The Oscars..................................

[JohnnyWalkerBlackLabel]

SUCKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm sick of sitting through 3 to 4+ hours of bullshit to watch folks get up and accept the so-called greatest cinema award in the world for flicks that are barely or never in the local theaters. IMO the critics have influenced tinseltown way too much, no wonder the ratings for the Oscars were the lowest ever for the event this year.

[GroobySteven]

So in your opinion, what movies should have been nominated?
It's a bit of a Catch 22 isn't it? The movies that are barely shown in the cinema are usually the best made films because they're not dumbed down to the masses and therefore, the tickets don't sell.

I read an article in the Observer (UK newspaper) that this is the best year for American cinema in a long time with There Will Be Blood, Juno and No Country for Old Men.

Titantic was a huge box office success - and won oscars and that it was totally shit.

[El Nino]

Nice point Seanchai!!!

[JohnnyWalkerBlackLabel]

Never saw Titanic or Titantic as you typed it
I thought Juno got robbed for the nomination for best actress
I think the Coen Brothers finally got what they deserved they've made good movies for years.
But there are a ton of those so-called "dumbed down" movies that were overlooked which is insulting considering those "dumbed-down" movies are the ones people pay good American hard earned money to go see.

If you're going to have an award show include some of those "dumbed-down" movies in it to spark an interest. That's my opinion, and with the horrible ratings from last night's airing I don't think I stand alone...........

[glenntinnyc]

Daniel Day lewis was great in There will be Blood, the award show itself was a bit weak, didnt seee Juno to comment in that, and while No country was a good movie I cant say it was better than There Will Be Blood or Michael Clayton. And nothing for American Gangster is surprising.

[Tomfurbs]

Firstly, fuck you JWBL for your spoiler avatar, you cunt!!

Secondly, I thought this was one of the few years the academy got it half right. The oscars have never been about 'bums-on-seats'. That's why they always have those 'The Significance of cinema' short films at the ceremony, to remind themselves of how lofty, artsy and important they are. Ratings have very little to do with it.

Most important thing was that snooze-fest starring the most vapid 22-year old the UK has ever produced, 'Atonement', didn't get anything. Hurrah!

And Gary Busey showed the world what a complete legend he is, by scaring the piss out of that red carpet reporter guy and Jennifer Garner (who the fuck is she by the way?). Nice one Chief!

[GroobySteven]

JWBL - their are audience choice awards.
The Oscars are the film industry voting for what they think are the best.

Bums on seats, love, doesn't equal quality made films. Transformers (which I paid to see and ahem, enjoyed a lot) deserved awards for what?

[Tomfurbs]

That's the exact point I was making, love.

[BeardedOne]

Jennifer Garner got her butt groped. Hey, I'd do her. Loved her in the teevee series Alias and as Elektra in the Marvel Comics flick of the same name.

I tend to see movies these daze only when they hit five-day rental status at Blockbuster.

As a hermit, crowded theaters are a sure fire way to get my head to explode. Though, mid-week matinées have often found me the only soul in the house and projectionists have sometimes re-started movies, just for me, when I came in late.

I don't put a lot of stake in the Oscars these daze, as they are voted on by members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in much the same way as the Hugos (The Science Fiction Achievement Awards) are doled out to 'deserving' authors, artists, editors, and dramatic presentations. Though some are certainly quite deserving of recognition, the overall scenario rewards those that are more commercially viable rather than those that show talent and imagination worthy of recognition.

Hell, =I= vote on the Hugos and who the hell trusts my opinion, eh?

Seriously, for a fee and a stamp, most any major 'award' can be skewed.

To wit: The Hugo for 'Best Non-Fiction Work' one year went to "Science Made Stupid". Go figure.

Granted, some surprise you. An example being the French film "Amelie", starring Audrey Tautou. A serious sleeper, it hauled in five nominations, but no awards, yet it is an exceptional piece of work, both from the actress (Who broke out into other notable films such as Dirty Pretty Things, Happenstance, He Loves me/He Loves Me Not, The Libertines, and - most notably -, The Davinci Code) and for its direction by Jean-Pierre Jeunet.

SEE this film (Amelie). It's fun! My favorite scene is when she is on the phone about the lost photo album: "I am calling about the advertisement"..."Are you shaved?"..."Pardon?"..."Are you shaved? Our customers don't like 'fur pie'."

I am always hard for Audrey Tautou.

[Ben]

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