The official 83rd Academy Awards Nomination and Predictions Thread (1 Viewer)

[Eric Peterson]

One thing I learned last night was that I most definitely need to see Inception and 127 Hours.

127 Hours was hands down my favorite film of last year. I thought it was an amazing feat to make a movie that kept me completely engaged throughout even though I knew how it ended. It was essentially a 1-man show. It was the only film that I saw last year that left me in awe.


While Inception didn't do much for me, It was an extremely ambitious concept and was a great experience and a groundbreaking film.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Wow...someone who still hasn’t seen INCEPTION. Fantastic film


As for 127 Hours....meh. I was bored.

 

[TravisR]

Has there ever been an Oscar show or hosts that people like? Every year I read how it's the worst year ever.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Travis,


I think the shows in general are bad, but the hosts are

memorable. I don't think other than Carson and Crystal

has there been more memorable hosts in my lifetime.


Could be wrong about that, but those are the ones I
remember the most.

I was disappointed that Steinfeld didn't win

That was a robbed Oscar if I ever saw one.


The woman that won for The Fighter (don't have her

name at the moment) didn't deserve that win.


Someone in the chat last night summed it up when

they said that her acceptance speech personality was

no different than her character in the film. It was one

and the same person -- classless. She didn't act.
She was just herself.

 

[Ruz-El]

Originally Posted by TravisR

Has there ever been an Oscar show or hosts that people like? Every year I read how it's the worst year ever.

I think it's pretty standard to think of the Oscars as boring and bloated. That said, I always liked not just Billy Crystal but Steve Martin. Letterman was considered a huge bomb, but I thought it was more fun then what we got last night. If you're not going to have a funny host, at least have one with personality.

but I find it hard to take anything away from Leo in The Fighter too.

I didn't think much of Leo in "The Fighter". That type of mum role is kind of a dime a dozen in family pictures. I was glad she won though since it justifies her long overlooked and low key work in "Homicide: Life On The Streets"


"Inception" and the completely ignored "Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World" were my two favorite experiences in a movie theater last year. Both ground breaking visually and in the way they tell their story, I think they'll be the ones getting viewed in 10 years time.

 

[Charles Smith]

Re Maria Schneider, etc., that always trips me up, too, but they go by the calendar year; i.e. the deaths that occurred in 2010.


And now I'm sorry I didn't think to join the chat here. Sounds like a damned good time.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

The thing about Leo's win is that it points to the cynical nature of these things. She didn't go on a promotion tour for her terrific performance in the indie picture Frozen Winter, and got snubbed. She learned her lesson this time around and was probably the biggest self-promotor of the Oscar season.


If Hailee Steinfeld had been nominated for Best Actress instead of Best Supporting Actress -- which she should have been -- she would have still been my pick. Since she wasn't, I was rooting for Jennifer Lawrence. Portman had the showier role, but Steinfeld and Jennifer Lawrence created performances I haven't seen before. The scene they showed for Lawrence, with Ree Dolly's frustrated sarcasm after just being savagely beaten and perhaps gang raped, showcased the uniqueness of the character and the performance. If that didn't put her over the edge, the boat ride scene should have.

 

[Malcolm R]

I agree that this was one of the worst Oscar shows ever. It seemed very poorly directed. Lots of awkward pauses, dead air, people not knowing where they were supposed to go or stand, etc. The hosts weren't that great, but aside from Billy Crystal, none of them usually are. The written banter was the usual awful. Why didn't they ask Aaron Sorkin to write this? I'm not a huge fan of his, but he can write better dialogue than the crap the presenters were spouting last night. I had no idea what Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis were going on about most of the time. And the BS they come up with for the Best Actor/Actress nominees is just painful to watch. I wish they'd just go back to announcing the nominees and the winner. They don't feel the need to stroke the individual egos of any of the other category nominees in advance of the award.


Mostly satisfied with the winners, though I was hoping for an upset for "How To Train Your Dragon" in the Animated Feature category. Having seen it and TS3, I feel HTTYD was the better film.


It also would have been nice to see "The Social Network" go home empty-handed and "True Grit" have won something. But perfection is seldom attained, especially when talking about the Oscars.

 

[Charles Smith]

Agree wholeheartedly with that last sentiment.

 

[Bryan Tuck]

Originally Posted by Ronald Epstein

The highlight of the night? Billy Crystal. That auditorium

came alive when he entered. Has he refused to return to

host the Oscars or has he not been asked? There hasn't

been a good Oscars night since he left.

I dunno; I thought the year Hugh Jackman hosted was a fun show. But last night's was very blah indeed.

Originally Posted by Ronald Epstein

The woman that won for The Fighter (don't have her

name at the moment) didn't deserve that win.


Someone in the chat last night summed it up when

they said that her acceptance speech personality was

no different than her character in the film. It was one

and the same person -- classless. She didn't act.
She was just herself.

Agreed. When you win an Oscar, that is your moment, and you should enjoy it, but wow, Melissa Leo. What a hammy, self-aggrandizing, look-at-me, don't-I-deserve-this speech.

 

[Michael Elliott]

Having actually seen all of the movies that were nominated in the major awards, I thought the year was fine, although it certainly wasn't as good as last year.

TRUE GRIT not winning anything might restore my faith enough to actually watch the show live next year.

 

[Ken Chan]

More severed arms than average in this year's crop of BP nominees.

Originally Posted by Adam Lenhardt

Ree Dolly's frustrated sarcasm after just being savagely beaten and perhaps gang raped

With the women around, I don't think that happened. That seems like a line they wouldn't let the men cross. One of the interesting things about the movie is how the men held the power but the women did the work.

 

[Edwin-S]

Sounds like this was a typical Oscar show: boring, with the wrong movie winning Best Picture as usual. The animated Best Picture might as well be called the Pixar award. Toy Story 3 did not deserve to win over How To Train Your Dragon.

 

[Tina_H_V]

Originally Posted by Tino


19 out of 24

Right on, Patrick and Tino. I had fun on this Oscar Run and look forward to doing it again next year!!!!!!

 

[mattCR]

Someone asked about hosts you liked. I'll say this: I really enjoyed the years Billy Crystal hosted, there were some great jabs at the people there, the jokes were funny, he had good timing, he was willing to take shots at himself that paid off.. that was a lot of fun. The only host I've seen recently that even compares right now is Neil Patrick Harris, who was -fantastic- in his performance at the Tony's and Emmys. I think you have to be able to sell yourself as someone who will take a shot at yourself and mean it, be willing to laugh along and throw out barbs at the audience that are a bit above puffball but never cruel, and you have to sound as though you actually like being there. I normally am not a fan of the Tony's. I generally think they are a snore. But NPH turned that show into a complete riot the year that he did it, with quick off the cuff remarks and an attention to what was going on. I think that's the biggest problem they had. Nobody can call an audible and speak from the gut or throw in a joke when they need it.. there is no ablity to ad-lib or seem spontaneous. The show seems so paint by the numbers that you feel it's regurgitated mess and it just isn't funny enough to carry on it's own. You have to have a how that can improvise and make it work. It's why Hope worked, it's why Crystal worked, it's why NPH worked. They have to realize you have to have a comic who loves what he is doing. If you don't have that, it's all downhill.

 

[Steve Christou]

Originally Posted by Edwin-S

The animated Best Picture might as well be called the Pixar award. Toy Story 3 did not deserve to win over How To Train Your Dragon.

I've been wondering about this, if Toy Story 3 was good enough to be included in the Best Picture category than what chance did the other two films in the Best Animated Movie category have of beating it? In other words the best animated film of the year had already been chosen, nullifying the animated movie category. It's ridiculous. Keep the cartoons in their own category.

 

[TonyD]

I've been wondering about this, if Toy Story 3 was good enough to be included in the Best Picture category than what chance did the other two films in the Best Animated Movie category have of beating it? In other words the best animated film of the year had already been chosen, nullifying the animated movie category. It's ridiculous. Keep the cartoons in their own category.

Cartoon? You think Toy Story and Dragon are only cartoons and not legit film?

 

[Adam Gregorich]

Originally Posted by Ronald Epstein

Wow...someone who still hasn’t seen INCEPTION. Fantastic film


As for 127 Hours....meh. I was bored.

I'm in the minority on Inception. It was good, but I felt about 20 minutes too long.

 

[Steve Christou]

Originally Posted by TonyD


Cartoon?
You think Toy Story and Dragon are only cartoons and not legit film?

I'm not saying they're only cartoons, how dare you? They are legit feature length toons.


Wasn't it Walt Disney who famously said "I make cartoons" ?

 

[TravisR]

Originally Posted by Steve Christou

Keep the cartoons in their own category.

Since animated movies have gained some more respect over the last couple years, I think the animated category should be abolished and the voters should treat animated movies like every other movie. Toy Story 3 is a better movie than what ended up winning the Oscar but it never had a chance of winning since many see it as just a cartoon and not a 'real' movie.