Oscar Nominations for 2008

[pure_mercury]

So, the Oscar nominations for last year have been announced. Check them out here:

OSCAR.com - 81st Annual Academy Awards - Nominees


Any surprises or outrages? The Dark Knight is still probably the best new movie I've seen in the past year, but it did not earn a Best Picture nomination. I have yet to see Revolutionary Road, although some seem surprised that Leo did not get a Best Actor nomination. The only definite I think I see is WALL-E. IMHO, that should be a shoo-in for Best Animated Feature. There are lots of movies here that I have not seen yet. More than usual for me, I would say.

 

[cascadeco]

Re. Revolutionary Road, I saw it earlier this week, and just my opinion but I wasn't terribly wowed by Leonardo's performance. I think he's done better in other films, but to be fair, much of it might have been due to the screenplay.
It was just a bit difficult to buy into his character.

I fully approve of the supporting role nomination from the film though. He was the most interesting character of the film in my opinion, and one of its saving graces. (film wasn't bad by any means, and actually I enjoyed it, but there was something about it that just seemed kinda weak to me - screenplay, perhaps too dramatic, something else, not sure...)

 

[The Ü™]

My predictions for Best Visual Effects were right on the money, as I have illustrated in my blog.

Benjamin Button should win in that category. And it was the only Best Picture contender I saw.

Heath Ledger's corpse will walk on stage to accept the Best Supporting Actor Oscar.

And you spelled Nominations wrong.

 

[GZA]

I'm dissapointed Benjamin Button was nominated for so many while the Dark Knight didn't get best picture (8 nominations is still decent though). I didn't think Benjamin Button was that good a movie at all... I would never nominate it for best picture, let alone 13 nominations (maybe best cinematograppy or something, but not the others). I think my exact reaction when I saw on TV that BB got 13 nominations was "*jumps up out of chair* What the hell?!".

 

[The Ü™]

I'm dissapointed Benjamin Button was nominated for so many while the Dark Knight didn't get best picture (8 nominations is still decent though). I didn't think Benjamin Button was that good a movie at all... I would never nominate it for best picture, let alone 13 nominations (maybe best cinematograppy or something, but not the others). I think my exact reaction when I saw on TV that BB got 13 nominations was "*jumps up out of chair* What the hell?!".

Benjamin Button had some of the most amazing visual effects since Jurassic Park.

And The Dark Knight was highly overrated. I fell out of my chair when it got nominated for Best Art Direction. (It was quite obviously Chicago.)

 

[GZA]

The Dark Knight overrated? It's not like it got nominated for Best Picture. It's not like it got nominated for 13 awards. Benjamin Button is overrated.

 

[The Ü™]

The Dark Knight overrated? It's not like it got nominated for Best Picture. It's not like it got nominated for 13 awards. Benjamin Button is overrated.

Titanic got nominated for 14 awards (and won 11, I believe).

The Dark Knight was garbage. I don't see why everyone liked it so much. It was all hype, intensified because of Heath Ledger. People are sheep.

Slumdog Millionaire will win Best Picture, though.

I miss the Best Picture contenders of the late '70s and '80s -- movies like Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark -- they tended to be popcorn entertainment without the pretense that peppers today's movies. Now the big Oscar contenders are movies that no one cares about and no one's ever heard of.

I must confess, I've never heard of Slumdog Millionaire until today.

 

[JocktheMotie]

I liked the Dark Knight. Ending blew a bit, but I enjoyed Ledger's performance. I like what Nolan has done with the series, it's impressive how they've able to make a comic book/superhero movie into more than the typical cliched mess of garbage. I think Nolan deserved a best director nom, but I'm fine with Dark Knight not getting a picture nomination. Slumdog Millionaire was crap, the Wrestler was ten times better. I'm surprised The Wrestler got snubbed in the Picture category.

 

[The Ü™]

Another movie that I don't understand why it got a bunch of Oscars was Gladiator. That really was a dumb movie.

 

[GZA]

I agree with you about pretense, Uber. And Benjamin Button is the most pretensious movie I can recall off the top of my head.

 

[The Ü™]

I agree with you about pretense, Uber. And Benjamin Button is the most pretensious movie I can recall off the top of my head.

But the special effects were state-of-the-art and awesome. And that makes all the difference in the world.

 

[Thursday]

But the special effects were state-of-the-art and awesome. And that makes all the difference in the world.

No.
The only reason that the dark knight was good was of Ledger's performance.

 

[MrME]

The term "overrated" is overrated.

That said, the Oscars are all flash without substance. Industry insiders patting each other on the back. Oscar wins hardly mean anything anymore, anyway. It's like they're giving them away at Starbucks.

That also said, I smiled when No Country for Old Men won last year, just because I'm a Coen brothers fanatic and because it was actually my favorite movie last year. I would've been almost as happy had There Will Be Blood won. Both were excellent.

The Dark Knight was pretty good, Ledger and Eckhart were EXCELLENT in it. I didn't like it enough to call it "the best," though.

 

[GZA]

But the special effects were state-of-the-art and awesome. And that makes all the difference in the world.

To you it does. Having good special effects alone doesn't make for a great movie. Phantom Menace anyone?

I didn't like how No Country For Old Men won last year either, by the way. It's even more pretentious than Benjamin Button.

Is Gran Torino considered a 2009 movie or something? I think it deserves something, but i don't remember seeing it listed for the Oscars.

 

[Typology]

No.
The only reason that the dark knight was good was of Ledger's performance.

And, you know, the brilliant portrayal of good vs. evil, which is prevalent throughout the movie.

 

[pure_mercury]

My predictions for Best Visual Effects were right on the money, as I have illustrated in my blog.

Benjamin Button should win in that category. And it was the only Best Picture contender I saw.

Heath Ledger's corpse will walk on stage to accept the Best Supporting Actor Oscar.

And you spelled Nominations wrong.

I see the typo now. My amount of typos while posting via the Android phone are exponentially higher, I've noticed. Damn thumbs.

 

[pure_mercury]

Another movie that I don't understand why it got a bunch of Oscars was Gladiator. That really was a dumb movie.

I agree. The special effects weren't even that good. Titanic, Gladiator, and A Beautiful Mind are recent Best Picture winners I always bring up as lackluster.

 

[pure_mercury]

No.
The only reason that the dark knight was good was of Ledger's performance.

I cannot understand this opinion. That movie was a triumph.

 

[The Ü™]

To you it does. Having good special effects alone doesn't make for a great movie. Phantom Menace anyone?

I didn't like how No Country For Old Men won last year either, by the way. It's even more pretentious than Benjamin Button.

Is Gran Torino considered a 2009 movie or something? I think it deserves something, but i don't remember seeing it listed for the Oscars.

The Dark Knight was pretty pretentious, as well -- what with that ridiculous sociological message and shit. And on top of that, the special effects weren't even that great.

And how dare you slander The Phantom Menace. It was awesome at the time. If it came out before the original trilogy, everyone would've loved it.

And no, Gran Torino is 2008, it just didn't get any nominations. Though in all fairness, neither did Indiana Jones 4, which was Number 3 on my favorite movies of the year. And neither did Speed Racer, which was my Number 1.

I agree. The special effects weren't even that good. Titanic, Gladiator, and A Beautiful Mind are recent Best Picture winners I always bring up as lackluster.

I liked Titanic, though. I can almost see why that won Best Picture. It had something for everyone -- a sleazy love story for the girls, and awesome death and destruction for the guys. I still love the part where the guy falls of the ship and bounces off the propeller.

But as much money as they spent on special effects for that movie, I don't understand why they couldn't have spent more on the music score. No, I'm not just talking about James Horner and his self-plagiarism inclinations, I'm talking about the cheap synthesizers.

(I also find it curious how a lot of great film directors choose score composers whose work is all the same -- Spielberg and John Williams, for example, or Burton and Danny Elfman.)

As for A Beautiful Mind, the title was misleading for me. I thought it would be about my mind.

No.
The only reason that the dark knight was good was of Ledger's performance.

Ah, I was talking about Benjamin Button in regards to special effects. I agree with you here, though.

 

[GZA]

I don't think the Dark Knight was trying to push any message as much as a lot of people did. I think a lot of the "messages" and "themes" in it were exasperated by the public trying to make it into a super-duper deep movie when really it's just a really awesome movie for what it is, which is an action and crime movie.

Benjamin Button shoves itself down your throat, and the public is taking a plunger and making sure it gets pushed down even further. Now the Academy is is doing maintenance...