Official 2009 Oscar Discussion (1 Viewer)

[Inspector Hammer!]

A great film is a great film, whether it's about a man who ages in reverse, a boy with hopes of winning big on a gameshow or about a man who wears a cape and fights crime.

 

[Bryan Tuck]

Despite its flaws, I would've liked to see The Dark Knight get a Best Picture nod. However, its not being nominated doesn't disappoint me as much as seeing what it was passed over for. I certainly thought TDK was better than The Reader (which played like an Oscar Bait for Dummies instructional video), and I actually thought it was also better than Benjamin Button and Slumdog, both of which were decent enough, but which just failed to pull me in as much as it seemed like they should.

 

[Edwin-S]

I read in the VARIETY article that the Foreign Film selection process was revamped. What kind of changes were made? Anyone know?

 

[Michael Elliott]

I always say box office returns and Oscars don't matter but they sure are fun to debate. I don't think THE DARK KNIGHT not being nominated has anything to do with that film but more to do with 2008 being a great year in cinema. I've seen around thirteen or fourteen "four star movies" this year and still have several big ones to watch.

I honestly think you could add five more nominations to each category and still have some films and actors missing out. I personally feel this is the strongest year in recent memory.

With that said, I hope THE READER gets some more attention since it seems to be missing the boat in terms of people watching it. I'm sure the subject matter is going to keep people away but hopefully a few more will see it now.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

I have an obvious, if probably stupid question, why doesn't the academy simply add a sixth spot to each major category? Why is it only five?

This would open another spot for films like TDK and directors like Nolan if indeed the over abundance of great films this year is to blame for it's lack of noms.

 

[Jace_A]

For those complaining about the omission of Bruce Springsteen's song in The Wrestler: it wasn't eligible. The Academy changed the rules a few years back to restrict nominees to songs that are integral to the film itself and do not only appear over the credits.

 

[JohnRice]

Please go back, edit the first post and add the actual individuals' names for categories like Cinematography and Art Direction, not to mention some of the others.

Those films didn't photograph and design themselves.

 

[Chuck Mayer]

John, you could make it easy on the OP by providing that data yourself. He's not getting paid to do this.

 

[Michael Elliott]

It probably wouldn't end the debate though. In 1935 they nominated 12 films for Best Picture yet BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN wasn't among them. Of course, today that film is considered one of the all-time classics yet in 1935 it couldn't get one out of twelve nominations.

 

[Bryan Tuck]

I thought that the ruling was that an end credits song was eligible as long as it was the first song to play over the credits. Either way, I'd argue that the Springsteen song wasn't any less integral to The Wrestler than "Down to Earth" was to Wall-E.

 

[teapot2001]

Wall-E's song was over the end credits and so was one of Slumdog's songs. So Springsteen's song wasn't eligible because it's end credits featured white text on black? Lame.

John, one of the admins edited my post to add the entire list. But you could go ahead and do your online research to find the particular names on of the nominees for thoes categories.

~T

 

[Justin_S]

I believe Springsteen included the song on his new album. Doesn't that disqualify it from the running, or am I mistaken?


Figures.

 

[Jeff Adkins]

Here's more on the Let The Right One In explanation. The bottom line is that Sweden selected a different film to submit.

Another look at LET THE RIGHT ONE IN - & why the Academy's Policy for Considering BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM is broken!

 

[Yee-Ming]

Absolutely agree with these, since they were rather unexpected. Has any Pixar movie ever been nominated for screenplay? Must say it's rather unusual, in that in the first half of the movie there's practically no dialog at all.

And Downey Jr was simply brilliant, but risked being overlooked because (a) it was "only" a comedy, and (b) he was in blackface.

 

[Michael Reuben]

Some of those films aren't ten years old, but basically, yes, you're wrong. I'm still passionate about a number of them, and as to the rest, I know there are passionate devotees on HTF (and undoubtedly elsewhere).

We may not be as numerous as fans of The Dark Knight, but so what? If sheer numbers were all that mattered, awards would be determined by box office, and Paul Blart: Mall Cop would be an Oscar-worthy film.

 

[Brandon Conway]

It's actually become quite common to nominate animation in the screenplay category. The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, Toy Story, and Ratatouille all got screenplay noms. And the lack of dialog in the first half probably helped the film rather than hurt it, as it drew focus to the film's story and plot structure.

 

[Brent M]

One week at the top of the box office in January is a far cry from the 2nd highest grossing film of ALL-TIME.

 

[TerryRL]

While I'm not all that surprised by how the nods turned out this morning, I was hoping that that Best Picture nominees would've looked more like this...

"The Dark Knight"
"Milk"
"Slumdog Millionaire"
"Wall-E"
"The Wrestler"

I know it was too much to hope for. I was also disappointed that The Boss' song was disqualified.

 

[DavidJ]

I still have too many films to see this year, but I do admit I was also hoping to see TDK and Wall-E nominated. They are two films for which my appreciation has really grown. It is amazing how well Wall-E holds up to multiple viewings (it is our daughter's current favorite). I like the animation cayegory, but worry that it makes it too easy to ignore the animated films in the other categories.

 

[Michael Reuben]

The principle is the same. I just took the most recent example. If it makes you any happier, substitute The Phantom Menace or My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Do I have to go combing through Box Office Mojo looking for more examples to demonstrate the obvious point that popularity and quality don't automatically equate?

In any case, my focus was on the list of films from past years that had been pronounced (mistakenly, in my view) as forgotten. Are you TDK fans really so bitter that the slightest hint that someone doesn't share your enthusiasm sets you off? If so, it's going to be a long awards season.