comment #1

Pinko Punko says ...

Jeff really did love this movie from the get go. I just thought it was odd how far down his best of decade list he put it.

comment #2

aris says ...

An unexceptional, cliched and pedestrian war film wins best picture. Like CRASH and MILLION DOLLAR BABY and SLUMDOG (and other truly bad films that share this, by now, laughable category) I barely got through it. It certainly says something about the quality of films today. Following this logic, if Full Metal Jacket had come out in 2009 it would have swept every single award. Right?

comment #3

CMed1 says ...

Agreed, The Hurt Locker was boring and the lead character was an uncharismatic ass. Say what you will about Avatar, but that vision will be unmatched for years to come.

comment #4

DeeZee says ...

As the show went along, I kinda figured IB got more noms cus it was gonna be shut out. Dunno whether I'm more happy about it or Cameron getting cock-blocked for Dances with Smurfs. Oh, well. R.I.P. Weinco and the vision of that guy who remade an Outer Limits episode based on a Harlan Ellison screenplay.

comment #5

Gordn27 says ...

This is the third time in only five or six years I've made the dark horse pick nobody had [Precious for screenplay this time] and then missed the Best Picture. I have to face the fact that I'm really bad at picking what will win Best Picture, and try to adjust my predictions accordingly.

comment #6

Gordn27 says ...

"As the show went along, I kinda figured IB got more noms cus it was gonna be shut out."

"Basterds got shut out" seems to follow your basic pattern of logic and analysis, since it won the first award of the night.

comment #7

CitizenKanedforChewingGum says ...

Ehhh, I think it's better than any of those three, aris. At least that's my initial reaction. What was the alternative this year, really? Avatar? It was pretty obvious early on that IB wasn't going to win it (unfortunately).

comment #8

Rusty Never Sleeps says ...

Whew, I almost bet the house based on Don Murphy's confidence.

comment #9

LFF says ...

FULL METAL JACKET is fuckin great.

comment #10

jse33 says ...

Like I said...Avatar had 0 momentum going in because it lost EVERY SINGLE MAJOR GUILD AWARD. No surprise it lost, even though we had a couple of members saying it was a sure thing.

Random statistic for some of you: I believe it's now 79 consecutive years since the Best Picture winner had 0 acting or writing noms.

comment #11

lipranzer says ...

I was happy enough for Bigelow winning Best Director. The fact this is the first time since THE ENGLISH PATIENT that my favorite movie won Best Picture is even better.

I do wish UP IN THE AIR hadn't been shut out, though.

comment #12

Gordn27 says ...

jse - my predictions, overall, were stronger than your predictions.

comment #13

CMed1 says ...

lipranzer, you're serious that you liked the English Patient. You're not kidding?

comment #14

Markj74 says ...

CMed1: Only an idiot wouldn't like The English Patient.

Avatar should have won. Night all.

comment #15

Gordn27 says ...

Serious question -- does anybody in the world think that the presentation of Best Score was an improvement over the excised presentations of Best Song?

comment #16

Pinko Punko says ...

The English Patient was excellent. Perhaps not for everyone. What film is? To put it in the class of Crash or American Beauty (manipulative dreck) is silly.

comment #17

CMed1 says ...

Yeah, I felt like the burn victim that Ralph Fiennes was while watching that excruciating movie.

comment #18

DukeSavoy says ...

Agree that Avatar should have won. It's show business. How can't you give the nod to biggest film of all time? And a film that was technically brilliant. Okay the story was a bit formulaic and the script was creaky as hell. But the damn movie is huge.

I loved Hurt Locker, but the idea of some soldiers getting hooked on the adrenalin rush of war isn't exactly busting a new hole in the wall of art.

comment #19

Josh Massey says ...

"I am saying Avatar is definite. But it is just little ole me. You don't have to believe me until the end of the show."

Paging Mr. Murphy...

comment #20

rory taylor says ...

you know what. ig was great; avatar was all about the effects. get over it. up was awesome. precious was intelligible. blind side was made for fuckin tv (sorry sandra, i do like you, very much). up in the air was superb, without doubt a superb script. education way too simple a story (although maybe i am from the uk). hurt locker was simply, magnificent. from the first to the last. its a real, feeling, movie. it doesnt waste time. its time for great films to win the proper awards.

comment #21

jse33 says ...

Gordn27,

Good for you. Your "sure thing" lost and that's fine with me. I guess box office doesn't matter either does it?

comment #22

scooterzz says ...

i'm guessing we won't be hearing from don murphy anytime soon....

comment #23

lipranzer says ...

CMed1 - yes. I thought it was an excellent melodrama. Sorry you didn't like it.

comment #24

reverent and free says ...

It's a tough call on the absence of the Honorary Oscar. On the one hand, yes they have more quality time at a special ceremony just for them. On the other, the Oscarcast is missing a sense of the past (other than the In Memoriam). This year they didn't even have a curtain raiser film, and the only montage was for horror films ( shamelessly obvious pop pandering). And as long as Corman and Bacall were there, why not have them briefly reiterate their thank yous? At least the Golden Globes had that great Martin Scorsese tribute. The John Hughes special memorial is the only part of the show I'd ever want to watch again.

comment #25

bitplayer says ...

This may sound sexist but was anyone else struck by how hot Bigelow is She looks like a taller thinner version of Liz Hurley. She has to be the hottest looking female director out there right now right?

comment #26

CitizenKanedforChewingGum says ...

And nearly 60 at that, bitplayer!

Not to get too off-topic here or lower the discourse in an important thread, but does anyone have a link to her Gap commercial she did in the early '80s?

I wouldn't ask here, but I can't seem to find it anywhere, and well, inquiring eyes would like to see and all that...

comment #27

carlos alejandro says ...

'Precious' winning adapted screenplay made me laugh out loud.

comment #28

bluefugue says ...

I propose that the following exchange template be stricken from all future movie discussions:

A: "I liked/disliked Movie X."
B: "You liked/disliked Movie X? No offense, but you *do* realize you're an unredeemable subhuman moron with the cinematic taste of a ficus, right?"

It's possible to have disagreements without willingly stepping into that tiresome conversational loop.

comment #29

jse33 says ...

Sandra Bullock has more Oscars than Ian McKellen and as many Best Actress wins as Meryl Streep. That is just so wrong.

comment #30

MikeSchaeferSF says ...

Loved that the orch played Bigelow off after the Director win with "I Am Woman". The Best Score dance number was painful -- almost enough to make me say "bring back Debbie Allen".

comment #31

CitizenKanedforChewingGum says ...

Oh, and mark me down in favor of the Honorary Oscar over the Interpretive Dance Bit for Best Score.

Was it just me or was the hosting duties really sidelined this year? Very curious.

comment #32

dinovelvet says ...

Yes but Sandra also has as many Oscar wins as Marisa Tomei, Whoopi Goldberg, Halle Berry, and Julia Roberts, so it all works out.

And Hurt Locker winning = another round of "Oscars are out of touch with the people" gripes over the next few weeks.

comment #33

CMed1 says ...

Yeah, it did seem like Baldwin & Martin barely had any screen time. What was the point of them co-hosting.

comment #34

Gordn27 says ...

"Your "sure thing" lost and that's fine with me."

Is that meant to be a quote from me? Because I never said that. I absolutely grant that I wrongly predicted it to win Best Picture, but I'm fairly certain I never called it a sure thing, as I never thought it was a sure thing. I was more sure that 'Up in the Air' would be shut out, and I had even begun to doubt that call because I couldn't settle on what would beat it. Though, of course, I did.

Out of curiosity -- what were the statistics you used to pick Cinematography? Because the statistics for that category show a clear trend towards it being a technical award.

Anyway, I still stand by my point that you can't just go with statistics for the Oscars, it'll only take you so far in predictions.

comment #35

hiviper says ...

Jeff, many thanks - my wife was in a pool with her sisters and friends at an Oscar party. I printed out your picks and told her to fill out her ballot according to your picks, they threw in $20 a head. (except I said go w/ Avatar for best pic) She won by 3 picks, and won the $120 pool. You're the man

comment #36

Pinko Punko says ...

I didn't see how long the show was, but it felt like it could have been closer to on time. Perhaps this was the reason to sideline the hosts. I thought they were fine, but would have needed more time together to seem more effective.

comment #37

Mark says ...

When the AFI updates their top 100 movies, doesn't Avatar have to be on it? Perhaps replacing Lord of the Rings? No way Hurt Locker makes it.

Good show though. Liked the hosts, and all the Nazi humor. Best Actor intros were spot on. Sandra gave a perfect speech. Though I'm sure starting late and owning DVR made it way more enjoyable.

Only flat moment that stuck out was all the John Hughes crew, besides Broderick, who all seemed like there was incredible pressure to spin the brief exposure into a future gig. Or maybe they were just all understandably nervous. either way, hard to watch.

comment #38

Chicago48 says ...

The HL producers should have acknowledged the critics and the bloggers for keeping their picture in the news.

Colin Farrell gave a cool speech about Jeremy Renner; I hope they write something that Mexican trip.

comment #39

Chicago48 says ...

The show started out promising but it went on and on and on....the dance number should have been cut out....and that Horror show with the Twilight movie stars. Kristen Stewart looked out of place, and like she didn't know where she was.

comment #40

CitizenKanedforChewingGum says ...

"Kristen Stewart looked out of place, and like she didn't know where she was."

I'm admittedly not a big fan, but isn't this kind of largely her "appeal?"

comment #41

reverent and free says ...

I can't help but feel a little sorry for Reitman, even though he is young and is bound to have many more opportunities. Up in the Air shouldn't have been shut out.

comment #42

Mark says ...

i liked the dance number. They should just nominate 3 songs and 3 scores and give them all due time on the show. No reason to nominate two songs in the Princess and the frog; meanwhile we can't see T-Bone perform.

comment #43

DeeZee says ...

Gordon: ""Basterds got shut out" seems to follow your basic pattern of logic and analysis, since it won the first award of the night."

But that's not really what Harvey was campaigning for, now was it?

jse: Don't mind Gordon. He hates to admit when he's wrong.

Then maybe you should stop making predictions, since your batting average on these things blows. Oh, wait, you're right on everything.

Anyway, I'm more surprised The Cove made Best Doc than that Avatar lost the important awards.
Nothing was fucking daring or innovative about the latter film, except for the fact that it is in "3D".

mark: "Avatar should have won."

Why? So Jimmy could remake Titan A.E. next?

Kane: "It was pretty obvious early on that IB wasn't going to win it (unfortunately)."

Unfortunate for people who agree with the Bush doctrine on torture.

Duke: "How can't you give the nod to biggest film of all time?"

They already did. It's called Gone With The Wind.

"And a film that was technically brilliant."

Only if you compare it to Terminator 2: 3-D, sure.

scooterz: Wow, TF2 really swept the Razzies this year, huh? http://bubble20snarkgroup.com/oscar-winners-2010-razzies-2010-winners-list-update/

comment #44

DeeZee says ...

Minus "Then maybe you should stop making predictions, since your batting average on these things blows. Oh, wait, you're right on everything."

comment #45

Dan Revill says ...

Would T-Bone have performed? Ryan Bingham sings it on the album.

comment #46

reverent and free says ...

Also, Bigelow's mention of "my fellow nominees...some of whom I've admired for decades" sounded a little awkward, like she was avoiding mentioning Cameron by name. He's been magnanimous toward her throughout all the awards, and gave her a shout out during his Golden Globe acceptance speech. For her to return the favor would've been nice, especially if the story of him encouraging her to take Boal's script is true.

comment #47

K. Bowen says ...

The best Best Picture winner, with the possible exception of No Country, since what ... Unforgiven? That's the good news tonight.

But wow, what a dull telecast:

How many major stars were onstage the first three-ish hours before the major awards? Cruz, Downey, Stiller. I guess maybe we count Steve Martin. That's 4 stars in 3 hours. To me, the show needs to be about stars, and this was short.

The clips on the film are so brief and tightly compacted that you don't get a good sense of the movie. I'd rather they space these out more, show whole scenes, give the audience a sense of what the movie is really like. It's a show about the movies, and people should be able to see why they've been nominated.

Agree that a sense of history was missing.

Still really like the little speeches about the nominees. Who doesn't want to Michelle Pfeiffer tell a funny story and say nice things about Jeff Bridges?

Martin was pretty good. Should have had Fey with him.

Thought the sound editing segment was neat and informative.

More Basterds, less James Taylor.

comment #48

Gnome de Guerre says ...

The over-the-top gushing presentations about the Best Actor/Actress nominees was embarrassing to watch. Isn't it enough these people be acknowledged as actors? They have to be sainted too? The caste system on parade is sickening. I don't get it. Why bother pretending all of these other categories even exist? Why give any time to Sound Mixing or short films or docs? Just make the whole show about the actors, the interpretive dancing, and the red carpet. The decisions about what gets airtime vs who gets cut off and what gets cut are mind-boggling.

comment #49

aris says ...

The first Academy Awards was 10 minutes long. They should have kept it like that.

comment #50

moviesquad says ...

Let's not forget that Jeff was completely wowed by the blase UITA and posted for weeks about how great its Oscar chances were. How many awards did it end up getting? Zero?

comment #51

Gordn27 says ...

"He hates to admit when he's wrong."

No, DZ, that's you. You're the person who still refuses to say "I was wrong when I said that Avatar would only gross $130 million worldwide." I'm the guy who came into this thread and said "I was wrong about Avatar winning Best Picture" before JSE started being an ass about it.

"Then maybe you should stop making predictions, since your batting average on these things blows."

That's the most ironic piece of advice I've ever received!

"Oh, wait, you're right on everything."

Again with the misrepresentations. I've never claimed to be right about everything, I've merely pointed out that you, specifically, tend to be wrong about everything.

comment #52

Gordn27 says ...

"Still really like the little speeches about the nominees. Who doesn't want to Michelle Pfeiffer tell a funny story and say nice things about Jeff Bridges?"

I hated it last year, but I thought it worked much better this year when it was limited to the main two. Also, mixing the genders, for some reason, that played better (I thought). The only odd note, to me, was that some of the people were there who were co-stars in the nominated roles, and some had previously worked with them and bonded with them... so Colin Farrell being there, but not for Bridges, seemed strange to me. I would've thought Brad Pitt [who I didn't see -- I did see Eli Roth, but never Pitt] for Renner.

comment #53

reverent and free says ...

Also, this is the second show in a row that Nicholson has missed. Was he with the Lakers?

comment #54

DeeZee says ...

Gordon: "No, DZ, that's you. You're the person who still refuses to say "I was wrong when I said that Avatar would only gross $130 million worldwide." I'm the guy who came into this thread and said "I was wrong about Avatar winning Best Picture" before JSE started being an ass about it."

I said I fucked up, and that's enough. It doesn't seem enough to be "first" on the board before jse, though.

"That's the most ironic piece of advice I've ever received!"

I know. Too bad irony's wasted on you.

comment #55

Marty Melville says ...

Whatever stops and starts and weirdly out of synch moments this show had, they were all trumped by the pure pleasure of watching Bigelow accept her award and then the Hurt Locker-Room frenzy of the whole gang celebrating the big win on stage.

That, and Martin's "I wrote that speech for him..."

comment #56

Gordn27 says ...

"It doesn't seem enough to be "first" on the board before jse, though."

So, saying that I was wrong before being called out on it -- unlike a baby like you -- isn't enough to avoid you saying that I can't admit I was wrong?

"Too bad irony's wasted on you. "

Right, in the sense that I spotted it immediately.

Listen, I know you have this "DZ thing" where you have to turn every thread around to being about you, but since this is still an active thread, I'm not going to participate in any further derailing by you, just so you know. So I'm sure you'll respond and get in the last word, I just want to post my response in advance: "that was hilarious! You're such a fucking idiot! As always, thanks for the laughs."

comment #57

DeeZee says ...

Gordon: "So, saying that I was wrong before being called out on it -- unlike a baby like you -- isn't enough to avoid you saying that I can't admit I was wrong?"

I just didn't feel like bringing up being wrong because you had it in for me, anyway. You're just saying you were wrong to feel special, when you should really be honoring the Gal Who Could. As for your last statement, I just hope you had some kleenex handy.

comment #58

Don Murphy says ...

I was very very wrong about the Best Picture category.

comment #59

DeeZee says ...

Don: It's alright. My non-financial bet was on Up.

comment #60

reverent and free says ...

Final note: When the show wrapped, Martin immediately jumped offstage to embrace Meryl, while Baldwin stayed on to congratulate the Hurt Locker crew.

comment #61

Gordn27 says ...

Don - I had a serious question in that thread, and I realized after the fact you probably left for the Oscars -- when did you get invited to join the Academy? I'm just curious, simply because I know you've never produced a best picture winner, and you don't make the sort of movies that one would conventionally see getting you the invite. I don't mean that to be insulting at all, mind you. I'm just curious when you joined, what the milestone was or whatever.

comment #62

Gordn27 says ...

er, best picture nominee, not winner (I know nominees are automatically invited, that's all I mean).

comment #63

goodvibe61 says ...

Wait a sec.

DeeZee: you actually came on here and predicted that Avatar wouldn't make $130 million world wide?

Oh my god that is classic!

I mean, there's getting things wrong and then there's GETTING THINGS WRONG. LOL. There are levels, you know? And that's on a really, really HIGH LEVEL.

comment #64

Gordn27 says ...

goodvibe - being fair, it was four days before the movie opened, about a week after all the tracking information had made it plain that it would make that much in the first weekend. Once the movie had actually gone through its first four days, he was intelligent enough to revise his estimate upwards -- to $450 mil. worldwide.

comment #65

dangovich says ...

I'm with Gnome de Guerre, I found the actor presentations to be a case of overkill. "So-and-so is the greatest actor, humanitarian and all-around human being ever in the history of civilization." Blech. To be fair, there were a few exceptions.

comment #66

Travis Crabtree says ...

Hollywood Liberals feel the need to fuck everything up.

To her credit, Bigelow has been downplaying the significance of her gender while receiving accolades for "The Hurt Locker". Good for her.

She deserved the Oscar because she did arguably the best job this past year directing a movie.

But then, (sensing that she would win) they trot out Babs to go all Bella Abzug on us ("it's about time!") and THEN they fucking play "I Am Woman" as Bigelow exits the stage. Echh.
Yay women!

Doncha think she'd like to believe she won on the merits of her work and not because "women are long overdue"?

All that said..... I thought it was a great show. Martin and Baldwin were quite good and the whole thing zipped along quite well.

I only wish Corman and Bacall had gotten more TV love.

comment #67

Gordn27 says ...

Travis - the liberals missed one big angle, though; they kept saying "first woman to win" and "first African American to win" -- but I believe Lee Daniels would be the first openly gay director to win too.

comment #68

THE MovieBob says ...

Good show, fairly mezzo-mezzo set of winners overall.

The whole Best Picture thing essentially broke down to "shallow, wholly-visua/director-driven low-budget action movie defeats shallow, wholly-visual/director-driven big-budget action movie." Near-garaunteed this is another Pulp/Gump/Shawshank thing - i.e. we'll argue whether it "really" should've been Avatar or Locker for like a year or two, and then at some point it'll become "conventional wisdom" that "Basterds" ought've gotten it.

comment #69

DeeZee says ...

Travis: I actually think it's a compliment that a woman can be honored for directing a pic which is more ballsy than the stuff coming from her male competitors. Seriously, for all the stereotypes and tropes associated with her gender, QT's the one who lost, because his male characters talk more than fight, Cameron is the one who lost, because he's into shitty New Age wiccan granola hippy culture, and Reitman is the one who lost, because he likes enabling assholes like Clooney's character.

comment #70

citizenmilton says ...

@reverentandfree - "Also, this is the second show in a row that Nicholson has missed. Was he with the Lakers?"

didn't you hear the pre-show announcement when the house lights were down last year?

"ladies and gentlemen, the role of 'Jack Nicholson at the Oscars' is now being played by George Clooney"

comment #71

DeeZee says ...

Should have added "variations of" to that culture comment.

comment #72

scottfeinberg says ...

@Don Murphy,
Thanks for being man enough to admit that you were wrong about AVATAR. People should give you credit for that, and learn from this that *nothing* is "definite."

comment #73

DeeZee says ...

New Iron Man 2 trailer @ http://www.darkhorizons.com/trailers/

comment #74

DeeZee says ...

Clips,spots, and red-band for Titans,
Tub,
League,
'Dragon, and Harry Brown.

comment #75

LexG says ...

K-Stew FOREVER.

Sexiest cough ever. So dreamy.

I wish I were Sam Worthington; I'd just go backstage or to one of those parties and line up every chick in Hollywood and take my pick. The whole show reminded me that I need to get back on my diet and get my hair transplant, asap so I can be more like him.

comment #76

DeeZee says ...

Lex: You really should see the IGN red-band clip for 'League.

comment #77

LexG says ...

I saw every inch of Alice Eve in CROSSING OVER (she's entirely naked in virtually every scene she's in), so I don't know how She's Out of My League can compete.

Plus I'm boycotting movies set in Pittsburgh where nobody has a PA accent and every actor is a shticky Apatow kid straight out of Beverly Hills.

comment #78

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comment #79

LexG says ...

I say this every year, and it sounds like the worst idea, but think of it:

SEAN PENN FOR HOST.

Just IMAGINE. You want to be ENTERTAINED by the Oscars? Just picture Penn up there taking everything WAY too seriously, botching *all* his jokes then STILL chuckling to himself smarmily, occasionally flipping out and losing control on somebody, then awkwardly shoehorning in his political speechifying to nervous seal-clapping. It'd be the Right's worst nightmare, BUT if they could see the irony in it, I think even they would enjoy seeing the night taken to its logical, self-satisfied extreme. Fuck it, have him grow out that sleazy 'stache and let him inhale a pack of Camels as the night goes on. Best telecast ever, guaranteed. Penn is COMIC GOLD.

comment #80

Deathtongue_Groupie says ...

@Don Murphy - kudos on taking your lumps. While I think you're an ass online much of the time, you seem the rare person online who can take it as well as you dish it out. Big sincere props for that.

Bigelow - I think she and Cameron are simply fucking sick to death of the all the commentary about the connection and did not want to even allude to it in her big moment.

comment #81

Deathtongue_Groupie says ...

I was with a producer/academy member tonight after the show and he thinks this a likely scenario of how the voting went down:

In the first round, AVATAR won with like 30 - 40% of the votes, HURT LOCKER was second with 20 - 35%.

Second round, all of those who voted for small films in round #1 (AN EDUCATION, PRECIOUS, A SERIOUS MAN, UP IN THE AIR) had LOCKER as their No 2 choice whereas AVATAR only picked up votes from BLIND SIDE and maybe UP voters.

On a different note, my wife had the best slam of the show at the very beginning when the actor/actress nominees were put on display like sides of beef: "What do the producers think this is, a fucking pageant??"

One of the most ineptly produced and directed shows in Oscar history (who was responsible for the mandate "Whenever a black person wins, cut to Morgan Freeman or Samuel L Jackson for reactions, because, you know, they're also black."? Someone find out and have the NAACP on their lawn tomorrow, it was that insulting).

comment #82

Rich S. says ...

The Lakers were in Orlando Sunday afternoon, and I seriously doubt Jack made that trip. So I have no idea where he was. They need to nominate him every year (like Steve Martin's joke at the beginning) just so he'll show up.

Good for The Hurt Locker. Not my choice for best pic (which was IB), but a worthy choice, nonetheless.

comment #83

Bill Bomp Whomper says ...

Kristen Stewart: if you are too dumb to drink a glass or two of water before you get on stage in front of the world you never get to do that again. Ever. What a piece of trash.

Avatar is not a game-changer that mo-cap horseshit is going to fade away. Cameron is a bum. Deal with it.

comment #84

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comment #85

Joe M. says ...

You know what looked really cool? That brief clip of the Governors' Ball or Governors' dinner or whatever it was called. With Ron Howard telling stories about Roger Corman, Lauren Bacall letting her hair down and having fun, it looked like a great time and the whole thing would have been something to see. Why couldn't some channel have aired THAT?

comment #86

YRG says ...

The Martin and Baldwin co-hosting experiment bombed, IMHO, with the inevitable set of gay jokes, sparked by Neil Patrick Harris's Ziegfeld Follies opening. The ceremony dragged. The Hughes tribute could have gone without the has-beens who starred in his old films. Judd Nelson looked like an angrier, malnourished Robert Downey Jr. and Macaulay Culkin just looked sick. James Taylor's performance was random in a show that didn't value original songs and live performances. They should have kept best song and excised the dancers, the most discordant piece of the night. I'm disappointed that cinematography was rushed without showing the results of the work in clips. Tom Hanks rushed out to present Best Picture-- more hosts should have taken his cue. The tribute to Horror was a mess of references both high- and low-brow. The Shining mixed with Nightmare on Elm Street? It felt like a set up for a future Best Horror Picture award and only served to remind me how uneven and genre-based the category is. Beetlejuice is a horror film now? @aris-- a 10-minute ceremony certainly would improve upon the current Mark Burnett-style anticipation built up for awards we mostly know. @Lex-- Penn as host would be great, especially if he had a hand in the production and wrote his own jokes-- what was he saying about not being a member of the Academy and thus ignoring two sets of women? I was happy with the wins-- Bigelow, Hurt Locker, Bridges and Bullock. It was also nice to see Fischer Stevens win an award.

comment #87

crazynine says ...

First year in forever that I absolutely ROCKED my betting pool. I didn't miss anything this side of Foreign Language Film (which baffled me this year-- not only did I not see any of those movies, I hadn't even *heard* of any of them... far way away from "The Lives of Others" and "Amelie").

I liked Avatar. I'm still (somewhat) surprised it didn't win. But since it all depends on technology, I think that as the technology is made obsolete-- probably by Cameron himself-- it's going to fade in appreciation. Titanic resonates even today; Jurassic Park is still a perfect thrill ride. Once the novelty of Avatar's particular brand of effects fade, I don't think many will be all that upset over this decision (I mean, it's not like Saving Private Ryan losing out or anything-- I'll be shocked if Avatar holds up like the former).

As for Hurt Locker, I really liked it, I guess I'm glad it won, but fundamentally, it felt like a very weak year. Maybe it's just because I know so many active duty soldiers (and watch so many war films), but HL never struck me as anything transcendent, like Ryan or Blackhawk Down-- "damn good" is good enough in 2010, though.

Anyway, what I'm looking forward to is the lesson Hollywood learns from this. They make 100 films about Iraq portraying Americans as the bad guys, and not only do they all flop, none of them get awards bupkus. Someone outside the system finally decides to finally just make a freakin' WAR MOVIE, screw the politics, and guess what? THAT movie wins the accolades (and my guess is it will make a lot more money to come-- this is going to be a cable TV staple for the next decade, I'm sure).

When "Green Zone" does middling business in a few weeks (it can't *flop* with that excellent a pedigree, but it's going to disappoint), everyone will be looking around asking, "Gee, I thought Iraq movies *could* do well, look at The Hurt Locker!" without any sense of self-regard whatsoever, that the American public not only doesn't enjoy watching American soldiers be portrayed as the bad guys, they certainly don't want to see a filmmaker LIE about it.

comment #88

Movie Watcher says ...

Exactly how long did the show last? I saw the acceptance speeches this morning. Alice in Wonderland, 3D, brought in more cash than Avatar 3D, so what does it mean? Here at my local cinelpex, Avatar is now only 2D. As far as I know, there were no surprises, I wonder how the ratings were.

comment #89

Don Murphy says ...

Gordon - I was invited to join the Academy in 2004. Membership is based on a complicated credit system, sponsorship by current members and a vote of the entire body.

comment #90

Eloi Manning says ...

GET IN! I won the office Oscar pool.

Martin and Baldwin weren't really all that funny. They seemed better when working off the script - Martin's "I wrote that speech for him" was a perfect ice-breaker after that awkward and emotional Precious dude's heavy breathing.

Neil Patrick Harris was a waste of time.

The Best Score dances were fairly hilarious. That dude doing the robot to the Up score, and the body-popping during the sombre Hurt Locker music. Comedy gold.

Hurt Locker's a good film. I didn't think it was great, but it's not an awful choice either. I'll watch it again someday and maybe appreciate it more this time. But I'm fine with it winning. Amazing to think that only last year Slumdog Millionaire won; I can barely remember it anymore.

comment #91

Rusty Never Sleeps says ...

I think the only people who like interpretive dance are interpretive dancers. And the show left this impression with me: Hollywood is like an iceberg. The 10% you can see are gorgeous and charismatic, while the rest are some of the ugliest people you'd ever hope not to meet (and that's hardly even considering their physical appearances).

comment #92

Howlingman says ...

"Amazing to think that only last year Slumdog Millionaire won; I can barely remember it anymore."

Which pretty well sums up every BP winner of the past decade. Films that caught the zeitgeist of the year they won, but weren't able to move beyond that moment.

comment #93

Eloi Manning says ...

The funniest part of "interpretative dance" is imagining these dudes actually sitting around and "interpreting" the music. I picture a load of people in vests and spandex sitting around a dance studio listening to The Hurt Locker score for the first time, and some genius thinks "BODY-POPPING!" and they all agree and nod their heads and start grooving around to it.

comment #94

... says ...

First time I sat through an Oscars telecast. Mixed bag wasn't it.

Tom Hanks just reading out the winner for best picture - without any thought for suspense, decorum (who else was nominated, etc), or grandstanding - didn't sit right with me. But seeing those three HL actors, like giggling schoolboys, stood behind Bigelow and Mark Boal kind of made up for it.

But yes, wasn't it strange how such a long show managed to spend so little time telling us about stories and the artists who created them. Absolutely second the idea of showing longer clips.

It has to be said...

How petty and minor-league did K-Stew - and more so that kid with all the gravitas of a sheet of cardboard with her - look? Zack whatnot at least has some signs of life behind the eyes; those two (less so K-Stew) showed themselves to be dullards. Good looking peasants at a dinner party...

comment #95

Gordn27 says ...

Hey Don - thanks. Interesting to know. I think it's really funny that the movie that pushed you over the edge would seem to be 'Extraordinary Gentlemen'.

comment #96

DeeZee says ...

nine: "Titanic resonates even today"

Um, no it doesn't, or The Beach and Dark Angel would have been hits. And The Green Zone is gonna disappoint, because it's an R-rated Matt Damon movie trying to cash in on Bourne crowd, and nothing he does outside of Bourne is a hit. [I don't count Good Will Hunting, since he wasn't a star yet, and the Ocean's films are primarily Pitt and Clooney vehicles.] As for The Hurt Locker, it won, because it was the only non-geek and non-corporate blow-job movie of that year.

comment #97

CitizenKanedforChewingGum says ...

"As for The Hurt Locker, it won, because it was the only non-geek and non-corporate blow-job movie of that year."

The only one, huh? Released all year? In every country? What the fuck does this gobbledygook of a sentence even mean? The only thing I know for sure reading something like this is that you really hate watching movies.

comment #98

DeeZee says ...

No, I just hate watching movies where the director has more fun than me.

comment #99

Howlingman says ...

But not as much as you hate yourself.

comment #100

CitizenKanedforChewingGum says ...

*Tink* One post just to send this one into triple digits. Just for that foxxxy Bigelow...

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