I watched about half of the ceremony and found it pretty tolerable compared to recent years. I guess it helps to have a good host.

I guess it isn't enough that the Academy could barely tolerate The Brutalist (kidding aside, it did have important wins for Cinematography and Music), but now people seem determined to find some very petty ways to hate on Adrien Brody for winning Actor.  Yes, he did apparently break the record for acceptance speech, well over five minutes, but, so what?  Some are even trying to blame Brody's expense of time for those Hulu viewers who got shut out before the final awards, even though this was clearly a problem with Hulu's poor service instead.  Worse than that, some people are criticizing Brody for "thanking Harvey Weinstein's children".  To be clear, Brody has been in a long term relationship with Georgina Chapman, who is Weinstein's ex-wife and mother of his two children.  Brody was thanking these children who he is now raising, and who now touchingly refer to him as "Popsie".  I don't think you can find a better example of motivated outrage than this.

Or maybe you can.  Because some people are also outraged that, taking the stage, Brody made the somewhat anxious decision to toss his chewing gum back to Chapman, who followed behind him to catch it.  I guess you could ask, "Why not put it in your pocket?"  I don't know, I guess them tuxes have a hefty security deposit?  Whatever.  Chapman didn't see very concerned about of any of this, but plenty of people have taken vicarious offence on her behalf, with the Daily Mail calling it a "disgusting act", and some even claiming it was worse than Will Smith's slap.

I guess some people really didn't like The Brutalist.
 

Rock wrote:

(the use of AI in the production)

Talk about a total non-issue.  A failure to discern between A.I. as a tool to aid the artist's vision, as opposed to a generative replacement of artists.  Whenever A.I. is mentioned, people presume it must always mean the latter, and for good reason there's valid anxieties about this.  (The LA Times just announced an A.I. fact-checking program after laying off hundreds of employees.)

The A. I. in Brutalist was an audio filter meant to help shape the Hungarian accents, and had no bearing on the performances - especially Brody's.  It's similar to Peter Jackson using A.I. filters to clean up the Get Back soundtrack tapes, or clean up the poorly recorded Lennon demo "Now and Then".  It did not create any new art on its own, only aided the artists' creation.  And for that they're prepared to throw a film under the bus which is fundamentally about the struggles of an artist's integrity in the face of commerce and industry?

And just 'cause I'm worked up now, I also gotta mention - the sex scene in Brutalist (the good one, not that other one) is much sexier than anything in Anora.

Rock wrote:

Different than a big budget movie trying to cut corners and avoid hiring people, IMO.

Also for a film with a less than $10 million budget, a 3 1/2 hour film that looks as good as this one, and shot on film no less, you know, let it slide.

The 2025 Cannes Fesitval is a couple of weeks away, and the line-up appears to be close to final.  The only missing slots seem to be the "classic" restorations to be screened.  Queen Juliette Binoche will be presiding over the jury, which raises the obvious question over why she hasn't been in charge this whole time.

I won't pretend to hide my bias that the main highlight will be Wes Anderson's premiere of his Phoenician Scheme.  I mean, I would be happy to be more open-minded, if anyone wants to offer me some free passes with airfare, swag and accommodations, but for the time being I'll be ruthlessly rooting for The Wesman.  Other Mericans on the list include Richard Linklater's Nouvelle Vague, his dramatic re-enactment of the filming of Godard's A bout de souffle (with Zoey Deutch as Jean Seberg), Ari Aster's Covid-Western Eddington, and Kelly Reichardt's art heist The Mastermind.  A late addition to the competition is Lynne Ramsay's Die, My Love, a post-partum "dark comedy" (which coming from Ramsay will either be a sigh of relief or not really funny at all) with Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson.  Here's hoping for a Mother! Redux.  A new film from Julia Ducournau, Alpha, about a "troubled 13-year-old" whose "world collapses the day she returns from school with a tattoo", which again seems like a severe de-escalation from the adolescent crises of her previous Raw and Titane.  Also new films from the Dardennes, Joachim Trier and Jafar Panahi (out of jail and still pissing off Iranian authorites with his illegally shot movies).

Out of competition, Spike Lee will debut his newest film, his first from A24, and the first with Denzel Washington in nearly 20 years, a remake of Kurosawa's High and Low, which he idiotically decided to call Highest 2 Lowest .  C'mon, man.  You could have gone back to the original book, King's Ransom, for a better title than that.  Ethan Coen's Honey Don't will get a midnight screening.  Also, will see the premiere of Juno Mak's action-thriller Sons of the Neon Night which has been sitting on Hong Kong mothballs for 7 years.

Also premiering are some directing debuts from popular actresses like Kristen Stewart, Scarlett Johansson and Harris Dickinson, as well as new documentaries from Andrew Dominik (on Bono, which I'll only watch because of Dominik, although I prefer the alternate titled suggested by Bono: Tall Tales of a Short Rock Star) and Raoul Peck (Lumumba, I Am Not Your Negro, Exterminate the Brutes) on Orwell 2X2=5.  A new cartoon, A Magnificent Life, from Sylain Chomet (Triplets of Belleville, L'Illusionnist).  Plus new films from Christian Petzold, Sebastian Lelio and Lav Diaz with a new take on Magellan starring Gael Garcia Bernal.  Diaz will only screen a three hour cut of the film at Cannes, but fret not, he's saving a 9-hour cut for a sequel Beatriz, the Wife (*not joking*).
 

Also, some of the pressers of interest....