Movie 86th Academy Awards

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Right film experts. Are the Oscar winners and nominees over the past many years an accurate representation of "the best" films released in America each year or does a lot of middle-of-the-road stuff get undeserved recognition?

If I want to watch the best films of the last 85 years is there something better to guide me than the Oscars lists?
 

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NSWCROW said:
I'll be dirty if Bruhl isn't nominated
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Screen Actors Guild judges weren't sent screener copies of Rush FWIW, even though Bruhl was nominated.

http://www.goldderby.com/news/5339/sag-awards-august-osage-country-entertainment-news.html

Back on Dec. 18, voters got emails with instructions on how to download digital screeners on iTunes for "The Butler," "August: Osage County" and "Philomena." A week or two ago Paramount emailed voters with instructions on how guild voters can watch "Nebraska" on line using its own internal studio system. Universal has no plans to ship "Rush," according to an inside source. No word yet on whether Warner Bros. is shipping "Gravity.
 
I'll watch it because I love movie stuff, but I rarely ever take it seriously (if anything, I appreciate the more technical awards far more).

It's not really long-term the best arbiter of the best films and a lot of great stuff has missed out over the years.
 
Allgood Awesome said:
Right film experts. Are the Oscar winners and nominees over the past many years an accurate representation of "the best" films released in America each year or does a lot of middle-of-the-road stuff get undeserved recognition?

If I want to watch the best films of the last 85 years is there something better to guide me than the Oscars lists?
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Generally it's pretty good. Very few films are nominated for Best Picture that are not critically acclaimed (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close a recent notable exception). Screenplay is generally a good guide for the best written movies, as they are voted by fellow screenwriters. Same with Director, Editing, etc etc. Lots of bad acting slips through, but that's more of a taste thing.

While you will be seeing mostly very good movies if using the Oscars as a guide, you will miss even more great ones. This is simply because a movie needs hype to get attention; a big audience needs to see it. Indie films, quirkier films, foreign films (the big one) etc, will not get the attention needed for an Oscar nomination. And sometimes even big ones (Heat in 1995) will completely slip through.
 
RobbyRoy said:
Generally it's pretty good. Very few films are nominated for Best Picture that are not critically acclaimed (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close a recent notable exception). Screenplay is generally a good guide for the best written movies, as they are voted by fellow screenwriters. Same with Director, Editing, etc etc. Lots of bad acting slips through, but that's more of a taste thing.

While you will be seeing mostly very good movies if using the Oscars as a guide, you will miss even more great ones. This is simply because a movie needs hype to get attention; a big audience needs to see it. Indie films, quirkier films, foreign films (the big one) etc, will not get the attention needed for an Oscar nomination. And sometimes even big ones (Heat in 1995) will completely slip through.
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I thought Heat was rubbish...

Spot on though. You'll see a lot of great films, but you might miss a few really special ones. But those ones can also come down to taste etc. You'll see very few movies you won't enjoy if you go by the Oscars though.
 
Saw Saving Mr Banks tonight. Perfectly nice film. Tom Hanks, Emma Thompson, Colin Farrell and Paul Giamatti all as good as you'd expect. But the film itself was nothing special. Hardly Best Picture nom worthy. But as someone else said, Hollywood do love films about themselves.

Wouldn't be disappointed to see Emma Thompson get a nomination. She was very good.
 
I do not understand the love for American Hustle. It's exactly the type of movie that I love as well. However, it was far too predictable for mine and featured far too much cliche acting. I have seen it twice because I was so underwhelmed the first time having heard such good things about the movie. I thought that I'd missed something - as often happens when you sit through one screening of it. But the second did nothing but reinforce what I already thought about it. The highlight of the film for me was the performance by Jennifer Lawrence, whom I adore anyway.
 
thorne89 said:
I'm harping on now, but can somebody explain to me what exactly is good about Gravity? It was pretty, that's about it. Nothing else stood out to me at all.
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It's a technical masterpiece. The camera-work and editing is phenomenal…not just in regards to how 'pretty' it looks (which it does) but the actual movement and placing of the camera is sublime. People attack the simple script, but Alfonso Cuaron was a master at capturing isolated moments/feelings/emotions that when put together, drive the arc of Bullock's character. The technical aspects drive the performances which drive the emotions. It's incredibly important in all films but especially a film like this. You may not care about this side of film, and that's fine, but it's a big side to film, especially to film-lovers, critics and other film-makers.
 

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placebo said:
It's a technical masterpiece. The camera-work and editing is phenomenal…not just in regards to how 'pretty' it looks (which it does) but the actual movement and placing of the camera is sublime. People attack the simple script, but Alfonso Cuaron was a master at capturing isolated moments/feelings/emotions that when put together, drive the arc of Bullock's character. The technical aspects drive the performances which drive the emotions. It's incredibly important in all films but especially a film like this. You may not care about this side of film, and that's fine, but it's a big side to film, especially to film-lovers, critics and other film-makers.
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I see. The part I care most about film is definitely characters, and at no stage of Gravity was I made to feel anything about any of the characters. George was the one who had potential but bit it too early, and Bullock was too busy making bumbling mistakes to take seriously.

I did dabble in film studies and writing at Uni, so I guess I just have a different philosophy.
 
thorne89 said:
I see. The part I care most about film is definitely characters, and at no stage of Gravity was I made to feel anything about any of the characters. George was the one who had potential but bit it too early, and Bullock was too busy making bumbling mistakes to take seriously.

I did dabble in film studies and writing at Uni, so I guess I just have a different philosophy.
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Brilliance of film. Everyone looks for different things.
 
thorne89 said:
I see. The part I care most about film is definitely characters, and at no stage of Gravity was I made to feel anything about any of the characters. George was the one who had potential but bit it too early, and Bullock was too busy making bumbling mistakes to take seriously.

I did dabble in film studies and writing at Uni, so I guess I just have a different philosophy.
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Sooo much this, particularly the bold in relation to this film.

As a piece of cinematography Gravity is truly a masterpeice. In all other aspects, decidedly average.
 
My predictions:

Picture:
1. 12 Years a Slave (will sweep televised awards)
2. American Hustle
3. Gravity
4. Captain Phillips
5. The Wolf of Wall Street
6. Nebraska
7. Dallas Buyers Club

8. Philomena (Globe + BAFTA + Harvey should be enough)
9. Her (PGA/WGA nominations, LAFCA win should push it above Lleywn)
10. Inside Lleywn Davis.

11. Saving Mr. Banks

Actor:
McConaughey needs to win the Globe on Sunday or Ejifor will sweep. Dern and Hanks locked with SAG/GG/BAFTA/BFCA nominations. DiCaprio should pip Bale for 5th although it's really tight. Both have GG/BAFTA/BFCA Comedy Actor nominations. Redford has no chance.

Actress:
Blanchett has won already. Bullock, Dench (ugh) and Thompson are locks. Amy Adams should beat out Meryl Streep for 5th. Streep missing BAFTA is indicative of the lack of passion for her performance.

Director:
I think DGA, BAFTA and AMPAS will match 5/5 for the first time since '02. Jonze missing in favour of Scorsese. McQueen vs. Cuaron for the win, GG will determine the front-runner. Although I can't see Gravity's only top 8 win being Director...
 
thorne89 said:
I see. The part I care most about film is definitely characters, and at no stage of Gravity was I made to feel anything about any of the characters. George was the one who had potential but bit it too early, and Bullock was too busy making bumbling mistakes to take seriously.

I did dabble in film studies and writing at Uni, so I guess I just have a different philosophy.
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Here "Eenie Meenie Moe" part in the Chinese ship was the highlight of the film for me.
 
Very close to my thoughts 750ml. For me though, the spoiler for Eijifor is Dern. Even if DiCaprio beats him for the GG on Sunday, if Dern manages to get the Oscar nom, he's a huge shot at winning.
 
750mlPump said:
Actress:
Blanchett has won already. Bullock, Dench (ugh) and Thompson are locks. Amy Adams should beat out Meryl Streep for 5th. Streep missing BAFTA is indicative of the lack of passion for her performance.
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how-dare-you.gif
 
RobbyRoy said:
Very close to my thoughts 750ml. For me though, the spoiler for Eijifor is Dern. Even if DiCaprio beats him for the GG on Sunday, if Dern manages to get the Oscar nom, he's a huge shot at winning.
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I think Dern needs the SAG if he's going to contend. Eijifor will win BAFTA and probably BFCA (as they normally award the front-runner) so SAG is Dern's only chance at gaining momentum. And I don't think he will get it. Nebrasca didn't get an ensemble nomination there, DBC did. Plus I think there's a lot more passion for McConaughey's performance (and DBC as a whole). Dern only has the 'respected veteran' card. It's a shame he objected to being pushed into supporting though, he could have beaten Leto.
 
750mlPump said:
I think Dern needs the SAG if he's going to contend. Eijifor will win BAFTA and probably BFCA (as they normally award the front-runner) so SAG is Dern's only chance at gaining momentum. And I don't think he will get it. Nebrasca didn't get an ensemble nomination there, DBC did. Plus I think there's a lot more passion for McConaughey's performance (and DBC as a whole). Dern only has the 'respected veteran' card. It's a shame he objected to being pushed into supporting though, he could have beaten Leto.
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100% agree with all of this. SAG holds the key; if he somehow wins it he's the man come Oscar night. Even if he doesn't though, and still manages to get the nomination, the 'respected veteran' card is very handy, especially against first-time nominees.
 
thorne89 said:
I see. The part I care most about film is definitely characters, and at no stage of Gravity was I made to feel anything about any of the characters. George was the one who had potential but bit it too early, and Bullock was too busy making bumbling mistakes to take seriously.

I did dabble in film studies and writing at Uni, so I guess I just have a different philosophy.
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Spot on. It just wasn't believable that this person made it through the program to become an Astronaut.

THE worst Astronaut in a movie ever.
 
There's a dramatic film about a black slave. Probably no point discussing best picture after that.
 

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