Topic: 2003 Alternative Oscars

[Antares]

Best Picture
Winner: Chicago (2002) - Martin Richards (I)

Other Nominees:
Gangs of New York (2002) - Alberto Grimaldi (I); Harvey Weinstein
The Hours (2002) - Scott Rudin; Robert Fox (II)
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) - Barrie M. Osborne; Fran Walsh; Peter Jackson (I)
The Pianist (2002) - Roman Polanski; Robert Benmussa; Alain Sarde

[Antares]

First off, let me state for the record...

Never, I repeat NEVER!, should a Musical be awarded Best Picture of the year. The selection of Chicago as best film nauseated me for days after the ceremony. Gangs of New York was a lesser effort from Scorcese, The Two Towers would have to wait for the third film to be released the following year to harvest its crop of statues, and The Hours was too slow for me. That leaves with the best of the five, The Pianist.

Sure, Polanski is a fugitive, and what he did to that 13 year old was reprehensible, but he is a fantastic director.

[snowcat]

Now, Of all those films personally I feel Chicago is best, but as usual I tend to love John C Reilly in any film that probably swings it.

I think best picture means best picture, this kind of musical is still a film regardless.. A musical film adaption is just as worthy as any film to be nominated.

I liked the Pianist, Ive watched about 3/4 of Gangs of New York And I find all of the LOTR extremely boring. Especially the Return of the King... Ive read the book and I know the characters don't say goodbye to each other for the entire bloody thing.

[Najemikon]

I'm torn between Gangs and The Pianist. The former is lesser Scorcese, but has he really done anything since that isn't? I think it's more interesting that The Departed. The Pianist is a great film too though.

I'm like Antares in that I would never consider musicals. I fundamentally don't like them! However, I think they have to be considered because those who do like them see something incredible I don't. And when you see that Musical is one of the original founding film genres, it has to be respected.

I feel the same way about Jazz, Brussel Sprouts and Adam Sandler...

[Achim]

Saying something is "a lesser Scorcese" doesn't make it a bad film by a long stretch...

I only have seen to of the films (Gangs and LOTR) so I can't form an educated opinion.

[filmincarnate]

It would really be between Gangs of New York and The Pianist. It is a tough decision but I would have to go with Gangs of New York. It is "lesser Scorsese" when compared to Raging Bull or Taxi Driver but it is leaps and bounds better than something like The Departed or even Shutter Island (both of which I did enjoy). The Pianist is good but it feels so routine, as if Polanski was taking naps during the production and someone else was taking over direction. I honestly could not say that Polanski directed that if I had not known. I am also not a huge Adrian Brody fan but his work in that is probably his best to date.

I still don't understand why The Hours was even nominated. I could say the same for Chicago but I at least found the majority of that to be redeemable entertainment, just nowhere near deserving of the accolades it received.

If I had it my way, Adaptation, Far from Heaven and/or Talk to Her would have all been  up for best picture and all three would have been better candidates than what was nominated.

[Tom]

I have only seen "Chicago" and I didn't like it very much. So no vote from me for any of these movies.

[m.cellophane]

First off, let me state for the record...

Never, I repeat NEVER!, should a Musical be awarded Best Picture of the year. The selection of Chicago as best film nauseated me for days after the ceremony.

Oh, interesting.  I just stumbled upon this thread. You and I will have some fun then, because the musical is my favorite film genre. 

My internet handle of m.cellophane comes from Chicago. 

[hal9g]

Never, I repeat NEVER!, should a Musical be awarded Best Picture of the year.

I'm sorry, but I really have to take exception with this statement (and somehow, I believe you made it just to get such a reaction).

Sound of Music was without a doubt the Best Picture of 1965, in spite of the fact that I also loved Doctor Zhivago!

[goodguy]

There are a few around here who genuinely don't like musicals - Antares, Jon, Pete. It's just one of those things.

[hal9g]

There are a few around here who genuinely don't like musicals - Antares, Jon, Pete. It's just one of those things.

I understand that.  But to state that an entire genre doesn't deserve to win "Best Picture" because of a personal bias is a bit of a stretch.

That means that "horror" should never win 'Best Picture' from my perspective.

Oh, that's right...'Horror' has never won a 'Best Picture'....but 'Musicals' have won several! (Chicago, Oliver!, The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, West Side Story, Going My Way, The Great Ziegfeld & The Broadway Melody (1929)).

All well deserved IMHO!

[lyonsden5]

Typically I'm not a big fan of musicals, but I will watch and do enjoy many of them. I just watched The Sound of Music last weekend. There wasn't a minute of it I didn't enjoy wholeheartedly. If any of you have the blu-ray and haven't watched it yet I encourage you to do so. Fantastic job with the video and the sound was nothing short of amazing!