Oscar nominations

[Ouch!]

I reckon the Best Picture should be decided by how much entertainment value is put on screen.

There you go.

Aye. The thing is, the Oscars are decided by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science. They're concerned more with just whether the movie was a good way to spend three hours.

That said, I don't think deciding that plot is an important part of a movie is being picky. It's not like movies are a narrative medium or anything like that. Clearly we shouldn't want to have a well developed or remotely original plot. That would be ridiculous! And picky!

[Slothy]

I reckon the Best Picture should be decided by how much entertainment value is put on screen. Avatar isn't perfect, but its a lot of fun. Just on that basis alone, it deserved the Best Picture award.

If you're going to go down that road, then I was far more entertained by the likes of Up and District 9. And the difference between movies like those that have more substance behind them and Avatar is that I'd love to watch them again. Multiple times even. Avatar was fun for one, maybe two viewings, but it really starts to lose its luster after that because the only thing it has going for it is how much fun it is to watch that first time.

[Shiny]

You lot are so picky. I reckon the Best Picture should be decided by how much entertainment value is put on screen. Avatar isn't perfect, but its a lot of fun. Just on that basis alone, it deserved the Best Picture award.

If it were based merely on popcorn blockbusters winning then movies like Men and Black and oh hey, Terminator would win friggin' Best Picture. Dazzling people with visual effects does not mean it's worthy of getting a Best Picture award. He used the visuals to make up for everything else that was lacking in the film. And he is smart. He knows 3D sells. That's why 3D has come back because filmmakers realize the worth of it.

Most people are going to want to pay extra to see a movie in 3D; which as I said is actually possible for anyone with two cameras and an editing program to do. I am not impressed by that. It was the design of the CG visuals and locations done by the amazing visual effect artists that really made the movie come alive. But, I'm not going to sit here and say pretty movies with no depth and no real plot originality deserve to win big awards.

But anyway the fact of the matter is, popcorn movies like Avatar are made to be mindless, "Ooo that's purty" type of movies with lots of action and romance to keep us interested. He rehashes things and using similitude, but it's not meant to be the type of movie you will sit there and go, "Wow there was a lot intellectual symbolism there." It's not the "makes you think" movie. It's the "makes you go wow" movie. And thus, is not Oscar worthy of Best Picture. The end.

[Depression Moon]

What Avatar won best picture? That was okay for me. I really did enjoy the movi

[Dreddz]

Dazzling people with visual effects does not mean it's worthy of getting a Best Picture award. He used the visuals to make up for everything else that was lacking in the film.

Avatar wasn't just good because of its visual effects though. It was well directed, had good cinematography, a good score and some decent performances. If visual effects were the only reason as to why I liked Avatar then surely I must have liked Transformers 2 as well (I didn't). James Cameron has said time and time again that he uses visual effects to serve the story, not the other way around. Thats why Terminator 2 still holds up to this day.

But anyway the fact of the matter is, popcorn movies like Avatar are made to be mindless, "Ooo that's purty" type of movies with lots of action and romance to keep us interested. He rehashes things and using similitude, but it's not meant to be the type of movie you will sit there and go, "Wow there was a lot intellectual symbolism there." It's not the "makes you think" movie. It's the "makes you go wow" movie. And thus, is not Oscar worthy of Best Picture. The end.

Any movie is deserving of Best Picture if it is made well. Is there a written rule that says that the Best Picture should go to a film that "made us think". All movies are made with one goal in mind, to entertain us. Whichever movie achieved that goal the best should win Best Picture. Avatar was worthy of the award. The end.

[Slothy]

Any movie is deserving of Best Picture if it is made well.

True, but since the writing and acting were pretty mediocre, Avatar wasn't as well made as it could have been. Like plenty of people have been saying, myself included, it's not a complete package when it comes to excellent film making. Unlike a number of the other nominees.

[Breine]

I'm very happy that Avatar didn't win for Best Picture, even though I was pretty convinced it was going to take it home. I was also very glad that Bigelow won for Best Director (making Oscar history in doing so).

Overall I'm pretty pleased with the outcome of the awards, albeit the show was predictable and at times somewhat boring. I'm not sure how I feel about Sandra Bullock winning for Best Actress, though. She did have the best speech of the night, that's for sure.

Oh, and Inglorious Basterds deserved more awards.