Everytime I start reading something said by James Cameron I almost start to want to like him. Then I keep reading, like ya do, and I realize what a twat waffle he really is.
"Bestowing the top trophy on a film no one has seen (grosses still total under ten million) is a potentially suicidal move for Oscar."
Says who? In the past, when the top award went to smaller, less widely seen films, the films were re-released right after winning for another run, with a big "best picture" ad push behind them, and then a fair amount of people end up seeing the film after all. What's so "suicidal" about that?
How many people had seen "Slumdog millionaire" at this point a few years back?
*raises hand sheepishly* What about The Blind Side? It's kicking butt at the box office, has superb direction by John Lee Hancock and is such a bookend compliment to Precious I'm surprised more people aren't standing up for it.
@Xylo: I really liked Moon, too, and feel it is my duty to point out the fact that the reason it is being treated like the ginger-haired stepchild who lives in the attic is probably due to the fact that it was made in the UK. Ho'wood needs to grow the eff up, already.
Granted, I've only seen four of the movies on this list, but A Serious Man was by far the best. I thought it was better crafted than even No Country for Old Men, so I can't understand why it isn't doing better.
(Was anyone else bored to tears by The Hurt Locker? Maybe there's just something wrong with me.)
@eatsshootsleaves: I'm partial to "Inglourious Basterds" despite not being a Tarantino fanatic. If not that though, I think "A Serious Man" was definitely my fave. And I've seen everything on that list save Avatar.
I also think "A Single Man" is better than half the movies up there.
@MyNameIsChris: No movie I've seen this year procured me greater enjoyment than Inglourious Basterds--it's so.. old-school film-y, and it has everything one could ever wish for: an intricate, suspenseful plot, a nice balance of male-femme performances, superb dialogue and cinematography, gorgeous attention to detail.. I don't think it's a serious contender in the Best Pic category because the narrative unfolds largely in foreign languages, and while that tickled my hide to no end, I can totally see the majority of the academy membership getting bored with reading the subtitles.
@snugbug: Even worse than subtitles is that I just can't imagine the typically ancient academy members wrapping their heads around the alternate history of the film, which is truly one of its greatest strength.
I'm really with you though. It's just so well crafted and put together. Also probably helps that I went into it with a general feeling like I would be disappointed and ended up proven wrong. Halfway through that opening scene I got that giddy feeling that I might be watching something special, and that feeling happens far too rarely.
@eatsshootsleaves: i think the sniper scene probably lost folks with it's pace. but that was done on purpose... they were intentionally showing both the tension and the absolute boredom that comes in that situation
The Hurt Locker is the perfect Oscar movie. The fact that such a gritty story was directed by a woman will be too irrestible to the Oscar voting committee. I was looking up the number of women nominated in the Best Director Category and only three have ever been nominated: Lina Wertmuller, Jane Campion and Sofia Coppola. It's certainly time for a fourth and she deserves it.
@cpjones: Yeah, and just how much of a movie needs to be non-animated to qualify for the animated feature category? Is it start to finish? This needs to be quantified, because Avatar, just as that undeserving of it's Best Picture win over L.A. Confidential boat movie that starts with a "T," is heavy on the animated side.
@PaisleyPajamas: I think the sure to be shitty Alvin and the Chipmunks sequel qualified this year too. Jason Lee should hold his head down in shame for that crap.
Ive seen about 2/3's of these films. None of them come close to The Hurt Locker. After the glut of crappy Iraq War movies, I dont blame folks for not going to see this. But it is one of the most realistic depictions of war ive seen since the first season of Tour of Duty
@disproportionate response: I don't know... I liked Hurt Locker but mainly because I thought it was a nice break from ultra realistic politically focused middle east war films. It seemed far more action than realistic to me though. Also, while entertaining, I really didn't think there was much depth to it and I never need to see it again in my life.
@MyNameIsChris: A reservist who works in my office and just got back from a year's tour in Afghanistan thought it was a pretty realistic depiction, in part because it wasn't a political film. He said politics are beside the point when you're out "in the shit," so to speak.
He particularly enjoyed the scene where the soldiers were using their down time to get drunk and punch each other has hard as they could. He said that happened all the time as a means of "sport," even thought when I was watching it I was thinking "no way would guys who spend all day in violence just hit eachother for fun during their time off." Guess I was wrong
@Atilla the Bun: Yeah, I can imagine people punching each other actually... but I have a hard time imagining a dude just throwing his armor aside and running up unprotected to bombs over and over again like that guy. Maybe it happens? Who knows... seemed a little action movie to me, which isn't a complaint, it was a nice change of pace.
WALL-E would have been a shoe-in had they did this 10 nominees thing last year. As it stands now, I'm really hoping that The Hangover pulls out a nod.
And this might be the only year ever where I actually have seen the Oscar nominee that nobody else has (The Hurt Locker). That makes for a good haughty feeling.
Really surprised "500 Days of Summer" isn't being hailed more. That movie was this year's Juno.
Also, "Precious" is this year's "Slumdog Millionaire", a highly acclaimed movie that ultimately is just a bunch of underdog "make the audience feel like crap then feel ok" bullshit.
Why would Comcast pull NBC content from DirecTV? They would have to believe that pulling the content would initiate a massive consumer withdrawal from satellite TV, otherwise it would just be a lost revenue stream.
That's because Michael Moore's "documentaries" are actually nominated for Best Animated Feature. But MM's doom-and-gloom buffoonish shtick gets trampled by the Pixar magic!
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Says who? In the past, when the top award went to smaller, less widely seen films, the films were re-released right after winning for another run, with a big "best picture" ad push behind them, and then a fair amount of people end up seeing the film after all. What's so "suicidal" about that?
How many people had seen "Slumdog millionaire" at this point a few years back?
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(Was anyone else bored to tears by The Hurt Locker? Maybe there's just something wrong with me.)
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I also think "A Single Man" is better than half the movies up there.
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I'm really with you though. It's just so well crafted and put together. Also probably helps that I went into it with a general feeling like I would be disappointed and ended up proven wrong. Halfway through that opening scene I got that giddy feeling that I might be watching something special, and that feeling happens far too rarely.
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He particularly enjoyed the scene where the soldiers were using their down time to get drunk and punch each other has hard as they could. He said that happened all the time as a means of "sport," even thought when I was watching it I was thinking "no way would guys who spend all day in violence just hit eachother for fun during their time off." Guess I was wrong
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And this might be the only year ever where I actually have seen the Oscar nominee that nobody else has (The Hurt Locker). That makes for a good haughty feeling.
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Also, "Precious" is this year's "Slumdog Millionaire", a highly acclaimed movie that ultimately is just a bunch of underdog "make the audience feel like crap then feel ok" bullshit.
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