Even More Oscar Fun! Should Brokeback Mountain Have Won Best Picture?- Page 2

[uncageg]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 4:21pm

Brokeback was a beautiful film through and through. And I cried. But CRASH stuck with me for several days. I couldn't shake it. I think it deserved to win.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 4:37pm

The fact remains that "Brokeback" didn't win, so I fail to see how arguing about whether it should have would qualify as "fun."

I never said arguing about it is fun. Watching people argue about it (again) is what's so much fun! For more fun, on the main board, ask if Avenue Q deserved to win Best Musical.

Wheee!!

Just for the record, I agree with blueroses. As per usual.

[fflagg]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 4:39pm

No.

Boring picture.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 4:44pm

BROKEBACK was by far the best of the nominated films, easily superior to that tired load of cliches called CRAP, sorry, CRASH.

[broadway86]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 6:51pm

But CRASH stuck with me for several days.

Oddly enough, the only thing about Crash that stuck with me was how much it pissed me off.

[luvcaroline]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 8:05pm

To me, Crash was a better picture.

Why not expand it to other years where there were "upsets:"

1980 Ordinary People (which won) vs. Raging Bull (My pic: Bull)

1985 Out of Africa (won) vs. Color Purple (My pic: Purple)

1989 Driving Miss Daisy (won) vs. Born on Fourth or July (My pic: July)

1998 Shakespeare in Love (won) vs. Saving Private Ryan (my pic: Ryan)

[AnnaK<3LMIP]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 8:09pm

1985 Out of Africa (won) vs. Color Purple (My pic: Purple)

I'm glad Out of Africa won, but The Color Purple deserved it too....

Saving Private Ryan should have won over Shakespeare in Love

[broadway86]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 8:21pm

I acknowledge both Raging Bull and Saving Private Ryan's places in film history. However, I prefer the actual winners.

'85 and '89 had very good winners, but I'll agree that July and Purple should've had it.

[zepka102]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 8:50pm

Shakespeare deserved it... Saving Private Ryan didn't hold my attention as much.

[AnnaK<3LMIP]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 9:02pm

Well, to give credit where it belongs, I did like the originality behind Shakespear in Love.

[luvcaroline]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 9:48pm

"'85 and '89 had very good winners, but I'll agree that July and Purple should've had it."

That is quite true. Ordinary People and Shakespeare in Love were considered much bigger upsets in their respective years. I think that the biggest shock of all in 1985 was that Color Purple won absolutely NO Oscars, and I remember that they had many nominations.

Am I missing other big upsets in recent years?

[broadway86]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 9:57pm

Am I missing other big upsets in recent years?

Unless I'm mistaking, no one expected Silence of the Lambs to win the top 5 awards.

Also, depending on how you look at it, '95, '81, '79, and '76 (among other, earlier years) featured surprise winners. It's interesting that most of the Academy's decisions have been contested, throughout the decades.

[luvcaroline]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 10:09pm

"Unless I'm mistaking, no one expected Silence of the Lambs to win the top 5 awards."

Right, Bugsy and JFK were both up for a lot of noms. that year.

I guess Reds was considered the favorite in 1981, but I'm not sure who was supposed to win in 95 (Apollo 13?). You are absolutely right about 79...I think that Apocalypse Now was considered a lock (and looking back now, it should've been)

[broadway86]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 10:23pm

I think that Apocalypse Now was considered a lock (and looking back now, it should've been)

As with Raging Bull, I certainly do recognize it as a cinematic achievement. Buuut... I have to go with Kramer on this one. :-|

[roquat]

Posted: 2/14/08 at 12:42am

These discussions can be fun, no question, but come ON. How many times has the Academy Award actually gone to the artist/movie who deserved it?

I'm still fuming over the fact that Spielberg's masterpiece, E.T. (yes, masterpiece!) lost out to that unwatchable load of prestige-movie cliches GANDHI. Who willingly watches that anymore, except in motion-picture appreciation classes?

On the other hand, I may be the only person on earth who thinks OLIVER! deserved its win over 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY. I've tried to watch 2001 (another of those "classics" that seems to have been made exclusively for film students) several times now, and I'm always in a coma before the halfway point.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 2/14/08 at 12:45am

I always get a kick out of the Virgin Megastore "ROBBED!" display.

It was put up last year, and it's up again. It's a display of movies that should have won the Oscar, but didn't.

BROKEBACK is up there.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 2/14/08 at 12:35pm

My picks for those that lost out:

1938 - Boys Town
1941 - Citizen Kane
1945 - Spellbound
1956 - Giant
1968 - Romeo and Juliet
1971 - Fiddler on the Roof
1976 - Network
1977 - Star Wars
1981 - Raiders of the Lost Ark
1982 - E.T.
1985 - The Color Purple
1986 - Hannah and Her Sisters
1987 - Empire of the Sun (not nominated)
1988 - Dangerous Liaisons
1991 - Beauty and the Beast
1994 - The Shawshank Redemption
1995 - Sense and Sensibility
1996 - Fargo
1999 - Magnolia (not nominated)
2001 - Moulin Rouge
2002 - The Hours
2004 - Ray
2005 - Brokeback Mountain
2006 - Little Miss Sunshine

[Pippin]

Posted: 2/14/08 at 1:44pm

oh, poop on Brokeback AND crash.

My favorite out of all the nominees that year was "Munich".

Historical inaccuracies aside, I felt it was the strongest picture of that group.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 2/14/08 at 1:53pm

RAY in 2004? I'm going to VOMIT.


As much as I love THE COLOR PURPLE, OUT OF AFRICA is a masterpiece. Both were deserving.

[broadway86]

Posted: 2/14/08 at 1:55pm

RAY in 2004? I'm going to VOMIT.

I'm not going to vomit, per se, but I do think that Ray is one of the weakest BP noms of the decade.

[luvcaroline]

Posted: 2/14/08 at 3:04pm

munkustrap178
I understand that Out of Africa is an outstanding film and I enjoyed some of it (especially Meryl's performance). I also know that many consider it a masterpiece. However, to me it was mostly a snoozefest. I know I will never see it again. On the other hand, I can watch Color Purple anytime and still be deeply moved. I just think that it is a more memorable, entertaining, and enjoyable film. I realize this is probably an apples/oranges kind of thing, and there's no "correct" answer.

I agree about the travesty of giving Ghandi the statue over E.T., which will forever be one of the most beloved films of all time. Updated On: 2/14/08 at 03:04 PM

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 2/14/08 at 3:42pm

No, Brokeback should not have won. At best, it was a fairly good hour-long drama. Like most "important" pictures, it could use better editing.

[broadway86]

Posted: 2/14/08 at 3:49pm

Like most "important" pictures, it could use better editing.

Paraphrasing the words of Roger Ebert: "No good movie can be too long, no bad movie can be too short." That said, I don't think there was one scene or moment in Brokeback that felt extraneous. That's just me.

On the other hand, I can watch Color Purple anytime and still be deeply moved.

Same here.

I agree about the travesty of giving Ghandi the statue over E.T.

OR Tootsie! Yeah, E.T. would've been my choice, too. Updated On: 2/14/08 at 03:49 PM

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 2/14/08 at 5:04pm

Oh god, I found it difficult to sustain any interest in seeing Tootsie even one time through. A best picture winner should at least qualify for more than one viewing. Many of the winners don't, imo.

[AnnaK<3LMIP]

Posted: 2/14/08 at 5:11pm

Agreed on the TOOTSIE thing, JohnBoy. I hated it. I didn't even finish it.