I was just wondering what you guys think of the Academy Awards in terms of measuring quality? For example, what was snubbed, what was beaten that shouldn't have been beaten, etc. Do you think the Oscars are accurate in naming the "Best" anything?

Well the Oscars are only accurate when they pick the movie I wanted to win.:D For the most part, the Oscar's are always wrong.

But anyway's. I feel American Beauty deserved it. I feel Gladiator deserved it. I feel Crouching Tiger did not deserve nearly as many nominations as it recieved. I feel Hollow Man was completely and utterly robbed by Gladiator. There is no way Hollow Man should of lost that. It has some of the most realistic, believable, and just amazing special effects a movie has ever had.

Um I don't know whether or not Shawshank ever one anything, but if it didn't it should have. I think Jurassic Park should of at least recieved a nomination for Best Picture.

There are more

I hate the Oscars. For one reason only(that i can think of now): Kubrick never won for best director. Also even though ive never seen it Citizen Kane didn't win best picture and now it's named the greatest of all time by AFI. Id say the the Oscars are about 50 50 and thats not good enough when everyone looks to them as the authority on movies.

Oscars are usually always wrong, I thought American Beauty was a pretty good choice for '99, although Magnolia was definately a better flick!

For a year like 94 with both Pulp Fiction and Forrest Gump racking all those nominations, I'd be happy either way.

Traffic deserved the best honors this year!

Come on! Jurassic Park for best picture? In a year with Dazed and Confused, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Groundhog Day, The Piano, Schindler's List, Short Cuts, and about ten other great movies?

As a general rule, the Oscars aren't accurate. Gladiator DID NOT deserve to win best picture. Raging Bull, THE greatest film of the 80's, lost to Ordinary People. Days of Heaven wasn't even NOMINATED in 1978. McCabe & Mrs. Miller was hung out to dry in 1971. Do the Right THing, Drugstore Cowboy, Roger & Me, Crimes and Misdemeanors, and Say Anything weren't nominated in 1989. Driving Miss Daisy won that year. Please.

Some years, they are right. American Beauty was, after all, THE film out of the nominees in 99. But generally, the films chosen are "friendly". There are exceptions to this, for example, JFK being nominated for picture in 91. But a film that is challenging, as many of the greatest movies are, will generally be ignored. Malcolm X, The Sweet Hereafter, The War Zone, The Thin Red Line. Comedies are generally ignored, (how else to account for both There's Something About Mary AND Rushmore being completely and utterly shut out?) as are action/adventure movies.

Gladiator did deserve it Steve!!

And wasn't The Thin Red Line nominated? I forgot what it lost to though.

The Thin Red Line was nominated, but it lost to Shakespeare in Love. At least they didn't give it to Saving Private Ryan.

Gladiator deserves to go down in history as one of the most overrated movies of all time.

Steve come on most overrated thats harsh. Ill take your nonsense arguements that it was a bad movie but not the most overrated. Look at Titanic.

One of, my friend, one of. And I'm leaving it at that.

I get the impression you don't like these dramatic war movies, Steve. :)

Shakespeare in Love -- ugh, don't get me started. It's a movie for people who want to feel intellectual. If you want real Shakespeare, watch a few Kenneth Brannagh movies. Much Ado About Nothing is a lot of fun.

I also liked Groundhog Day, and I LOVE The Nightmare Before Christmas ("What's This" is one of the best songs I've ever heard in a movie. So few songs are catchy and entertaining, yet clever in their lyrics).

Oh, and yes, Jurassic Park deserved a nomination, but probably not the Oscar itself -- although I still have to think about that. Back to the whole CGI debate: Jurassic Park was entertaining in it's story, I'd say. There was suspense without special effects.

A bit like Jaws, much of the tension was present in simple anticipation. We didn't see the entire T-Rex until quite a-ways into the movie. I'd say JP1 is probably a near-perfect example of the way a movie ought to use CGI.

HEYY, my brother likes Shakespear in love, you are in seriouss trouble Mr TWT!!!! :p I didnt but then I dont like a lot of Shakespear anyway except for Titus & Othello. Now RAN, that is far far far better than any King Lear-- you ever seen any kurosawa TWT? Pigsnie says you havent.

Pigsnie sure says a lot to you.

Yes, he's right, I havn't seen that. A foreign film I'm assuming? I admit I've seen next to nothing of foreign films. I just enjoy the experience of the movies. I make a little effort to see all types of movies, but right now I'm enjoying what I'm seeing, and that's enough for me.

Well of course he says a lot to me, I am his best friend, duuuuhhhh!!!! and have you deleted Tobys adress yet, you should, you know. Or maybe toby can delete it himself. Your still mad at Pigsnie arent you, I can tell.

do you ever watch old movies TWT? You dont seem to. What is the oldest movie you haf ever seen? Pigsnie raise me on old movies so I like those better. Ive seen errol flynn stuff, have you ever seen errol flynn?

Hey PigsnieLite.

I saw "They Died With Their Boots On" just last week. My first Errol Flynn. He was wonderful in it even if the film itself was a disappointment. Hattie MacDanniele had a cameo. Do you know her from Gone With The Wind? A wonderful comedienne.

Old films rock the casbah!

Yes I have seen the Custer one with olive de haviland. Pigsnie says errol flynn proposed to her once but she turned him down becaused he is a womaniser. Errol had been in love with her since adventures of Robin Hood. Robin Hood is Pigsnies favorite errol flynn movie. I like that one more than BOots. Have you also seen Spanish main, bigV? That is my 2nd best pirate movie starrin Paul Henrid who was avery short pirate. He was in casablanca too.

Delete Toby's address? Wha?

I never was mad at Pigsnie to begin with, so I certainly can't be mad now. I don't know what the oldest movie I've seen is, because I don't keep track of dates. I did enjoy "Some Like It Hot", and parts of "Ben-Hur" a bit. I love Hitchcock -- Rope, Dial M, and North by Northwest are all fabulous.

No matter what I seem to like, I do like some of these older movies. I just don't talk about them much. Man you ask a lot of questions. :)

Look in badger thread TWT. Pigsnie talked to to you there.

I like old movies becuz Pigsnie has a huge collection and I cant go see new movies all the time becuz of my school work & atrocius spelling, hahah ha. So hes always bringing home real old stuff like wutherin heights & soylen green & spartacus & the heiress & all sorts of other awful crap with anthony quinn, lollll. I like la strada tho, that was sad. So I know a lot more about old movies than new. Starship Troopers was ok but the giant bug was disgustin. It lookd like it wanted to slurp people. GLADIATor was fine but it might not have deservd an oscar.

Ps. you misspelled what, TWT. hahhahh haa.

yeah ,I do ask a lot of questions TWT but if you dont ask, how will you know????

Ah, I see. Now I get it. I stopped checking the thread -- not mad at all! I guess I'm dumb for not reading more of my own forum. That thread was just SO long. Hard to keep up with. :)

I probably would watch more older movies, but my hands are full with the new ones. Tons of previews, news, casting rumors, box office stats, potential rumors, etc.

Old movies are treasures, I'm telling you. and yes, RAN is probably the greatest war epic in the history of sound, at least, the best I've ever seen.

Actually, I like dramatic war movies when they are done well, but with Saving Private Ryan? Please. Contradictory garbage. Braveheart was a good film-not great-but good, and extremely entertaining. I thought The Thin Red Line was the second best movie of its year, and films like Apocalypse Now, Full Metal Jacket, Platoon, Grave of the Fireflies, RAN, etc are all wonderful, entertaining films.

I preferred Shakespeare In Love to the other nominees that year (apart from The Thin Red Line) - Life is Beautiful, Elizabeth, and Saving Private Ryan. I thought it was a skillful, completely entertaining and enjoyable romantic comedy. I loved it.

See, the problem I have with Jurassic Park is that the images are so breathtaking but the story is just typical monster-movie scientific mumbo jumbo stuff. I think Speilberg should have thrown away the novel, only using the book's explanation for how the dinosaurs were created. How about this: The dinosaurs are kept isolated from human contact save a small laboratory a few miles away. Shipwrecked people find the dinosaurs and learn to coexist with them. When the scientists find the shipwrecked survivors, the survivors don't want to leave. A movie like this could have raised difficult questions about nature, both mother and human, but instead it goes for a big blockbuster payoff. A movie with such fantastical images should be more observant, more quiet, instead of relying on cheap thrills and cliches to tell its story. The film itself is successful, but I was more exhilarated the first time I saw the dinosaurs onscreen than when the T-Rex is chasing the jeep. It is a decent movie at any rate, but it could have been so much more.

And is it just me, or is not recognizing Denzel Washington OR Spike Lee for the masterpiece Malcolm X the biggest snub of the decade?

A good Errol Flynn is "Captain Blood". We need more pirate movies.

Yeah, what was that dumb pirate movie a few years back with Gina Davis? Ugggghhh, that was terrible & I relly wanted to like it too. I like swashbukling movies like Zorro. now that was a GREAT movie, antonio banderas & antony hopkins were super. Pigsnie also gave me a video of the original, The mark of Zorro wiht Tyron Power. Taht was very good also.

Captain Blood, I dont remember seeing that, altho I saw Charge of the Lite Brigade once. I like movies where evrybody dies. the best parts of RAN were when Hidetoras courtesans killed themselves, when Lady Kaides head got cut off spurt spurt spurt, when Lady Sues body lay in the grass without a head, and then the great battle scene at the Third Castle, when flamin arrows came zinging at hidetora & arms got lopped off & there was NO MUSIC!!!!!! I didnt even notice this until Pigsnie pointed it out, it was a great idea to have no music.

You're thinking of "Cutthroat Island", which lost more money than any movie in history. It's budget was $92 million in 1995 dollars (6 years ago!), and it brought in only $11 million. As IMDB put it:

Cutthroat Island is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the biggest loss of money for a film company ever.

Funny, huh? Michael Douglas nearly co-starred with Davis, but backed out due to conflict over the script. I'll bet he was pretty relieved later on. Good call Michael.

I don't think RAN won best Foreign film. Shameful. The fact that a movie as mediocre as Titanic can win the title "best picture of the year" is, aside from being completely wrong, disgraceful to the idea of naming a "best" anything.

Cutthroat Island sucked.

I thought The Mask of Zorro was rather boring. It dragged at times. But my God, Catherine Zeta-Jones is a beautiful mamacita. Yikes.

the thing with Zorro is...its a "Superhero" film. These films are all AGES old from comic books and stuff and each person has an unique image of how that film SHOULD be.

So Zorro,Spiderman,X-men,Hulk all those films and "To be made" Films will have more Dissappointments than Compliments.

P.S - I thought X-Men was a Cool movie,but as i said...so much MORE could have been done!!!

Nobody is ever going to please everyone when it comes to voting for favorites, but I think that the Oscars do a particularly bad job. Some studios seem to get mediocre films nominated every year because of massive publicity hypes. Other films are completely ignored (Citizen Kane, Fight Club, etc)...

Overall I feel that it's fun to make top 10 lists, but I pretty much ignore the Oscar nomination tags on movie boxes.

Having just recently gotten around to seeing "Requiem for a Dream," I have to argue that it was the most snubbed film of 2000. Ellen Burstyn was (appropriately) nominated for best actress -- only to lose to America's Sugar Princess, Julia Roberts. Burstyn's performance in "Requiem" was perhaps the most powerful I've ever seen on film. Roberts could never hope to approach that level.

In addition, the music, direction, and cinematography were deserving of at least nomination.

Bottom line: the Academy does not reward films on the basis of their merit -- it rewards (usually) good films that conform to accepted Hollywood formulae.

Hmmm, now there's some Oscar buzz going around for Sean Penn's recent work. Apparently he played a retarded man trying to retain custody of his daughter in a movei called "I Am Sam." I haven't seen it, but it sounds interesting. Who else do you guys think deserves from early Oscar buzz?

I haven't seen anything that wil get any notice from the academy, really.

I think that that snipe movie- um... Enemy at the Gates sucked but should get Set Direction.

He won't, but Louis CK should be nominated for Pootie Tang because there has never been anything like it.

What is Set Direction about?

It's teh creation of the sets, basically. Sleepy Hollow won it recently, I think Gladiator this year. If you've seen enemy at the gates, you'll know that the sets were magnificent. It takes place in a torn up Stalingrad, and it is torn up! It's really fantastic yet believable at the same time. Plus, I couldn't watch the movie so I watch the art and sets. i did the same with the Phantom Menace but that was all computers.

I just realized taht enemy at the gates came out like way long time ago, last year easily. It obviously cant win... hmmm...

I haven't seen any movies that will be considered for major awards but technicals? Apes will easily win makeup, and we've yet to see on costumes, ther'll probably be better.
It would do teh academy good to less usual movies like Pootie Tang and best director is the way to go.

so far this year I nominate Blow and Memento for best picture, Memento taking the honors.

but think about it, the Oscars are seen by millions of people around the world, they have to nominate the hits that people saw. That's why Gladiator, American Beauty, Titanic, and Sakesphere in Love won. They were widely seen.

I think a great awards ceremony are the "Independant Spirit Awards" which nominate smaller films. I believe last year Requiem won, and Election won in '99.

A.I. should win best picture, but it won't get nominated. Planet of the Apes will win best makeup, that's guaranteed. The Princess and the Warrior should win best foreign film, with the Widow of St. Pierre on the nominee list too, but that won't happen either. As of right now, Piper Perabo and Emma Thompson should be nominated for best actress (for Lost & Delirious and Wit), Haley Joel Osment and Guy Pearce for best actor (A.I. and Memento). It's no fun to make oscar predictions when not enough worthy stuff has come out.

Oh, I bet A.I. will be nominated.

Pardon me, but I cannot resist:
:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

:D

there is nothing wrong with AI at all. i had a couple complaints here and there, but overall i was impressed. anyway, i don't have any idea who will win this year. i really don't take the oscars that seriously, anyway. not because i don't respect the opinion of the academy, it's just that in the past there have been works that have influenced filmmakers and audiences the world over and have recieved no award. a lot of the times, what won is a very good film, but they have a tendancy to overlook stuff that is very relevant. i like the oscars, but i don't treat them like they are final say in what is truly the best picture of the year.

SPOILERS

There's plenty wrong with A.I. For one, half the people who see it think of those beings at the end as aliens, which is not correct. Seems like careless filmmaking to me. The whole ending was poorly done...and didn't make sense.

i agree with you on the careless ending, but.... well, go read my review! it's still up on the review board. we shouldn't start debating this movie here, it's the oscar thread :)

I can't say enough about Memento.I have never seen anything like it.Guy Pierce is so delicious and versitile.Carrie Ann Moss was good too,she's not so totally irritating like Wonder-Mouth,Julia Roberts.Planet of the Apes will win some as well as Shrek.Monsters Inc.is slated to be Pixar's best yet...bound to win a few.Fall/Winter movies are still to come and those are what the academy remembers.

I guarantee two things this year: Gangs of New York will get nominated for picture and Scorsese for director, and Planet of the Apes will win Best Makeup. Everything else is fair game.

I think A.I. should be up for everything, but alas. It opened too early.

Hey Brodie, why do you respect the opinion of the academy? It's a corrupt system. The only reason it's tolerable is because it's so damn fun to argue over what SHOULD win.

I can understand the second prediction, but c'mon, you haven't even seen Gangs of New York. The Academy may be a bit biased when it comes to that film, but it could end up completely sucking. :) It HAS happened before.

Anyway, I think LOTR, when it does come out, will win for best Adapted Screenplay (with heavy competition from Harry Potter). I think the LA Times had it at 18:1 odds for a Best Picture nomination, too. It wouldn't surprise me...it looks to be an amazing movie.

i respect the opinion of the academy because they sometimes get it right. i don't respect them as much as most people do, though, trust me. i know what you're talking about, and for the record, my earlier post says i don't take the oscars as bible.

I think the Golden Globes are a more accurate representation of whats out there.Also the SAG(screen actors guild)awards are more enjoyable to watch because the stars aren't so stressed.Did you see Julia Robert's acceptance speach last year at the Oscars? A good example of stress.I don't think she thought she would win and rightly so.That speech was hard to watch,it was so goopy.