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Oscar nominations thread

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StoOgE said:
I'm not sure about that. They took a series of books that was largely about relationships and going places and turned it into a balls to the wall action movie with elves and shit. I thought they were serviceable movies that work well if you know the source material but miss the point completely if you had not read the books. Not bad, but certainly not great.
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Okay, I'll agree only slighty with you there. Balls to the wall action, sure, maybe with Return of the King, but the book was also just as "balls to the wall" with action in that segment as well. The thing that disappointed me about RotK was that the movie was so lengthy, and yet they felt they needed to cut the entire Shire part from the movie version, the part before the Grey Haven. Arguably that's just as important for Frodo and Sam as their journey to Mt. Doom.

Even though RoTK was the movie that ultimately won, can we both agree that Fellowship was incredible and the one that SHOULD have won? That movie perfects exactly what you describe-a focus on relationships, and well-executed in that regard.

And I would also say ALL the movies execute that well, but that's for another thread.
 
BrandNew said:
Okay, I'll agree only slighty with you there. Balls to the wall action, sure, maybe with Return of the King, but the book was also just as "balls to the wall" with action in that segment as well. The thing that disappointed me about RotK was that the movie was so lengthy, and yet they felt they needed to cut the entire Shire part from the movie version, the part before the Grey Haven. Arguably that's just as important for Frodo and Sam as their journey to Mt. Doom.

Even though RoTK was the movie that ultimately won, can we both agree that Fellowship was incredible and the one that SHOULD have won? That movie perfects exactly what you describe-a focus on relationships, and well-executed in that regard.

And I would also say ALL the movies execute that well, but that's for another thread.
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Yes, the Fellowship was the strongest of the three movies by far. It was very very well done and for the most part got the right feel down. Obviously for a movie they need to pump up the action and tone down the journey, and I felt the first movie struck a nice balance.

I'm not saying the movies were bad movies, they worked. I just thought the second two movies spent too much time with the battles and not enough on the plot. Cut out critical things to the story to make room for 45 minute siege scenes that really could have been cut down.

In fact, in Return of the King, they had a very lengthy action set piece that ended very abruptly anyway when the ghost soldiers showed up. They could have cut out huge chunks of it and made room for more stuff in the shire like you mentioned.
 
jett said:
Wall-E is not oscarbait.


I've seen:

Button
Wrestler
Nixon
Revolutionary Road
Slumdog


Yeah dude I liked TDK better than all of those.

Milk...well I fuckin DESPITE Sean Penn so you couldn't pay me to watch that shit.
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Now you're just being facetious. I don't like Sean Penn either, but that doesn't mean he doesn't give a great performance in the movie. Besides, it's not like he directed it or wrote it, so it's not going to be as preachy as his other movies. Trust me, it's a great flick, so put aside your prior restraints (and your fanboyism as well) and go see it.

And I agree with you for RotK's editing. But all those movies deserve some Oscar recognition.

Yes, the Fellowship was the strongest of the three movies by far. It was very very well done.

I'm not saying the movies were bad movies, they worked. I just thought the second two movies spent too much time with the battles and not enough on the plot. Cut out critical things to the story to make room for 45 minute siege scenes that really could have been cut down.

In fact, in Return of the King, they had a very lengthy action set piece that ended very abruptly anyway when the ghost soldiers showed up. They could have cut out huge chunks of it and made room for more stuff in the shire like you mentioned.
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I agree with you, partially. But I think it's important to understand that it was Peter and Fran's vision and original intent to make ultimately their own interpretation of the LotR books as Hollywood films, when all was said and done. Make it as close to the books as possible, but also having to sacrifice portions that would just flop in the theaters. If you take that point of view when watching the movies, it results in an ENTIRELY better viewing experience.
 
TDK is great, but I don't think it deserves Oscar consideration for best picture due to its weak editing in the last 20 minutes or so. Not to mention the cheese factor of the bat vision and cell phone radar.
 
StoOgE said:
Yes, the Fellowship was the strongest of the three movies by far. It was very very well done and for the most part got the right feel down. Obviously for a movie they need to pump up the action and tone down the journey, and I felt the first movie struck a nice balance.

I'm not saying the movies were bad movies, they worked. I just thought the second two movies spent too much time with the battles and not enough on the plot. Cut out critical things to the story to make room for 45 minute siege scenes that really could have been cut down.

In fact, in Return of the King, they had a very lengthy action set piece that ended very abruptly anyway when the ghost soldiers showed up. They could have cut out huge chunks of it and made room for more stuff in the shire like you mentioned.
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Return of the King was the most plot heavy of the three. It spent enormous amounts of time on frodo and sam's journey, so i'll say your criticism doesn't make a whole lot of sense. The Two Towers was easily the most battle heavy movie of the three.
 
TheHeretic said:
Return of the King was the most plot heavy of the three. It spent enormous amounts of time on frodo and sam's journey, so i'll say your criticism doesn't make a whole lot of sense. The Two Towers was easily the most battle heavy movie of the three.
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Regardless, Fellowship was easily the most cohesive and enthralling of the trilogy. Man, I totally love that movie. Perfect beginning, amazing character moments, and a perfect ending.
 
BrandNew said:
Besides, it's not like he directed it or wrote it, so it's not going to be as preachy as his other movies
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I'm not too familiar with what exactly Penn has done, so I looked him up on IMDB. Looks like he directed Into the Wild, and before that 3 average looking dramas that I bet most people have completely forgotten by now.

What movies do people consider him preachy in?
 
Alucard said:
TDK is great, but I don't think it deserves Oscar consideration for best picture due to its weak editing in the last 20 minutes or so. Not to mention the cheese factor of the bat vision and cell phone radar.
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What about the cheese factor the permeates the goddamn entirety of Slumdog Millionaire?
 
The ending of Fellowship is incredibly made, especially the scene of Frodo standing alone on the shores before trying to escape by himself by boat. The VO of Gandalf from earlier in the movie, the close-up on the Ring, the close-up on Elijah, and then that incredible swell of Shore's orchestral piece....ahhh, it's lovely.
 
Jimmy Stav said:
I think that people who are rooting for TDK as best picture haven't seen very many movies this year.

I'm hoping either Doubt or The Wrestler wins best picture.
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lol, funny thing is Dark Knight totally deserves best picture over those two films (even though I enjoyed both).

BTW, Dark Knight is on more critics top 10 lists than both of those films.
 
jett said:
What about the cheese factor the permeates the goddamn entirety of Slumdog Millionaire?
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I haven't seen the movie so I can't comment, although from the ads I've seen it seems to work in the context of the film. TDK is supposed to be a serious and dark crime drama, so when all of a sudden you have the absolutely comical business of the bat vision and WTF reaction to cell phone triangulation, it slightly hinders the overall quality of the picture.

TDK is my favourite movie of the year, but it has issues. Same with Wall-E, which is another picture that has people complaining about its lack of recognition in utterly meaningless awards shows.
 
Futureman said:
I'm not too familiar with what exactly Penn has done, so I looked him up on IMDB. Looks like he directed Into the Wild, and before that 3 average looking dramas that I bet most people have completely forgotten by now.

What movies do people consider him preachy in?
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Ah, my mistake. For some reason I thought he had some part in producing/directing Mystic River, 21 Grams, etc.

But with Into the Wild, I remember he was really agitating while promoting it.
 
What would I like to see and don't
I think TDK deserves a nom in Best Picture. Hopefully it will get it. I also kinda want to see Button too since Fincher got robbed last year but I don't know if it deserve it or not. I'm just hoping its not like last year were they put in shit... With there "Indie" Film and standard affair Oscar bait. While not even mentioning films like Ratatouille or Zodiac. Then this year deciding to make amends by putting in Wall-E when it doesn't deserve it at all.

How do I want to see it go down?
Best Director, Danny Boyle. Had fantastic direction
Best Actor, Eastwood. Haven't seen Wrestle or Frost/Nixon. Where the other two popular choices come from, also Sean Penn in milk.
Best film, Milk, Again haven't seen everything but this has been my favorite so far.
 
I'm not saying Dark Knight deserves to win, but it certainly deserves a nomination. I've seen everything except for Revolutionary Road (which came out today in Aus) and The Reader (which comes out next week). The Wrestler deservers best actor, but I wouldn't put it above TDK as piece of filmmaking. Frost Nixon doesn't deserve a best picture nom.
 
Alucard said:
Regardless, Fellowship was easily the most cohesive and enthralling of the trilogy. Man, I totally love that movie. Perfect beginning, amazing character moments, and a perfect ending.
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Its my favourite also :)
 
RBelong2Us said:
lol, funny thing is Dark Knight totally deserves best picture over those two films (even though I enjoyed both).

BTW, Dark Knight is on more critics top 10 lists than both of those films.
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And yet, the only critics circle awards it won were Austin and Utah.

Slumdog won 11 (including a tie with Wall-E in Boston) as well as the Globe, Critic's Choice and NBR; Wall-E won 4 (again, with the tie); Milk won 4; Button 2; Frost/Nixon 1; Wendy and Lucy 1.

In other words, Top 10 Lists aren't entirely relevant.
 
Eric WK said:
And yet, the only critics circle awards it won were Austin and Utah.

Slumdog won 11 (including a tie with Wall-E in Boston) as well as the Globe, Critic's Choice and NBR; Wall-E won 4 (again, with the tie); Milk won 4; Button 2; Frost/Nixon 1; Wendy and Lucy 1.

In other words, Top 10 Lists aren't entirely relevant.
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He made the argument that people who think Dark Knight deserves best picture have not seen many films, yet Dark Knight is on plenty of critics top 10 lists and has a lot of top spots (62 top spots, far more than any film)

http://criticstop10.com/
 
Wall-E deserves a Best Pic nod. The problem is that it won't get it, since I still think it's terminally hamstrung by the Best Animated Feature category, as every previous animated film was. I'd be more than happy to be proven wrong, though.
 
RBelong2Us said:
He made the argument that people who think Dark Knight deserves best picture have not seen many films, yet Dark Knight is on plenty of critics top 10 lists and has a lot of top spots (62 top spots, far more than any film)

http://criticstop10.com/
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Yeah and it's also second on MCN's scoreboard. That doesn't prove him wrong. The average Dark Knight fan isn't also going out to see Milk and Slumdog Millionaire, much less something like Doubt or Revolutionary Road.
 
Scullibundo said:
TDK deserves to win best original score.
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Joker's theme was pretty cool but other than that I didn't find it to be terribly memorable and most of it was just re-hashed from Begins' soundtrack. There were plenty of other film scores released this year that were much better in every way if you ask me.
 
RBelong2Us said:
He made the argument that people who think Dark Knight deserves best picture have not seen many films, yet Dark Knight is on plenty of critics top 10 lists and has a lot of top spots (62 top spots, far more than any film)

http://criticstop10.com/
Click to expand...

I disagree with Wall-E being the top film. The romance was brilliant, the look at humanities future was ham fisted and shallow.
 
BrandNew said:
Blugh, this still baffles the motherfucking shit out of me. It was leeeeaaaagues better than Ratatouille.
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While I wouldn't say it was LEAGUES better, it was better.

I don't like the reasoning of "Ratatouille didn't get a best picture nomination so why should WALL•E?". It's annoying, even if you think Ratatouille was better.

Anyway, I give Ratatouille the Best Picture WIN in 2007, and I do the same with WALL•E in 2008. (WALL•E is my favorite Pixar film, Ratatouille is my second favorite. Both are masterpieces.)

So far my top five is:

1. WALL•E
2. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
3. Slumdog Millionaire (This is very close with Button, I don't know which I prefer)
4. Milk
5. Revolutionary Road

Still need to see:

The Dark Knight
Doubt
The Wrestler

In terms of Best Picture contenders as least.
 
BrandNew said:
Blugh, this still baffles the motherfucking shit out of me. It was leeeeaaaagues better than Ratatouille.
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I disagree completely.

Wall-E is an amazing first 30 minutes followed by a solid picture and a weak ending.

I much prefer Ratatouille. I don't think it is best picture material either, I just think it is a stronger movie from start to finish.

Monsters Inc is Pixar's best movie though.
 
TheHeretic said:
I disagree with Wall-E being the top film. The romance was brilliant, the look at humanities future was ham fisted and shallow.
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There's nothing to disagree with. No matter how many times you count the same lists, Wall-E will always be on top. ;D

But no, I actually agree with you on both points.

And A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Rat is the best thing Pixar has ever produced. Sorry BrandNew, but it's true.
 
StoOgE said:
I disagree completely.

Wall-E is an amazing first 30 minutes followed by a solid picture and a weak ending.

I much prefer Ratatouille. I don't think it is best picture material either, I just think it is a stronger movie from start to finish.

Monsters Inc is Pixar's best movie though.
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The Incredibles is better than Monsters Inc. ;)
 
Am I the only one who loves both WALL•E and Ratatouille? :lol

Ratatouille has better characterization, better dialogue, very talky, and very solid.

WALL•E is more epic, leaves more of an impact, more moving, more visual, more groundbreaking and although the quality drops off a little after the first third or so, it is still excellent with the scenes on the Axiom.
 
Zeliard said:
The Incredibles is better than Monsters Inc. ;)
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I like that movie a lot, I just think Monsters Inc is hugely imaginative and really clicked for me.

I like all of their movies though, so I have no problem with someone preferring a different one.

I even like Cars, just not as much
 
StoOgE said:
I disagree completely.

Wall-E is an amazing first 30 minutes followed by a solid picture and a weak ending.

I much prefer Ratatouille. I don't think it is best picture material either, I just think it is a stronger movie from start to finish.

Monsters Inc is Pixar's best movie though.
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See, and I don't even find Monsters, Inc. to be particularly good. People are different!
 
Eric WK said:
There's nothing to disagree with. No matter how many times you count the same lists, Wall-E will always be on top. ;D

But no, I actually agree with you on both points.

And A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Rat is the best thing Pixar has ever produced. Sorry BrandNew, but it's true.
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Indeed, its just an aggregate. The fact that Ratatouille wasn't nominated for best picture (instead winning best animated film) is probably the nail in the coffin for Pixar.
 
They're both fantastic. But where I see Ratatouille as just a great animated feature, I see influence and important animation progression in Wall-E. There's never been an animated movie I've seen that has so little to work with, and yet made so so much with it. It's the biggest step for animation since Toy Story.

I have never understood the complaints about human commentary with it. It's making a very true observation, and yet it's NOTHING that detracts from the film's main point: this robot yearns for relationship.
 
Since we're talking Pixar, I'm gonna quote my post from the other day:

NintendoTogepi said:
I love Pixar, but I've never actually been that big of a fan of Toy Story.

In terms of quality, I separate the Pixar movies into two groups...

Group One:
Monsters, Inc.
Toy Story
Toy Story 2
A Bug's Life
Cars

Group Two:
WALL•E
Ratatouille
Finding Nemo
The Incredibles

While Group One is still very good and full of entertaining movies, I say Group Two has the true best of Pixar. All four of those movies are masterpieces. I would put them all on my list of a top 25 movies of all time.

Of course, that's simplifying it a bit. To give a more detailed list:

Masterpieces:
WALL•E
Ratatouille
Finding Nemo
The Incredibles

Great:
Monsters, Inc

Good:
Toy Story (to be honest this and TS2 are pretty much tied)
Toy Story 2

Meh:
A Bug's Life
Cars

I'm not really looking forward to Toy Story 3 or Cars 2. They both sound terrible.

I see plenty of good things about Up and The Bear and Bow. Can't wait for them.
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NintendoTogepi said:
Since we're talking Pixar, I'm gonna quote my post from the other day:
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I absolutely agree with your top 4 picks. All those movies really do transcend from the typical "family friendly" movie.

BrandNew said:
I have never understood the complaints about human commentary with it. It's making a very true observation, and yet it's NOTHING that detracts from the film's main point: this robot yearns for relationship.
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Its a true observation handled in a very mediocre way. The message its trying to convey is pretty obvious, and the future it depicts feels desperately contrived to bring that message home. Whether or not it detracts from the relationship is a matter of opinion, its definitely a change in focus.
 
BrandNew said:
Blugh, this still baffles the motherfucking shit out of me. It was leeeeaaaagues better than Ratatouille.
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yeah....no.

Anyway TDK all the way guys, well what are some of the top contenders for the year besides that?
 
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