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I had to sit through it, so I have a pretty solid idea. It's got a lot of Larry the Cable Guy.

What a surprising list. Stunned in a good way that Malick and Tree of Life made it, and that Spielberg was all but snubbed. Stunned in a bad way that Shailene Woodley, Albert Brooks and Michael Fassbender were left out - three of the best performances of the year. Dunst and Melancholia were less surprising, although just as unfair, exclusions.

The worst part about Cars 2 is that, technically speaking, it may have been the best movie they've made yet. The attention to detail was incredible. Which makes it all the more inexplicable that their team of writers -- who came up with probably four of the top twenty or so screenplays of the 2000s -- turned in such a horrible effort on the film. It's the same disappointment you would feel, mfunk, if one of your favorite auteurs turned in a shockingly lazy effort and everyone just shrugged it off as "well, it's just [kids stuff] [genre filmmaking] [other excuse]" when you have been arguing all along that it is so much more than that.

lacritfan wrote:Screen Actors Guild Awards Nominees Demian Bichir for A Better Life

Wow again! Good for him.

lacritfan wrote:As long as it means Stephen Daldry isn't nominated for Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. He's been nominated for EVERY movie he's directed so far.

Whew. Thank you directors branch.

Also glad to see J.C. Chandor nominated for Margin Call. Thought that was a really great script.
I must've misunderstood the Best Picture rules, I thought a film had to get at least 5% first place votes, find it hard to believe 5% thought Moneyball was the best of the year but not Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

Gary Oldman getting in was a very pleasant surprise.

Also, did anyone else notice that when Tom Sherack announced Terrence Malick for Best Director, he had to stop himself from rolling his eyes? He seemed pissed it got nominated.

Jeff wrote:

eerik wrote:Full list of Oscar nominees

Don't recall a year with so many surprise nominations or omissions. Congrats again to former cf.org regular davebert on getting a nomination for one of his films in the Best Animated Feature category again (Chico and Rita). He previously scored with Secret of the Kells.

That's actually two nominations, I have Cat in Paris as well. Pretty sure Spielberg wants me dead.

I'm looking forward to posting more regularly as soon as I find another employee. Some day...

I haven't seen Chico yet, but Cat in Paris was very good. Congratulations!

Bridesmaids receiving a nomination for Best Original Screenplay is the surprise for me. Er, why?!?

Middlebrow blah zzz as per usual. The presence of Tree only confirms that it is Malick's most bland, "suburban" film. Glad Tattoo got some noms as I'd like to see the sequels, even though it was no comparison to the Swedish version, solely due to Rapace's far superior (non) performance. That is all.

Graham wrote:Bridesmaids receiving a nomination for Best Original Screenplay is the surprise for me. Er, why?!?

I'm one of those genuinely mystified by all the acclaim Bridesmaids got. There were one or two funny sequences, but it was 40 minutes overlong, sloppily paced, and was far more conventional/cheesy than edgy/realistic.

rs98762001 wrote:

Graham wrote:Bridesmaids receiving a nomination for Best Original Screenplay is the surprise for me. Er, why?!?

I'm one of those genuinely mystified by all the acclaim Bridesmaids got. There were one or two funny sequences, but it was 40 minutes overlong, sloppily paced, and was far more conventional/cheesy than edgy/realistic.

Those are exactly my thoughts on it too.

On the other hand, very pleased to see Hugo get so many nods. A thoroughly enjoyable and impressive film.

Well, at least Patton Oswalt has a sense of humor about being snubbed. (from his Twitter):
Join me for a drink at The Drawing Room, @AlbertBrooks? Me and Serkis have been here since 6am.
@AlbertBrooks See you later tonight. Might be out of booze -- Serkis has Pogues on the jukebox & Fassbender just showed up in a pirate hat.
@AlbertBrooks Oh shit -- we're DEFINITELY going to run out of booze. Charlize & Tilda just pulled up in a stolen police car.
@AlbertBrooks Dude, GET DOWN HERE. Gosling is doing keg stands and Olsen & Dunst LITERALLY just emerged from a shower of rose petals.
@AlbertBrooks Nolte & Plummer just drove past, mooning us. Serkis & Tilda are signing "Is There Life on Mars?"
@AlbertBrooks Oops -- Von Trier just pulled up in a pass van dressed as Goering. "Let's go to Legoland!" With a boozy hurrah, we're out!
@AlbertBrooks Oh. My. God. Just pulled up to Legoland. DiCaprio's rented the park for the day. Dibs on the Duplo Gardens! #andscene

I'm sorry, but did the Academy just nominate Undefeated for Best Documentary? Really, the Sarah Palin propaganda film? The Interrupters and Herzog's docs don't make the cut, but this does?

Wrong Undefeated. The Palin film has a the.

hearthesilence wrote:I'm sorry, but did the Academy just nominate Undefeated for Best Documentary? Really, the Sarah Palin propaganda film? The Interrupters and Herzog's docs don't make the cut, but this does?

This Undefeated.

Thank God. I almost had a stroke there.

swo17 wrote:I haven't seen Chico yet, but Cat in Paris was very good. Congratulations!

Ditto. It's an utter joy. Congratulations and good luck!

Dimanche/Sunday, La Luna and Wild Life (my favorite) are all great animated shorts. I hope to see Cat in Paris at some point.

Watch Wildlife

Watch Dimanche/Sunday

For the best year for American cinema in years, this year's Oscars are particularly infuriating. Of all the years to slip back into awards bait like Glenn Close et al, why now? Theron's lack of nomination proves the Academy doesn't want you playing a shit, but taking one (Oscar nominee Melissa McCarthy-- let that roll around in your head). Sure, Theron was a long shot, but what of Shailene Woodley, who certainly merited a Sup Actress nom (and win, with that field-- Bejo belongs in Best Actress, period) far more than the script or the directing of a film the Academy was clearly taken with. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is the biggest punchline nomination for Best Picture since Doctor Dolittle. Beginners couldn't even pull a Best Screenplay, a nom most predictors were considering a sure thing. And if you're going to be a comedian playing it serious, make sure you're young, because Albert Who? General overall accumulative reaction to the nominees: Sigh.

davebert wrote:

Jeff wrote:

eerik wrote:Full list of Oscar nominees

Don't recall a year with so many surprise nominations or omissions. Congrats again to former cf.org regular davebert on getting a nomination for one of his films in the Best Animated Feature category again (Chico and Rita). He previously scored with Secret of the Kells.

That's actually two nominations, I have Cat in Paris as well. Pretty sure Spielberg wants me dead.

I'm looking forward to posting more regularly as soon as I find another employee. Some day...

It's not often that I have a chance to communicate with someone involved with a film I enjoyed, so I'm going to take take this opportunity to say congratulations on the nomination for Chico and Rita as it is a beautiful and vibrant film (must track down the soundtrack, too) that I enjoyed greatly. I'll be sure to check out Cat in Paris.

Is Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close that 9/11 Tom Hanks ghost dad movie?

Tom Hagen wrote:Is Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close that 9/11 Tom Hanks ghost dad movie?

You may also know it as the lowest rated Best Picture nominee ever using Metacritic (46/100!) and Rotten Tomatoes

So at least five percent of voters thought it was the best picture of the year? And Armond White isn't even in the Academy!

Edit: Never mind, even Armond didn't like it.

Tom Hagen wrote:So at least five percent of voters thought it was the best picture of the year?

It is completely inexplicable, especially since you can't even say it rode Daldry's coattails as he broke his streak this year. I have not read one pundit, article, or everyman reaction that had anything remotely positive to say about its inclusion. The Oscars are going to keep their eyes low to the ground and hope everyone just ignores that it's there

Just wait until it wins (a more likely possibility if The Help wasn't there to split the patronizing middle-brow vote)