Crash- Page 3

[Unknown User]

Posted: 3/6/06 at 12:19am

Mr. Matt is correct. I posted (and just reposted) a thread from a month ago in which Academy members were secretly saying that they weren't going to see BBM because of subject matter. While they would truly be idiots to award a first time director over a three time nominee who has won every award imaginable or deny a script that had one every award, they ultimately couldn't back a gay movie for best picture. (And if you think they don't vote for things they haven't seen think again - I was talking to one member today.)

There was also incessant campaigning by the likes of many media figures for Crash, including Roger Ebert (good Catholic boy that he is), the planted media stories about how Crash was gaining momentum and the many stories of a whisper campaign again BBM.

I unfortunately was not surprised - only disgusted. Clearly a large group of Academy members couldn't get over their homophobic maladies to even see BBM.

This is the first time in the HISTORY OF FILM that a film has won NY & LA Critics Circle, DGA, PGA, WGA, BAFTA, etc - just about everything, and then lost the Oscar, and to the worst film in the field too. But Crash offered the easy answer - it pretends to be about racism while offering easy sentiment and schlock, but no one can argue with it's politics (unlike any of the other nominees). It was the safe alternative.

Years from now, this award for Crash is going to be an embarrassment to the film industry. But I won't be watching the Oscars next year.

[Peter]

Posted: 3/6/06 at 12:19am

It will be interesting to see what the media..and right wingers make of Brokebacks loss, even though it got 3, and Crash got 3 total. It certainly wasnt a total snub to BBM. Just a quick check at the oscars message board and I found several posts like this one:

"Thank GOD decency prevailed, and noone bought into the well-hyped gay propoganda. Noone wants to see that type of mess except others who subscribe to the same type of perversions!!! What's next, a "love story" about the President of NAMBLA and an 8-year-old boy?"

This was an extremely tight race this year, and it seems to me the Academy voters gave a lot of consideration to their votes.

On another note...who needs hammy Kristin Chenoweth when you have someone with similar attributes as Kristin, but a much better actress...REESE...

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 3/6/06 at 12:23am

No...it doesn't represent popular opinion. But the Academy has a broader spectrum of voters for Best Picture than other major awards.

It was obviously a tight race. To blame the win on homophobia is silly.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 3/6/06 at 12:25am

Unfortunately the right wing media machine is going to make a great deal about this, and they also will take some credit for it. They are going to claim that the country is turning more for "family values" and that the Oscar loss for BBM is just a sign.

Remember - Frist is going to reintroduce the anti-gay marriage amendment in about a month - in time to make it an issue for the next elections.

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 3/6/06 at 12:26am

I agree the right wing media will make a big deal of it, which is equally silly and unfortunate.

[ZONEACE]

Posted: 3/6/06 at 12:27am

4 words F*CK the cultural significance

Crash was just a better film.

[NYadgal]

Posted: 3/6/06 at 12:27am

That's a pretty bold statement, Pseudolus... you're not going to watch the Oscars next year because they voted for a movie this year that you didn't think was best?


By the way, Crash is NOT an embarrassment to the film industry. Crash IS the film industry.

Updated On: 3/6/06 at 12:27 AM

[zepka102]

Posted: 3/6/06 at 12:30am

dont you wish it just came down to "which is a better movie... this, this, this, this, or this" (i say 5 to include ALL nominated movies)... seriously, if you think of it that way, these arguments wouldnt be so annoying!

[eslgr8]

Posted: 3/6/06 at 12:30am

My one and only statement on this topic.

Brokeback Mountain won Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Score. 3 Oscars ain't bad, especially the one for Ang Lee.

It would appear that the Oscar voters were very much split between the two films. Both won Best Screenplay awards. Both won a third Oscar (Crash's 3rd being for Editing.)

My best guess is that many Academy members split their vote, loving both films, preferring to give Ang Lee his due (especially after proving his worth and versatility in so many other films) while wanting to recognize Paul Haggis's long struggle to make Crash and the fact that it was both a critical and popular hit.

We will never know, but I would venture to guess that the wining margin in the Best Picture race between Brokeback Mountain and Crash was one of the slimmest in Oscar history.

As one of the first and most vocal Brokeback Mountain champions on this board, I am disappointed that it didn't add an Oscar to its string of Best Picture awards. But its critical and commercial success (it's about to top $80 million in the U.S. alone and Box Office Mojo.com calls it the "most impressive" film at the box office of 2005) are more than anyone could ever have dreamed of.

Because of this film, many people will think twice before seeing a same gender relationship as sinful or purely sexual.
Because of this film, many gay people will choose to live their lives more honestly and openly.
As Entertainment Weekly's Owen Glieberman predicted, this film has indeed changed hearts and minds.

I'm sad it didn't win, but the big picture is a bright one for Brokeback Mountain.

Continue the discussion. :)

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 3/6/06 at 12:30am

I have to wonder if everyone getting their panties in a bunch about this has to do with what the film personally meant to them. Where were all of you when Passion of the Christ was completely snubbed?

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 3/6/06 at 12:31am

Addy - that is true.

Crash might have won just because it has so many connections within the film industry.

Someone else mentioned that between its production staff and actors, it had a good deal of connections and relationships to others within the Academy.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 3/6/06 at 12:33am

I certainly don't think that homophobia was the only reason that Crash won because I know enough people who really liked the film on it's own merits. However, it wouldn't suprise me if the votes of anti-Brokeback people were what tipped the scales. Then again, it could have been a blowout for Crash. This is one year where I'd love to know how close the voting was.

[donna_darko_23]

Posted: 3/6/06 at 12:34am

Basically once the "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" song won for original song, I figured Crash would also win. I had been looking forward to these awards since about January. Only to be signicantly let down by bad pre-show, terrible broadcasting by ABC, and some undeserving winners. BB loss to Crash was certainly the worst of the night. I wasn't even as sad as I was mad at the acadamy. I saw Crash, BB, and Good Night (I still wanting to see the other two best picture nods), and frankly Crash was the worst of the three. Not to say that Crash was a bad movie - because it wasn't at all. However, it wasn't as good of a script, acting, or cinematogaphy as the BB or Good Night. Plus, both of the other two really stuck with me for awhile after seeing the movie, I mean for days or weeks, they really made me think, but not Crash. I agree with everyone else on here saying that BB will be the greater film that is remembered for years to come. I think in many peoples mind is rightfully the best picture of the year.

[Roninjoey]

Posted: 3/6/06 at 12:35am

Bah, I could give two bites of my thumb about Passion of the Christ.

I don't care about the politics involved, I'm just pissed that the lesser (still good, but lesser) movie won.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 3/6/06 at 12:38am

Eric - it's worse than unfortunate, it will be a distraction from the evil things Bush and Cheney are doing, while we focus the country for the next week on hating gay people. It a bit of an old trick by now, but they have it down to a science.

And as for watching the Oscars - frankly I'm sick of the lame shows going really long with so much self-importance, when with the exception of LOTR-ROTK they continue to honor mediocre films. Frankly, I though Munich was the second best (though flawed) film of the year, closely followed by A History of Violence. (I have to see Match Point & The Constant Gardner). If you've read my post you know how I feel about Crash.

But I'm sick of the predictability - even when they are unpredictable they are predictable. (Last year the three best films IMHO were Sideways, Before Sunset and Eternal Sunshine, two of which weren't even nominated. Million Dollar Baby was OK but was more about emotional button-pushing and being grim than enlightening the human condition. Before it was A Beautiful Mind, which was a perfectly MEDIOCRE movie - easily the worst of the nominated films that year.)

A BBM win could have been important for some of us, as much to see a great film honor as to see a great film about gay people honored - instead it's just business as usual for the Academy, so why should I help them earn their ad revenues?

[ihearttheatre]

Posted: 3/6/06 at 12:40am

Although issue of racism is greatly important, it seemed as though Crash was trying to be more meaningful than it actually was. I thought it was above average, but certainly nothing extraordinary. I can't say whether it deserved the Oscar, having never seen Brokeback Mountain.

[Kringas]

Posted: 3/6/06 at 12:40am

But I'm sick of the predictability - even when they are unpredictable they are predictable.

That just blew my mind.

[NYadgal]

Posted: 3/6/06 at 12:40am

Are you a Nielsen family, Psuedolus?

If not, it doesn't help them earn their ad revenue at all. It doesn't matter.

Updated On: 3/6/06 at 12:40 AM

[Roninjoey]

Posted: 3/6/06 at 12:40am

Guys! The producers of Crash have announced that instead of taking it on tour, they're opening a new show in Las Vegas! BASTARDS!

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 3/6/06 at 12:41am

"it will be a distraction from the evil things Bush and Cheney are doing, while we focus the country for the next week on hating gay people. It a bit of an old trick by now, but they have it down to a science."

But that doesn't mean it should win Best Picture.

And it's Erik...with a k.

[zepka102]

Posted: 3/6/06 at 12:42am

eslgr8, best posting i've read in a while... you rock


remember when we would go to the movies for enjoyment and as a way of escaping reality? yea, i miss that

[Jane2]

Posted: 3/6/06 at 12:44am

I'm glad Crash won, but I do know the extent they campaigned. Not only did they send dvds to academy members, but also to the SAG nominating committee, AND to every SAG member in the family. My friend's family received 5 dvds of Crash.

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 3/6/06 at 12:46am

Crash has been out for so long, I am actually surprised it won.

I do not remember ever being able to buy a DVD months before the Academy Awards for a film that was/would be nominated for best picture.

[NYadgal]

Posted: 3/6/06 at 12:46am

That's the industry, Jane...

Updated On: 3/6/06 at 12:46 AM

[Thesbijean]

Posted: 3/6/06 at 12:48am

I think what hurt Brokeback the most was that it was overhyped. I have an academy voter friend who said to me exactly "I voted for Crash, I honestly felt it was by far the best picture of the year. But on a side note, we don't like being told what we should vote for, we vote for what we want, not what critics want."