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2009
2008

In The Blogs

Frozen River

— By Kevin Drum | Thu January 22, 2009 11:48 AM PST

FROZEN RIVER....Atrios links to a Country Fair post today that takes Courtney Hazlett to task for whining about Frozen River receiving a couple of Oscar nominations. Here's Hazlett:

In the state that Hollywood is in, I would hope that the Academy says, maybe for once we should just kind of look at what the buzz is here and what people really like, and honor filmmaking that doesn't just attract the affections of a small, elite, effete audience, and really look at what do people like to go and see.

Eh. Hazlett is an idiot. It's not as if Hollywood routinely ignores popular taste, after all, and Frozen River was only nominated in two categories (Best Original Screenplay and Best Actess).

Plus there's this: as you all know, my taste in movies is pretty thoroughly middlebrow. But Frozen River's screenplay was excellent and Melissa Leo's performance was outstanding — one of the best I've seen recently. I haven't seen all the nominated actresses, but at a minimum, Leo was better than Meryl Streep (in Doubt) and Angelina Jolie (in Changeling). She was really, really good. So go rent Frozen River when it comes out on DVD in a couple of weeks. You'll enjoy it, and you'll annoy Courtney Hazlett at the same time. It's a twofer!

35 Comments | Post Comment

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Submitted by Etaoin Shrdlu (not verified) on January 22, 2009 - 11:40am.

Evidently Courtney Hazlett is confused. Popularity with audiences is registered at the box office. Oscars are awarded for "Outstanding Achievement." There is a difference...honest.

Submitted by thersites (not verified) on January 22, 2009 - 11:43am.

Here's how stupid I am. I thought it was a documentary proving that global warming is a hoax.

Submitted by Godless Heathen (not verified) on January 22, 2009 - 11:50am.

Popularity is never a good gauge of quality because people are generally stupid and like shitty things.

This is most directly observable in music, but pretty much any artform that doubles as entertainment for the masses suffers this same fate.

Submitted by Wendy (not verified) on January 22, 2009 - 12:02pm.

There has been a similar kerfuffle over the Newbery Medal -- the gist being that the committees are picking "elite" books and ignoring what kids really like to read. It's so annoying. So, Kevin, on your say-so, I'll watch the flick (which I also had not heard of).

Submitted by Petey (not verified) on January 22, 2009 - 12:09pm.

One of business functions of the Oscars is specifically to connect under-distributed good movies like Frozen River to their audience.

Or in other words, Kevin's post here proves that the system works.

Submitted by sullijan (not verified) on January 22, 2009 - 12:20pm.

Maybe instead of focusing solely on "what people really like," they should put some focus on films that reflect how people really live. "Frozen River" does that.

Focusing on "what people really like" is what the People's Choice Awards are for.

Submitted by Trollhattan (not verified) on January 22, 2009 - 12:25pm.

I, too, hadn't heard of it, but she was always riveting in "Homicide" so that's enough of a recommendation for me.

The Oscar nominations always suque unless they agree with me, which is tough because I've rarely seen the nominated flicks, er, movies, uh, films.

Submitted by Dilan Esper (not verified) on January 22, 2009 - 12:36pm.

Popularity is never a good gauge of quality because people are generally stupid and like shitty things. This is most directly observable in music

True enough, but what indie snobs like is often a function of their belief that their tastes are superior to that of the great unwashed masses, and thus they aren't a great measure of quality either.

Of course, the real underlying problem here is that we are relying on a popularity contest, the Academy Awards, to somehow determine the relative quality of films.

Submitted by PF Duke (not verified) on January 22, 2009 - 12:54pm.

Among those who've won the Oscar for best director: Kevin Costner, Mel Gibson.

Among those who never won the Oscar for best director: Stanley Kubrick, Alfred Hitchcock.

Is there anything else to be said about the Oscars?

Submitted by MBunge (not verified) on January 22, 2009 - 1:00pm.

"It's not as if Hollywood routinely ignores popular taste, after all"

It's been doing a pretty good job of that at the Oscars, recently.

Am I really supposed to think that MILK, FROST/NIXON, THE READER and SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE are all more deserving of Best Director nods than IRON MAN or THE DARK KNIGHT? I'm not talking about Best Picture or Best Screenplay, but are any of those four nominees really better or more impressive demonstrations of directing than the two biggest hits of the year?

Mike

Submitted by K (not verified) on January 22, 2009 - 1:07pm.

"Frozen River" truly was an outstanding film. I was deeply moved. Leo's performance was as good as you'll see anywhere, by any actor.

It's movies like this that make me so sad that the multiplexes are all filled with tripe for adolescent lads. We had the option of a small, dumpy, art house not too far away, and we're always glad to go there to see movies like "Frozen River." Most people don't have that option.

Movies like this show it's still possible to make good movies, so their rarity is not the fault of moviemakers as much as it is a sad and sorry reflection on culture in America.

Submitted by House Whisperer (not verified) on January 22, 2009 - 1:13pm.

Also releasing in Blu-Ray, which is a little unusual for independent films. I'm looking forward to it. Ebert gave a thorough review.

Submitted by Barbara (not verified) on January 22, 2009 - 1:38pm.

K, it's really a reflection on the fact that the audience for movies consists of young people with time, and international distribution -- which puts a premium on films that don't have complicated plots that resonate with inhabitants of a specific cultural milieu.

Submitted by jbentley (not verified) on January 22, 2009 - 2:13pm.

Courtney is cute as a button and she's good at what she does - Hollyflood/gossip/fluff writer. But she's clearly a little too close to the industry that she covers and she's lost track of what the Oscars really represent and stand for.

Submitted by HokieAnnie (not verified) on January 22, 2009 - 3:48pm.

Meryl Streep *was* really, really good in Doubt. The movie truly spoke to those of us who attended Catholic schools in the 1960s and 1970s. I haven't seen Frozen River so I can't say how good Melissa Leo was in it, but trust me Ms. Streep truly earned her nomination as did the other castmembers in Doubt.

Submitted by Clyde (not verified) on January 22, 2009 - 4:29pm.

Amen! I've been telling everyone since I saw it in the spring that it is a movie everyone should see. And Mellisa Leo is a wonder, even when she is on screen just smoking a cigarette.

Don't miss this movie!

Submitted by Mark Kawakami (not verified) on January 22, 2009 - 4:32pm.

I don't know, I think Hazlett has a point. I mean, popularity is much more important than originality I've always thought. Plus it's easier, too! I say that makes it win-win.

And how often do the Oscars really even come close to picking the best movie? The People's Choice Awards, on the other hand... their results nearly always track extremely closely with actual box office returns, so they must be right. Last year the winner of the PCA's was "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End", clearly a superior movie to last year's Oscar winner, "No Country For Old Men" in every respect (except writing, acting and directing).

And that's not just a one-year fluke either. Consider that in 1994, the PCA's wisely selected "The Firm" as Favorite Dramatic Movie, besting the Oscar's favorite, the effette and buzz-killing "Schindler's List".

Submitted by skippy (not verified) on January 22, 2009 - 4:44pm.

been a big melissa leo fan since homicide...she's shown up on a few lawn orders and was in the recent al pacino/deniro movie righteous kill. she's always good.

as for hazlett's whine, i'd submit that both the curious case of benjamin button and slumdog millionaire fit her criteria of being films audiences love and are also nominated for the oscar (button more than slumdog in terms of popularity, but the dog is catching up).

personally, as far as benjamin button goes, i liked it better the first time when it was called forest gump.

Submitted by C.S. (not verified) on January 22, 2009 - 5:13pm.

How in the hell does Hazlett just knowknowknow that Frozen River isn't "what people really like"?

I mean, if I was trying to gauge what folks "really like," I think I'd look at some statistics that might give me a hint in that direction --- like, say, per screen average or percentage drop week-to-week or box office as related to advertising budget. I certainly would not go by box office.

Unless I was really, really stupid, that is. Impossibly stupid. Like, barely-able-to-feed-myself stupid.

So . . . Benjamin Button spent tens of millions in advertising, opened on thousands of screens, and it beat out Frozen River? How shocking! I am amazed! Really!

You know what people do when they see a movie they "really like"? They tell their friends to go see it. And they go back themselves, too. And their friends go and tell other friends. And that means that the per-screen average doesn't drop like a stone.

Like, you know, it does with all those movies Hazlett thinks people want to see.

Submitted by C.S. (not verified) on January 22, 2009 - 5:21pm.

Plus, Hazlett confuses me greatly. My personal faves for the year included Frozen River but also Dark Knight and Iron Man.

So . . . am I effete/elite or am I "people"?

Submitted by The Critic (not verified) on January 22, 2009 - 6:04pm.

Obvious panderer to elite sensibilities, Quentin Tarrantino praises the film in the trailer.

See, I like quirky, under-performing independent films, one of my particular favorites being Mike Leigh's Naked, plus I laugh a whole hell of a lot watching America's Funniest Home Videos and The Three Stooges. This woman is obviously a mega-tool.

Submitted by MNPundit (not verified) on January 22, 2009 - 6:15pm.

That Dark Knight didn't get a best picture or director nod is telling. And it's the same reason they created an "animated movie" category.

They were too afraid it would win.

Submitted by Xofis (not verified) on January 22, 2009 - 6:52pm.

Please. Dark Knight was a cheesefest, except for Ledger's amazing perf.

Submitted by Vincent (not verified) on January 22, 2009 - 9:15pm.

I guess we have to give the people what they want...but what if the people are wrong?

Submitted by apm (not verified) on January 23, 2009 - 5:14am.

The AMPAS system is an insane way to select cinematic champions. Clearly, we need a playoff.

Submitted by insufferablesnob (not verified) on January 23, 2009 - 6:02am.

hazlett's right. academy awards are a middlebrow exercise in self-congratulation. the academy feels the need to throw in a few artsy movies to show its sensitive side. but it generally does a terrible job of picking the best of litter. but it could tell us which will ferrell movie is marginally funnier. so academy, leave art to the critic's boards, embrace your inner cheese and give the oscar to ironman or pineapple express. that would be entertainment.

I have been saving for a

Submitted by tiffany jewelry (not verified) on August 15, 2009 - 12:52am.

I have been saving for a month and within fifty dollars of a Kindle DX, but I will be purchasing an Iphone instead. There is NO WAY I would by a device that does not really belong to me - seriously, what else have they programed in besides the ability to search and delete from my book cases, that we don't know about??