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Oscar Nominations 2011 (Jan 25, 8:30am EST/5:30am PST)

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Ceres

Banned
Why are you guys arguing about Pulp Fiction and Forrest Gump?

Shawshank Redemption was the best movie that year.
 

JGS

Banned
Ceres said:
Why are you guys arguing about Pulp Fiction and Forrest Gump?

Shawshank Redemption was the best movie that year.
Good lord, that was such a good year for movies.
 

JGS

Banned
Skiptastic said:
I'll look up the link but not sure how it got that title.

To be clear I love Pulp Fiction, but the influence had more to do with Tarentino than it did on that particular movie, but I'll check it out.

Ebert said Hurt Locker was revolutionary so not everything he says is gold.

EDIT: Yeah, he doesn't explain why
 

Puddles

Banned
Anything but that fucking facebook movie needs to win Best Picture. I despised that "anything but Avatar" crowd last year, but fuck it, I'm an "anything but TSN" hater this year.

Inception, Black Swan or True Grit all the way. Still haven't had a chance to watch The King's Speech.
 

Puddles

Banned
Mr. B Natural said:
The winner will probably be Social Network or King's Speech..and rightfully so. If Inception wins best picture though I'm gonna pitch a fit. Overhyped pieces of crap winning awards beyond soundtrack and technical prowess should be reserved for video games...not the oscars. I don't think I have anything to worry about. Sure, the oscars have been suspect in the past but at least their palettes aren't in line with the average 15 year old's...unlike the other media industries and their award ceremonies. The oscars is the last award ceremony to me that matters in the slightest and that actually get the point of award ceremonies.

Man, all you'd have to do is go into the PoliGAF thread and spout some Republican talking points, then call Muse a Radiohead ripoff and Led Zeppelin a glorified cover band in some music thread, and you'd be the embodiment of everything I hate in this world.
 
Battersea Power Station said:
I just watched Exit through the Gift Shop, finishing minutes ago. It's a great movie... but it's fake, no? How is it nominated as a documentary?

If it's fake nobody has been able to prove it. Mr. Brainwash is a real person and those art shows did happen.
 

YYZ

Junior Member
I'm just glad that some garbage like Hurt Locker won't win this year. I haven't seen a few of the BP nominations, but I doubt that those would be as offensive as Hurt Locker winning.
 

MIMIC

Banned
10 movies for Best Picture is so god damned stupid.

Anyways, I think both "Inception" and "The Social Network" were pretty overrated. It's like Hurt Locker....but twice. They were both great movies but no way in hell do I think they're Best Picture-worthy. But if they are indeed deserving being nominated, I think that just speaks to the lack of depth in last year's movies; just a slew of slightly above-average films. The only other movie I've seen in the category was Toy Story 3 and I honestly thought that it was better than both of them.

I'm really looking forward to seeing "Black Swan" and "127 Hours"...and hoping that I'm not disappointed given the hype. "True Grit"....meh, I hate westerns but I'll probably see it anyone. I remember watching "The Assassination of Jesse James" and being BORED TO TEARS (even though it was a decent movie).
 
WyndhamPrice said:
If it's fake nobody has been able to prove it. Mr. Brainwash is a real person and those art shows did happen.
That's freakin' amazing. I definitely believe that MBW's whole existence is engineered by Banksy, and that Guetta is just some dude acting as a face. The Oscar nom is a cherry on top.

Amazing.
 
Battersea Power Station said:
I just watched Exit through the Gift Shop, finishing minutes ago. It's a great movie... but it's fake, no? How is it nominated as a documentary?

WyndhamPrice said:
If it's fake nobody has been able to prove it. Mr. Brainwash is a real person and those art shows did happen.

I still don't think it should be nominated as a "documentary" it is still kind of an insult to "real" documentaries.

My question is (I'm flying on zero Google research on this ) did Mr. Brainwash exist before this film? or only during and after? and did he really make millions? (or over a million bucks or whatever they mention he made in the movie?) or ...Was the words "million dollars" was thrown out there in the movie just to make the film more intense?

I mean, give me a week or two and I can give myslef an artistic nickname and throw an art show over a weekend at my local art gallery and even sell a few pieces...I can even get a guy with a camera to "document" all that...

But would it be fair to call it a "documentary" still, if I took that raw source material and made it a part of a greater film, with other stories and scripted material?
 

Puddles

Banned
MIMIC said:
10 movies for Best Picture is so god damned stupid.

Anyways, I think both "Inception" and "The Social Network" were pretty overrated. It's like Hurt Locker....but twice. They were both great movies but no way in hell do I think they're Best Picture-worthy. But if they are indeed deserving being nominated, I think that just speaks to the lack of depth in last year's movies; just a slew of slightly above-average films. The only other movie I've seen in the category was Toy Story 3 and I honestly thought that it was better than both of them.

I'm really looking forward to seeing "Black Swan" and "127 Hours"...and hoping that I'm not disappointed given the hype. "True Grit"....meh, I hate westerns but I'll probably see it anyone. I remember watching "The Assassination of Jesse James" and being BORED TO TEARS (even though it was a decent movie).


Best Picture winners in the past have included the likes of Chicago, Crash and The English Patient. I'd say both The Social Network and Inception are vastly superior to any of those. I could name tens of nominees that weren't that great if I wanted to put in a bit more effort.

True Grit is fantastic, although I might be alone in preferring the John Wayne original. The new one is more nuanced, I guess, and there are some fantastic shots at times. Really superb acting. Although I've never met a 14 year old as smart and verbose as the main character is supposed to be, and I've met some highly intelligent youngsters in my time.
 

Kevtones

Member
Gump's script is sappy but it's a structural marvel.
Pulp Fiction script is an indulgent instance of genius.

I'd take these two and the unbalanced Quiz Show over Shawshank.
 
I Push Fat Kids said:
Gump's script is sappy but it's a structural marvel.
Pulp Fiction script is an indulgent instance of genius.

I'd take these two and the unbalanced Quiz Show over Shawshank.

Same here. For me:

Pulp Fiction > Quiz Show > Gump > Shawshank
 

Spire

Subconscious Brolonging
WyndhamPrice said:
If it's fake nobody has been able to prove it. Mr. Brainwash is a real person and those art shows did happen.

And more importantly there really are several thousand hours of tape shot by Mr. Brainwash.


Regardless, it's a great film and I'm hoping it wins.
 
Discotheque said:
Yeah the Oscars should just use greater than signs now. Would be a lot more interesting and competitive lol

That would be so amazing. It's not just "Oh, X movie won" but you could get an actual gauge on the Academy's thinking behind it all. Would be extremely fascinating (and probably result in even more targeted Oscar bait lol).
 

Puddles

Banned
(._.) said:
wonder how everybody will act if portman doesn't win.

Really give you a perspective on how bad the SW prequels' scripts were. If Schindler, the Ewan who gave us Trainspotting and Portman who is favored to win BA couldn't make anything decent out of them, there really was never any hope.
 

Zeliard

Member
Battersea Power Station said:
I just watched Exit through the Gift Shop, finishing minutes ago. It's a great movie... but it's fake, no? How is it nominated as a documentary?

It's almost certainly staged but plenty in it is real enough to fit the bill of a documentary.

A) Mr. Brainwash actually did hold those art exhibits that you see in the film, and plenty of people did show up to them and buy shit (which is a critical part of the satire)

B) The footage of some of the bigger street artists doing their thing is legit, and rare

EricHasNoPull said:
I still don't think it should be nominated as a "documentary" it is still kind of an insult to "real" documentaries.

Nonsense. There is considerable actual documentary footage in Exit Through the Gift Shop. There's probably no better insight into the street art scene out there.
 

Anth0ny

Member
Puddles said:
Really give you a perspective on how bad the SW prequels' scripts were. If Schindler, the Ewan who gave us Trainspotting and Portman who is favored to win BA couldn't make anything decent out of them, there really was never any hope.

seriously. lucas can't write for shit.
 
id be surprised if portman does anything as good as black swan again.

i'm still not convinced she's a great actress so much as played the perfect role.

maybe her jennifer connelly requiem role.
 

xbhaskarx

Member
Performance by an actress in a leading role

Annette Bening in “The Kids Are All Right” (Focus Features)
Nicole Kidman in “Rabbit Hole” (Lionsgate)
Jennifer Lawrence in “Winter’s Bone” (Roadside Attractions)
Natalie Portman in “Black Swan” (Fox Searchlight)
Michelle Williams in “Blue Valentine” (The Weinstein Company)


Performance by an actress in a supporting role

Amy Adams in “The Fighter” (Paramount)
Helena Bonham Carter in “The King’s Speech” (The Weinstein Company)
Melissa Leo in “The Fighter” (Paramount)
Hailee Steinfeld in “True Grit”(Paramount)
Jacki Weaver in “Animal Kingdom” (Sony Pictures Classics)

The biggest joke of all is Hailee Steinfeld being nominated for best actress in a supporting role rather than in a leading role. She is the main character and appears in pretty much every scene in the film, how much more "leading" can a role get??
She should win, but she should have won even in the other category... it's like there were two deserving winners, Portman and Steinfeld, so they put them in different categories so both could win.
 

Blader

Member
I'm not exactly sure why people are so in love with Steinfeld. She was good, don't get me wrong, especially for a kid (who, 9 times out of 10, are just insufferable to watch or listen to) but there was nothing about her performance that was so incredible/powerful/poignant/etc. as to merit an Oscar for it. Especially if you're talking about the best actress category, where she doesn't even come close to Portman and (especially) Williams.
 

Zeliard

Member
xbhaskarx said:
The biggest joke of all is Hailee Steinfeld being nominated for best actress in a supporting role rather than in a leading role. She is the main character and appears in pretty much every scene in the film, how much more "leading" can a role get??
She should win, but she should have won even in the other category... it's like there were two deserving winners, Portman and Steinfeld, so they put them in different categories so both could win.

That's exactly what they did (though I disagree Steinfeld is as deserving as Portman). It's all political. The studio campaigned for Steinfeld in supporting simply because that's where she has the best chance not only to win, but also to have been nominated in the first place.
 

Puddles

Banned
brianjones said:
id be surprised if portman does anything as good as black swan again.

i'm still not convinced she's a great actress so much as played the perfect role.

maybe her jennifer connelly requiem role.

I really thought Connelly was quite excellent in A Beautiful Mind.
 
Zeliard said:
Nonsense. There is considerable actual documentary footage in Exit Through the Gift Shop. There's probably no better insight into the street art scene out there.

Like I said, there is certainly a quite a bit of documentary footage in the film, it also shows a good insight on "the street art" scene no doubt, but the film is really not a documentary, there is dialogue that clearly seems scripted, there is some footage that is clearly set up, it is a great "mockumentary" it's even a better Art film! But I'm not sure if it should be categorized as a documentary at the Oscars...but hey!
 
EricHasNoPull said:
Like I said, there is certainly a quite a bit of documentary footage in the film, it also shows a good insight on "the street art" scene no doubt, but the film is really not a documentary, there is dialogue that clearly seems scripted, there is some footage that is clearly set up, it is a great "mockumentary" it's even a better Art film! But I'm not sure if it should be categorized as a documentary at the Oscars...but hey!

Most Documentaries have set up scenes or dialogue.
 

Blader

Member
EricHasNoPull said:
Like I said, there is certainly a quite a bit of documentary footage in the film, it also shows a good insight on "the street art" scene no doubt, but the film is really not a documentary, there is dialogue that clearly seems scripted, there is some footage that is clearly set up, it is a great "mockumentary" it's even a better Art film! But I'm not sure if it should be categorized as a documentary at the Oscars...but hey!

It's categorized as a documentary because it is officially a documentary. There is no evidence within the film or outside of it that suggests it's false. The idea that Exit Through the Gift Shop is fiction is born entirely from viewers, with nothing substantial behind it other than people wanting to believe that it's just a big prank by Banksy.
 

Zeliard

Member
Blader5489 said:
I'm not exactly sure why people are so in love with Steinfeld. She was good, don't get me wrong, especially for a kid (who, 9 times out of 10, are just insufferable to watch or listen to) but there was nothing about her performance that was so incredible/powerful/poignant/etc. as to merit an Oscar for it. Especially if you're talking about the best actress category, where she doesn't even come close to Portman and (especially) Williams.

I thought Steinfeld's performance was hugely critical because if she doesn't work, then the entire film doesn't. The Coens, casting director and company must have gone through a ton of candidates before settling on her. She was essentially as perfect as she could have been, delivering every line with verve and passion. She was the film's rock - steady and keeping everything anchored. I liked her performance a lot.

EricHasNoPull said:
Like I said, there is certainly a quite a bit of documentary footage in the film, it also shows a good insight on "the street art" scene no doubt, but the film is really not a documentary, there is dialogue that clearly seems scripted, there is some footage that is clearly set up, it is a great "mockumentary" it's even a better aArt film! But I'm not sure if it should be categorized as a documentary at the Oscars...but hey!

That's splitting hairs a bit. The film features tons of archival documentary footage. It uses that as a jumping off point to try and be a bit more subsersive and send a message about hype in the art scene, rather than simply laying out a bunch of footage (which would have still been cool, but less fulfilling ultimately). But it would never work unless there was that element of realism.

Thierry Guetta/Mr. Brainwash being staged or not is actually completely irrelevant to the whole documentary aspect, because the typical people in the film reacting to him and his shows are entirely legit non-actors, and the exhibits were legitimately staged and held with the same process as any other exhibit would be. Mr. Brainwash's art exhibits actually got some play in printed newspapers and such, with nobody really the wiser.

My personal suspicion is that Thierry Guetta at first really did want to document the street art scene, and when he came across Banksy and/or Shepard Fairey in his travels, they decided to do something a bit more subversive and satirical. They used Thierry Guetta because he was just a regular joe and thus the perfect foil to show how easily false hype could be built, and also that "art" doesn't really mean anything since it speaks entirely different things to entirely different people. Guetta's art still sold for plenty, even though it was purposefully created (likely by Banksy himself) to be inferior and derivative. That's basically the message of the film, and it blurs a few lines in order to get that across. But in terms of the simple observance of life, and as an insight into a world few of us are familiar with, it fits the documentary bill.

Blader5489 said:
The idea that Exit Through the Gift Shop is fiction is born entirely from viewers, with nothing substantial behind it other than people wanting to believe that it's just a big prank by Banksy.

Que? Hell, just the original home video Guetta "made" should be telling enough. Nobody would actually make an absurdist, hyperkinetic video like to be demonstrated to others as documentary unless they are literally insane. Guetta's French, yes, but I don't think he's crazy.
 

Blader

Member
Zeliard said:
Que? Hell, just the original home video Guetta "made" should be telling enough. Nobody would actually make an absurdist, hyperkinetic video like to be demonstrated to others as documentary unless they are literally insane. Guetta's French, yes, but I don't think he's crazy.

Are you talking about Life Remote Control? Whose co-producer, who helped Thierry edit it, is now suing Banksy for not being credited for the clips of LRC that were used? Unless that, too, is also part of the whole hoax.

Besides, Exit Through the Gift Shop makes it pretty clear that Thierry is an idiot. Passionate, yeah, but just flat out not smart.
 

big ander

Member

Zeliard

Member
Blader5489 said:
Are you talking about Life Remote Control? Whose co-producer, who helped Thierry edit it, is now suing Banksy for not being credited for the clips of LRC that were used? Unless that, too, is also part of the whole hoax.

Besides, Exit Through the Gift Shop makes it pretty clear that Thierry is an idiot. Passionate, yeah, but just flat out not smart.

The entire film portrays him as a buffoon, including things that seem clearly purposeful (the wheelbarrow?). It's very difficult for me to imagine that it isn't intended, especially since Guetta himself seems to have no problem with this being out there for everyone to see. Also, the entire purpose of Life Remote Control's inclusion in the film was for Banksy to mock it as yet another piece of insipid Mr. Brainwash trash, and he essentially uses it to give us ETGS's origin story: Banksy thought Guetta's street art doc was a piece of shit and decided to take matters into his own hands. Banksy continually lambasts Guetta's work to get across that he's a sham, yet one who can still make some impact on the art scene.

Take a long, hard look at Banksy. This is a man whose entire claim-to-fame is highly subversive and satirical street art. What's a film if not another form of art? Exit Through the Gift Shop is a Banksy art piece in the medium of film.
 

AniHawk

Member
Just found this.

Daft Punk not even being nominated is a fucking joke (I'm not a Daft Punk fan, but that soundtrack is amazing). The Academy is full of retards.

Also, Scott Pilgrim should've been nominated for something. Art direction, visual effects, something.

italics
 

Blader

Member
Zeliard said:
The entire film portrays him as a buffoon, including things that seem clearly purposeful (the wheelbarrow?). It's very difficult for me to imagine that it isn't intended, especially since Guetta himself seems to have no problem with this being out there for everyone to see. Also, the entire purpose of Life Remote Control's inclusion in the film was for Banksy to mock it as yet another piece of insipid Mr. Brainwash trash, and he essentially uses it to give us ETGS's origin story: Banksy thought Guetta's street art doc was a piece of shit and decided to take matters into his own hands. Banksy continually lambasts Guetta's work to get across that he's a sham, yet one who can still make some impact on the art scene.

Take a long, hard look at Banksy. This is a man whose entire claim-to-fame is highly subversive and satirical street art. What's a film if not another form of art? Exit Through the Gift Shop is a Banksy art piece in the medium of film.

Yes, thank you for summarizing the whole point of the film. :p But that wasn't my point. If Life Remote Control is, as you say, just another part of the hoax and couldn't possibly be real, then why is Thierry's co-editor from that "film" now suing Banksy? Is that also part of the hoax? If so, how does that even serve Banksy's hoax? Is Banksy the new Andy Kaufman?!

Your last paragraph is exactly why people believe the film is fake. Because, despite any lack of evidence proving that the film is fiction, people want to believe that it is because, oh, that's just the kind of thing that Banksy would do. But the facts say otherwise.
 
Zeliard said:
The entire film portrays him as a buffoon, including things that seem clearly purposeful (the wheelbarrow?). Banksy thought Guetta's street art doc was a piece of shit and decided to take matters into his own hands. Banksy continually lambasts Guetta's work to get across that he's a sham, yet one who can still make some impact on the art scene.
...
Zeliard said:
Take a long, hard look at Banksy. This is a man whose entire claim-to-fame is highly subversive and satirical street art. What's a film if not another form of art? Exit Through the Gift Shop is a Banksy art piece in the medium of film.

Right...Yet you still think this is a raw documentary without the heavy influence and manipulation of the filmmakers to get their message across?


Yes it's kinda obvious by the end that Bansky and Thierry just trolled us and showed us a glimpse of Bansky's "professional" career in a form of an hour and a half long film through the..."character" of "Mr. Brainwasher" basically a character created/symbolized to be Bansky himself.

Yes we also learn a thing or two about "Street Art" through real archival footage shot by Thierry back in the day, But again, the film has a very deliberate and personal message to send out to it's viewers.

The filmmakers are totally in control of this message and even are manipulative about it, that type of style and approach to film-making doesn't ring true to the genre of documentary to me.

It's a great art film, it's an awesome experiment, but I donno about it being a documentary since the film doesn't freely explore and follow the lives of many different street artist;

It only explores the few artists who also happen to have a direct and great influence in the fabrication of the film itself (the final product).
 

DMczaf

Member
@nytimesmovies: Jesse Eisenberg did not tune in to see whether he would be nominated. He doesn't own a TV.”

myronrolle.png
 

big ander

Member
EricHasNoPull said:
Yes it's kinda obvious by the end that Bansky and Thierry just trolled us and showed us a glimpse of Bansky's "professional" career in a form of an hour and a half long film through the..."character" of "Mr. Brainwasher" basically a character created/symbolized to be Bansky himself.
This wasn't "obvious" at all. Not even in the slightest. Banksy and crew have gone on record multiple times to say that they didn't create Mr. B.
The filmmakers are totally in control of this message and even are manipulative about it, that type of style and approach to film-making doesn't ring true to the genre of documentary to me.
Oh boy. You have the wrong idea of what a documentary is.
Documentaries have never been 100% true and they are always manipulated by the filmmaker to deliver a message. It's a fact of the genre, not something excluded from it. Sure, they're supposed to be real events, but the filmmakers control the editing, to some extent the camera work, the narration, the music, etc. They still choose what to show you and what not to show you. And even beyond that, so many of the events in every documentary you've seen were still staged. Definitely not every scene ever. But every documentary has the filmmakers influencing what is being captured from the very beginning.
With that, we can only speculate whether or not Exit can be considered a documentary. By every single standard that's been used for docs since their beginning, it is one. If the story was set up outside of the film by Banksy, then it wouldn't meet the criteria. You can't prove that either way, so it's a documentary for now.
 

Koodo

Banned
AniHawk said:
Just found this.

Daft Punk not even being nominated is a fucking joke (I'm not a Daft Punk fan, but that soundtrack is amazing). The Academy is full of retards.

Also, Scott Pilgrim should've been nominated for something. Art direction, visual effects, something.

underlines
Underline is more effective.
 
big ander said:
This wasn't "obvious" at all. Not even in the slightest. Banksy and crew have gone on record multiple times to say that they didn't create Mr. B.

I am saying it's obvious to it's viewers, I am merely talking about my own viewing experience, By the end of the film I walked out of the theater thinking that this was all a hoax that symbolized Bansky's Street Art Career and success through pop culture.

If only all movie going audience had to wait to hear what the filmmakers had to say about their film after watching it, the general public doesn't go see a movie for that reason, they go see a movie to be entertained and get something out of it for themselves. And what I got from ETGS was that it was designed to symbolize the general public's attitude towards contemporary "art" or simply question "what is art?" is it the execution of it? is it the artistic intention? among many other questions etc. etc.

The film definitely raised those questions for me after it was finished and coincidentally

I found those questions to be very reflective of Bansky's actual street art that he's been famous for for the past few years. Am I not allow to get that from this movie? "am I doing it wrong" or something? I'm sure I'm not alone in having this opinion about the movie so hence "the obvious".

big ander said:
Oh boy....
Yes I think I know what can be categorized as a "documentary" and we can argue till the cows come home that most documentaries out there these days are merely just personal film projects.

I understand that every documentary doesn't have to be a CNN, live raw news footage. It's important that documentaries have a central message and most documentaries for better or worse are manipulated and fine tweaked by the fimmaker(s) to help get that message across to it's audience but... there's a fine line between all that and a work of fiction, scripted film.

The film is label as a "documentary" everywhere sure, but I seriously did not feel like it was one when I finished watching it, but hey!... that's just my personal take on it. take it or leave it.

It's just like a movie being categories as a psychological thriller, but once you done watching it, it maybe feel more like a shallow, horror slasher to you. (just to be clear this is just an example I am using detached from the film in discussion, not saying that I felt that ETGS was the "slasher of "documentaries")
 

Puddles

Banned
Now that I've had more time to think of it, I'm not sure that Black Swan is quite the complete package that Inception is. But I'd be more than ecstatic with either of them winning over the facebook movie.
 
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