f13.net

Post your Oscar picks here.

Best Actor

Don Cheadle in “Hotel Rwanda”
Johnny Depp in “Finding Neverland”
Leonardo DiCaprio in “The Aviator”
Clint Eastwood in “Million Dollar Baby”
Jamie Foxx in “Ray” (Universal)
 
Best Supporting Actor

Alan Alda in “The Aviator”
Thomas Haden Church in “Sideways”
Jamie Foxx in “Collateral”
Morgan Freeman in “Million Dollar Baby”
Clive Owen in “Closer”
 
Best Actress

Annette Bening in “Being Julia”
Catalina Sandino Moreno in “Maria Full of Grace”
Imelda Staunton in “Vera Drake”
Hilary Swank in “Million Dollar Baby”
Kate Winslet in “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”
 
Best Supporting Actress

Cate Blanchett in “The Aviator”
Laura Linney in “Kinsey”
Virginia Madsen in “Sideways”
Sophie Okonedo in “Hotel Rwanda”
Natalie Portman in “Closer”
 
Best Animated Film

“The Incredibles”
“Shark Tale”
“Shrek 2”
 
Best Cinematography

“The Aviator” - Robert Richardson
“House of Flying Daggers” - Zhao Xiaoding
“The Passion of the Christ” - Caleb Deschanel
“The Phantom of the Opera” - John Mathieson
“A Very Long Engagement” - Bruno Delbonnel

Best Director

“The Aviator” - Martin Scorsese
“Million Dollar Baby” - Clint Eastwood
“Ray” - Taylor Hackford
“Sideways” - Alexander Payne
“Vera Drake” - Mike Leigh

Best Picture

“The Aviator”
“Finding Neverland”
“Million Dollar Baby”
“Ray”
“Sideways”
 
Adapted Screenplay

“Before Sunset” - Richard Linklater & Julie Delpy & Ethan Hawke
“Finding Neverland” - David Magee
“Million Dollar Baby” - Paul Haggis
“The Motorcycle Diaries” - José Rivera
“Sideways” - Alexander Payne & Jim Taylor
 
Original Screenplay

“The Aviator” - John Logan
“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” - Charlie Kaufman
“Hotel Rwanda” - Keir Pearson & Terry George
“The Incredibles” - Brad Bird
“Vera Drake” - Mike Leigh

You're welcome to discuss why you did or didn't pick someone. Or x should win, but y will win, etc. Save discussion for AFTER the Oscars. This isn't a presidential election or a thread about Jesus. It's far more important.

Edit: As you can see I trimmed out categories, including some "bigger ones" like best short film and best documentary. See, what I did, I cut down a 6 hour extravaganza to a 2 minute commercial break. Which is what they should do with the actual show.

Best Actor - Jamie Foxx
Best Supporting Actor - Thomas Haden Church
Best Actress - I don't like the choices here, but I'll go with Kate Winslet
Supporting Actress - Laura Linney
Animated Film - Shrek II, you know the Incredibles will get the shaft
Cinematography - this means filming right? Phantom gets this one.
Director - Scorsese is the obvious choice
Picture - Tough call, but I'm thinking Aviator
Adapted Screenplay - Finding Neverland
Original Screenplay - Aviator

Best Actor - Johnny Depp
(Like Scorsese, he's been passed one too many times. They'll give Foxx Best Supporting instead, even if he wasn't all that in Collateral)

Best Supporting Actor - Jamie Foxx

Best Actress --  Catalina Sandino Moreno (Because they feel Maria Full of Grace deserves at least one big award)

Best Supporting Actress -- Cate Blanchett

Best Animated Film -- The Incredibles

Best Cinematography -- Robert Richardson -- The Aviator

Best Director -- Martin Scorsese -- The Aviator

Best Picture -- Martin Scorsese -- The Aviator

Adapted Screenplay -- David Magee -- Finding Neverland

Original Screenplay -- John Logan -- The Aviator

Best Actor:  Jamie Foxx
Best Supporting Actor:  Morgan Freeman
Best Actress:  Annette Bening
Best Supporting Actress:  Cate Blanchett
Best Animated Film:  The Incredibles
Best Cinematography:  The Passion of the Christ
Best Director:  Martin Scorsese
Best Picture:  Million Dollar Baby
Adapted Screenplay:  The Motocycle Diaries
Original Screenplay:  Hotel Rwanda

Hmm...seems I have been slacking in my moviegoing activity....I haven't seen any of the films up for any of the awards.

Okay, so here's my thinking.  The Academy really has the hots for both Million Dollar Baby and The Aviator, so they're going to get the big awards.

Scorsese has to win Best Director, since he's been nominated so many times and not, so that means Clint Eastwood can't get Best Director.  I can't see them awarding Leo, and Swank already won a best actress award for Boys Don't Cry.  So that means Eastwood has to get best actor, which he's never won.  Blanchett will get best supporting.

Okay, so here are my picks:

Best Actor - Clint Eastwood
Best Supporting Actor - Morgan Freeman
Best Actress - Catalina Sandino Moreno
Best Supporting Actress - Cate Blanchett
Best Animated Film - The Incredibles
Best Cinematography - The Phantom of the Opera
Best Director - Martin Scorsese
Best Picture - The Aviator
Best Adapted Screenplay - Million Dollar Baby
Best Original Screenplay - Hotel Rwanda

Bruce

Good reasoning Bruce. After all, it's about politics, not films.

I totally forgot about Eastwood getting screwed after all of these years. Depp, although he's been passed more than enough already, still has years ahead of him. But if Foxx beats either one, I'll be pissed.

Let's see if I suck as bad at movies as I do at football.  Some (if not most) of these are going to be purely and completely guesses.  


Best Actor
Jamie Foxx in “Ray”
 
Best Supporting Actor
Clive Owen in “Closer”
 
Best Actress
Annette Bening in “Being Julia”
 
Best Supporting Actress
Natalie Portman in “Closer”
 
Best Animated Film
“Shrek 2”
 
Best Cinematography
“The Aviator” - Robert Richardson

Best Director
“The Aviator” - Martin Scorsese

Best Picture
“The Aviator”
 
Adapted Screenplay
“Finding Neverland” - David Magee
 
Original Screenplay
“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” - Charlie Kaufman



(Dear fucking god, I just realized the only nominees I've seen are Eternal Sunshine, Phantom of the Opera, and Shrek 2.)

Just to mention: As much as I loved Spider-Man 2, I'd hate to see it beat I, Robot in the Visual Effects category. Spider-Man 2's CGI is pretty horrible at times.

EDIT: Then again, the fight scenes in Spidey were great. Even if the characters looked fake.

I'm surprised Riddick didn't make it on that list though. As far as effects go, there's no contest. I didn't like much else of the film, but I do think it's the best looking Sci-Fi flick to date.

Jamie Foxx in “Ray” (Universal)
Alan Alda in “The Aviator”
Virginia Madsen in “Sideways”
“The Incredibles”
“The Passion of the Christ” - Caleb Deschanel
“Ray” - Taylor Hackford
“Ray”
“Sideways” - Alexander Payne & Jim Taylor
“The Aviator” - John Logan

Interestingly the only film I've seen on any of those lists is Shrek 2. Which was crap. Yet I don't feel this fact has any significant effect on the accuracy of my predictions. Take from that what you will.

Granted it isn't high art, but why do you call it crap?

Yeah I really don't get the hate for Shrek 2. Unless its an overall sequals hate. I thought it was funny in places, better than average in total.

I think it stems from the fact that without fail they went for pop culture jokes that weren't nearly as clever as the writers thought they were.  In my opinion the movie just looked like a cash grab without any soul behind it.   Consequently the movie isn't going to age well compared to something like the Incredibles, which IMO, was much better written.

Here are my predictions:

Acronym key:

WW - Will Win
IAFCTWEN - It's A Fucking Crime This Wasn't Even Nominated

Best Actor

WW: Jamie Foxx in “Ray”
IAFCTWEN: Paul Giamatti in "Sideways" or Liam Neeson in "Kinsey"

Best Supporting Actor

WW: Morgan Freeman in “Million Dollar Baby”
IAFCTWEN: Mark Wahlberg in "I Heart Huckabees" or Peter Saarsgard in "Kinsey"

Best Actress

WW: Hilary Swank in “Million Dollar Baby”
IAFCTWEN: Julie Delpy in "Before Sunset"

Best Supporting Actress

WW: Virginia Madsen in “Sideways”
IAFCTWEN: Maggie Cheung in "Hero"

Best Animated Film

WW: “The Incredibles”
IAFCTWEN: "Ghost In The Shell 2"

Best Cinematography

WW: “The Aviator” - Robert Richardson
IAFCTWEN: "Hero" - Chris Doyle

Best Director

WW: “The Aviator” - Martin Scorsese
IAFCTWEN: "Hero" - Yimou Zhang

Best Picture

WW: “The Aviator”
IAFCTWEN: "The Incredibles"

Adapted Screenplay

WW: “Million Dollar Baby” - Paul Haggis

Original Screenplay

WW: “The Incredibles” - Brad Bird

Incredibles will pummel Shrek 2 in the only Oscar race I give a shit about this year.

Best Actor - Jamie Foxx in “Ray” (Universal)
Best Supporting Actor - Thomas Haden Church in “Sideways”
Best Actress - Hilary Swank in “Million Dollar Baby”
Best Supporting Actress - Virginia Madsen in “Sideways”
Best Animated Film - “The Incredibles”
Best Cinematography - “The Passion of the Christ” - Caleb Deschanel
Best Director - “The Aviator” - Martin Scorsese
Best Picture - “The Aviator”
Adapted Screenplay - “The Motorcycle Diaries” - José Rivera
Original Screenplay - “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” - Charlie Kaufman

Best Picture - The Lord of the Rings:  Return of the King Extended Edition

What the fuck is wrong with you?

I've not seen the vast majority of these films.

Quite disappointed with the nominations.  Finding Neverland was good, not great.  They should have given Depp best supporting actor for Pirates last year.  Anyone else who plays Captain Jack Sparrow will be doing it wrong, because Depp lived in that character.

But, as has been noted, it's about politics, not movies.  So they may give him his award for Pirates by writing "Finding Neverland" on it.  But I doubt it.  It's more likely to go to Eastwood or Foxx.  I'm sure the temptation to give it to the black actor for PR reasons is there, whether or not he gave the superior performance.  I didn't see "Ray", it's not my kind of movie, so I can't say one way or the other.  I have heard extremely good things about his performance, some from critics that I actually trust, so I'll assume he does deserve it if/when he picks up the award.  I just hope that, if they decide not to give it to him, we don't hear grumblings of "of course not, he's black."  Naturally, we will.

Best Animated-

Shrek 2 was nothing special.  It was okay.  Honestly, I was disappointed.  I enjoyed the first one quite a bit more.  That Shark Tale was even nominated shows that the category isn't really taken that seriously yet.  Incredibles wins by quite a ways.

Best Picture-

Finding Neverland was, as I said, a nice little film.  It wasn't best picture.
Sideways was a comedy, from what I understand. That means it loses.
Ray, Million Dollar Baby and The Aviator are the real contenders.  My instinct says that The Aviator will win.  It hearkens back to an era when actors and actresses were gods, and that wins it subconcious brownie points.  Ray will be given a firm handshake and a friendly pat on the ass.  Million Dollar Baby will get the "I Should Have Won Best Picture" award.  Not that I've seen it, but based on the hype I'm thinking that'll be the sentiment.

Best Original Screenplay-

Eternal Sunshine ought to win this.  I'm not sure it will.  Hotel Rwanda will be stiff competition.  I strongly, strongly doubt The Incredibles should be considered real competition in this category.  The movie was great and very clever... but a part of me says that the screenplay isn't really a contender next to these.  Given less perfect voice acting, my instinct says that the funniest jokes in The Incredibles would've come off as quite lame.  Thinking about Sam Jackson's scene where he's arguing with his wife- would that have been funny if it was anyone but Sam Jackson?  There's a line between actors carrying a joke and actors amplifying a joke, and for some reason I feel that a lot of the jokes in The Incredibles were carried by the actors.

Buddy movie actually, they win once every 20 years or so.  But, no, I don't think it will win this year.

It was very good though.

I will give my only Oscar Picks now.

The Oscars will be awarded to completely undeserving movies that half the viewers have never seen, and the awards shows will suck wet farts out of dead pigeons.

But Chris Rock will be funny, right? Right.

Best Actor

Jamie Foxx in “Ray” (Universal)
 
Best Supporting Actor

Jamie Foxx in “Collateral”
 
Best Actress

Hilary Swank in “Million Dollar Baby”
 
Best Supporting Actress


Natalie Portman in “Closer”
 
Best Animated Film

“Shrek 2”
 
Best Cinematography

“House of Flying Daggers” - Zhao Xiaoding

Best Director

“Million Dollar Baby” - Clint Eastwood

Best Picture


“Ray”

I'll update this post with the winners as they occur:

Best Supporting Actor - Morgan Freeman for "Millian Dollar Baby"
Best Animated Film - The Incredibles
Best Supporting Actress - Cate Blanchett for "The Aviator"
Best Adapted Screenplay - "Sideways"
Best Cinematography - "The Aviator"
Best Actress - Hillary Swank in "Million Dollar Baby"
Best Original Screemplay - "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"
Best Actor - Jamie Foxx in "Ray"
Best Director - Clint Eastwood for "Million Dollar Baby"
Best Picture - "Milion Dollar Baby"

Bruce

Why not just make new posts?

++

He can keep editing that one.

Funny though, I never posted my guesses. Mostly because after seeing Aviator, I just didn't give a shit.

Here's an award:

Worstest Year for Movies and Oscars Evar

Congratulations, 2004!

Die in a statue fire, Swank.

Hate, hate, hate that bitch.  Hate her horse face, and her false "I'm just po' white trash" sincerity.  No way she was the best actress, any of those other women have actually put in a career and can act circles around her.

Hollywood LOVVVVVVVVVVES them some Hillary Swank. Whenever she's nominated, it's better to pretend the Oscars don't exist.

I'm doing that right now. There was an Oscars? I just saw a lovely evening of people giving thanks. Hooray!

Once again Marty gets no love.  He must have pissed someone off mightily to keep getting shutdown.  How many of his movies have won best picture, and yet he's never won best director.  They must think his movies just make themselves.

Hell, though, you're probably in better company with the people who've been snubbed.  Hitchcock never won, Kubrick never won, yadda yadda.

Yeah, I'm surprised The Aviator didn't get more love, too.  I only got 5 awards right.  I figured they'd love the classic Hollywood angle of the movie, and I just didn't think they'd give Clint Best Director AGAIN and Hillary Swank Best Actress AGAIN.  Oh well.

Bruce

And I'll harp on this 'til the day I die; Kevin Costner has a best director oscar and Martin Scorsese doesn't.

If ever there was proof that there is no justice in this world, that's it.  Hell, that tracking shot when Ray Liotta leads Lorraine Bracco through the back door of the club, through the kitchen, past all the waiters and into the table that the maitre de sets up for them on the spot deserves a best director oscar all by itself.  It's a two minute long tracking shot, for fuck's sake.  Do people even realize that something as simple as that is so fucking hard?!?

I'm glad Kaufman won.

Clint needs to die already.  Maybe Swank chokes on him.

Foxx did do an amazing job in Ray, but Cheadle should've had that.

Ah, Oscar, how I hate thee.

I agree with everything here except the stuff about Hilary Swank. On that subject, you fellas don't know jack. She's an amazing actress and deserves whatever credit she gets.

Think about it, though.  This is Hollywood, do you really think they're going to honor a movie whose hero is not only a capitalist, but a ruthless, filthy rich capitalist who takes down a crusading, reformist senator?  I don't think so.

She's a girl, ya know.

Cheadle was better in traffic.

It was time for Foxx to win an Oscar.

Hell, I just warmed up to the idea of him being an actor, let alone Oscar worthy.

He was good though. But like most biopics, the film was a bore. So he didn't really impress me as much as he might have done another flick.


I don't know..Maybe I'm just out of it, but what exactly is that supposed to mean?

Huh? Did you think he was overlooked by the Academy for his groundbreaking performances in "Any Given Sunday" and that cinematic classic "Booty Call"?

Swank manages to win in years where the competition is light. She's not a bad actress at all, and that was never my complaint against her. It's the whole, "I grew up in the backwaters of podunkville y'all, and anyone can make it here in America with a dream and a big horse-face. Shucks." She can kiss every spot on my Southern ass for trying to pull that off.

Hey, that's a pretty inspiring message, I think.   :-P The American Dream. What's wrong with that?

Edit: What happened to you over the weekend Paolos? You've lost all shades of pink, and are now a full blown cynic. You should side with me on this one.

Try Ali.

Edit: I'm a stupid stupid man.

Not really. The highlight of comedy tonight was Robin Williams doing Marlon Brando as Elmer Fudd. I didn't laugh at any of Rock's jokes.

Bring back Williams please. Chris Rock is completely irrelevant to the world of film. And his comedy, while funny in his own element, is too pedestrian for an Oscar show.

As for his skit about what movies "real people" like: I still can't figure out who he was poking fun at. The Academy for cultural irrelevancy and artsy fartsy pompousness? Or "Black America" for thinking "White Chicks" was the best film of the year?

Uhm....

Johnny Carson - Made the Oscars, quite possibly, more pretentious than it is now.
Billy Crystal - Probably the best host ever.
Whoopi Goldberg - 2 words. Not Funny.
David Letterman - Who hosted in 1995 or 96, which is the Oscars most people would like to FORGET
Steve Martin - Who also sucked.
Chris Rock - who from all accounts, is just a weak Dave Chapelle. I guess I can see that, he was funny back in 1999-2000. It probably is 5 years too late for him to be hosting.

I'm going to assume you meant bring Robin Williams back to host. Gotta tell ya, he wouldn't be able to pull it off. Hosting the Oscars is a monumental task. 10 years ago I could have seen Bill Cosby do it. Maybe Jerry Seinfeld could do it now. John Candy probably could have done it at his peak.

But there's very few in Hollywood that can pull it off - and Williams isn't one of them (as much as I love the guy).

Edit: In case you were wondering - yes, I know John Candy is dead. Thanks.

I'm still in tears  :cry:

edit: The only reason why I could see Williams not being a good host is that he'd keep everyone in tears as well. Just a different kind.

Two words: side track. Scratch that. I mean one word: sidetrack. The man's a complete lunatic and would probably go off on a wild tangent every 15 minutes.

I thought Chris Rock's best part was interviewing all the black movie goers downtown to see what movies they liked the best, and which ones they had actually seen.  It was a cheap, easy joke, but it was so true.  White Chicks - hilarious.

I have to agree with most of Schild's reviews of past hosts, although I think Carson was much better than he did.  There's no question, though, that Billy Crystal was the best so far.

Bruce

Last brief thoughts:

Russ Meyer was shown in the "Rememberance" segment. But no Arthur Miller? WTF?

And what the hell was up with Vin Diesel's hair in that Lumet segment? That just didn't look right at all.

I usually don't care about commercials, but the Spartacus/Pepsi thing was great.

The Snack Fairy? Not so much.

edit: Hmm..I think I need a blog.

Pssst.  Your avatar is side-a-ma-ways.

Oh ok.  I was trying to help. 

When do you sleep?

ACK!!  She noticed!  She's gone!  Too spooky.

I generally sleep very few hours starting very late in the morning until very early in the afternoon. I'm not a morning person. I dislike sunlight immensely. I have extreme distaste for the hours between 7am and 10am when children are going to school. I dislike afternoons even more, but it's tough to find a nightjob that doesn't involve animal blood or cleaning human stains off chairs. I don't like people walking their dog. So I avoid the park at all times between 3 and 5pm. My brain generally doesn't turn on until 5pm, and it's why I'm cranky when I wake up; posting in the morning usually doesn't end in my more shining moments.

I haven't been a morning person since I was 10 years old and started playing online games. The majority of people whom I played with were much older and played after work, so I got used to being on the computer from 7-8pm until 3am and then waking up for school. My body has adjusted and on most weekdays I can function on very little sleep. Yes, I was a good little catasser when I was younger. We just hadn't come up with a word for it yet. My parents called it insomnia. Which kept me off the hook when I didn't go to sleep since they thought I couldn't. They were convinced I was afraid of the dark for much of my childhood.

Now, I'm going to sleep. It's 5:56am, I'll probably be awake around 11. That will give me time to grab breakfast before all the fratboys and girls wake up around here to grab theirs. Have a good evening.

P.S. I still hate the Oscars. And Beyonce.

I'm not arguing about it being a bit late for Chris to host the oscars, but Chappelle is a weak Chris Rock. He borrows pretty liberally from Chris's stand up in his own. Listen to some of Chris's specials (Bring the Pain especially), and then some of Chappelle's shortly after.

Oh well, to his credit, Chappelle's show is a lot funnier than Chris's old one.

What the fuck ?

Many people end their hate sentences with Beyonce... regardless of the subject.

Certain things irk me. People representing themselves as something else bothers me. She's trying to put off this image like she grew up poor in a small town. In reality, she grew up in a city of 50,000+ and her parents helped support her in almost all her pursuits, which in her younger days was athletics. I'm not a total cynic (a small one), just tell your life like it is. It also seems a little classless to vaunt yourself by bringing it up all the time even if it was true. Act like you've always been there.

The problem with Marty is that GoodFellas was, IMO, the last decent thing he did other than Cape Fear. Maybe if he hadn't attached himself to DiCraprio like a fucking lamprey, he might get some Oscar love. But I really don't think the Oscars want to give Leo the credit which he really doesn't deserve.

Well, that and the Oscars REALLY FUCKING SUCK. It is a 3-hour circle jerk of egos and sycophants cloying at the celebrities like trailer trash, wetting themselves over the latest dresses from some Eurofag designer. The Oscars trips over more good movies than they nominate.

As usual, the three best movies that won awards last night were the screenplay and animation winners: Sideways, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and the Incredibles. That's pretty much my number 1, 2, 3 choices of the best movies of 2004.

I was happy for Morgan Freeman, but he should have won for Shawshank Redemption.

Yes, Morgan Freeman deserved a pity vote. But that's not why I'm posting. Sideways was the most pretentious bloated piece of shit to come out of Hollywood since the Titanic. It just happened to cost less. I wish that movie had never have happened and everyone involved should be blacklisted in the same way Tim Curry was after Rocky Horror Picture Show. Twenty years without a proper move from those people would make Schild a happy man.

Eternal Sunshine and Incredibles absolutely rocked.

I think you might be too young to "get" Sideways, Schild. Wait another 10 or 15 years, then give it another viewing. It will make a lot more sense.

You've got shitty taste, boss.  Didn't you hate American Splendor too? 


Ahhhhrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggg.  I hate this mentality.  Really, I hope you're just going with the spirit of the Oscars, but that quote is why I don't turn in to watch it half of the time.   Still, from all account, he was tremendous in the movie.  He was awesome in Collateral, that's for sure.   Nice to see when an actor comes into his own.  Keanu, we're still waiting.

If any "art fag" was going to get it, it would be me. I eat shit like that up, particularly when it has to do with the finer things in life. But guess what, I couldn't sit through it. When something is too pretentious for me, there's something wrong.

Ah, Rasix replied while I was typing: American Splendor was and is still crap. And when people say "it's time for x to win an Oscar" it's because they know how Hollywood works. It's not a mentality. It's the truth. For example: Morgan Freeman was a shoe-in for best supporting last night in Shawshank Redemption.

I gotta agree with Ardent on this one.  Sideways was just that good but I think maybe you have to have lived a little to really have it hit home.

OK. Pretentious is the very last word I would ever use to describe Sidways and American Splendor, but whatever. I hope someday you can unclench and enjoy these two great, great films.

Perhaps I connected with Sideways because I myself am a plump, divorced, failed novelist.

Back on topic:

It seems that they can get away with any kind of political garbage on these shows, as long as they end it with, "And we all support the troops!" and everyone applauds and cries. What horseshit.

And Sean Penn, once again, manages to fuck up something.

Welcome to America in the 2000's.

God Bless my Tivo.

"And the winner is..."  "Wow, I didn't think I'd.."  Boodooop Boodooop-Boodooop!

"Tonight's song is to be performed by the lovely Beyonce.."   Boodooop Boodooop-Boodooop!

Beyonce and Jay-Z need to be shoved in a dark corner of the cultural closet of America and left there.

Well, as for Chris Rock. I wasn't surprised that a big part of his comedy was about race. He is one of those black comedians who is totally hung up on the whole race thing. Too bad, he used to be pretty funny before he decided this was how to get laughs from his chosen crowd.

Now about Foxx, his acceptance speech was the best of the whole night. That man showed class and I loved his speech. I was terrified he'd get up their and pull a Halle Berry and try to make it out how it's so hard because he's black. Nope, he talked about his grandmother and came off as a very upright kinda guy. I liked him before and I was only further impressed by him last night. Good show Foxx!

I was kind of surprised by the Million Dollar Baby success, I like most expected a split, Scorcesee to get best director, Baby to get picture. Oh well. Guess they still love Clint.

Agreed.  I didn't like the shout-response thing in the beginning, but the rest was very good.

I liked Morgan Freeman's speech a lot, too.  Brief, classy, and not fame whoring.

Chris Rock is black? Who knew.

What is that thing on the back of Foxx's head? A birthmark? A tattoo?

It's a fake tatoo for some movie.

Sideways sucked.

The writer had no story to write so he wrote an autobiographical story with him as the main character and the guy he wishes in his darkest moment he could be as his friend. Then he rides around talking about how ugly he is. Then he forces a character to like his and he has so much self loathing that he cant even write himself a happy ending.
AAARRRRRRGGGGGG!!!


I get it you wish you weren't you. You're so caught up in your own neurosis that you can't even fantasize about a better life cause you don't deserve it. You have clinical depression, kill yourself or go get help.

Rex Pickett is a freak. I mean that literally he should be put on display for all of us. "Come see the amazing ego-less man! Come heap praise upon him, it will do nothing! To him we are all hideous reflections of his own failings and inadequacies."

...who also cannot see beyond reflections of himself.  This movie isn't about you, neither is the criticism.  If however you 'see yourself in it', then get yourself a good shrink, really it will do wonders for you.

Now in due fairness, If pressed for a compliment for the movie I might go as far as to say this movie is a great way to diagnose depression. But Rorschach ain't no painter and Pickett ain't no novelist!

Sideways was a good film, but there was a bit too much about wine in it. I don't like wine at all and I really couldn't care less about it, so certain parts of the movie were quite boring.

Eternal Sunshine was the best movie I saw last year that was up for an award. (I don't watch many movies though) Shattered Glass was the best movie I saw last year overall though.

Is that a typo? I mean, it was a decent movie, but Hayden Christenson is one whiny piece of shit. He's the only reason that movie didn't do a LOT better. Peter Sarsgaard was money.

Woah there chief, I'm guessing you aren't a mental health pro because they wouldn't be stupid enough to diagnose people based on movie connections over the internet. So, let's keep the depression criticisms to yourself, eh?

Seriously though, Sideways and American Splendor are nothing more than "praise the pitiable clever dork." MEH. Tis crap.

Wow, koboshi. That was a genuinely ugly thing to say. You do realize there are actual human beings reading your words, right?

If you're kidding, you're not funny. If you're not kidding, then I'm not the one who needs help.

He's talking about the writer of the movie.

If he is, he needs to make that more clear. He said that directly following a quote from me.

In any case, I'll just ignore it for the stream of stupid shit that it is.

He's my roommate from college. I can generally follow his bizarre logic. And I am 100% sure he is talking about the writer of the movie/the main character (who is the writer).

If he was, I addressed it as well. It was poorly worded and out of line.

Poorly worded maybe. Out of line? Depends on how much you care for the movie. Paul Giamatti plays depressing characters. He is meant to be pitied. He does not care for your praise. He continually seems like he's on the brink of suicide. These things come from the writer of a movie. This type of character combined with the usual pretentiousness that comes with a wine-tasting trip results in quite the amount of rage-filled emotion I'd expect from any student of cinema. Koboshi's response is not surprising. I've no pity for him though and generally don't let writers - particularly when it's as obvious as this movie was - project themselves at me through puppet strings in their writing. Don't get hung up on what Koboshi wrote, discuss the movie - and if you took what he wrote personally, rethink it, it wasn't aimed at you.

I only meant out of line in the sense of directing it at a poster. On the idea of talking about the writer's seeming depression influencing his medium, I believe he is correct.

Sideways is ultimately not a movie about depression, it's about hope. When depression hits, it's common to think that you are not worthy of love, that you do not deserve happiness. Sideways shows that despite the bleakness, it is possible to push your way through the darkness, allow yourself to understand that you ARE capable of love, you DO deserve empathy and understanding, and ultimately, there is humor and friendship even in the darkness.

That's what I got from the movie, and it hit me in a very deep place, for reasons you will never understand.

Shawshank Redemption is a movie about hope. Sideways is a movie about the writer being a bitchass.


That's about as pretentious as the movie seemed to me. Impressive. Animality!

Edit: Excuse the animality bit. I'm still hung up on episode 2 of Robot Chicken. Which, again, was brilliant.

You could be a bigger ass here.  Really.  Sky's the limit.   Art faggery sometimes can go a bit too far and push you out in the realm of "crazy bastard that has it in for certain crap and sounds like a douche when discussing it".   I think it would be wise to thrown down some sort of soiled white flag and call it a day. 

Because a couple people think that Sideways is the greatest movie of last year? I don't think so. That fine award goes to about 10 other movies first. Then, maybe, I'll let the critical acclaim of Sideways squeek it into the top 20. As I can see it, people aren't talking about the quality of the movie but rather how it hit home. For some people Breakin 2: Electric Boogaloo may have hit home. Doesn't make it a good movie.

I think I hit 11 on the art fag meter with this post. I'll go for 12 next time if you keep pushing me.

I agree. Then again I'd be shocked if Morgan Freeman didn't act classy. It'd be about as bizarro world
as  Bill Cosby calling a woman his ho and slapping her around. Or Bob Barker calling Adam Sandler a bit...
no wait, that actually happened.

Schild,

I don't normally post stuff like this, but your avatar makes me want to do a little of that ultra-violence upside your head.

Sideways can stay on the sideline.  Agree there.  More credit for Morgan Freeman is always good in my book, I really enjoyed his visit on the Actor's Studio.

Thanks for proving my point. You don't understand, and have no intention of having a rational discussion.

I have intention of discussing the MOVIE rationally. Not your personal life. I try to stay away from that. I've no need to understand how it hit you to discuss the low quality of a film. A lot of movies have hit home with me in a very serious way, but as movies it doesn't necessarily make them better.

By the way, you didn't make a point in your post, all you said was I'd never get how it effected you since I'm not you. Which is nothing more than a true statement.

I thought it was a good flick? Best of year?  No, not really. For my dollar, Collateral was better but I didn't see any of the other nominated best picture movies.  Wanted to see Aviator, but I really don't like going to see movies I'm only moderately interested in that may run over 3 hours.  Shattered Glass was fucking boring IMO.  Friday Night Lights was also a good flick which I think got overlooked (fuck, Tim McGraw can act!).

The movie was well written.  It was funny.  It was depressing.  It had a glimmer of hope.  It had some interesting wine stuff which is more poignant if you've been to Napa recently or are somewhat knowledgeable about the subject (I still think it lended a lot to all aspects of the movie even if you knew zilch about wine). It was worth the price of admission.  I enjoyed myself and so did my wife who generally hates despressing movies.

That was my problem with it. I know about wine. I made it a point to teach myself a lot about it. I got into the movie for free.

Still found it unbearable. This is after being excited by the trailers.

I bet you drink Merlot.

I bet a bunch of high-falutin shitheads who saw this movie would say the same thing. Like I said before: p-r-e-t-e-n-t-i-o-u-s.

Yes, I know you're making a funneh.

I'm happy about the turn this thread took.

first of all "you" was a reference to the fact that the writer, pickett, put himself in the book.
but since you mention it...

You said that before, and I, and anyone who has taken the time to read what you said about yourself and the movie, understand.
You think you have found a character on screen that you can project onto, and that if someone attacks them they are attacking you, and you think this is special. Wake up!  That is how movies work, you project onto the protagonist so when you see them win the great victory you feel that you have, "in a very deep place, for reasons you will never understand".  However this character, and as I see it this writer, have problems with depression.  Three of my direct family members have mild to serious depression issues and it can be a real problem.  Don't think for a moment I am dismissing the pain of a depressed person.  However they and everyone else I have met with Clinical Depression who gets treated gets better (not cured, but better).
The reason I attack this movie so dramatically is because people think, "Oh, I don't need to worry its normal to feel this way about yourself."  It's not, it's a mental defect, it's Clinical Depression and it can be life threatening.


Fine you caught me I'm an armchair shrink at best. But am I right?

edit: PS: Now after talking about this movie for this long I feel dirty, I'm going to have to go bathe in the glory that is my "I [heart] Huckabees" 2 disk special edition.  I'll try not to remeber how it got absolutely snubbed.

Glad to know you're not afraid to get in touch with your inner pantywaist.

Never said otherwise.  :-D

Well, I'm over 30 years old, I live 45 minutes south of Napa Valley, I've travelled to the French wine country, I'm seriously into wine.  So I'll try not to be an art fag, but I just have to rant ...

I heard an interview on NPR with Rex Pickett, and came away thinking the guy was a huge prick precisely because of his "knowledge" about wine.  Words fail me to describe this guy's complete satisfaction with himself at every point in that interview.  An example:  The guy goes off on merlot claiming that its really for people with "indiscriminate" palates.  Presuming to categorize a varietal that is loved the world over in that way is the height of ego self-buggery.

So, after that interview, I decided to read the book.  I figure, what the heck.  I've been through fairly serious depression, maybe it will resonate.  It didn't.  The man's prickishness comes through with every arrogant thing his main character does.  This book reads like the author is trying to convince you that only he could write this book.  The reader is either too stupid or too "indiscriminate" to get the meaning.  Meh.

Then I decide I'll go see the movie.  The author's a jerk, the book was complete arrogant presumption, but I figure I'll give the movie a shot.  While the movie is marginally better than the book, that still didn't save it from being a craptastic depression-fest laced with dialogue that speaks down to the viewer at every turn.  I mean, I actually enjoyed  Episode One a little bit.  I'm not that hard a movie-goer to please.  My standards are low, yet Sideways managed to be one of the few movies I almost walked out on.

Neither Rex Pickett nor Sideways merits much more than a "Oh yeah, I think I've heard of that," and instead we have people fawning over both.  I just don't get it.

Mmmm, Merlot. (http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=sideways) It's about the only alcohol I like.

That link is the only redeeming thing associated with Sideways.  I wish I'd seen that earlier.  Fantastic rant!

Probably a good thing that I didn't know much about Rex Pickett and am only casually knowledgeable about wine.   

Haven't seen Sideways yet, but I have been a Pinot Noir fan for years. I also like merlot, cabernet sauvignon, and Chianti. Anything white, on the other hand, is undrinkable.

I think I just heard grandmothers everywhere scowl at you. It may not be safe for you to walk the streets tonight.

I used to drink just about any type of red wine, but nowadays it's all Malbec. Argentina pwns the Old World.

Am I being too gay when I say I really, really like Petite Shiraz? And yes, I like it more than Petite Sirah.

I'm a Pinot Noir/Merlot man, myself. And I'm not being gay when I say I like wines with a fruiter flavor.

Fruit having nothing whatsoever to do with mancock.

(http://www.seinology.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=114&pos=617)

I have the 4-volt. I may be in trouble!

I suppose if you liked Huckabees, you're not completely irredeemable.

And Rasix, since I'm too lazy to quote your post, I would say that I was also reluctant to see The Aviator, and was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Maybe you should give it a spin.

Now, let's see how schild rips me on this one, since he hands his opinions down on stone tablets from God On High. (Please allow me this one bit of sarcasm, I think I've been restrained in this thread despite the pummelling I took.)

If the wine comes in a box it is good enough for me.

Go back and read my shit. I thought Huckabees was snubbed completely. It's in the running for my favorite movie this year besides Eternal Sunshine. Trust me, I wanted to like Sideways. It just bit cock.

Look Schild knows he's a movie dick. We know he's a movie dick. The day I give a shit about Japanese cinema is the day I let him pick my film on movie night.


Now, where's my copy of White Chicks?

Look, Schild doesn't know shit about movies.  He without fail picks some navel gazing, faux existentialist piece of shit as the epitome of "art".  In short, he's a douche.  That, however, doesn't mean that Japanese movies are crap.  Particularly, Kurosawa is a fucking genius.  Of course, a lot of the reason he appeals to us so much is because he was obsessed with western culture and literature, so you've got a lot of those themes in his movies.  If you want to see the best film version of King Lear ever made, check out Ran.  Awesome movie.

Of course, we get into weirdness where Kurosawa is interpreting western themes, and then westerners reinterpret his movies and remake them:  Seven Samurai --> Magnificent Seven,  Hidden Fortress --> Star Wars.  You start getting into interpretations of interpretations.

I stopped giving a shit about Japanese cinema the minute they started castrated themselves.

Oh, and one more thing from the Oscar show:

Will the aliens who stole Renee Zellweger please replace her with a more believably human-acting android clone?

I found it humerous that Anette Benning was introducing the dead people, considering she looked like a freakin' zombie. Is there a man that's more out of touch with reality than Sean Penn? Spicoli needs to lay off the drugs.

If this thread is any indication, you guys would be much more vicious than he was standing up there. Seriously.

He doesn't do drugs these days. He just thinks that the majority of people he's exposed to are complete douchebags.

And considering where's he at, he's probably right.

Or are you talking something else, and not his attitude?

He is right.  And that's one big reason I heart Sean Penn.

Him generally looking and sounding like he was on drugs.  That and making a complete ass out of himself.  See "Jude Law".

Chris Rock sucks balls and Penn called him on it. Good for him.

Watch it there, chief. Maybe my sense of humor is a bit impaired, but Jude Law is one of our finest actors!

((cue cheap applause))

I would have been quite happy had she disappeared after Jerry Maguire.

Ok, we found the Sean Penn fanboi.  Who's the John Woo enthusiast again?  I need to know so I can more efficiently line up my cheap shots. 

I like the John Woo that used to make the films over in Hong Kong. I'm not sure who the fuck this clone is that's making names in the US under his name, but we should shoot him on sight.

None other than SirBruce (edit: I hear that he's completely immune to cheap shots though).

Hmm..Not sure about that actually. Though I did read him singing the praises of Face Off the other day.

Hard Boiled was cool, for the sheer number of people killed in it. But as for the rest of the Hong Kong films, I think they suck even worse than the American ones. The John Woo we see now is no imposter imo.

Just to poke in, it was, in my opinion, a crime against humanity that 'Downfall' didn't win best foreign-language film. It takes serious talent to pull off Downfall without turning the subject matter into either a cartoon or pointless postmodern wanking.

Please return to your regularly-scheduled and highly entertaining derail.

"You had me at goodbye!"

Sean Penn is a douchebag in general. I was flicking between the Oscars and 'Heat' on HBO (SUCH a great flick), so I missed his general douchery this time. Also, John Woo is a fucking hack.

Why do most lurkers always have something intelligent and fairly useful to say?

Post more you freaks!

I disagree with you.  Now, Nicole Kidman, she makes day old soup look entertaining.

I guess you're not looking forward to John Woo's epic masterpiece He-Man (http://imdb.com/title/tt0427340/).  This movie will rock.

In other news, I enjoy sarcasm.  In fact, the only thing that would save that movie is if Sean Penn were starring in it.

Hee.

Written by the guy who wrote and directed "The Dark Backward", my favorite Bill-Paxton-as-a-necrophiliac movie.

Two words: Nurse Betty

I just love the thought of that jackass sitting there for two hours thinking, "Should I say something?  No, no, it's not my place.  Yes, dammit, I will!  No one talks smack about Jude Law on my watch!"  And then he stepped forth to defend Jude Law's honor.

Honestly, what a humorless, self-important dick.

Nono, I'm the Jude Law enthusiast.  Face/Off was more about Cage/Travolta to me than Woo.

Bruce

The Killer was a good movie. The problem with John Woo is that he can only really do one thing, so it gets old after a while. White doves anyone?

His best US film is probably...Hard Target?

Very few can film action scenes like Woo can, but that's where my praise stops. The action may be good, but a John Woo film in it's entirety is almost always an unwatchable piece of shit. He should be a choreographer or stunt coordinator, not a filmmaker.

I'm the resident John Woo fanboi. I own Hard Boiled, The Killer, MI-2 , and probably a better tomorrow. I love his early stuff. The part that kills me is you guys bitching he can only do one thing must have never read an interview with him. He's tired of his "thing" as well, however, when he gets hired, he gets hired to do a John Woo movie and is usually told to put those elements in. See: Paycheck for an example.

Sean Penn is kind of creepy, but it's an honest creepy. I'd rather have dinner with him than Chris Rock any day. Rock would be trying to hard and Sean Penn would be like "I don't give a fuck if you like me or not."

Did you get that in 5 cents in late fees at the local library? Don't sum up Kurosawa's career in what you'll find in the kiddy section of the newspaper. And don't shit on me for picking films you'll never understand at their most base level. It's a cute party trick to discuss Kurosawa's influence on modern film. I could do it when I was eight years old. Read this (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0571211526/qid=1109642932/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/104-0867205-6363160?v=glance&s=books&n=507846), take two tylenol, sleep on it, and then come back and talk about Kurosawa before I run circles around you. Other cinematic geniuses from Japan? Yasujiro Ozu, Takashi Miike, Kinji Fukusaki - do I need to go on or have I already lost you? We can do any other country you want as well. France, Italy, Russia, Britain, Canada, Mexico, China, Hong Kong, etc. Seriously, you don't want to step on my ability to injest everything I read and regurgitate it out. You don't know shit about me and you arent about to pin me as *phile of any country. I'm a fan of CINEMA - whether that be from b-rate directors on the Troma ticket or the most art faggy thing to come out of the Netherlands from last spring.

I'd like you to find somewhere that I picked a "faux existentialist piece of shit" for anything. Because, sorry bucko, you're barking up the wrong tree if you think Huckabees was just that. You should step out of your world of the Washington Post movie reviews section.

Stray, there's a japanese movie where they eat humans, call it monkey and then there's a guy on a hill eating his own shit. Castrating themselves is the least of my worries.

Riggswolfe, being an early John Woo fanatic, I have to agree, The Killer, Hard Boiled and A Better Tomorrow 1 & 2 are quite good. The latter two probably being his most cohesive story. He's goddamn bad at staying on track and completely bit ass  since he set foot on US soil. If you're looking for movies with the depth of his films - minus the doves - go rent Infernal Affairs, they pitched it as a cop movie with hot chicks in America, but it's so much more.

Holy shit, he did that? I always thought Shakespeare wrote it.

That's a good one though. I agree.

As for Japanese Cinema, I don't completely hate it. Like I said: I just wish they'd get their balls back (Miike just doesn't do it for me). I'm a big action flick guy, so I simply can not ingest most of the weird shit that comes out of Japan these days.

The only highlight for recent Japanese cinema for me is Tetsuo. Not only does that film have balls -- It's got big steel ones.

Don't even get me started on Tetsuo though. It's unspeakable.

No, I don't recall the name of the Infernal Affairs guy atm.

Japan's latest pure action/sci-fi outting, Casshern, was utter shit. Avoid at all costs or watch it muted.

See, this tells me everything about you that I need to know; you're a fan of self-indulgent wankery.  No need to get all defensive about it, pookie bear.

Big Gulp, I expect more from you than blatent trolling.

Sheesh... what do you want, schild?  He called you Pookie Bear!

He wants respect, dammit! Too bad the internet is severely lacking in that category.

As for films, people's knowledge of film generally turns them into self-important jackasses the more they learn about it. Because, in reality, it's a form of art. People judge art, and they criticize art, but it's a very subjective medium. Take the movie High Fidelity. You see men who have such a broad knowledge of the field of music that they become snobs to people who like what they consider to be pedestrian. Is it true though, that better knowledge breeds better taste? I would argue against that. Better knowledge just gives you more options to define your own particular style. When people get overly vehement that their style is the best style and therefor the best that the entire medium has to offer, that is where I take issue.

And birds go tweet.

Well said, man.

I don't think, by any means, that my style if the best style. Some movies just suck so much ass, I don't know how people can like them. But then, some people don't think either.

Please send me a list of movies deemed objectively worthy of schild, otherwise I will be incapable of thought.

Here, let me give you an example:

Maria Full of Grace.

Unless for some reason, you have empathy for mules - this movie is a piece of shit. Yet it got a cockslobbering from the entire industry.

Another one that falls into this category, is Sideways. Now Ardent, you've done nothing other than assault me and defend YOUR REACTION to the movie. You haven't even discussed the movie itself. Are we going to get to that? Or am I just going to have to deal with insults and childish roundabout?

EDIT: I agree with Paelos, I'm as tired of this shit as everyone else. If I'm not mistaken, we're supposed to be discussing the Oscars here.

Get a room, you two.

Big birds go TWEET.

I think Face/Off was his best US film. Hard Target had Van Dummbe, Broken Arrow was decent if a little too heavy on the helicopters crashing, Paycheck was unspectacular and had too many doves, and both Windtalkers and Mission Impossible 2 were just ass flappings on film.

EDIT: We pretty much stopped discussing the Oscars because the Ocars are self-fellation of the Hollywood El33t. Fuck the Oscars.

As for Japanese cinema, I saw Tetsuo a few years ago and am STILL goddamn scarred. Should I ever go to Japan, I will be afraid to drink the fucking water. 

A person's reaction to a piece of art depends on the progression of their life. Childhood, education, prejudice, maturity, death, relationships ... all of these factors merge to form how a human being filters their reaction to a film, and whether it entertains or annoys.

Understanding this, different people are going to have very different reactions to all kinds of art. Chris Rock's little piece on the Oscars about black people not caring about "white" movies is a crude illustration of this.

However, despite any accolades or jeers a piece of art may receive, no matter how many Oscars or other meaningless marketing hooks are draped around a film, ultimately any reaction to a film is opinion. Art must pass through the filters of experience, and how it is deposited on the other side of that filter is different for everybody.

The Academy people who cast their votes for Million Dollar Baby were touched by something, whether it was the film itself or the marketing campaign that begged for Oscars, those people felt strongly enough about their opinion to use their influence to honor it. I can choose to accept their decision or not, and my choice might make me unpopular or pigheaded, but I'm not wrong because of what side I choose.

That's why I have a hard time when someone presents their opinion as objective fact. That person is not taking into account that their experiences form a strong perspective in their own mind, but since those experiences are not shared by anyone else other than themself, something that brought out a strong reaction (whether rapturous or repellent) may meet with utter indifference in others.

Some people might classify The Godfather as an objectively brilliant movie, one of the best ever made, and I would agree with that ... yet I have a very intelligent friend who hated it. I despised Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, yet I've seen it praised on this very discussion board. I understand that my opinion is just that, and I am not going to call someone wrong for expressing the ideas they formulated through their filter of life experience, just because it differs from mine.

Yes, but I think we can objectively all agree that this film (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0339034/) REALLY SUCKED MONKEY COCK.

It's no "Glitter"

This was a lot funnier the first time I saw it in Good Will Hunting - You should have added the "How do you like them apples" bit. That was the funny part.

Only the first sentence was from Hunting. You're the second person who grafted the whole thing to that scene. Also, I thought the first sentence was apropos. The first thing anyone learns about Kurosawa is his influence on a certain handful of movies. After that, they think they know something other people don't. It's common fucking knowledge and should be treated as such.

Edit: Words are hard.

So sayeth Riki Tiki Tavi w/ the 30.06:

Kurosawa is now common knowledge.


Which means my knowledge just got a lot less common.

I hate people putting spin on my shit. I did NOT say Kurosawa was common knowledge, I said this was:


If there's ANYTHING people know about him, besides what movies he made, it's the stuff in quotes above.

My god, you actually made a concious decision to watch that movie.  I know you do the pain for the review thing, but that is masocism brother.  Seek help.

Schild, I really want to shoot your avatar.

No, that was one movie I could determine the suckiness of without having to watch it.

Watch it, Glitter, and Crossroads in the same day.  Then write a review on life.

But please remove all sharp utensils from the immediate vicinity.

When I watched Ran in Japanese class in highschool I thought it was about a sheet smuggling ring. It's actaully not that good of a movie that way.