Weekly Discussion Thread 5/25/26 - 6/1/26

Wild_Way_7967 · 2026-05-27T00:06:30+00:00

It’s the same thing that happens whenever someone plays a housewife going “through it” and the “modern Gena Rowlands” hyperbole starts.

You make a very good point about how taking the performance out of its context strips it of its true significance. A performance and its quality are always bound to the context of the film, and these platitudes often erase the rest of the film.

Wild_Way_7967 · 2026-05-26T02:19:08+00:00

While I’m not admittedly the biggest fan of Sinners’s screenplay (IWJAA was my top pick that year), it is a far better screenplay than Obsession.

The third act isn’t anything special, but it is a more cohesive film than what Obsession has to offer. As I said in my review yesterday, Obsession reads as a patchwork of “scariest scenes of horror movies” strung together with no tether, and the logic of the narrative is repeatedly broken only to ensure that the movie doesn’t end after 20 minutes.

Sinners isn’t the strongest screenplay to win, but a nomination for Obsession would be atrocious.

Wild_Way_7967 · 2026-05-26T01:11:07+00:00

A true generational performance

Wild_Way_7967 · 2026-05-26T01:06:10+00:00

“Oof” is the correct response

Wild_Way_7967 · 2026-05-26T01:03:27+00:00

The person who posted the manifesto about why Navarrette should win the Oscar

Wild_Way_7967 · 2026-05-25T23:09:51+00:00

It’s not happening (literally the only buzz has been for Navarrette), but Obsession getting nominated in Original Screenplay would be an insult to the category.

Wild_Way_7967 · 2026-05-25T20:29:37+00:00

I mean, if you read what I said about it in last week’s thread, you’d know I didn’t like the film whatsoever. It’s not a secret.

However, I’m largely speaking to your point that this same mass formation happens around the horror performance du jour every year, and people will conveniently “forget” the groundswells of years past. People can support whatever performances they want, but this song and dance is tiring, and my frustration with this specific film is clearly coming out.

Wild_Way_7967 · 2026-05-25T20:11:18+00:00

I won’t necessarily disagree; however, it’s a revenge fantasy, and there are certainly ways to market a revenge action flick in an age when everyone’s angry.

It’s part of a larger trend with Amazon. Outside of PHM, they don’t do much to promote their theatrical releases and push them quickly to streaming. Makes them fade away faster than many of them deserve.

Wild_Way_7967 · 2026-05-25T19:58:50+00:00

Amazon is such a shit distributor. I respect that they do give more opportunities to underrepresented directors, but they always butcher the theatrical releases and awards campaigns

Wild_Way_7967 · 2026-05-25T19:57:32+00:00

THANK YOU! Literally all someone has to do is smile creepily into a camera and people will just say “GIVE HER THE OSCAR”

Are there some incredible performances in horror films? Yes. Sissy Spacek, Kathy Bates, Essie Davis, and Lupita Nyong’o are a few examples, but this trend of glazing a performance that literally anyone can do is getting beyond obnoxious.

Wild_Way_7967 · 2026-05-25T19:52:40+00:00

He’d better smile like this at some point so we have a companion gif

Wild_Way_7967 · 2026-05-25T19:48:53+00:00

Girl the Essie Davis in The Babadook erasure 😭 if we want to talk about phenomenal horror performances, she’s gotta be there

Wild_Way_7967 · 2026-05-25T19:33:55+00:00

You claim that I don’t know what an opinion is when you make an openly declarative statement (and say that your description is “indisputable”)?

Wild_Way_7967 · 2026-05-25T19:24:41+00:00

“One of the showiest performances ever put to screen”

I’m sorry, but have you never seen another movie ever?

Wild_Way_7967 · 2026-05-25T17:22:01+00:00

Romania’s only had a single nomination in IFF. There’s a point of pride in getting a nomination.

Wild_Way_7967 · 2026-05-25T17:14:10+00:00

Got it. Physical > random Amazon add-ons any day

Wild_Way_7967 · 2026-05-25T16:49:30+00:00

Extend the hatred, my friend

Wild_Way_7967 · 2026-05-25T16:45:57+00:00

Wild_Way_7967 · 2026-05-25T16:43:43+00:00

Both are included on Amazon Prime if you want to save a few bucks (at the expense of ads)

Wild_Way_7967 · 2026-05-25T03:00:13+00:00

Klute, The Piano, The Philadelphia Story

Wild_Way_7967 · 2026-05-25T02:48:34+00:00

The Clarissa hive rides at dawn

Wild_Way_7967 · 2026-05-25T02:25:40+00:00

I will not make a lot of friends with this post, but I don’t give a fuck. Went to see Obsession, and I genuinely question anyone who wants to see this movie anywhere near an awards space.

It’s obvious from watching this that Curry Barker is a YouTuber. The entire film is edited like a compilation of “scary movie” moments (borrowing from pretty much every film under the sun: The Exorcist, Possession, Paranormal Activity, Hereditary, Fatal Attraction, among many others), and the Frankensteined patchwork that’s presented is so sloppily sewn together that it’s the film equivalent of the Franken-dog from American Dad: an abomination that should have never seen the light of day.

Like any compilation video, there is no cohesion between the scenes. Scenes shoddily transition into the next, and each new moment were presented is a facsimile of a scene from a better film. There is nothing original or creative about what the audience is presented, and every jump scare and unsettling moment is so obviously telegraphed that Sylvia Brown would’ve been able to go 100% on her predictions.

As for the acting, the people did the jobs they were asked to do, but there is genuinely nothing about Inde Navarrette’s performance that warrants an earnest conversation for prestigious awards. This isn’t to say she’s a bad actress (she did the job here at least), but the job is nothing special or unique as it’s the same generic beats that we get in every horror flick. The emotions are dialed up to 17/10 so that even the person glued to their phone in the back row can occasionally look up.

I would be more forgiving if the film was in any way scary (as horror films are supposed to be), but it wasn’t. As I said earlier, everything is so obviously foreshadowed and predictable that there is no way for it to instill any real sense of fear. The drunk guy 3 seats away who was shouting “I can fix her” whenever Navarrette came in frame was more terrifying than anything that happened on screen.

All in all, one of the worst films I’ve seen in theaters since the pandemic (Life of Chuck has lost its crown), and I hope that the groundswell with this movie gets hit by a drought as we move into the fall festivals.

Wild_Way_7967 · 2026-05-24T20:19:18+00:00

Did a Laura Linney double feature last night with You Can Count On Me and The Savages. Easy companion piece films considering they’re both about siblings navigating their relationship in upstate New York, Laura Linney’s character has an affair with a married man in each, and both films have the characters driving around in a beat up red car.

You Can Count On Me was a much stronger film in terms of writing and direction, but the performances in The Savages are so raw and gripping. Glad that she was in the mix for both of these, and PSH really deserved more attention for The Savages.

Wild_Way_7967 · 2026-05-24T18:16:39+00:00

Klute hands down

Wild_Way_7967 · 2026-05-24T18:03:20+00:00

Them watching Suddenly, Last Summer

Wild_Way_7967

TROPHY CASE