posted
I'm with you Pix. Howl's Moving Castle deserves the award hands down over the others. Corpse Bride and The Curse of the Were-Rabbit were both technically amazing but neither were the artists' best work. IMHO
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Good Night and Good Luck just wasn't that amazing of a movie. It was like a little kid playing dressup. You could tell they were trying to be deep and hardhitting, but mostly it was just an entertaining couple of hours. Thinking optional.
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I'm pleased with the nom for Dario Marinelli's Pride and Prejudice score. Happiness reigns.
All the other ones were pretty much projected by the buzz. It's a very politically correct lineup of movies and directors.
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I have not seen any of these either, but I am not into these kind of movies for the most part.
After a down year in Hwood you would think they would do something to capture the interest of the people. Granted they didn't really have anything that would work for that.
I see no reason to watch the oscars this year.
Well maybe Jon Steward.
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quote:If Miyazaki doesn't get it, it's a travesty...
I disagree - Howl's is my least favorite Miyazaki film I've seen, and wasn't nearly as good as Wallace and Grommit. The animation was, of course, magnificent, but the story was muddled and the editing only so-so. I saw the subtitled version, which is usually better than the dubbed, but it's possible the dubbed was better this time.
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I agree with Dagonee about Howl's Moving Castle. I strongly, strongly disliked the (uneccesary) liberties taken with the story, the characters, the style etc. I didn't find it at all stunning, although better, I thought, than The Corpse Bride.
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I saw the english version of Howl, which I normally just Don't Do, but Howl was designed to be in english (or so I was told) and the dub was when they translated it to japanese.
I was really disappointed in W&G. Maybe my expectations were too high but I didn't even like it as much as Chicken Run.
Corpse Bride was also disappointing. I wanted more singing. More Elfman.... Oh well, maybe in 15 more years they'll try again and it will be amazing.
All this being said I still enjoyed all 3 movies. Even if they weren't as good as I had hoped.
posted
I'm really surprised that Narnia got a VFX nod....there were moments in the movie that definitely were NOT convincing. Episode III was much smoother and more believable IMO.
Speaking of seeing (or hearing) it all before, I'm floored that they nominated John Williams twice in the best score category. I adore his scores, but twice?
I haven't seen any of the animated features up this year, though I'm thrilled about March of the Penguins. No surprise though. Posts: 6415 | Registered: Jul 2000
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I think Philip Seymour Hoffman is deserving of the "best actor" win, but that's based only on having seen the movie he was in (Capote), which was astonishing. I haven't seen many (any?) of the others.
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I'm behind Joaquin Phoenix in Walk the Line for best actor. Though I haven't seen Capote.
I can't believe Walk the Line didn't get a best picture nod. It was better than both Brokeback Mountain and Good Night, and Good Luck, IMHO.
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John Williams has been nominated twice in the same year before. It was a few years ago when Sorcerer's Stone came out. The other movie slips my mind.
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Yeah, wondered that myself. Nor in sound achievment. Instead, Memoirs of a Geisha gets a nod for that category. ???
Oh well. The Oscars are much more of a statement than an actual measurement of how well a film/actor actually does.
That's not to say that the films that are nominated (and even win) are necessarily undeserving. But so many other things are overlooked and oftentimes the attention given seem almost pandering. For example, when Return of the King swept the oscars. I loved the movie and it should have won things like best picture (or at least should have been nominated). But I remember it won in categories where there were other films that did much better. It almost seemed that the awards were given as an apologia for not even considering the previous two films.
posted
Dag, I saw Creature Comforts and totally agree. I've been a big fan of Aardman since back when Americans could only get his stuff packaged with other animated shorts at film festivals.
I enjoyed Curse of the Were-Rabbit, but not half as much as A Close Shave. I may have let myself build it up too much since I've been waiting for a full-length W&G movie for years.
I really enjoyed Howl's Moving Castle, but my favorite Miyazaki is Spirited Away. I've never seen a film that seemed so foreign, yet so familiar at the same time.
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I thought most of this movie looked like a really well done video game, but over all not that real. CGI has gotten very good, almost believable, but not completely real. I am sure CGI will get there, but right now its soo close it bugs me. I think I get distracted trying to decide what looks real and what looks fake that I can’t pay attention to the story, acting ect. (Not that you would want to pay attention to the acting in SW.) I was watching “return of the Jedi” awhile ago and I was struck by the way the puppets looked real. They still looked like puppets, but at least they looked like real puppets. CGI just can't quite get the subtleties right: the way light falls and creates shadows, the way clothing and hair move, when someone/thing moves it kicks up dust or leaves real footprints ect. I guess when it is obvious that it is fake I just accept it and move on.
Most of the LOTR seemed to get it “real” enough not to bug me the way SW III did.
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I hope Philip Seymour Hoffman gets the oscar for Capote. Apart from Brokeback Mountain, I've seen all the other movies, and Hoffman was definitely the best. Strathairn was also very good, but I don't see him winning. Heath Ledger must have been really good in Brokeback Mountain, as he has never struck me as more than an average actor. I'll have to see BM first, but I doubt it will change my mind about Hoffman. As for best picture, of the movies which I have seen, I would give it to Good Night, and Good Luck. Best Actress: Reese Witherspoon by a long shot.
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quote:Originally posted by seespot: John Williams has been nominated twice in the same year before. It was a few years ago when Sorcerer's Stone came out. The other movie slips my mind.
Catch Me If You Can?
Posts: 1236 | Registered: Mar 2002
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I'm pulling for Howl in Best Animated. I like Corpse Bride (just bought it) and W&G was great, but neither were where they could be. Corpse Bride had some story errors and there should have been more Elfman! haha. Its a good movie but it didn't strive to be that little extra something. And Curse of the Were-Rabbit wasn't as good as previous W&G material. Howl was very solid (though I've only seen a subtitled cam video and am dying to see compare it to a dvd-quality English dub) and while its no Mononoke or Spirited Away, if that's more your thing, its still the best of the category. It'll lose, but only cause the Oscars have glaring moments of stupidity.
I couldn't be more excited about the Crash nominations. I liked Brokeback Mountain and its a very important movie, but Crash changed my whole perspective of the world. Its bravery and its artistic handling of the material deserves it lots of pretty statuettes. Nothing could make me happier than to see it walk away with Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay!
I love the nomination for Hustle&Flow. Never would have expected that! But Terrence Howard is amazing and I'm glad he got the recognition.
Murderball got a Doc nom! Marvelous! Not the best documentary I've seen but I'm hoping something beats that penguin movie.
Is it just me or are the song nominations this year alittle short and off? Isn't at the Oscars where each song gets to perform or am I thinking of another award show? I'd love to see "Its Hot Out Here for a Pimp" on the Oscar stage..haha.
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I've seen none of the ones up for major awards, but several of the ones up for the lesser and technical awards. Odd.
I'm kind of surprised Sin City isn't nominated for art direction or cineamatography or something like that. Bringing Miller's artwork to the screen the way they did was amazing.
posted
Hello? Andy Serkhis? Sure, you almost never see his face, but the man's brilliant. He deserves an Oscar sooner or later.
Posts: 1735 | Registered: Oct 2004
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Opinions about VFX are just that- opinions. But in COMPARISON to the other nominees. I mean, look at this:
Achievement In Visual Effects -The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe -King Kong -War Of The Worlds
Why are only 3 films nominated? Plus, SWIII VFX was at least as good as Chronicles of Narnia. I haven't seen the other two, but come on. ILM can match anything WETA does, and it did. I mean, ILM has continuously revolutionized VFX for the past 28 years.
And why were there no nominations in these categories: Achievement in sound editing -King Kong -Memoirs Of A Geisha -War Of The Worlds
Achievement in sound mixing -The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe -King Kong -Memoirs Of A Geisha -Walk The Line -War Of The Worlds
Note that I am not arguing that it should be given all kinds of awards, especially in regard to its writing. And there are enough differences of opinion regarding the acting (though I though Hayden Christiansen played his role wonderfully, especially given the dialog he had to work with, not mention Ian McDairmid as Palpatine was, with one over-the-top moment, absolutely brilliant) that I can understand no nominations there.
But these are legitimate areas where some recognition is due. Yet the silence is deafening.
As I said, these nominations and awards are as much about making a statement about what is serious and/or social art. A way of saying what is acceptable, what they'd like to see more of, and what directors have their stamp of approval, even when their films are not as good as their earlier ones.
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Whew!*sags with relief that somebody caught the funny*
It really is sad, though. I thought, as CG characters go, that General Grievous was as believably *there* as any.
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I agree. SWIII's FX were at least as good as Narnia, if not better. The sound was also impressive. I don't get the shut-out, unless it was just their way of saying something about the movie itself or George Lucas in particular.
The problem I had with the SW effects was simply that I couldn't see most of it. A lot of the 'action' involving the cgi characters was blurred and too fast to follow.
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The only category where I've seen all the nominees is the Docs. For my money Darwin's Nightmare takes it, no contest.
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Yeah, Episode III's SFX were way better than Narnia's. Hell, Serenity's SFX were better than Narnia's, and with a quarter of the budget. But effects aside, Star Wars had nothing to offer this year besides leaden dialogue and wooden acting- building materials analogies all around.
That said, I'm pretty pleased with the Oscar nods this year. Brokeback deserves all the attention it's getting, and Munich was excellent as well. No nod for Eric Bana is unfortunate, but what can you do, eh?
I'm pulling for Wallace and Gromit for Best Animated, as it was waaaay better than the thoroughly overhyped Corpse Bride, which I will always think of as Nightmare Before Christmas Lite. Admittedly I haven't seen Howl's Moving Castle yet, but Miyazaki already got an Oscar (and deservedly so) for Spirited Away, and IMO Aardman should get some lovin' too.
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I think the difference between SW Ep III and CoN: LWW is this: Most of the Star Wars FX were of things that (as far as we know) don't exist.
Many of Narnia's FX were of talking animals. While they were far from perfect, they were light years more impressive than most previous "Talking Animals" pictures.
Making a fantastical version of something real is seen as more impressive, because everyone knows what the real thing is supposed to look and move like.
At least, that's my guess.
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The Oscars aren't exactly representative of the best movies- just the serious ones. They're just some people's opinions. Some years the movie they picked is a movie that stands the test of time. Other times.... not so much.
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posted
I think this year will be more of the former than the latter, though. Certainly moreso than last year... nobody's going to be talking about "Million Dollar Baby" in ten years. Hardly anyone is talking about it today. But out of this year's big contenders, "Brokeback Mountain" will certainly be one for the books, if only because of its controversial subject matter.
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Crash is such a good one, addmitedly I haven't seen Brokeback Mt...but Crash was amazing, hope it wins.
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Crash was amazing, I too hope that it wins. And Howl's for animated.
I don't understand Star Wars not being nominated for sound or VFX. I think many of King Kong's FX were wretched. Utterly wretched.
I can't believe Sin City didn't get a cinematography nod. That's unbelievable. Certainly not up to the best of LOTR work.
Hate some of these movies all you want, but at least respect what they did that was good, what they've contributed to the craft.
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quote:Originally posted by Narnia: All the other ones were pretty much projected by the buzz. It's a very politically correct lineup of movies and directors.
Not that I care much about the Oscars... but which movies and directors would you have liked to have been nominated instead?
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I would have liked Batman Begins to get something. It was definately the best movie I saw this year. Probably not Best Picture, but one of the major nominations.
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I am tyring to figure out who is more out of step with the American people, me or the Movie industry. I have not seen ANY of the movies nominated in the main catagories.
Several I have never heard of. Maybe it is becuase I have a 1 1/2 year old who takes my free time--But I did see Serenity and Batman Begins!
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Sin City should've received several nominations, and not just for the techie awards. It was by far the best film I saw in the first half of the year.
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