Boys in the Boat

Has it occurred to you that the movie might suck?

[quote] Has it occurred to you that the movie might suck?

There is no way this movie sucks more than that PINK DOG SHIT BARBIE movie.

No fucking way!

OP is an idiot. Also, there's already been a fairly recent doc about these guys---not such a novel topic.

I guarantee this movie doesn't meet the new bullshit AMPAS "standards for representation and inclusion"

[quote] ACADEMY ESTABLISHES REPRESENTATION AND INCLUSION STANDARDS FOR OSCARS® ELIGIBILITY

For the 96th Oscars (2024), a film must meet TWO out of FOUR of the following standards to be deemed eligible:

STANDARD A: ON-SCREEN REPRESENTATION, THEMES AND NARRATIVES To achieve Standard A, the film must meet ONE of the following criteria:

A1. Lead or significant supporting actors

At least one of the lead actors or significant supporting actors is from an underrepresented racial or ethnic group.

Asian, Hispanic/Latinx, Black/African American, Indigenous/Native American/Alaskan Native, Middle Eastern/North African, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, Other underrepresented race or ethnicity.

A2. General ensemble cast

At least 30% of all actors in secondary and more minor roles are from at least two of the following underrepresented groups:

Women, Racial or ethnic group, LGBTQ+, People with cognitive or physical disabilities, or who are deaf or hard of hearing

A3. Main storyline/subject matter

The main storyline(s), theme or narrative of the film is centered on an underrepresented group(s).

STANDARD B: CREATIVE LEADERSHIP AND PROJECT TEAM To achieve Standard B, the film must meet ONE of the criteria below:

B1. Creative leadership and department heads

At least two of the following creative leadership positions and department heads—Casting Director, Cinematographer, Composer, Costume Designer, Director, Editor, Hairstylist, Makeup Artist, Producer, Production Designer, Set Decorator, Sound, VFX Supervisor, Writer—are from the following underrepresented groups:

Women, Racial or ethnic group, LGBTQ+, People with cognitive or physical disabilities, or who are deaf or hard of hearing

At least one of those positions must belong to the following underrepresented racial or ethnic group:

Asian, Hispanic/Latinx, Black/African American, Indigenous/Native American/Alaskan Native, Middle Eastern/North African, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, Other underrepresented race or ethnicity

B2. Other key roles

At least six other crew/team and technical positions (excluding Production Assistants) are from an underrepresented racial or ethnic group.

B3. Overall crew composition At least 30% of the film’s crew is from the following underrepresented groups.

STANDARD C: INDUSTRY ACCESS AND OPPORTUNITIES To achieve Standard C, the film must meet BOTH criteria below:

C1. Paid apprenticeship and internship opportunities

The film’s distribution or financing company has paid apprenticeships or internships that are from the following underrepresented groups and satisfy the criteria below:

Women, Racial or ethnic group, LGBTQ+, People with cognitive or physical disabilities, or who are deaf or hard of hearing

The major studios/distributors are required to have substantive, ongoing paid apprenticeships/internships inclusive of underrepresented groups in most of the following departments: production/development, physical production, post-production, music, VFX, acquisitions, business affairs, distribution, marketing and publicity.

C2. Training opportunities and skills development (crew)

The film’s production, distribution and/or financing company offers training and/or work opportunities for below-the-line skill development to people from the underrepresented groups.

STANDARD D: AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT To achieve Standard D, the film must meet the criterion below:

D1. Representation in marketing, publicity, and distribution

The studio and/or film company has multiple in-house senior executives from among the following underrepresented groups (must include individuals from underrepresented racial or ethnic groups) on their marketing, publicity, and/or distribution teams.

Gotta love George Clooney.

He always knows where to find the boys AND the booze!

This is a cast chock-full of hot guys!!

I wonder how many of them were on the Clooney casting couch?

This movie is so formulaic. Well done (Alexandre Desplat score, etc.), but formulaic. Not sure what Clooney's angle was with this.

[quote] Not sure what Clooney's angle was with this.

To make a movie with hot young guys, and hopefully hook up with a few of them.

Georgie had his pick of these hot guys...

Who is the blond one?

R8, I worked my way through all of them.

Jealous, bitches?

Where are the hot guys? I don't see any in r7's pic.

Those new AMPAS rules are total bullshit.

People still pay attention to Academy Awards?

Is it a documentary based on his life in Lake Como?

R12 Ridiculous. You’d have to go out of your way to NOT meet the AMPAS standards.

OP, just let George enjoy his life with sweaty, muscular twinks. His wife and twins must be exhausting.

The movie is fine. It was my mother's pick for Christmas night movie, and that should tell you everything right there. It's a movie for your mom. The score is nice, and there are some nicely composed scenes. Nice. Nice. Nice.

I did notice two quick shots of black women in the audience during the regattas. Very pointed shots of them, probably to pass the Academy test. They were blatant enough that we all noticed.

Also, Mom's first choice was "The Color Purple.". Unfortunately, every showing in town was 100% booked the day before Christmas Eve. Should be as good start.

[quote] Is it a documentary based on his life in Lake Como?

Jealous, bitches?

r15 mandates are the enemy of art and creativity.

Looking forward to seeing this in the movie theater next weekend.

It should be in Oscar contention, and NOT that fucking Barbie movie.

R4 These rules set a very low bar, which most films are meeting anyway. Just hiring a bunch of White women would be sufficient.

Starring the adorable Callum Turner.

R23 George has good taste in men.

Is there any male nudity, R17?

Jack Mulhern reminds me a young Josh Hartnett.

Luke Slattery is the hottest guy in the cast.

We want to see what the Nazi rowers look like

Callum Turner would be hotter if they hadn't dyed his hair Crayola Yellow-Orange.

For sure, R29.

But with darker hair, Callum reminds me a lot of Barry Keoghan or Eddie Redmayne.

The blond hair makes him stand out. Maybe just not SO blond.

In this photo, Callum could easily pass for Barry Keoghan.

"mandates are the enemy of art and creativity."

The conservatives complaining about the Academy rules are the same ones trying to ban any book they don't like. Go away, conservatives

r32 I'm a liberal and think both the extreme left and extreme right are fucked up. You don't have to be a conservative to be opposed to any mandates regarding creative expression.

Americans have become so tunnel-visioned re: left vs. right that it's become impossible to have a reasonable discussion or debate with them.

R33- there is no mandate for creative expression. There’s a mandate for winning an award. You shouldn’t be making a movie to win an award in the first place so it should be moot what AMPAS requires.

r35 any mandate in the arts is the enemy of art. Now take your little Stalinist ass and STFU.

[quote] You shouldn’t be making a movie to win an award in the first place

And if my aunt had a dick she would be my uncle. That ain't how the movie business works, dear.

[quote] there is no mandate for creative expression. There’s a mandate for winning an award

Same difference, dumbass!!!

How can you not see that, unless you're a completely blind and willful idiot???

Some of the best movies ever made in the past 100 years, would NEVER have made it past the Academy's new WOKE litmus test, and that's just total bullshit.

These kinds of rules DO stifle artistic creativity, my placing restrictions on what can and cannot be done, in terms of your ability to be recognized for achievement in your field.

Do athletes have to be a certain color to win an award?

NO. Because that would be ridiculous.

Just like these stupid fucking Academy rules are ridiculous.

Just saw it. It’s so over the top cliched it’s almost worth watching to laugh at each one. If this wasn’t written by an AI program fed every corny sports movie in history to regurgitate, I’d be very surprised.

It's SUPPOSED to be a feel good movie, R39.

So SHUT IT.

Callum looks better as a blond than with his natural color. With dark hair he looks like every other male starlet. But then I have a thing for blonds.

R13 = Bradley Cooper

[quote]Why isn't it being considered for an Oscar? Seems pretty Oscar Bait-ish to me.

With a 58% RT score? I think not. We also already have WAY too much superior Oscar bait: "Oppenheimer" is the hands-down Oscar-bait winner – and even months in advance I can tell you RDJ will be shortlisted for Best Supporting Actor – and a Scorsese/DiCaprio twofer is Oscar bait by default. "Maestro" could prove to be strong Oscar-bait competition as well, and since the Academy seems to automatically hand out Oscars to actors who sport facial prosthetics – e.g. Gary Oldman as Churchill in "The Darkest Hour," Nicole Kidman as Virginia Woolf in "The Hours," etc. – DL fave Bradley Cooper is a likely frontrunner for Best Actor, particularly having lost NINE Oscar noms now.

"Saltburn" and its quirkiness could prove popular with the Academy, and while I know you cunts despise anything adored by straight women, "Barbie" could ABSOLUTELY sweep the major awards. ("Everything Everywhere...." was considerably more odd than "Barbie" but won everything anyway.) "Past Lives" and "Poor Things" are also all-but-certain nominees. Ditto "The Holdovers," and Da'Vine Joy Randolph is already a lock for a Best Actress nom.

I'm sure George's boys in the boat are all very pretty, and I'm also sure I'll watch the movie for that reason alone, but I wouldn't hold my breath for an Oscar nom. (Meaning ANY Oscar nom.)

[quote]DL fave Bradley Cooper is a likely frontrunner for Best Actor, particularly having lost NINE Oscar noms now.

R43, you are *adorable*! Glenn's an eight-time Oscar loser, and I think we all know what will happen if she's nominated yet again.

Never assume, dear.

That M shit is never funny.

The Academy will prove itself completely out of touch - ONCE AGAIN - by nominating Dog Shit Barbie over Boys in the Boat.

Boys in the Boat is a quality movie of substance.

Barbie is nothing but Dog Vomit.

Naturally, the Academy voters will go with Barbie.

It's like a remake of Chariots of Fire, I expect.

I love it, R45.

Speak for yourself.

It's a time-honored Datalounge tradition.

[quote]Boys in the Boat is a quality movie of substance.

The critics beg to differ, and I think we both know what your opposite reaction would be if it was an otherwise identical movie called "The Girls in the Boat," featuring numerous comely young lasses.

[quote] Boys in the Boat is a quality movie of substance.

It is fluff and Clooney intended for it to be a throwback, feel-good piece of fluff!

No nudity, r25! Criminal!

[quote] No nudity, R25! Criminal!

Well, not on camera.

Behind the scenes is a different story.

The Boys in the Boat is a dumb title.

They should have named it something else, like "The Coxswain takes all the Boys in the Boat at the same time" or "Bareback Boys in a Boat."

You know? Something exciting like that.

More Boys in a Boat.

Is it as boring as it sounds?

Not as boring as Barbie.

Opening scene...

R29 He is portraying Joe Rantz, a blond, who was the principal rower from the book the story is based on. Author of the book, Daniel James Brown, was a neighbor who was intrigues by his story and initially wrote the book about his story of being in the rowing team that made it to the1936 Berlin Olympics and won. Joe Rantz however did not want the book to be about him, he insisted it be about the men on the team, as he believed in the team work it took for the rowers to succeed. Joe Rantz's daughter read him one of the final drafts of the book just before he died in 2007 at age 93. The book was finally published in 2013.

Not boring at all. I was fully prepared for it to be deadly dull, but it wasn’t. Cliches? Yeah, but it’s a feel-good movie and I loved it. Probably not going to win any awards, but it’s a great way to spend two hours. The boys are hot.

The top critics on Rotton Tomatoes gave it 64%, while all critics gave it a 58%. Interesting, the verified audience members give it a 97%.

[quote] The top critics on Rotton Tomatoes gave it 64%, while all critics gave it a 58%. Interesting, the verified audience members give it a 97%.

Proof that the critics are bought and paid for by studios.

Now you know why Barbie is "critically acclaimed." It's meaningless bullshit.

Were they really "underdogs"? It seems to me in 1936 they were relatively privileged compared to competitors from other nations.

This just seems so weird. In a lot of ways it's like A Leave Of Their Own, which was about a smart businessman who sponsored a low-cost, fun sport that generally boosted community morale during WWII. This movie is about a man with enough cash to recruit, support, and strengthen an entire team of desperate bohunks who are participating in a much less popular sport. Rowing is great, but this guy really HAD to create and sponsor this independent rowing team during a time of impoverishment for many? It's just a very "MAN WANT THING, MAN DO THING!" mentality. It's masochistic and frivolous.

Well take our leave of this thread.

I saw the movie last night and I understand how others have said the film seems formulaic... there's always an obstacle in the way of Olympic glory and then there's an inevitable triumph.

The kicker is, if you've read the book, all of those obstacles did exist. Life really was awful in the pacific northwest during the Depression; college was a way out, but you had to pay, which was difficult.

Joe Rance's life was even more miserable than presented... and the Rance family was more complicted. Yes, he (and others) did go hungry.

The east coast/west coast rivalry really did exist, so did the rivalry between California and Washington.

And yes, rowing was a much bigger sport. Large crowds, live broadcasts, newspaper reporters? Yep.

So, a JV team from U of Washington making its way across America to compete in Poughkeepsie NY and beating the Ivy League schools? Huge in the sport.

Traveling acrosss the Atlantic to compete in Berlin, 1936? Huge for the school, rowers and the coaching staff.

Beating the Germans in the men's 8 given their lane location and slow start and health problems of a teammate (yes, that too really did happen as well)? Again, huge.

The book is excellent, worth a read. I think the story really needed a 4-hour TV treatment, using the first hour or so the tie to show how lousy life was for Rance and other rowers... and maybe, creating some kind of contrast with the better funded California and Ivy League squads.

[quote] Well take our leave of this thread.

Oh, dear!

You see, R63.

This movie IS Oscar-worthy.

It sounds like an amazing story that I wish more people would see.

And it's certainly better than Barbie.

So why isn't it in Oscar contention???

[quote] Oh, dear!

A well-deserved “Oh, dear”. I’ll take it with grace and humility.

Dudes we're gonna kick Hitler's ass in the Olympics!

You feelin' me?

YEAH BOY!

Off to Berlin baby! We gonna tear shit the fuck UP! Fuck you Hitler and all you mothafuckin' Nazi ass mothafuckas!

PEACE SON! ✌️

The Depresrsion was in the east and in Europe too. It was much worse in Germany than the US

Boys in the George's Hole..

The diversity mandates don’t apply to films in general, they apply to award nominated films.

And if making movies is about winning awards then it’s no longer about creativity and art. Or never was.

This movie looks like cliched shit, mandates or not. Clooney was making shit films long before the Oscar academy required diversity quotas.

Great feel-good movie, but almost no shirtlessness, let alone nudity.

I can't believe that George Clooney passed on an opportunity to ogle hot young guys, R71.

Sounds like he's getting shy in his old age.

Boys In The Band In The Boat.

Boys In The Band Barebacking In The Boat.

[quote]Luke Slattery is the hottest guy in the cast.

Not into twinks. The hottest guys were DL fave James Wolk and Chris Diamontoupoulos.

James Wolk is aging very nicely.

One of the nice things in the movie was how great the men looked in the suits and overcoats. the costumer did a fine job.

Hey guys... if you want to learn more about the rowers, the documentary, The Boys of '36, from American Experience on PBS is on this evening, 07/09/24 at 9pn ET.

If you only know the movie, haven't read the book, this is an excellent piece of storytelling.

Thanks for the heads up. The book The Boys In The Boat by Daniel James Brown was excellent. While I liked last years movie, the story itself was condensed as expected. To do the book justice would have required at least a 6 hours miniseries. I have only seen excerpts from the documentary so this is an opportunity to see the whole thing.

I tried to watch it but it just sucked. Beautifully filmed and the cast of course was beautiful but it was so Hallmark Channel.

R79, hope you're referring to the Clooney film. That is NOT the PBS documentary. If you questioned Joe Rance's life as shown in the movie, watch tonight - his life was worse! He's quite a man - really (and he was hot too!).

I was referring to the movie. I almost bought the book a few times before even knowing there was going to be a movie. It's just that I have enough on my Kindle where I'll need at least 86 years to finish it all so I'm resisting buying anymore books. There was about five of us in the room watching and at about 25% of the way through we all looked at each other and rolled our eyes. Much like the Elvis movie. I really wanted to like it but it just wasn't good. It was beautiful to look at but dull. It's also funny I live in CT right on the Farmington river. A few school rowing teams practice on the river. It sounds silly but it really is a beautiful thing to watch them go down the river. They are so in sync with each other. Yeah though, it's been a long time since I've wanted to like a movie as much as this one. I kept my mouth shout while it was running though in case others were seeing something in it.