If you’re like us and doing the obligatory Oscar week movie-cramming in preparation for Hollywood’s big night, here’s something else to think about when considering your pick for Best Picture: the anthropological question of good taste. We took it upon ourselves to rank this year’s nominees according to their design aesthetic. Wikipedia defines aesthetics as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment and taste. So, what films have it? What films don’t? Does it matter?
Click through to see how the nine nominees measured up, and let us know in the comments if you agree with us, or if you’re now questioning our good taste.
9. War Horse
Image credit: ninja romeo
Like everyone else we’re a little puzzled by this Black Stallion meets Lassie meets Little House on the Prairie meets 300 circa the Civil War by who we consider to be one of the living gods of filmmaking, Steven Spielberg. (Steven, what happened?)
From a design standpoint, we acknowledge the nice milk glass lamps throughout, and the tapestry hanging in Emilie’s room is kind of interesting, but let’s face it, the sappy pseudo-heritage thing is questionable, at best.
Comments (2)
the design in tree of life is breathtaking.
Having recently done production design for a short film…I really appreciated this piece. But I think it’s unfair to insist that a production’s design be liveable today–that’s not fair to the story being told. Of course you dont want to live with grandma’s pink bathroom but if florals and pink fixtures make you feel something (nostalgia, disgust) and the feelings match what the director is trying to conveny, then the art director has done his/her job. Introducing anachronisms just to meet modern-day aesthetics…that’s not what they do.
I also think Midnight in Paris is cheating because it was shot entirely on location in Paris (so says Wikipedia). The sets from the ’20′s are stunning and praiseworthy but I draw the line at calling the Parisian antique shop as good art direction…more like good location scouting and lighting. Just sayin.
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