The Oscars

[Stonecreek]

Well, today the nominees were announced for the 2010 Academy Awards. Care to pick the winners, or discuss the films, or rant about award shows in general? go right ahead.

[MY85 offline]

Tarantino and Basterds will get robbed huge (except Waltz since he's a lock to win it) thanks to Avatar and The Hurt Locker.

[Stonecreek]

The Academy likes rewarding people for their lesser works for some reason (think Scorcese and The Departed), so I can see Tarantino getting a director trophy because Cameron already got his.

[Mewberries151]

I actually thought "The Hurt Locker" was rather deserving of the nomination and certainly would be deserving of winning. That is an exceedingly tough movie and done far better than Avatar at the very least.

That said, I think "Up in the Air" will probably sweep the ceremony. I would love for "Up" to win Best Picture, but I know that's not going to happen. ;

[MY85 offline]

I say Bigelow could win Best Director because they have yet to make a female director win the award.

Everyone's hyping it as Bigelow vs Cameron for Best Director, while Tarantino stands less of a chance against those two. :S

[Dummo Marx]

I'll agree with Rodri. Usually the movies that "say something" get the prize and well.....Inglorious Basterds doesn't really "say" what the academy likes movies to "say", it's an artsy movie with an artsy, cynical message...it can't win.

Now, Bigelow or Cameron....I'll have to say Cameron. Simply because, let's face it, Oscars are as much about the actual value of a movie as wrestling is about actual sports. SO unless the academy is female-ready (like the countr had to be black-ready) Bigelow won't be walking up that carpet

[Mewberries151]

I sincerely hope they don't give it to Cameron because honestly, the people who deserve credit for whatever was good about Avatar are in the Special Effects and Animation department, not Directing. >_>;

Okay...maybe the guy who did the linguistics for the movie, but I don't think the Academy gives an Oscar for that.

Honestly though, is there really that much difference between Avatar and Dances With Wolves/The Last Samurai/Ferngully? And that's looking over all the weird "Noble Savage/White Guilt" stuff going on in that movie.


Personally, I think his wife is a way better director than he is, but the whole "Battle of the Camerons" thing is exactly why I'm pulling for "Up in the Air".

[TheLQ offline]

I'm still confused on why people hate on Avatar or other movies. Most of the movies i like apparently everyone else hates in every single way. Amazing though that Avatar got nominated for 6 categories, thats pretty impressive

[MY85 offline]

Most of the movies i like apparently everyone else hates in every single way.

You like the Twilight movies?

Link to all the nominees. Yeah, at least 1 sh*tty film gets a nod (Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen).

[TheLQ offline]

Yeah, at least 1 sh*tty film gets a nod (Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen).

My point exactly. I own both Transformers movie on Blu-Ray and watch them again from time to time. Great story, great action, good CGI, lovestory still seemed like an afterthought but still, awesome movie. And everyone hates it...

[Rho offline]

Wasn't there one for "Worst Film of 2009"? I recall seeing it somewhere, and to my shock, New Moon wasn't nominated.
It should be.

[Mewberries151]

I don't hate the Transformers movies, or even Avatar really. I rather like the Transformers films but they're "popcorn" movies. You usually go to them to enjoy them, to have a nice time and watch a lot of things blow up. You wouldn't go to a Transformers movie expecting to see ground-breaking cinematography or a movie that's going to make you think about contemporary issues (see District 9) because that's not what it's trying to do. It's not trying to be an "Academy Award" movie.

Now I don't even really hate Avatar. It's a beautiful film. The animation and effects are gorgeous and I think the artists behind the Motion Capture technology used in it and the CGI animators deserve every bit of credit.

But it's not an "Academy" movie, no matter how highly Cameron thinks of himself. It's a plot we've seen done over at least 10 times before in movies like Dances with Wolves, The Last Samurai, or my favorite, Ferngully: the Last Rainforest, so it's not like it's an original story. And the concepts portrayed within it are...a little disconcerting, to say the least. To keep this thread from de-railing too far off topic, I'm just going to recommend you look up the Tropes, "Noble Savage" and "White Guilt".


That said, I'm also hoping Gabourey Sidibe wins an Oscar as well. She was amazing in "Precious".

[MY85 offline]

Yeah, at least 1 sh*tty film gets a nod (Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen).

My point exactly. I own both Transformers movie on Blu-Ray and watch them again from time to time. Great story, great action, good CGI, lovestory still seemed like an afterthought but still, awesome movie. And everyone hates it...

Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen sucked a$$ and here's why:

-Terrible, bland dialogue and script.
-Story ain't that great.
-Too much unfunny sex-related jokes that were either too corny for adults or too raunchy for kids.
-The twin bots... my goodness, they're as dreadful as Edward Cullen and Jar Jar Binks.
-The first 30 minutes were perfect enough to leave the theater.
-The only good actor in the movie was John Turturro. Among the bots, Megatron and Optimus were good in their roles. The rest were either average or sucked (most of the humans).
-At times, you could hardly tell who was who between all the robots fighting.

A few things of the top of my head. I was majorly disappointed with ROTF, considering how good the first Transformers film was.

[. offline]

Yeah, at least 1 sh*tty film gets a nod (Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen).

My point exactly. I own both Transformers movie on Blu-Ray and watch them again from time to time. Great story, great action, good CGI, lovestory still seemed like an afterthought but still, awesome movie. And everyone hates it...

Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen sucked a$$ and here's why:

-Terrible, bland dialogue and script.
-Story ain't that great.
-Too much unfunny sex-related jokes that were either too corny for adults or too raunchy for kids.
-The twin bots... my goodness, they're as dreadful as Edward Cullen and Jar Jar Binks.
-The first 30 minutes were perfect enough to leave the theater.
-The only good actor in the movie was John Turturro. Among the bots, Megatron and Optimus were good in their roles. The rest were either average or sucked (most of the humans).
-At times, you could hardly tell who was who between all the robots fighting.

A few things of the top of my head. I was majorly disappointed with ROTF, considering how good the first Transformers film was.

SUPERCEDING RODRI, HERES THE REAL REASON WHY TRANSFORMERS SUCKED

Go watch the entired Beast Wars series. All of it. You see it? Good. THATS WHAT TRANSFORMERS SHOULD OF BEEN. Instead we got explosions and megan fox, but when I'm paying to see a flippin transformers, I only want to see Optimus FLUCKING PRIME!

[TheLQ offline]

Yeah, at least 1 sh*tty film gets a nod (Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen).

My point exactly. I own both Transformers movie on Blu-Ray and watch them again from time to time. Great story, great action, good CGI, lovestory still seemed like an afterthought but still, awesome movie. And everyone hates it...

Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen sucked a$$ and here's why:

-Terrible, bland dialogue and script.
-Story ain't that great.
-Too much unfunny sex-related jokes that were either too corny for adults or too raunchy for kids.
-The twin bots... my goodness, they're as dreadful as Edward Cullen and Jar Jar Binks.
-The first 30 minutes were perfect enough to leave the theater.
-The only good actor in the movie was John Turturro. Among the bots, Megatron and Optimus were good in their roles. The rest were either average or sucked (most of the humans).
-At times, you could hardly tell who was who between all the robots fighting.

A few things of the top of my head. I was majorly disappointed with ROTF, considering how good the first Transformers film was.

-Confused by what you mean "bland" dialogue. Everything had to do with the story, and...
-Story was decent. I'm really lost when people say the story sucked and offer absolutely no reason at all. There was a logical progression from beginning to middle to end. If you were expecting Vantage Point where there are 6 different story's going on at the same time and great confusion on who's where at what point in time, then leave because I absolutely hate those kinds of movies
-Ehh, I can agree with that. Some of the jokes were a little Family Guy ish of 50% hilarious, 50% stupid
-Once again no reason specified. I'm starting to wonder if your just trolling or making a terrible argument
-The first 30 minutes, while it didn't live up to the trailer, was still pretty good. If you think an explosion is reason to leave a movie theater then I'm completely lost now
-I agree with the best, I think Sam (forgot who played him) did pretty well. Everyone else was average
-They all look different....


Oh and Carth, yes I agree its a popcorn movie and it doesn't have a revolutionary plot line. But popcorn movie does not equal worst movies of 2000-2010 (which I saw somewhere that Transformers was on that list...)

[Mewberries151]

Oh and Carth, yes I agree its a popcorn movie and it doesn't have a revolutionary plot line. But popcorn movie does not equal worst movies of 2000-2010 (which I saw somewhere that Transformers was on that list...)

Ha, that was me, but thanks. *hopes to be as awesome as Carth someday* :3

And no, "popcorn movie" definitely does not = "worst movie of the decade" and I definitely would never say that nor agree that a movie is bad simply because it's a popcorn movie. *loves the POTC movies*

For me personally, for a movie to be "bad" it just has to be...painful to watch. Pretty much anything MST3K has covered fits the bill for me, although even those movies on their own can be pretty dang hilarious in their "bad-ness".

[TheLQ offline]

For me personally, for a movie to be "bad" it just has to be...painful to watch. Pretty much anything MST3K has covered fits the bill for me, although even those movies on their own can be pretty dang hilarious in their "bad-ness".

Thoughts of Dragon Wars and Epic Movie (but the other parody movies are funny) come to mind.

But eh, opinions.

[MY85 offline]

And no, "popcorn movie" definitely does not = "worst movie of the decade" and I definitely would never say that nor agree that a movie is bad simply because it's a popcorn movie. *loves the POTC movies*

While "popcorn movie" doesn't have to equal "worst movie of the decade", POTC: At World's End is very boring to watch. POTC was a franchise IMO that went from great to worse as every film was being made.

[Stonecreek]

And no, "popcorn movie" definitely does not = "worst movie of the decade" and I definitely would never say that nor agree that a movie is bad simply because it's a popcorn movie. *loves the POTC movies*

While "popcorn movie" doesn't have to equal "worst movie of the decade", POTC: At World's End is very boring to watch. POTC was a franchise IMO that went from great to worse as every film was being made.

Very true, Rodri. I cannot believe they are making a fourth POTC movie after the first proved to be the only really entertaining one.

[Mewberries151]

For me personally, for a movie to be "bad" it just has to be...painful to watch. Pretty much anything MST3K has covered fits the bill for me, although even those movies on their own can be pretty dang hilarious in their "bad-ness".

Thoughts of Dragon Wars and Epic Movie (but the other parody movies are funny) come to mind.

But eh, opinions.

Indeed. This is all opinions. Even the Academy is opinionated although I think they try to hold all the movies to some sort of rubric when judging them.

LOL at Dragon Wars and Epic Movie. I'd pay good money for a Dragon Wars MST-ing because I thought that movie was hilarious. Hilariously bad, but still...it has great sporking potential.

And no, "popcorn movie" definitely does not = "worst movie of the decade" and I definitely would never say that nor agree that a movie is bad simply because it's a popcorn movie. *loves the POTC movies*

While "popcorn movie" doesn't have to equal "worst movie of the decade", POTC: At World's End is very boring to watch. POTC was a franchise IMO that went from great to worse as every film was being made.

Ah, but see, that's an opinion. Just because a movie is boring doesn't mean it's a "bad" movie as plenty of movies I found boring have won awards, particulary Oscars. ...Granted most of them are older films from Award shows done in the 60s, 70s and the like but that's just me.

Personally, I liked POTC 3. It was predictable, it was...a little shmaltzy and it couldn't hope to compare to the first POTC but, DANG, was that Maelstrom cool! *sends kudos to the effects artists for that one*

[Jazzy Josh offline]

Wasn't there one for "Worst Film of 2009"? I recall seeing it somewhere, and to my shock, New Moon wasn't nominated.
It should be.

You might be thinking of the Golden Raspberry Awards (The Razzies) http://www.razzies.com/

[MY85 offline]

And no, "popcorn movie" definitely does not = "worst movie of the decade" and I definitely would never say that nor agree that a movie is bad simply because it's a popcorn movie. *loves the POTC movies*

While "popcorn movie" doesn't have to equal "worst movie of the decade", POTC: At World's End is very boring to watch. POTC was a franchise IMO that went from great to worse as every film was being made.

Ah, but see, that's an opinion. Just because a movie is boring doesn't mean it's a "bad" movie as plenty of movies I found boring have won awards, particulary Oscars. ...Granted most of them are older films from Award shows done in the 60s, 70s and the like but that's just me.

Personally, I liked POTC 3. It was predictable, it was...a little shmaltzy and it couldn't hope to compare to the first POTC but, DANG, was that Maelstrom cool! *sends kudos to the effects artists for that one*

POTC3 reminded me of Matrix Revolutions. Both being bad films, long, expensive, boring, tedious and the best scene happening near the end. Sure the "Rock The Boat" part from POTC3 looked cool... but POTC2 and POTC3 should have been straight-to-DVD films.

Yeah, there's also movies that many liked, but I found to be not all that great or overrated and won Oscars... like A Beautiful Mind and La Vita è Bella (Life Is Beautiful). Didn't like ABM that much and while LVEB is a very good film, I also thought it was very overrated (my family made me hate this film too).

Opinions, opinions...

[Dummo Marx]

Woa, I agree with some of your points and disagree with others. Rodri, I think T:RotF is actually better developed than the first Transformers movie. It was most certainly a popcorn movie BUT and this is a HUEG BUTT...I mean but...The dialogue, as generic as it is, contains one of the STRONGEST pro-war and political messages I've ever witnessed in a kid oriented movie....kinda extreme when you think about it.

PotC, that's another fun subject. I think PotC3 could've been a better movie had it not been distributed by Disney. Firstly it wasn't paced like a disney movie up until the end, the script even if not really above pg-15, certainly was above disney-pg.

What else...ehm....I agree with mew, Avatar isn't an academy movie, or wouldn't have been in past times actually. The academy has taken a turn for the..well...worse the past years, much like most northamerican broadcasts. The weight of 09/11 is still present to this day wherever you look...whatever, unimportant.

...I have no idea what else to say....

[SilverPrince offline]

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had to ask Merriam-Webster to make "The Oscar goes to Mo'Nique" a grammatically correct statement in American English. Just in case she wins. Which I think is likely.

I can tell you exactly why Avatar was nominated, and likely will win. Viewership of the Oscars is higher when blockbusters are nominated for best picture. Remember when that movie Crash beat Brokeback Mountain? Did anyone here actually watch No Country for Old Men? It wasn't even nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Picture. The award ceremonies where these films won are some of the lowest-watched ever.

On the other end of the spectrum, the 70th Academy Awards were the most watched ever. You know what took Best Picture and 10 other awards that night? Titanic. Hey, what a coincidence, it's the other record-breaking James Cameron film. Sensing a pattern?

[Stonecreek]

I watched No Country for Old Men, and have rewatched it many times. It is an intriguing movie, if a bit out there. JAvier Bardem definitely deserved his Oscaar for that creepy role.