Each week, “Hot Take Tuesday” spotlights bold opinions from the FSView Views section writers on the fun quirks and annoying aspects of life at FSU that many students encounter around campus or throughout their college experience.
Views section writers aren’t the only opinionated members of the FSView’s staff, though. This edition of Hot Take Tuesday features the opinions of the Arts & Culture staff on all things film.
If you’d like to submit your own opinion to be featured in a Hot Take Tuesday, see the form linked at the bottom of this article.
Raquelle Elson: ‘The Substance’ was snubbed for Best Picture
The 97th Academy Awards were a controversial time in cinema history, as many incredible movies inexplicably vied against “Emilia Pérez” for the top categories. The biggest letdown of the night, however, was when “The Substance” lost the Best Picture race. It was a game-changing movie for horror and signaled the mainstream shift towards a horror renaissance. It was one of the first times that I can remember horror movie fans and casual viewers alike going in droves to the theater to watch a horror movie.
Even its nomination for Best Picture was groundbreaking — but completely deserved! The plot of the movie was timely and Demi Moore’s performance was impactful because she was able to pull from a real place, as she was renowned for her beauty and sexuality as a younger actress. If you ask me, the movie lost Best Picture (and a few other awards) because horror still isn’t respected as a genre.
Tanner Block: Timothée Chalamet is the last big American movie star
The body of work Chalamet has been in and his impact on modern-day movie culture is unmatched by any other actor that has risen to prominence in the last 10 years. He has a very recognizable face, the gravitas of a major actor and he’s never been in a bad project. When I look at the promotional material for “Marty Supreme,” I think of it as the Timothée Chalamet movie rather than the table tennis movie. He’s an undeniable pull for Generation Z audiences and he probably will be for the rest of his career. All he needs at this point is an Oscar to completely cement his status as America’s next great movie star.
Catalina Salgado: The entertainment value is just as important to a movie as the art
You are not better than somebody for thoroughly enjoying and watching “Apocalypse Now” if their all-timer is “Ratatouille.” Movies are meant to connect with you both through emotion, art and entertainment, and invalidating somebody’s cinephile status because your Letterboxd top four may be more niche doesn’t make you a real fan, it makes you rude. Movie culture is a deep and evolving scene, and with more women and other interested fans getting involved, an elitist culture has formed that feels mostly sexist and very exclusive.
I think it’s important to respect the value of all films, even if they are less “serious.” Comedy and the long-held stigma around “chick flicks” have often been underappreciated both during the Academy Awards and culturally, but are part of the reason many major directors gain their start or attract fans to box offices. Romantic comedies teach valuable social skills to teenage audiences and provide a world and characters we can get lost in. Additionally, a movie should be entertaining. As artistic or aesthetically pleasing as a movie can be, cinematography cannot carry a lack of plot or engaging dialogue between characters.
Emmie Klekamp: Marvel’s biggest problem is that it feels threatened by DC
Marvel has good movie ideas and directors, but Marvel Entertainment Chief Creative Officer Kevin Feige is failing them. Actively telling fans that he changes storylines around during movie productions does not highlight a quirk; it highlights a problem. Spontaneity has no place in a company as big as Marvel. Re-telling iconic superhero movies like Iron Man and Captain America is a pathetic response to how well DC is doing with “Superman” and “The Batman” and will only result in major backlash from longtime fans.
DC is known for constantly rebooting, so it makes sense for them to retell an original story. If Marvel follows suit at the first sign of losing in the box office, they lose the continuity in their franchise that sets them apart. While “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” left something to be desired, especially hitting the theaters only two weeks after “Superman,” it, as well as “Thunderbolts*” and “Captain America: Brave New World,” are not bad movies. Fans need to stop expecting — and Feige needs to stop promising — each movie to be a giant, “multiversal” extravaganza with multiple cameos. Marvel needs to conduct their future movies without being influenced by DC for them to thrive, because goodness knows DC is not thinking about them, especially with James Gunn at the wheel.
Grace Myatt: The Oscars are kinda bad
I love the Oscars, but the awards show never actually encapsulates the best movies and performances of the prior year. I treat the Oscars like my Super Bowl, but I know that many of the best movies don’t gain enough popularity to make a dent in the usual onslaught of mega movie companies like Warner Bros. or Walt Disney Pictures. The fact that “Challengers” did not receive a single Academy Award nomination while “Emilia Pérez” was nominated for 13 reveals how skewed the nomination process is.
Holly Whitty: Keep the biopics coming!
There has been a recent rise in biopics being released and I’ve been hearing that some people think these movies are too repetitive or inaccurate. However, I think it’s super informative to get a glimpse into a famous figure’s life — even if it might be a bit dramatized. I particularly think this rings true in biopics about celebrities who peaked in fame decades ago, such as “Bohemian Rhapsody” portraying Freddie Mercury and “Rocketman” portraying Elton John. It shares the stories of these figures for those who may not have been around to experience their rise to fame. I find it to be a fun Hollywood-style history lesson!
Hot Take Tuesday is a compilation of student opinions from the Arts & Culture section of the FSView & Florida Flambeau, the student-run, independent online news service for the FSU community. Email our staff at contact@fsview.com.
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