"Sunshine" is it

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"I think Sunshine is absolutely the front- runner. And the fact its directors didn't get nominated is irrelevant. The best picture and best director categories are so ridiculous anyway. How can something be the best picture and not be the best directed? And the reverse.

"So yeah, give props to Sunshine. I saw it for the second time on a plane back from Panama City, and it's really wonderful, funny, heartwarming, well performed, whatever. And the folks on the plane just loved it. You could tell the ones who weren't watching were wondering what was going on when, on numerous occasions, half the plane erupted in insane laughter.

"Of course, I still think United 93 is really the best film of the year, but that's a moot point now, isn't it?" -- hotshot Manhattan entertaiinment journalist Lewis Beale.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on January 23, 2007 at 12:18 PM

comment #1

sardine says ...

sunshine is crappy!!!!

Posted by sardine at January 23, 2007 12:23 PM

comment #2

bipedalist says ...

Once it's considered the frontrunner it is sure to lose.

Posted by bipedalist at January 23, 2007 12:30 PM

comment #3

Walter Sobchak says ...

Props to "Sunshine", indeed. I saw "United 93" on a plane back from Panama City and the folks on the plane didn't seem to dig it at all. At one point half the plane was either crying or vomiting uncontrollably. Maybe that's why it wasn't nominated for Best Pic.

Posted by Walter Sobchak at January 23, 2007 12:33 PM

comment #4

Chris Molanphy says ...

Walter, I'm curious -- 'United 93' was shown on a PLANE?! Seriously? It's one of my favorite movies of last year, and even I wouldn't show it to a captive audience on a flight.

Posted by Chris Molanphy at January 23, 2007 12:53 PM

comment #5

wda says ...

He's lying--United 93 would never, ever be shown on a plane. Movies featuring plane crashes are never shown on airlines.

Posted by wda at January 23, 2007 1:03 PM

comment #6

NYCBusybody says ...

He's not lying, he's joking.

Posted by NYCBusybody at January 23, 2007 1:04 PM

comment #7

Rich S. says ...

Didn't the Academy get the memo that no one would ever accept Steve Carell in a role where he played against type? For God's sake! Do they not have eyes? Can they not see? Philistines.

Posted by Rich S. at January 23, 2007 1:06 PM

comment #8

Todd says ...

I too, doubt United 93 was shown on a plane. but just the thought of it had me laughing my ass off.

Posted by Todd at January 23, 2007 1:10 PM

comment #9

Craig Kennedy says ...

I forgot whatever I was going to post because Walter's crack was really really funny.

Posted by Craig Kennedy at January 23, 2007 2:01 PM

comment #10

Michael says ...

As funny as it was (and it was), it's straight out of Airplane II. I mean...so I've heard.

Posted by Michael at January 23, 2007 2:24 PM

comment #11

Mike K says ...

LMS was the second-best movie released in '06 with the word "Little" in the title. Yet it got on the Best Pic nod. Very strange.

At least Jackie Earle Haley got his nom. All over the country, people are turning to their significant other and saying, "The kid from Bad News Bears? Oh yeah, THAT guy."

Posted by Mike K at January 23, 2007 4:40 PM

comment #12

Craig Kennedy says ...

Could've been worse Mike. Could've been Little Man.

Posted by Craig Kennedy at January 23, 2007 4:42 PM

comment #13

corey3rd says ...

Little Miss Sunshine was a good film. But it was no Idiocracy. Now that was a funny film.

Jackie Earle Haley's nom was just amazing. I never felt so good for a someone getting a nomination - and that includes pals who've been up for Oscars.

Posted by corey3rd at January 23, 2007 5:40 PM

comment #14

jse33 says ...

I will be stunned if they award Best Picture to a film that wasn't even nominated for Director OR Editing. The odds are against the average LMS. Letters from Iwo Jima also failed to get an Editing nomination, so it's out. It's down to Babel and The Departed. I'm leaning towards Marty's flick. Check the history. Very, very rarely does a film win picture and not be nominated for Editing. It happened last year. Everyone said Brokeback Mountain was a 100% lock. Guess what? It did NOT get an Editing nomination. That category is more closely tied to Picture, not Director.

Posted by jse33 at January 23, 2007 6:12 PM

comment #15

Hatheru says ...

I remember watching "Speed" on a Peter Pan bus from New York to Boston in the mid-90s. I guess that would count as a similar experience, though they could always have pulled the bus over if someone had freaked out...

Posted by Hatheru at January 23, 2007 7:06 PM

comment #16

elizlaw86 says ...

LMS can't win best picture because, quite simply, it's not an amazing filmmaking achievement - it is a cute movie. Period.

Posted by elizlaw86 at January 23, 2007 8:27 PM

comment #17

Craig Kennedy says ...

elizlaw86, since when does a Best Picture Oscar winner have to be 'an amazing filmmaking achievement'? There are enough exceptions to that rule to suggest that perhaps the opposite is true. Your estimation of Little Miss Sunshine may be correct, but that doesn't preclude it from winning an Oscar.

Posted by Craig Kennedy at January 23, 2007 8:55 PM

comment #18

corey3rd says ...

with portable DVD players, you can watch Trainspotting on an Amtrack ride, Subway on the T, or Star 80 while soaking in the Playboy Mansion Grotto.

Posted by corey3rd at January 23, 2007 9:02 PM

comment #19

DarthCorleone says ...

How can something be the best directed and not be the best picture?

EASY.

Ignore the fact that the awards have been split in the past, so obviously many Academy voters make that distinction. For me personally the difference is that direction is more tied to the technical aspects of the film and how well the film functions as a cohesive whole. Direction is the end product you see on the screen and nothing more.

The "Picture" award, though, can refer to what happens after the film is wrapped and presented. You can rightfully factor the audience and sociological response into the Picture recognition. You can reward a film purely on sentiment if you're so inclined. I'm not saying that's how it always breaks down, but that's my rationale.

Hence, in theory I would have found it much more palatable if Forrest Gump took Picture but Pulp Fiction took Director, Dances With Wolves took Picture but Goodfellas took Director, and so on, and so forth.

Posted by DarthCorleone at January 23, 2007 10:36 PM

comment #20

CambridgeCat says ...

"with portable DVD players, you can watch Trainspotting on an Amtrack ride, Subway on the T, or Star 80 while soaking in the Playboy Mansion Grotto."

I know where you're from.

Posted by CambridgeCat at January 24, 2007 8:14 AM

comment #21

Sean says ...

You people consistently make the mistake of basing your Oscar opinions on actually seeing the movies, and your own reactions to them; anybody who thinks 'Little Miss Sunshine' has a chance is a moron. 'Babel' is the only movie that can win Best Picture, but Scorsese does have a chance at Best Director [I refuse to predict that he is a lock, because it's been overruled too many times, and I could see Innaritu getting it for 'Babel' somehow, just because it's the Academy]. They made sure 'Babel' would win by not nominating 'Dreamgirls', which had a shot.

However, I have a feeling Arkin will take the supporting actor award.

Posted by Sean at January 24, 2007 11:57 AM

comment #22