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Off-Topic Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: Nuclear1 on March 07, 2010, 09:14:06 pm

Title: The Academy Awards are on!
Post by: Nuclear1 on March 07, 2010, 09:14:06 pm
http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/82/nominees.html

Nothing too exciting so far, but Christopher Waltz won best supporting actor for Inglorious Basterds.

Ten movies up for Best Picture though..thoughts?
Title: Re: The Academy Awards are on!
Post by: iamzack on March 07, 2010, 09:56:22 pm
the what?
Title: Re: The Academy Awards are on!
Post by: Nuclear1 on March 07, 2010, 10:13:40 pm
You know, like the adult film awards, except it's a statue of a dude they hand out and not a dildo.

Otherwise it's the same thing.
Title: Re: The Academy Awards are on!
Post by: iamzack on March 07, 2010, 10:20:33 pm
ohh...

sounds boring
Title: Re: The Academy Awards are on!
Post by: Nuclear1 on March 07, 2010, 10:26:16 pm
Well yeah...but it means something..to..somebody.
Title: Re: The Academy Awards are on!
Post by: Blue Lion on March 07, 2010, 10:36:23 pm
To you? Not to me
Title: Re: The Academy Awards are on!
Post by: watsisname on March 07, 2010, 11:04:04 pm
I'm just glad Hurt Locker won.
Title: Re: The Academy Awards are on!
Post by: BloodEagle on March 07, 2010, 11:10:39 pm
Ten movies up for Best Picture though..thoughts?

As someone who hasn't watched a new movie in years (save Zombieland), they're going to give it to Cameron. You know, just 'cause.
Title: Re: The Academy Awards are on!
Post by: General Battuta on March 07, 2010, 11:15:47 pm
Hurt Locker dominated. Best Picture, best...lots of stuff.

Best Director for a woman, finally.
Title: Re: The Academy Awards are on!
Post by: Nuclear1 on March 07, 2010, 11:21:05 pm
Hurt Locker's a fantastic movie though.  And it was up against some stiff competition (ten movies total nominated for best picture).

Good on Kathryn Bigelow too. 

Haven't seen Crazy Heart, so can't comment on Jeff Bridges winning best actor...but then again I haven't seen half the movies that were nominated this year.
Title: Re: The Academy Awards are on!
Post by: SpardaSon21 on March 07, 2010, 11:29:24 pm
Waltz really deserved that award.  Hans Landa was a supremely well-acted character.
Title: Re: The Academy Awards are on!
Post by: Nuclear1 on March 07, 2010, 11:41:48 pm
Waltz pretty much made that movie what it was.  Pitt was definitely the comic relief, but Hans Landa was legitimately terrifying.
Title: Re: The Academy Awards are on!
Post by: Mongoose on March 08, 2010, 12:17:09 am
The only category I generally care about is Best Animated, which Up predictably won.  It didn't really have any sort of chance in the Best Picture category, but it was at least nice to see an animated film finally get back in there.
Title: Re: The Academy Awards are on!
Post by: Klaustrophobia on March 08, 2010, 03:55:52 am
i generally don't give a damn about entertainment awards, but Hurt Locker?  really?  what was so damn special about that movie?  i was bored out of my mind.  as for its supposed drama and insight, every article i saw on it blasted it for its inaccuracy and ludicrous suggestions on how things work in iraq.  i didn't even have to read those to know soldiers don't go walking around baghdad at night like a thug, go hunting insurgents on their own, or go up to the bomb themself when they have a robot that can do the job.  to which the reply is usually "it's a movie, it's entertainment".  welp, failure on both counts then.
Title: Re: The Academy Awards are on!
Post by: TrashMan on March 08, 2010, 04:46:22 am
ohh...

sounds boring

Not so much boring as stupid...and useless...and not really a measure of anything meaningful.
Title: Re: The Academy Awards are on!
Post by: Nuclear1 on March 08, 2010, 11:12:30 am
ohh...

sounds boring

Not so much boring as stupid...and useless...and not really a measure of anything meaningful.

You don't think Avatar, Up in the Air, District 9, Hurt Locker, Precious, or any of the ten movies nominated for Best Picture weren't good?  Admittedly, there's some politics to the Academy, but when a group of people whose entire lives and professions either involve being in movies or studying cinema and it's effects on audiences nominate ten movies as the best, there's usually some validity to it.

Did you not think Christoph Waltz deserved Best Supporting Actor?  Do you disagree with the Best Director or Best Actor award?
Title: Re: The Academy Awards are on!
Post by: StarSlayer on March 08, 2010, 11:57:18 am
Being apathetic and condescending is the rule of cool though.
Title: Re: The Academy Awards are on!
Post by: TrashMan on March 08, 2010, 01:02:05 pm
IMHO, the academy awards have had plenty of politicking and bad picks lately.

For me, it lost all of it's credibility.
And I really couldn't care less about the judges.
After all, all those modern art expert have degrees and qaulifications, and the only thing I'd use the works they applaud is as toilet paper. Appeal to authority....no worky here.
Title: Re: The Academy Awards are on!
Post by: Nuclear1 on March 08, 2010, 01:14:48 pm
Examples, or just going to generalize again? :rolleyes:
Title: Re: The Academy Awards are on!
Post by: Blue Lion on March 08, 2010, 01:37:07 pm
Examples, or just going to generalize again? :rolleyes:

What do you think?
Title: Re: The Academy Awards are on!
Post by: Nuclear1 on March 08, 2010, 01:47:11 pm
Yeah, hence the :rolleyes:
Title: Re: The Academy Awards are on!
Post by: Mongoose on March 08, 2010, 02:02:03 pm
i didn't even have to read those to know soldiers don't go...up to the bomb themself when they have a robot that can do the job.
Um...yes they do.  There are units in Iraq and Afghanistan dedicated to disarming IEDs, and they don't generally have the luxury of a robot to help them out.  I was watching a clip last week on CNN in which a reporter embedded in a unit in Afghanistan showed a local man telling them about a bomb on top of the building they were standing next to.  And hey, guess what, a specialist had to climb up there and carefully disarm it with his own two hands.  This isn't the bomb squad in a controlled environment...it's the middle of an urban-landscape combat zone.
Title: Re: The Academy Awards are on!
Post by: Nuclear1 on March 08, 2010, 02:06:22 pm
And no ROV can currently replace the ability of a well-trained EOD specialist.

And coming from someone who's trained side-by-side with these guys...they're serious business.
Title: Re: The Academy Awards are on!
Post by: Klaustrophobia on March 08, 2010, 06:40:13 pm
i didn't even have to read those to know soldiers don't go...up to the bomb themself when they have a robot that can do the job.
Um...yes they do.  There are units in Iraq and Afghanistan dedicated to disarming IEDs, and they don't generally have the luxury of a robot to help them out.  I was watching a clip last week on CNN in which a reporter embedded in a unit in Afghanistan showed a local man telling them about a bomb on top of the building they were standing next to.  And hey, guess what, a specialist had to climb up there and carefully disarm it with his own two hands.  This isn't the bomb squad in a controlled environment...it's the middle of an urban-landscape combat zone.

thanks for reading my post before responding.  yes, i know there are IED units.  but they aren't reckless "cowboys" like the guy from the movie i'll wager.
Title: Re: The Academy Awards are on!
Post by: Blue Lion on March 08, 2010, 06:45:47 pm
I don't really think anyone was saying they were
Title: Re: The Academy Awards are on!
Post by: iamzack on March 08, 2010, 08:09:05 pm
I didn't see the movie, but based on my dad's accounts/pictures of he and his buddies dicking around in Iraq while he was there, I would believe a good number of them are, in fact, reckless cowboys..
Title: Re: The Academy Awards are on!
Post by: BloodEagle on March 08, 2010, 08:45:41 pm
I didn't see the movie, but based on my dad's accounts/pictures of he and his buddies dicking around in Iraq while he was there, I would believe a good number of them are, in fact, reckless cowboys..

I once caught a fish THIS BIG[/echo].
Title: Re: The Academy Awards are on!
Post by: iamzack on March 08, 2010, 09:09:23 pm
 :rolleyes:

So maybe youtube videos of our boys throwing puppies over cliffs would have been a better example?
Title: Re: The Academy Awards are on!
Post by: mister J on March 08, 2010, 09:41:09 pm
I'm interested in seeing the foreign entries and the documentaries more than the films in the main competition, to be honest. But I was glad Star Trek won something (Best Makeup or some such.) How long has it been since a Star Trek movie won an award for anything?
Title: Re: The Academy Awards are on!
Post by: Blue Lion on March 08, 2010, 09:50:17 pm
How long has it been since a Star Trek movie?
Title: Re: The Academy Awards are on!
Post by: Nuclear1 on March 08, 2010, 09:50:42 pm
I'm interested in seeing the foreign entries and the documentaries more than the films in the main competition, to be honest. But I was glad Star Trek won something (Best Makeup or some such.) How long has it been since a Star Trek movie won an award for anything?

An Academy Award?  Never.  Star Trek IV got a bunch of nominations, but never won anything.  The original movie got a few nominations as well.
I didn't see the movie, but based on my dad's accounts/pictures of he and his buddies dicking around in Iraq while he was there, I would believe a good number of them are, in fact, reckless cowboys..

I once caught a fish THIS BIG[/echo].
Except they've done really nasty ****.  That video iamzack was talking about with throwing puppies around?  Seen it.  It's not pleasant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XE4eRiKrz8

Seriously, watch the above video at your own risk.  You've been warned.

It's not the majority of troops represented by far, and most soldiers/marines/sailors/airmen are honorable people who actually give a ****, but there's some really terrible people out there who have a special place reserved in hell for them.
Title: Re: The Academy Awards are on!
Post by: TrashMan on March 09, 2010, 01:36:16 am
Examples, or just going to generalize again? :rolleyes:

Examples of what?

Bad modern art?
Or bad Oscar picks?

And what is it to you anyway?
Title: Re: The Academy Awards are on!
Post by: General Battuta on March 09, 2010, 01:37:31 am
Examples, or just going to generalize again? :rolleyes:

Examples of what?

Bad modern art?
Or bad Oscar picks?

And what is it to you anyway?

Bad Oscar picks, I think.

If you look at this year's lineup you'll see a number of great movies on there. It's hard to criticize the Oscars when their picks do in fact seem to be pretty accurate.
Title: Re: The Academy Awards are on!
Post by: TrashMan on March 09, 2010, 01:46:45 am
Avatar is on the list. Nuff said. :p

And ....isn't this the internets?
Make a thread about bad Oscar pics and you'll have millions of examples.
Title: Re: The Academy Awards are on!
Post by: Mongoose on March 09, 2010, 02:48:43 am
Avatar is on the list. Nuff said. :p
Avatar is on the list for the same reason that Titanic was nominated: because it was a visual tour-de-force, and because it was, oh, just the highest-grossing movie ever.  Its nomination isn't some sort of statement about the quality of its plot, but instead a reflection of what a massive phenomenon it's become.  In fact, it's the very sort of movie that the expansion of the Best Picture nominees to ten was designed to include.  Every year, people complain that the films nominated for Best Picture are largely those that only hardcore film buffs would be interested in; doubling the number of nominees allows quality blockbuster titles like Avatar (and something like the sadly-snubbed Dark Knight), or standout animated works like Up, to receive the same level of accolades.

Putting all of that aside, you don't really have much of a reason to complain, because unlike Titanic, Avatar didn't actually win the category. :p
Title: Re: The Academy Awards are on!
Post by: Nuclear1 on March 09, 2010, 10:56:39 am
Well, not saying James Cameron didn't have a passion for making Avatar (he clearly did), but he's a huge shipwreck/Titanic enthusiast anyway and really wanted to tell the Titanic story right. 

Plus, when you release a big-budget summer blockbuster in the middle of winter where it has no real competition in terms of action movies and when nobody has anything else to do but go back and watch it over and over again, of course you'll make a lot of money.  Both Avatar and Titanic were fantastic movies, and both rightfully deserved all the praise they've earned, but I'm willing to bet James Cameron wouldn't have made $2.5 billion off of Avatar if he had released it in June.
Title: Re: The Academy Awards are on!
Post by: Colonol Dekker on March 09, 2010, 11:34:23 am
I'm glad Hurt Locker won too.
Robots? Robots are a rarity in my regiment. My EOD regiment, the OLDEST regiment in the army, the LARGEST regiment in the army (til next april) we don't use suits. The film is American, it's incredibly accurate to American procedures. It actually covers quite common practices too.
 
 
For the record, Afghanistan or not, it gets the air of deployment, the raw feeling across like no other i've seen.   
 
The best scene in the film?
Spoiler:
The last one when James' An EOD soldier called James who can't stop smoking? How can I not get this now! internal monologue goes on about how love changes etc and how there's something missing in his life if he's not doing what he does.
At least that's what I took from it. Because that's how I feel about EOD. At least for now, I genuinely let out a squeak of terror and joy when he dusted off that first shell.
Title: Re: The Academy Awards are on!
Post by: Zoltan on March 09, 2010, 02:33:07 pm
I didn't watch the Academy Awards (nor will I ever), because my tastes seem to be significantly different than those being represented. For example, my favorite movie of 2009 was Fish Story, but I doubt most people at the Academy Awards have ever heard of it let alone ever contemplated to giving it an award.
Title: Re: The Academy Awards are on!
Post by: TrashMan on March 10, 2010, 05:12:06 am
Avatar is on the list for the same reason that Titanic was nominated: because it was a visual tour-de-force, and because it was, oh, just the highest-grossing movie ever.[/qutoe]

Which has 0 to do with the actual quality of the movie.


Quote
Putting all of that aside, you don't really have much of a reason to complain, because unlike Titanic, Avatar didn't actually win the category. :p

You've got a point there.
Title: Re: The Academy Awards are on!
Post by: Mongoose on March 10, 2010, 01:08:28 pm
No, it has nothing to do with the actual quality of the movie, but the Academy can't exactly sit back and ignore the fact that a film released in the past year absolutely destroyed all previous box office marks.  That $1 billion and change didn't come from nowhere; obviously, many many people had to see something special in the movie, and the majority of critics agreed. Putting plot concerns aside, by any standard, Avatar was a masterwork of visual-based storytelling, and Cameron's massive success in that aspect is what earned it the nomination.

(lrn 2 quote :p)
Title: Re: The Academy Awards are on!
Post by: TrashMan on March 10, 2010, 01:50:45 pm
Again, I don't care.

Titanic earned millions, and pretty much everyone agreees it's overhyped. Practicly everyone I know who seen it was confused at it's sucess.

Sometimes things jusst fall into place. The planets align. For whatever reasons, some things, regardles how moronic, become huge; and also some great, quality things, get barely no attention (for example : Firefly).

Box office success means less than zero to me.
How many people fell victim to the hype machine means even less.
Title: Re: The Academy Awards are on!
Post by: Mongoose on March 10, 2010, 01:52:52 pm
Yes...but you're not a member of the Academy, and therefore your opinion means as much as mine (read: nothing) in the grand scheme of things. :p
Title: Re: The Academy Awards are on!
Post by: Scotty on March 10, 2010, 03:16:41 pm
Again, I don't care.

Titanic earned millions, and pretty much everyone agreees it's overhyped.

Source please.
Title: Re: The Academy Awards are on!
Post by: iamzack on March 10, 2010, 04:54:10 pm
Titanic wasn't good? I liked it... (was 6 when I saw it though...)
Title: Re: The Academy Awards are on!
Post by: Colonol Dekker on March 10, 2010, 05:02:43 pm
I agree with Trashman. Every single male I know with the exception of four or five homosexuals think the film is awful. Plain terrible. No good, useless and a waste of a few hours. Except for the special effects of course. (i also know homosexual males that dislike the film)
 
 
Not every woman I know likes it either :nervous:
 
 
Best bit is when Dicaprio goes under and doesn't come back up.
Title: Re: The Academy Awards are on!
Post by: Colonol Dekker on March 10, 2010, 05:02:52 pm
I agree with Trashman. Every single male I know with the exception of four or five homosexuals think the film is awful. Plain terrible. No good, useless and a waste of a few hours. Except for the special effects of course. (i also know homosexual males that dislike the film)
 
 
Not every woman I know likes it either :nervous:
 
 
Best bit is when Dicaprio goes under and doesn't come back up.
Title: Re: The Academy Awards are on!
Post by: Nuclear1 on March 10, 2010, 05:03:59 pm
Trashman's talking out of his ass again.

Quote
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19971219/REVIEWS/712190303/1023
4/4

James Cameron's 194-minute, $200 million film of the tragic voyage is in the tradition of the great Hollywood epics. It is flawlessly crafted, intelligently constructed, strongly acted and spellbinding. If its story stays well within the traditional formulas for such pictures, well, you don't choose the most expensive film ever made as your opportunity to reinvent the wheel
Quote
http://www.reelviews.net/movies/t/titanic.html
4/4
Meticulous in detail, yet vast in scope and intent, Titanic is the kind of epic motion picture event that has become a rarity. You don't just watch Titanic, you experience it.
Quote
http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2000/12/19/titanic_1997_review.shtml
4/5
It's reckoned that the rivets were a key structural element that failed the doomed liner. But you could hardly condemn the whole ship as shoddy, or question its magnificence. The script for the movie is rather like those rivets. It's weak and riddled with poor dialogue. But despite its failings it's hard not to become swept up in the sheer grandeur of "Titanic".
...
 And when you consider that it tops a bum-numbing three-hour running time, then you have a truly impressive feat of entertainment achieved by Cameron.
Quote
http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/resources/educational/teachable_moments/deconstructing_titanic_6.cfm

The normal repeat viewing rate for a blockbuster theatrical film is about 5%. The repeat rate for Titanic was over 20%. People were not only telling their friends about the movie, they were returning to see it over and over again.
Quote
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/titanic/

83 %
Quote
http://www.metacritic.com/video/titles/titanic?q=

74
Title: Re: The Academy Awards are on!
Post by: Colonol Dekker on March 10, 2010, 05:15:26 pm
Those reviews won't change our opinions.
And vice versa.
 
 
So. . . . . . How about that 'The Crazies' any good?
Title: Re: The Academy Awards are on!
Post by: Nuclear1 on March 10, 2010, 05:25:12 pm
For a remake, it was good.

I very much enjoyed it.