comment #1

SHR says ...

Sorry to go off topic but somehow the linking of The Hurt Locker with Harvey Weinstein strikes me as funny. Although he may have championed many independent films that might never have been made without him, he is much more widely known for the way in which he bullies directors and recuts their films, even good directors. In fact for many he is the definition of "asshole". Strikes me as strange that you make him a hero when mostly what he does is trample art even as he encourages it.

comment #2

SHR says ...

Sorry to go off topic but somehow the linking of The Hurt Locker with Harvey Weinstein strikes me as funny. Although he may have championed many independent films that might never have been made without him, he is much more widely known for the way in which he bullies directors and recuts their films, even good directors. In fact for many he is the definition of "asshole". Strikes me as strange that you make him a hero when mostly what he does is trample art even as he encourages it.

comment #3

bobbyperu says ...

Jeff, wondering if you still feel as strongly about Up in the Air as you did initially. I feel in a similar frame of mind as you do, and my heart is with The Hurt Locker though I'd love to see Avatar's vision rewarded.

But in repeated viewings, I am unsure if Up in the Air, fine as it is, really has the necessary weight to win the big one. I'm thinking primarily about how universal it really is, or isn't.

On the one hand, it seems to be masquerading as a film about an issue (economic crisis), which it really isn't about because those periodic firings are few and far between, and because they feel like an afterthought after the film's final (and best, to me) act. When one of the axed employees commits suicide and it only impacts the plot to the degree that the Kendrick character resigns, how much can it really care about the casualties of job losses as a primary theme?

So what we're left with is a Clooney performance that's pretty terrific and a movie about opening up, but told through the eyes of a character who, let's face it, is pretty inaccessible for most people and not highly sympathetic. And while it's competently made, it doesn't feel like "cinema" as both The Hurt Lover and Avatar certainly do.

More and more I hope The Hurt Locker can pull this off for the reasons you describe above, but really because it boils down to that one scene with Renner and the kid at the end of the film, which said more to me than all of Up in the Air. Avatar transported me, Up in the Air affected me but The Hurt Locker is the one that *hit* me hardest.

And despite that awesome hometree destruction sequence in Avatar and Clooney getting his heart broken after that misguided trip to Chicago, nothing in either one of them equals the vice grip of that scene near the end of The Hurt Locker, where Renner apologizes to the "suicide" bomber for not being able to pick the locks, while the clock ticks down to the inevitable. Bigelow does visionary work with so damned little at her fingertips -- camera, editing and sound. Cameron does great work with the world at his fingertips and endless cash...

comment #4

coxcable says ...

The luster will wear off of Avatar by the end of this month. Watch. It's a movie that ends with a man in a robo-suit battling a man in a blue lizard suit.

Up In The Air and The Hurt Locker are critics movies and only critics movies.

Inglorious Basterds, as psycho as it is, was at least seen and enjoyed.

That leaves Pixar's Up, a movie that should be gaining steam in the coming months.

The time is now to award this studio's genius. Over the past 15 years they have out-Disneyed Disney and out-Spielberged Spielberg. And I can't imagine any soul whose seen the first 5 minutes of Up objecting.

comment #5

Gordon27 says ...

"That leaves Pixar's Up"

Nah, there's ten nominees this year. That still leaves, among other things, 'Precious'.

comment #6

Jeffrey Wells says ...

Jesus!

comment #7

Gordon27 says ...

I don't actually mean 'Precious' has any shot at winning -- but he just didn't give a glib reason why it wouldn't. (Also 'An Education' and 'The Blind Side', two near-locks for nominations.)

I think that, with the vote count changing this year, with a hot contest of three movies with some push behind them, the movie that winds up winning could be the one everybody really likes and winds up putting at #2 -- which leaves 'Basterds' in the running. It's a tough year to read Best Picture, which I guess is nice after a bunch of non-surprises.

comment #8

THE MovieBob says ...

If those are "the probable three," I'd have to be with Avatar by default.

It didn't make my "top ten," neither did Hurt Locker, but most of what I'd REALLY like to see win probably won't - maybe Basterds has a shot, but Watchmen still has two years or so before everyone realizes just how damn good it was...

So, without a "favorite" to root for - hell yeah, let's have it be the "robo suit vs. blue lizard suit." Let's blow the genre-ghetto fence to hell once and for all. I dream of a future where the old-guard is mournfully looking back on the days when "you could win an Oscar WITHOUT being set in another universe."

comment #9

DeeZee says ...

Courtesy of Scott Green's tweet, R.I.P. Gumby creator.
http://blogs.laweekly.com/westcoastsound/synthful/art-clokey-creator-of-gumby-di/
Working leaked A-Team trailer.
http://www.themoviebox.net/movies/2010/A-Team,The/trailer.php
Ethan Hawke talks Daybreakers @
http://www.darkhorizons.com/interviews/1529/ethan-hawke-for-daybreakers- and
Matthew Broderick talks Wonderful World @
http://www.darkhorizons.com/interviews/1530/matthew-broderick-for-wonderful-world-

comment #10

LexG says ...

"Up"????

"Up" is a CARTOON. It has no business being anywhere near consideration, and NO ADULT has any business having seen it. Jesus Christ, are you guys all ten years old? What are you doing in a theater watching a fat kid floating on balloons? What are you, men or mice?

And bobbyperu: How is UITA "told through the eyes of a character who, let's face it, is pretty inaccessible for most people and not highly sympathetic"? How can ANY MAN not relate to Clooney? What, are you guys MARRIED or something?

I'm pushing 40 and may not collect flier miles, but I damn sure don't ever want to be married, don't want kids and will NEVER have them, and keep all family and friends at total arm's length. There are millions of people like that who should be able to relate to Clooney and the nagging sense that lone-wolfing it is awesome in one's 30s and 40s, but might be scary and depressing to be an old fuck who let everything else pass by at the time.

If you can't relate to Clooney in UITA, chances are you're married and have kids, two things NO ONE should ever do... and if they do, they're fooling themselves if they think it's better to have some hausfrau hen waiting for you with a pie and a rolling pin than out being awesome flying into new towns and banging new chicks.

Any guy who's awesome should've been bowled over and in tears by the last 10 minutes of UITA. And NO MAN should be married before 43.

comment #11

Anthony Thorne says ...

Fuck UP. I've seen the first 5 minutes, and the 91 that followed, and now way could I see it winning Best Picture. Here's a grouchy DVDTimes review of it that I'm inclined to agree with.

http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content/id/70797/up.html

I still think it'll be Bigelow for director, Avatar for film, Bridges for Actor.

comment #12

Gordon27 says ...

That is a good review. It's going overboard, but I do think that, when the dust settles, 'Up' is going to be remembered as a minor Pixar movie. I thought that it came off like they were nervous about how "adult" the main character's arc was, and they compensated by putting him amid a lot of really really juvenile kids' stuff (like every line the kid says, for instance). And the 3-D was basically wasted.

Not that it's a bad movie, but, of all the Pixar movies, I'd be a bit disappointed if this is the one that wins Best Picture. I guess I'm saying it's the 'The Departed' of Pixar movies.

comment #13

LexG says ...

Why have any of you guys ever seen a Pixar movie?

Don't you feel like a douche sitting there in a theater full of little kids watching a puppet show? Christ.

comment #14

bobbyperu says ...

Lex, I related to him as Clooney the actor and when he gets his heart broken, I was also very moved, as well as when he comes around to his family. But I'm not average joe from the suburbs, like many of my office-mates, who have routinely said about the film:

"Um, I didn't love it. The ending didn't work. He just doesn't change at all. He's still going back. I just thought...the ending didn't work."

So they weren't with him.

By the way, you said:

"I'm pushing 40 and may not collect flier miles, but I damn sure don't ever want to be married, don't want kids and will NEVER have them, and keep all family and friends at total arm's length. There are millions of people like that who should be able to relate to Clooney and the nagging sense that lone-wolfing it is awesome in one's 30s and 40s, but might be scary and depressing to be an old fuck who let everything else pass by at the time."

You're wearing that like a badge of honor but the film preaches against those philosophies and depics that as the empty life that Ryan Bingham wakes up to. For the record, I'm also none of the above -- not married and don't have kids. But the movie basically says we need those things to get through these times, and though life in general, and overlooking it year after year backs up on you until you begin to die a slow death of isolation. You can try to go out on a limb and fix that, but you might just get screwed trying, which Bingham pretty much does.

comment #15

Gordon27 says ...

"Don't you feel like a douche sitting there in a theater full of little kids watching a puppet show?"

Not at all; if you go to a Pixar movie after 8PM, it's all teens and twenty-somethings. Especially if you wait a few weeks. (Unless you go in NYC, but I've noticed that children who are taken to movies after 8PM tend to actually be fairly well behaved at them.)

"Why have any of you guys ever seen a Pixar movie?"

There's a lot more pure cinema in 'Up' than in 'Up in the Air'.

comment #16

Gordon27 says ...

"You're wearing that like a badge of honor but the film preaches against those philosophies and depics that as the empty life that Ryan Bingham wakes up to."

I would argue that the reason that the movie is muddled is because, even though this is meant to be the message of the movie, what the movie actually depicts is that Bingham was right, that his lifestyle was right for him and was making him happy and that, if he hadn't listened to Anna Kendrick, he'd *still* be happy at the end.

comment #17

LexG says ...

Gordon, they made cartoons in the 70s and 80s, no? Can you imagine your mom and dad, or your drunk Uncle Lou, willingly going to the movies to see Fantasia or Last Unicorn as 30-somethings?

Yeah, I'm trying to picture my bad-ass Mel-from-Alice looking Korean War vet uncles rolling into the AMC to see an animated movie by themselves or with a date. Not happening.

When and why did it become OK for adults (especially non-parents) to go to animated films?

comment #18

Gordon27 says ...

"When and why did it become OK for adults (especially non-parents) to go to animated films?"

I think you could point to the fact that the animated films you're speaking of have better screenplays than most non-animated films, for one thing.

But, for another, there's a whole generation of children born in the '80's and, as they've gotten older, cartoons and video games have gotten more mature. Not all cartoons and video games, but there has been specific effort to market cartoons and video games to them more and more. [as a sidenote, it's also true of comic books, but they have done so at the expense of new, younger readers.]

In the '70's and '80's, I wouldn't imagine to many 30-somethings owned Ataris, because Atari had games that were only for children. And cartoons for adults were very very few and far between. That landscape has changed, and Pixar was one of the driving forces of that change.

comment #19

Gordon27 says ...

I feel like I should point out that I actually tend to see the Pixar movies with my parents, while I'm home visiting or whatever, but, as much as that would probably explain it to your satisfaction, I don't think that seeing Pixar movies needs deeper justification the way you do.

comment #20

LexG says ...

I've never seen a Pixar movie, never will.

When I'm at the theater and there's a TRAILER for an animated film, I look at the ground until it's over.

Because I'm not six.

comment #21

Gordon27 says ...

"Because I'm not six."

It's funny how you started out by acknowledging that culture has shifted, but have now reverted to your adamant non-point. The fact that a movie makes sense to a six year old and still resonates with adults is a positive, not a negative -- that's why writers love Pixar movies so much, because they're genuinely well-written.

As I said, there's certainly a lot more pure cinematic imagery in 'Up' than in 'Up In The Air' (which is a fine movie, but the idea that Reitman is getting his second Oscar nomination as a director would be ridiculous even if you didn't compare him to the other two people who are getting only their second nominations).

comment #22

Wiggumx says ...

I have no problem with going to Pixar films. It's not like I'm going to see a Wild Thornberries flick, or the fucking Squeakquel. I'm not some creepy guy in a trenchcoat at the latest Hannah Montana movie when I do so, either. They're good movies, and they're well-written and directed. Get over yourself and your stupid hang-ups.

Also, even for a single guy with no kids such as myself, I still don't think that "banging new chicks" is the highest aspiration available in life. Even though I'll never have kids (as a personal choice) I can still see the obvious benefits of a long-term relationship. You're just reveling in your shtick here with these silly points.

comment #23

ZayTonday says ...

""Up" is a CARTOON."

Wow LexG, that's a convincing argument you've got there.

comment #24

ZayTonday says ...

LexG, with your irrational hate for anything animated you come off as a 12 year old kid who shuns anything that could be viewed as something someone younger would like.

comment #25

DeeZee says ...

Lex: Not that I really care about Up, but if a big-budget remake of Ferngully is eligible for Best Picture, I think the former film deserves a shot, too. As for the little kid thing, if they're allowed to ruin our PG-13 and R movies, 'cus of their stupid parents, then sitting through one of their event movies is only fair, I guess.

"Can you imagine your mom and dad, or your drunk Uncle Lou, willingly going to the movies to see Fantasia or Last Unicorn as 30-somethings?"

For Fantasia and Last Unicorn, yeah. Now if it were a Don Bluth type bore-fest, that would be a different story.

"When I'm at the theater and there's a TRAILER for an animated film, I look at the ground until it's over. Because I'm not six."

Netflix some Perfect Blue or Kite.

Gordon: "because Atari had games that were only for children."

Guess you didn't hear about Custer's Last Stand or the Texas Chainsaw Massacre game.

comment #26

LexG says ...

Hannah Montana RULES. Miley Power. Big fan.

comment #27

DeeZee says ...

Oh, yeah forgot to add Fritz the Cat to that suggested Netflix list.

comment #28

Gordon27 says ...

"Guess you didn't hear about Custer's Last Stand or the Texas Chainsaw Massacre game."

'Custer's Last Stand' would be comprable to some of the "adult" games they make in Japan, maybe, but it still has nothing to do with the point.

comment #29

DeeZee says ...

Lex: You're only saying that cus she'll be legal in November, right?

comment #30

Travis Crabtree says ...

(if LexG is to be taken seriously, which I tend to doubt....)

If you're going to deride a Pixar film because it's a "fucking cartoon", then I sure as hell hope you aren't going to tout the awesomeness of the myriad live action, based-on-a-comic book movies that have come out over that past several years.

And, at the risk of incurring the wrath of Wells, I cannot wait for the Academy Awards to get here and be over with so HE will stop resembling something along the lines of "Oscar Watch!".

We get it.... "Precious" sucks and "The Hurt Locker" rules.

comment #31

Jonathan Spuij says ...

I believe Up will be remembered as one of the better Pixar flicks. It grows on you and its imperfections have its charm. Somehow.

comment #32

LexG says ...

Travis, of course I am free to tout the awesomeness of blockbuster live action movies.

Spider-Man, Transformers, GI Joe, = Kirsten Dunst, Megan Fox, Sienna Miller being shiny and hot, plus real ACTORS that I like.

I go to movies to live VICARIOUSLY especially since I don't get laid very often and I can't go around shooting people in real life. So for the me the most exciting thing about movies is SEX (or HOT CHICKS) and VIOLENCE.

You don't get ANY of that in a cartoon, so there is nothing for me to relate to or get excited about.

comment #33

DeeZee says ...

Lex: Oh, and Wicked City and Ninja Scroll.

comment #34

DeeZee says ...

Lex: Oh, and tell us what you thought of Youth in Revolt.

comment #35

janeygotagun says ...

Basterds is gonna win Best Pic. It's made money, it had an audience, and it was FANTASTIC (fuck you all Tarantino haters0. All the handwringing over the other choices make it the easy pic. Tarantino to go 1,2,3 with director, screenplay and film - his big grinning cheese face and chin will be unavoidable soon...(and yes before you get all anal, I know QT isn't listed as a producer of the film)

comment #36

Gordon27 says ...

I'd like to think that that's possible, janey, but I have a feeling I'm just being optimistic about it, figuring it would obviously lead to DZ finally killing himself after all this time he's wasted.

comment #37

THE MovieBob says ...

Lex needs to dip his toes into the Anime scene... partially to fix his outlook on animation, and also because so much of it is even more overcompensatingly-adolescent about sex and action than he claims to be ;)

comment #38

LexG says ...

Anime sucks.

comment #39

DeeZee says ...

janey: It's not gonna win Best Picture and Director, because TDK, Goodfellas, and Pulp Fiction didn't win either one of those categories, and because
QT's not old enough to be considered having an actual body of work outside of movies making references to other movies.

Gordon: Actually, QT winning would just further his irrelevance, as we'd be seeing more Grindhouses churned out from him than in the past. Or worse, he'd try to do a kid's movie.

comment #40

Gordon27 says ...

Here's what I want to know, dude. Do you have all of this bullshit thought out already? Or you do just randomly type words and put together your arguments as you go?

The reason I ask -- well, I've been curious about that for a while, anyway -- is that if you have sat around and pre-justified why it's okay with you that Tarantino wins Picture and Director, then it seems to me that somewhere deep inside, you expect it to happen. And the fact that you argue so adamantly that it won't, it reminds me of every other thing you've ever dug in your heels and argued adamantly about. Which is to say, the more you say it can't win, the more likely it seems to everybody else here.

comment #41

Bob Violence says ...

Shove a meat skewer in your ear

comment #42

Gordon27 says ...

Hey, DZ, by the way, are you ready to say you were wrong about 'Basterds' not getting nominated for Best Picture [and, on top of it, Director!], or are you going to wait until two weeks after that happens too?

comment #43

markj says ...

DeeZee: Hilarious you're still clinging to the 'Ferngully' descriptions of Avatar. Wake up.

comment #44

Gordon27 says ...

"QT's not old enough to be considered having an actual body of work"

Yeah, he hasn't been around forever like Danny Boyle or Peter Jackson or Ang Lee or Sam Mendes

comment #45

DeeZee says ...

Gordon: Not really. Unless enough people think he was royally screwed in the past, he's got no reason to win, outside of a desperate ratings grab. And at least Marty is somewhat photogenic, compared to QT, so that's clearly going to be a strike against the latter director right there. However, I think IB can win in those areas if Harvey's able to pull an upset like last year. But then he's never gotten a Best Picture or Director Win for QT when he was still at Disney, so it's probably off-limits.

"Yeah, he hasn't been around forever like Danny Boyle or Peter Jackson or Ang Lee or Sam Mendes"

Ang Lee had a more diverse line-up of work by the time he won his award than QT does now. Boyle's got a better populist track-record than QT. Mendes was just a better bull-shitter, I guess.

mark: How the hell can Avatar not be a Ferngully-wannabe? There's a fucking bulldozer in the movie, for fuck's sakes. And, outside of the blood, it was exactly like that parody in South Park.

comment #46

rory taylor says ...

LexG: you are joking, right? and pulling our collective legs? Avatar felt more like a cartoon to me than UP. Half of the dialogue was bollocks, but it was magical, much as UP did. And the first 15-20 minutes of UP had more emotion than anything else I saw in 2009. Avatar = Princess Mononoke plus Cameron's big machines.

Personal favourites though = Hurt Locker / Inglorious Basterds.

I can imagine I am going to enjoy some vitriol now.

comment #47

MrTribeca says ...

C'mon, LexG, enough of your amateur hour trolling. Why not learn from the master of the art - DeeZee ?

comment #48

Gordon27 says ...

"There's a fucking bulldozer in the movie, for fuck's sakes."

Doesn't that make it a rip-off of 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'?

comment #49

Gordon27 says ...

"Boyle's got a better populist track-record than QT."

I don't even know what this means, but it's certainly not true. 'Grindhouse' did more business than 'Trainspotting' even.

comment #50

Gordon27 says ...

You can add together his four lowest grossing movies, and 'Grindhouse' still made more.

comment #51

DeeZee says ...

Gordon: "Doesn't that make it a rip-off of 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'?"

Only if some aliens are lying in front of it....

"'Grindhouse' did more business than 'Trainspotting' even."

If you take into account inflation, Trainspotting probably did about the same as or better than Grindhouse, especially considering TS had a lower screen-count than Grindhouse. Plus, BOM just lists the domestic box office, and IMDB indicates Trainspotting made a shitload more around the world-particularly in the UK-than Grindhouse. Meanwhile, according to IMDB, Death Proof was a bomb just about everywhere, and Planet Terror didn't even register with int'l. movie-goers.

"You can add together his four lowest grossing movies, and 'Grindhouse' still made more."

They were also on fewer screens than Grindhouse, and still had a higher PTA.

comment #52

Gordon27 says ...

"Only if some aliens are lying in front of it...."

Ah, I didn't realize there were aliens in "Ferngully". Wait, I forgot, you already said you haven't seen 'Ferngully'.

"If you take into account inflation, Trainspotting probably did about the same as or better than Grindhouse"

You say probably, as if there isn't an easy way to prove that you're wrong, available on-line, right here;
http://www.westegg.com/inflation/

From the rest of your ramblings, I guess you've abandoned your stupid point that Danny Boyle's work prior to Slumdog was "more populist" than Tarantino's and are now embarking on the even stupider point of trying to prove that his movies were more financially successful than Tarantino's. Good luck with that. Isn't it about time you brought up 'Wait Until Dark'?

comment #53

Gordon27 says ...

"They were also on fewer screens than Grindhouse, and still had a higher PTA."

I like how you make it sound as if they struggled to overcome having fewer screens and succeeded by having a higher PTA. Fewer screens often translates to a higher PTA. It doesn't mean anything. It's something you bring up to counter "more money", as if any studio cares about, "Hey, our movie made 80,000 this weekend -- but it's only in one theater, so we have the highest PTA! Eat that, Harry Potter! ... So, why are they repossessing all the stuff in my office?"

comment #54

DeeZee says ...

"Ah, I didn't realize there were aliens in "Ferngully". "

You brought up Hitchhiker, which does have aliens.

"You say probably, as if there isn't an easy way to prove that you're wrong, available on-line, right here;"

How does that prove me wrong? I said about the same, or more. That fucker's only short by $4 million domestic, which would validate my point, which is that it did pretty well, and probably even better than Grindhouse, considering the budget differences.

"your stupid point that Danny Boyle's work prior to Slumdog was "more populist" than Tarantino's"

Yeah, 28 Days Later's impact can't begin to compare to QT's Broadway gig...Oh, and Millions' 88% RT score is still nothing compared to the splash QT made in his Muppet Wizard of Oz and CSI debuts.

"and are now embarking on the even stupider point of trying to prove that his movies were more financially successful than Tarantino's."

Slumdog made $377 million with a $15 million budget, and 'Basterds made $312 million with a $70 million budget which didn't account for P+A, so I'm right there too...

comment #55

DeeZee says ...

"Fewer screens often translates to a higher PTA."

Only if the demand is there.

comment #56

Anthony Thorne says ...

Hope Jeff doesn't bust a nut for us dragging his thread way off topic. Sorry Jeff.

I don't rate UP, but Pixar's THE INCREDIBLES is the shit. Just a beautiful retro 60's pulp confection with numerous amazing moments of intense feeling, grace and power. (And I don't even like the superhero stuff in it that much). Still a stunning movie - it taps into that uneasy John Barry Bond film vibe where the thrills are mixed with legitimately dangerous events that will fuck you up if you don't tread with extra caution. I wish Pixar's other films came close instead of pouring the bucket of scmaltz over everying like that green slime skit in THE KENNY EVERETT VIDEO SHOW.

I want to buy that new Beatty book that Jeff's been talking about.

BIGELOW. AVATAR. BRIDGES. BELIEVE IT.

comment #57

Gordon27 says ...

"Slumdog made $377 million with a $15 million budget"

Yeah, too bad the entire point you were making regarding Tarantino was about the movies prior to the win, otherwise you might almost have started to make your first point of this entire thread there, instead of negating a previous attempted point.

comment #58

BizzarroJeffWells says ...

Christ, this is getting old. There is nOTHING universal about UITA, unless you are an old rich guy. No normal, "real" person could relate to it. Is it cinema? No. fuck no. JR is a hack and wouldn't know how to shoot or write a fim if he went to school for it.

In a perfect world, MK would be nommed and WIN for WHITE RIBBON. But, IMO, HUNGER would take the best pic award, still the most emotionally draining film I saw in '09. Again, Spike Jonze deserve a nod and Sam Rockwell deserves a Best Actor nod A LOT more than his pal The Cloon.

Case Closed!!!

NEXT!!!

comment #59

Floyd Thursby says ...

As for the claim that no one in Oscar-viewing-land has seen Hurt Locker, it's coming out on DVD next week.

"don't want kids and will NEVER have them."
Western civilization breathes a collective sigh of relief.

comment #60

loyal says ...

There's a couple of ways to look at it but at the end of the day, I think its a disservice to award The Hurt Locker over the rare combo of stellar box office, critical acclaim, and gamechanger status.

Like it or not, Avatar has essentially changed the way films will be made moving forward. That's what Best Picture and the Oscars are about, a once a year snapshot of the most noteworthy films. Not the best, not the biggest, but the most noteworthy.

comment #61

MrTribeca says ...

"Like it or not, Avatar has essentially changed the way films will be made moving forward."

Uh - how exactly? The 3D movie boom was already in full swing. There have been many films made with virtual sets before. CG characters in live-action movies aren't new.

Granted, Avatar advanced these technologies and deserves technical recognition at the Oscars. But this nonsense about Avatar being a "game changer" has got to stop. Game changers are the likes of Napoleon, The Jazz Singer, 2001. Does Avatar really belong in that list?

comment #62

Crabtree says ...

Lex G,

As someone who clearly has some sort of wits about them, I think it's interesting how quickly you dismiss an entire art form by referring to all animated films as "cartoons", and then go on to insult any adult who might enjoy them (which is pretty ignorant of you given that many animated films are as much geared towards as adults as they are for children)

Frankly, I'm sick of your my-life-is-shit-therefore-all-I-aim-for-is-to-live-a-life-as-a-misogynistic-pussy hound diatribes. This thinking seems to taint your view regarding pretty much any movie, person, thing, etc. It's pathetic, really. You're pathetic. Truly.

You're a reductionist cockstain, Lex G. And that's probably the best thing I could say about you. Well that, and I wish your mother had aborted you cause the world would be a better place without you in it. Or I wish you would lose your fingers in band saw, so no one would have to read your comments any more.

comment #63

gogocrank10 says ...

"Up in the Air' is every bit the cartoon as "Up," except there's nothing in the former nearly as powerful as the first 12-minutes of the latter. Then again, the rest of "Up" is such a mess it makes "Up in the Air" appear far less facile than it really is.

comment #64

Eloi Manning says ...

I like the DeeZee and Gordon show.

I'd absolutely love it if Basterds won.

comment #65

Movie Watcher says ...

Lex G, wow, your hatred of Pixar is unbelievable. I did watch Up, and it told a story that many people can relate to. I have taken my 3 kids to see the pixar movies, and they loved them. As for UITA, I'm sure many people live that life; it would have been intersting if it was a woman instead of a man in the starring role, with Clooney as a supporting role, but of course that was not going to happen. Oh yeah, I screwed up, I got married at 32.

comment #66

plastiqueelephant says ...

Tribeca, The Jazz Singer wasn't the first talkie either, it was just the first one which made an impact. Avatar has done the same thing for the new iteration of live action 3D (most of which skipped My Bloody Valentine and The Final Destination). In terms of illustration, this week my Indian investors proposed that I make the Hindi action film we're prepping in 3D as a direct result of Avatar and I imagine these sort of meetings have occurred frequently in the last few weeks. It's just a matter of time before an A-List director does a prestige pic in 3D and then all bets will be off. So at least from where I'm sitting, it certainly does look like a game changer.

comment #67

Balthazar says ...

Man, this a grouchy thread.

comment #68

BizzarroJeffWells says ...

Up contained, for me, the BEST two minutes of any film last year. No need to say which two.

And, Lex, THE INCREDIBLEs remains the best damn "cartoon" I saw all last decade.

comment #69

George Prager says ...

Anyone who uses the term "art form" has just lost the argument.

comment #70

Crabtree says ...

Oh really, Prager. What's wrong with the labeling animation an art form? Practically every major museum and gallery on the planet considers it as such.

I know it's difficult for you to wrap your tiny little mind around such a simple concept, you mouth-breathing, lowbrow, conservative, cro-magnon, philistine. But maybe you should try. That way, you won't come off sounding like such an ass as often as you do.

comment #71

Crabtree says ...

And, while you're at it Prager, why don't just go back to acting like a child and harass Kevin Smith some more.

God, you're as pathetic as Lex.

comment #72

George Prager says ...

Crabtree's last two comments are the kind of comments that people make when they know they have lost the argument.

comment #73

moviemorlock says ...

I love these people who say " I don't watch animated films." What elitist crap.

What do you think you were watching if you saw Avatar? It's 90% a digitally animated film and 10% a live action film. And I may be giving more weight to the live action part than the actuality. Pixar movies typically have more heart, imagination, humor, and complexity than most of your live action hollywood crap put together. So--an elitist's loss.

I'm not an industry person, but I do travel for a living, work for a large corporation that could fire you without thinking for a second and I have an uncle that is eerily similar to George Clooney's character. So far Up in the Air is the best picture I saw in 2009. I'll see Hurt Locker next week when it arrives on Blu-Ray. Talk about a mishandled film. Who releases a film like that in the summer? Should have waited till fall or released it last winter. It played for a couple of weeks where I live and I couldn't get there in time.

comment #74

Crabtree says ...

Prager, how can one lose an argument when one wasn't in an argument to begin with, you stupid cunt.

Would you really like to debate the merits of your comment?
Tell me, Prager, explain to all of us how animation is NOT an art form, since you were the only to question the validity of my statement. Go ahead, do it. Or, are you a coward like the rest of your conservative brethren?

comment #75

MechanicalShark says ...

I don't take seriously people that dismiss animation as a medium, so why should anyone else? LexG knows perfectly well the effect his inflammatory statements have on people. Don't feed the troll, guys.

comment #76

Crabtree says ...

Well put, Shark. Point taken.

comment #77

Noah Cross says ...

For those who enjoy reading Ballistic JW, you have to be rooting for a IB sweep (with the exception of Best Actress to MS and Best Supporting to the big Mo)

comment #78

Gordon27 says ...

Noah - Jeff will go much more ballistic when Bullock wins over Streep.

comment #79

Noah Cross says ...

You're right, Gordon, Bullock would be the perfect Eloi Choice Award. (And if she does win, I'll consider it a lifetime acheivement for Speed and Demolition Man.)

comment #80

Gordon27 says ...

my logic is, Carey Mulligan is too young, the girl from 'Precious' is way too young, Helen Mirren won pretty recently, and I just can't see them giving an Oscar to Meryl Streep after all these years for 'Julie and Julia'.

comment #81

bluefugue says ...

>Because I'm not six.

Your loss.

comment #82

bluefugue says ...

>And, Lex, THE INCREDIBLEs remains the best damn "cartoon" I saw all last decade.

The Incredibles is one of the best movies I saw all decade, period.

comment #83

George Prager says ...

Favorite scene in THE FIVE OBSTRUCTIONS: von Trier tells Leth to make a cartoon. Leth groans "I hate cartoons," he says. von Trier agrees.

comment #84

Butters says ...

Wow, love the back and forth on here. I don't think UP should win best picture. All Pixar movies are overrated. The only one I have liked was The Incredibles. My favorite movie of the year is The Hurt Locker. I think it should win best picture. Avatar is okay. Look, if there was an award called Most Gorgeous Picture, then okay, Avatar should win that. But, Best Picture, no way. Up in the Air was a great movie. I don't understand the people that say they can't "relate" to it. I thought that part of the reason Clooney's character lived like he did was becasue he had trouble fitting into regular society. I am not married and don't have kids so I can totally relate to that. I think it was great. Still, The Hurt Locker was truly the best movie of 2009. I really hope it wins.

comment #85

UGG Boots says ...

It's funny how you started out by acknowledging that culture has shifted, but have now reverted to your adamant non-point. The fact that a movie makes sense to a six year old and still resonates with adults is a positive, not a negative -- that's why writers love Pixar movies so much, because they're genuinely well-written.