Surprising that the least commercial one won - this may bode well for the movie industry and especially for movie-goers.
The REASON Avatar did not win was because Titanic did. If Titanic had never been made, Avatar would have swept tonight, IMO.
I haven't seen either, but no one that I know who has seen Avatar was impressed with anything other than the 3-D special effects. I liked Titanic, but have no desire to see Avatar. Now I will make a point to see Hurt Locker, though.
Everything is not a conspiracy, the Academy just liked the Hurt Locker. I was surprised it won, but not surprised that Avatar did not. I've been told that Cameron thought Bigelow deserved the Oscar, but I haven't read it myself. My choices would have been An Education or Up in the Air, but Hurt Locker is a solid contender this year.
I really enjoyed Avatar but did not think it was Academy Award winning material for Best Picture. Special effects, sure. It was GREAT entertainment, not a great film. Again, I really enjoyed it. Gonna have to go see Hurt Locker.
When it comes to the top 6 awards... The four acting awards, director, and best picture, I hardly ever agree. If I can hit on one or two that mean a lot to me, thne I can deal with the incomprehensible outcomes of the others. Tonight, our whole family went nuts when Sandra got hers, and I led the cheers for Jeff. The rest,... whatever.
Watched Hurt Locker this week as a part of my Oscar preparation. I definitely enjoyed it, captivating throughout; although I preferred the first half of the movie to the second. The storyline was certainly intriguing and the cinematography drew me in, but afterward I never really considered it a legitimate candidate for best pic of the year. Up In The Air was my choice. The performances from Clooney, Vera Farmiga (sp?) and especially Anna Kendrick (who stole the show for me) sucked me in from the get-go. Great storyline and fantastic direction. Overall, I thought both movies were good, Up in the Air just stuck more with me. And btw, I've had close relatives over the past year that lost their jobs and were deployed to Iraq so both stories hit home. Congrats to both films.
My choice for Best Picture was Up In the Air, but I still stand by my earlier assertion. Avatar was, at best, the 3rd best movie this year, but without Titanic ever being made, it wins. The thing is that the Academy had seen something like this before in Titanic (huge budget, enormous expectations, epic/grand story, whatever). I don't know if I'm getting my point across correctly by saying this, but it was like a Titanic 2, not in terms of story but everything else. Take out Titanic and Cameron declaring himself king of the world, and the Academy falls all over itself to give the whole damn thing to Avatar tonight, deservedly or not. It's not a conspiracy, as someone suggested, but I'm speculating that it was thinking something like "Been there, done that." Just my honest opinion. I wasn't impressed with The Hurt Locker, either, but I realize everyone has different tastes. Someone in another thread about the Hurt Locker stated how they had clenched fists and were nervous during some of the scenes, and if many people felt that tension, then I can see why it won.
IMHO, I think Titanic is arguably a better movie than Avatar. The romance was pretty cornpone, but once the ship hits the iceberg, it's pretty gripping. To me, Titanic is not as good as Aliens. Cameron has done better work than Avatar which is more of an amusement ride movie than anything else. Avatar is good for what it is, but it's not a completely good effort of film making. I'd say the story is comic book, but it doesn't come near the interest of something like The Dark Knight. The story is more the level of a Saturday morning cartoon show. I think that's what cost it the Academy Award for Best Picture and Best Director.
Good stuff, Joe. I read that at $15 whooping mil at the box, Hurt Locker is the lowest grossing Best Picture winner in Oscar history. Was that some kind of cosmic mystery force at play? That the lowest-grossing Best Picture winner beats out the all-time highest grossing film, also up for the award?... The winner being directed by first-female Best Director winner, who is the Ex of the director of the competition, the biggest block-buster of all time... Talk about a Script! Thought the show was an all-time low in style points. The lady's all wore tin foil. Looked like a fleet of Toyotas and Lexus; all neutral tones. Many of the jokes by the on-stage duo were borderline insulting; low-brow wit. This was one night the sarcasm meter needed to be in a corner somewhere onscreen giving some help. I thought they might even throw pies at some of the guests. Seems that, overall, Oscar stands for something more like: Since we can't please everybody, let's just not please anybody. In that regard, last night was truly an Oscar Performance. But gotta give a shout-out to Bridges and Bullock for well-deserved recognition. I can digest that.
So many things that they could have cut out or shortened. And then they had to rush the Best Picture award, the climax of the whole evening. Actually it was an anticlimax the way Tom Hanks announced it.
what is a "movie" or film supposed to be if not entertain the audience. Sorry, but Hurt Locker wasn't better than Up, Up in the Air or Precious. And Avatar was far more entertaining. And Cameron said way back in August that Hurt Locker would win. Listening to NPR on Saturday, they said Hurt Locker would win.
i watched the first 15 mintues and the last 15 minutes. Managed to see both supporting actor and actress awards, best actor and best actress awards, best director and best picture awards. (grand total of 30 minutes viewing time) Why did it take 3+ hours?
I saw Avatar and Hurt locker both. Avatar > Hurtlocker I'll sum hurt locker up for yall Is the bomb going to go off? yes, no??? That's about it
I'm not saying that Hurt Locker was the best hands down, but Hurt Locker >Avatar. Let me sum up Avatar for you: 1tb Dances with Wolves, 1tsp Star Trek geek, dash of anti-war Greenpeace hokum, stir well for $500MM, and voil
see, more than 1. will bomb go off 2. or wont it ok. they get drunk and wrestle each other between bombs.
I think a good film or movie should do much much more than 'entertain.' I am one who believes that a movie ought to capture the essence of what is being portrayed. Movies obviously have vastly different subjects. Comparing different genres is always a difficult task, but how well do they portray their subject? I believe that at the heart of good film is good story telling. It might make one laugh or hurt, or cry, or be joyous, but the end of story is always emotive. Avatar was entertaining for most who saw it. It was not, however, by most accounts moving. At the end of nearly 3 hours there was little more than a break from reality and life lived. For me, a good film makes us walk away with a new found appreciation for the lives we live. That is somewhat vauge and ineloquent, but hopefully it hints as what I believe is good film.
I've not seen Hurt Locker but will. Avatar was entertaining but it was not a best picture winner. It was a remake of Disney's Pocahontas. That does not warrant a best picture award.
OK, i just suddenly realized, i didn't see one movie that was released this past year. That's what having young children will get ya!
Maybe part of the problem is they just don't make great films anymore. I looked up the previous winners (and contenders) all the way back.... on Wikipedia. For decades the list of contenders were all outstanding films... more like choices, choices so that they were all winners for the most part, and in some cases all the contenders were Best Pictures for any year, and some for all time. Here's the list for 1939: Gone with the Wind -- winner. Now here's the rest, for 1939 The Wizard of Oz Wuthering Heights Stagecoach Mr. Smith Goes to Washington Goodbye, Mr. Chips Ninotchka Of Mice and Men Love Affair Dark Victory From that year forward, scroll through the years and look at the whole list of Nominees. There are a lot of "best pictures," whereas today it's hard to even say the nominees were really a very good movie at all, much less a timeless piece of film making. Here's my point. In the best supporting actor category last night, I liked all five. I could live with any choice. All were deserving. Hated to see anyone lose. But not so in Best Picture. For me, UP was the best picture, all things considered. After I got the BluRay copy and watched it more times... it really is a gem of a picture. Hard not to like any scene or moment in it. Just an outstanding achievement in inventing and creating a cinema experience.
