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SickBoy
Joined: 31 May 2007
Posts: 300
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 Posted: Feb 12, 2010 1:55 am Post subject: The Oscarademy Awards in a thread |
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Figured since it had started to generate some ongoing discussion in the WAYP thread, maybe it could use its own.
Sorry, this isn't some NeoGAF where obsessive fans produce fancy, too-much-information first posts. Here's a list of Best Picture nominees. If you guys want to talk about other awards, maybe post nominees when you start that discussion. Here's a link for easy access: http://www.imdb.com/features/rto/2010/oscars
Best Picture Nominees
Avatar (2009): James Cameron, Jon Landau
The Blind Side (2009): Gil Netter, Andrew A. Kosove, Broderick Johnson
District 9 (2009): Peter Jackson, Carolynne Cunningham
An Education (2009): Finola Dwyer, Amanda Posey
The Hurt Locker (2008): Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier, Greg Shapiro
Inglourious Basterds (2009): Lawrence Bender
Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (2009): Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness, Gary Magness
A Serious Man (2009): Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Up (2009): Jonas Rivera
Up in the Air (2009/I): Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman, Jason Reitman |
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SickBoy
Joined: 31 May 2007
Posts: 300
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| Posted: Feb 12, 2010 2:04 am Post subject: |
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Thought I should avoid sullying my awesome OP.
I can't speak about the entire list, I've probably seen half of the movies on it.
Here's what I've missed:
The Blind Side
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Precious
A Serious Man
Up in the Air
Totally uninterested in Blind Side and Precious.
The only one on the list that I really want to see is Up in the Air. Hurt Locker is supposedly excellent... I'll probably see it sooner or later. Doesn't mean that the others aren't deserving, of course. Didn't realize An Education was Nick Hornby until I clicked it at IMDB. Then again, so was Fever Pitch. 
Of the movies I've seen, none of them really hit me as real Oscar winners. I think the opening scene from Up makes it my sentimental favorite, and IB is Tarantino's best since Pulp Fiction IMO... but I don't think either are up there. |
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darth massacre
Joined: 13 Sep 2007
Posts: 352
Location: Singapore SG
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| Posted: Feb 12, 2010 4:29 am Post subject: |
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I've only seen 3 of the nominees. Up, Hurt Locker and District 9.
Between those 3 I'd pick District 9. |
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DieselSr
Joined: 08 Jun 2007
Posts: 336
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| Posted: Feb 12, 2010 9:40 am Post subject: |
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Can't believe I still haven't seen Hurt Locker, since it's getting such high praise. I should buy it on Blu-ray this weekend...
I'd see Precious, don't even know what "The Education" is about.
D. |
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FitFortDanga
Joined: 01 Jun 2007
Posts: 307
Location: Portland OR
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| Posted: Feb 12, 2010 11:31 am Post subject: |
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I'll just copy my reviews of the nominees from my movie blog. Haven't seen Avatar yet, but should be doing so this weekend.
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District 9
August 16, 2009
My wife fell asleep during this movie, and she might have had the better time. While the special effects are impressive and some of the social commentary is intriguing, it's marred by some poor filmmaking decisions. Never mind the veritable mountain of unanswered questions regarding the aliens. There are bigger problems here. The documentary style hurts a lot more than it helps. Blomkamp uses it to add a dimension of realism, but abandons it (or severely stretches it) when it suits his purposes, such as reaching for a formulaic emotional beat. Ultimately it ends up being shaky-cam and closed circuit footage just for the hell of it. And the allegorical nature of the film is extremely blunt, almost insultingly so at times. Okay, doing it with a sci-fi/alien twist is kind of interesting, but only for so long. Which is perhaps why it ends up following the Generic Action Flick template by the end. I did like that there was a certain amount of complexity to the main character... at least until his final arc which veers into clichédom. I didn't outright hate the movie, but it was pretty disappointing. Rating: 5
Addendum 8/19/09: On reflection, I was too harsh. I'm still bothered by the same issues, but not as much, and the film did have a poignant ending. Rating: 7 |
6 months later, I think I'd go in between my two initial reactions and give it a 6.
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Up
November 14, 2009
One of many movies from this year that I meant to see in the theater and never got around to. I decided to blind-buy it, kind of a risky move but what the hell. It's a fun movie, but falls short of WALL-E in almost every department. The Carl & Ellie montage is a textbook lesson in marvelous dialogue-free storytelling, and is absolutely heartbreaking. There are a few other touching scenes, but overall the film is going more for adventure than pathos. That's okay, but I would have enjoyed it more if the Carl/Russell dynamic was more engaging. Neither of these characters holds a candle to WALL-E or Eve, although I did enjoy the hell out of Dug. I was rather disappointed to see an evil bad guy, too. All of Pixar's films are for children, but this one more so than others. Still, it's well-crafted and definitely has its moments. I just don't think it's a keeper. Rating: 8 |
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An Education
February 3, 2010
Tackling the Oscar noms one at a time (I guess that's a dumb thing to say... I can't very well tackle TWO at a time, can I?). All I knew about this one was it that was written by Nick Hornby, and I didn't even know that until a few hours before. It turned out to be quite enjoyable. Well-rounded characters, a smart, witty script, some social commentary without ever rubbing your nose in it, and an intruiging situation. Nice performances all around too... Molina and Sarsgaard are always good, and young Carey Mulligan in the lead is bright and charming (though perhaps a bit too much so for a teenager). The ending wraps things a little too neatly, but I didn't mind that so much. I wouldn't ever want to own the movie or anything, but I don't have any problem it being nominated. Rating: 8 |
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The Blind Side
February 4, 2010
I won't get hyperbolic and say this is the worst movie ever or it made my stomach churn or anything like that. It's definitely not a GOOD movie, though. Cliché and formulaic doesn't begin to cover it. Every moment of this is predictable, every beat. And I don't mean it's predictable in the sense that you already know the story, because I didn't know it was a true story until the end (I suspected, but wasn't sure). There are standard plot arcs, and that's sometimes just how it goes and can still be enjoyable, but this goes beyond that. Everything you think is going to have a callback gets a callback. Everything is broadcast. If anything surprises you in this movie, you haven't seen enough movies. It even brings back a cliché that I hoped had died in the 80's: the precocious, wise-cracking little brother (think Can't Buy Me Love or Sixteen Candles). I don't want get TOO much into the politics of it, but it certainly struck me as a film designed to make white people feel good about themselves. Did it make me feel good? Only in the most basic sense... I'm not immune to emotional beats, no matter how manipulative or corny. I like seeing people do nice things for others. But I don't like cinema that's so bland and unimaginative. The best you can say about it, including Sandra Bullock's performance, is that it's competent. Rating: 5 |
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The Hurt Locker
February 6, 2010
There seems to be an awful lot of internet backlash directed at this movie, largely based on claims that it's not realistic. And apparently Kathryn Bigelow admits to taking some liberties. Anything I know about being a soldier comes from the movies and other media, so I'm unqualified to comment on it. I'm a bit conflicted about it, to be honest. Part of my enjoyment of the film comes from its seeming authenticity and I admit it's a bit disheartening to learn that some of that might be cheated. However, it's not really the authenticity of the technical details of military operations that struck a chord with me, but rather the authenticity of the emotions involved. Even if the situations were exaggerated, it's a dangerous job no matter how you look at it. The film is superb at building tension and putting you in the middle of sketchy situations. I found the characters to be more than just "oo-rah" stereotypes, while not going too far in trying to make them well-rounded. The one scene that bothered me comes about 2/3rds of the way in, when Sgt. James embarks on a personal vendetta mission. Perhaps it helps set up the emotional context for the following scene, but it was a show of unnecessary theatrics in an otherwise pretty down-to-earth movie. While it may not be a hallmark of documentary realism, I was thoroughly engaged by these men and their uniquely difficult jobs. Rating: 8 |
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Precious
February 6, 2010
I'm not typing out that ridiculously long title. It's fucking Precious, okay? No need to include the entire pedigree. It would be easy to dismiss this movie as "misery porn", sledgehammering the viewer with one awful scene after another. But it isn't quite that bad. The story manages to include a lot of levity for such a bleak situation. The flights of fantasy are a nice touch, if not terribly original. Manipulative Oscar bait? You could make the argument and I wouldn't necessarily disagree, but I enjoyed it nonetheless and easily became attached to Precious. Gabourey Sidibe is pretty good in the lead, but Mo'Nique steals the show as her monstrous mother (the other performances, including Mariah Carey and Lenny Kravitz, are adequate but not worth mentioning). I felt the tribute to De Sica's Two Women was kind of a cheap grasp at credibility, but perhaps I'm misjudging. Overall, I liked it, at least more than I expected to. Rating: 7 |
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Inglourious Basterds
February 6, 2010
As usual, I'm way behind everyone else on an immensely popular movie. I waited an unusally long time on this one, I even meant to catch it in the theater. I just never got around to it, I suppose in part because I was so disappointed with Death Proof. But I really liked this one. In fact, I'm on the fence between really liked it and loved it. It's perhaps his most "straightforward" movie, with more effort devoted to developing a plot than crafting individual scenes. While it's nice to see him stretch in a different direction, I both expected and wished for more scenes of the Basterds raising hell. They're the wittiest parts of the film, and the most conducive to Tarantino's style. Brad Pitt takes on the role with an oddball glee similar to Clooney in O Brother. But the lengthy parts without the Basterds are good, too, and I really have no complaints (except maybe for Chapter 3, which seems to drag on without much of interest, but perhaps only because this is when I realized that the movie wasn't what I thought it was going to be). It's a clever, entertaining script with a style that melds war thriller with spaghetti western, and as usual pays homage to several other films in overt and subtle ways. Rating: 8 |
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Up in the Air
February 7, 2010
Not bad, sort of a modernized version of The Accidental Tourist. It's not brilliant, but it's not stupid either. The film traffics in somewhat trite Cameron Crowe-isms, but is significantly buoyed by George Clooney's endless buckets of charm. I think he's probably the most enjoyable "movie star" we've got these days. As for the two nominated supporting actresses... Vera Farmiga is pretty good. Maybe not that noteworthy, but decent. However, I really didn't care for Anna Kendrick that much. She struck me as a poor man's Amy Adams, and I don't like Amy Adams. And by the way, who declared 2009 to be the Year of Young MC? They performed "Bust a Move" on an episode of "Glee", sang along to it in The Blind Side, and the man himself showed up to perform it in this movie. Rating: 7 |
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A Serious Man
February 8, 2010
Although the movie is quite funny, it's a very black sort of humor. I don't have much to say about it, I guess... I'd kind of like to see it again, but then I also don't care that much. I was significantly amused and intrigued, but I didn't feel all that jazzed about it. I know a lot of people adored No Country for Old Men, but in my opinion they haven't made a GREAT movie since O Brother. Rating: 8 |
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fox
Joined: 09 May 2007
Posts: 481
Location: Portand, CT
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| Posted: Feb 12, 2010 1:44 pm Post subject: |
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I've been slacking on movies for the past few years. For best picture, I've seen:
Avatar
District 9
Inglourious Basterds
Up
Up in the Air
Of those, Inglorious Basterds is the one most deserving to me. Up and Up in the Air are both great, District 9 was good, and you all know how I felt about Avatar.
I loved the camera work, the writing and the acting for Inglorious Basterds. If Cristoph Waltz doesn't walk away with Best Supporting Actor, it's a crime. He played one of the hardest characters I've ever seen in a movie ever in an amazing way.
I liked District 9 for it's special effects, but felt that it kind of fell apart at the end into a standard action flick. I really loved the transformation process of the main character, which reminded me of "The Fly" , and the allusions to racism in South Africa, though.
"Star Trek" was awesome for me. I'm not a huge trekkie- I've really only been into the movies and "Deep Space Nine", but I loved the casting, the action, and the special effects. I really can't wait for the next one, either- supposedly they're bringing Kahn back.
I'd like to see "Fantastic Mr. Fox" take best animated film over "Up". "Up" had some great animation, but the voice work in Mr. Fox as awesome. The characters and sets for it really made it come alive, as well.
"Up in the Air" was great, too- but I actually liked "Thank You for Smoking" more. Clooney gave a great performance, and I liked how Reitmann brought in people who were actually laid off to play some of the fired people, but it felt a little bit empty as a film. I don't know how else to explain it.
I do want to see "Hurt Locker", as I dealt with a lot of EOD folks when I was in Iraq, but I'm still a little worried about seeing it with my experiences.
"A Serious Man" wasn't playing near me, so no chance of seeing it. I'm a big Coen Brothers fan, too...
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FitFortDanga
Joined: 01 Jun 2007
Posts: 307
Location: Portland OR
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| Posted: Feb 12, 2010 2:08 pm Post subject: |
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| If In the Loop doesn't win Adapted Screenplay, it's a fucking tragedy. That script is so hilarious and smart. |
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DieselSr
Joined: 08 Jun 2007
Posts: 336
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| Posted: Feb 12, 2010 3:48 pm Post subject: |
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I'm with Fox on the Christoph Waltz call, that would be a totally injustice if he doesn't win. That's the perfomance of the year if you ask me.
D. |
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Honky
Joined: 02 Jun 2007
Posts: 241
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| Posted: Feb 13, 2010 11:21 am Post subject: |
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Man, I still can't get over the fact that "The Road" isn't nominated. Its better than all those fuckin' movies. Well, of the 7 I've seen anyway. I'm glad to see Avatar and D9 get recognized (go sci-fi!) but honestly there was no better movie than The Road this last year! Am I the only one here who saw it?
Also, where the fuck is the nom for Invictus? Up and Blind Side got em, so Invictus should as well. |
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DieselSr
Joined: 08 Jun 2007
Posts: 336
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| Posted: Feb 23, 2010 5:47 pm Post subject: |
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I saw An Education yesterday, I agree with the 8 out of 10 score.
I really enjoyed it, thought the cast did an excellent job and Hornby's script is well written and engaging.
Would love to see Mulligan steal the best actress award, she was charming and original.
D. |
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DieselSr
Joined: 08 Jun 2007
Posts: 336
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| Posted: Mar 08, 2010 9:52 am Post subject: |
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Well, I didn't watch the awards last night, I was too busy playing Bioshock 2.
I guess I need to see Hurt Locker for sure now. Hard for me to comment on all the awards it won since I haven't seen it.
And I might try and see A Crazy Heart and Blind Side so I can see Bullock and Bridges' performances.
Was it a good show? Most of the office this morning said it was boring.
D. |
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Honky
Joined: 02 Jun 2007
Posts: 241
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| Posted: Mar 08, 2010 12:36 pm Post subject: |
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Your office is hard to please, D. I thought it was pretty entertaining all around. I'm not big on the "hollywood gives itself a blowjob" stuff, but really I thought it was funny and interesting enough to keep me tuned in. Plus there were quite a few speeches that were enjoyable and a few that were like train wrecks but you couldn't turn away.
I remember walking out of the theater for Hurt Locker and saying, "It was good, but didn't live up to the hype.". That was before it was nominated for an oscar. Now with the award under its belt, I fear a lot of people will see it and it won't live up to their expectations. Oh well. I really don't know who else out of the group should have won. I didn't see Crazy Heart, Up In The Air (going this week!), A Simple Man, or Precious, but I'm not wild about the nominations all around this year.
The Blind Side is just soooooo overhyped. And really, did Bullock really deliver a powerhouse performance? I mean it was good but the character was kind of one-dimensional to me. Whatever though. All around it was a weak year, IMO.
Broken Record: The Road was robbed. |
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FitFortDanga
Joined: 01 Jun 2007
Posts: 307
Location: Portland OR
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| Posted: Mar 08, 2010 2:27 pm Post subject: |
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| Honky wrote: |
| "hollywood gives itself a blowjob" |
Heh, I used almost the exact same phrase on another forum, I'll just copy my post from there:
* I really hated a lot about the ceremony/production. Ridiculously long tribute to John Hughes, the "Hollywood gives itself a big fat blowjob" lineups for Best Actor/Actress, Martin and Baldwin were terrible, boring ballet routines.
* Horror montage was neat, though, for Whatever Happened to Baby Jane if nothing else.
* No surprises at all. Every major category went exactly according to the predictions. Granted, they're called "upsets" for a reason and we shouldn't expect too many shockers, but I really felt like I was wasting my time watching it because everything was a foregone conclusion.
* The one semi-surprise was Foreign Language. Prophete seemed to have the momentum and White Ribbon had the name recognition, but I guess El secreto de sus ojos is a nice, safe choice with wide appeal. It's too bad La teta asustada didn't win, but I never expected it to. (hint: you know the clip they showed of the girl saying "please take it out of me!"? she's talking about a potato in her snatch)
* I don't think Bullock should have won (on the other hand, none of the other nominees were so amazing either), but the lady gave a classy speech. Respect++. There seemed to be an overall shortage of props being given to other nominees in the acceptance speeches this year.
* In the Loop wuz robbed  |
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Sean
Site Admin
Joined: 06 Mar 2007
Posts: 384
Location: Mentor, OH
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| Posted: Mar 08, 2010 9:57 pm Post subject: |
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Thoughts on the show:
It was oddly-paced and, while I liked the hosts, I thought the whole production was flat and kind of "off". It didn't seem like the Oscars for some reason.
I liked the horror tribute but including two comedies as "horror" movies was pretty indicative of how out-of-touch the Academy is with the genre. (Young Frankenstein and Little Shop of Horrors.)
Why was Farrah Fawcett excluded from the "In memoriam" section? Saturn 3 wasn't THAT bad!
Interpretive dance? Really?
On the winners:
The Cove as best documentary? Justified.
The Hurt Locker as best picture? Meh. I enjoyed Up, District 9 and Inglourious Basterds more, but I didn't see The Blind Side, An Education, Precious, A Serious Man, or Up in the Air.
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FitFortDanga
Joined: 01 Jun 2007
Posts: 307
Location: Portland OR
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| Posted: Mar 09, 2010 9:44 am Post subject: |
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| Sean wrote: |
| The Cove as best documentary? Justified. |
Burma VJ was way better. |
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fox
Joined: 09 May 2007
Posts: 481
Location: Portand, CT
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| Posted: Mar 09, 2010 10:55 am Post subject: |
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Avatar didn't win best picture, and Cameron didn't win Best Director. So I'm happy.
I never watch the oscars- I just can't sit through that much patting on the back. Glad to see Waltz won for Supp. Actor, since he gave the best performance I've seen from an actor in years. He was fantastic.
Also happy to see Star Trek won something, even if it was for makeup. I guess Nero looked pretty badass.
I'm shying away from Hurt Locker, since just about every military guy i've talked to can't stop talking about the mistakes in it, and for their theatrical portrayal of PTSD that's completely off the mark.
 [/b][/quote]
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darth massacre
Joined: 13 Sep 2007
Posts: 352
Location: Singapore SG
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| Posted: Mar 09, 2010 11:34 am Post subject: |
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Actually didn't really care all that much about the awards this year. Partly coz there are so many things to do within videogames, partly coz the last movie I watched was back in August of last year.
Though I did read that Sandra Bullock made some sort of history by winning an Oscar and a Razzie this year  First time anyone managed it. |
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Sean
Site Admin
Joined: 06 Mar 2007
Posts: 384
Location: Mentor, OH
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| Posted: Mar 09, 2010 1:21 pm Post subject: |
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| FitFortDanga wrote: |
| Sean wrote: |
| The Cove as best documentary? Justified. |
Burma VJ was way better. |
I didn't see it, so I can't say. I have it in my Netflix queue (along with The Most Dangerous Man in America.) The nomination definitely piqued my interest but I never got a chance to see it here.
The Cove, however, was a powerful movie and I'm glad it will get more exposure now that it's won. Although, I would not have been terribly disappointed if Food, Inc. won.
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