“In a storytelling culture obsessed with bigger stories and higher stakes, climate change should be irresistible. And yet when we try to tell the story — whether it’s motivated by politics or the genre intuition that climate change is horror at the grandest scale — we fail, invariably, to do it well. Why?” Probably, writes David Wallace-Wells, because the threat is too real. – Slate
Category: media
ABC Needs To Stop Trying To Trim The Oscars Broadcast And Embrace Its Oscarness
“If you paid any attention at all to the run-up to this year’s Academy Awards, you might reasonably think the ceremony’s producers and network wish they didn’t have to do the damn thing at all. … ABC learning the wrong damn lesson from the Super Bowl is depressing, because that quintessential Live! Television! Event! offers so much more guidance on which way to go with Hollywood’s big night.” – Flavorwire
When Fan Culture, Troll Culture, Believe They Know Better Than Artists (And Want To Change Art)
Online communities build campaigns around “correcting” what they see as artistic errors. “A depressingly large number of these campaigns are defined by grievances against women and minorities, and by fury at Hollywood for attempting to make long-standing franchises sustainable by amplifying their inclusiveness.” – The Daily Beast
Oscar Ratings Up From Last Year’s Record Low
That initial rating means that Sunday’s show rose 14 percent from 2018, per the earliest-available numbers. This year’s Oscars ran 3 hours and 21 minutes. These metered market ratings cut off at 15-minute increments, meaning the 21.6 covers 8 p.m. ET to 11:15 p.m. ET. So they do not include the Best Picture presentation, in this case. – The Wrap
Back In The Day, Hollywood’s Highest Paid Director Was A Woman
In early days of the movies, some people thought that women had a special relationship with cinema. There were jobs – and not just as actors or script girls. “Women wrote at least half of all silent films, while narrative film—film that tells a made-up story—is arguably the invention of Alice Guy-Blaché, … [who] made La Fée aux Choux (The Fairy of the Cabbages) in 1896. There are actors, costumes, props, sets and a whimsical story; in the surviving clip, newborn babies emerge from giant heads of cabbage with the help of a fairy-midwife. The birth metaphor seems deliberate; the first narrative film may also be the first film about film.” – LitHub
The Woman Who Designed Wakanda
Hannah Beachler, the production designer for Black Panther, was the first Black person nominated for the award. She and director Ryan Coogler took their time creating the sets for the visually magnificent movie. “‘The rocks, the moss on the rocks, how the rocks were formed, how they were layered, the color of them — everything around me that was nature I took pictures of,’ Beachler says. Beachler also took note of the architecture, clothing, food, transportation and ways of life.” (Alert: This all paid off, and she won at the Academy Awards on Sunday night.). – NPR
Who Won An Oscar Last Night?
Here’s the complete list of winners. – Variety
Here’s A Documentary About The Actual Green Book
Ahem. You know, there really was one, and it really was key for Black people traveling in the South (and elsewhere) for decades. Something you might watch as counter-programming tonight? Hmmm. – The Atlantic
Spirit Award Best Screenplay Winner Says Director Of ‘Can You Ever Forgive Me?’ Was Cheated Of An Oscar Nomination
As she (and co-writer Jeff Whitty) won an Indie Sprit Award, “Can You Ever Forgive Me? screenwriter Nicole Holofcener offered a blunt assessment of the lack of Academy Awards recognition for director Marielle Heller, and women directors everywhere.” – Variety
Whither The Academy, Watchers May Wonder
Perhaps there’s a crisis in leadership, or perhaps there’s a crisis in the gap between leadership and members, but the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences sure is providing some head-shaking moments for those who follow the business. “As the academy looks ahead to further challenges, including the opening of a long-delayed, highly anticipated $388-million museum scheduled for late this year, the group’s leadership — which will undergo a transition later this year with elections to replace [John] Bailey as well as some board members — is likely to continue to draw scrutiny.” – Los Angeles Times