I saw MIDNIGHT COWBOY last night and can't help but think that this is the most daring choice the Academy has ever made in regard to awarding the Best Picture Oscar, in that it is the most alternative they've ever gone. Would anyone disagree, either giving a bolder choice for Best Picture or outlining why it wasn't really that "out there" in 1969?
(The next boldest decision I would think of is THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, but that film does look pretty conventional today - the only boldness was awarding a horror film about a serial killer. I still think MC was a much bolder decision).
"A lot of midgets tend to kill themselves. The disproportionate, I meant. Herv Villechaize offed on Fantasy Island. I think somebody offed on Time Bandits. I suppose they must get really sad about like being really little and that people looking at them, laughing at them, calling them names. You know, short arse. There's another famous midget. I miss him but I can't remember. It's not the R2D2 man; no, he's still going. I hope your midget doesn't kill himself. Your dream sequence will be ****ed."
Ray (Colin Farrell), IN BRUGES
Posts: 276 | Location: Canberra, Australia | Registered: October 06, 2005
Subject matter aside (and of course that is in part what you mean, legitimately), it's a pretty conventional drama, in line with many Oscar nominated films. Beyond the subject matter, I don't find it a particularly daring film. In 1969, this was new and seemed different, plus 3 of its competitors were fairly conventional films (Z was a real contender that year). I still wonder if They Shoot Horses had made it in whether Midnight Cowboy still would have won.
People should also know that in the first year of ratings, a lot of studio films got X ratings. There is nothing in Midnight Cowboy that shortly after would have gotten it anything more than an R.
Originally posted by seanflynn: Subject matter aside (and of course that is in part what you mean, legitimately), it's a pretty conventional drama, in line with many Oscar nominated films. Beyond the subject matter, I don't find it a particularly daring film. In 1969, this was new and seemed different, plus 3 of its competitors were fairly conventional films (Z was a real contender that year). I still wonder if They Shoot Horses had made it in whether Midnight Cowboy still would have won.
People should also know that in the first year of ratings, a lot of studio films got X ratings. There is nothing in Midnight Cowboy that shortly after would have gotten it anything more than an R.
In the grand scheme of things, it is nowhere near the most daring film ever made. But, when restricted to Best Picture Oscar winners, is it the most daring?
The things that make it different for me, from the other BP winners, are the subject manner (young hustler trying to make it big in NY), the story arc (two young misfits try and get by on the streets of NY, mainly by illegal means) and the hallucinogenic drug scenes.
"A lot of midgets tend to kill themselves. The disproportionate, I meant. Herv Villechaize offed on Fantasy Island. I think somebody offed on Time Bandits. I suppose they must get really sad about like being really little and that people looking at them, laughing at them, calling them names. You know, short arse. There's another famous midget. I miss him but I can't remember. It's not the R2D2 man; no, he's still going. I hope your midget doesn't kill himself. Your dream sequence will be ****ed."
Ray (Colin Farrell), IN BRUGES
Posts: 276 | Location: Canberra, Australia | Registered: October 06, 2005
Originally posted by seanflynn: I'd say the content of The Silence of the Lambs and The Departed would compare to Midnight Cowboy, equally adult and more squalid.
I'd agree with the content bit, and throw American Beauty in as well. But they still seem much more standard, structure wise, than MC. Watching MC today, it feels so much like an alternative movie - an Independant Spirit award winner if it was made today.
"A lot of midgets tend to kill themselves. The disproportionate, I meant. Herv Villechaize offed on Fantasy Island. I think somebody offed on Time Bandits. I suppose they must get really sad about like being really little and that people looking at them, laughing at them, calling them names. You know, short arse. There's another famous midget. I miss him but I can't remember. It's not the R2D2 man; no, he's still going. I hope your midget doesn't kill himself. Your dream sequence will be ****ed."
Ray (Colin Farrell), IN BRUGES
Posts: 276 | Location: Canberra, Australia | Registered: October 06, 2005
Originally posted by Stinger: Wellington, what did you think of the performances in the movie? Hoffman, Voight, Miles, Vaccaro, etc.
Hoffman and Voight were pretty much as I expected i.e. great. Miles managed to be very memorable in the movie (in a good way) despite only being in one scene! Vaccaro didn't have much to do though, in my opinion, so she didn't really get to shine.
"A lot of midgets tend to kill themselves. The disproportionate, I meant. Herv Villechaize offed on Fantasy Island. I think somebody offed on Time Bandits. I suppose they must get really sad about like being really little and that people looking at them, laughing at them, calling them names. You know, short arse. There's another famous midget. I miss him but I can't remember. It's not the R2D2 man; no, he's still going. I hope your midget doesn't kill himself. Your dream sequence will be ****ed."
Ray (Colin Farrell), IN BRUGES
Posts: 276 | Location: Canberra, Australia | Registered: October 06, 2005
