Oscar: Avatar vs Hurt Locker

[KeithTalent]

With a solid argument like that, I can see why they call you "WizKid."

Haha.

So why wasn't Transformers 2 nominated? Based on that guy's logic, it should have been.

KT

 

[zinfamous]

Anyone get the feeling that in 20 years people will be talking about the victory of The Hurt Locker in the same way they talk about Annie Hall beating Star Wars in 1978.

Or perhaps Shakespeare in Love beating Saving Private Ryan.

If you think Star Wars deserved to win....holy fuck.

NO ONE, absolutely NO ONE looks back at Star Wars as a legit favorite to win. It's pretty much a "WTF were we thinking back then?" especially when you consider the year-in, year-out quality of US film in the 70s.

 

[zinfamous]

It's like where Hurt Locker left off, Avatar picked up.

Hurt Locker - (speculation) we were over there for the oil ???

Avatar - the big picture is the Navi protecting Home'tree'

The two movies sorta compliment each other in a antagonist protagonist sort of way.

The conflict is sorta parallel to our times. And in the end Avatar gives you a subconscious sense of the thinking 'green' theme of where the world is heading.

there was absolutely no element within the Hurt Locker suggesting reasons for the war. No political agenda, no "Stone-ian" overdone message trying to explain the Iraq War. It was an extremely a-political film.

It is all about the effects of war on the individual, or how one soldier handles the reality of war. And it isn't shown in the light of the classic anti-war films that would often demonize war, demonize soldiers, and sometimes demonize the human spirit in face of such evil doings (Apocalypse Now, anything by Oliver Stone, elements of The Deer Hunter, First Blood, etc...)

 

[Arkaign]

If you think Star Wars deserved to win....holy fuck.

NO ONE, absolutely NO ONE looks back at Star Wars as a legit favorite to win. It's pretty much a "WTF were we thinking back then?" especially when you consider the year-in, year-out quality of US film in the 70s.

Yeah I think Star Wars gets the respect it deserves, along with 'Jaws' it was one of the earlier 'big-event' movies that began to define the era of the '80s even before the '80s arrived. The legacy of big-budget summer popcorn flicks is still with us today obviously. No serious film buff would honestly say that Star Wars was the best film of 1977. It was perhaps the most entertaining and original for the time, but not the best film. For one thing, Mark Hamill and whomever played Princess Leia couldn't act their way out of a box. It didn't take much away from the film really, as it wasn't about Luke and Leia, it was about badass space battles and lightsaber duels, with a kickass soundtrack.

As for the other thing mentioned, that is legitimate. I think a lot of serious film buffs were like WTF at Shakespeare in Love winning BP. It was a decent movie, but it was FAR short of SPR. The reason SPR lost was due in large part to the serious vote being split as there was another rich and interesting WW2 epic at the same time, The Thin Red Line. The Thin Red Line was an excellent film when taken on it's own terms. Compared to the very visceral and intense Saving Private Ryan, TTRL was a lot more introspective and atmospheric.

 

[Dr. Detroit]

Hollywood is much too cliquey and refuses to vote for outsiders. Look at any Oscar prediction websites and you will see that writers in the know stated it was impossible for Inglourious Basterds to win because Tarantino is hated by the industry, which is why he has teamed up with the Weinsteins to produce his movies.

Same goes for Cameron and Avatar. No one likes the man so they voted for his ex-wife for most every award.

I plan on watching A Serious Man this week, perhaps the Coen Brothers deserved to win it again like they do most every year for their consistent film-making.

Wes Anderson deserved the animation nod for Fantastic Mr. Fox over Up. Up was polished but Fantastic Mr. Fox was a triumph in writing. The first 30-minutes of Up was pretty damn amazing though.

 

[zinfamous]

Yeah I think Star Wars gets the respect it deserves, along with 'Jaws' it was one of the earlier 'big-event' movies that began to define the era of the '80s even before the '80s arrived. The legacy of big-budget summer popcorn flicks is still with us today obviously. No serious film buff would honestly say that Star Wars was the best film of 1977. It was perhaps the most entertaining and original for the time, but not the best film. For one thing, Mark Hamill and whomever played Princess Leia couldn't act their way out of a box. It didn't take much away from the film really, as it wasn't about Luke and Leia, it was about badass space battles and lightsaber duels, with a kickass soundtrack.

As for the other thing mentioned, that is legitimate. I think a lot of serious film buffs were like WTF at Shakespeare in Love winning BP. It was a decent movie, but it was FAR short of SPR. The reason SPR lost was due in large part to the serious vote being split as there was another rich and interesting WW2 epic at the same time, The Thin Red Line. The Thin Red Line was an excellent film when taken on it's own terms. Compared to the very visceral and intense Saving Private Ryan, TTRL was a lot more introspective and atmospheric.

The Thin Red Line was my favorite of the two by far, the one I was pulling for, but I also love SPR.

...I also don't think Shakespeare in Love was a shock--I seem to remember it as being the odds-on-favorite at the time, at least amongst the critics who, despite recognizing it's obvious historical flaws and biographical liberties, regarded it as a rather excellent film.

In fact, it wasn't until reading these forums over the previous couple of years that I was made aware of some "tragedy" that SPR was overlooked. Both were great (and yeah, I prefer SPR), but it seems to me that it was a shock only to those who see 1 or two movies per year, and always the same type of movies (big budget, action-type stuff)...so have never really had a diverse film experience with which to compare how some films can be seen as higher quality over others--at least from the Academy and critical perspectives.

 

[SphinxnihpS]

I'm so sick about hearing, "Avatar's not so great of a movie, but it's technically groundbreaking!"

Woohoo 3D! After all the millions that went into it to make it look so lifelike and real, it still looks like a fucking cartoon. In fact I would watch Tom and Jerry over this crap any day (the old racist ones). In terms of technical brilliance, District 9 was 9 times better. I almost thought those bugs looked real. Avatar looked so fake the real human actors looked fake. Just because a bunch of people say something does not make it so. If Avatar had created moment of technical magic, it sure wasn't the pretty purple trees, it was making Sigorney Weaver look nearly under 50.

 

[Adrenaline]

Well since the Oscars are a popularity contest avatar wins.

Oscars are not a popularity contest for best picture. Some times they pick some decent artsy type movie that did horrible at the box office.

Unless you are talking about some other popularity contest.

 

[Dr. Detroit]

Oscars are not a popularity contest for best picture. Some times they pick some decent artsy type movie that did horrible at the box office.

Unless you are talking about some other popularity contest.

Wrong again. Hurt Locker was the poorest performing Best Picture winner by a huge margin. Hurt Locker grossed about $14M, next up was Crash with $44M.

 

[zerocool84]

I'm curious, why was the sniper situation stupid?

If you don't know then that's fine and it doesn't affect you but anyone with some basic military knowledge would know how retarded that and many other scenes in that film were.

 

[MagickMan]

The Hurt Locker is about how much emotional trauma you can take before breaking, not the war itself, and it demonstrates it rather well.

 

[Riceninja]

...and this is why the show will continue to lose viewers, because everyone knows that big budget/box office never wins. this avatar snub is the firmest evidence of the political game behind the academy stage and the rampant circle jerking/one-up prentention that plague the members.

hurt locker was a decent movie, but it was more an episode of generation kill than an oscar best picture

 

[zerocool84]

...and this is why the show will continue to lose viewers, because everyone knows that big budget/box office never wins. this avatar snub is the firmest evidence of the political game behind the academy stage and the rampant circle jerking/one-up prentention that plague the members.

Well Avatar didn't deserve any oscars other than fx and sound but yes you are right. There have been really good movies and actors in movies that are action movies but because they aren't drama, they will never win an award.

 

[zinfamous]

If you don't know then that's fine and it doesn't affect you but anyone with some basic military knowledge would know how retarded that and many other scenes in that film were.

with that sound argumentative structure, I foresee you and WizKid forming a club together.

 

[zinfamous]

...and this is why the show will continue to lose viewers, because everyone knows that big budget/box office never wins. this avatar snub is the firmest evidence of the political game behind the academy stage and the rampant circle jerking/one-up prentention that plague the members.

hurt locker was a decent movie, but it was more an episode of generation kill than an oscar best picture

Titanic won
Braveheart won
Schindler's List won
Dances with Wolves won

...tons of huge budget, box office successes have won Best Picture. I'd say more in that category than however you would define "Art House."

Hurt Locker was way better than Generation Kill. I actually found GK to be quite embarrassing/insulting towards the military...which if that's what is considered realistic about it...then damn

 

[BurnItDwn]

Avatar and Hurt Locker were decent films, but neither one was that good. Avatar had a VERY weak story and to me, the premise was just stupid), even though the direction and acting were excellent it just wasn't enough to break away from "good" to be truly "great".

Hurt Locker had some cool scenes, but the movie seemed to lack "something." It was not very interesting. The "suspense" was all way too predictable. I think this was too formulaic.

Moon, Zombieland, Nefes Vatan sagolsun, Inglorious Basterds,The White Band, and District 9 were all significantly better than Hurt Locker or Avatar for 2009 releases.

Moon was my favorite, but I'll admit that Nefes Vatan Sagolsun or Inglorious Basterds were probably the "best" films, with the White band and Zombieland close to the top as well....

 

[zerocool84]

with that sound argumentative structure, I foresee you and WizKid forming a club together.

Spoiler

Ok fine then I'll explain it to you since you obviously don't know. Ralph Fiennes get shot and killed in the exact same spot those 2 guys were sitting and sniping all day at. It's common sense that if someone got killed there you don't sit there and of course the bad guy can't kill them when he killed the other guy seconds before. It's also common sense to not shoot more than twice in any sniper spot. Also all of a sudden when the 2 guys get there the enemy sniper can't shoot any more and is really horrible. Also they didn't even mention if these guys had ANY sniper training at all and are basically better snipers than any of the other guys that were there and hitting running targets like no ones business. They sat there sniping and drinking on a bright shiny capri-sun. Also when that wussy white guy sees the guy sneaking up where the lambs are, he magically takes forever to shoot.

There's way more to that scene that is retarded and many other scenes that make the movie retarded.

 

[Jadow]

Avatar got screwed. Hurt Locker was a forgetable, so-so movie.

Avatar is a game changing, revolutionary, epic movie that had me glued to my seat the whole time.

Avatar will be around forever, Hurt Locker won't

 

[KeithTalent]

Avatar got screwed. Hurt Locker was a forgetable, so-so movie.

Avatar is a game changing, revolutionary, epic movie that had me glued to my seat the whole time.

Avatar will be around forever, Hurt Locker won't

Lol, good one.

KT

 

[dbk]

Avatar in 2D looks like shit

 

[Jadow]

Lol, good one.

KT

yeah because Annie Hall the 1977 Best Picture is always in the mainstream consiousness even today. Ohh wait, no it's not, but the movie it beat Star Wars is.

 

[Locut0s]

Avatar got screwed. Hurt Locker was a forgetable, so-so movie.

Avatar is a game changing, revolutionary, epic movie that had me glued to my seat the whole time.

Avatar will be around forever, Hurt Locker won't

Seriously?

 

[zerocool84]

Lol, good one.

KT

Maybe he's just one of those people that if you show them something shiny, they forget about everything else.

 

[Locut0s]

Maybe he's just one of those people that if you show them something shiny, they forget about everything else.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Damnit. Avatar's not gonna get the post Oscar boost it needs to take over Titanic (when you adjust for inflation). Oh well. LOL. Then again Titanic went on and didn't drop theaters till like Week 18 or some ridiculous length. That's like 4.5 months after a release.

Don't get me wrong. Hurt Locker is an awesome movie, but I just wanted to see Avatar destroy every box office # ever created I love tracking hot releases and box office #s.