Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[pmcd9]

Long before it was confirmed to me I knew that Renee Zellweger was from around here.  She's never tried to hide her Houston accent.  I've loved her from the moment I first saw her in Jerry Maguire.  I'm proud that she won the Oscar tonight for her performance in Cold Mountain.

~Paul

[jough]

I always enter Oscar contests and place large-ish wagers on the Academy Awards every year - this year I got 22 of the 24 televised categories (I missed both Shorts - Live Action and Animated).  Most of the wagers don't include them - so I should have some payola coming to me.

I love the Academy Awards.  I look forward to them for months.  I read all of the critics lists, try to see all of the films nominated in the major categories (this year I missed "Master and Commander" only).  I'm a big movie geek.

[pmcd9]

I love the Academy Awards.  I look forward to them for months.

Yeah me too, well I don't look forward for months, but I do usually watch with interest.  The best part for me is seeing the nominated songs performed.  That and the cleavage.

I read all of the critics lists, try to see all of the films nominated in the major categories (this year I missed "Master and Commander" only).

I read the reviews on films that interest me, but I generally don't get real interested in a movie until it gets nominated.  I use the Oscars as a bellwether of a films greatness.  Except for comedies it's rare that a great film doesn't get at least a nomination.

I'm a big movie geek.

Well i'll give you the prize.  I go through spells where I watch a lot of movies.  I'm going through one right now, I saw Mystic River today.  Funny, it doesn't have Julia Roberts in it after all, what was I thinking?.  Sometimes I just disengage, watch movies, and not think about my own life for awhile.  I'll just get involved with the lives of the characters on screen.  It kinda helps me to clear all the junk out.

Anyway, the tuner has gone out on my television so I was sat here watching with the closed caption on and hearing the great song from Triplettes of Bellville only in my head.

~Paul

[jough]

Yeah, that was my favourite of the performances tonight.

I read the reviews on films that interest me, but I generally don't get real interested in a movie until it gets nominated.

Oh, that's too bad, because so often many of the best films don't even garner nominations.

[pmcd9]

Oh, that's too bad, because so often many of the best films don't even garner nominations.

Oh yeah, I know this is probably true.  Can you cite me some examples from this past year?

[jough]

American Splendor
Big giraffe
The Last Samurai
Bubba Ho-Tep
Dirty Pretty Things
Elephant
Girl with a Pearl Earring (not to be confused with "Girl with a Pearl Necklace")
House of Sand and Fog
Kill Bill
Lost in La Mancha
Ripley's Game (although this didn't appear theatrically in the U.S.)
The School of Rock
21 Grams

Admittedly, a few of these were nominated for *something*.

It's a real testament to this year's awards that most of the great films of 2003 *were* nominated.  These were the best nominations in memory.

There were some real absentees from the previous two years, though.

[CortJstr]

I had absolutely no idea the Oscars were even on until I tried to figure out why the hell TiVo hadn't recorded the Simpsons or Alias.

So how long did it run this year, like 5 hours?

[AugustWest]

American Splendor

I rented this last week and it was teriffic.  Fabulous.  Wonderful.

I've been trying to get Lost in Translation since it came out, but my dillwad video store only has two copies.

[V-Adore]

I really, really need to see Lost in Translation -- I skipped it when it came out due to schedule conflicts and the tacit disapproval of my Japanese professors, who do own my soul, but now I feel like less of a person for not seeing it. Also, I've heard enough glowing reviews of Triplets of Bellville that I may have to try for that.

[slink]

I am dying to see Lost in Translation. And I can kind of already tell I would have given it best picture.

What I am trying to work out, is a) how Finding Nemo beat Triplets of Belleville, and why that is called that there, and if it is different to Belleville Rendezvous which I watched at Christmas (about a kid who gets a bike off his gran, and ends up getting kidnapped while cycling the tour de France)?
It was a stunning film and would have easily beaten Nemo.

I read a thing about the music for Cold Mountain the other day in fRoots at my brothers, and was very interested to hear the sacred harp shape singers, but then when we do they aren't singing traditionally. Goddamn.
Well, I tend, I hate to say, to watch anything with Zellweger in anyway, and Minghella is a draw factor too.

Of the others I must see, Mystic River is probably second to Lost in Translation, just 'cause it looks slightly less fun, but equally stunning. While I'd like to see Depp win an Oscar (really for his portrayal of HST more than anything) I get the feeling Penn did deserve it, as did Robbins.

[jough]

* Lost in Translation is beautiful - heartbreaking. But it's such a tiny film, one that snuck under my radar when I first saw it back in the summer. By this time, with all of the press, it's been built up too much.  People can't help but be disappointed by it.

I guess this is as good a criterion as any: did you really enjoy Wong Kar-Wai's "In the Mood for Love"?

If you didn't, or don't know who the hell Wong Kar-Wai is, then Lost in Translation may not be for you.

* Slink, yes, the French title is "Belleville Rendez-Vous" - and its nomination was a stroke of boldness by the Academy - it was never really a serious contender.  In years past it wouldn't have even gotten the nomination, so it's quite a feather in its cap.

* While I made some decent money on my off-shore bettings, there were too many ties for first in the big Oscar.com drawing, so they'll be drawing my name out of a hat with about a hundred others for the Big Screen TV and home theatre system grand prize for their Oscar contest.  <Crosses fingres>

* The show only ran 12 minutes over - not too bad considering.

* The acceptance speeches were mostly dull and over-long this year.  I can't think of any great moments that will be included in the Highlights Reel at the 80th Annual show in three years.

* Although I'm sure we'll hear from Oscar Historians at some point, I believe that "Return of the King" has the most amount of wins from a film that made a clean sweep - i.e. won every category it was nominated for.

It's also the first Fantasy-genre Best Picture, and the first Best Picture winner to not have a cast member represented in any of the acting categories.

[AlohaDawg]

Achewood Tie-in: anyone else notice Jamie Lee Curtis has a big, veiny rack? Horrible dress. Bad hair. Christopher Guest looked embarrassed.

Time destroys, man she was hot once.

[Nabubrush]

Although I'm sure we'll hear from Oscar Historians at some point, I believe that "Return of the King" has the most amount of wins from a film that made a clean sweep - i.e. won every category it was nominated for.

"Titanic" went 11 for 11 as well, I believe.

[jough]

Titanic received 14 nominations but only won 11 of them.

"Only."  Heh.

[jay-ell]

What?  Oh, is it that time of year again?  

I liked Finding Nemo.  

</blonde>