Escaping Cold NYC
Plus White Lotus and Oscars predictions
It’s about this time of year when all New Yorkers have had it with the cold. Yesterday was better in the city, where it felt like a spring day at almost 60 degrees Fahrenheit. But the brutal cold of post-holiday NYC has run its course, leading to dry skin and bad tempers.
“Weather changes moods”, as my famed Seattlite Kurt Cobain once said. Those of us who are native to the Pacific Northwest and have endured more gray days than most can attest to it.
While Seattle folks may escape to California, those of us in the Northeast often run to Florida. So many in fact that “snowbirds” have been a thing, probably for as long as humans have lived on the continent.
We escaped to Fort Lauderdale this past January to visit some friends and chase some sunshine. I made a movie of the experience and wrote this blog describing it. Fort Lauderdale often gets overshadowed by its more sophisticated (Palm Beach) and cool (Miami) neighbors, but it’s one of the easiest South Florida destinations because the hotel zone is only ~30 minutes from the airport.
The White Lotus is better than ever
Speaking of luxury hotels, you might think I’m the type of guy you would find at The White Lotus, HBO’s hit show, which airs episode 3 tonight (competing with the Oscars - more on that below). You would be right. I’m a sucker for luxury hotels and exotic locales.
For those who haven’t seen the show, it’s basically about rich people behaving badly on vacation. We’re on season 3 in Thailand after two seasons of other fancy resorts (Season 1: Four Seasons Maui, Hawaii; Season 2: San Domenico Palace Hotel in Taormina, Sicily, Italy).
Each season takes place almost entirely at the resort where it’s based. There’s drama, death, and chaos, with spoiled and morally broken hotel guests usually getting their “just desserts” or getting away with grifts, fraud, or worse.
Amazingly, The White Lotus Hotels stay in business. And season 3 in Thailand is better than ever. The characters may be my favorite to date. Three of my favorite groups are the rich women (“cougars”) who are old friends having a reunion while they secretly hate each other; a dysfunctional American family with spoiled rich kids whose patriarch learns of a professional scandal that might destroy his career and more; and a couple who appear to be more on a mission than a vacation (at least the guy who’s hunting for the husband of the hotel’s owner).
This hunt may lead us to Bangkok in a future episode, which could add an entirely new element to the storyline and character development (including new characters). The show plays like the classic game show, Survivor, keeping the audience guessing who’s going to make it to the end while chaos ensues around them. This isn’t surprising given the show’s writer, Mike White, was previously a contestant on Survivor and The Amazing Race.
Few shows do such a superb job of depicting rich people behaving badly. And for those of us who have vacationed with obnoxious hotel guests or who have entitled and self-righteous people in our lives, the show is very relatable. It’s almost like Succession meets Survivor, with the show’s enticing blend of luxury, competition, and moral depravity.
Car crashes are hard to turn away from, especially when you learn the stories of the drivers. Season 3 of The White Lotus is even more alluring not only because of the exotic and luxurious environment but also because of its headfirst dive into Western meets Thai culture. The depiction of “LBHs”, or “Losers Back Home”, with all of the old, bald, white guys from America wandering around Thailand is as hilarious as it is riveting.
Episode 3 of The White Lotus airs tonight, but it will be competing with the Oscars.
Oscars Best Picture predictions
As I dive more into filmmaking and the world of YouTube, I’m trying to study more about what makes great films. Not that I will ever be an Oscar-worthy filmmaker, but just as all the best writers must be the best readers, it follows that the best filmmakers must be great consumers of the best films.
So I made more of an effort this year to watch the frontrunner Oscar nominees. I’ve now seen three of them: Emilia Perez, Conclave, and Anora. These are three of the most nominated films of the year. And while Emilia Perez is probably out of the running for the controversy that has transpired since its nominations, I wasn’t a fan regardless, as I wrote about in a previous newsletter.
The Brutalist has received critical acclaim, so a Best Picture win for that film wouldn’t surprise me, but I have not seen it yet. Of the remaining two I’ve seen, Anora gets my vote.
I wrote a thread about why I really enjoyed Conclave. It has some of the best-shot compositions of any film I’ve seen. Although they’re using a cheat code by filming at the Vatican. Regardless, it’s one of the best-edited and composed films, and the acting by Ralph Fiennes and the star-studded cast (Stanley Tucci is one of my favorites) is remarkable. There’s also a crazy twist at the end that I didn’t expect.
But Anora gets my vote. I thought it was going to be a raunchy show with a storyline driven by sex after the first 20 minutes, but then it evolved into so much more — a compelling tale of wealth inequality, where the games of the rich can ruin the lives of the poor; where the rich and powerful can avoid serious consequences for their actions and how the poor almost always pay the price.
The acting is also impressive and the immersive chase scenes through New York City are gripping and exciting. It’s hard to beat Anora’s storytelling and character development. The twists and turns in the story keep you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end. So it’s hard for me to see another film beating Anora.
With that said, the Academy historically avoids films for “Best Picture” that feature so much sex. There’s a lot of it in Anora. The main character is a sex worker, after all. But the sex is arguably necessary in this case to tell the story. I don’t think it should disqualify a great film.
Below is the full list of Best Picture nominees and how to stream or watch them:
ANORA (streamed on Amazon Prime, but also available on-demand on Apple TV and others)
THE BRUTALIST (in select theaters and on-demand)
A COMPLETE UNKNOWN (available on-demand)
CONCLAVE (Peacock)
DUNE: PART TWO (Max)
EMILIA PÉREZ (Netflix)
I'M STILL HERE (Apple TV)
NICKEL BOYS (streaming on MGM+ and in select theaters)
THE SUBSTANCE (streaming on MUBI and in select theaters)
WICKED (available on Peacock on March 21 and available on-demand before then)
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