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Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2012 19:47:47 GMT
Well, the Golden Globes have already come and gone, but the "big" awards in various countries are still on the agenda.
The Oscar, BAFTA and César nominations all came out this week, and obviously it's the first time that a French movie has had so many nominations. Of course, the fact that The Artist looks like an American movie and the fact that it is not in French or filmed in France clearly helps it a lot. I will be very curious to see how well it does in all three countries.
It is interesting to note that even though it got 10 nominations in France, it only came in 3rd after "Polisse" and "L'exercice de l'état" -- two very serious films about very serious subjects, but that's the French for you.
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Post by nycgirl on Jan 28, 2012 4:09:44 GMT
Yes, I love talking about awards season! Even though I always complain about who got robbed, I still keep coming back for more.
I'm glad The Artist is doing well. I haven't seen it yet (hoping to), but it's nice to see filmmakers go out on a limb and have it pay off.
As for the acting categories, I'm really rooting for Viola Davis to take Best Actress for her performance in The Help. Her biggest competition is Meryl Streep, but although Streep won the Golden Globe, word is The Iron Lady was not very good. I would also like to see Octavia Spencer, also in The Help, take home Best Supporting Actress.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2012 6:56:59 GMT
The performances in The Help were indeed impressive, but I think the best performance of the year may have been Tilda Swinton in We Need to Talk agout Kevin -- but that movie is so unsettling and grim that she did not even get nominated.
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Post by nycgirl on Jan 30, 2012 1:58:02 GMT
That is shocking and inexplicable. Any other nominations (or lack thereof) that surprised you?
I was surprised there were 9 nominations for Best Picture. What a weird number. But if you're going to do that, why not go ahead and nominate 6 or more actors in a category, if they gave worthy performances?
I was also surprised Melissa McCarthy was nominated for Bridesmaids. I am glad the movie did well because its success will help other female-centric stories get the green light in the future. But to me it was just a mildly funny flick with some disgusting toilet humor.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 30, 2012 19:24:57 GMT
From TheWeek.com
This isn't exactly about awards season, but since it starts off talking about a major flaw of "The Artist," I thought I would post it here.
6 'ridiculous' reasons moviegoers asked for their money back A group of miffed moviegoers in the U.K. have been demanding "ridiculous" refunds after seeing current Oscar frontrunner The Artist. Apparently unaware that the cinematic homage to 1920s Hollywood was a silent film, they complained that there was no sound. Since doling out the first batch of refunds, ushers at Liverpool's Odeon cineplex have been briefing audiences that the film contains no dialogue. "How could you not know it was silent?" asks Jen Chaney at The Washington Post, noting the inescapable media coverage that aspect of The Artist has received. Here, five other (mostly outlandish) beefs refund-seekers lodged at the cineplexes this year:
1. The movie did not sufficiently resemble The Fast and the Furious A mere refund couldn't placate one Michiganian who was incensed by the well-reviewed romantic thriller Drive, starring Ryan Gosling as a stuntman who moonlights as a getaway car driver. She filed a lawsuit against the film's distributors, claiming, among other things, that the movie's trailers made it seem like Drive would closely resemble the oft-derided Fast and the Furious series. The frustrated moviegoer detected "very little driving in the motion picture." Easily "the Most Frivolous Lawsuit of 2011," says HyperVocal.
2. It was boring Tree of Life, Terrence Malick's trippy juxtaposition of modern American life and the dawn of creation famously polarized critics, alternately winning major awards and being snubbed by organizations like the Golden Globes. Moviegoers were similarly split, with unusually high numbers walking out of screenings, bored and confused, and demanding their money back. The exodus led one Connecticut theater to post a sign warning that the film "does not follow a traditional, linear narrative approach to storytelling" and advising patrons that no refunds would be given. "Do people really ask for their movie ticket money back because… they were bored?" asks a flabbergasted Choire Sicha at The Awl.
3. I didn't like the ending The low-budget horror flick The Devil Inside, a Paranormal Activity-like thriller about a woman who performs unauthorized exorcisms, was a surprise box office hit earlier this month, luring moviegoers to drop $35 million in its opening weekend. After actually seeing the critically ravaged film, however, audiences gave it a rare "F" CinemaScore grade. So displeased were people with the movie's ending, The Daily News reports, that they began shouting "rip-off!" at its conclusion and screamed for refunds. 4. The film's star could do better Larry Crowne, a recession-era romance which Tom Hanks directed and starred in (alongside Julia Roberts) yielded neither box-office success nor critical praise. According to the U.K.'s Guardian, that didn't stop Hanks from asking a couple at a gas station if they'd enjoyed the film. Not particularly, they candidly replied. Gamely, Hanks refunded them the cost of their tickets ($25), quipping, "We'll do a better job next time!" before driving off. Bad idea, says Chaney. "A whole bunch of people who didn't care for Larry Crowne may suddenly be hitting him up for cash."
5. There was a naked man in the theater The families who filled a Chicago theater to see Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked earlier this year were all issued refund vouchers, though, in this case, it's hard to argue that they didn't deserve it. According to The Chicago Tribune, a 34-year-old man was also in attendance, "sitting in the front row completely nude."
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Post by onlymark on Jan 31, 2012 5:12:43 GMT
When reading about and experiencing complaints from tourists or hotel reviews or restaurant reviews I'm not surprised at all any more.
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Post by bjd on Jan 31, 2012 8:30:41 GMT
I have walked out of movies before but never thought to ask for my money back.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2012 13:23:41 GMT
I was quite surprised that Brat Pitt was nominated for Moneyball rather than The Tree of Life.
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Post by lola on Jan 31, 2012 16:09:58 GMT
Boy, you got that right, Kerouac. I think Pitt at most had to act annoyed and/or a trifle discouraged a couple of times in Moneyball.
I've seen six of the Best Picture nominees this year, unusually. I'd rank them roughly: Tree of Life The Artist Tinker Tailor Midnight in Paris and then The Descendants Moneyball
I think I mentioned elsewhere that my mother said she'd seen Tree of Life, "the new Brad Pitt flick", and was correspondingly disappointed. My husband walked out because he found the first 20 min too gloomy.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2012 17:43:10 GMT
There are certain movies like that (including Melancholia) that I think are sensational but would not recommend to about 95% of the people I know, and maybe not even half of my friends.
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Post by lola on Jan 31, 2012 20:04:51 GMT
No, I wouldn't tell anyone to rush out and see Tree of Life, either.
Having more best actor/actress nominees seems to make sense, nycgirl. Having more people sit there and pretend to be delighted when the other person wins would be difficult, though. I think Woody Allen's not believing in the whole concept of "best" makes the most sense.
I forgot we saw Hugo, also, which I'd put in the middle of my pack above. I must have included one that wasn't nominated, but am too lazy to look it up.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2012 21:46:55 GMT
Hugo probably deserves some technical awards, but none of the big ones as far as I am concerned, until the Oscars create an award for "best heart" or some such.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 2, 2012 8:15:36 GMT
I was reading an article that pointed out the remarkable link between the two most nominated films: one is a French film about American silent movies and the other is an American film about French silent movies.
The Los Angeles Times also noted that The Artist is the only one of the nine nominated best movies to have been filmed 100% in Los Angeles. That's the sort of detail that influences votes within the industry, even if it shouldn't.
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Post by nycgirl on Feb 3, 2012 4:00:03 GMT
I can see how that can happen. I have to admit, decent films that are set and filmed in New York do get a lot of bonus points from me. But I'm not an Academy voter, so I'm allowed to have shoddy standards.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Feb 3, 2012 16:42:51 GMT
I always loved Meryl Streep (I saw Mama Mia as a blip...she's allowed one mistake ) but the very idea that a movie about Thatcher would gain critical acclaim makes me feel quite poorly. I know that I have no right to criticise the film because I haven't seen it....but ooooh....bring back Spitting Image I say (did anyone outside the UK see that wonderful satirical tv show?) As for the rest of the nominations, I've only seen two on Lola's list....
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Post by Deleted on Feb 3, 2012 18:16:04 GMT
Since all of the award shows are mostly about the local film industry congratulating itself, one of the awards that interests me the most is the one for foreign film.
Bafta "films not in the English language"
INCENDIES
PINA
POTICHE
A SEPARATION
THE SKIN I LIVE IN
French cinema academy César awards
Black Swan
Le discours d'un roi
Drive
Le gamin au vélo
Incendies
Melancholia
Une séparation
(The French nominations often overlap with the Oscars from last year because of the release date in France.)
Oscars Foreign Language Film
Belgium, "Bullhead" Canada, "Monsieur Lazhar" Iran, "A Separation" Israel, "Footnote" Poland, "In Darkness"
It seems quite clear to me that A Separation will win, as it should. The Iranian film industry has become one of the most impressive in the world.
I do very much like Incendies as well, and it is probably the most gut-wrenching of the lot, perhaps too gut-wrenching.
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Post by lola on Feb 6, 2012 13:53:48 GMT
We watched Margin Call last night on DVD, and I put it in the middle of my personal best films list. As movies about business and risk taking go, certainly more gripping than Moneyball.
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Post by thill25 on Feb 10, 2012 18:03:18 GMT
Was anyone else surprised that Midnight in Paris was nominated for Best Motion Picture of the Year? I liked the film, but did not think it was one of the best films I've seen this year or, for that matter, the past five years. That being said, I can understand the Best Screenplay nomination because it was very unique script.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 10, 2012 18:12:17 GMT
Indeed, it is certainly not "best picture" material. The nominations for Bridesmaids were also a shock.
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Post by lola on Feb 11, 2012 2:39:39 GMT
I'm afraid I belong to the "just know what I like" school of best film judging.
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 11, 2012 3:55:53 GMT
Whichever judges nominated Bridesmaids were drugged, bribed, &/or had taken leave of their senses. That movie is sub-crap.
Midnight in Paris was fun, but you have to deliberately overlook many flaws in order to get into it.
I'm shattered -- Melancholia was screened here the other night & I wasn't able to go!
Re: Brad Pitt getting the nomination for what I'm assuming was the less demanding role -- isn't that a fairly common occurence with movie awards, or at least the Oscars? It seems that excellence not rewarded at the time gets thrown a bone later.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2012 6:07:28 GMT
I have my own theory about why Tree of Life was a bit ignored -- it had been filmed almost 3 years before it finally came out due to the OCD perfectionism of Terrence Malick; I'm sure that made it harder for the actors to talk about their roles with the necessary passion when they had made 2 or 3 other films since then.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2012 19:48:57 GMT
Okay, today I finally saw The Descendents, which is good but it does certainly not deserve a nomination for best picture or best actor, in my opinion.
I think that what I liked the most about it was the use of Hawaii as a place to live instead of a vacation spot, and I also liked the multitude of secondary characters -- but none of whom had enough screen time to warrant a supporting actor/actress nomination, unfortunately.
What I liked the least (and a common peeve of mine about a lot of French films) was seeing only people totally waddling in huge amounts of money and never having any sort of monetary worries. For the same reason, I found the prologue making a point of saying that "everybody in Hawaii is not rich" and showing a few bums to be completely obscene since I then sat through two hours showing the total opposite.
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Post by auntieannie on Feb 12, 2012 22:35:06 GMT
Well, it's the BAFTAs tonight and I cannot believe that at 22h30 UK time, when the ceremony only started at about 9PM UK, the list of winners is already available online. surely a bleep!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 13, 2012 6:08:15 GMT
So, for the Baftas:
BEST FILM - THE ARTIST OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM - TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY DIRECTOR - THE ARTIST - Michel Hazanavicius ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY - THE ARTIST - Michel Hazanavicius ADAPTED SCREENPLAY - TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY - Bridget O'Connor, Peter Straughan FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE - THE SKIN I LIVE IN - Pedro Almodóvar ANIMATED FILM - RANGO - Gore Verbinski LEADING ACTOR - JEAN DUJARDIN - The Artist LEADING ACTRESS - MERYL STREEP - The Iron Lady SUPPORTING ACTOR - CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER - Beginners SUPPORTING ACTRESS - OCTAVIA SPENCER - The Help ORIGINAL MUSIC - THE ARTIST - Ludovic Bource CINEMATOGRAPHY - THE ARTIST - Guillaume Schiffman
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Post by auntieannie on Feb 13, 2012 12:00:59 GMT
Nothing for Gary Oldman. Nothing for We need to talk about Kevin.
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Post by nycgirl on Feb 19, 2012 19:08:57 GMT
It looks like Streep is a shoo-in for the Oscar, seeing as how she's been picking up awards left and right. As much as I love her, though, I really don't want her to win for this. Everyone who praises her performance seems to unanimously agree the film itself isn't very good.
I also prefer someone else to win because an Oscar has such potential to boost an actor's career, but Streep is already such a powerful and influential celebrity (deservedly so) that winning another Oscar won't make a bit of difference to her. However, it would make a world of difference to Viola Davis, an amazing and underrated actress. Plus, it would be a victory for "nameless" black actresses who might have a hard time getting lead roles.
Sorry to get all political, but the Oscars always were political.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2012 20:17:32 GMT
Meryl Streep, as the most nominated actress in history, clearly does not really need to win -- but will the Academy think the same?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2012 12:42:34 GMT
No habrá paz para los malvados was the victor of the Spanish Goya awards: best film, best director, best actor, best original screenplay, best music, best editing.
Almovodar's The Skin I Live In had the most nominations (16) but only came away with 4 awards.
Best European film went to.... The Artist
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Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2012 18:44:44 GMT
Tonight are the French Academy Awards. They used to be on Saturday night, but that created a problem with the Oscars being on Sunday night. Although French nominees were never involved in the past as much as this year, there were still always 3 or 4 or a half dozen people who had to jump on the first plane to Los Angeles the next day -- sometimes the nominee for best foreign film but more often someone for best music or best costumes -- that sort of thing. Anyway, they would arrive just a few hours before the Oscars, and it was pretty inhuman. Interestingly enough, The Artist is not the favourite in France, because two other films received more nominations and they are indeed extraordinary films, even if they are not as easily exportable. Also, this year, it might be France's turn to give the César for best actor to a black person for the first time ever -- Omar Sy. He was exceptional in a film (Intouchables) based on a true story about a delinquent who becomes the life assistant of a tetraplegic rich man, the attraction being that he never pities his employer but treats him like a normal person. I have no idea how well this film will do in other countries, but it has been #1 in Germany and Austria for 8 weeks running now and will probably be the top box office hit of the year there, just as it is in France. Today it was released in Italy, so everybody has an eye on it. I regret to say that it was purchased for an American remake before it was even released in France. Meanwhile, Fouquet's built a huge holding tank/photo area for the post-awards moment, since everybody has to go there for the fiesta after the show.
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