
#The revenant free republic movie
Which performances were your favorite, Alex?Īlex: Redmayne’s performance was my least favorite! I guess I see vulnerable and selfish, now that you say it, but I just felt that The Danish Girl didn’t give him very much to do besides mug- The Danish Girl was mostly about other people’s conflicts and I thought it was Alicia Vikander’s movie and not Redmayne’s, who acted like he was made out of porcelain. As Lili, he was at once vulnerable and selfish, masculine and feminine, so incredibly attuned to the performance of womanhood that I found myself noticing the way I behave as a woman. Redmayne is an extremely physical actor whose performance lies in the nuances of his movements and the blinking of his eyes. I don’t think he deserves back-to-back Oscars, but his performance as Lili Elbe, one of the first people to undergo gender reassignment surgery, is so much more deserving than last year’s turn as Stephen Hawking. I’m going to take an unpopular stand and go with Eddie Redmayne in The Danish Girl. Is it time to talk about Leo? Or should we just jump straight to the clusterfuck of Best Picture nominees?Įlaine: Leo is going to win, so it’s more interesting to think about who should win instead. But I suppose we should talk about the actual films that were nominated. What I worry about more is that the audience will try a little too hard to be in on the joke and that will suck the life out of an awards show that’s already on life support.

But I have to say that I think I have more faith in Chris Rock than you do-I think heavy-handed is fine, as long as it’s funny (which I think he’ll be) and “smug” is not really a word I associate with him. I’m hoping this year the Academy will find artful ways to fight for diversity, like “Glory,” instead of just yelling at us about it.Īlex: One of the biggest problems with the Academy Awards is that in Hollywood the line between being incisive and being smug is incredibly fine. Legend and Common didn’t get on a soapbox they used music and art to make their point, which is what art is all about. That performance, plus John Legend’s speech, is the one thing I still remember from that show. Remember that “Glory” performance? I was crying with David Oyelowo. The buildup to the Oscars last year was all about how Selma wasn’t nominated, but the “whitest Oscars ever” (hosted by whitest host ever, Neil Patrick Harris) turned into one of the most politically and emotionally powerful in years.
#The revenant free republic how to
But I do hope that they capitalize on all this attention, and last year’s show provides a good example of how to do it.


Elaine: I’m worried that all of this effort to make the show about diversity may get too heavy-handed, especially with Chris Rock at the helm.
