Do you think Academy Awards has hurt film?
 

I don't see any benefits... During every show they all joke about how long and boring it is. It seems like a place to compare clothing. I haven't watched in a while, but I remember a great movie that had a 10 second music clip would have forever shows during the Oscars with all the dancers, this and that... Also, I don't think many people are interested in "Best Choreography" as they are in whose presenting them. I think it's mostly a big business show; they know already how many people are going to watch it, and that kind of prediction seems like we're not too original. I looked at the "Best Picture" list, and the movies seem to be getting worse and worse. If you go back 40-50 years, you have 5 great films, lots of snubs.

They know if you have a certain actor, they know it will equal x amount of viewers.. They know a "Best Picture" will add a few more million viewers. Commercials wouldn't be so expensive if they didn't influence. The Superbowl commercials cost $150,000 per second. Every major news channel was talking about the commercials, and how they seem depressing, and how that's working, etc etc...

Even if the a movie doesn't win BEST PICTURE, the nominations will bring about so many more viewers. I'm not saying people are manipulated to liking certain things (at least not the people here) but what happens is that a great movie, say with a low-budget, or one that doesn't have "pretty" actresses, or household names won't ever get the attention.

Re: Do you think Academy Awards has hurt film?
 

No. I think you're looking into it too much. You should still watch what you want to watch.

Re: Do you think Academy Awards has hurt film?
 

Of course, but if we don't know a movie exists, we'll never watch it. And the critics won't mention them either, because they go where the money is, and that's a disservice to all their readers.

Re: Do you think Academy Awards has hurt film?
 

People who are interested in watching lesser known films will seek them out. And we have this nifty thing called the internet that allows people to easily learn about films they wouldn't otherwise have been aware of. People who are only interested in what's popular won't bother to look further with or without the Oscars.

Do you have this "nifty" list?

I never heard of the internet.. But no thanks for the condescending remark...

Re: Do you think Academy Awards has hurt film?
 

I don't think the Academy Awards hurts movies. Sure it's about profit and ratings, but then again so is most of the movie industry. In the early days it was not held for the public, but was an award ceremony held by and for Hollywood people.

I just now looked for a photo of Orson Welles winning his 1942 Oscar for best writing on Citizen Kane...I couldn't find a thing!...At least these days images are recorded for prosperity.

I have multiple sites I go to .. to get the unknown films. Some are films from America.. some are from other places in the world .. most of them... are not Hollywood "A List" films. I search out sites for films and I usually find many when I do.

How has your success rate been in comparison to the Oscar nominated films? Do you search the synopsis, or something else? Do you mind pasting a few links you use so that the rest of us might find something to our liking?

Re: Do you think Academy Awards has hurt film?
 

Matt here you go

http://www.indiewire.com/

I usually search what I'm looking for, my taste in cinema is very different than most. I have learned to only share those sites with people who like what I do. If you go back to the last film I watched, you will see. The sites are not hard to find. I enjoy Extreme Cinema, Nordic Cinema and European Cinema, so just search the net what you enjoy, you will find them.

Edit: the Oscars this year, I have not seen any that are up for the "Best Picture" Nominee, why because they usually dont hold my interest. Last year, I seen several of the films for "Best Picture".

You know Hearst wouldn't allow anyone to take a photograph of Orson. Let alone Orson winning anything!

Speaking of Oscars, there was this special on a few nights ago which made me raise this topic. There was a 20 second selection (best part of the entire thing) where they showed Oscar Snubs, the best directors never to win an Oscar. They had :

-Alfred Hitchcock
-Orson Welles
-John Cassavetes
-Robert Altman

I love Orson more as a person than a director (because we weren't really given a chance), Altman I got into the last few years, and thanks to this room, I've been researching a lot of Cassavetes. Speaking of whom, I was surprised they showed "A Woman Under The Influence" and then went to Ellen Burstyn, who said Rowlands deserved an Oscar, "Not my Oscar, but was still worthy." I think Ellen was fine in "Alice....." but I haven't seen an American Female performance close to Gena Rowlands.

Re: Do you think Academy Awards has hurt film?
 

Looking at the nominations, I see very little evidence for the idea that they're chosen for monetary reasons.

Me too, I'm much more of a fan of Orson the rogue genus.... than Orson the director. You know there's a little Orson in all of us, at least there should be. I know I felt a kinship after I seen a documentary on his life. I sure would like to see a film recording of the 1942 Oscars.

What was the lowest grossing film, Yoda? I see there are now 8 movies.. I don't think there are any alternatives, as in better movies, but I've only seen a few, and those have made quite a bit of money.

Re: Do you think Academy Awards has hurt film?
 

If it was about the money, Hunger Games, Hobbit, and Maleficent would be among the films nominated.

Re: Do you think Academy Awards has hurt film?
 

I doubt they'd be awful films (I haven't seen those), but if "American Sniper" made $700,000 it wouldn't be nominated. I think it's a safe choice, patriotic film (even though it's so historically inaccurate).

Re: Do you think Academy Awards has hurt film?
 

The Oscars is the same as it's always been. Promoting Hollywood and their films.

It's an Eastwood film. I can't make $700,000. Throw in the US military and Bradley Cooper and there's absolutely no chance.

Re: Do you think Academy Awards has hurt film?
 

Also you should take in that half the Academy is made up of people in their 50s and up so half of these movies such as Lego movie (Which was very good and i'm very surprised it isn't getting nominated for Best Animated Film) they don't see as good or they have a certain standard for movies.

Be nice to see less Bio-pics being nominated and more original scripts and movies that were just all around good. (American Sniper shouldn't even be getting nominated....it should be Nightcrawler in that spot, it was way better)

I suppose it depends on what you think "quite a bit" is. Whiplash made $8 million. All the others had modest grosses in the $20-60 million range. Only American Sniper was a genuine hit.

And speaking of American Sniper: I don't know if you've seen it, but calling it "safe" and "patriotic" seems pretty simplistic. The film's a lot more circumspect than that.