I'd Like to Thank the Academy (Museum)
""It is true there are some angels in this city" - Marion Cotillard" - Me
Greetings from La La Land! This was supposed to be a Monday newsletter, but alas, a strange amalgamation of work and vacation turned my first week out here into a busier blur than anticipated.
When I’m not bursting into spontaneous song and dance in traffic, I’ve managed to have a decent time taking in all the West Coast has to offer. That’s mainly a wide array of friends who now live out here, but the other big reason for me to cross coasts was to finally visit the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures!
Fun fact: the building actually used to be my office when I interned for AMPAS in the summer of 2014! I’ve been waiting many years for this dream to come to life, and after much turbulence and turnover, it’s finally open to the public. I’ll keep some surprises for you if the museum is on your personal bucket list, but allow me to give you an early sneak peek at what you can expect — and why it’s completely worth your time and money to see this for yourself.
I’ve been to a few cinema-specific museums before — the Cinematheque Francaise in Paris, the Museum of the Moving Image in New York — so I do have some baseline of comparison for what the Academy Museum is doing. This feels, for better and for worse, a museum designed less for the hardcore fans and more for newcomers. You’re more likely to be swept off your feet anew by movie magic than have your pre-established appreciation deepened. (In other words, it functions a lot like the Oscars themselves do for movie lovers!)
The main thrust of the museum takes place on the second of its five floors: the centerpiece “stories of cinema” exhibition. You’re greeted by a tripanel projecting what’s essentially a video essay, tracking all sorts of motifs throughout the history of cinema. There are a number of these throughout the museum, but this particular sequence is the one that held my eye for the longest.
You’re then introduced to the components of moviemaking as outlined on the wall. Shoutout to the intense lobbying campaign among industry pros that managed to get studio executives and publicists/marketeres put on equal footing as any creative.
This specialization is at first presented as atomization, highlighting some specific contributions from single people such as cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki (collaborator of Malick and Cuarón among many) and editor Thelma Schoonmaker (fabled hands behind Scorsese’s cinema). We get both tactile examples of their craft, such as Schoonmaker’s old editing machine, as well as visual examples showcasing their work in action.
If I have any large-scale complaint about the museum, it’s that the video clips are sometimes clunkily incorporated into the larger spreads. For example, the Schoonmaker section presents one small monitor with clips that inspired she and Scorsese … and then another larger one with how they incorporated those influences. It feels like a missed opportunity to do a side-by-side. Sound is also treated as a bit perfunctory with some of these clip displays, almost as if that’s not one of the key components of moviemaking that they highlighted on the wall.
It’s clear from the very beginning the museum’s curators are conscious to elevate voices from traditionally underrepresented groups in the industry and expand the canon. (Undoubtedly, they wanted to avoid their own #OscarsSoWhite moment.) It’s a noble effort that yields some interesting spotlights for artists making work not traditionally recognized by stodgy, myopic awards voters. But like any entertainment industry initiative for inclusion, it’s given to fits of gesturing loudly rather than committing to materially changing conditions. They’re also prone to isolating specific episodes and acting like they represent larger than a single event.
They are, for example, very comfortable letting us know that they did wrong by Hattie McDaniel. It’s an obvious example of outright racism that they take responsibility for, with the subtle implication that owning the shame of their mistreatment means they’ve taken care of the underlying issues.
I didn’t have time to fully take in the giant chamber of Oscars ceremony history, but there’s a topline recap of every year of the Academy Awards. It’s both a recap of historic accomplishments or firsts at the ceremony and an omnibus of other miscellanea we might find relevant. There’s a fair amount of self-criticism and reflection for the Oscars, even of recent years. Heck, they said this year’s ceremony with the COVID-19 protocols got mixed reviews! And yet their mention of Green Book winning Best Picture did not merit an asterisk, nor did the Moonlight/La La Land envelope fiasco get a mention.
The exhibition continues on with a grabbag of movie artifacts that will surprise and delight many movie fans. Turn a corner and there’s Mookie’s costume from Do the Right Thing! Gregory Peck’s annotated script from To Kill a Mockingbird! Casting cards describing the appeal of a young Diane Keaton! The Midsommar flower dress!
I’m not necessarily a die-hard fan of The Wizard of Oz (I actually don’t even know if I’ve seen the movie all the way through), but the giant chamber dedicated to the film is irrefutably the most impressive portion of the museum. It’s where you get to see the most components of a film come together, illustrating the true collaborative nature of the medium. I would have loved this level of detail seeing through ideation to execution for more movies throughout the museum, not just a well-known classic.
A smaller upstairs section had sections devoted to animation (including a large display about the history of racially insensitive cartoons) as well as science-fiction. At this point, we were nearing closing time, and I did not have nearly enough time to read and follow these sections in nearly the same detail. Still cool to see all the collected pieces of film history though!
There was also two sections devoted to individual directors: Hayao Miyazaki and Pedro Almodóvar. I couldn’t take photos in the exhibition for the former, but it was definitely a highlight. The walls were full of fascinating drawings from the legendary Japanese animator, and other imaginative visual flourishes helped bring the magic of Studio Ghibli to life before our eyes.
The Almodóvar room, on the other hand, was an example of the museum at its worst. It consisted of little more than a space full of screens each playing thematically curated clips with no contextualization or explanation. Nothing but posters for the Spanish director’s decades-long filmography adorned the wall. If ever there were a director whose costumes and sets cry out for a tactile experience, it’s Almodóvar — a shame the museum couldn’t do better by him.
We ended the day atop the giant open-air dome out back from the main museum building. Even on a foggy night, the view over the City of Angels was something to behold. Guess it just goes to show that sometimes the greatest attractions lie apart from the silver screen after all.
Don’t skip the dome — or the museum, for that matter! It’s a great addition to LA that I hope will continue to grow and evolve into a vibrant pocket for film history and culture.
WHAT I WATCHED
Prior to visiting LA, I was just finishing up some Kristen Stewart watches as well as getting ahead on something about Wes Anderson … stay tuned …
But while here, my visit also happens to overlap with AFI Fest — darn! Another film festival! Pretty cool to be in spitting distance of musical theater royalty at the world premiere of tick, tick …BOOM! on Wednesday.
I’m taking in some cinema at theaters across LA while I’m visiting, and let me tell you — make sure to find some time to take in the majestic David Geffen Theater at the Academy Museum if you’re ever in the area. This is the kind of viewing environment you only get at a film festival, and it’s going to be programming year-round!
Also, I walked into a screening of Blue Velvet in Los Angeles behind Flea of Red Hot Chili Peppers fame. He would later tweet the following about the experience we shared:
WHAT I HEARD
This week’s random earworms:
Also, if you have still yet to see Dune … firstly, why? Second, if you are at all trepidacious about the plot or the sci-fi names, I’d highly recommend listening to the great Jason Concepcion breaking down the story on X-Ray Vision. In 30 minutes, he’ll offer a humorous and fact-filled overview of the story that will prime you well to have a baseline understanding of what to expect in the movie.
WHAT I WROTE
Last week was heavy on list-writing for Slashfilm! I ranked the entire filmography of Joel and Ethan Coen (ahead of the release of Joel’s The Tragedy of Macbeth later this year) as well as pulled 14 of my favorite Kristen Stewart roles with Spencer now in theaters. Both these lists attempt to do more than just create some kind of framework for “objective” evaluation of artistry; I try to pull out common threads and fascinations that run throughout their work as well. My hope is that by reading these, you come away not only with what is “best” but also what is so good about them in the first place that their output is worthy of ranking to begin with.
Also, subscribers got to read my full manifesto on how I survive and thrive at film festivals!
WHAT I READ
Since I didn’t get approved to talk to Kristen Stewart last week (not going to pout about it but let me just vent ever so slightly), enjoy a great conversation between her and Kyle Buchanan of The New York Times.
I loved mulling over Christina Newland’s well-researched and argued BBC piece about the desexualization of contemporary cinema.
For those interested in the cross-section of social media and artistry (AKA, any number of coworkers-turned-friends who receive this), you should take a few minutes to read this provocative piece on TikTok in the journal Reverse Shot.
Thanks for reading this somewhat different newsletter!
Yours in service and cinema,
Marshall