It's a shame they didn't put Deathly Hallows on there as a lot of folks anticipated a Best Picture nomination in honor of the series (but there's still a chance of a special Oscar). The BP list is interesting this year because it's really a two horse race - Hugo vs. The Artist. Which also means 3-D vs. Silent Movies. That alone makes this worth following. It would have been nice to say I'd seen both, but I wasn't able to find a 2-D theatre playing Hugo and The Artist to my knowledge either never played here at all or if it did it only played for a week. I'm assuming they'll be fast-tracking the Blu-rays for both so I'll be able to see them soon enough. Alex
The only one I've seen on that list is The Descendants, which Clooney was indeed excellent in. I think I'll check out Moneyball and Tree of Life this weekend for a Pitt double-feature.
Even bigger surprise is TinTin got snubbed despite winning some other awards. Another nail in the coffin for photo-real CG in movies? CNN just listed Harry Potter as one of the more notable snubs. But unfortunately it was predicted that splitting DH into two might have sacrificed as potential Best Picture nomination since part 2 was just that - it wasn't a complete movie. Granted, Return of the King was Part 3 of a trilogy too. But at the same time it was also a standalone of sorts. DH2 literally could not be watched nor understood without Part 1. I'd still like to see the production team receive a special Oscar though for the series. Actually, this year would be a great year to give a special Oscar to EON Productions for the Bond movies too, since the series marks its 50th anniversary this year. Alex
I'm disappointed that Michael Fassbender wasn't nominated for his work in Shame. Excellent performance that I thought was worth a nod. He's a terrific actor--hopefully he won't be overlooked for his future work.
Includin' the technical awards, I've seen nine Oscar nominated films! Rango, Kung Fu Panda 2, The Ides of March, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, The Muppets, Rio, Rise of the Planet of the Apes & Real Steel...and only two of those were DVD rentals!
Hugo is crap. That's all I really want to say. I was very interested in it, and then... I saw it. And it's crap. The best thing about it is the 3D. The rest... About halfway through the movie, it becomes about someone else and not really about Hugo. Bleh. The rest are fine, though, I don't think the Descendants is all that. I hope The Artist wins.
Of the Best Picture nominees, I've seen four (*), still want to see another three (**), and have absolutely no interest in the last two. (* The Descendants, Midnight in Paris, Moneyball, The Tree of Life) (** The Artist, Hugo, War Horse) It was one of Pixar's weaker efforts.
I've only seen 2 of the best picture movies (The Help and Moneyball). Was very surprised a movie that just got panned by a lot of the critics (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close) got nominated and they didn't have another more mainstream movie in there like Harry Potter (Even though I'm kinda glad it didn't get nominated). I really want to see The Artist and Descendents, but I'm not sure how much of a rush I am to see the other movies nominated. Not an incredibly good year for movies nominated for Best Picture.
I've seen The Artist, Hugo, The Help, The Descendants, and War Horse. I thought Tree of Life was supposed to have sucked? Ditto with Extremely Loud. I was hoping Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy would be on the BP list. The Artist and The Descendants were my favorites of the year. The Help was good mainly because of the acting. I wish they would hand out Oscars for ensemble casts like the SAG awards do!
I've seen: The Artist The Descendants The Help Hugo Midnight in Paris Moneyball The Tree of Life Wow. A good chunk of them. Hugo-- as I said, meh. Midnight in Paris--charming, but best pic? Moneyball--really good. My wife, who knows nothing of baseball was completely engaged. Tree of Life--a very interesting experiment. Something that doesn't come along often. NOT for everyone. Maybe 5 people. The Descendants--ok. Sideways is better. The Artist--favorite movie of the year The Help-- Good. Not great. Good.
Seen Moneyball and Tree of Life. I loved Moneyball, but Tree of Life was a piece of pretentious garbage. I will see the rest of these movies prior to February 26. Oh yes... I will.
*Scans the list, jaw drops* Jonah Hill got nominated for Moneyball? Was he really that good in it (I haven't seen the movie yet, so I'm honestly asking)?
I've seen The Help, Moneyball, Hugo and hopefully seeing The Artist this week. Moneyball was good but I wouldn't say it was amazing. I absolutely adored Hugo and think it would be a worthy winner.
He was fine. I think he was lucky to be in a really good movie. He's not doing his typical schtick, so maybe that's why. But, oscar worthy? No. Again, he was lucky to be in a really good movie. It's like the opposite of Streep. She's really good in Iron Lady, which is, at best, a mediocre movie.
Well that certainly changes the marketing campaign for an upcoming movie: Four-time Teen Choice Award winner Channing Tatum Oscar-nominee Jonah Hill 21 Jump Street
Hugo is itself a big tribute to silent films (the work of Georges Melies) and technical innovations (the ones Melies did/3D). The Academy's animation branch has always been clear that they don't think motion-capture is animation. The comparison to LOTR never made sense, because those movies got nominated all the way through. The HP films never went higher than a nomination for Best Cinematography. Er, no, it's arguably the most critically acclaimed film of the year (I didn't think it was nearly that good, but it's certainly not thought to be bad). That's an extremely divisive movie; people either love it or hate it, and a lot of people hated it.
Moneyball was competent, but I don't understand why it has been getting so much praise. I feel the same about the performances -- good, but not worthy of being singled out. I'm surprised that The Descendants is on here, too. It was okay, but not nearly as good as Payne's previous effort, Sideways. The absence of We Need To Talk About Kevin on this list is shameful, but at least The Tree of Life was recognized (though I doubt something so experimental will win).