On Friday nights, IndieWire After Darkish honors fringe cinema within the streaming age with midnight motion pictures from any second in movie historical past.
First, the BAIT: a bizarre style choose, and why we’re exploring its particular area of interest proper now. Then, the BITE: a spoiler-filled reply to the all-important query, “Is that this outdated cult movie really price recommending?”
The Bait: And the Academy Award Goes to… Mattress?
For many years, popular culture lovers have been informed that falling asleep in entrance of their TVs is an insult to each their private sleep hygiene and the broader seriousness of cinephilia. However awards season has a means of drawing out uncomfortable truths, and with simply two weeks to go earlier than the 98th Academy Awards, right here’s mine: In case you love film historical past however endure from insomnia, few issues are extra comforting than dozing off listening to the dulcet tones of outdated Oscars ceremonies.
From acquainted orchestral swells to ritualized envelope openings, Hollywood’s annual night time on the Dolby is uniquely suited to nocturnal drifting. Practically a century in, ABC’s broadcasts stay creatively dynamic however largely structurally unchanged. The reveals are nonetheless infamously lengthy, offered as a clap-a-thon, damaged up by speeches and jokes calibrated for his or her particular cultural second (albeit with various levels of success). The internet hosting gig has seen diminishing returns through the years, however with Conan O’Brien returning to the Oscars once more in 2026, the core idea persists like a bedtime story too well-known to rewrite.
As the identical celebratory arcs and dramatic upsets repeat 12 months after 12 months, at all times with the identical acquainted solid of world-famous characters trying their greatest, the Oscars assist make the film enterprise appear like magic — even after we comprehend it’s not. That fake effortlessness could make all of the hardship of filmmaking really feel price it, if just for one night time. And people who hearken to white noise, rain sounds, and even podcasts after they go to sleep are counting on predictable patterns and comforting symbolism, too.
Midnight motion pictures are all about re-contextualization, and contemplating these TV packages have been largely designed as single-use spectacles, they tackle mesmeric new that means after they’re replayed in your laptop computer or cellphone in the midst of the night time. Half-heard then and fewer remembered now, these delicately mummified events turn out to be one thing a lot stranger and softer when you’re watching alone.
Loved in a semi-conscious (even Lynchian!) state, every little thing from a killer Steve Martin monologue to a shifting Viola Davis acceptance turns into a glittery illustration of ambition, gratitude, and the fading relevance of time. You don’t have to see the attire or acknowledge the names of all of the nominees to really feel like on the market someplace, somebody’s dream is going on — and even that can cross. There’s pleasure in remembering motion pictures the business has already buried, and it’s worthwhile to contemplate the ability of feat whenever you’re completely untethered from the stakes of an awards race. Closing your eyes, you lose the air of status and iconic Oscars moments tackle an otherworldly sense of intimacy.
It’s that engine of creativeness that’s stored so many cinephiles seeking to the Academy for steerage, even because the awards physique has misplaced authority through the years. So, skip the Seth MacFarlane catastrophe and the Will Smith/Chris Rock 12 months, too. However curated with relaxation in thoughts, this viewing ritual repurposes Hollywood’s highest stage as an on-demand lullaby of leisure legacy. It’s each restorative and faintly disrespectful — as all Oscars viewing, in my sleepy li’l opinion, must be. -OF
The Chew: For Your Consideration… 2004!
Initially, I’ll push again on the Seth MacFarlane dismissal, as that man’s total oeuvre is simply jokes which are solely humorous after the clock strikes midnight. However alas, the ceremony I selected to pattern (making an allowance for that you want to know “slime tutorial”-like key phrases to unearth loads of the Oscar ceremonies on YouTube) was the 2004 Academy Awards.
Right here’s the difficulty: I’m not new to this. I’m true to this on a number of fronts. I sleep with some type of sound on each night time as a result of the choice is what launched me to my sleep paralysis demon. My traditional routine as a YouTubeTV convert is to show to the NickToons channel, which nearly solely performs “SpongeBob SquarePants” reruns, and extra importantly, doesn’t play any trailers like “Scream 7” that may rattle my slumber. The scariest industrial they play is the music video for the “Monster Excessive” theme tune.
I’ve additionally nodded off at a few awards reveals I’ve attended in actual lifelike on the Palm Springs Worldwide Movie Awards one 12 months, after I had solely had two hours between touchdown on the airport after three totally different flights in sooner or later, checking into my resort, becoming my swimsuit, and going straight to the ceremony.
Anyhow, I ramble as a result of this technique finally labored too effectively. At greatest, I heard snippets of host Billy Crystal’s monologue, the place he stored to the custom of inserting himself into Greatest Image nominees, however actually, presenter Sean Connery kicking off the night time along with his surprisingly sweet-sounding Scottish accent knocked me out like a lightweight. So, I’m unhappy I didn’t even get to see one of many document 11 wins for “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,” however I’m joyful that this sleep technique’s effectiveness most likely earned me an additional REM cycle. —MJ
Learn extra installments of After Darkish, IndieWire’s midnight film rewatch membership: