Oscar's Best Picture (2009)

I haven't seen any of these films, and am only looking forward to two of them.

__________________
"Don't be so gloomy. After all it's not that awful. Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/1d7...p-from-fgump44

__________________
"A laugh can be a very powerful thing. Why, sometimes in life, it's the only weapon we have."

Suspect's Reviews

Ha! That was hilarious.

__________________
"A candy colored clown!"
Member since Fall 2002
Top 100 Films, clicky below

http://www.movieforums.com/community...ad.php?t=26201

I haven't seen any of these films and so have no personal interest in the outcome whatever it may be.

But just looking at it from the "political" viewpoint of what motivates Hollywood and how Academy members react to certain stimuli, I think Slumdog Millionaire has the best chance of winning. Hollywood meets Bollywood, a market ripe for exploitation and a win-win situation for the movie industry, especially with a multi-ethnic president in the White House and Hollywood's bent for doing the politically correct thing in hopes third-world natives will think we are friendly and really care about them.

If not Slumdog, then it will be MILK. A popular gay politician elected to office in San Francisco; one of the first (maybe the first) openly gay politician, murdered by a homophobic nut, big spectacular California celebrity trial, featuring one of the most silly California defenses--"Not guilty, because I was high on Twinkies, your honor." This is a truly California story, and most Academy members live and work in that state. I'm pretty sure Milk was a Democrat, and the Democrats are still celebrating their presidential victory. A movie honoring a murdered gay Democrat would be just so politically correct that it might edge out Slumdog. Penn will probably get the best actor award for his role as Milk, and that may carry the picture into the winner's circle too. (Sounds like possibly a better candidate the more I talk about it.)

Moreover, I hear both of these movies actually are very good. So, I hear too, is The Curiuous Case of Benjamin Button. So many people in this forum seem to like it that it might just edge out Slumdog and MILK on its own cinema merits. If the Academy passes up Pitt for best actor, they just may give Button the Oscar to make up for it.

It won't be Frost/Nixon for three major reasons: 1. A big chunk of today's movie audience is simply too young to remember anything about Nixon or Watergate; 2. A lot of us who are old enough to remember are tired of talking about it. 3. And most important, a movie about Nixon is just not politically correct, especially in California. Not even a movie that chastises him.

I agree, WWF-style wrestling is as much a sport as figure-skating and ballroom dancing, all of which require intensive rehearsal. However, the only wrestling atheletes are those kids doing Roman-Grecco wrestling on college and Olympic teams.

I've never watched Roman-Grecco. I don't mind regular wrestling - is there a name for it? I've gone to several of my gf's brother's meets.

As far as WWE goes, I'd still watch it but I think it went downhill after the collapse of the WCW.

I just saw Milk earlier today. Decent, not great. I think biopics are difficult and certainly Milk is no different. It does everything right, but just by the nature of having to cover so much ground in such a short time it compromises pacing and focus. It was a very enjoyable film. I had fun watching it and the styles it showed from the era.

Penn's performance was fine, but I didn't enjoy it as much as Rourke's in The Wrestler.

My grade for Milk is a "B"

I did catch the ending of Slumdog Millionaire - roughly the last 10 minutes as we snuck into it afterwards, but it didn't seem like much to me. I'll have to give it a watch, but I did see enough to know that the watch will come on video not in the theater.

I did catch the dance sequence as the credits roled and thought it was hideous played to even more hideous Indian pop music.

I don't think it was meant to be, eh, somber or anything, just plain old joyful. And it felt pretty appropriate having seen the film. I think it should go without saying that catching the last 10 minutes of the movie and then criticizing the credit sequence isn't exactly giving it a fair shake.

That's probably true. Standing alone though as a dance/song number I didn't like it at all.

Also to my knowledge the film is not a musical, so I don't get how a dance number is supposed to fit in with the film.

The Impostors (1998) did the same thing, and it was lovely there, too. I'm not sure why it has to be a musical to just have something jubilant and fun over the credits. It's not really cut like a normal song/dance number, so I don't think it's meant to be judged as one. I may not be a Bollywood film, but perhaps it was a sly nod to the industry.

Anyway, it sounds like you've made up your mind about this film already, so I won't dissuade you. I just think it's unfortunate that it'll probably never get a fair chance to be seen in context, given that you've already seen the ending. I think the decision about not liking it must have come even before those 10 minutes, though; certainly you wouldn't hop in to catch the end of some film you thought you might like?

The only thing close to a Bollywood film I've seen is Bride and Prejudice which wasn't bad, though not really my thing.

As far as making up my mind on a film before I've seen it, you're half right. We take things we know, like, and dislike and apply it to other things. I reckon that's just human nature.

I dislike game shows which puts me at a disadvantage with the film. Of course I love Magnolia and I'm sure I would like Slumdog Millionaire and I intend on watching it... on video. I just don't want to spend the $8 to see it in the theater or bother sneaking in for the whole thing.

The musical number I just did not like - the music and the dancing. Regardless of how the film was before that. Not my style or taste. It felt kind of out of place as well. The same feeling I would probably have say if all the characters in Magnolia started to jump up and sing because their life was better after the frogs fell.

As endings go in movies, I don't really believe in spoilers as a good movie is good whether or not I know the ended, so I don't believe a film could be "ruined" by sneaking it to see the ending of it and then going back to watch it all.

I'm sure it's a decent movie. I enjoy Danny Boyle films. I didn't like the dance number and I also didn't enjoy how it copied "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" even so far as the show's music.

Maybe I want a bigger seperation between the film and pop culture which I dislike.

You're right I am pre-judging. I strongly dislike "Who Wants to Be A Millionaire" which translates to me not wanting to pay to watch a movie that incorporates that show heavily into the story.

So viddy, what did you think of the ending of Inland Empire?

__________________
It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
My IMDb page

Slumdog is definitely not what it looks like.

Honestly I don't remember the ending to that film. I think I only got about 3/4 of the way through it because I was busy with the real world and the disc was due back at the video store.



I do have it on my Netflix instant queue so I will watch the entire thing one of these days soon.

Why the connection?

There's a song-and-dance number over the closing credits.

I loved the Bollywood-style dance number under the end credits of Slumdog. It's the only real nod to Bollywood in the whole flick and it comes as a fun CODA that completely fits with the mood of the end of the flick.

Similarly, I love the end credits of The 40-Year-Old Virgin. But, to each their own, I reckon.

__________________
"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra

Yeah, the dance number was terrific. It almost made up for how depressing the overall message of the film was.

__________________
We are both the source of the problem and the solution, yet we do not see ourselves in this light...

Anyone else seen The Reader yet? And does anyone else think its pretty borderline kiddie porn? Did you know that the "actor" who plays the boy was barely 18 when they shot the film? And they actually had to wait until he turned 18 before they filmed all of the rather explicit sex scenes in the film?

I am so pissed. This friggin' movie has no business being nominated for Best Picture.

Was it hinted at in the film that there would be a dance number? Or was it as Holden said simply a nob to Bollywood?

I would like to think it fit somehow into the story and not tacked on as a "feel good" thing.

You're the nob.

No, there are no Musical moments in the film. It is, as I said, a CODA, but it perfectly mirrors the idealized love the two characters share and for a production that shot in India but didn't use any of the cinematic language of their mainstream film culture it was a fun, funny, witty and joyous celebration of that tradition, so self-conscious that it almost borders on parody. All in all a terrific way to end the flick.

But just watch the frippin' movie.