Spielberg vs Netflix

expectationlost

whatS the connection between the theatre owners and the oscars?

heres articles on the the implementation of 7 day run and in 14 cities rules for documentaries https://www.documentary.org/feature/trouble-oscar-do-new-academy-qualifying-rules-documentary-help-or-hurt https://www.nytimes.com/1995/07/13/movies/oscar-rules-change-for-documentaries.html which only happened recently

ThePott

Sad Professor wrote: »

I was taking issue with your claim that I was posting misinformation, which I wasn't. You presumedly disagree with my broader argument re: Netflix and that's fine. Most people in this thread disagree with me.

I'm not looking for an argument either but you did state that Netflix only did the bare minimum for Oscar consideration which me and a few others have pointed out is untrue so that's where the misinformation comes in.


I see both side of the argument, I don't it's a simple solution though. The Oscars need a massive update in it's rules to stay relevant.


As far as what johnny_ultimate, yeah as far as Roma goes it was a bit safer because of the director attached but it didn't have the Netflix muscle attached I would argue that awareness for the film would be way down but true, fair point.

Wedwood

Spielberg used to be the young guy changing how movies were made, now he's the old guy trying to stop the younger generation changing how movies are made - Ironic.

Fysh

For the sake of putting the cat amongst the pigeons and stirring up the debate a little, I'd like to contrast Spielberg's remarks against two other recent developments in film that struck me as interesting:
1) Pedro Almodovar has made similar arguments about Netflix at Cannes a couple of years ago while also being a filmmaker who talks about the ongoing difficulties of getting films funded, and
2) Sight & Sound opted to include Lynch's Twin Peaks Season 3 as a contender for their Best Films of 2017. Not specifically limited to streaming, but a Showtime TV production rather than a feature film shown in cinemas, yet still worthy of their consideration.

Not suggesting either of these things is definitive, but to me at least they emphasise the grey area present in this discussion and the fact that there are issues with the studio production and funding model as well as the Netflix distribution model...

expectationlost

Fysh wrote: »

For the sake of putting the cat amongst the pigeons and stirring up the debate a little, I'd like to contrast Spielberg's remarks against two other recent developments in film that struck me as interesting:
1) Pedro Almodovar has made similar arguments about Netflix at Cannes a couple of years ago while also being a filmmaker who talks about the ongoing difficulties of getting films funded, and
2) Sight & Sound opted to include Lynch's Twin Peaks Season 3 as a contender for their Best Films of 2017. Not specifically limited to streaming, but a Showtime TV production rather than a feature film shown in cinemas, yet still worthy of their consideration.

Not suggesting either of these things is definitive, but to me at least they emphasise the grey area present in this discussion and the fact that there are issues with the studio production and funding model as well as the Netflix distribution model...

and Empire put GOT on their front cover doesn't mean much, its a magazine.
even bigger difference between theatre release versus multipart thing, which even in documentaries was recently banned from the oscars.

NIMAN

I haven't read the whole thread, but surely a film is a film?

Does it matter if its released on a TV network rather than the cinema when it comes to the oscars (which lets be honest are up their own backsides anyway).

Fysh

expectationlost wrote: »

and Empire put GOT on their front cover doesn't mean much, its a magazine.
even bigger difference between theatre release versus multipart thing, which even in documentaries was recently banned from the oscars.

Ah, but unlike Empire, Sight & Sound is published by the British Film Institute and, in the end of year issue in question, had Twin Peaks: The Return as the second best film of the year (based on the choices of 188 critics whose input they solicited - the full list is here). Hence me bringing it up, because it suggests a contrasting opinion on how relevant release format and venue is - and opinions published by the BFI carry more weight IMO than cover choices for Empire.

Edit: Also, re multi-part format - there were cinematic serials up until the 50s, it's just that the format has fallen out of vogue since then. Muddies the waters further.

CelticRambler

I'm old enough to remember when "going to the pictures" was a Big Thing and that has no doubt influenced my opinion on how, when and where long-format stories should be shown/watched on a screen. I grew up with Old Man Spielberg's name on many of the films I went to see on my own as a teenager. Even so, I haven't been in a cinema for ... maybe three years?

The "quality" argument against Neflix doesn't stack up: at various times in the past three years, with time to kill, I've stood in the foyer and looked at what's on offer, then walked away. Remakes, live-action remakes, out-of-the-box action/superhero stories, interminable sequels ... Cinemas are full of oscarable rubbish that I have no interest in watching while surrounded by people who keep their phones on.

But what really keeps me from going to the cinema is that the films I want to watch are gone off the circuit by the time I want to see them. On any given weekend in Dublin, I can watch this week's blockbuster on at about five different times in ten different theatres, but have feck-all chance of watching something that came out last summer. Netflix is not much better in that regard. After a month's free trial last year, I cancelled my subscription because they just didn't have any of the older films I wanted to re-watch.

Contrary to what someone said above, however, this is good for small, independent film-makers, because the enormous appetite for moving pictures of any kind to be spewed out through Netflix and AmazonPrime and the like, means aspiring film-makers have a better chance of getting their early work onto a commercial platform, getting paid for it, and potentially getting noticed by eyeballs that count.

expectationlost

Fysh wrote: »

Ah, but unlike Empire, Sight & Sound is published by the British Film Institute and, in the end of year issue in question, had Twin Peaks: The Return as the second best film of the year (based on the choices of 188 critics whose input they solicited - the full list is here). Hence me bringing it up, because it suggests a contrasting opinion on how relevant release format and venue is - and opinions published by the BFI carry more weight IMO than cover choices for Empire.

Edit: Also, re multi-part format - there were cinematic serials up until the 50s, it's just that the format has fallen out of vogue since then. Muddies the waters further.

The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom.

Encourage the development of the arts of film, television and the moving image throughout the United Kingdom, to promote their use as a record of contemporary life and manners, to promote education about film, television and the moving image generally, and their impact on society, to promote access to and appreciation of the widest possible range of British and world cinema and to establish, care for and develop collections reflecting the moving image history and heritage of the United Kingdom.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Film_Institute so TV is explicitly their thing.