Oscars

[The_pantless_hero]

I'm realllllllllyyyyyyyyyy happy Avatar did not win cause this means I'm going to get $50 from a bet with a friend

seriously though, the only nice thing about avatar was the visual effects, the rest was

Betting Avatar would win Best Picture was a sucker bet. The academy hates sci-fi.

[Andaluciae]

I'm realllllllllyyyyyyyyyy happy Avatar did not win cause this means I'm going to get $50 from a bet with a friend

seriously though, the only nice thing about avatar was the visual effects, the rest was

Betting Avatar would win Best Picture was a sucker bet. The academy hates sci-fi.

Although it will buy a crushingly epic fantasy magnum opus from a Kiwi if they really have to.

[Tahar Joblis]

No, you really couldn't. Star Trek is sci-fi about exploring the galaxy, Star Wars is sci-fi/fantasy about defeating a galaxy wide, evil empire. The plots are nothing alike, the only thing they have in common is that they both take place in space.

Exactly. And yet if you google "Star Wars and Star Trek are the same" you get a summary of the 2009 and 1977 films that is about as detailed as the Pocahontas/Avatar comparison. Here's one for Batman Begins and Iron Man that's about as detailed.

The fact that you can condense Pocahontas and Avatar to a thirty second plot description and make them look the same means ... well, jack shit.

Betting Avatar would win Best Picture was a sucker bet. The academy hates sci-fi.

Right. Do you know what consistently makes "best film of all time" lists, cracking the top 10 on no small number of them? 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Do you know what was nominated for "best picture" in 1968?

"Funny Girl," "The Lion in Winter, "Rachel," "Romeo and Juliet," and "Oliver!" (which won). Retrospectively, people don't put those anywhere near 2001. And things haven't gotten any better since then. This was actually the first year since 1983 that a science fiction film was even nominated, and wiki sez that a science fiction film has never won Best Picture... I'm going to believe wiki on that.

[Tahar Joblis]

I'm surprised so many people are surprised D9 was snubbed. I mean, the visual effects were kind of cool I guess, but the writing was horribly, horribly lazy. When you have to use 'fuck' every other word for half the damn movie, you know somebody's just not up to snuff. I don't think it deserved any Oscars.

I've heard about Hurt Locker a lot on the public radio, particularly through interviews. It doesn't surprise me it won so much given how much it was talked about, although I've not seen it to confirm whether it deserved the awards in my own mind.

I did watch it. It was an interesting movie, but it's easy to miss the point while watching it.

[New Olwe]

Hurt Locker was definitely the superior film--especially when compared to Avatar (with the totally derivative plot and so many flat, uninteresting characters that I could choke).

Avatar's superior direction (OMFG! You can actually understand what's going on during the action sequences!) makes Avatar the superior film out of those two... however, Up was the best movie of the year.

I didn't get a chance to see Up in the Air, I've heard it was delightful, but y'know how that goes.

It was indeed quite a good film. A bit depressing for the word "delightful" to be accurate, but still really well-made with a bunch of good performances. Of the films I saw in 2009, I'd put it as third best behind Up and Drag Me To Hell (which I'm not surprised was completely snubbed, but was still way better than most of the films that won).

District 9, while enjoyable, didn't seem to strike me in quite the same fashion that the other films did. Yes, it was visually impressive, it had a pretty good overall message and all of that, but for whatever reason I found the main character utterly unlikable, and I was unable to connect with him. Spoiled the entire movie for me. Is it Best Picture material? Possibly, but not if I'm the one issuing the award.

The whole point of that movie, or at least how I interpreted it, is that Wikus is an asshat and you're not supposed to like him. However, that final sequence where he opens up this huge can of whoopass in hopes of saving the prawns is supposed to redeem him as well, and your mileage will vary as far as how redeemed you think he is.

That movie was spoiled for me, once again, by handheld cameras. D9 did seem less completely unintelligible than Hurt Locker, but it still had some serious director problems.

[The chrisman union]

Avatar didn't get best picture?

[Farnhamia]

Avatar didn't get best picture?

Nope, "The Hurt Locker" did. Got Best Director, too.

[North Suran]

SANDRA BULLOCK WON BEST ACTRESS FOR THE BLIND SIDE?!


Congratulations, Bullock. You just proved that crappy, Oscar-bait films work fantastically. I mean, what could possibly make this any wor-



CORALINE LOST TO UP FOR BEST ANIMATED FEATURE?!



Ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffuuuuuuuuuuuu-

[Farnhamia]

SANDRA BULLOCK WON BEST ACTRESS FOR THE BLIND SIDE?!


Congratulations, Bullock. You just proved that crappy, Oscar-bait films work fantastically. I mean, what could possibly make this any wor-



CORALINE LOST TO UP FOR BEST ANIMATED FEATURE?!



Ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffuuuuuuuuuuuu-

Oh, stop.

Who did you think should have won?

[North Suran]

I'm surprised so many people are surprised D9 was snubbed. I mean, the visual effects were kind of cool I guess, but the writing was horribly, horribly lazy. When you have to use 'fuck' every other word for half the damn movie, you know somebody's just not up to snuff.

SPOILER WARNING

The protagonist gets infected with alien blood, has his arm transformed into a tentacle, is detained by his own father-in-law before almost being dissected while still alive, must hide out in an alien slum while being chased by the military and eventually discovers that he has to wait three years to be made human again.

What, pray tell, would you be saying at this time - "Oh, golly gosh"?

[North Suran]

SANDRA BULLOCK WON BEST ACTRESS FOR THE BLIND SIDE?!


Congratulations, Bullock. You just proved that crappy, Oscar-bait films work fantastically. I mean, what could possibly make this any wor-



CORALINE LOST TO UP FOR BEST ANIMATED FEATURE?!



Ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffuuuuuuuuuuuu-

Oh, stop.

Who did you think should have won?

I haven't seen any of the other films on the list, but considering the talent (Helen Mirren in The Last Station, Meryl Streep in Julie and Julia) and the subject matter (Gabourey Sibide in Precious), it is pretty clear that Bullock's hammy "He's teachin' me" performance was pretty undeserving.

As for Animated Feature, Coraline deserved to win by a long-shot. As great as Up is, it has nothing on Henry Sellick's magnum opus - and this coming from the guy who made The Nightmare Before Christmas.

[Ravea]

So, how many of you watched the Oscars? What did you think of the results?

http://oscar.go.com/oscar-night/winners ... ut_livenow

I think that District 9 was kind of gypped, personally.

PS: Normally, I really wouldn't care, but hey

I completely agree. District 9 was my absolute favorite movie of this year (actually, of the past five years) and didn't get much recognition. Coraline was great, and my personal favorite, though Up definitely deserved the top spot. I feel like Gabourey Sidibe deserved best actress much more than Sandra Bullock. Jeff Bridges totally deserved best actor, and Hurt Locker was definitely a better movie and better directed than Avatar. I feel like Sherlock Holmes should have gotten something as well.

Inglorious Basterds should have won best picture, just because it would have been hilarious.

[North Suran]

I'm realllllllllyyyyyyyyyy happy Avatar did not win cause this means I'm going to get $50 from a bet with a friend

seriously though, the only nice thing about avatar was the visual effects, the rest was

Betting Avatar would win Best Picture was a sucker bet. The academy hates sci-fi.

Or indeed, anything but Oscar-bait for that matter.

District 9 didn't stand a chance.

[Braaainsss]

SANDRA BULLOCK WON BEST ACTRESS FOR THE BLIND SIDE?!


Congratulations, Bullock. You just proved that crappy, Oscar-bait films work fantastically. I mean, what could possibly make this any wor-



CORALINE LOST TO UP FOR BEST ANIMATED FEATURE?!



Ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffuuuuuuuuuuuu-

Oh, stop.

Who did you think should have won?

I haven't seen any of the other films on the list, but considering the talent (Helen Mirren in The Last Station, Meryl Streep in Julie and Julia) and the subject matter (Gabourey Sibide in Precious), it is pretty clear that Bullock's hammy "He's teachin' me" performance was pretty undeserving.

As for Animated Feature, Coraline deserved to win by a long-shot. As great as Up is, it has nothing on Henry Sellick's magnum opus - and this coming from the guy who made The Nightmare Before Christmas.

I don't know, I thought Coraline was half an hour too long. I did see it on an airplane, though.

[Flameswroth]

I'm surprised so many people are surprised D9 was snubbed. I mean, the visual effects were kind of cool I guess, but the writing was horribly, horribly lazy. When you have to use 'fuck' every other word for half the damn movie, you know somebody's just not up to snuff.

SPOILER WARNING

The protagonist gets infected with alien blood, has his arm transformed into a tentacle, is detained by his own father-in-law before almost being dissected while still alive, must hide out in an alien slum while being chased by the military and eventually discovers that he has to wait three years to be made human again.

What, pray tell, would you be saying at this time - "Oh, golly gosh"?

There are lots of places where not swearing at all would have sufficed. I am not sayin' "fuck" didn't have a reasonable place in the list of words he could have used but...c'mon. It was waaaay overused.

Being rolled down a hall on a gurney with his alien arm, for example, they'd have him say, "Fuckin' fuckers! Fuck off, get me the fuck out of here! Fuck you! Fuck!" etc etc, when they could have gone with, for example, "Let me go! This is ridiculous, where are you taking me? I'm Wikus Van Der Merwe, I'm an MNU field operative! Let me go, you can't keep me captive like this" etc etc.

Like I said, it's just lazy to resort to using 'fuck' so much.

[North Suran]

I haven't seen any of the other films on the list, but considering the talent (Helen Mirren in The Last Station, Meryl Streep in Julie and Julia) and the subject matter (Gabourey Sibide in Precious), it is pretty clear that Bullock's hammy "He's teachin' me" performance was pretty undeserving.

As for Animated Feature, Coraline deserved to win by a long-shot. As great as Up is, it has nothing on Henry Sellick's magnum opus - and this coming from the guy who made The Nightmare Before Christmas.

I don't know, I thought Coraline was half an hour too long. I did see it on an airplane, though.

I do agree that the ending drags on a little too long. But it is still an absolute masterpiece, and most definitely the best stop-animated film ever made.

[The_pantless_hero]

So, how many of you watched the Oscars? What did you think of the results?

http://oscar.go.com/oscar-night/winners ... ut_livenow

I think that District 9 was kind of gypped, personally.

PS: Normally, I really wouldn't care, but hey

I completely agree. District 9 was my absolute favorite movie of this year (actually, of the past five years) and didn't get much recognition. Coraline was great, and my personal favorite, though Up definitely deserved the top spot. I feel like Gabourey Sidibe deserved best actress much more than Sandra Bullock. Jeff Bridges totally deserved best actor, and Hurt Locker was definitely a better movie and better directed than Avatar. I feel like Sherlock Holmes should have gotten something as well.

Inglorious Basterds should have won best picture, just because it would have been hilarious.

Sherlock Holmes should win something alright. Best Murdering of a Classic Character. Ritchie's Holmes was all camp. I don't know where exactly it would have gotten anything. Best Set Up for a Sequel?

[Ravea]

So, how many of you watched the Oscars? What did you think of the results?

http://oscar.go.com/oscar-night/winners ... ut_livenow

I think that District 9 was kind of gypped, personally.

PS: Normally, I really wouldn't care, but hey

I completely agree. District 9 was my absolute favorite movie of this year (actually, of the past five years) and didn't get much recognition. Coraline was great, and my personal favorite, though Up definitely deserved the top spot. I feel like Gabourey Sidibe deserved best actress much more than Sandra Bullock. Jeff Bridges totally deserved best actor, and Hurt Locker was definitely a better movie and better directed than Avatar. I feel like Sherlock Holmes should have gotten something as well.

Inglorious Basterds should have won best picture, just because it would have been hilarious.

Sherlock Holmes should win something alright. Best Murdering of a Classic Character. Ritchie's Holmes was all camp. I don't know where exactly it would have gotten anything. Best Set Up for a Sequel?

The ending did suck, I'll give you that.

[The_pantless_hero]

So, how many of you watched the Oscars? What did you think of the results?

http://oscar.go.com/oscar-night/winners ... ut_livenow

I think that District 9 was kind of gypped, personally.

PS: Normally, I really wouldn't care, but hey

I completely agree. District 9 was my absolute favorite movie of this year (actually, of the past five years) and didn't get much recognition. Coraline was great, and my personal favorite, though Up definitely deserved the top spot. I feel like Gabourey Sidibe deserved best actress much more than Sandra Bullock. Jeff Bridges totally deserved best actor, and Hurt Locker was definitely a better movie and better directed than Avatar. I feel like Sherlock Holmes should have gotten something as well.

Inglorious Basterds should have won best picture, just because it would have been hilarious.

Sherlock Holmes should win something alright. Best Murdering of a Classic Character. Ritchie's Holmes was all camp. I don't know where exactly it would have gotten anything. Best Set Up for a Sequel?

The ending did suck, I'll give you that.

The whole movie was tweaked for a sequel set up. The ending my ass. The ending was probably the truest to the source part of the whole sequel parade.

I wonder what the movie would have been like if Richie/Downey hadn't made Holmes an immature savant, Richie/Law hadn't made Watson a blustering, pompous gambling-addict, and hadn't made the entire movie with a sequel in mind. Not one minute of Sherlock Holmes was about Sherlock Holmes. It was about Sherlock Holmes 2: The Rise of Moriarty

[North Suran]

I'm surprised so many people are surprised D9 was snubbed. I mean, the visual effects were kind of cool I guess, but the writing was horribly, horribly lazy. When you have to use 'fuck' every other word for half the damn movie, you know somebody's just not up to snuff.

SPOILER WARNING

The protagonist gets infected with alien blood, has his arm transformed into a tentacle, is detained by his own father-in-law before almost being dissected while still alive, must hide out in an alien slum while being chased by the military and eventually discovers that he has to wait three years to be made human again.

What, pray tell, would you be saying at this time - "Oh, golly gosh"?

There are lots of places where not swearing at all would have sufficed. I am not sayin' "fuck" didn't have a reasonable place in the list of words he could have used but...c'mon. It was waaaay overused.

Being rolled down a hall on a gurney with his alien arm, for example, they'd have him say, "Fuckin' fuckers! Fuck off, get me the fuck out of here! Fuck you! Fuck!" etc etc, when they could have gone with, for example, "Let me go! This is ridiculous, where are you taking me? I'm Wikus Van Der Merwe, I'm an MNU field operative! Let me go, you can't keep me captive like this" etc etc.

I don't know about you, but if I'm being abducted, I'm not going to go "Pardon me, gentleman - I must protest at this treatment! You are clearly abroaching my rights as a human being! I dare say that this is rather caddish! Release me, you devilish fiends!"

Like I said, it's just lazy to resort to using 'fuck' so much.

I'd suggest reading this.

[Flameswroth]

I'm surprised so many people are surprised D9 was snubbed. I mean, the visual effects were kind of cool I guess, but the writing was horribly, horribly lazy. When you have to use 'fuck' every other word for half the damn movie, you know somebody's just not up to snuff.

SPOILER WARNING

The protagonist gets infected with alien blood, has his arm transformed into a tentacle, is detained by his own father-in-law before almost being dissected while still alive, must hide out in an alien slum while being chased by the military and eventually discovers that he has to wait three years to be made human again.

What, pray tell, would you be saying at this time - "Oh, golly gosh"?

There are lots of places where not swearing at all would have sufficed. I am not sayin' "fuck" didn't have a reasonable place in the list of words he could have used but...c'mon. It was waaaay overused.

Being rolled down a hall on a gurney with his alien arm, for example, they'd have him say, "Fuckin' fuckers! Fuck off, get me the fuck out of here! Fuck you! Fuck!" etc etc, when they could have gone with, for example, "Let me go! This is ridiculous, where are you taking me? I'm Wikus Van Der Merwe, I'm an MNU field operative! Let me go, you can't keep me captive like this" etc etc.

I don't know about you, but if I'm being abducted, I'm not going to go "Pardon me, gentleman - I must protest at this treatment! You are clearly abroaching my rights as a human being! I dare say that this is rather caddish! Release me, you devilish fiends!"

Of course not, by my example wasn't that crazy, and was just an illustration of how the same point could be made by writers who actually took the time to write something.

Like I said, it's just lazy to resort to using 'fuck' so much.

I'd suggest reading this.

My complaint isn't that the writing was somehow unrealistic, due to similar situations in other movies as that trope would suggest. My complaint is that it's lazy, and it is.

I mean, did anybody but teenagers still turned on by swear words sit through that dialogue and think, "Wow, this is so masterfully written. This should be best adapted screenplay at the Oscars?" I hope not.

[North Suran]

I'm surprised so many people are surprised D9 was snubbed. I mean, the visual effects were kind of cool I guess, but the writing was horribly, horribly lazy. When you have to use 'fuck' every other word for half the damn movie, you know somebody's just not up to snuff.

SPOILER WARNING

The protagonist gets infected with alien blood, has his arm transformed into a tentacle, is detained by his own father-in-law before almost being dissected while still alive, must hide out in an alien slum while being chased by the military and eventually discovers that he has to wait three years to be made human again.

What, pray tell, would you be saying at this time - "Oh, golly gosh"?

There are lots of places where not swearing at all would have sufficed. I am not sayin' "fuck" didn't have a reasonable place in the list of words he could have used but...c'mon. It was waaaay overused.

Being rolled down a hall on a gurney with his alien arm, for example, they'd have him say, "Fuckin' fuckers! Fuck off, get me the fuck out of here! Fuck you! Fuck!" etc etc, when they could have gone with, for example, "Let me go! This is ridiculous, where are you taking me? I'm Wikus Van Der Merwe, I'm an MNU field operative! Let me go, you can't keep me captive like this" etc etc.

I don't know about you, but if I'm being abducted, I'm not going to go "Pardon me, gentleman - I must protest at this treatment! You are clearly abroaching my rights as a human being! I dare say that this is rather caddish! Release me, you devilish fiends!"

Of course not, by my example wasn't that crazy, and was just an illustration of how the same point could be made by writers who actually took the time to write something.

A lot of swearing is not 'bad' when it is being used in a context where it is a perfectly reasonable reaction.

Like I said, it's just lazy to resort to using 'fuck' so much.

I'd suggest reading this.

My complaint isn't that the writing was somehow unrealistic, due to similar situations in other movies as that trope would suggest. My complaint is that it's lazy, and it is.

I mean, did anybody but teenagers still turned on by swear words sit through that dialogue and think, "Wow, this is so masterfully written. This should be best adapted screenplay at the Oscars?" I hope not.

It's an action/science-fiction film featuring giant mechas and prawn-like aliens. Just because something isn't written in Shakespeare prose or filled with faux-philosophical 'profound' speeches (I'm looking at you, The Dark Knight) doesn't mean it is badly written. Considering the events of the film and the personality of the protagonist, there was hardly going to be time for deep dialogue and discussion. Furthermore, writing isn't just in the dialogue - the character of the protagonist is far more realistic than in any of the ostensibly more sophisticated Hollywood dramas.

[Flameswroth]

Of course not, by my example wasn't that crazy, and was just an illustration of how the same point could be made by writers who actually took the time to write something.

A lot of swearing is not 'bad' when it is being used in a context where it is a perfectly reasonable reaction.

Not sure why you put 'bad' in apostrophes like that. I don't think I've even said it was bad yet.

It's an action/science-fiction film featuring giant mechas and prawn-like aliens. Just because something isn't written in Shakespeare prose or filled with faux-philosophical 'profound' speeches (I'm looking at you, The Dark Knight) doesn't mean it is badly written. Considering the events of the film and the personality of the protagonist, there was hardly going to be time for deep dialogue and discussion. Furthermore, writing isn't just in the dialogue - the character of the protagonist is far more realistic than in any of the ostensibly more sophisticated Hollywood dramas.

I haven't commented on realism, save to mention that it was not my assertion that it was unrealistic. Nor have I said that it needed to be some deep dialogue in a situation which is very much based on fast-paced occurrences, especially near the end. The only thing I have said to this point is that it is lazy to use one, end-all be-all swear word in every single statement they're making when a competent dialogue writer could accomplish the same effect with a bit more skill. Whether or not that laziness is bad or realistic is up to the individual, but you cannot possibly say it wasn't lazy to chuck it in so often just because.

[Aelosia]

Which makes tonight kind of a cool David vs. Goliath thing. Especially when you take into account Bigelow is Cameron's ex-wife.

Or, if we prefer, a Na'avi vs Earthlings sort of thing.


Btw, I'm surprised at the choice for the Foreign Language Film.

Did you see it? It is marvelous. It was my bet, although I also thought the Whiite Ribbon held a big chance.

[Cannot think of a name]

I haven't commented on realism, save to mention that it was not my assertion that it was unrealistic. Nor have I said that it needed to be some deep dialogue in a situation which is very much based on fast-paced occurrences, especially near the end. The only thing I have said to this point is that it is lazy to use one, end-all be-all swear word in every single statement they're making when a competent dialogue writer could accomplish the same effect with a bit more skill. Whether or not that laziness is bad or realistic is up to the individual, but you cannot possibly say it wasn't lazy to chuck it in so often just because.

I have to step in here because what you're saying pretty much ignores a chief component of character development in writing for the sake of 'avoiding' a word. You put up two possibilities, one used in the actual movie and then another, while still panicky, more articulate response.

These are not the same characters. The person that spews 'fuck' is not the person that gives a panicky rationalization as to why he should be released. Nor is that the same circumstance. Those two sets of dialog do not in fact convey the same mental state. Your wordy alternative displays a man still in possession of at least part of faculties. The torrets driven one does not.

Good writing is not being driven by prudish reluctance to use or even over use a word when that word will convey the mental state of the character.