82nd ACADEMY AWARD Nominations

[D. Martin]

As an art form, pure film will live on. Sure, its numbers will dwindle... but it will never die. The same way oil painting didn't cease to exist when inks and other visual mediums were further developed.

Dismiss it all you want, but there is a scientific ART to capturing light and image through a lens onto a physical medium. And there will always be some around to continue practicing/perfecting it.

The call it Show Business for a reason. Eventually film will be gone.

 

[karamazov80]

STAR WARS, afterall, did lose to ANNIE HALL in '77.

Thing is... we geeks have a habit of seriously over-valuing the movies we like, especially when they become financial successes by tipping into the mainstream. A year from now Joe Sixpack won't give a care in the world about AVATAR. Neither will Hollywood.. until the hype begins anew for the sequel.

Good analogy. Annie Hall is superior to Star Wars. Paul Simon, FTW!

 

[D. Martin]

All said, I still don't see anyone quantifying Hurt Locker as such a worthy film...

 

[occulum]

As an art form, pure film will live on. Sure, its numbers will dwindle... but it will never die. The same way oil painting didn't cease to exist when inks and other visual mediums were further developed.

Dismiss it all you want, but there is a scientific ART to capturing light and image through a lens onto a physical medium. And there will always be some around to continue practicing/perfecting it.

you carrier pigeoned that post written with a quill on hand-made paper into Dave to post it for you to keep the art of calligraphy and classic communication alive didnt you?

 

[Sweet Rabbit]

All said, I still don't see anyone quantifying Hurt Locker as such a worthy film...

get over it. avatar got stompped

 

[LChinoz]

get over it. avatar got stompped

Have you seen Avatar?

 

[karamazov80]

All said, I still don't see anyone quantifying Hurt Locker as such a worthy film...

Great acting and cinematography, riveting tension and drama (more constant tension than I recall feeling in any movie in recent years), fascinating insight regarding the nature of man, approaching a contemporary military and political conflict without making value judgments regarding the nature of the political decisions involved (apparently not easy to do based on previous Hollywood fare). . .great flick overall. Not sure what else you want out of a movie to consider it worthy of an award.

 

[LChinoz]

Great acting and cinematography, riveting tension and drama (more constant tension than I recall feeling in any movie in recent years), fascinating insight regarding the nature of man, approaching a contemporary military and political conflict without making value judgments regarding the nature of the political decisions involved (apparently not easy to do based on previous Hollywood fare). . .great flick overall. Not sure what else you want out of a movie to consider it worthy of an award.

It could have used more bombs.

 

[karamazov80]

It could have used more bombs.

That's true.

That car bomb scene was particularly awesome,

Spoiler

even though it didn't go boom

.

 

[Sweet Rabbit]

Great acting and cinematography, riveting tension and drama (more constant tension than I recall feeling in any movie in recent years), fascinating insight regarding the nature of man, approaching a contemporary military and political conflict without making value judgments regarding the nature of the political decisions involved (apparently not easy to do based on previous Hollywood fare). . .great flick overall. Not sure what else you want out of a movie to consider it worthy of an award.

people painted blue?

 

[D. Martin]

get over it. avatar got stompped

Oh, I see. That explains why Hurt Locker won...

 

[tomandshell]

District 9 probably stole some of Avatar's votes.

 

[Sweet Rabbit]

That's true.

That car bomb scene was particularly awesome,

Spoiler

even though it didn't go boom

.

I know

 

[karamazov80]

I honestly think a big part of why Avatar didn't win was the fact that Cameron won previously for Titanic (director and film, I think). The Academy Awards have never been explicitly merit-based, but a mixture of very good movies being released at a time when the people associated it were "due" to win. There are exceptions, but this has been a common theme. Think of Scorsese winning for the Departed, Denzel winning for Training Day, Penn winning for playing a gay guy, etc. etc. This year, it was time for a woman to win in the eyes of the voters, and it was easy not to pick Cameron b/c he's already had his day in the sun.

 

[IrishJedi]

you carrier pigeoned that post written with a quill on hand-made paper into Dave to post it for you to keep the art of calligraphy and classic communication alive didnt you?

Here's a concept that I didn't realize was so foreign: The applications of Art, Communication, and Commerce do not all have to be in lock-step.

 

[Khev]

Sigh...

Wordsmith it all you want, but AVATAR is not a typical Academy Award type film. Neither was THE DARK KNIGHT. And if either had even middling box office success, the nominations would not have been there. STAR WARS, afterall, did lose to ANNIE HALL in '77.

It isn't 1977 anymore. A decade of Best Picture nominations from Crouching Tiger to the LOTR trilogy to now Avatar have proven that. There was a time when it was unthinkable that a cartoon could win an Oscar. Now there's a special category guaranteeing that one of them wins every year. Times have changed.

A year from now Joe Sixpack won't give a care in the world about AVATAR. Neither will Hollywood.. until the hype begins anew for the sequel.

Even if that were to be true (it won't) it would be an irrelevant factoid. You think Joe Sixpack or Hollywood cares about Crash anymore?

Movies like The Hurt Locker are quickly the ones moving farther from standard Best Picture fare than films like Avatar. After all more fantasy films have been nominated (with one even winning) than war films in the last decade.

 

[Darklord Dave]

Actually, it's simply adherence to an art form that has existed for a century.

All of this new technology is great... but it doesn't change what cinematography has always been.

Tom is right... perhaps it's time to start some new technical categories for films that produce fantastic imagery by utilizing more than just pure cinematography.

I'd be curious what the reasoning was behind the cinematographers that nominated it for the award. Because you're probably right - it's unlikely that there's a single shot that was touched by CG in some way.

The point I'm trying to make is that the Hurt Locker defenders keep saying "Yeah, it was flawed" as a broad dismissive statement. I'd like the Hurt Locker defenders to address what these 'flaws' they can look past are.

It seems to me that it is being used as a way to defend their choice without articulating WHAT THEY LIKED about the film.

I don't think it's flawed at all. I've articulated what I liked about the film - the characters and milieu are fascinating and beautifully written. It's tense, emotional and completely involving. I went into the film expecting nothing really - I'd never been impressed with Bigelow's films and I really don't like war movies set in the current day - so that I liked the film as much as I did really surprised me.

 

[D. Martin]

Here's a concept that I didn't realize was so foreign: The applications of Art, Communication, and Commerce do not all have to be in lock-step.

What planet are you living on Carl? That view is idealistic and would be great, but we live in a world where the all mighty greenback rules.

 

[IrishJedi]

I'd be curious what the reasoning was behind the cinematographers that nominated it for the award. Because you're probably right - it's unlikely that there's a single shot that was touched by CG in some way.

Yeah, I'm curious about that as well. But wasn't the nomination process changed/tweaked a year or two ago to open up noms to more than just those who work in each category by trade?

 

[EVILFACE]

Have you seen Avatar?

Who hasn't?

Loved the FX but the story was average and worn. Wasn't the best film this year.