Topic: 2011 Alternative Oscars

[Dragonfire]

That was good. 
 

Something did seem a little ...off to me about the show this year.  I think most of it is that I just didn't particularly care for James Franco..he just didn't work well as a host.  He wasn't horrible..but he just didn't work.  He was kind of...out of it or something.  Anne Hathaway was good.  I think it would have been better if she had hosted alone.  Or if Billy Crystal was back.  He's so good at hosting.

[goodguy]

Full list by category and by movie:
http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/83/nominees.html

Movie		Wins/Noms
127 Hours		0/6
Black Swan		1/5
The Fighter		2/7
Inception		4/8
The Kids Are All Right		0/4
The King's Speech		4/12
The Social Network		3/8
Toy Story 3		2/5
True Grit		0/10
Winter's Bone		0/4

That's sad even by Academy standards. Haven't watched the show yet.

...with all the usual over the top comments because one of our film is nominated.

I haven't seen Incendies yet, but I was actually surprised that Canada didn't submit Xavier Dolan's Les amours imaginaires (Heartbeats), even if I didn't like it much.

That's what I hate about the Oscars, and why I couldn't care less about them. Nobody wins solely on merit, there's always a bit marketing machine behind any winner. Meaningless crud really.

Well, mostly I love to hate them. And the rare cases where the get it right just make me happy for no real reason. Didn't happen this year, though.  

[Antares]

Randy Newman's speech was fun

But it's a shame that he won, his was the weakest of the four songs nominated. But what do you expect from a guy who has basically taken the same song and re-worked it over and over again for close to thirty five years. One of the most overrated and hackneyed songwriters in history.

[Dragonfire]

I'm not that fun of Newman overall either.  I liked the song from Tangled better.  Not sure why there were only 4 nominated this year.

[Jimmy]

Is Randy Newman the same guy who sang Short Peoples and I love L.A decades ago? I'm sure surprise to hear he always work, since I didn't listening anything from him since I Love L.A.

I haven't seen Incendies yet, but I was actually surprised that Canada didn't submit Xavier Dolan's Les amours imaginaires (Heartbeats), even if I didn't like it much.

He was nominated for the Cesar, but The Social Network did win. Wich is kind of stupid, since it's the French cinema festival and multi-millions Hollywood productions had nothing to do there...

[Achim]

Is Randy Newman the same guy who sang Short Peoples and I love L.A decades ago? I'm sure surprise to hear he always work, since I didn't listening anything from him since I Love L.A.

Yep, same guy. I think he stepped back from song writing (or just isn't famous anymore) but is now doing movie soundtracks, well at least he did a few for Pixar.


I haven't actually heard the other songs, but We Belong Together is from a great beloved film and has a happy tune. Only other songs I ever knew of him before (and actually liked) were the two Jimmy mentioned. It's not so uncommon that song writers or bands make a living of repeating themselves...

[snowcat]

Well, im not surprised that The Kings Speach won as many awards as it did. Im actually really happy Colin Firth won best actor... mainly because after all this build up and people saying "hes gonna get it" it would be pretty depressing if he found he hadn't

True Grit was a good film, inception is overrated but a good film, Toy Story 3 I love but was never going to win, The Social Network... interesting, its an inspiring film, I liked Black Swan and the Fighter and I really want to see Winters Bone. I think the right film won though.

Personally I think id have liked to see Toy Story 3 or True Grit win... but The Kings Speech was probably the better film overall

[Dragonfire]

Newman has done songs for several of the Pixar movies.  I think Lassiter likes him.  I think he also did songs for The Princess and the Frog in 2009.

I know a lot of people have ripped it apart, but I liked Burlesque, and I think the one song from it - that won the Golden Globe but didn't get nominated for the Oscar, was really good.

[Jimmy]

The problem with Burlesque Marie is the fact that it is really insulting to what was really the burlesque art. Try to watch one of these films and you will see that it has nothing to do with what you have seen in the imaginary Hollywood vision.

[Dragonfire]

I know it isn't like the original burlesque shows. 
But I did think it was a fun, entertaining movie.

[Najemikon]

Well, dammit, I like Randy Newman! I agree with Achim, and his speech was one of the better ones. I still maintain this was an excellent selection of films and I certainly don't begrudge the King's Speech anything. It's easy to get swept up in a backlash, but the fact is, despite appearances, this was a small film relatively speaking and its reward is a note of respect to filmmakers who worked their arses off to get it made. I just wish the voting had been spread out a little more. At least Steinfeld for True Grit would have made me happier.

[Najemikon]

By the way, I'm really pissed off by Sky. You can only watch the ceremony in full if you subscribe to the Movie channel, so for the last couple of years I've relied on the highlights show the following evening, which is normally good enough. Not this time. They literally were highlights! Adverts every ten minutes, hardly any clips and most speeches cut to ribbons. We got about 30 seconds of Firth's. And they showed the clips for all the Best Actors/Actresses, except Jennifer Lawrence for Winter's Bone! What? She was most expendable? Bastards. I feel like I've seen nothing.

[snowcat]

By the way, I'm really pissed off by Sky. You can only watch the ceremony in full if you subscribe to the Movie channel, so for the last couple of years I've relied on the highlights show the following evening, which is normally good enough. Not this time. They literally were highlights! Adverts every ten minutes, hardly any clips and most speeches cut to ribbons. We got about 30 seconds of Firth's. And they showed the clips for all the Best Actors/Actresses, except Jennifer Lawrence for Winter's Bone! What? She was most expendable? Bastards. I feel like I've seen nothing.

 Agreed!

[Dragonfire]

Well, dammit, I like Randy Newman! I agree with Achim, and his speech was one of the better ones. I still maintain this was an excellent selection of films and I certainly don't begrudge the King's Speech anything. It's easy to get swept up in a backlash, but the fact is, despite appearances, this was a small film relatively speaking and its reward is a note of respect to filmmakers who worked their arses off to get it made. I just wish the voting had been spread out a little more. At least Steinfeld for True Grit would have made me happier.

I didn't really dislike the song from Toy Story 3...but it wasn't my favorite. 
I'm not unhappy about The King's Speech winning best picture.  It was a wonderful movie and very well done.  I really liked it.  Though I still would have been thrilled if True Grit or Toy Story 3...or Inception had won.    I'm glad Inception got a few.  And I agree about Steinfeld for True Grit.  That would have been wonderful.

[Jimmy]

(...) for the last couple of years I've relied on the highlights show the following evening, which is normally good enough. Not this time. They literally were highlights! Adverts every ten minutes, hardly any clips and most speeches cut to ribbons.

Agreed!

But think that you didn't have to hear Celine Dion Sing this way, so it can be an huge positive