comment #1

JohnCope says ...

It's tragic and pathetic that Revolutionary Road has been so outright dismissed by everyone apparently, as though it's just some ho-hum, nothing new variation on Mendes' American Beauty shtick. That's too bad because it's far, far better than this undeserved and lazy reputation in the making. For me it was easily the finest and most powerful American film of the year.

comment #2

p.Vice says ...

Once again, too many people are willing to settle for less. Any mention of Slumdog or The Dark Knight in an Oscar conversation immediately throws respectability out the window. It doesn't matter for shit what these filmmakers have done in the past.

The elephant in the room right now is that 2008 has set the bar shockingly low even by recent standards. Why is everyone afraid to say that there were NO films released in 2008 that are worthy of being nominated for the same award won by Lawrence of Arabia, Schindler's List, The Godfather, or One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest?

Grow some balls people. The only way you're gonna get more is if you demand it.

comment #3

Phatang! says ...

What about The Reader? I'm sensing some late movement in that direction as well. I haven't seen it yet, but by process of elimination it's starting to interest me.

I'd love to see Milk and Slumdog taken out as well as Frost and Rev. Road. It's all just a lot of dribble.

Can we at least agree that this has been a lousy year for movies?

comment #4

Abbey Normal says ...

Hold on...I can't keep up. Are we all down on Slumdog now? I thought that was a pretty well-respected film on boards like this. I'm seeing it this afternoon finally, so I'll come back later to either rip or defend it.

comment #5

The Winchester says ...

My dream BP 5: Slumdog, Wrestler, Gran Torino, Synechdoche, NY, Snow Angels.

It will never happen, but I want to share.

comment #6

Rothchild says ...

I haven't met a single person who liked Revolutionary Road or even finished their screeners. It was pretty shocking at first, but it's become a consensus. If there are any fans, they're hiding out somewhere. I'll check it out eventually, but it's dead on arrival in LA.

comment #7

jughood says ...

I'm halfway through Re. Road right now, and unless it somehow picks up in the second act, and everything ties together and it becomes some amazing film, I have to say it's not very good. It thinks it's very good. It has a great score. It's emotional. But it's not very good. Just because a film thinks it's so deep and moving and epic, doesnt make it.

I hope Benjamin Button wins Best Picture.

comment #8

byanyother says ...

Frost/Nixon isn't the low hanging fruit. It's one of the few solids right now. Slumdog, Button, Frost/Nixon are probably locked. Milk is probably in but may be the shocker omission. Doubt is the possible number five because of the actors. Dark Knight or Wall-E could bump it. Best Picture is never all that shocking when all is said and done - watch for what the DGA and PGA choose. There is usually one movie that has both but fails to get a Picture nod. Doubtful Shanley is going to get a DGA nod but if he does -- that would be incredible. More likely, DGA:

Boyle
Fincher
Nolan
Van Sant
Howard

But maybe Andrew Stanton for Nolan, maybe Shanley. Ron Howard has made his best film in Frost/Nixon - seems unlikely that he will be snubbed.

comment #9

swordandpen says ...

If Fincher actually wins for the mediocre "Button", considering his great body of work, that would be sad.

comment #10

Chase Kahn says ...

Here's the race:

'Slumdog Millionaire' -- great movie, lock.
'Benjamin Button' -- great movie, lock.
'Milk' -- fine film, in.
'Frost/Nixon' -- competent/decent, in.
'The Dark Knight' -- really good, most likely
'WALL-E' -- great movie, could sneak in.
'Doubt' -- not a great movie, SAG likes it, atleast, could see it sneaking in as well.

I disagree SwordandPen -- I think 'Button' is tied for Fincher's second best:

1-- 'Zodiac'
2-- 'Seven'
2b-- 'Benjamin Button'
3-- 'Fight Club'
and so on...although I've never been a big fan of 'Panic Room' or 'The Game'.

comment #11

Sabina E says ...

wow, I don't undersatnd the Slumdog bashing here. I thought that was one of the BEST movies of 2008 that I have ever seen. I got choked up a few times through-out the film.

It deserves an Oscar nod for Best Picture.

comment #12

bfm says ...

Slumdog should win for Best Adapted Screenplay because it did a superb job of taking what was good from a complicated book and turning it into a very watchable film. I thought it was great entertainment but for me it didn't have enough grist to keep me thinking after I'd seen it. I have no issue with it being nominated for BP but it doesn't deserve a win.

comment #13

Ms. M says ...

I'm not sure what the lowest ranked picture could be. It might be Frost/Nixon or The Dark Knight. I'm not sure that Benjamin Button is a total lock given some of the lukewarm reviews its gotten.

I may not think that The Dark Knight is a lock for a Picture nod, but it is ridiculous that The Visitor and Nothing But the Truth are in the Oscar Balloon for Picture and this isn't. Update the Balloon!

comment #14

the400blows says ...

My dream BP 5: Happy Go Lucky, Wendy and Lucy, Doubt, Revolutionary Road, and Slumdog Millionaire.

Totally agree with what you said, John Cope, about Revolutionary Road. I saw it and loved it. If you want to see a movie that questions whether some people are meant to get married or not--then go see Revolutionary Road. April Wheeler reminded me of Nora from Ibsen's "A Doll House" during the "I Love Lucy" era.

comment #15

berg says ...

Gran Torino was okay but it's like a perverse B-movie comedy that would best work as a double feature with Hounddog

comment #16

jughood says ...

I thought Se7en was Fincher's best film, it was a masterpiece, followed by Zodiac, which was amazing, and then Fight Club, which was really cool, and I liked a lot. Panic Room was great but it was just a thriller, nothing really more, so it's his 4th best movie for me. Then I think The Game and Alien3 are tired. I haven't seen BUtton yet.

comment #17

Corey says ...

I'm sorry, but REVOLUTIONARY ROAD sucked. It's hardly worth this martyred "movie the Academy forgot/misunderstood masterpiece" tag people are already applying to it. And this is coming from someone who would without hesitation apply that tag to Mendes' ROAD TO PERDITION.

It's good that a lot of people are getting... whatever it is they're getting out of the film. I wish I had. But the movie felt like a stage play written by a seventh grader and inspired by a marathon of Mad Men. It has no actual insight, and on top of that, is unconvincingly acted by everyone (even the much-lauded Kate Winslet, who was better playing a similar character in LITTLE CHILDREN).

comment #18

/3rtfu11 says ...

swordandpen says

If Fincher actually wins for the mediocre "Button", considering his great body of work, that would be sad.

Se7en, The Game, Panic Room doesn't make for a great body of work.

comment #19

byanyother says ...

Indeed. Button is Fincher's most realized, least pretentious film. Fight Club is probably next. Then Zodiac. Seven and The Game both sucked. Seriously sucked. Panic Room is a good guilty pleasure.

comment #20

Sabina E says ...

you guys are crazy. I thought Se7en was a well-done film (not a masterpiece, though). I haven't seen Zodiac or the Game, though.

comment #21

/3rtfu11 says ...

All of David Fincher's movies have one thing in common they're all photographed beautifully.

comment #22

KB says ...

For the record and for context, my original post came in the Saturday box office thread. In that post, Jeff pointed out that F/N's box office was less than desirable. $7,500/screen for 200 screens. That raises the prospect of it being a box office nada. I'm wondering if that is the case, if the film never gains any sort of real box office traction and gained a rep as an underperformer, would it get knocked out of the race?

That's particularly relevant to the question of Wall-E's BP chances. F/N, while a decent movie, really isn't that great, although it's had stronger appeal to critics than I expected. But Wall-E looks slightly like the critical consensus best film of the year, at the moment. And it was a big box office hit. If F/N doesn't pick up steam, would Academy voters really trade F/N for what Wall-E has to offer.

And they can always recognize F/N with consolation noms for Langella and maybe Shean.

As to Rev Road, I probably like it more than other people, because it is well-made and Winslet is wonderful. What bothers me is that it does nothing new with the suburban lifestyle-dissolving marriage concept. It strikes me as an outdated story.

comment #23

Chase Kahn says ...

KB -- I completely agree, 'Frost/Nixon' getting a nomination is a joke to me, even more so if Ron Howard gets a director nod. Plus, I seriously doubt anybody will be putting 'Frost/Nixon' as their number one, and I can see plenty putting 'Wall-E' or 'The Dark Knight' in that position.

Unfortunately I still think it will wrongfully get in.

comment #24

D.Z. says ...

jughood: "I'm halfway through Re. Road right now, and unless it somehow picks up in the second act, and everything ties together and it becomes some amazing film, I have to say it's not very good. It thinks it's very good."

So it's like American Beauty?

swordandpen: "If Fincher actually wins for the mediocre "Button", considering his great body of work, that would be sad."

Though it'd be par for the course for the Academy.

3rt: "Se7en, The Game, Panic Room doesn't make for a great body of work."

It's a great line-up, compared to most movies from the 90s.

comment #25

JohnCope says ...

It amazes me that the consensus seems to be that Revolutionary Road is outdated or no longer relevant. It will be relevant for as long as capitalism is relevant; probably longer as I don't believe, ultimately, that its accomplishment is defined by its setting or its socio-economic critique.

RR's profound achievement goes beyond simply demanding an acknowledgment of the context of our lives. It forces us to consider what, if any, social structure could possibly accommodate the restless disaffection of unappeasable characters like the Wheelers. And, formally, Mendes accomplishes this through a rigorous fusion of claustrophobic and stylistic elements which conspire to do more than just indict one time and set of conditions. The inescapably oppressive quality of his pile of stock signifiers (sets, score, costuming, the theatrical nature of the confrontations) all point to the level at which Frank and April have already assimilated their environment and the degree to which they are utterly incapable of envisioning anything else. Frank is right when he tells April that her dream of Paris is a childish fantasy, but that's because it is just the negative inverse of the socially acceptable capitalist driven dream--here Mendes recognizes again a principle truth from American Beauty--tellingly he does not address whether either can possibly imagine any alternative world that would satisfy them. It's the lack of that vital visionary capacity that is the tragic point here, and tragic only because they are self-conscious enough to recognize its lack and unable to satisfy it. That's why the kids, for instance, feel so much like props or accent; they are, in Mendes vision of this particular psycho-dramatic reality, inevitable decor but decor that kills.

comment #26

actionman says ...

the game is grossly underrated

comment #27

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