MCU's THE ETERNALS (11/6/20) 8 8

[fantastic_four]

On 11/1/2021 at 1:06 PM, @therealsilvermane said:

It was actually chatted about online and other places that Eternals, like Black Panther or WB's Joker, might be another comic book movie Best Picture candidate for Marvel.

I can't come up with one angle from the source material the Academy would consider art.  Seems insane.

[@therealsilvermane]

On 11/1/2021 at 1:09 PM, fantastic_four said:

I can't come up with one angle from the source material the Academy would consider art.  Seems insane.

There was online chatter and insider tweets that Marvel Studios was astounded with how good they thought Eternals was and that Marvel was releasing the film in November in order to be closer to Awards season. There was the precedent for comic book movies getting nominated set by Black Panther and Joker. Then of course, there's the fact that the director Zhao makes very good movies and is herself an Academy winner. The talk had nothing to do with the original comic book source material, although Neil Gaiman's Eternals limited series is very very good.

[kimik]

On 11/1/2021 at 11:06 AM, @therealsilvermane said:

It was actually chatted about online and other places that Eternals, like Black Panther or WB's Joker, might be another comic book movie Best Picture candidate for Marvel.

BP was an average MCU film from a story and male lead performances perspective - the female leads were significantly better - but the cultural significance was the driving factor for Best Picture nod.

The Joker was a solid non-comic book story, and Phoenix was stellar as usual in a creepy/psychotic role which is why it got the nod. 

The Eternals was always going to be a popcorn flick. Anyone promoting it as a Best Picture consideration going in was not paying attention for the past year and a bit.

[kimik]

Regardless of the RT score and critics, I am looking forward to seeing the film on the big screen due to the last couple of trailers. Hopefully it is better than Black Widow and Shang-Chi, which should not be hard to do........

[▫️]

On 11/1/2021 at 8:27 PM, @therealsilvermane said:

There was the precedent for comic book movies getting nominated set by Black Panther and Joker. The Dark Knight.

 

[@therealsilvermane]

On 11/1/2021 at 1:28 PM, kimik said:

 The Eternals was always going to be a popcorn flick. Anyone promoting it as a Best Picture consideration going in was not paying attention for the past year and a bit.

I'll be more specific, there was actual online chatter and insider tweets that Marvel Studios was astounded with how good they thought Eternals was and that Marvel was releasing the film in November in order to be closer to Awards season. There was the precedent for comic book movies getting nominated set by Black Panther and Joker. Then of course, there's the fact that the director Zhao makes very good movies and is herself an Academy winner.

From this, one should be able to understand why there was a lot of critical expectations for Eternals based on the circumstances and the online chatter. That being said, Marvel Studios itself never released any official statement saying Eternals would be considered for the Oscars or would just be a popcorn flick.

[@therealsilvermane]

On 11/1/2021 at 1:35 PM, Oddball said:

There was the precedent for comic book movies getting nominated set by Black Panther and Joker. The Dark Knight.

Dark Knight was never nominated for Best Picture. Black Panther is the first major comic book movie to be nominated for Best Picture.

[▫️]

On 11/1/2021 at 7:39 PM, Bosco685 said:

For those that want to help out Disney/Marvel Studios while also getting a chance to enjoy something you love...

 

 

 

[kimik]

On 11/1/2021 at 11:37 AM, @therealsilvermane said:

I'll be more specific, there was actual online chatter and insider tweets that Marvel Studios was astounded with how good they thought Eternals was and that Marvel was releasing the film in November in order to be closer to Awards season.

That sounds more like a marketing play by Marvel Studios than anything since there was such low interest in it prior to the second trailer.

Now they are looking desperate with the free ticket for additional pre-screenings play. 

 

Edited November 1, 2021 by kimik

[▫️]

On 11/1/2021 at 8:38 PM, @therealsilvermane said:

Dark Knight was never nominated for Best Picture. Black Panther is the first major comic book movie to be nominated for Best Picture.

Nobody said it was ever nominated for Best Picture. But we know why it wasn’t. And while Black Panther was good, it wasn’t half as good as Dark Knight. And you know that.

[kimik]

On 11/1/2021 at 11:41 AM, Oddball said:

Nobody said it was ever nominated for Best Picture. But we know why it wasn’t. And while Black Panther was good, it wasn’t half as good as Dark Knight. And you know that.

Was Black Panther really a good movie, though? That would mean it is better than average MCU fare, which it was not.

[▫️]

On 11/1/2021 at 8:43 PM, kimik said:

Was Black Panther really a good movie, though? That would mean it is better than average MCU fare, which it was not.

I liked it despite it being so formulaic. 

[theCapraAegagrus]

On 11/1/2021 at 1:43 PM, kimik said:

Was Black Panther really a good movie, though? That would mean it is better than average MCU fare, which it was not.

Good? Yes. Great or special? No.

[fantastic_four]

On 11/1/2021 at 1:28 PM, kimik said:

BP was an average MCU film from a story and male lead performances perspective - the female leads were significantly better - but the cultural significance was the driving factor for Best Picture nod.

The Joker was a solid non-comic book story, and Phoenix was stellar as usual in a creepy/psychotic role which is why it got the nod. 

The Eternals was always going to be a popcorn flick. Anyone promoting it as a Best Picture consideration going in was not paying attention for the past year and a bit.

Or almost any year since the Oscars began.  The Academy mostly only nominates films that are art, i.e. contain some sort of underlying theme that improves the human condition.  Sci-fi and fantasy RARELY get nominated because they usually focus on entertainment, not art, and you can count the number of sci-fi or fantasy films that have been nominated for Best Picture on your fingers and toes.  If it doesn't speak to some unique and compelling humanistic theme then it has to raise the bar and move the goalposts SIGNIFICANTLY to get nominated.  Previous examples include:

• Star Wars--changed film editing forever, and critics knew it even in the moment.
• Raiders of the Lost Ark--defined a crossover fantasy/action drama that barely existed before, and has barely existed since that was at its level of quality.  Weak nomination that never stood much of a chance even though it's one of my favorite five films ever made.
• ET--humanized alien life to an extent no film ever had.  Prior to this the possibility of alien life seemed hostile and threatening, but ET made people believe it was possible for it to be cute and cuddly.  If we get invaded and enslaved perhaps we can point to it as humanity's downfall, but hey, it showed us a possibility film hadn't until then.
• Lord of the Rings (all three years)--not art, but the novels defined an entire genre and Jackson's interpretation was so spot on Academy voters couldn't resist honoring it.  All three nominations--and the win for Return of the King--are arguably in the top 50 least-deserved nominees, and it's right in the running for least-deserved win.  Even Tokien's peers thought he was slumming it by writing children's books in the 40s and 50s, so it's oddly nostalgic that 3-4 generations later critics raised on them respected them so much.  But it's understandable, and since I've seen each film 5 to 10 times obviously I agree about their quality, although not the deservingness of the films.  The books?  Yes, they defined a genre.  The films not so much despite how awesome I think they are.
• Mad Max: Fury Road--film editing, nothing else.  Star Wars on meth.  It was never going to win, but the nod makes sense since it went to a place no film ever has (and many or most viewers never wanted to be in).
• The Shape of Water--didn't see it so no idea 
• Arrival--wonderfully complex, well-crafted, and one of the most realistic depictions of what alien first contact might be like.
• Black Panther--culturally significant for a vision of what Earth's most subjugated people on its most colonized continent might do if a fictional element like Vibranium existed.  I don't think it deserved a Best Picture nod because it's far more about entertainment than art as all Marvel films are, but I understand and empathize with the progressive mindset that led to the nomination.  This is also the film that started a controversy within the Academy trying to distinguish art from entertainment, and it directly led to the proposal to create a completely separate Best Picture category for entertainment-based films.  That category was originally set to begin next year but has been postponed indefinitely.
• Joker--no comment because I don't see how it had anything to say about the human condition any more than Alan Moore would ever think Killing Joke ever did.  The Joker is the embodiment of a self-absorbed, random killer--which Christopher Nolan intuited and depicted his Joker to be, as all popular incarnations of the character had been before and how I saw the character in that film--and I don't see how elevating that helps anyone.  But I've only seen it once so I could be wrong, and I welcome a case for how much it says about the human condition.  I lean towards the opposite idea that it has more destructive than constructive influence.

Edited November 1, 2021 by fantastic_four

[Bosco685]

On 11/1/2021 at 1:27 PM, @therealsilvermane said:

There was the precedent for comic book movies getting nominated set by Black Panther and Joker. 

These came out in 1941?

[▫️]

On 11/1/2021 at 10:06 PM, Bosco685 said:

These came out in 1941?

DC. Means Doesn’t Count.

[Bosco685]

On 11/1/2021 at 3:12 PM, Oddball said:

DC. Means Doesn’t Count.

The level of franchise blindness is astounding.

To include even making it about 'only the MCU matters' with discussing when was the last time Rotten Tomatoes was discussed so much and ignoring Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker.

Edited November 1, 2021 by Bosco685

[fantastic_four]

Best Picture is the category sci-fi and fantasy rarely has a shot at due to the nature of the genre.  They usually have a leg up on the visual, audio, and tech categories because the budget allows for far more flexibility.

[Bosco685]

On 11/1/2021 at 3:17 PM, fantastic_four said:

Best Picture is the category sci-fi and fantasy rarely has a shot at due to the nature of the genre.  They usually have a leg up on the visual, audio, and tech categories because the budget allows for far more flexibility.

With the Animated Feature category since they win for the overall package I guess you could say The Incredibles did it first.

[sagekilz]

On 11/1/2021 at 12:43 PM, kimik said:

Was Black Panther really a good movie, though? That would mean it is better than average MCU fare, which it was not.

I'm in the minority that believes it's not nearly as good as it's made out to be.