![\"(L-R)](\"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Killers_Of_The_Flower_Moon_Photo_0108.jpg.photo_modal_show_home_large.jpg\")
<\/a>(L-R) Lily Gladstone, Robert DeNiro, and Leonardo DiCaprio.<\/p><\/div>\n
As it went on and on, I kept thinking that I definitely could have lived without this time-suck. I had no idea what was going on for most of the film,\u00a0and<\/em>\u00a0they made Leonardo DiCaprio look ugly, therefore this was far from up my alley.<\/p>\n But I\u00a0did<\/em>\u00a0research it all night when it was over, (as I usually do with everything I need more info on,) and discovered that it\u2019s a true story. I already knew that abuse by whites of Indian peoples back then is, very sadly, true, but this<\/em> tale, in particular, is also true. And it\u00a0was<\/em>\u00a0the catalyst for the formation of the FBI. Who knew? (Outside of Martin Scorsese, of course.) So all of that made it interesting in retrospect for me. I couldn\u2019t bear to ever watch it again, but I have<\/em> re-run it in my mind several times since then. (Only I pictured Leo still being handsome.)<\/p>\n While viewing it, I didn\u2019t know what the focus of the film was for a long time, perhaps for the first hour, (of many\u2014trust me!) And then it finally dawned on me\u2014it\u2019s basically\u00a0The Godfather <\/em>or Goodfellas\u00a0<\/em>or\u00a0The Departed<\/em>\u00a0or Gangs of New York<\/em> or any<\/em> of those…on the prairie.<\/p>\n Even though the actual story of\u00a0Killers\u00a0of the Flower Moon<\/em><\/em>\u00a0escaped me for But I do<\/em> have more than a quarrel with some of the nominations for it.<\/p>\n Even though not a\u00a0snub<\/em>, (if you missed it, here\u2019s my rant about the erroneous use of that word by Hollywood denizens: itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/karens-rantskarens-lessons-does-no-one-in-hollywood-know-the-meaning-of-the-word-snubbed<\/a>,) I honestly cannot believe that Leonardo DiCaprio was not nominated for an Oscar for this film! My feeling is that\u00a0he should\u00a0always<\/em>\u00a0be nominated,\u00a0even\u00a0when he doesn\u2019t make a movie! (Okay, okay.)<\/p>\n But really, how were there five<\/em> performances that are better than his?! I haven\u2019t seen\u00a0one<\/em>\u00a0yet! (But I still have four nominated male performances to see, so I\u2019ll know for sure then.)<\/p>\n The only minuscule negative to his portrayal here is that his character does<\/em> sort-of turn into the Billy Bob Thornton in Sling Blade<\/em> for a minute, so I don\u2019t know if the real<\/em> guy had a mental handicap or not.<\/p>\n Leonardo DiCaprio, looking a bit like he’s doing Sling Bade.<\/p><\/div>\n My other nomination quarrel is that, (and I really do<\/em> hate to be the one to say this,) Lily Gladstone\u2019s performance is far from special. It\u2019s basically all on one flat level throughout, except when she gives a scream over a newly-deceased relative. I feel that the Academy and Screen Actors Guild voters just wanted to nominate an honest-to-goodness American Indian. (She should have been nominated in the category of Best Supporting<\/em> Actress to begin with, not Best Leading<\/em> Actress. But I have a feeling the voters want Da’Vine Joy Randolph from The Holdovers<\/em> to win the Supporting award; that way, two<\/em> diverse people win, so the Academy and SAG will look better to the world.)<\/p>\n [Note: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has some crazy new rule that a film’s cast has to be a certain percent \u201cdiverse\u201d to qualify for Best Picture nominations, beginning this year! How insane is that? What if it\u2019s a story of old Irish immigrants in Brooklyn, for example? How are they going to fit black or Latino people or even gay ones, (when nobody admitted that they are of that persuasion,) into that<\/em> one??? And I guess that Steven Spielberg\u2019s\u00a0The Fabelmans<\/em>, the story of his Jewish family, wouldn\u2019t be eligible\u00a0now? And A Raisin in the Sun<\/em> would have to feature a white<\/em> actor, even though it’s an all-black story???? Give me a break!]<\/p>\n Lily will most likely win every<\/em> award because of the desire of the voters to be diverse. Not fair, especially compared to Annette Benning\u2019s soul-baring performance in\u00a0Nyad<\/em>, (which I’ll discuss in my next Mini Movie Reviews column.) Oh well.<\/p>\n [Note #2 on the subject: I’ve always loved when someone new, and often different from the previous victors, wins, so I’m happy with the diversity. I just always want the person or film who really<\/em> deserves it to be the winner, no matter their ethnicity.]<\/p>\n Lily Gladstone displaying the one expression she has throughout the film. Leo in front, of course.<\/p><\/div>\n I have an additional duo of head-scratching and picayune observations about Killers of the Flower Moon<\/em> to share, and one funny one.<\/p>\n There’s one scene in the second half of the uber-long film where Leo is encouraging someone to bomb a house, and all of a sudden, he looks younger and like his real-life self! The difference in his character’s looks from all the other scenes is glaring. Mr. X, who absolutely detests agreeing with me on anything<\/em>, noticed it, too, when I pointed it out. I’m assuming that it was the first scene shot, after which they decided to ugly him up. If that is<\/em> the case, they should have gone back and re-shot that one scene after they established the character’s look, if even just to satisfy yours truly! (Or maybe I’m wrong about it all. But judge for yourselves when you see the film. If you’re not asleep<\/em> by that scene!)<\/p>\n The other head-scratcher is why was there that one few-seconds scene where some woman telephoned the two doctors? What was that about? It was never explained. (If any of you<\/em> can enlighten me about that, or anything else in life, I’d love to read your comments below.)<\/p>\npart<\/del> most of the film, I, of course, recognize the merit of the work.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>