Oscar Nominations Announced [Archive] - The Warring States of NPF

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PCD

02-02-2010, 08:51 PM

http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/82/nominees.html

Up got nominated for Best Picture, hell to the yeah. I wouldn't say it's got much chance of winning, but the first nomination for an animated movie since '93, I'm happy enough for that.

Donomni

02-02-2010, 09:29 PM

Seriously. Shows the academy is making some progress.

Now watch them say Up isn't "really" a true animated work, just to let us down.

Bells

02-02-2010, 10:09 PM

I'm pretty sure Up! might win Writing, but Avatar is pretty much set to get Best Picture

PCD

02-02-2010, 10:12 PM

Oh god I hope Avatar doesn't. It can get all sorts of art awards and whatnot, because sure it was gorgeously made, but the plot itself was, in my opinion, lacking more than enough to not be worthy of the Best Picture. If they decide to go for a Scifi flick, I'd rather they pick District 9.

Though, this is the Academy we're talking about. Up in the Air is more their comfort zone.

Masked Jedi

02-03-2010, 06:46 PM

Okay. Here's what I'm predicting for Best Picture. Either Hurt Locker wins (winning the DGA is a good sign) or it and Avatar split the vote and either UITA or Inglorious wins.

Funka Genocide

02-03-2010, 07:29 PM

Up was crap, if it wins that just goes to show the Academy has no taste, same with Avatar.

I mean that has to be the worst Pixar movie ever made.

Alternatively: Yeah Avatar was great, when it had Kevin Costner in it! ZING!

Aerozord

02-03-2010, 08:09 PM

stefan

02-03-2010, 08:38 PM

someone explain to me why avatar is being treated as anything other than the disposable popcorn flick that it is.

Azisien

02-03-2010, 09:23 PM

someone explain to me why avatar is being treated as anything other than the disposable popcorn flick that it is.

Somewhere out there in that cold, dank, dark, scary world beyond the safety of Internet forum nerd-dom, there are like bajillions of people that think it is the awesomest shit ever.

I mean, quite frankly, District 9 was not any more deserving. Both movies had mechs, so they're equal there. I think maybe District 9 just barely inches out due to exemplary use of FOOK.

Bells

02-03-2010, 09:29 PM

What's with the Avatar hating? It's a Good movie...

Impresive shit sells, impressive shit that is actually good and quite nice sells even more.

C'mon... the Dark Knight also sold 1 Billion and BATMAN was one of the weakest parts of the movie. And it's hardly a bad movie.

Funka Genocide

02-03-2010, 09:36 PM

I feel that Avatar has decent reviews only because of the phenomenon of "well shit, they put sooo much money into it and it didn't make me want to die... I don't want to harsh the groove."

District 9 was an entirely original story with incredible characterization and development. I mean if anything the big fight scenes might have detracted from the experience, sort of kowtowing to the general movie going populaces desire for shit that blows up.

All Avatar was, was shit that blows up. Blows up beautifully and artfully, but it's a work of narrative fiction not a painting.

POS Industries

02-03-2010, 10:20 PM

Up was crap, if it wins that just goes to show the Academy has no taste, same with Avatar.

I mean that has to be the worst Pixar movie ever made.
That's not how you spell "Cars."

Azisien

02-03-2010, 10:27 PM

Up was crap, if it wins that just goes to show the Academy has no taste, same with Avatar.

I mean that has to be the worst Pixar movie ever made.

Oh wow I totally missed this post. Fuck you Funka. Just fuck you. Up was great. Even my mom, who almost universally writes off animated movies, loved Up. Up made people that have ever shed a tear in their life cry like babies. District 9? This is what District 9 managed. (http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1927208)

pochercoaster

02-03-2010, 10:34 PM

Oh wow I totally missed this post. Fuck you Funka. Just fuck you. Up was great. Even my mom, who almost universally writes off animated movies, loved Up. Up made people that have ever shed a tear in their life cry like babies. District 9? This is what District 9 managed. (http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1927208)

I thought the first 20 minutes of Up was amazing (it nearly made me cry) and the rest was awful. I got the feeling the writers didn't really pick any particular direction and just sort of hinted at multiple ideas without fully realizing any of them.

I don't see how swearing has anything to do with the quality of a movie. I mean I'd say fuck if my arm started sprouting claws; in fact, it'd be kind of unrealistic to omit swears in that sort of movie.

The Sevenshot Kid

02-04-2010, 01:49 AM

I'm really pulling for The Hurt Locker to win best picture. I loved Up and Avatar but The Hurt Locker was nothing short of amazing. It's the only film that has genuinely made me sit on the edge of my seat.

Mondt

02-04-2010, 02:08 AM

I liked Up when it was about fulfilling your dreams, no matter how unconquerable.

Then they fucked it up.

Professor Smarmiarty

02-04-2010, 04:09 AM

I dont want be the troll here, but since Fifth isnt around

Why do people care about this crap? Its just the industry pandering to itself and choosing winners primarily on box office draws and public opinion then actual quality.

No shit. The Oscars lost credibility since about the time Gone with the Wind won.
I just counted- out of the 81 best picture winners only 7 are actaully worthy winners.

someone explain to me why avatar is being treated as anything other than the disposable popcorn flick that it is.
Because it is the Oscars. It's about selling the most tickets. That's how Titanic won.

Oh wow I totally missed this post. Fuck you Funka. Just fuck you. Up was great. Even my mom, who almost universally writes off animated movies, loved Up. Up made people that have ever shed a tear in their life cry like babies. District 9? This is what District 9 managed. (http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1927208)
Up was boring while at the same time being hokey and manipulative. How is that even possible? They found a way!

Edit: Also no film on this list deserves to win.
I'm backing White Ribbon on the foreign language bill though. That film would be an ok winner.

Azisien

02-04-2010, 09:48 AM

I thought the first 20 minutes of Up was amazing (it nearly made me cry) and the rest was awful. I got the feeling the writers didn't really pick any particular direction and just sort of hinted at multiple ideas without fully realizing any of them.

I don't see how swearing has anything to do with the quality of a movie. I mean I'd say fuck if my arm started sprouting claws; in fact, it'd be kind of unrealistic to omit swears in that sort of movie.

I dunno. I thought almost all of Up was great. The only aspect I really didn't like was, um, the kid. He was annoying. But then at least I could spend most of the movie hoping he would die. I thought Dug and Kevin were hilarious.

And I thought the swearing in District 9 was the GOOD part of the movie, not the bad. And he swore that much because he had no script. It did add to the realism. To contrast, however, I thought District 9 was just too much apartheid allergory mixed with usual "Risk your life for the alien buddy you've spent the entire 120 minutes hating." Not to mention his transformation into an alien at all makes no sense and would require a sequel just to explain.

Magus

02-04-2010, 02:12 PM

Avatar was only nominated for best picture because there are ten slots now, and the ten slots were put into place specifically so they could nominate...well, Avatar (and other movies just like it), as opposed to the sort of films that would actually be nominated in any other year. Avatar will win in the special effects category or whatever, and the movie that will win best picture is one of the five that would be in there normally. If they didn't give QT Best Picture for Pulp Fiction they aren't going to give him Best Picture for Inglourious Basterds. Christoph Waltz will win his best supporting actor award instead, QT will get best screenplay, etc. The movie that will win best picture is one I'd never watch, like Up In the Air or Precious, instead of one that I will probably watch when I can (The Hurt Locker) or would watch again and again, like District 9 or Inglourious Basterds.

Someone mentioned the Dark Knight, that's exactly how it is, it wasn't nominated for best picture but they made sure to give Ledger the supporting actor award because, you know, they pretty much had to give something to the billion dollar movie of the decade. Just like Avatar will get the best special effects award, but its nomination for best picture is really just lip service to its box office score (luckily, as unlike say the Dark Knight I really didn't like Avatar even as an action movie, let alone as something that is supposed to be the best of the year).

They also pay lip service to random movies that don't get into the other categories, like Morgan Freeman in Invictus, because you can't not nominate somebody who is playing Nelson Mandela for something, even if the film itself sucks. That's why Jeff Bridges is in there for Crazy Heart or whatever. They're not movies I'd see in a million years and apparently weren't even good enough to get in the Best Picture category but shit, it's Morgan Freeman and Jeff Bridges, they have to be nominated for something, like, because!

In any case, I think the only time the Academy Award has ever nominated deserving films is when I look at their site and am actually surprised by the list. I looked at this and went, "Hmm, exactly as I predicted." I'll not be surprised by the winners, either, I'm sure, as I can already predict, surely accurately, which films will be picked for what.

Funka Genocide

02-04-2010, 02:18 PM

Professor Smarmiarty

02-04-2010, 02:21 PM

This argument doesn't hold up to Titanic winning best picture.
Avatar would have been nominated every year because it sold shit loads of tickets. That's pretty much the most important way to get nominated.

Magus

02-04-2010, 02:28 PM

Titanic notwithstanding, Avatar wouldn't have been nominated for best picture in some other years but it would've been nominated for something else, because the Oscar committee has to make sure to jack off everybody they can at least a little bit, you know, to keep anybody from getting mad. They look at ticket sales and if it's really high they nominate it for something. I can't really explain Titanic other than I think most people actually thought that movie was dramatic instead of just two hours of idiocy until you got to the good part where the boat broke in half and people went falling and slamming and spinning into the propellers. And then there were still two hours left.

Oh, and Titanic was also 4 hours long, maybe that was why it won. Return of the King also won, it was also 4 hours long (although much better than Titanic, that was for sure), but also not what I'd call an "Oscar" movie.

Professor Smarmiarty

02-04-2010, 02:32 PM

The Academy does tend to like long movies because length=quality obviously. Though by that scale Empire should have won basically everything.

Magus

02-04-2010, 02:44 PM

It didn't have a plot or characters, though. You can't give the Empire State Building an awards statue. It also exhibited pretty poor editing--hours 4 through 6 were really just totally uncalled for.

Personally, I think Waterworld should've won if they're going to nominate Avatar now. Waterworld was also three hours long and way better than Avatar. It also had Dennis Hopper with an eye patch. They should retroactively go back and give it best picture and then I'll accept this Avatar nomination thing.

Professor Smarmiarty

02-04-2010, 02:48 PM

The Empire state building could have won Best Actor at least. Better than Roy Harrison in my fair lady anyway.
And waterworld didn't do that well at the box-office so it can't be best picture, clearly.

Magus

02-04-2010, 02:55 PM

Aerozord

02-04-2010, 03:36 PM

Professor Smarmiarty

02-04-2010, 03:39 PM

Moon probably should've been nominated for something, heck, it was apparently more important than the Hurt Locker which never even came out in theaters around here, but they played Moon for a week, I was pretty amazed I got the chance to watch it. At least two people bought tickets to it, I know that for a fact, because there was another guy in there also watching it when I saw it.

Moon was pretty terrible but I've ranted about on here before. I will admit it is better than all the other movies on here- except maybe the Hurt locker which I haven't seen but sounds atrocious.

Magus

02-04-2010, 04:03 PM

Moon was kind of boring, actually. The plot wasn't too original either. It just seemed more like an Oscar type movie than Avatar.

What's the cut-off for movies each year, anyway? I have a hard time remembering if a movie I saw this last year (2009) should be on this year's Oscar nominations or if it should've been on 2008 or something.

Kerensky287

02-04-2010, 04:17 PM

I went into Avatar thinking it was going to be a pretty bad movie and now it's one of my favourites.

When I saw it on the Best Picture list I thought, wow, guaranteed win. Then I looked down and saw Inglourious Basterds and I could not make a decision between them. I mean, IB is a goddamn masterpiece, but Avatar... well, it had the feel of one of those "cult favourite" movies with an unfortunately low budget, BUT THE BUDGET WAS REALLY HIGH!

I mean, yeah, Avatar was basically Pocahontas in Space, but I didn't like Pocahontas and this one was done really, really well.

Magus

02-04-2010, 04:58 PM

you thought Warerworld was good?

Oh, please, you know it's the best movie ever. Everybody pretends to dislike Waterworld despite the absurdity of doing so. Don't keep lying to yourself this way!

Professor Smarmiarty

02-04-2010, 05:19 PM

Despite being entirely in the ocean Waterworld didn't have any giant squid attacks. So lame.

Aerozord

02-04-2010, 05:33 PM

well I can never get over how it has the most out of place sex scene in the history of cinema. It was so absurdly stupid that my brain stopped working for the rest of the movie

Magus

02-04-2010, 05:43 PM

Waterworld was great because of all the little things, like SMEAT or that the pirate ship was the Exxon Valdez. Kevin Costner's beloved tomato plant. The old guy taking off in the balloon without whatsherface and the kid, kind of like at the end of the Wizard of Oz. Dennis Hopper as the pirate messiah guy. I dunno, it's just pretty damn good.

It didn't have a giant squid attack, though...they should do a director's cut and incorporate one somehow.

Donomni

02-04-2010, 06:36 PM

There's actually an entire article (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OscarBait) about how the awards are normally selected. It really makes a good point: it's less about ticket sales and more about if it fits the academy's voting practices(Which can often BE a best-seller, but that's not the main criteria).

Azisien

02-04-2010, 06:54 PM

Moon was pretty terrible but I've ranted about on here before. I will admit it is better than all the other movies on here- except maybe the Hurt locker which I haven't seen but sounds atrocious.

Okay but to be fair I don't know if you've ever liked a movie anyone has heard of. And that one movie you linked us to once seemed like the most boring pile of trash ever. I imagine you only like movies where people wear jumpsuits shaped like geometric objects and speak in fifty difference languages deadpan while humping each other in rooms full of paint. And you watch these movies while smoking cigars and wearing a monocle. And the whole time you're sitting with your other monocle-wearing cigar-smoking friends saying things like "Oh indeed this is far superior to Avatar" and "Kerfaawww."

P.S. Oh yeah but oddly I agree Moon wasn't very good.

Magus

02-04-2010, 09:07 PM

Hmm, do they also wear top hats?

According to that TV Tropes Page (and why should we ever doubt TV Tropes) the Best Original Screenplay winner is the ACTUAL best movie of the year:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_Award_for_Best_Writing_(Original_Screenpla y)

Do you like this list better, Barrel? We need to experiment and see if one of these lists of winners isn't horrible.