When you most expect it - you'll be let down: Disappointing Oscar Hopefuls (1 Viewer)

[JohnS]

To me, stuff that was released early in the year or niddle of the year, are better contenders.
Just to name a few.....
Best Actress: Nichole Kidman Others & Moulin Rouge & Naomi Watts Mulholland Drive
Best Actor: Ben Kingsley Sexy Beast & Jack Nicholson Pledge & Billy Bob Thorton Man Who Wasn't There JCM Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Foreign film Amelie
Best picture Mulholland Drive or Moulin Rogue
I will be very disappointed if some of or none of these actors aren't nominated.
Vanilla Sky, A Beautiful Mind and Ali are all clunkers
Jasen,
Gangs of New York, has now been pushed back till Spring/Summer 2002.

 

[JasenP]

Gangs of New York, has now been pushed back till Spring/Summer 2002.

Thanks, I have avoided reading any more about this film. Every article just talks about the budget overages and I don't care about that. I just want to see the new Martin Scorsese film.

 

[David Oliver]

Best Actor: Ben Kingsley Sexy Beast

I agree he should be nominated, but I think he would be nominated for a Best Supporting Actor.

 

[Tom Rags]

Not to seem unoriginal, but Memento really is the best movie this year.

However Ron, chalk me up as another who really enjoyed Vanilla Sky...it aint a perfect movie, but its the last movie in recent memory (save for Memento) that really has had me thinking for a few days. I enjoyed it since it is a "thinker," however...in many "thinkers," the movie either ends up revealing too much or leaves you in a complete clooge at the end where it would be impossible to come up with any rational explainations. I enjoyed Vanilla Sky because they tie everything up at the end, but there are numerous things left open for you to think about, i.e.

Who's voice is that waking up David at the end of the movie? Was the whole movie a dream or did the splice occur when Tech Support says? What was the significance of Times Square at the beginning? Does this show that he is already in LE? What about Sophia's and Julie's voices in his alarm clock at the beginning? etc etc


Also, for trivia buffs, you can find out what Steven Spielberg's first and only line in a movie is:

Come here you son of a bitch!

 

[Tom Ryan]

Memento. How can anyone say it has no character development, no exploration of relationships? Did you see the same film I did? Memento goes WAY beyond the "gimmick", and it's one of the best movies I've seen in a looooooong time. It will probably get a screenplay nom, but that's about it. I guess I'll just have to settle for FOTR sweeping the technical categories, picture and director.

-Tom

 

[Sam Graves]

Also, for trivia buffs, you can find out what Steven Spielberg's first and only line in a movie is:

Have you seen The Blues Brothers ?

 

[Tom Ryan]

Tom, I'm not sure about everything you asked about Vanilla Sky but...That was the voice of Penelope Cruz, Sofia, on the machine at the end. So I'm guessing she had herself frozen so they could be together. Kinda neat, eh? Life isn't so bleak for David after all.

-Tom

 

[Tom Rags]

Sam- Ouch, I knew I might get burned on this...I didn't think Speilberg had any other cameos (save for the Goonies Cindy Lauper video) ... and I am emberassed to say I've only caught parts of Blues Brothers :b Did he have a line in that or was he just "in the background?"

 

[Guy Martin]

Tom-

I assume the cameo you're thinking of is his role as the voice of "Amity Point Lighthouse" in Jaws?

- Guy

 

[Brett_B]

Guy,
I think the cameo Tom is referring to is the one in Vanilla Sky (at least that is what he was quoting in the spoiler tags).
Brett B.

 

[Tim RH]

I only wish that were true, but in a year this dry, there just isn't many more than 20 worth seeing at all.

 

[Jason Seaver]

I only wish that were true, but in a year this dry, there just isn't many more than 20 worth seeing at all.

I'm not sure where you live - if it's someplace rural then some of the good stuff may have passed you by - but there's been plenty that's "worth seeing"; I managed to come up with 40+ movies in the "three star and up" range, and another 30 or so at 2.5 stars (sort of the boundary of "worth seeing"). I also know there are a few movies I would have liked to see but didn't make it to. Sure, I'm lucky enough to live in a large city where I can generally find festival-circuit, documentary, and foreign stuff.

But, more to the point, 20 films is a limited sample; no way around it. If you figure an average of four films a week are released by the major and minor studios, it's less than 10%, and that's before getting to the stuff you have to really search out. If it's further skewed by limited options in your area, or being scared away by a few negative reviews, it's even less to base an opinion on.

 

[Paul_D]

I REALLY want to see In the Bedroom after all the word of mouth its had. There's been talk of 'locks' in certain categories - such as Shrek for Animated Film, Planet of the Apes for makeup.... The only absolute lock I can see is Amelie for Foreign Film. I would bet my life on this one winning! As for the other awards, beiong a resident of the British Isles, I most likely won't get to see any othe contenders for a good long while. But based on what I've read and heard, and know about those involved, the following is what I'd like to see happen, come Oscar night:
In the Bedroom - sounding good, how to see this one soon
Mulholland Drive - sound like this one could do really well - from what I've heard, it should at least get noms for lynch, screenplay and even maybe film?
Amelie - will win foreign film, if it was up to me, would win everything!
A.I. - i though this was an unbelievable film - along with amelie, best of the year 0- should get noms for director, film, screenplay, effects etc.
Moulin Rouge - havent seen, but I haven;t heard a bad thing, should scoop a shit loada noms
The Man Who Wasn't There - seen this one - average flick, but Billy Bob is GREAT IN IT
The Pledge - Nicholson deserves AT LEAST a nom - a brilliant psychological thriller!
I Am Sam - however sappy the film is, Sean Penn deserves recognition, for he is the greatest actor alive
Ali - Hollywood delivering Michael Mann the recognition he deserves is long LONG overdue - this is the perfect opportunity. did anyone say Best Director?
A Beautiful Mind - Russel Crowe should've won for LA Confidential or The Insider. If hes as good in this as he was in them, he wont win. Not that he wasnt very good in Gladiator!
Fellowship of the Ring - a really entertaining, well-made, engaging, action-packed blockbuster. But acting Oscars are out of the question, since the material doesnt have enough emotional breadth. Director? possibly. Picture? nah. Should sweep the technical awards ala matrix though.
Black Hawk Down - the buzz on this is BAD BAD BAD - probably get nothing.
The Majestic - I'd love to see Jim Carrey get a nod for this - he's really underappreciated! (no sarcasm in case you were wondering)
The Royal Tenenbaums - I cant wait for this one, but I doubt Oscar cares about this type of movie.
Vanilla Sky - its a remake and people dont like it... i.e. forget about this one
The Shipping News - miramax + oscar time = evil. and I think people are getting tired of Spacey's constant oscar bids!

 

[BrianShort]

Black Hawk Down - the buzz on this is BAD BAD BAD - probably get nothing.

Hmm... I've been getting the impression that the buzz on this was actually very good. I've seen a few negative reviews but mostly it's been positive, it's made several critics top 10 lists, and I believe was even nominated for some awards. Doesnt sound like "BAD BAD BAD buzz" to me...

Brian

 

[Kevin Leonard]

The only absolute lock I can see is Amelie for Foreign Film. I would bet my life on this one winning!

While I don't doubt this film will get nominated (and most likely win), what about Brotherhood of the Wolf? It's been getting a lot of buzz and smashing reviews...might give Amelie a run for its money. If it's eligible...is it?

 

[Kevin Leonard]

By the way, there seems to already be an Oscar discussion thread:
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...threadid=34567
Shouldn't these two be merged? Or are they different enough to be kept seperate?

 

[TheLongshot]

While I don't doubt this film will get nominated (and most likely win), what about Brotherhood of the Wolf?

According to the rules, only one film per country. "Amelie" and BotW are both French films.

Jason

 

[Michael Reuben]

I only wish that were true, but in a year this dry, there just isn't many more than 20 worth seeing at all.

It is true as a sheer matter of numbers. Whether you happen to consider more than 20 of the 200+ films released this year to be "worth seeing" is a different question.
I'm curious, though: How do you know there's so little worth seeing if you haven't seen most of it?
M.

 

[Jason Seaver]

While I don't doubt this film will get nominated (and most likely win), what about Brotherhood of the Wolf? It's been getting a lot of buzz and smashing reviews...might give Amelie a run for its money. If it's eligible...is it?

Probably, although the eligibility rules for foreign language films are so arcane and bass-ackwards that it can be hard to tell. Still, the one film per country rule means France will probably submit Amélie rather than Brotherhood Of The Wolf. Too bad, because while Amélie is the better movie, Brotherhood is certainly fantastic.

 

[Seth Paxton]

Kevin, as I said in my thread, it was intended to be general Oscar guess discussion rather than focused on "Oscar season" letdowns, which seemed to be what Ron was getting at here.
The discussion here has wandered into general guesses unfortunately, rather than being put over in the Oscar talk thread. However, there are some very interesting on topic points in this thread regarding the gearing of films toward winning awards rather than being true to the art and letting the awards come naturally.
I agree that it does show through much of the time. And of course sometimes the studio realizes what it's sitting on and modifies the release date to hit the Oscar season, rather than making an entire production geared toward it.
And off-topic, since Black Hawk Down is up for several AFI awards, including Best Picture, it's just a little bit right of "negative buzz" on the meter. But then it got pulled back in when they realized it might actually have a shot at some awards.
So Bruckheimer DID release a war-themed Oscar picture after all, just not the one he was aiming with. I think Ridley Scott might have something to do with that, along with a great cast.