It’s only about an hour before the Oscar curtain call. I have seen all but three of the ten movies nominated for Best Picture. I could not bring myself to watch “Dune” as I am not a sci-fi Armageddon kind of gal. I passed on “Drive My Car” because sitting four feet from my television to read subtitles was, I felt, asking too much of my active participation.
The movie I have not, but would like to see is “CODA.” I have a feeling it will win best picture. Why didn’t I see it? Apple greed. Apple bought the rights to “CODA” for $25 million, then released it in select New York and LA theaters for a week in August and two days in February. If I ask Garv to go to a movie with me on a week day, it’s a hard no. I was pretty sure it would have been out of the question to ask him to fly to LA for a movie, popcorn and Dots.
Apple took advantage of rule changes made in 2020 by the Academy of Arts and Sciences. The Academy agreed to consider movies for an Oscar if they were released to the public a short period of time prior to release on a streaming service. They did this to help the motion picture industry survive and (I want to believe) to deliver entertainment and goodwill to humanity while we all waited out a pandemic of historic consequence.
Apple did follow the Academy’s new rules and released “CODA” to the public for the shortest possible time in the fewest possible locations. Then they locked “CODA” in the Apple vault where it is currently being held for ransom.
What’s that? You are one of the 975,000 people who watched it at home? Well, my guess is that you own an iPhone and likely other “i” devices. I had an Apple streaming account but cancelled it immediately after “Morning Show” ran credits at the end of season two. I tried to renew my subscription (so I could watch “CODA”) but evidently you now need to open an iTunes account as well. Hence, this movie is available for my viewing pleasure only if I give iTunes access to my photos, contacts, my secret recipe for New York style cheesecake, the results of my last cholesterol test and the key to my high school diary. I do not wish to give them access to any of these things. If for no other reason, just on principle.
I hope in 2022, the Academy returns to normal pre-Covid rules for Oscar consideration with longer release windows prior to streaming. If not I think it will forever change the way we watch movies, limit access to movies and forever change the quality of movies, essentially killing cinema. And that would be a shame.
It’s getting close to red carpet time. My vote for best picture? “Power of the Dog.” Yes, it’s dark but I don’t think I’ve been this surprised by a movie since “Crash” and the acting was fantastic. For best animated picture? “Raya and the Last Dragon.” It was the only movie this year that made me laugh out loud as well as shed a few tears, greatly surprising my grandsons. (“Mimi, it’s JUST a story, it’s not real.”) If everyone on this planet had to watch “Raya”, me thinks the world would be a much better place.
Gotta go, time to get dressed for the red carpet. This year I am wearing vintage Adidas pants paired with striped smart wool socks. No earrings.
Hooray for Hollywood but maybe not so for much Apple.
What’s a boomer to do? Go back to the theater soon. Eat some popcorn. Let a story carry you away.
