Originally Posted By Dabob2 Little Miss Sunshine is in my Netflix cue. <Never underestimate Randy Newman in the song category. > Wouldn't be surprised to see him win again, if only because he was denied so long, so many times. When he finally did win, it wasn't for one of his stronger songs, IMO. (And how did "When She Loved Me" NOT win?)
Originally Posted By TALL Disney Guy <BTW it always cracks me up the nominations are announced and when they announce like Best Live Action Short subject and you hear a tiny "woo" and half a clap coming from the back.> LOL, kind of like the King of Hearts gag in "Alice in Wonderland". ;-) <As long as the Departed and Scorese wins that's all I care about.> Amen! I've never even seen a Scorsese film, but I just feel for him having been nominated so times and never winning. And last year when folks thought it might be his year, and then Clint comes in and takes it by getting "Million Dollar Baby" out to theaters at the last minute. Grrr. <Director: DGA notwithstanding, I knew the Academy wouldn't forget Clint ... they love their Clint.> Uh-oh...
Originally Posted By oc_dean >>My initial thoughts: Best Picture: Wow, no "Dreamgirls". Wasn't too thrilled about it to begin with, but buzz was high.<< Buzz .. and whether a film is truly deserving of a Oscar nomination can be two different things.
Originally Posted By barboy "I wonder how long the Academy can keep up a reputation with the public if they keep picking obscure movies." I think you might have it backwards. The Academy keeps its reputation by ostensibly picking movies and performances solely on merit and artistic value rather than popularity.
Originally Posted By Dlmusic <<The Academy keeps its reputation by ostensibly picking movies and performances solely on merit and artistic value rather than popularity.>> Why does artistic value and merit have to be exclusive of popularity? I was just pointing out that the Academy's tastes seem to differ greatly from the general public. If you think that's a good thing, that's great. But I was just wondering of wether or not the general public (considering they seem to have a very different point of view from the Academy) will respect the Oscars considering the big difference between the two. Do I think the Oscars need to "dumb down" to appease the masses? No. But I also think the Oscars need to stop pandering to the dramas and reward solid comedies from time to time.
Originally Posted By Ursula Whoooooooo, I won't get into my opinion on the Academy vs. Popular choice because I know too much and too many voters now and I would just sound like a snobby snot. BUT WE GOT TWO NODS!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!! But Babel didn't get a Best Sound nod, which is a shame if you listen to reel 4 specifically.
Originally Posted By ecdc >>I wonder how long the Academy can keep up a reputation with the public if they keep picking obscure movies.<< I don't think this has anything to do with the Academy per se, and everything to do with studios unwillingness to invest time or money marketing the Babels, Queens, Pans Labrynths, etc. of the world. The moviegoing audience has a hand in this too; we'd rather see Pirates of the Carribean 2 (sucked!) or X-Men 3 (lame!) instead of the Queen (brilliant) or the Departed (superb!).
Originally Posted By DAR Although the positives you can take from an X-Men 3 or Pirates 2(of which I enjoyed both) is that it allows the Babels and Pans Labrynths to be made.
Originally Posted By LVCajun <"Pan's Labyrinth" (which did very well over all for a foreign language film with 6 nods) in there as well, I'm dying to see this one.> I saw this one today...I loved this movie. <Saw 'Little Miss Sunshine' last night, best movie I've seen in some time.> I watched this movie..hated it. Everybody keeps raving about it so I rented it again...again hated it. I hate being in the minority and not understanding why. Still want to see Little Children. OK the only reason I want to see this movie is because of my stalker-like obsession with Kate Winslet. And I want to see Last King of Scotland because of all the good press it has been given. Looking at the nominees I think I need to get out and see more movies. I haven't seen many of them yet.
Originally Posted By oc_dean Incase anyone thinks it's "Artistic" merit over "Popularity" ... Lets take a look at the Academy Award winner for 1965...... Sound of Music over Dr. Zhivago !!!! ----------- On another note...... it's the sum of all parts .. the whole "scope". I didn't particulary care for the boxing movie Clint Eastwood made that got Best Picture. Putting my tastes aside ... so many elements DID really come together. The directing, the cast, the script, etc, etc, etc. And on Sound of Music winning over Dr. Zhivago .... it may have partly do to with musicals capturing a level of imagination that sometimes goes beyond dramas. The 60s gave actually quite a few Oscar winners to musicals: 1961: West Side Story 1964: My Fair Lady 1965: Sound of Music 1968: Oliver 4 out of 10
Originally Posted By Fe Maiden <<I watched this movie..hated it. Everybody keeps raving about it so I rented it again...again hated it. I hate being in the minority and not understanding why.>> You're not alone, my wife hated it. I knew going in that she wouldn't like it. Anything that is too "quirky" for lack of a better term, she does not like.
Originally Posted By jdub <<The Departed isn't really obscure.>> Correct, it is in NO WAY obscure--nor is it in any way the best picture of the year. I'd hate to see this get the prize by way of being a Lifetime Achievement Award for Scorcese. There are several films that SHOULD be on this list (Last King of Scotland, for one), while The Departed & Little Miss Sunshine, while being GOOD films, (well, great & alright, respectively, lol) do not belong here. I think that among those nominated, the most deserving of the award is Letters from Iwo Jima.
Originally Posted By LVCajun <Anything that is too "quirky"...> Funny thing is I live for quirky movies just not this one.
Originally Posted By Dlmusic The only movie of the Best Picture nominees I've seen is The Queen, which I thought was one of the best movies I've seen in a while.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 <And I want to see Last King of Scotland because of all the good press it has been given.> The movie as a whole I thought was only so-so. But Whitaker is amazing.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<Letters from Iwo Jima $2 million>> <<While I know that artistic films don't tend to be the big money makers, I wonder how long the Academy can keep up a reputation with the public if they keep picking obscure movies.>> I think A LONG time. When marginal films like POTC 2 lead the pack in money makers and an outstanding film like Letters from Iwo Jima just pulls in 2 million, I’m glad there is an Academy around that rates films on merit rather than popularity. <<The Academy keeps its reputation by ostensibly picking movies and performances solely on merit and artistic value rather than popularity.>> Absolutley!! The Academy, like any organization, makes mistakes. But year in and year out I truly believe they reward true quality. <<I think that among those nominated, the most deserving of the award is Letters from Iwo Jima.>> It is certainly one of my top two. I also thought The Departed was excellent movie making. I almost hate to choose between the two because they are so totally different movies but both outstanding in their own way. P.S. My wife and I just saw Letters from Iwo Jima earlier this evening. It is an awesome film… do yourself a favor and try to see it.
Originally Posted By ecdc >>P.S. My wife and I just saw Letters from Iwo Jima earlier this evening. It is an awesome film… do yourself a favor and try to see it.<< My wife and I caught this tonight as well. Highly recommended.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 I finally saw the Queen. I was surprised to see it nominated for Best Picture, because I thought "well, I'm sure Mirren's great, and Frears always does interesting films and I'm sure it's quite good, but Best Picture? Seems unlikely..." But after seeing it, I think it deserves the nomination. It's one of those movies that works on several levels and ends up being "about" more than just its ostensible subject. I don't know that it deserves to win, since I haven't seen all the other nominees, but I do think it deserved the nomination.
