Movies |
The Golden Globes vs. The Head Butler Favorites
By
Published: Jan 04, 2018
Category:
Drama
You want “fake news?” Let’s talk about the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, sponsors of the Golden Globes. How many “foreign press” journalists vote on these awards? 90. Because that’s all there are. (How many members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences vote to select the Oscars? 8,500.) The HFPA doesn’t publish a list of its members on its website. Requirements for membership aren’t onerous: primary residence in Southern California, attendance at four membership meetings, and four articles or photographs published outside of the United States per year. What is an “acceptable” publication? Who knows?
If you look at the Golden Globe nominations, you’ll see a solid, smart, very mixed list: some “small” films, some heavily-promoted “big” films.That doesn’t reflect what really happened in this business in 2017 — the Walt Disney Company killed every other studio, with $2.2 billion in domestic revenue, or 21.2 percent of all ticket sales. But in that skewed market, the three biggest-grossing films — “Beauty and the Beast” ($504 million), “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” ($424 million) and “Wonder Woman “($412.5 million) — are under-represented in the Globe nominations. For a simple reason: the biggest activity of the HFPA is.. the Golden Globes. And to get ratings, you need a hook. That hook is not special effects. It’s stars. At round tables. Liquor flows. Compared to the straight-laced Academy Awards, it feels like a party. And looks like one: the stars, unguarded. Like you and me, just more beautiful.
The thing is, if you see more smaller films than the films “everybody” talks about, you see better films than most of the nominated movies. (I don’t watch TV, so I have no idea where greatness lies there.) Below, in order, is the Head Butler list of the best movies of 2017. Many are available now — or soon will be — on DVD or streaming. If you sample them, you may be pleasantly surprised.
First, though, some capsule criticism of some Globe favorites. “Dunkirk” was laughable. The Germans were never named; there was an “enemy.” And the enemy’s planes were marked with red circles, not swastikas. In what universe, I wondered, did this Dunkirk take place? I had a similar problem with “The Post.” Let’s pass over the weak script — yes, the movie was about Kay Graham, but would it have been too much to write a part for Tom Hanks? — and consider one scene: as Kay walks down the Supreme Court steps, she’s flanked by a squad of young women, who look at her in awe. The thing is, Kay walked down those steps in 1971. Those women are so 2017. I posted this comment on Facebook and was promptly schooled by women, who saw this as a very welcome emotional connection to our current struggles. Yes, it is, but this is a movie about a newspaper. Facts should matter more in this film. And that scene in “Darkest Hour” — because the second half crawled, I call it “Darkest Hours” — when Churchill goes into the London Underground and gets a pep talk from commoners? And that’s where he got “We will never surrender?” Oh, please.
Here are the Head Butler favorites, in order of my affection…
GET OUT
The Times review.
THE SHAPE OF WATER
The Times review.
A terrific interview with the writer-director.
THEIR FINEST
The Times review.
To buy the DVD or stream the movie from Amazon, click here.
LADY BIRD
The Times review.
PATERSON
The Times review.
To buy the DVD or stream the movie from Amazon, click here.
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI
The Times review.
BEATRIZ AT DINNER
The Times review.
To buy the DVD or stream the movie from Amazon, click here.
