2013 Oscar Discussion Discussion Thread

[tenebre6]

The Oscars are and always have been a corporate product mean to promote their agenda. the amount of money spent on advertising "for your consideration" alone is hilarious.

It just a group of peoples bought opinions... Dont sweat if they didnt pick your fave movie... Doesnt matter as really their opinion shouldn't hold any weight against your own opinion.

A movie isnt good because it wins an oscar. A movie is good because you like it.

[JavaJulien]

Originally Posted by Jasonic

I completely disagree. The central story and characters were far stronger than anything else in animation this year by far.

But like I said, it's not going to win, because sadly most people agree with you.


Will probably go to Frankenweenie, another sub-par movie.

Honestly I found nothing particularly strong about Brave's story since it was another "parent/child" conflict done in countless other disney/animated movies. The only truly unique thing about it was the fact that it, for once, focus on a Mother and Daughter. Brave is a movie where I found the atmosphere and setting to be superior to it's cookie-cutter storyline.

[JavaJulien]

Originally Posted by TheForce8686

Fine but I will still take a film that profited 750 million and was seen and enjoyed by so many people over a film that makes 85 million and was seen by nobody until it won an oscar and not enjoyed enough by those people to tell their friends to see it.

You're arguing to replace one extreme for another though. In this scenario you would be snubbing movies on the basis that "Not enough people saw it, so obviously it wasn't good enough."

[TheForce8686]

Originally Posted by JavaJulien

You're arguing to replace one extreme for another though. In this scenario you would be snubbing movies on the basis that "Not enough people saw it, so obviously it wasn't good enough."

I am saying not enough people saw it. Above he said it made half it's profit before the Oscars so then it made about 60 million world wide.....before it won the Oscar? The "Best" piece of entertainment that Hollywood created the entire year was seen world wide by about 6 million people before it was dubbed the best? There is a reason it was only viewed by that many people and that is because it is a Niche film designed to target a small audience.

[leey]

Can somebody explain me how being nominated as Best Picture aside from the Best Foreign Movie category isn't ... a double-dip-nomination? (Amour). I mean, that's why we have a Foreign category, right? So that movies from other countries can be nominated too...

Also, I'm impressed by the attention that movie got (screenplay, director, actress)

[JavaJulien]

Originally Posted by TheForce8686

I am saying not enough people saw it. Above he said it made half it's profit before the Oscars so then it made about 60 million world wide.....before it won the Oscar? The "Best" piece of entertainment that Hollywood created the entire year was seen world wide by about 6 million people before it was dubbed the best? There is a reason it was only viewed by that many people and that is because it is a Niche film designed to target a small audience.

Ignoring that Best film completely subjective anyway, a movie being niche or mainstream shouldn't even be a criteria when judging it.

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by leey

Can somebody explain me how being nominated as Best Picture aside from the Best Foreign Movie category isn't ... a double-dip-nomination? (Amour). I mean, that's why we have a Foreign category, right? So that movies from other countries can be nominated too...

Countries can nominate only one representative product for exclusive-committee judging every year, whether it reached US distribution that year or not. Seven times out of ten, usually not.

If it DID play US theaters in NY/LA during the calendar period....the Academy has eligibility rules about that too. After that, it's all up to what "Best" means.
(And technically, the category is "Best Foreign Language", seeing as they're speaking French, and all.)

Originally Posted by JavaJulien

Honestly I found nothing particularly strong about Brave's story since it was another "parent/child" conflict done in countless other disney/animated movies. The only truly unique thing about it was the fact that it, for once, focus on a Mother and Daughter. Brave is a movie where I found the atmosphere and setting to be superior to it's cookie-cutter storyline.

Well, think we were all saying it was Wreck-It Ralph the minute we walked out of the theater.
(And Paperman obliterating all suspense whatever about Best Animated Short, even if Ralph doesn't, which is highly unlikely.)

But yeah, Brave committed the cardinal sin for a Pixar movie: One person on the Story credit (Chapman's). Oo, can't do that--"Vanity movie" is a dirty word at Emeryville. And when Pixar commits a cardinal sin at the studio, that itself is a cardinal sin at the Oscars.
The one thing we appreciate about Pixar is that they have enough story people to keep pulling emotional rabbits out of a hat at every last quarter of the story when you least expect them to, but Chapman was so Lifetime-Network focused on "Take Your Daughter to Work at the Castle Day" mom-and-daughter message, she managed to cram a twenty-minute story into eighty minutes, and hope we weren't miles ahead of her after fifteen. Here Endeth The Lesson: When you're at Pixar, it's not YOUR movie.
As a result, it was big ol' Ralph alone in the apartment building, and Vanellope in danger, that gave us our annual snif-snif Pixar Moments, not to mention half an audience thinking it was Pixar, because someone at the real studio had been asleep at the switch that year.

(Me, I was surprised "Pirates: Band of Misfits" was nominated by its peers--
Certainly for the effort of creating stop-motion, as with Paranorman, but by no means Aardman's best. Still, even a bad Aardman is enough to keep two Dreamworks movies out in the cold.)

[JavaJulien]

Originally Posted by leey

Can somebody explain me how being nominated as Best Picture aside from the Best Foreign Movie category isn't ... a double-dip-nomination? (Amour). I mean, that's why we have a Foreign category, right? So that movies from other countries can be nominated too...

Also, I'm impressed by the attention that movie got (screenplay, director, actress)

A Foreign film shouldn't be blocked from nomination no more than an Animated or Fantasy film should.

[retablo]

Originally Posted by TheForce8686

I am saying not enough people saw it. Above he said it made half it's profit before the Oscars so then it made about 60 million world wide.....before it won the Oscar? The "Best" piece of entertainment that Hollywood created the entire year was seen world wide by about 6 million people before it was dubbed the best? There is a reason it was only viewed by that many people and that is because it is a Niche film designed to target a small audience.

It also was nto released in 4000+ theaters in the US alone and gives a super huge marketing campaign like The Avengers... so you cannot compare the two, nor can you EVER rate the merit of a piece of art by how much money it makes, period. I guess Justin Bieber is also the best music artist, then too? If you notice, he also didn't get nominated for any Grammy's... proving yet again that "popular" doesn't always mean "the best". I guess Honey Boo Boo should also win an EMMY for best TV show, since it's so popular?

Really weak argument, but keep trying!

(Oh and thanks for ignoring the fact that Dances With Wolves quadrupled Goodfellas box office gross, yet you still posted that Goodfellas should've won... However according to that you posted above, the "best" has to do with how many people see it... which would be Wolves. Consistency in any argument is key.)

[TheForce8686]

Originally Posted by retablo

It also was nto released in 4000+ theaters in the US alone and gives a super huge marketing campaign like The Avengers... so you cannot compare the two, nor can you EVER rate the merit of a piece of art by how much money it makes, period. I guess Justin Bieber is also the best music artist, then too? If you notice, he also didn't get nominated for any Grammy's... proving yet again that "popular" doesn't always mean "the best". I guess Honey Boo Boo should also win an EMMY for best TV show, since it's so popular?

Really weak argument, but keep trying!

(Oh and thanks for ignoring the fact that Dances With Wolves quadrupled Goodfellas box office gross, yet you still posted that Goodfellas should've won... consistency in any argument is key.)

That wasn't me who wrote that. I personally didn't like Dance with Wolves or Goodfellas. I am very consistent with my argument. I have never said that the money should be THE determining factor. But if your going to create a piece of entertainment which movies are then for a movie to be labeled THE BEST it should be good enough to appeal to more than a small group of people. A show should not be labeled THE BEST show if it can't attract a decent amount of viewers. A song shouldn't be considered the best song if most people change the station when it comes on. It doesn't mean the movie, show, or song can't be your favorite. It would be like voting for the President and only allowing 2% of America to vote and claiming he deserved to be called president.

Also, movie studios and theatre chains aren't dumb. Movies that aren't released in 4000 theatres are done so for a reason. If the Artist was wide released like that no one still would have seen it and it would have been considered a huge flop. Release it super small and then it seems like a hit when that Niche group of people fill up those few theatres.

[leey]

Originally Posted by EricJ

Countries can nominate only one representative product for exclusive-committee judging every year, whether it reached US distribution that year or not. Seven times out of ten, usually not.

If it DID play US theaters in NY/LA during the calendar period....the Academy has eligibility rules about that too. After that, it's all up to what "Best" means.
(And technically, the category is "Best Foreign Language", seeing as they're speaking French, and all.)

Originally Posted by JavaJulien

A Foreign film shouldn't be blocked from nomination no more than an Animated or Fantasy film should.

Still ... They could have nominated other movies: Untouchables (France), or hell, even shortlisted ones (The Master, The Impossible, Anna Karenina). That's showing a better sportsmanship than nominating the same movie twice. Well that's my opinion

I didn't see much of the point of nominating Up/Toy Story 3 in the Picture category seeing as they were (in their respective cases/years) clear winners lol.

[JavaJulien]

Originally Posted by leey

Still ... They could have nominated other movies: Untouchables (France), or hell, even shortlisted ones (The Master, The Impossible, Anna Karenina). That's showing a better sportsmanship than nominating the same movie twice. Well that's my opinion

I didn't see much of the point of nominating Up/Toy Story 3 in the Picture category seeing as they were (in their respective cases/years) clear winners lol.

The problem there is that it sets the negative connotation that they only set up those categories as consolation prizes.

That was the reason why there was so much controversy surrounding WALL-E getting snubbed. A lot felt that it legitimately had a claim at being considered one of the best films of the year, but the academy relegated it to the Animation corner.

Personally though, the Golden Globes is my favorite award ceremony because they divide the film awards by Drama films and Musical/Comedy films.

[JavaJulien]

Originally Posted by leey

Still ... They could have nominated other movies: Untouchables (France), or hell, even shortlisted ones (The Master, The Impossible, Anna Karenina). That's showing a better sportsmanship than nominating the same movie twice. Well that's my opinion

I didn't see much of the point of nominating Up/Toy Story 3 in the Picture category seeing as they were (in their respective cases/years) clear winners lol.

The problem there is that it sets the negative connotation that they only set up those categories as consolation prizes.

Like for the 2008 season especially. WALL-E should have been nominated for Best Picture. The only reason it wasn't was because the Academy believed they could get away with sticking it in the Animation film award. And the whole reason the Animated Category was created was to not celebrate animated films, but to keep them out of the best Picture category. After WALL-E got snubbed, it became completely transparent.

And honestly, there's too many gray areas for them to legitimately set boundaries to keep them from being nominated (i.e. why should Up and Toy Story 3 be denied when Avatar and Inception makes heavy use of CGI and Special Effects.)

Personally though, the Golden Globes is my favorite award ceremony because they divide the film awards by Drama films and Musical/Comedy films.

[Darth Marcus]

A hilarious spoof for this year's Best Picture nominees. Source: imgur

[Show spoiler]
Life of Pi


Django Unchained


Lincoln


Zero Dark Thirty


Amour


Les Misérables


Beasts of the Southern Wild


Argo


Silver Linings Playbook

[Hucksta G]

Originally Posted by Darth Marcus

A hilarious spoof for this year's Best Picture nominees. Source: imgur

[Show spoiler]
Life of Pi


Django Unchained


Lincoln


Zero Dark Thirty


Amour


Les Misérables


Beasts of the Southern Wild


Argo


Silver Linings Playbook

Haha those are pretty funny.

[Jennifer Lawrence Fan]

"From the book your mom read" lol. Made me laugh there.

[Mandalorian]

Originally Posted by Darth Marcus

A hilarious spoof for this year's Best Picture nominees. Source: imgur

[Show spoiler]
Life of Pi


Django Unchained


Lincoln


Zero Dark Thirty


Amour


Les Misérables


Beasts of the Southern Wild


Argo


Silver Linings Playbook

I have to admit, those are pretty good. Thanks for sharing.

[Blu-Dog]

Originally Posted by Walts Ghost

Shocked that Affleck and Bigelow were snubbed out of director. 'Lincoln' just won picture and director. Glad to see waltz get nominated for supporting actor again, but not sure if he'll get it or Tommy Lee Jones will. It's going to be an interesting race.

It's a popularity contest, every year, not really a competition or race. Bigelow is going to be forgotten about - her torture movie is not going to endear her to the Academy, any more than another Saw movie would.

It's always interesting what the Academy is thinking, but they are not the entire world's movie audience, nor do they represent arbiters of taste...they put on a nice party for the industry, and that's about it. The losers don't get kicked out of the movie business.

[Cinemach]

Some thoughts, well after the fracas:

Best Picture
This has been exhausted; we knew six of the spots, and there are no surprises really in the final three picked: Amour, Django Unchained, and Beasts of the Southern Wild. I thought Skyfall would take the tenth spot, or at least a 'crowdpleaser' spot, especially over Django which did not figure into my personal prognostications.

Those calling Moonrise Kingdom a snub should realize its spot was a tossup with Beasts - which given its other big noms (with one for Moonrise) the Academy clearly loved more.

FAVORITE: Lincoln by a leg, but Silver Linings Playbook is mounting a push due to its strong 'top' nom showing. Won't count Argo and Zero Dark 30 out yet, but no Director noms bring them down a peg. Speaking of:

Best Director
As mentioned copious times, big snub to Bigelow. I'm not so shocked by the Afleck no-nom; I mean, it's a surprise because he was nominated in most every other directing award though I personally would not have done so (hence my non-shock). Hooper is not a snub either; as many have noted the direction is the big problem with that film. Zeitlin for Beasts and Haneke for Amour are surprises, but where is PT Anderson? Especially after his three principle actors got nominated.

This is the most divergent the Academy and DGA nominee field has been in quite some time. Though Spielberg is the FAVORITE for both honors, it is not inconceivable that we may have a split Picture/Director for the first time since 2006 - when Lee, who looks like Spielberg's biggest challenger thus far - won for Direction.

Actor in a Leading Role
The wary fifth spot fell to Jackman, but the other four were pretty much locked in. Some may see the Hawkes no-nom as a snub but he was always a longshot comparatively, as was Afleck.

FAVORITE: Daniel Day-Lewis. Pending how the Oscar Police view him winning an unprecedented third Best Actor trophy, there's still an open door for Phoenix and Cooper to sneak in, esp if the latter gets a rise from his film's newfound momentum.

Actress in a Leading Role
No surprises here either. I had pegged Cotillard instead of Riva as the 'foreign' pick, but it was going to be one of them. Plus there's the nice oldest/youngest nom story to be had with this field now.

FAVORITE: this looked to be a two-woman race with Chastain and Lawrence; I still think the former's the favorite but her pic's controversy could see her profile slip. Amour looks like it struck a chord with some in the Academy though, and since it's a longshot for Picture and Director I think Riva's chances to be good for an upset pick here.

Actor in a Supporting Role
As the announcers joked each of these guys has won before. A most competitive race to call the field for in prognostication, it played out like expected (Leo and Waltz were interchangeable, though I would have went with Leo). There's still no clear-cut favorite, though Tommy Lee Jones stands a little ahead of the pack.

Actress in a Supporting Role
Jacki Weaver takes the spot most had consigned for Maggie Smith. She's solid but kind of disappears behind the other players in the film, and this pick proves the Academy is really taken with Silver Linings, which is why it's hard to call a lock for some of the above awards - like Picture - right now.

FAVORITE: Anne Hathaway, with Sally Field in a great position to swoop in for her third statuette.

Screenplays
*Surprised to not see The Master nominated for Original Screenplay.
*Same for Perks of Being a Wallflower for Adapted; though since this picture had zero buzz I shouldn't be too surprised.
I think FAVORITEs go Adapted - Lincoln and Original - Zero Dark Thiry right now, but I'm guessing.

Cinematography
Prometheus and The Master should have gotten some love here, though who to knock out? I probably would have striked Life of Pi at least for one of them, because much of its effect seems computer-generated, but I don't know how much (it did receive a nom from the Cinematographer's Guild, and they'd know about that sort of thing). Really glad to see Deakins' work for Skyfall get nominated, and though people will say he's done better work I think he's the FAVORITE here. Especially since this is the biggest award Bond is nominated for, almost every single notice on this film mentions how great the film looks, and there may be a yen to award the Biggest Bond something.

Best Film Editing
An important one because hardly no Picture wins when not nominated here. This bodes well for both Lincoln and Silver Linings Playbook in that race...though I think this award is between Argo and Zero Dark Thirty - which were both edited by the same guy [plus someone else on ZD30].

Those thinking The Dark Knight Rises and Django got snubbed here are wrong: editing was a problem on those films, not a plus.

[mlittle3]

Where is the Master? Oscars are pathetic and laughable.