Oscars! As expected nobody watched.- Page 2

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 2/25/08 at 10:41pm

Sorry, I do sort of agree with Sueleen on Hairspray. I thought it was a helluva lot of fun, and very good, but not a truly amazing piece of filmmaking.

I do agree that Bourne Ultimatum should've been a serious contender for Best Picture, however. I think it more than exceeded the quality of a similar genre film to be nominated, The Fugitive, 15 years ago.

[nealb1]

Posted: 2/25/08 at 11:48pm

The ratings may have be down, but I'm sure it will still be number 1 for the week. So, it can't be all that bad. I'm sure the suits at ABC are all very happy.

And, we've gotta remember.....tv isn't like it was back "in the olden days," when there there only, literally, a handful of channels to watch. With so many options of different shows to watch, it's all very different now.
Updated On: 2/25/08 at 11:48 PM

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 2/26/08 at 12:59am

Ugh, I'm quite glad HAIRSPRAY wasn't nominated for Best Picture, I honestly didn't find much about it that merited award recognition, save for perhaps costumes and art direction.
I wish BOURNE ULTIMATUM (along with its leading man) had been nominated for Best Picture.
What defines a Best Picture? Does it really have to be an awfully long 2.5 hours pretentious "edgy" and "artsy" film for it to be even considered? I found ENCHANTED far more enjoyable, fun, and exciting to watch than NO COUNTRY. Same with the BOURNE films, perhaps one of the best trilogies of action movies out there. I'm glad at least JUNO was nominated, wonderful film.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 2/26/08 at 1:14am

As much as I enjoyed Enchanted, I don't think it deserved a BP Nom. It did not hold together stylistically and the plot was full of holes. The ending with the over the top CGI was just too much.

[TheActr97J]

Posted: 2/26/08 at 1:17am

Best Actress in a Leading Role
Keira Knightley for PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END
Katherine Heigl for KNOCKED UP
Kirsten Dunst for SPIDERMAN 3
Emma Watson for HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX
Jessica Alba for FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER

To be fair, Katherine Heigl wasn't bad in "Knocked Up".

i'm still po'd that the academy has passed over annette benning twice for a certain equus-faced tranny.

Javero, will you marry me?

I think they should nominate the BEST films regardless of their box office, except even that didn't happen.

The nominees are chosen by a vote though, right? It isn't as if there's a secret committee that meets deep below the Kodak Theater who decided not to nominate Hairspray for the Oscar because it isn't "artsy" enough.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 2/26/08 at 1:23am

"i'm still po'd that the academy has passed over annette benning twice for a certain equus-faced tranny."

What the hell does THAT mean?

[TheActr97J]

Posted: 2/26/08 at 1:32am

Hilary Swank beat Annette Benning both times they were the frontrunners for Best Actress.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 2/26/08 at 1:46am

And as for her beating Benning, I think her two Oscars were very much deserved. Annette just happened to be #2 both years.

Updated On: 2/26/08 at 01:46 AM

[StickToPriest]

Posted: 2/26/08 at 1:56am

I think Swank is stunningly gorgeous in a beautiful, unique way.

But I do wish Benning had won for Being Julia.

[StickToPriest]

Posted: 2/26/08 at 1:57am

Natural and beautiful.

[TheActr97J]

Posted: 2/26/08 at 2:08am

A. I didn't make rude remarks about anyone. I was only agreeing with the **original poster's** notion that Benning was robbed of the Oscar twice.

B. My complexion looks great at the moment. Thanks for asking.

C. I should hope you would "mistake" me for a boy. I am one.

[thetinymagic2]

Posted: 2/26/08 at 2:14am

yeah, except for CRRRRaaazy Busey on the pre show with Ms. Garner. She looked like she wanted to throw up after he slobbered all over her neck! EEEWWWW!!!!!!

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 2/26/08 at 2:17am

Oh, I am so sorry, Actor, I did not realize you were quoting some jerk. Please accept my apology. I just get pissed off when people put people down for things they have no control over, like the shape of their face, for instance.
Javero, is the ass hole.

[TheActr97J]

Posted: 2/26/08 at 2:23am

No worries. I get pissed when people say the same things about Sarah Jessica Parker. They're both uniquely beautiful women.

I've just never been much of a fan of Ms. Swank's work, while I think that Annette Benning is one of the great screen actresses of our time.

[best12bars]

Posted: 2/26/08 at 10:40am

Just to clarify, I'm not advocating that Hairspray, Ratatouille or Bourne Identity specifically be nominated. It's a general comment and comparison, using this year's films as an example.

Although if any of those three had been nominated for 2007, I would definitely understand why. The problem we have here is one of BALANCE. The old balancing act of "show" and "business."

Right now, the Academy is steadfastly honoring "show" over "business." Artistic success over financial and commercial success.

WRONG. Equal portions please.

Having a string of who-the-hell-cares, art-house films at the top of the recognition list is EQUALLY as bad as if the five Best Pic nominations had included Transformers, Pirates 3 and Shrek 3.

If the scales are tipped too far either way, there's a problem. And Hollywood, you have a PROBLEM right now.

Come back to "people," specifically, people who actually watch movies, or risk having no more cache than any of the film critics awards in just a few short years.

The choice is yours. Stand by your "art," or open this thing up again. Exclusive or inclusive.

[lildogs]

Posted: 2/26/08 at 10:51am

While I kind of agree with you best12, the reason they have Oscars is to reward those films that don't have financial success, which has nothing to do with artisitic merit.

It's to give films that should be seen by a wider audience and to increase awareness that there are films beyond the Top Ten, which need no help from the Academy to reach ticketbuyers.

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 2/26/08 at 11:12am

Huh?!?!

Yeah, Gone With the Wind, The Sound of Music, West Side Story, Ben-Hur, The Godfather, etc., really needed to be seen by more people.

[lildogs]

Posted: 2/26/08 at 11:21am

Don't be a horses' a$$--you know exactly what we're talking about--which include none of the films you mentioned...especially since the newest one you named was made in 1972.

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 2/26/08 at 11:47am

Okay, Titanic needed to be seen by more people.

[best12bars]

Posted: 2/26/08 at 11:57am

"While I kind of agree with you best12, the reason they have Oscars is to reward those films that don't have financial success, which has nothing to do with artisitic merit."

That's not really true as far as why they were created, but that's exactly what they've become, lildogs.

It's the show-biz equivalent of having audiences told to "eat your peas because they're good for you."

Who the hell really wants to be told THAT when they decide to see a movie?

About 4 people. The ones who read reviews, and pay attention to them.

Let the critics do their job, and let the Academy remember why their awards were created in the first place. To self-promote, reward excellence, and honor successful films and the people who make them. They've lost the balance lately. For every Titanic, there are ten movies nominated that nobody's heard of, or cares ever to see.

Updated On: 2/26/08 at 11:57 AM

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 2/26/08 at 12:00pm

You want popular? Watch the People's Choice Awards.
"Art isn't easy". It should make you think, move and do more than just make you feel good. I presume if Harry Potter was up against Grapes of Wrath you would vote for the wizard?

The Academy should not care about RATINGS, that is ABC's job.
The Academy should look at the film, judge them on their own merits (even if it deals with unpleasant subject matter) not popularity and vote for what THEY FEEL is the most ARTISTICALLY successful. Obviously, the subjective nature of art will cause many to fume about "how COULD they", but that is their job and responsibility.

You know, the ratings for the year Greatest Show On Earth may have been FABULOUS, but we are laughing at the Academy for THAT decision more than 50 years later, as many consider High Noon a real classic. But it was probably too violent in 1952 to win Best Picture.

[best12bars]

Posted: 2/26/08 at 12:07pm

You want "art," Sue? Read the NY Times and go to an art house. You won't have trouble getting in.

I'm glad The Greatest Show On Earth won. It's a big, fat popcorn movie, and I LOVE big, fat popcorn movies!

High Noon... I've never been able to get through it. Every time I try, it looks like a very special episode of Gunsmoke or Bonanza, and drags all over the place like Cate Blanchett's train in Elizabeth.

I'm not saying ignore "art," but don't ignore the popular films either. There is a reason they connect to audiences and the other films don't.

Balance. That's all I'm asking for. There's no balance right now.

EDIT: At least there WAS a time when The Greatest Show On Earth competed against High Noon. That's balance. On certain years a popular favorite would win, on others an artistic triumph. But if you don't set up the battlefield properly, you have a high-stakes game that no one's interested in.

Updated On: 2/26/08 at 12:07 PM

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 2/26/08 at 12:16pm

I would agree that just because a film is very popular with the masses doesn't make it any less worthy of praise and awards as those that aren't. Art is extremely subjective anyway. I think films should be judged on how well the medium was used, to tell the story. Nothing else should really matter.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 2/26/08 at 12:16pm

But you seem to think that this is done by committee. And you know it is not.
The voters don't say, "Gosh, I can't vote for No Country AND There Will Be Blood, no one will watch the Oscars. I had better vote for Shrek. I get that you don't enjoy films that are dark and violent, but that doesn't mean they are not artistically successful and deserving of an Oscar.

[lildogs]

Posted: 2/26/08 at 12:18pm

I'm thrilled you like popcorn movies, but you will be VERY hard pressed to find any professional or critic who thinks GREATEST SHOW really was.

They don't ignore the popular films. There's plenty of commercial successes nominated for Oscars--perhaps not in the categories of your choosing, but they get attention nonetheless.

And THE QUIET MAN would have been my choice, though the real Best Pic was probably SINGIN IN THE RAIN.