Putting the pablum that is Shakespeare in Love next to Anora is such limp and shameful critique.
There are several I have written down as needing to see, and hopefully that one this weekend. Also on that list, Sleep, A Different Man, I Saw the TV Glow, Do Not Expect the End of the World, and some others. Last year was really bad for getting behind, but I really like to keep up with the best films.
I thought Shakespeare in Love was just fine. Of course, I was working 60 hour weeks plus 2 hr/day commute at the time, so maybe I was just too tired to be critical. Was it really that bad, though?
I respect your opinion, but my view is a lot of the film is that rather tired stuff extended (eg., rich spoiled boy, look at all his wealth on display, the best of the prostitutes wins out, midnight strikes, bosses can't deal with her fighting back, this part just goes on, then one of them comforts her as some sort of ending). We could have learned about one of Putin's Russian oligarchs in some ways, but no. That is all I found, and it's too long, could have been done in 20 minutes of a TV show and has. I will watch again later this year to see if you're right but you can write about what I am missing if you choose. I liked it, but on this level I like a lot of films that do not matter.
A lot of the grief it gets is because it picked up Oscars over better things, like best picture over The Thin Red Line and Elizabeth, or even Saving Private Ryan. That wasn't close to as bad as Crash or Kramer vs Kramer winning best picture, at least.
Besides the incredible acting jobs, what hooked me were the tonal shifts. Partway through the movie I was thinking “this is a pretty fun romp but how is this nominated for best picture…” And then seamlessly, it unfolded and shifted to reveal more and more. Part romp, part thriller, part very poignant drama. Try doing that in a 20 min TV show.
I’m usually not much for animation but I’ve intended to get to this one eventually.
