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Ishtar
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The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (OOP)
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The Devils
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The Pirates of Penzance
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The Fortune
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-30-
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Betrayal
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Play It As It Lays
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The Outfit
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Alex in Wonderland
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The Legend of Lylah Clare
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In The Cool of the Day
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That Cold Day in the Park
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Thumb Trippin'
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Midas Run
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At Long Last Love
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Brewster McCloud
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Outcast of the Islands
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The Phenix City Story
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Run of the Arrow
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House of Secrets
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Saint Joan
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Macabre
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The Fiend Who Walked the West
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Five Gates to Hell
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The Chalk Garden
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You're a Big Boy Now
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Dark of the Sun
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Diary of a Mad Housewife
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Tropic of Cancer
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I Never Sang for My Father
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Sometimes a Great Notion
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Marriage of a Young Stockbroker
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The Music Lovers
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Drive, He Said
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The Steagle
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The Last Movie
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Made For Each Other
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The Day the Clown Cried
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Simon
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When the Wind Blows
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Housekeeping
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The Glass Menagerie
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Patty Hearst
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Drowning by Numbers
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Haunted Summer
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The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years
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Prospero's Books
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City of Hope
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Wonderful World

Youth in Revolt

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Unbelievable!

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The Academy's Foreign Language Committee has done it again! Last year they failed to include the brilliant 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days on the short list, and this year they've blown off Matteo Garrone's Gomorrah, which has been honored left and right by critics' groups and last month won the European Film Award for Best Film of 2008. Committee chief Mark Johnson...what happened, bro? This b.s. wasn't supposed to repeat itself, and yet here we are. Another embarassment!

I have to leave for an appointment and can't get into this but here are the films that the foreign-language committee has chosen, short-list-wise:

3 Monkeys (Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Turkey) -- agreed, excellent film. The Baader Meinhof Complex (Uli Edel, Germany) -- tough but very good. The Class (Laurent Cantet, France) -- brilliant. Departures (Yojiro Takita, Japan). Everlasting Moments (Jan Troell, Sweden). The Necessities of Life (Benoit Pilon, Canada). Revanche (Gotz Spielmann, Austria). Tear This Heart Out (Roberto Sneider, Mexico). Waltz with Bashir (Ari Folman, Israel) -- masterful.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on January 13, 2009 at 1:53 PM

comment #1

Gabriel says ...

Really hoping this helps "The Baader Meinhof Complex" get a US release, despite Jeff's premonition that it was a longshot at best. And I fucking can't wait to see "Three Monkeys" at the Nuart in March.

Posted by Gabriel at January 13, 2009 2:17 PM

comment #2

DeafBrownTrashPunk says ...

what happened to Let The Right One In?

:-(

Posted by DeafBrownTrashPunk at January 13, 2009 2:36 PM

comment #3

raskimono says ...

And I'd like to pat myself on the back because I said it would get in.

Posted by raskimono at January 13, 2009 2:37 PM

comment #4

115thDreamer says ...

OK - I have seen none of these short-listers, or "Gomorrah", so I can't really comment on any of them. But, I do feel the need to speak up for Fatih Akin's "The Edge of Heaven", which was my favorite movie of '08, period. Maybe the fact that it ping pongs back and forth between Turkey & Germany confused the Academy - they probably couldn't decide which country it was from, if they even saw it. Same old, same old - now we just have to wait for the documentary nominees to see how they'll fuck those up. Or, is that short list out already?

Posted by 115thDreamer at January 13, 2009 2:40 PM

comment #5

raskimono says ...

let the Right one in was ineligible. the Calendar year for foreign films is September to September. It was released in October in Norway. It's eligible for next year if Norway chooses to select it.

Posted by raskimono at January 13, 2009 2:40 PM

comment #6

raskimono says ...

Made a mistake on the above. I meant Sweden

Posted by raskimono at January 13, 2009 2:41 PM

comment #7

actionman says ...

Let the RIght One In is brilliant.

Really want to see The Class, Waltz with Bashir, Gomorrah, and Three Monkeys.

Posted by actionman at January 13, 2009 2:49 PM

comment #8

YRG says ...

Too bad about the bad timing on Let The Right One In. I really liked it.

Posted by YRG at January 13, 2009 2:51 PM

comment #9

the400blows says ...

Departures (or Okuribito) won the Audience Award at the Hawaii International Film Festival. Excellent film.

Posted by the400blows at January 13, 2009 3:13 PM

comment #10

the400blows says ...

115thDreamer: I agree--The Edge of Heaven was one of the best films of 2008!

Posted by the400blows at January 13, 2009 3:17 PM

comment #11

raskimono says ...

"But, I do feel the need to speak up for Fatih Akin's "The Edge of Heaven", which was my favorite movie of '08, period. Maybe the fact that it ping pongs back and forth between Turkey & Germany confused the Academy -"

The Edge of heaven was Germany's official submission for last year's Oscars.

PS Why do people write like any film is eligible for the foreign language Oscar? Each country sends only one film to represent it.

Posted by raskimono at January 13, 2009 3:20 PM

comment #12

lipranzer says ...

THE EDGE OF HEAVEN is indeed a wonderful film (it was #3 on my top 10 list, behind only MAN ON WIRE and THE WRESTLER); however, it was Turkey's submission for the 2007 Oscars. I'm upset it got left off that list.

I understand why THE CLASS was France's submission, but they made better movies this year. WALTZ WITH BASHIR is an excellent choice.

Posted by lipranzer at January 13, 2009 3:23 PM

comment #13

Deathtongue_Groupie says ...

lipranzer - Just rented Man on Wire and The Edge of Heaven in fact. Loved Head On and hated I missed Heaven in the theaters.

As to Gomorrah, the critical consensus has not exactly been unanimous. Not to mention, does any film have a shot of stopping the momentum of Waltz With Bashir?

The fact that the countries send what they want to be considered has always made the Foreign Language category suspect. It injects even more politics into the process.

Posted by Deathtongue_Groupie at January 13, 2009 3:39 PM

comment #14

dobbsy says ...

Question: What do "Four Months" and "Gommorah" have in common? (Beside the obvious fact that both were considered a lock and both got left off the long list???)

Posted by dobbsy at January 13, 2009 3:54 PM

comment #15

Jeffrey Wells says ...

Wells to Deathtongue: There was never any way Gomorrah would have won the Best Foreign Language Oscar -- no way in hell. It's too grim, contains too much futilty, isn't "dramatic" enough, is too verite in a Rossellini-ish way, etc. Everyone knows that Waltz With Bashir has it in the bag. That's not the issue.

The issue is that the committee blew off a film that has been praised by many, many critics (a 90% Rotten Tomatoes rating -- http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1202115/), was awarded a Silver Hugo by the Chicago Film Festival, won the Grand Prix at Cannes and was named '08's Best Picture by the European Film Awards.

It would have been derelict for the Academy's committee to not include it among the final five nominees, but to leave it off the friggin' short list? Unconscionable. Pathetic. Aesthetically intolerable. It's gone beyond a call to take the guilty parties out behind the woodshed. They need to be expelled from the foreign-langage committee for life and sent back to their assisted-living facility.

And what happened to the assurance from committee honcho Mark Johnson that the voting system had been changed so as to prevent this sort of thing from happening again?

Posted by Jeffrey Wells at January 13, 2009 4:16 PM

comment #16

Chase Kahn says ...

I haven't seen the class yet, but the French only getting to send one film is tough -- 'The Last Mistress', 'Tell No One', 'I've Loved You So Long' are great films. Although 'Tell No One' is from '06, so...

Posted by Chase Kahn at January 13, 2009 4:18 PM

comment #17

Gordie Lachance says ...

Didn't Gomorrah open in like one theater for one week?

If they didn't get included because no one saw it (or even heard of it), it serves them right.

Posted by Gordie Lachance at January 13, 2009 4:27 PM

comment #18

Gordie Lachance says ...

Ugh. Nevermind. I just read the submission rules for foreign films. They're so insanely convoluted who even cares.

Posted by Gordie Lachance at January 13, 2009 4:40 PM

comment #19

NDH says ...

Gomorrah was grossly overrated. Good riddance I say! The five nominees will be:

3 Monkeys
The Class
Everlasting Moments
Revanche
Waltz with Bashir

Kudos to the Academy for actually recognizing quality for once.

Posted by NDH at January 13, 2009 4:49 PM

comment #20

Ephemerinko says ...

Jeff, how many of these nine have you seen? Over and above the titles discussed here at length, which I've also seen, I can tell you DEPARTURES, THE NECESSITIES OF LIFE and particularly REVANCHE are fine, powerful pictures and worthy of making this cut. And let's not forget the very good films that unfortunately didn't get this far: Bulgaria's ZIFT, Hungary's ISKA'S JOURNEY, Lithuania's LOSS, Norway's O'HORTEN, Serbia's THE TOUR and Switzerland's THE FRIEND could just as easily have filled any of these slots, and I've heard very good things about other titles I haven't caught up with yet, particularly from Eastern Europe. And that's not even mentioning numerous other eligible titles that have also won multiple international fest awards. Conclusion? The competition's too tough and the field too big--both for films and judges--to say the committee's "done it again." Done what, exactly? They found nine strong pictures that particular group liked. Culled from literally dozens of very good ones. And, for the record, I'm not at all sure I believe GOMORRA belongs in this crowd--but I also think Doris Doerrie's extraordinary CHERRY BLOSSOMS: HANAMI should've been selected by Germany.

Posted by Ephemerinko at January 13, 2009 4:59 PM

comment #21

Renfield says ...

The distributor for "Let The Right One In" screwed up so bad here in the States. They could've had a "Crouching Tiger" style release but chose to almost make a roadshow-esque deal.

I've heard from old friends and family members all over the country who are not into horror or even "them readin' movies" who are dying to see it.

Posted by Renfield at January 13, 2009 5:51 PM

comment #22

lipranzer says ...

Renfield, tell all your friends and family members LET THE RIGHT ONE IN comes out on DVD March 10th.

Posted by lipranzer at January 13, 2009 6:20 PM

comment #23

raskimono says ...

Ephemerinko, I second the fact that Revanche was an amazing film, the best I saw in 2008.

Posted by raskimono at January 13, 2009 6:36 PM

comment #24

Renfield says ...

Thanks, lipranzer! It sucks that something that good is not in the multiplexes.

In the meantime, for a good laugh, check out AICN and Harry's "reason" as to why the film cannot be nominated this year. That guy has lost his marbles.

Posted by Renfield at January 13, 2009 6:36 PM

comment #25

GMShuffle says ...

Saw Revanche at the Toronto Fest and really liked it...3 Monkeys was good but not outstanding...

Posted by GMShuffle at January 13, 2009 6:51 PM

comment #26

theultimatebiu says ...

This is nothing new. I remember all the hoopla over Jennifer Hudson's supporting actress nods getting alot of tongues waggling as the character is the lead of the movie.

Posted by theultimatebiu at January 14, 2009 2:38 AM

comment #27