Oscar Nominations
So what are all your calls on this years Oscars?
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Oscar Nominations
So what are all your calls on this years Oscars?
I haven't seen any of those films, and I really don't like the Oscars anyway. I think it's pretty pointless that more than half of those films had a limited release, or they've just recently been released in theatres. If no one has seen it, how can it be considered good? Because some stuffy board members watched the film and oohed and aahed over it? Silly stuff, if you ask me, measuring success (and yes, I consider the Oscars a measure of a films success) based on the opinions of a few pretentious, art farts with nothing better to do than use strange, uncommon adjectives to describe stuff, proving that THEY'RE better than other art farts.
In short. I have no idea. :)
I haven't seen the majority of those movies, but The Village's music owned all of the others in the category that it's in.
More of the film industry's self-congratulatory nonsense. :down:
I haven't seen almost all of those movies.
So I wake up this morning at 5:37 to catch the nominee announcement and 2 minutes into it I was doing this:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...1/banghead.gif
The Bad:
o RAY was a good movie, but the only brilliant thing about it was Jamie Foxx. No way did the movie deserve the 5th Best Picture and Director spots. Really now.
o And Jamie Foxx for supporting in Collateral? If that's not blatant category fraud, I don't know what is. Freddie Highmore should've gotten in for this slot, it's an incredible shame that he didn't get in because of the Jamie Foxx lovefest that's going on.
The Ugly:
o Shark Tale for Best animated picture? What were they thinking?!
o How can they nominate Church, and Madsen for Sideways but not Paul Giamatti?? It makes absolutely no sense. Worst snub of the year.
The Good:
o Clive Owen and Natalie Portman for Closer (and without SAG noms too, yay!)
o Don Cheadle for Hotel Rwanda (So so so happy for Mr. Cheadle)
o Charlie Kaufman and ESOTSM for Screenplay!
o Before Sunset for Adapted Screenplay!
The Brilliant:
o Cate Blanchett for the Aviator (She better win this year)
o Kate Winslet for ESOTSM (Hands down the best performance of the year)
o Johnny Depp for Finding Neverland (bigger is not always better, yay for subtlety!)
o Morgan Freeman http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4.../notworthy.gif
fire_of_avalon - The Academy doesn't only consist of a few stogy old men who decide which movies are the best for this year, there are thousands of professionals in the film industry who are part of the academy. Every winner of an Oscar is given membership into the Academy, meaning that people like Peter Jackson, Adrian Brody, and yes even Eminem, are given ballots every year.
Many brilliant but small films that the majority of the American public would never pay 10 bucks to see (Sideways, Maria full of Grace, Million Dollar Baby) are given a chance to shine at the Oscars.
Even though I have serious gripes with the Academy every year, they do tend to recognize the cream of the crop. Sure they do silly stuff like snub incrediblely deserving movies (Kill Bill) but I generally agree with them more than I disagree.
How did shark tale get the nomination? Lack of competition.
I am glad Jamie Foxx got the double nomination as he deserves it and could really use it. He is a pretty damn good actor but he has never really gotten the parts. Maybe now he will start getting some more.
I am surprised that Polar Express didn't get a nomination for visual effects. I only say that because of the way it was made.
Overall I think the acadmy over looked earlier films once again. Its hard when a lot of good films come out at the end of the year. I think they need to wait one more month or so to let the feelings fade so they can be more objective.
I'm disappointed at the lack of Eternal Sunshine on that list. edit: By that I mean, it should have been nominated for much more.
I didnt see many movie this year, I never do, but I'm very disappointed to see that The Life Aquatic didnt get nominated for Cinematography. That film is so beautifully shot, say what you will about the rest of it.
Shark Tale may have been nominated, but it certainly wont win.
As for the Oscars themselves, I really dont give a hoot. I dont like awards ceremonies.
I didn't realize that. I've always assumed it was just random people. I retract my previous statement concerning by whom the films are selected. However, I still disagree that the majority of these films are things that never reach the movie going public at large, and I've always felt that the Oscars SHOULDN'T be a self-congratulatory (to borrow words from Skogs) bit as much as it should be focused on the movie-going experience. How can I, or anyone else, respect an award being given to a film if the opportunity to see that film has hardly come to pass? Million Dollar Baby had a national release of barely one month ago, yet it already tops the nominations list.Quote:
Originally Posted by Miriel
My question is, why should the American consumer care about something that has gone from being very involved with their thoughts and opinions to something that has seemingly become ego-food for Hollywood.
That being said, I sincerely hope Foxx wins for "Ray" because that was an amazing performance. As for most of the other categories, I can't bring myself to even care.
If Leonardo DiCaprio wins even one of his nominations, I will question my faith in the human race.
Despite how great Jamie Foxx was in "Ray", I am deeply bother by the fact that Paul Giamatti was not even nominated. As much as Foxx embodied Ray Charles and he did, Giamatti created a character without any frame of reference and played, in my opinion, the ultimate loser who you could still sort of root for, a character that I think people can relate to on just as many levels. I wonder, was he snubbed because he lacked the star power of the other nominees?
Being a Film and Acting major, I've often been a huge follower of the Oscars, but this year, I like most everyone else, have not seen many of these films.
I think Foxx will win, but I'm also rooting for either Depp, who I think might just be America's greatest actor, or Don Cheadle who I think is one of our most underrated actors.
As for leading actress, one film I did see was Maria Full Of Grace and I can honestly say, Catalina Sandino Moreno gave one of the bravest performances I've ever seen and though Hilary Swank will probably win, and deservedly so, Moreno is a name we'll be saying for a long, long time.
Could this be the year that the ultimate underrated actor, Morgan Freeman, finally takes home an Oscar? Is there a classier, more dedicated man than him? In everything from "Driving Ms. Daisy" to "Glory" to "Shawshank Redemption" to "Unforgiven" to "Million Dollar Baby", Freeman has been SO unbelievably good it's as if he's gone beyond deserving an Oscar and has moved on to a realm beyond awards where his work speaks for itself. Though I think yet again, he'll lose out, probably to Church, if there's any justice in this world, he'll win.
Supporting Actress is tough since I haven't seen many of these films, but I keep hearing good things about both Portman and Blachett so I think either of them will win it.
I think Charlie Kaufman takes home another Oscar Original Screenplay for "Spotless Mind" and Payne and company take home for Adapted Screenplay for "Sideways".
Next, we get to yet another, perhaps one of the ultimate snubs in Oscar history: How has Martin Scorsese never won an Oscar? Could this finally be the year that one of the greatest minds in cinematic history finally gains recognition? Just sitting and hearing him talk about movies, about life itself really, makes me remember why films are so great and how pure and powerful they can be when done right. I hope, I sincerely hope, he wins this year, even though I haven't seen this film.
Now, for best picture, this is a tossup between "Sideways" and "Million Dollar Baby" in my mind. I think Eastwood's picture wins out here, but again, I haven't seen any of the other films beside these two and "Ray" so this is just speculation.
Since there are a few theaters near me who re-release any and all films that get nominated, in the coming weeks, I'll try to go see some of these films and then can make better judgments, but for now, these will have to do.
Take care all.
*high-fives The Captain*
I'm a freshman Cinema-Television major at USC, yay for film majors! :p
I'm incredibly lucky to be living in Los Angeles with easy access to early and limited release screenings of virtually every movie released this year. Of the list of nominees in major categories, the only ones I haven't seen are Vera Drake, and Being Julia.
Jamie Foxx gave the best performance of his career in Ray, but so did Leonardo Dicaprio in Aviator. A part of me wishes the Dicaprio will win just because I'm a bit sick of Foxx's acceptance speeches (shallow of me, I know) but Foxx has this one locked down.
But I would LOVE an Adrian Brody type upset. LOVE IT.
The whole Giamatti thing is mind-boggling. Almost as bad as Moulin Rouge and Kidman being recognized without Baz Luhrmann in 2001. Disgraceful. I'm betting that the AMPAS will nominate him for Cinderella Man next year just to make up for this year's crap. He coulda been a contender :(
I desperately want Kate Winslet to win for Eternal Sunshine, but all precursor awards are pointing to either Swank or Bening (who I can't stand).
I think the best supporting actress oscar is Cate Blanchett's to lose. Best supporting actor is just all over the place. I'm thinking it'll be between Clive Owen,Thomas Haden Church and Morgan Freeman.
Best Picture will come down to The Aviator and Million Dollar Baby. The chances of Sideways winning are very very slim. Lots of love from critic cirlces, but there's just no way it'll beat out Aviator and M$B. That being said, I'm placing my bet on The Aviator.
I don't believe Eastwood will be taking home any awards Oscar night. Picture will go to Aviator, Director to Scorsese, and actor to Foxx. Poor guy, to have to endure the RotK behemoth train last year, and this year go up against one of the best directors in the history of American cinema. I hope he catches a break soon.
And I'm betting that the Oscar show itself will have the lowest ratings in recent years. No one really cares besides the odd obsessive ones like me.
Funny, in 2004 the Oscars were moved forward one month to try and cut down on the insane, over-the-top (and sometimes dirty) Oscar campaigning. Theory was the if there was less time that passes between nominations and when the actual votes are counted, then there would be less campaigning. But now there's just as much campaigning, only it's now compressed into 2 months instead of three.Quote:
Originally Posted by edczxcvbnm
Part of the problem in my mind, is that there is way too much emphasis on awards these days, though I suppose it's to be expected. The Oscars used to be the standard, the top of the top in awards, but lately, it seems like it's just the final award, not the highest award. With films boasting that they're on over 200 critic's top ten lists, or actors winning awards from smaller circles which they can then add to the film's resume, it seems as if the Oscars have lost some of there flair.
Also of note, Eastwood I believe won best director and picture for "Unforgiven" as well as several Oscars in other years, so I'm really hoping this is the year Scorsese finally gets recognized. I'm hoping he doesn't end up being the Al Pacino of this new generation, whereas he finally wins an Oscar, not for his best work, but because he's deserved one for so long.
Still, it's great to see the added diversity on the nominations, with a lot more lesser known actors and actresses getting nominations. With Chris Rock as the host, this has the potential to be a very entertaining evening, though I agree, I few upsets would make it even better.
Take care all.
Am I the only one who thinks Jim Carrey should be nominated for Eternal Sunshine?
I think he should have been nominated as well, but it seems there was such a wealth of worthy nominees that once again he was passed up. His work on "Truman Show", "Man On The Moon", and now "Eternal Sunshine" has showed he's much, much more than just a physical comedian and I forsee him winning something in the near future.
Take care all.