The Academy Awards Discussion Thread

[Sxottlan]

The Artist was not the best film of the Best Picture nominees, but it was a very good movie, so I'm fine with it winning. I'm sure the Weinsteins will now go nuts again with the Oscar bait films over the next couple years. It was nice how they were irrelevant lately. I'd say The Artist is actually my favorite Weinstein film, but I probably like it because they didn't actually have anything to do with the actual production, just buying it up and distributing it.


HA! No reaction for Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. Except for one very audible "Boo!", that is!

Really? Ha! Didn't hear it, but that's great!

[EyesWideOpen]

This is the only time I can remember where the film I liked the most out of the nominated films actually won Best Picture.

[amberlita]

They pimped the Moneyball score so hard in this telecast I'm surprised it wasn't nominated. Oh wait, no I'm not surprised, because the best of the year is never recognized in these stupid awards.

[DavidSeven]

I'm sure the Weinsteins will now go nuts again with the Oscar bait films over the next couple years. It was nice how they were irrelevant lately.

Irrelevant? They won Best Picture last year too.

It's actually pretty sad how easily and transparently Weinstein is able to manipulate this entire event year after year.

[DavidSeven]

They pimped the Moneyball score so hard in this telecast I'm surprised it wasn't nominated. Oh wait, no I'm not surprised, because the best of the year is never recognized in these stupid awards.

That's an original song that was not written specifically for the film.

[number8]

Well, the Weinsteins just picked a fight with the MPAA a couple of days ago and promised a boycott, so we'll see what happens next year.

[amberlita]

That's an original song that was not written specifically for the film.

Facts are not relevant when I'm bitching.

[Spinal]

Didn't see a minute of it. Was at rehearsal all night. Looks like I didn't miss much.

[Sxottlan]

Irrelevant? They won Best Picture last year too.

They did? Jeez I don't even remember what won last year.

[dreamdead]

Best award: A Separation not getting snubbed for a Holocaust film

Worst award: ignoring Emmanuel Lubezki for a fifth time

[Ezee E]

Weinsteins have been as relevant as ever since switching to their own company.

[Sxottlan]

Maybe I'm just getting better at tuning them out. I used to have almost a physical reaction whenever I saw the old Miramax logo. Or maybe their films are getting better. I really liked The Artist and I enjoyed The King's Speech.

Or more likely I just don't know what I'm talking about.

By the way, Robert Richardson as Sam Elliott sings all your favorite hits.

http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/R.Q5CfU_6KH4V833LaFQcw--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9aW5zZXQ7aD 05MzQ7cT04NTt3PTYzMA--/http://l.yimg.com/os/251/2012/02/27/Robert-Richardson-jpg_054340.jpg

[Morris Schæffer]

Sam Eliot? :). When I saw his figure striding over the red carpet in the distance, I was thinking Saruman. :)

[Sxottlan]

A mixed bag of a show. Maybe they went with Crystal because they needed him to dress up what was otherwise a rather bland presentation. Probably a side effect of having to swap out show producers. Who knows?

Crystal took quite a while to warm up, but he finally got going about an hour into it. His Super Tuesday line introducing Christian Bale got the biggest laugh from me. In general it was good to have him back, but are people forgetting how good Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin were a few years ago? Or John Stewart?

I don't have a problem with most of the wins. All the acting wins were basically deserved. Paris and France were the biggest winners of the night with three of the winning films having connections. While I really liked Hugo, I do think it hogged the technicals and so Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Tree of Life were robbed of visual effects and cinematography respectively. Harry Potter's finale walking away with nothing is also kind of disgraceful.

I will admit that I like the compromise they have struck with the presentation of the acting categories. Doing the testimonials for all four were a horrible grind, especially when there were no clips. Now they do the supporting categories the old-fashioned way and just do the testimonials for the lead categories before going into an individual clip. The presentation of the rest of the categories were very bland however. The sound categories had no real introductions. No real example of the work being nominated, just lots of flashing panels and people extolling the work of the nominees. I've liked in years past when they've had the nominees talk about their own work.

No special segments set aside for the individual films nominated for Best Picture either.

I'm glad however they didn't perform the nominated songs.

[[ETM]]

At least Brett McKenzie got one. What a bore overall.

[number8]

In case you guys couldn't tell, I was drunk throughout the Oscars. I am paying for it this morning.

[Dukefrukem]

In case you guys couldn't tell, I was drunk throughout the Oscars. I am paying for it this morning.

The Glenn Close comment? :lol:

[Dukefrukem]

mhAg0COnqds

[baby doll]

Werner Herzog should host the Oscars.I would watch that. Especially if he co-hosted with Béla Tarr. Or Kermit.

[number8]

The Glenn Close comment? :lol:

I'm standing by everything I said.

[Sycophant]

I decided last night that Andrew WK would be the perfect Oscars host.

Will Ferrell, the Bridesmaids, and the Mac & Cheese commercial with Seymour Cassell were the highlights.

[Sycophant]

Oh, and all those adorable French people. <3

[number8]

the Mac & Cheese commercial with Seymour Cassell

Yes!

[Morris Schæffer]

The Glenn Close comment? :lol:

Haha good one buddy.:cool:

[MadMan]

mhAg0COnqdsYes I caught this since I was watching E! Red Carpet thing for the first time ever. It was merely slightly amusing at best.

I think I missed out on a couple of things last night due to being too busy living chatting about the Oscars with people from another message board while also posting on two other message boards (this being one of them) at the same time.


In general it was good to have him back, but are people forgetting how good Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin were a few years ago? Or John Stewart?Stewart was too limited to be really good, but I did like Martin and Baldwin together as hosts.

[Sycophant]

Billy Crystal just doesn't do it for me as a host. Degeneres, Stewart, Rock, Martin, Baldwin, and Jackman were all better hosts, and I think even last year's Hathaway-Franco team up was more interesting in their boringness.

[Derek]

I think even last year's Hathaway-Franco team up was more interesting in their boringness.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j94/DSmith724/francowave.gif

[Watashi]

Brad Bird should host the Oscars.

[Ivan Drago]

mhAg0COnqds

One of the funniest things I've ever heard anyone say in my life is now "You've got Kim Jong-Il all over you."

[DavidSeven]

Billy Crystal just doesn't do it for me as a host. Degeneres, Stewart, Rock, Martin, Baldwin, and Jackman were all better hosts, and I think even last year's Hathaway-Franco team up was more interesting in their boringness.

Same. I really don't get the appeal.

I'd definitely throw Emma Stone in the highlights column.

[Watashi]

Rude Alexander Payniacs who lampooned Angelina Jolie. Ungallant. Smug. Obnoxious. Just like The Descendants.

Heh.

[DavidSeven]

I don't really have a problem with Jolie, but her pose was absurd. Jim Rash might have supplied the only great "live TV moment" of the entire telecast.

[Derek]

I don't really have a problem with Jolie, but her pose was absurd. Jim Rash might have supplied the only great "live TV moment" of the entire telecast.

I agree. I thought it hilarious at the time, but Armond is the expert in being smug and obnoxious, so I'll have to let him have the last word on this one.

[Ezee E]

If Jolie was known more for comedy, it would've been highlighted for other reasons. Fairly sure she was laughing as she put the leg out. Smug meh.

With that, I always wonder what big time actors have solid comedic timing that we never see. Milla Jovovich for one... For those that saw her in Dummy

[Grouchy]

Eh, Crystal is basically an idiot. The only time an Oscar host was ever funny for me in my lifetime was Chris Rock.

[Qrazy]

Crystal is a good host because he is impish but well meaning. He suits the general ambience of the Oscars like a glove.

Which is not to say that the Oscars themselves are worth watching.

[megladon8]

Eh, Chris Rock is an idiot. Billy Crystal is one of the better hosts in a long track record of mediocre hosts.


Fixed that for ya.

[Grouchy]

Fixed that for ya.
Ugh, no.

[Ezee E]

Rock is funny as stand up but can't do the medleys well. Combine him with someone like Steve Martin would be good.

[Derek]

Eh, the host usually has very little impact on how much I enjoy the show, which is always some, but not all that much. I'd rather have Stewart than Hathaway, but the Oscars are what they are and the quality of the host seems not to have much of an impact. Until they let someone like Zach G. or Louis C.K., which they never will, it'll continue to be exactly the same.

[Grouchy]

I guess I just don't enjoy polite humor. I like laughing.

[Sycophant]

Crystal's shtick feels way too Hollywood insidery for my tastes. A lot of the other hosts are decidedly Hollywood people, but they don't seem so damn Hollywood.

[Boner M]

http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/424793_284578074942579_1614420 90589512_694107_855714597_n.jp g

[Morris Schæffer]

Wasn't there a time a host had more screentime? All of Crystal's appearances feel so brief, inconsequential and perhaps that impacts the quality of the gig.

[megladon8]

I guess I just don't enjoy polite humor. I like laughing.


I don't understand this post.

[Dukefrukem]

I don't understand this post.

He's implying that no only did he not think Angelina Jolie was being funny/cute/obvious in her leg stance during the Oscers, that he would much rather see WilL Ferrel and Zach Galifianakis walk onto the stage with cymbals than having anyone attempt a funny/cute/obvious scenario.

[dreamdead]

The Oscar for best animated short film, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (http://www.vulture.com/2012/02/watch-the-oscar-winner-for-best-animated-short.html), has been posted here, in case you haven't already seen it. It's very sweet.

[number8]

Crystal's shtick feels way too Hollywood insidery for my tastes. A lot of the other hosts are decidedly Hollywood people, but they don't seem so damn Hollywood.

This. One of the biggest problems of Oscar hosts is that they tend to play the joke for the crowd rather than the people watching at home, and Crystal exemplified that to the nth. When Jon Stewart hosted, he took the exact opposite approach, and he was criticized for it.

[megladon8]

He's implying that no only did he not think Angelina Jolie was being funny/cute/obvious in her leg stance during the Oscers, that he would much rather see WilL Ferrel and Zach Galifianakis walk onto the stage with cymbals than having anyone attempt a funny/cute/obvious scenario.


Yeah, I understood his post, I just don't understand the notion that one can only laugh at someone being impolite.

That's weird.

[number8]

Grouchy, you should watch the Spirit Awards. I always prefer it.

qL8yFsle6l4

[Qrazy]

Stopped watching after 'I have an erection just saying his name'.

[number8]

Stopped watching after 'I have an erection just saying his name'.

So brave.

[number8]

I just really like how much Laura Dern enjoyed Rogen's Chris Brown joke.

[Lucky]

I just really like how much Laura Dern enjoyed Rogen's Chris Brown joke.

Wasn't that Patricia Clarkson? You talking about 5:45?

[Dukefrukem]

I just really like how much Laura Dern enjoyed Rogen's Chris Brown joke.

My favorite was the Michael Shannon joke.

[Spinal]

At what point did we as a society forget how to do the damn Oscars? Maybe this is nostalgia or something, but I don't remember it being that tough to make it a watchable, enjoyable evening when I was younger.

[Dukefrukem]

At what point did we as a society forget how to do the damn Oscars? Maybe this is nostalgia or something, but I don't remember it being that tough to make it a watchable, enjoyable evening when I was younger.

The older we get, the more sinister we become.

[number8]

Wasn't that Patricia Clarkson? You talking about 5:45?

Oh...


...She looks like Laura Dern to me.

[Spinal]

The older we get, the more sinister we become.

Sinister or cynical? Because I actually think I'm less cynical than I was in my 20s. I've been trying to be more sinister though. I bought a cauldron.

[MadMan]

The problem with the Oscars is that you either for a tightly paced, faster show that ends up being boring, or go for the more entertaining show that ends up running way too long. Of course the Oscars right now is a mix of both so it ends up satisfying no one. Also they should really stop worrying about ratings and trying to please everyone and just nominate movies that are clearly worthy instead of crowd pleasing crap such as that Incredibly Loud movie or The Help for Best Picture.

[Spinal]

I always feel like they do this weird mix of rushing people in the moments we don't want them to be rushed and, on the other hand, wasting time on ill-conceived diversions that we don't want to take. I really don't think it's that hard. Just stay on task. Don't nominate 9-10 films for Best Picture. I'm a movie lover and I can't keep all that in my brain. When I talk to people about the upcoming Oscars and they say 'What's nominated?', I should be able to say 'Bam, bam, bam, bam and bam.'

But the main thing I want is clips from the nominated performances. It's the right thing to do.

[MadMan]

It should be that simple, but they just make it complicated. And for God's sake have the balls to actually select a host that may mix things up a bit.

[number8]

I seriously do not understand the decision to expand the Best Picture nominees. I am 90% convinced that it was a backend deal between the Academy and the studios with absolutely no other goal other than to be able to boost the dwindling market by giving more movies the opportunity to market itself as a Best Picture nominee.

[Ezee E]

How about clip montages that extend beyond "the love of film."

[Spinal]

How about clip montages that extend beyond "the love of film."

To paraphrase Planes, Trains and Automobiles ...

When you do these little montages, here's a good idea ... HAVE A POINT!

[Derek]

I seriously do not understand the decision to expand the Best Picture nominees. I am 90% convinced that it was a backend deal between the Academy and the studios with absolutely no other goal other than to be able to boost the dwindling market by giving more movies the opportunity to market itself as a Best Picture nominee.

It also allows them to cater the red staters who are usually turned off by Hollywood liberals with drek that otherwise wouldn't pass for Best Picture (ie, Blind Side last year, EL&IC this year).

[Qrazy]

I seriously do not understand the decision to expand the Best Picture nominees. I am 90% convinced that it was a backend deal between the Academy and the studios with absolutely no other goal other than to be able to boost the dwindling market by giving more movies the opportunity to market itself as a Best Picture nominee.

I like the fact that it allows for increased marketability. It helps people learn about solid films (the fluff pics aside). Remember when we'd all complain about how if a film wasn't nominated it was snubbed? Well now it's a little rarer for a top end domestic film not to receive at least a nom.

[Boner M]

As a Blockbuster employee, the expanded Best Picture nominees has meant much strained, feigned sympathy with numerous jilted customers who rented Tree of Life and A Serious Man and didn't get the 'great stories' of The Help/The Blind Side/et al.

[Grouchy]

I seriously do not understand the decision to expand the Best Picture nominees. I am 90% convinced that it was a backend deal between the Academy and the studios with absolutely no other goal other than to be able to boost the dwindling market by giving more movies the opportunity to market itself as a Best Picture nominee.
I just chalk this up to "there are more people in the world". So, if before the studios once got settled with five films, now they've got more money to distribute.

[Grouchy]

Grouchy, you should watch the Spirit Awards. I always prefer it.

qL8yFsle6l4
Well, see, you're right. I enjoyed that.

[Grouchy]

Specially the Argentina joke.

[Rowland]

the expanded Best Picture nominees has meant much strained, feigned sympathy with numerous jilted customers who rented Tree of Life I've had multiple people bring up their bafflement/irritation/etc. over The Tree of Life, knowing that I'm the movie guy and all. My boss knew that I loved the film, and upon renting it insisted that I explain to her what it was about and why I liked it. She said she was so bored that she had to get up and clean the house while it was on, so she missed bits and pieces of it, but her theory was that the children were molested. :frustrated:

[MadMan]

Well the children did have an abusive asshole for a father, but there was no evidence of molestation....

Unless the ratings for the Academy Awards have been going up, there is no real point in expanding the Best Picture nominees to 9 or 10. ABC is going to keep airing the awards and people are going to keep watching no matter what, so why not just limit it to 5-6 and simply stop worrying about what stupid neo-con radio hosts think. The Oscars will always be see as too elitists by those who don't properly appreciate film, and too mainstream by folks like us who post on message boards and heavily discuss movies.

[Ezee E]

I blame The Dark Knight not getting nominated as one of the reasons that the Best Pics nom went to 10. Then the Blind Side for why they went with 5-10. Extremely Loud and INcredibly Close may change that now.

Seriously though, do red staters even like that movie? The book was good, but yikes... The preview was so bad I didn't even bother.

And yes... montages need to have a point. I don't think any of those from this year did. I was pleasantly surprised that Amelie was spotlighted at one of them though.

[baby doll]

As a Blockbuster employeeIs that still a thing?

[Boner M]

Is that still a thing?
In Australia, yes. Ours was actually the (stastically proven!) lowest earning Blockbuster store in Sydney until we moved to a smaller space, sharing with a sports goods store through a door entrance, and a loud gym on the floor above knocking the rent down even further. It's ridiculously quiet much of the time. I love it.

[Derek]

In Australia, yes. Ours was actually the (stastically proven!) lowest earning Blockbuster store in Sydney until we moved to a smaller space, sharing with a sports goods store through a door entrance, and a loud gym on the floor above knocking the rent down even further. It's ridiculously quiet much of the time. I love it.

Do people still complain about letterboxing, etc. or have widescreen tv's finally wiped that particular scourge from the earth?

[Boner M]

Do people still complain about letterboxing, etc. or have widescreen tv's finally wiped that particular scourge from the earth?
Most of the customers likely don't know what letterboxing is. I assume the ones with that level of savvy have no use for a Blockbuster nowadays.

[Dukefrukem]

Sinister or cynical? Because I actually think I'm less cynical than I was in my 20s. I've been trying to be more sinister though. I bought a cauldron.

That's the joke. (a poor one I suppose). I feel like as MC ages, we become not just more critical, but take great pleasure in it.

[Sycophant]

I am really kind of confused about the way "red stater" is being thrown around in this thread.

[Derek]

I am really kind of confused about the way "red stater" is being thrown around in this thread.

Red Stater = people who live in the middle of the country and love The Blind Side. Of course, it's reductive and not completely lacking in meanspiritedness, so I assumed it would confuse you. :)

[Qrazy]

In Australia, yes.

Is that still a thing?

[Dead & Messed Up]

I seriously do not understand the decision to expand the Best Picture nominees. I am 90% convinced that it was a backend deal between the Academy and the studios with absolutely no other goal other than to be able to boost the dwindling market by giving more movies the opportunity to market itself as a Best Picture nominee.

I actually kinda dig it. Hearkens back to classic Hollywood times, gives a few more films exposure, showcases a larger variety of film styles and stories.

Even when we had five nominees, it's usually a two-horse race due to earlier award ceremonies, so why not make the whole thing a larger celebration of the medium? (On that note, I liked the testimonials with actors and directors talking about the films that they first saw.)

I have no doubt there were corporate considerations as well.