Unless the entire academy front to back is gay, Inglourious Basterds will take home best picture. Therefore, Avatar will win. Watching the best make-up awards, I wondered two things: 1) Why is it people who actually win get 45 seconds to enjoy the ultimate moment in the sun before they cut their mic off, while Ben Stiller does creepy, unfunny bullshit on stage for 7 fucking minutes? 2) Why the fuck was The Young Victoria nominated for best make-up? You glued sideburns on a dude's face. Imagine the life-long discipline that it takes to wield such an art. I don't understand why horror movies are constantly shafted (Tom Savini should have won at least five times by now) in this category to make way for more Merchant Ivory-styled bullshit that middle aged people like to screw to.
Is it just me or does the fact that they always put some sort of relating figurehead to present for big awards ruin the presentation a little? Like when Scorsese won for the first time they had George Lucas, Steven Spielburg, and Francis Ford Coppola. You knew they weren't going to drag those heavyweights on stage if he wasn't going to win. I kind of felt the same thing with Babs handing off the best director oscar to the first women director. Guess Ill have to see The Hurt Locker.
Shakespeare in Love was still a good movie. If you wanna talk about a blunder, The English Patient takes the cake. Over FKN FARGO?!
A throw away comedy no one could quote one damn line from today OVER probably the best war movie ever committed to celluloid?
2005 was a horrible Best Picture nominee year. Crash - A melodramatic hyperlink. Capote - (I still haven't seen it) But has that creep P.S. Hoffman Brokeback - Gay shock value, that's all the newsworthiness of it. Otherwise it's just a normal drama about a couple. Munich - Jewish revenge porn. Good Night, and Good Luck - the freebie nomination.
I'm saying that it got all sorts of rediscovery for Shakespeare, and that by itself is a good achievement. It was a great romantic comedy, unlike The English Patient which sucked all kinds. Also, the national mood affects things as you well know, and SPR might've been too much of a downer in 98. Today it would win no question's asked though.
I get trash talked many a time for loving Crash, but nobody will ever change my mind about it, but its an aquired taste film. Good Night and Good Luck was a brilliantly acted fly-on-the-wall film and as realistic as a Hollywood movie gets. I'm glad Hurt Locker won. This is the first time in I think seven or eight years I didn't guess best picture correctly, and I was just plain relieved Avatar didn't win (despite the fact the film is an astonishing enterainment.) Worst best picture winners of all time? Amadeus (actually a shitty, woefully inaccurate film) and Forrest Gump. Over-produced and overrated products that leave me scratching my head on how a film that was nominated along with Shawshank Redemption and Pulp Fiction can come out on top.
As far as pushing the film making envelope Pulp Fiction should have won. As for self redeeming feel good pictures I'm not sure. People only hate on Forrest Gump when it comes to this specific argument. Outside of this I've never known anyone that didn't think it was a great film. Take away the fact that it was a high priced blockbuster and I think it is closer than you think to Shawshank as far as storytelling goes.
I hated every second of Crash, and turned it off midway through. Capote was actually a pretty good movie, though Hoffman's (very realistic) portrayal of Capote got pretty annoying. Brokeback was a pretty good movie, but not as good as its gayness made it seem to people. Munich -yeah Jewish revenge porn, entertaining at least. Good Night, and Good Luck was subtle, smart, and as Crown said brilliantly acted. Personally my favorite picture of the year. Funny, the Oscar winner was my least favorite. Besides the winner I think it was a decent year.
More like Pocahontas. I agree with Chater. It was incredible to watch, but the story was completely recycled and put into a new setting. SOILER AHEAD: Spoiler Also, that bullshit deus ex machina at the end where the main guy gets to be his avatar was a total cop out. The love story wouldn't be perfect if he had to remain human so they just had a bunch of blue people sing and chant together and bam! happy ending preserved. The Hurt Locker was excellent, but I still maintain that Up was the best movie of the year.
I think it was a GOOD film, and as entertainment goes, it's a grabber. I think it would have deserved to win maybe if it was more satirical like Groom's novel instead of trying to drag you in with its whimsy and Hank's superb performance. EDIT: I take that back. Shawshank should have won, regardless (in my opinion). Pulp Fiction was the rengade, a wholly original and unpredictable film which unfortunetly was spun into the pop culture dryer and people are STILL annoyingly quoting it today (but there were some GREAT fucking quotes, weren't there?). "How about you, Lash LaRue? You think you can keep you spurs from jingling and jangling?"
Really? I'll admit that I don't see too many films, but Brokeback was really good. Amazing acting, excellent character development, and unlike every other god damned boy meets girl but boy moves far way and they spend many years in exile romance movie, it didn't have a sappy, everyone lives happily ever after ending. Well, that, and it pulled off the "modern Western" thing perfectly. I just posted a top 8 score of the day in Bubble Spinner. 164,000-something. I'm kind of proud of myself, except I'm an order of magnitude away from the all time top score. EDIT: Don't forget 1997. Titanic. I defy you to watch that now and not think of it as a modern Star Wars; the visual effects were really awesome back then, but look like shit today, and all of a sudden you realize that the plot and acting suck. I haven't seen avatar, but I've seen that comparison made about it already. I do want to see it in theatre with the 3D, though.