Katie Richard

More by Katie Richard

The Oscars: Who Will Win?

2/26/2011

An important thing to realize when watching the Academy Awards is thatthe awards aren’t generally given on merit: it’s all politics. These politics revolve around whether it’s “time” someone received one, what their public image is, or maybe even how popular they are. Academy Awards committeedoes this to make sure it can retain its “finality” appearance: that the winner they choose will be indisputably the best.
 
With that in mind, I’m going to try and game the system, and figure out who’s going to win this year. It’s been an interesting crop of films, some awesome, some not so awesome, so we’ll see. Disclaimer: I wouldn’t bet money on this.
 
            Actor in a Leading Role:
            Javier Bardem in Biutiful
            Jeff Bridges in True Grit
            Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network
            Colin Firth in The King’s Speech
            James Franco in 127 Hours
 
            SHOULD WIN: Colin Firth
            WILL WIN: Colin Firth
            DARKHORSE: James Franco
           
Colin Firth lost the Best Actor award last year to competitor Jeff Bridges: it would be an unpopular move to have it happen again. Franco may win if the voting body has any sense of irony (seeing as he’s hosting, and simply awesome), or just feels super daring.
 
            Actor in a Supporting Role:
            Christian Bale in The Fighter
            John Hawkes in Winter’s Bone
            Jeremy Renner in The Town
            Mark Ruffalo in The Kids Are All Right
            Geoffrey Rush in The King’s Speech
 
            SHOULD WIN: Christian Bale

Blue Valentine: Movie Ratings and their Influence on the Film Industry

2/9/2011

A few months before its theatrical release date, Blue Valentine, a critical hit at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, was given an NC-17 rating. The film depicts the blossoming and subsequent deterioration of a relationship, heartbreakingly conveyed by the film’s two stars, Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling. The MPAA struck the film with the rating due to a graphic oral sex scene.

The inherent problem in an NC-17 rating is the stigma it carries. The NC-17 rating significantly decreases box office revenue on account of the disappearance of advertising and the diminishing willingness of adult moviegoers to see a film branded with it. In recent years an important criterion for an NC-17 rating is unsimulated sex.
           
The sex in Blue Valentine is purely simulated.  I think that the director, Derek Cianfrance, purposely chose this. A film with unsimulated sex stops changes the focus of the storyline from one about relationships to one about the sex. The actors, however, approached the film in a very methodical way, and made it their mission to portray everything as real as they possibly could. Thus, the sex scenes are a lot more emotionally graphic than most explicit sex scenes in films.