Hurray for "Up"! It's a charming film, great human and heart! Although I was rooting for "Coraline." At least the "Fantastic Mr. Fox" film didn't win.
As an academy member I got to watch all the shorts and docs and one of best film was "Music by Prudence," the documentary about a hugely deformed girl from Zimbabwe who is the leader of a band – the music is so wonderful and her spirit so positive it broke my heart. I'm so glad the film won. But if you saw the Oscar telecast you remember this black guy who took the stage to accept his award and some fat lady grabbed the microphone away from him and started blathering away about nothing- she pulled a "Kanye West."
Apparently she was the lady who instigated the documentary and now she wastes her 15 minutes of fame- unfortunately, she's probably ruined her career forever- though maybe that's fortunate.
In the short animated film category the Oscar went to "Logorama" a funny take on commercial trademarks. The film is wild and outrageous but it must have cost a fortune yet the digital graphics look very cheap. I was hoping Cordell Barkers' wonderful "Runaway" could be nominated because I felt it was the best film of the year, but no such luck.
And the weird thing was the producer took home the Oscar and the directors couldn't even take the stage because of the academy rules.
Of course the big story was "Hurt Locker" by Kathryn Bigelow upsetting her ex, James Cameron's hugely successful "Avatar." Now I like "Hurt Locker." it is a very powerful story with excellent direction and acting- but even though it's a powerful film I believe it will eventually fade into obscurity while 10 years from now "Avatar" will be an even more popular classic.
Bill, you are so right about "Runaway". I had the pleasure of seeing it at Sundance and was completely charmed by it!
ReplyDeleteYou may be right about that. But as someone who thought The Assassination of Jesse James was a spurned masterwork and that Gone with the Wind is a racist, simplistic, and uninteresting bloated mess with some good production design, I've never been a great fan of popularity.
ReplyDeleteFor the record, I thought The Hurt Locker was easily the better film, though would have liked if Up in the Air had had some chance of winning. Actually, I probably would have given best picture to The Secret of Kells or Ponyo. Nobody at the Academy would have gone with that, though.
At least it isn't like last year were The Dark Knight was completely snubbed. Logorama was definitely the most visually interesting animated film I have seen in awhile. Could have gone without the swearing I think that a good animated film can get its point across without swearing.
ReplyDeleteI am surprised Ponyo didn't get very far. How could something as visually painful as Mr.Fox beat Ponyo to the nominee. Myiaziki is without question a far more accomplished artist than Mr.Fox's animators. This proves that the Academy doesn't always base on merit but sometimes for other reasons. The only theory I have for Mr.Fox getting nominated is that George Clooney and Wes Anderson were Academy favorites. I commend their other accomplishments but Mr.Fox is not one of them.
i think basterds should have won best picture, or at least best screenplay.
ReplyDeletealso i loved fantastic mr fox. i thought it was wes andersons best since the royal tenenbaums.
I personally liked Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty.
ReplyDelete"I'll see you in the morning....with the help of God."
Maybe I just like her accent.
Maybe this was fate kicking Cameron's butt for his "Avatar is not an animated movie" hubris. There is something almost karmic about him getting beaten out of best picture by his ex-wife.
ReplyDelete"And the weird thing was the producer took home the Oscar and the directors couldn't even take the stage because of the academy rules."
ReplyDeleteWhy is this? What are the rules?
That incident with that woman butting in and talking over the guy's acceptance speech for Best Documentary was really bizarre. Did she just rush the stage and no one stopped her ? I don't recall seeing her on stage when he first came up , but about 30 seconds into his acceptance speech she steps in front of him and started talking loudly and rapidly. He seemed completely shocked by her behavior and just sort of stood there and watched her blather on.
ReplyDeleteYou'll be glad to know that the Producers and Director of LOGORAMA have moved onto live action for their next film. They signed with William Morris and have been hired to do a 20 minute live action commercial film. The Oscar paid off - but not for animation. (LOGORAMA was MoCap anyway; it wasn't really animated.)
ReplyDeletenobody probably cares for that in the US, but the best foreign film strongly disappointed us, here in France. I mean, we've made a totally flawless movie (A Prophet) with outstanding performances, an incredibly clever screenplay and all you can expect from such a work of art, and that for the first time in ages... and it lost. Austria's White Ribbon was extremely good as well, and it didn't win either. DOesn't make sense. Do they really watch all the DVDs they get, at the Academy ? Or just what they feel like watching ?
ReplyDeleteInglourious Basterds was my favorite film of the year and I wished it had won more oscars. I also wished Mélanie Laurent (she played Shosanna Dreyfus) had gotten a nomination... But no, she got nothing.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad Avatar didn't win anything big because, I quite frankly didn't like it. Maybe everyone is just playing a trick on me or something, but I simply couldn't see what was so special about it. Was it it's derivative story or it's whimsical special effects? Someone please tell me so I can feel normal!