Oscars 07

[schild]

I AM FUCKING DISGUSTED.

How can a rip-off  of a movie win Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay.

OH GOOD, YOU TOOK INFERNAL AFFAIRS AND STRETCHED IT OUT AN HOUR, ADDED A COUPLE UNNECESSARY CHARACTERS, MUDDLED UP THE SCREENPLAY AND MANAGED TO MAKE IT LESS INTERESTING.

THANK YOU HOLLYWOOD.

YOU'RE DEAD TO ME.

[schild]

Seriously. It's as if, every year, the academy goes out of it's way to piss me off.

If you haven't seen Infernal Affairs, and you've seen the Departed, I want you to run, not walk to the nearest movie store. And when you get there, cut off a finger for Not Helping.

Also, Children of Men, not even nominated for best film?

Christ.

I'm going to shoot myself in the foot so I can feel the pain Clive Owen feels right now. Could you even imagine watching Oceans Asia 11 Drug Party winning over anything? Damnit.

[stray]

Ok, did you even see it? You sound like my brother. He refuses to even watch it.

Remake or not, it's a great movie.


That's all beside the point though. He won it because he's been screwed numerous times. Raging Bull lost to Ordinary People. Have ANY OF YOU even seen Ordinary People? Good Fellas lost to Dances with Wolves... Taxi Driver wasn't even recognized because he was virtually a newcomer at that point. The guy has been punished for all kinds of political bullshit over and over again. So I suppose that it's fitting that he finally WINS because of political bullshit.

But besides, it was still a good flick.

Personally, I thought the Aviator was his best movie in a long time. Kind of iffy whether it should have won last year though (vs Million Dollar Baby).

[schild]

I own it on Blu-Ray.

I've also owned Infernal Affairs since the year it was released. I imported the 2 disc special edition.

This isn't really one you want to challenge me on.

Ordinary People was damn fine.

Departed, compared to the original, was not.

[stray]

I own it on Blu-Ray.

Just asking. It's not the same film though. Completely different premise/message, and sorry (and this has nothing to do with Scorsese winning), but an all around better cast. Even Markie Mark rocked in this flick.

I've also owned Infernal Affairs since the year it was released. I imported the 2 disc special edition.

This isn't really one you want to challenge me on.

I'm not challenging you on anything. Just saying that you sounded like my brother.

Ordinary People was damn fine.

Fine yes. Still raving about it after 30 years quality? No, no. That's what Raging Bull is.

This Oscar tonight was an apology for Raging Bull and Good Fellas. And it wasn't a bad movie to do it with either.

[schild]

No, it's not worth raving about after 30 years. I agree. And neither is the Departed. But Infernal Affairs will be part of foreign film classes for YEARS.

And no, the premise/message wasn't supposed to be different. They just couldn't do it near as eloquently as the original. Seriously, damn thing was too long and it still felt like they were trying too hard. DiCaprio phoned it in for half his scenes.

I like Marky Mark. He always entertains.

Departed was merely a "fun" movie.

But hey, no one appreciated A Better Tomorrow either.

[stray]

OK, fair enough. I don't even want to get in a Departed vs Internal argument. Departed is not better, but I think there's enough of a difference in for it to stand on it's own (and besides, the Oscars weren't about Internal vs Departed anyways).

All that being said, I would think by now that you'd understand the Oscars aren't necessarily even about film merit though. Unfortunately. It's not worth getting worked up over. My favorites have been consistently screwed for years.

[Trippy]

The announcer also said Infernal Affairs was a Japanese film. Oops.

[Jeff Kelly]

Remake or not, it's a great movie.

It would have been if it wasn't a remake. It basically took everything that made the original one great and turned it upside down up to and including the end. Yeah it had a famous cast and very good acting talent but in a year where we had children of men, babel, the last king of scotland, the queen, notes on a scandal, letters from Iwo Jima and numerous other great achivements it was just a decent flick.

That's all beside the point though. He won it because he's been screwed numerous times.

I don't care. If I award movies then the best one should win and not the one of 'the director that was screwed and we want to apologize'. If you need to do that your whole award process is flawed and your award is basically worthless because you have acknowledged that not the best movies win. There have been numerous movies which have been better and didn't get the recognition that they deserved just because jurors on a guilt trip needed to apologize to a director. That is pathetic. Even more so because they actually needed to do that.

The Oscars on the whole are overvalued however, they seldom choose really great films. Best foreign movie for "Das Leben der Anderen", when "Pan's Labyrinth" and "After the Wedding" are nominated? Come on.

[Trippy]

I'm continuing my streak of having not seen any of the Best Picture nominees so I can't comment on how deserving or not The Departed was. However, rewarding Scorsese by giving him Best Director is different than rewarding him by giving the film Best Picture.

[Ironwood]

I don't care. If I award movies then the best one should win and not the one of 'the director that was screwed and we want to apologize'. If you need to do that your whole award process is flawed and your award is basically worthless because you have acknowledged that not the best movies win.

Um.  Well, yes.

Do you even watch the Oscars ?  ;)

[schild]

Stray, you've called it "Internal Affairs" like 8 times. I gotta shut that down.

[Jeff Kelly]

Um.  Well, yes.

Do you even watch the Oscars ?  ;)

No, exactly because of that. The academy award is a popularity contest and not a serious award.

[Trippy]

I don't care. If I award movies then the best one should win and not the one of 'the director that was screwed and we want to apologize'. If you need to do that your whole award process is flawed and your award is basically worthless because you have acknowledged that not the best movies win.

Um.  Well, yes.

Do you even watch the Oscars ?  ;)

The Oscars are like a political race. The studios spend enormous amounts of money trying to influence of the votes of the Academy members. The most notorious recent example to me was when Miramax "bought" the Best Picture for Shakespeare in Love over Saving Private Ryan. I mean, I like a nekkid Gwyneth Paltrow but there's no fricking way that movie was better than Saving Private Ryan.

[schild]

lolololololol.

[Trippy]

No, exactly because of that. The academy award is a popularity contest and not a serious award.

Of course it's a popularity contest -- what else would it be when you have awards that are voted on by over 6,500 Academy members?

[Ironwood]

lolololololol.

I don't get it.  What's funny ?

[Trippy]

lolololololol.

I don't get it.  What's funny ?

I don't get it either since Brokeback Mountain did not win Best Picture -- Crash did. On the other hand I like Titanic and am glad it won. And it's not like the competition it was up against that year was all that stiff. It was up against As Good as It Gets, The Full Monty, Good Will Hunting, and L.A. Confidential, all of which I saw (which is a rarity), and I thought it was well deserving of the award.

[Ironwood]

L.A Confidential was a great movie though.

[schild]

I'm really forgiving. ESPECIALLY of Chick Flicks. But you want a tragic story about love lost and a boat? Watch Legend of 1900. Titanic was dreck.

And I don't know what you're talking about LA Confidential was the best noir movie since, well, noir and up until Sin City. Good Will Hunting is the best Damon and Affleck have done and As Good as It Gets was a fucking masterpiece.

You know why Titanic won? There are 600,000,000 reasons why. And Quality isn't one of them.

Also, I wasn't actually trying to draw any attention to Brokeback. I just thought the poster comparison was kinda funny.

[Trippy]

L.A Confidential was a great movie though.

Yes it was.

[Trippy]

You know why Titanic won? There are 600,000,000 reasons why. And Quality isn't one of them.

It's unusual for the best grossing film that's nominated to win.

[WindupAtheist]

Take a fucking pill, Schild.  You sound like a fourteen-year old girl in a beret whenever you talk about movies, and it isn't just because you validate yourself by hating everything popular, it's because you're so god damned shrill about it.

[schild]

I don't even in the slightest hate everything that's popular. I saw Fast and the Furious 4 times the week it was released. And I still love it. Through college, most of my favorite TV shows were on the frickin WB. I just bought the new Barenaked Ladies and Fallout Boy albums.

This has nothing to do with popularity for me. This has to do with not giving credit where credit is due.

If you wanna knock me for something, make sure you get the fucking point.

[Trippy]

I don't even in the slightest hate everything that's popular. I saw Fast and the Furious 4 times the week it was released. And I still love it. Through college, most of my favorite TV shows were on the frickin WB. I just bought the new Barenaked Ladies and Fallout Boy albums.

This has nothing to do with popularity for me. This has to do with not giving credit where credit is due.

Which still doesn't make sense since Infernal Affairs wasn't nominated for anything so it's not like The Departed stole any awards away from it or anything. In other words there's a difference between saying that The Departed shouldn't have won cause you thought, say, Babel was better and saying that The Departed shouldn't have won cause it was a poor ripoff of Internal Affairs -- that just means that IA was that much better of a film.

[stray]

Stray, you've called it "Internal Affairs" like 8 times. I gotta shut that down.

Heh yeah I realized that. My bad. I DO own the movie though. Want a pic? Lol.

[Merusk]

Everything I was going to say has already been said by Ironwood and Stray.

It should have been obvious who was going to win as soon as "The Three Amigos" came out on stage. It was a big "We sowwy Marty" party.  It was transparent to me at least and I only caught it because the wife fell asleep with the TV on and I happened to come to bed at that moment.

[stray]

Would have been a much better/less transparent affair if they had just given him the award last year though. Hell, I've already watched the Aviator close to ten times. It's a damn good film. I like Million Dollar Baby, but I've only seen it once. The truest time for sympathy votes was then.

Then again, Million Dollar Baby was kind of a sympathy vote for Clint as well.

[Trippy]

Then again, Million Dollar Baby was kind of a sympathy vote for Clint as well.

Why? Clint won Best Director for Unforgiven.

[stray]

Ah shit, you're right.

And he deserved that one, I should say..

[Big Gulp]

Truth be told, not winning the Oscar for years has probably been a Godsend for Scorsese; it kept up the endless "Marty was robbed!" conversations and brought him more cred.  Also, if I were a director I'd probably rather be in the "never won" club than in the Oscar club.  Shit, Kevin Costner has an Oscar.  Hitchcock, Kubrick (Kubrick, people!), Peckinpah, Kurosawa, Leone, Hawks, Griffith, Cassavettes, or Welles have all never won an academy award.

[CmdrSlack]

Seriously. It's as if, every year, the academy goes out of it's way to piss me off.

What, you didn't see that full-page ad in Variety?

[Abagadro]

Welles actually does have an Oscar (for writing Citizen Kane) but I see your point there. Anyone thinking that the Oscars is an arbiter of actual talent or greatness hasn't been paying attention for the last 70 years.

[Ironwood]

  Shit, Kevin Costner has an Oscar. 

What ?

That's....silly.

[stray]

  Shit, Kevin Costner has an Oscar. 

What ?

That's....silly.

That's why I was saying Scorsese won last night. Costner beat him: Dances with Wolves vs Good Fellas.

That shit deserved an apology. 20 years late maybe, but what the hell..