From left: Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio and Al Pacino in Quentin Tarantino's ninth film, “Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood." (ANDREW COOPER/COLUMBIA PICTURES)
The R-rated teen comedy "Booksmart," one of the best comedies of the year, didn't stand a chance of an Oscar nominations because the Academy of Motion Pictures Art and Science rarely honors comedic films and performances. (COURTESY OF ANNAPURNA PICTURES)
From left: Saoirse Ronan, Greta Gerwig and Florence Pugh at the Paris premiere of "Little Women" on Dec. 12, 2019. Ronan was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress and Pugh was nominated for Best Supporting Actress. Gerwig received a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay but not for Best Director. (OLIVER VIGERIE/SONY PICTURES FRANCE)
From left: Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio and Al Pacino in Quentin Tarantino's ninth film, “Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood." (ANDREW COOPER/COLUMBIA PICTURES)
Typically, when film critics make lists of the best of the year they almost exclusively include films that are cinema with a capital C.
I won’t deny that as I appraised 2019, many of my favorite films fall under the category of high-minded cinema, but what I think is often forgotten or dismissed in assessing a year of film are the “amusement park” movies, as Martin Scorcese refers to them. There seems to be this idea that even the great examples of escapist movies are not as good as more serious films.
The R-rated teen comedy "Booksmart," one of the best comedies of the year, didn't stand a chance of an Oscar nominations because the Academy of Motion Pictures Art and Science rarely honors comedic films and performances. (COURTESY OF ANNAPURNA PICTURES)
From left: Saoirse Ronan, Greta Gerwig and Florence Pugh at the Paris premiere of "Little Women" on Dec. 12, 2019. Ronan was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress and Pugh was nominated for Best Supporting Actress. Gerwig received a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay but not for Best Director. (OLIVER VIGERIE/SONY PICTURES FRANCE)
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Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
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Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
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