Oscars 07

[Rasix]

I had a funny Oscar moment during the three stooges giving the award to Marty. They're doing the usual painful Oscar banter.  This was really bad though, as they were selling it worse than Will Smith's kid and the dialogue was just horrid.  My wife said, "Who wrote this shit? Lucas?". 

I was so proud.

[Ironwood]

Wasn't Dances With Wolves the long boring film with President Roslin fleeing the Cylon Buffalo ?

[Engels]

Although I do not thing Infernal Affairs was 'all that', it was still one of the best Chinese movies that Americans have been able to watch. Most of the stuff we get over here is pure drek.

I sympathise with Schild since I get very pissed off at American remakes getting credit for others' original ideas. Wether its The Ring, or Vanilla Sky, they are all watered down, bombastic and sanitized versions of the original. Even on the off chance that Scorcese's film is somehow better than Infernal Affairs, it should immediately be disqualified for an Oscar on the basis that its not an original screenplay. Any boohooing that Scorcese hasn't gotten enough credit is hilarious considering the popularity of his movies. And since now I know that his movie was based on Infernal Affairs, its not going to make it to my Netflix list. Shame on him.

[stray]

So by your reasoning, Fistful of Dollars shouldn't even be watched because of Yojimbo?

And before you bundle Departed in the same category as "Vanilla Sky" or whatnot, listen to what you're saying. C'mon man. Remake or not, it's still Scorsese. Not Tom Cruise. It's not even close to that other category of films, or done with the same shallow intentions. At least watch it.

[EDIT] Damn. Not typing well today. It's not my day.

[HaemishM]

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.

Every single one of those movies was better than Titanic in every possible way except special effects. EVERY SINGLE ONE.

Titanic was a shitty shit shit shit romance novel wrapped around an incredible 20-minute CGI scene. It was boring, even with Winslet's boobs. It was crap and Cameron should be ashamed for having let that be his last real fictional film.

Scorsese won because he's never won before. He's an overrated director who has had some good movies, but nothing worth giving him the constant fellatio everyone involved in film does. I haven't even bothered to watch his last 3 flicks because they star DiCaprio, another talentless hack who needs to get the fuck out of movies and off my TV.

[Morfiend]

Ok, lets put the mouth frothing about Departed behind us for a few minutes. How did you guys feel about the other stuff? I am glad Helen Miren won. I think she is a very good actor. I havent had a chance to see The Queen yet, but I really want to. One, because I enjoy her films, and two because Im english and have a soft spot for the Queen.

I thought cars should have won for animated movie, but maybe thats just cause my best friends son is totally in love with it, and I have watched it in bits and pieces around 70 or 80 times.

[stray]

Never saw the Queen. I'll just rent it. Used to be a big Prime Suspect fan though (well, I was coaxed into at first, but hey).

[Johny Cee]

Although I do not thing Infernal Affairs was 'all that', it was still one of the best Chinese movies that Americans have been able to watch. Most of the stuff we get over here is pure drek.

I sympathise with Schild since I get very pissed off at American remakes getting credit for others' original ideas. Wether its The Ring, or Vanilla Sky, they are all watered down, bombastic and sanitized versions of the original. Even on the off chance that Scorcese's film is somehow better than Infernal Affairs, it should immediately be disqualified for an Oscar on the basis that its not an original screenplay. Any boohooing that Scorcese hasn't gotten enough credit is hilarious considering the popularity of his movies. And since now I know that his movie was based on Infernal Affairs, its not going to make it to my Netflix list. Shame on him.

By that reasoning,  most Kurosawa and Japanese samurai cinema should be tossed out,  since it was all heavily influenced by the early Westerns.  (And later Westerns turned around and drew on some of the Eastern influences, like Fistful of Dollars and Magnificent Seven.)  It's not a one way street.  

Besides,  unless you're a nut about all things Asian,  there are many subtleties lost in cultural differences that just don't make sense unless you have a very good background in it.  This begs for a culture-specific adaption.

In this case,  The Departed is brillant.  There's a shit ton here about the Irish-American experience and growing up poor ("you can be a cop, or a criminal") that is still basically true in many, many places.  

Scorsese captures American culture and geography/local color better then anyone else.  Even if the plot is drawn from another source,  it doesn't invalidate how the characters and background are drawn and rendered, and how the character motivations are changed or adapted to fit the new milieu.

Alec Baldwin was amazing, and he had like 15 lines.  Martin Sheen and Mark Wahlberg were both great.  Leo and Jack Nicholson....  were Leo and Jack Nicholson.  Good performances.  Damon was very, very solid.

[Merusk]

I thought cars should have won for animated movie, but maybe thats just cause my best friends son is totally in love with it, and I have watched it in bits and pieces around 70 or 80 times.

While I 've enjoyed most of Pixar's films, Cars left me (ahem) flat.   My son's obsessed with it, too, but only because he's 3 and in that 'cars and trucks are awesome' phase.  I can still watch Toy Story and the Incredibles, but Cars bored me about half way through, and has already started to wear on me more than Monsters Inc.  I can't quite place why.  Maybe it's Owen Wilson's whiny voice, or the even more drawn-out sappy sentimentalism that takes about 1:15 worth of movie and stretches it out to 1:56.

[stray]

Alec Baldwin was amazing, and he had like 15 lines.  Martin Sheen and Mark Wahlberg were both great.  Leo and Jack Nicholson....  were Leo and Jack Nicholson.  Good performances.  Damon was very, very solid.

The best guy was Ray Winstone imo (French). Flawless Boston thug. And he's British at that. That guy rocks in every movie.

[Nebu]

People winning awards based on politics rather than performance... this is new to you guys how, exactly?

Welcome to this thing called "life".  By the way, it's unfair.   

[Engels]

I have no problems with remakes. StarWars was a remake of Hidden Fortress, and I loved it! I just don't think it should be up for an Oscar, is all.

[stray]

I have no problems with remakes. StarWars was a remake of Hidden Fortress, and I loved it! I just don't think it should be up for an Oscar, is all.

Fair enough. But you said you wouldn't watch it either. Or rent it. Not sure what you meant really, but it's sad. It's a good movie, simply put.

[Riggswolfe]

Even on the off chance that Scorcese's film is somehow better than Infernal Affairs, it should immediately be disqualified for an Oscar on the basis that its not an original screenplay. Any boohooing that Scorcese hasn't gotten enough credit is hilarious considering the popularity of his movies. And since now I know that his movie was based on Infernal Affairs, its not going to make it to my Netflix list. Shame on him.

If you can stop being a mangina for a moment stop and think about what you're saying. Many movies have been based on others either partly or almost whole cloth. Not to mention how many screenplays are adaptions of other media, novels spring to mind immediately. If this is the case no movie based on a novel should ever be considered at all, like L.A. Confidential for instance.

[schild]

Infernal Affairs came out 3 YEARS AGO. Well, 3 years and change. It's a little early for a fucking remake. Infernal and it's sequels are still fresh in my mind. And Departed SUCKED comparatively. You really gotta read the back of Infernal Affairs 2 & 3 re-release to understand how ticked off I am.

[SnakeCharmer]

Do you go this apeshit when someone messes up your order at the drive thru?

And.

Fast and the Furious?  Seriously?

Just. Ugh.

"I live my life 15 seconds at a time!"
"NAAAAAAAWWWWWWSSS!!!!!!!"

Any movie credibility you had before you said you watch F&F four times in ONE week was thrown out the window.

[schild]

Whatever dude, I'm sure you have some guilty pleasures and don't sit around contemplating the latest avant garde artfag film.

Don't compare the drivethru to movies. That's just fucking insulting.

One is an art form. The other is shitty food that all tastes the same to begin with. Except Churros. God bless Churros.

And it's a "quarter mile at a time," dick.

[stray]

And it's a "quarter mile at a time," dick.

Lol

[Abagadro]

The real question is how you think Reservoir Dogs compares to City on Fire.   

[HaemishM]

Oh no you di'nt!

[Ixxit]

The Departed was a very good   movie with that 'cool factor' (along the lines of Ocean's Eleven and  The Usual Suspects) ,  however I was honestly suprised that it won best picture.  While many of the individual performances were excellent,  I thought Scorsese looked a little sheepish receiving it;
Almost like he realized that the he got it as a 'sorry about last year, and that other year.........".


I am really happy that he finally won best director though, but I am not sure The Departed even merits that.


[EDIT] Helen Mirren was hawt 

[Kenrick]

[EDIT] Helen Mirren was hawt 

That is nothing new.  NSFW

[stray]

And I just got shit the other day for saying I preferred 25-30 year olds over teenagers.... Like that was extreme or something.

Strange world.

[Riggswolfe]

[EDIT] Helen Mirren was hawt 

That is nothing new.  NSFW

Damn. Not sure what movie that is from but I'll never look at her the same again.

[Paelos]

Infernal Affairs came out 3 YEARS AGO. Well, 3 years and change. It's a little early for a fucking remake. Infernal and it's sequels are still fresh in my mind. And Departed SUCKED comparatively. You really gotta read the back of Infernal Affairs 2 & 3 re-release to understand how ticked off I am.

It's never too early for a remake like this one for the simple fact that, myself included, most people in America had no idea it was a remake because most people in America care fuck-all for foriegn film. There is hardly anything original in film anymore in the same way that there is hardly anything original in most visual media. It's mostly a series of ideas taken from other movies, books, comics, or history. That's 95% of every movie made. Hell, truly original screenplay is a rarity these days.

And that's pretty much the last you'll hear from me in this thread, because we all knew Schildy was gonna flip out like every year. Now back to preparing for the NCAA Madness.

[stray]

You can't just come in here, piss on the walls, and run away. Do you your damn duty and stick around! No hit and run stuff. 


The majority of comedies are original screenplays.

The majority of sci-fi films are actually original screenplays, and not adapted from the larger sci fi medium of books.

Majority of....Hell, screw it..


Off the top of my head, I could list plenty of original films, American and otherwise, that were originally written for screen (which I was about to do, but the list got really long and pointless. In short though, the realistic number would be that at least half of everything written is original. You're just not exposed to enough of it, probably identify yourself as an aspiring novelist, and therefore feel obligated to shit on anything else).

[Paelos]

Everything is an original screenplay if someone doesn't adapt it directly from a book. My point was the massive amounts of works that those screenplays draw from older ideas, allusions, motifs, blah blah blah. My concept of original is narrow to be sure, but it's my take. It's not really the details of the characters or the plots, but it's the overall concept you see in the movies today and how they all flow from something else. There are completely original ideas in movies today, but I think they are rare and should be celebrated.

True your point that most comedies are original screenplays, but how many of those films are original to you? How many fucking buddy comedies have we seen in the last decade for example, or romantic comedies. They all flow the same predictable way like their predecessors.

[Trippy]

Everything is an original screenplay if someone doesn't adapt it directly from a book.

It doesn't have to be adapated from a book.

[Hoax]

Schild is usually a girl wearing a beret when it comes to non video game art, that is true.

OTOH The Departed was fucking ass.  That ending sucked balls.  That movie suffered from rubber band lag.  It started great out of the gate, then limped to the finish carried by all that star power and some good acting.  Baldwin is the fucking man in that movie.  Then comes the OMG PLOT TWISTZ!!!  Fucking weaksauce.  For the record I watch under five movies a year, so I guarantee you I dont qualify to have any opinion on this topic.  However I know if a movie isn't good, because I enjoy almost every movie I watch as going to the theater is a novel thing for me I dont do often.  A movie that pisses me off is the equivalent of a field trip that sucked so much that 6th graders would rather have been in school.

Short version:
The ending blew, fuck the Oscars anyways you're all twats for watching that shit imo.

[Johny Cee]

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.

Oscar isn't the definitive measure, by any means.  Gulp lists some great, great directors never honored.

That's as much a flaw in doing a "best of the year" format as compared to doing a "best ever" format.  The Nobels do a "best ever that should be recognized" format, if I'm not mistaken, and fall into problems of the other extreme:  Recognizing people for their contributions decades after the fact because they're always behind on who they give awards to,  and need to give some out before the honoree croaks.

Of all the entertainment awards given for best of the year,  the Oscars are ones that retain the most respectability.  The voters,  most of the time,  manage to at least try to give awards based on merit.  Some years they get things wrong (Shakespear in Love, Forrest Gump),  some years are just weak years and the award goes to whoever is least awful (Mulin Rouge, Gladiator), but most of the time they manage to do alright.

[Llava]

And I just got shit the other day for saying I preferred 25-30 year olds over teenagers.... Like that was extreme or something.

Strange world.

Woah woah woah woah woah woah woah.  Woah.  Woah.

Woah.

Woah.



Woah.






Woah.



Lois, this isn't my Batman cup.


I mean...

Let's be clear on this.  I wasn't giving you crap for liking 25-30 year old women.  I was giving you crap for liking Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy.  The conversation just evolved from there.

Liking 25-30 year olds is just a taste.  Liking Uma as Poison Ivy is just tasteless.   :-D

some years are just weak years and the award goes to whoever is least awful (Mulin Rouge, Gladiator)

I agree 50% on Gladiator.  I agree that it was given an award it didn't deserve.  However, it's wasn't the least awful of the potential winners.  If I recall correctly, it was up against Traffic, which was alright, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which people flip out over.  Crouching Tiger should've won.  I didn't even like it that much, but people today just spontaneously burst into praise for it, whereas no one brings up Gladiator anymore except to say that it was way, way overrated, and then some douche always has to stand up and try to argue about how awesome it was, using points that would imply that Predator should have been an Oscar-winning movie.

[Riggswolfe]

I agree 50% on Gladiator.  I agree that it was given an award it didn't deserve.  However, it's wasn't the least awful of the potential winners.  If I recall correctly, it was up against Traffic, which was alright, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which people flip out over.  Crouching Tiger should've won.  I didn't even like it that much, but people today just spontaneously burst into praise for it, whereas no one brings up Gladiator anymore except to say that it was way, way overrated, and then some douche always has to stand up and try to argue about how awesome it was, using points that would imply that Predator should have been an Oscar-winning movie.

I've never understood people's issue with Gladiator. That movie is so visceral at times it blows me away. I'm not going to argue its Oscar merits, I stopped watching the Oscars in 1989 when Glory lost and I realized, at the ripe old age of 17, that the Oscars were bullshit and had fuck all to do with merit.

[Paelos]

I think the issue was that it beat an Asian movie that had a plot most people couldn't figure out, which always angers the artfags. Hell, me just saying this probably blew the beret off some dude watching Yojimbo right now.

[schild]

I can name a lot of asian art faggy movies that don't make sense.

Infernal Affairs was not one of them.

[Paelos]

I can name a lot of asian art faggy movies that don't make sense.

Infernal Affairs was not one of them.

And it wasn't up against Gladiator either.