2011 Academy Awards

[melfreya]

^if we're going by imdb standards Black Swan is in no.52 or something!
And I think UK isn't very indicative of the reception of TKS worldwide. Of course it did very well, it's about the country's own former leader after all, the father of the current Queen.

 

[colourmefashion]

^ I was just about to point out that naturally TKS would do better in the UK then TSN because of that

 

[MyNameIs]

The King's Speech is doing surprisingly well at the US box office. It's going to end up with probably around 30-40 millions more than The Social Network. The latter is currently at 96M, could probably get to 100M but not much more since it was released all the way back in October and is making very little every weekend. The King's Speech on the other hand only received its wide release a month ago and is still doing really well weekend to weekend. As of right now, it's at 72M, including 11M from this weekend. With all the sudden MAJOR awards its getting, I can see it doing another 50-60M, especially if it does end up winning best picture.

 

[Chaky]

And I think UK isn't very indicative of the reception of TKS worldwide. Of course it did very well, it's about the country's own former leader after all, the father of the current Queen.

Hmm, well opinions differ on that one. I think Americans like the British royal family more than the Brits do!

 

[before]

I don't understand how TKS could have won. I thought it was more about great individual performances while TSN was great as a picture itself. I really hope TSN wins big at the Oscars. I didn't want to like it because of the hype but it really was a great film after I actually saw it.

 

[melfreya]

It's true that TSN is losing momentum though. TKS is number one in hype terms right now and Black Swan is doing really well too in the box office, remaining in the top 10 for nearly two months now and it's fastly approaching 100mil. That's huge for a film that only cost 13mil

 

[MyNameIs]

WOW, who would've thought a month ago that The King's Speech will win PGA, DGA, and SAG!?!? That's absolute insanity. Poor The Social Network, it's really hard to imagine a scenario where it could still win the Best Picture. It's really strange how TSN so completely dominated the first half of the season and how much TKS is dominating now, it's like a light-switch was turned on and everyone collectively decided not to vote for one and vote for the other.

 

[beatriz]

I'm disappointed because I don't think TKS deserves best picture of the year. But at least, there seems to be room for surprise in the BP and best directing categories, when it comes to Oscar night...?

 

[fashionqueen89]

I´m excited

 

[Leeroi]

Personally if TSN doesn't win, I'd rather have Black Swan win Best Picture than TKS. I feel as though the new judging system for picking Best Picture for the Oscars won't do TSN any good since they rank the movies from 1-10.

I'm still pulling for TSN to win Best Picture.

 

[Chaky]

The film critics and the academy members clearly have very differing opinions this year. I wonder when was the last time there such a disparity between the critics awards and the guilds. King's Speech hot favourite for Best Picture now.

Not my favourite!

 

[MyNameIs]

^I don't think it's ever happened like this. I mean, there have been years where one movies does well with critics but then another movie does well with the industry awards, but it's never been such a sweep for either. This year, we have Social Network that practically won EVERYTHING up until the Golden Globes, then it came to a scratching halt. And now King's Speech has won ALL three biggest industry awards, will definitely win BAFTA and most likely the Oscar. It's like two different races all in one year.

 

[beatriz]

Here's an interesting article about the disparity of this year's race and the difference between the critics and the industry insiders choices

After SAG victory, expect 'The King's Speech' to rule Oscars next

Oscars, Film, Academy Awards
By Tom O'Neil
Jan 31 2011 | 04:42 am

When "The King's Speech" won the SAG Award for Best Ensemble, it was a key jewel in the crown it will likely wear on Oscar night.
That victory, along with Colin Firth's win for Best Actor, prove that "The King's Speech" has solid support in the actors' realm. On Saturday night, it revealed a suprising number of loyal subjects among directors when Tom Hooper pulled off an upset over "The Social Network's" David Fincher and won the DGA Award.
One week earlier, "The King's Speech" shocked award watchers by winning the Producers' Guild of America Award. Previously, it had claimed no major Best Picture prize, so "The Social Network" was expected to continue its undefeated romp.
Now that "The King's Speech" has demonstrated consistent strength across three sections of filmmaking – producing, directing and acting – it's clear that it has the broad support needed to win Best Picture at the Oscars. That's also clear from the Oscar nominations, which were announced last Tuesday. "The King's Speech" led with the most – 12 – with bids for best editing, costumes, music score and writing, too.
What's odd about this awards dominance by "The King's Speech" is that it amounts to a dark-horse dash at the end of the derby, which appeared early on to be dominated by "The Social Network." Just 10 days ago, "The Social Network" could boast of having won Best Picture from every major awards group up to that point: Golden Globes, Critics Choice, National Society of Film Critics, New York Film Critics Circle and Los Angeles Film Critics Association. The last film to pull off such a clean sweep was "Schindler's List" (1993), which won the top Oscar easily next.
What's behind the sudden shift? Most likely, it has to do with the sensibility of the voters. Nearly all of the top awards won by "The Social Network" were bestowed by film journalists, who tend to like cool, trendy films that are cynical, gritty and void of sentimentality. The guild awards and Oscars, however, are bestowed by members of the film industry, who love tear-jerkers.

Two good examples: When most of the critics awards went to "L.A. Confidential" and "Saving Private Ryan" in 1997 and 1998, the Oscars went to "Titanic" and "Shakespeare in Love."


"The King's Speech" is an unabashed weepie that also fits the old Oscar preference for historical dramas like "The English Patient: (1996), "The Last Emperor" (1987), "Out of Africa" (1985) and "Amadeus" (1984). Historical dramas haven't done well at the Oscars recently, leaving some experts to believe that they've fallen out of vogue, but "The King's Speech" proves that they've regained power.
Although 10 days ago the vast majority of pundits predicted "The Social Network" to win Best Picture, most of them have since defected to "The King's Speech." See the rundown of thier predictions here.

http://www.goldderby.com/films/news...ect-the-kings-speech-to-rule-oscars-next.html

 

[Kimkhuu]

Sorry to break everyone's fun but Hollywood su***... A lot of movies that are catching the attention are pure crap in terms of story depth! The thematic carried on by most nominated movie is a reflection of superficial, patriotic, egocentric North American values.

I am done with being mesmerized by excessively long and luxe Oscar ceremonies organized by Hollywood to congratulate its own industry.

The last time a movie of immense quality and authenticity was recognized justly was 1997's Annie Hall by Woody Allen.

 

[Ziegfeld Girl]

It looks like The King's Speech will be winning Best Picture at the Oscars. I liked the movie but I preferred The Social Network and would like to see it win. It's funny how The Social Network has gotten the most critical claim and swept all the awards and now after the Golden Globes there has been a complete switch and The King's Speech is now the front runner.

I think there won't be any surprises for the best acting awards and I'm happy with that. I think Natalie Portman, Colin Firth, Christian Bale and Melissa Leo deserve all the kudos they've been getting.

I think Toy Story 3 will definitely win best animated feature.

I was surprised to hear Dogtooth got nominated; I didn't think the academy would nominate such a controversial film. I think that's a good thing though. I think In a Better World will win though.

I'd love to see I Am Love win best costume design and The King's Speech win best score. Alexandre Desplat is one of my favourite film music composers.

 

[Leeroi]

Sorry to break everyone's fun but Hollywood su***... A lot of movies that are catching the attention are pure crap in terms of story depth! The thematic carried on by most nominated movie is a reflection of superficial, patriotic, egocentric North American values.

I am done with being mesmerized by excessively long and luxe Oscar ceremonies organized by Hollywood to congratulate its own industry.

The last time a movie of immense quality and authenticity was recognized justly was 1997's Annie Hall by Woody Allen.

Here is a compilation of the Best Picture nominees
The Black Swan: about a ballerina who is so driven by self perfection that she becomes the bane of her own existence.
The Fighter: about a struggling boxer who perseveres through family problems to become succesful
Inception: about dreams... literally...
The Kids Are Alright: about a lesbian couple whose child seeks to communicate with his paternal father that inevitably causes confusion in the family
The Kings Speech: about a king to-be who has a speech impediment who overcomes it
127 Hours: about an avid adventurer who gets stuck while on an adventure and shows his actions to save himself from what seem to be an inevitable death
The Social Network: about the founder of facebook; but really a great movie about friendship and how internal conflicts within oneself can manifest into conflicts with others
Toy Story 3: movie about friendship, family, and ofcourse the inevitable change from childhood to adulthood
True Grit: western about a daughter who looks for the murderer of her father (had to wiki this one since i didn't watch it yet)
Winter's Bone: didn't watch this one either, but imdb/wiki says it's about a daughter who is on the hunt for her missing drug dealing father

Anyways, to get to the point of this post... the Oscars are there to acknowledge movies that were released in America (in your words, Hollywood), for the most part.... And many films that weren't produced in NA or released in NA first are nominated regularly. I mean, look at The Kings Speech.

Unless you're implying the Oscars should recognize amazing great fantastic intellectually deep movies that were released in other countries; there's the best foreign film category for that.

Superficial? You will need to elaborate on that. Considering fashion is considered "superficial", I don't see any of the themes that would warrant being called "superficial" if were going by that standard.

Patriotic? Hmmm.... I don't recall many of the movies being pro-America.... I mean, The Kings Speech is about a British king.... is that considered patriotic? And is that bad? Hmmm....

Egocentric? This gets a bit confusing because in The Black Swan, she does get egocentric at one point and when you're a boxer via The Fighter, you need to hold some form on self confidence to be successful. But I'm not entirely sure if the movie theme is portraying egotistical per say.

I must be missing something here, but.... what you said about "Hollywood", couldn't it be said about other film industries in the world who also have award shows and have movies that "portray their values"?

I'm not at all saying Hollywood can't be "superficial" or "egocentric", but let's not kid ourselves, Hollywood isn't the only one. I detest the implication that most people make that Hollywood is the only superficial film industry in the world, when it's not. I guess Hollywood is just an easier target since it's so large and more well known in the world.

 

[Kimkhuu]

^ Leeroi, I am not here to analyze every single movie one by one. You are right on your last point, Hollywood isn't the only crappy film industry, but it catches more attention than any other film industry around the world. And we're discussing the Academy Awards anyways.

Considering the fact that watching Hollywood movies is a large part of North American's regular hobbies, I am extremely critical in analyzing the content of what we intellectually consume.

The following quotes from Guy Debord's Society of Spectacle (strongly recommended book) sums up very well my thoughts:

It [spectacle] is the very heart of this real society’s unreality. In all of its particular manifestations — news, propaganda, advertising, entertainment — the spectacle represents the dominant model of life. It is the omnipresent affirmation of the choices that have already been made in the sphere of production and in the consumption implied by that production. In both form and content the spectacle serves as a total justification of the conditions and goals of the existing system. The spectacle also represents the constant presence of this justification since it monopolizes the majority of the time spent outside the production process.

As long as necessity is socially dreamed, dreaming will remain a social necessity. The spectacle is the bad dream of a modern society in chains and ultimately expresses nothing more than its wish for sleep. The spectacle is the guardian of that sleep.

I have to reinforce that my criticism of the Hollywood film industry and the Academy Awards was a vast generalization. Yes, once in a while, a good movie will get recognized, but that happens rarely.

... And thanks for summarizing the storyline for Best Picture nominated movies, most seem pretty crappy.

 

[Leeroi]

^ Leeroi, I am not here to analyze every single movie one by one. You are right on your last point, Hollywood isn't the only crappy film industry, but it catches more attention than any other film industry around the world. And we're discussing the Academy Awards anyways.

Considering the fact that watching Hollywood movies is a large part of North American's regular hobbies, I am extremely critical in analyzing the content of what we intellectually consume.

The following quotes from Guy Debord's Society of Spectacle (strongly recommended book) sums up very well my thoughts:

I have to reinforce that my criticism of the Hollywood film industry and the Academy Awards was a vast generalization. Yes, once in a while, a good movie will get recognized, but that happens rarely.

... And thanks for summarizing the storyline for Best Picture nominated movies, most seem pretty crappy.

So you haven't watched the films? Any of them? Because this list of nominated movies is probably the best list in a few years. Yes, the storyline of most of the movies are thematically redundant, but to assume they're "crappy" based on the storyline is really just sad, to say the least.

Since you seem to be an intellectual elitist when it comes to films, what themes do you suggest Hollywood starting making that would guarantee mainstream success as well as critical claim?

And reading the quote by Guy Debord, your criticism can also be applied to the world of fashion publication, fashion shows, major political events, etc. Practically everything major that doesn't entirely represent the realism of humanity.

 

[melfreya]

^And it can also be applied to all cinema not just Hollywood. I've read the book in college and I think it's funny that it comes up in a forum about fashion of all places. And you're right Leeroi, it applies to everything that can be considered mainstream or subconciously imposed on people. Meaning everything that has to do with trends on tv, movies, fashion etc.

 

[colourmefashion]

i think natalie is going to win best actress considering she won it for everything else..