doesn’t care how good an actor the winner is. This movie and Firth have had such a positive PR spin well before the movie came out that unless Firth went out on a drunk spree with Mel Gibson he and the movie were headed to Oscar gold.
I’m sure I’m going to like this movie when it gets onto my movie package. I liked The Queen, though I think that Mirren is a quirkier, more interesting actress. This movie has pre-WWII tension (though as someone commented: Do you think if George stuttered through that speech, England was going to sit out the war?), royalty, the common man (Rush, the speech therapist) as savior, and cursing. Wow! How could they lose?
Which brings me to The Runaways. It’s a small movie about Cheri Currie (Dakota Fanning) and Joan Jett nee Larkin (Kristin Stewart) who were lead singer and song writer respectively in the 1970s popular all girl band, The Runaways. Although it’s Jett who pitches the idea of a girl band to over-the-top record producer, Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon), and who writes their songs, it’s Currie as the lead singer who gets the publicity and brings on the jealousy. For a 15-year girl, it’s that and her drug addiction which finally leads to the band’s break-up.
Why should you watch this movie? For me, for the first time I really understood the appeal of “raw” rock music on teens. In just a few minutes, as Shannon, Fanning and Stewart work on a song, drawing deep, primal singing out of Currie, I got the connection which this music has with the angst every teen experiences. It was a “wow” moment of understanding and a “wow” moment of watching good acting.
Since the movie only focuses on The Runways, you get little mention of Jett’s later fame after the band’s break-up. Yet the last scene with Jett dressed very Reagan-era establishment doing a radio interview and Currie calling in from her job in a bakery captures quickly what the future was each of them.
A flawed movie? Yes, but raw, brutal, and real with great performances. Be ready for expletives, lesbians, masturbation. It’s not your grandma’ music. It’s an indie which is not afraid to stretch.
Trivia: See if you recognize Cher's mom. I didn't. Hint: She's an Oscar winner.
To approach this circumlocutiously, I’ve been watching a lot of movie credits lately. I’ve decided this is because I’m knitting more complicated stitches and can’t stop to reach the remote as the credits roll. What I’ve found, even assuming one-third of those listed on only getting paid by having their name placed in the credits (no money changes hands but this is a bullet for a resume), is that all movies are small businesses (less than 100 employees) and many, many are big businesses. (I think I counted 100s of names in the POTC credits.) So you can say that when a movie goes into production, it’s creating a new business which may be in existence for a year or more.
Using the laws of commerce and not the laws of art (Art has laws?), it makes sense that the Oscars award those movies which are going to bring in the audiences and thus keep these businesses going. That’s why the Oscars almost always play it safe and very, very seldom do dark horses, small indies, get an award or even a nod at nominating time.
Looking at The King’s Speech and Colin Firth as Best Actor, you see a perfect example. I like Firth but I see him, the person, in every role he plays. He’s entertaining. A Single Man from last year looks interesting but I’m still watching Colin Firth play a gay man. But then, establishment movie making really doesn’t care how good an actor the winner is. This movie and Firth have had such a positive PR spin well before the movie came out that unless Firth went out on a drunk spree with Mel Gibson he and the movie were headed to Oscar gold.
I’m sure I’m going to like this movie when it gets onto my movie package. I liked The Queen, though I think that Mirren is a quirkier, more interesting actress. This movie has pre-WWII tension (though as someone commented: Do you think if George stuttered through that speech, England was going to sit out the war?), royalty, the common man (Rush, the speech therapist) as savior, and cursing. Wow! How could they lose?
Which brings me to The Runaways. It’s a small movie about Cheri Currie (Dakota Fanning) and Joan Jett nee Larkin (Kristin Stewart) who were lead singer and song writer respectively in the 1970s popular all girl band, The Runaways. Although it’s Jett who pitches the idea of a girl band to over-the-top record producer, Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon), and who writes their songs, it’s Currie as the lead singer who gets the publicity and brings on the jealousy. For a 15-year girl, it’s that and her drug addiction which finally leads to the band’s break-up.
Why should you watch this movie? For me, for the first time I really understood the appeal of “raw” rock music on teens. In just a few minutes, as Shannon, Fanning and Stewart work on a song, drawing deep, primal singing out of Currie, I got the connection which this music has with the angst every teen experiences. It was a “wow” moment of understanding and a “wow” moment of watching good acting.
Since the movie only focuses on The Runways, you get little mention of Jett’s later fame after the band’s break-up. Yet the last scene with Jett dressed very Reagan-era establishment doing a radio interview and Currie calling in from her job in a bakery captures quickly what the future was each of them.
A flawed movie? Yes, but raw, brutal, and real with great performances. Be ready for expletives, lesbians, masturbation. It’s not your grandma’ music. It’s an indie which is not afraid to stretch.
Trivia: See if you recognize Cher's mom. I didn't. Hint: She's an Oscar winner.
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