{"id":14262,"date":"2006-02-01T22:23:00","date_gmt":"2006-02-01T22:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lookingcloser.wordpress.com\/2006\/02\/01\/will-you-be-one-of-the-zillions-who-misses-the-new-world-on-the-big-screen\/"},"modified":"2012-11-05T11:21:57","modified_gmt":"2012-11-05T18:21:57","slug":"will-you-be-one-of-the-zillions-who-misses-the-new-world-on-the-big-screen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2006\/02\/will-you-be-one-of-the-zillions-who-misses-the-new-world-on-the-big-screen\/","title":{"rendered":"Will You Be One of the Unfortunate Zillions Who Misses "The New World"?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

The New World<\/em>\u2018s lack of Oscar nominations shows how utterly blind and unqualified Academy voters really are.<\/p>\n

This is nothing new, I know. But just because the Academy members make a habit of shoving our faces in their ignorance and susceptibility to hysteria and political hype doesn\u2019t mean it doesn\u2019t hurt each time they insult and misguide the many who think their judgments are actually meaningful. Some of you have told me I shouldn\u2019t care about this. Do I care much about the Academy? No.<\/em> But the Academy does<\/em> influence how many people see a film, and when they pass by the chance to introduce people to something truly beautiful and nourishing, it is a crying shame. And I care about beauty. I want people to discover it when it happens. It\u2019s happening here, in a big way.<\/p>\n

Perhaps if Malick had found a way to spin it as a red-state-bashing film, then it would have suddenly been interpreted as \u201cimportant.\u201d<\/p>\n

Listen to this<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Terrence Malick does not cut his conscience to fit the pattern of the day. No matter how many times he re-edits The New World<\/em>, it remains outside current trends, obstinately politically unfashionable. Malick\u2019s movie asserts a revisionist\u2019s historical affirmation. Instead of delighting in the superficial, modern negativity of Syriana, Lord of War<\/em> and The Constant Gardener<\/em>, Malick offers agape.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I\u2019m telling you, if you want to see a film that, twenty years from now, will be spoken of with reverence and awe<\/a>, and people will shake their heads over the fact that Oscar didn\u2019t appreciate it\u2026 you\u2019ve gotta see The New World<\/em> on the big screen.<\/p>\n

On the desk beside my keyboard lies one of my most prized possessions: a ticket stub from the January 21, 9:30 p.m. showing of \u201cThe New World\u201d at BAM-Rose Cinemas in downtown Brooklyn.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

At this showing of this movie, at this time on this day, in this theater, in this borough of this city, I bore witness to American commercial cinema\u2019s ability to astound, move and inspire masses of people \u2013 an ability that reached its fullest realization during the heyday of the blockbuster art film, the 1970s, but has rarely been exercised since.<\/p>\n

The history of American studio blockbusters includes a handful of indisputable high watermarks, moments when entertainment and art merged to create not just a hit, but an origin point for new ways of thinking about, and making, popular cinema; a rallying point for anyone who still believes in the blockbuster\u2019s ability \u2014 and responsibility \u2014 to deliver more than escapism; a secular house of worship for anyone who prizes ambition, mystery, and beauty over familiarity and neatness; a transformative experience that can be had for the price of a movie ticket, and that anyone who ever called him or herself a movie lover must seize now, or forever regret having missed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe New World\u201d is a new watermark. It is a $50 million epic poem made with Time Warner\u2019s money; it is an American creation myth that recontextualizes our past, present and future as fable, as opera, as verse. It is this era\u2019s \u201c2001: A Space Odyssey\u201d \u2014 a musical-philosophical-pictorial charting of history\u2019s slipstream and the individual\u2019s role within it.<\/p>\n

I also agree with this comment posted at the end of Seitz\u2019s rave:<\/p>\n

\u201cBitching about the Oscars is like complaining about the weather, but man, did Q\u2019Orianka Kilcher get robbed. (I\u2019d already made peace with Malick getting the shaft.) If Falconetti arrived today, she\u2019d lose her nomination to Natalie Portman.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Amen.<\/p>\n

GreenCine is listing the other film lovers who are falling in love<\/a>, one after another.<\/p>\n

My boss greeted me when I came back to the office yesterday, telling me she\u2019d just seen the best movie of the last several years. She had that look on her face that people have after they\u2019ve just come back from a vacation touring New Zealand or Australia. I smiled. And then she said, in exasperation, \u201cSo\u2026 what\u2026 I don\u2019t get it<\/em>!\u201d And I knew she\u2019d just seen the nominations list.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The New World\u2018s lack of Oscar nominations shows how utterly blind and unqualified Academy voters really are. This is nothing new, I know. But just because the Academy members make a habit of shoving our faces in their ignorance and susceptibility to hysteria and political hype doesn\u2019t mean it doesn\u2019t hurt each time they insult […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1051,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1833,247,1834,447,474],"class_list":["post-14262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","tag-matt-zoller","tag-oscars","tag-qorianka-kilcher","tag-terrence-malick","tag-the-new-world"],"yoast_head":"\nWill You Be One of the Unfortunate Zillions Who Misses "The New World"?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The New World's lack of Oscar nominations shows how utterly blind and unqualified Academy voters really are. This is nothing new, I know. 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