The 82nd Academy Awards & STAR TREK

[Disillusioned]

Not really. I guess I've only ever seen or heard it used in a contemptuous manner, usually to signify a lack of intelligence, or at least that the person who says it thinks they are smarter than everyone else because they have different tastes. And that's even coming from a pretty rural setting.

You'll also note I didn't freak out either time, and the second instance I asked to have it explained in the off chance I had somehow misunderstood, rather than to simply take it as a slight against my intelligence.

 

[M'Sharak]

You'll also note I didn't freak out either time, and the second instance I asked to have it explained in the off chance I had somehow misunderstood, rather than to simply take it as a slight against my intelligence.

Very well. I have endeavored to explain it satisfactorily above, and I think you may rest assured that it was simply a turn of phrase, and not intended as a slight against your intelligence (or anyone else's.)

 

[Disillusioned]

Well, I hope so. It would have been better coming from the person who actually said it, though.

 

[MvRojo]

Paramount finally started their promotional push for awards (about 6 weeks later than some other studios), and they're apparently going to focus on Up in the Air (almost guaranteed a Best Picture spot according to most industry analysts), The Lovely Bones (a real contender, especially in acting categories), Transformers 2 (for among other things, Best Picture, Director, and Screenplay ), and Star Trek.

The one thing I don't like is that they haven't scheduled any screenings for Trek (or Transformers 2), and merely state that it's available on home video. They also haven't listed the categories they're interested in for Star Trek, although they list them for the other three films.

http://www.paramountscreenings.com/

 

[Kegg]

Paramount finally started their promotional push for awards (about 6 weeks later than some other studios), and they're apparently going to focus on Up in the Air (almost guaranteed a Best Picture spot according to most industry analysts), The Lovely Bones (a real contender, especially in acting categories), Transformers 2 (for among other things, Best Picture, Director, and Screenplay ), and Star Trek.

Egad.

I'm sort of hoping Transformers 2 is nipped in the bud. Yes, I didn't see it (didn't like the earlier picture) but it's the goddamn principle of the thing: The film may have been a monster smash hit at the box office, but it was rather aggressively critically panned. Doesn't that count for anything anymore? I can understand it being a contender in technical categories, but if it gets any of the three noms you mention there I'm worried. Given the widely favourable coverage Star Trek got, I'd hope it has a much better chance than the Bay flick.

Up in the Air and Lovely Bones do look promising enough, and given the talent behind the former a best picture nom wouldn't surprise me.

 

[Jeri]

Maybe they didn't want to jinx Star Trek by failing to recommend Best Picture; whereas they must be sure recommending Transformers for Best Picture won't jinx anything. (Don't know if that's clear as mud.)

 

[MvRojo]

Paramount finally started their promotional push for awards (about 6 weeks later than some other studios), and they're apparently going to focus on Up in the Air (almost guaranteed a Best Picture spot according to most industry analysts), The Lovely Bones (a real contender, especially in acting categories), Transformers 2 (for among other things, Best Picture, Director, and Screenplay ), and Star Trek.

Egad.

I can understand it being a contender in technical categories, but if it gets any of the three noms you mention there I'm worried.

Transformers 2 has 0 chance of getting any major nominations. I'm just annoyed Paramount would even go to the effort to push for them. I hope they don't spend any unnecessary funds to promote that instead of spending more on Trek, which at least has a marginal chance of getting some big nominations.

 

[Harvey]

Paramount finally started their promotional push for awards (about 6 weeks later than some other studios), and they're apparently going to focus on Up in the Air (almost guaranteed a Best Picture spot according to most industry analysts), The Lovely Bones (a real contender, especially in acting categories), Transformers 2 (for among other things, Best Picture, Director, and Screenplay ), and Star Trek.

Egad.

I'm sort of hoping Transformers 2 is nipped in the bud. Yes, I didn't see it (didn't like the earlier picture) but it's the goddamn principle of the thing: The film may have been a monster smash hit at the box office, but it was rather aggressively critically panned. Doesn't that count for anything anymore? I can understand it being a contender in technical categories, but if it gets any of the three noms you mention there I'm worried. Given the widely favourable coverage Star Trek got, I'd hope it has a much better chance than the Bay flick.

Paramount also pushed Star Trek Nemesis as a Best Picture Nominee, and that was before the field widened to 10 entries. I imagine the studio is pushing Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen just to placate certain parties, and to up its visibility in order to give it the best chance in the technical categories, rather than as a serious push for Best Picture and the like.

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

Trek may get a best picture nod, folks.

I'm not lying to you.

Why? Because the Academy has increased potential nominees from 5 to 10, perhaps to increase viewership. The film is very high on the tomato-meter, and is well liked as a great time at the movies.

Take that as you will.

 

[Kegg]

^
Star Trek and Up were the two highest rated summer films on general release (i.e. Hurt Locker and Moon need not apply, apparently)* according, again, to Rotten Tomatoes. So yes, I think a Best Picture nomination is possible, but I also thought the Dark Knight had a chance of a nom last year.

Paramount also pushed Star Trek Nemesis as a Best Picture Nominee, and that was before the field widened to 10 entries.

Point taken. I remember that, and finding it ridiculous at the time (in the year of Attack of the Clones and The Two Towers even technical wins were a long shot).

Anyway, that's reassuring.

*Though surely Hurt Locker is a shoo-in for a nomination, and rightly so.

 

[cooleddie74]

Even CLONES was a more solid and enjoyable film than NEMESIS...which pains me to no end seeing how I rank Episode II as the worst and least satisfying of all the STAR WARS films(save 2008's all-CGI entry THE CLONE WARS, which really doesn't count in many respects).

 

[Harvey]

Though surely Hurt Locker is a shoo-in for a nomination, and rightly so.

It better be. There aren't many films I liked as much as it this year, save Moon (probably won't be nominated because of its summer release date and the science fiction genre) and Adventureland (definitely won't be nominated due to its even earlier than summer release date combined with an advertising campaign that made it out to be the next Superbad).

 

[Kegg]

When 2002 rolled around I was excited. For the first time ever, a Star Wars and a Star Trek movie were going to be released the same year. Who would win in this battle of the franchises?

Lord of the Rings, as it turned out.

Though surely Hurt Locker is a shoo-in for a nomination, and rightly so.

It better be. There aren't many films I liked as much as it this year, save Moon (probably won't be nominated because of its summer release date and the science fiction genre) and Adventureland (definitely won't be nominated due to its even earlier than summer release date combined with an advertising campaign that made it out to be the next Superbad).

I hadn't even heard of Adventureland, so point taken there. I'm guessing Hurt Locker will get a nomination simply because it has been so aggressively praised. I also adored Moon but I definitely think as far as sci-fi pictures go it's basically been forgotten compared to the likes of District 9 (a shame as I consider it the better film).

My other favourites of the year besides Moon are rather unremarkable picks like A Serious Man and Inglorious Basterds, which seem to be as pretty plausible contenders for Oscar nominations.

As for other films this year... well, I was knocked out by White Ribbon, and I predict a probable Foreign Picture win on my almighty powers of wild, unsubstaniated and unresearched guessing. It picked up the Palme d'Or, though, and I think this one may be well regarded as Haneke's masterpiece. Besides, German language movies about or allegorically about Nazism, Hollywood loves that.

 

[Harvey]

I haven't seen A Serious Man yet. I'm still waiting for it to make its way into town. That, and The Road.

I can never say when it comes to Best Foreign Film. The Academy usually awards a film that I haven't had the chance to see (or, often, hear of) yet. Hopefully I'll be in an actual city come next year (and knee deep in a graduate film program...somewhere) and will be able to see these films before the Awards ceremony!

Adventureland was a well-made coming of age story, I thought. Although it had some very funny moments (all of them, sadly, in the trailer), it had an awfully melancholy outlook on life. The reviews were decent, as I remember.

 

[MvRojo]

I loved Adventureland (and I was a little kid during the 80's so it worked even without the connection), really liked The Hurt Locker, but didn't really get A Serious Man, which was more vague than most Coen Brothers films. I was underwhelmed by District 9 and the non-Shoshanna parts of Inglorious Basterds. Up should get a nomination, but it will be interesting to see whether they are pushing it in both the animated and the best picture categories.

I'm looking forward to the seeing Up in the Air, Precious, Invictus, Nine, and the Lovely Bones before I make a personal choice as my favorite movie.

 

[Kegg]

didn't really get A Serious Man, which was more vague than most Coen Brothers films.

I thought it was an astoundingly direct film. It's all about one guy's quixotic search for meaning in the contest of his confusing and messed up life. Heck, the rather excellent trailer is also the film condensed, and the prologue touched on the film's issues also.

Honestly there are few Coen Brothers films that have spoken so directly to me as this one, but I may be alone here. Absolutely riveting, I honestly felt, and I know I am a fanboy.

Up should get a nomination, but it will be interesting to see whether they are pushing it in both the animated and the best picture categories.

That is the question. For years, Best Animated Picture has basically been Pixar's to lose (which it didn't even do to Persepolis... grr...), and with the enormous critical acclaim at their beck and call, dare they go for the big one?

I'm looking forward to the seeing Up in the Air,

As a fan of Thank You For Smoking I'm bound to see this though the trailer simply seems... well, alright. George Clooney learns life lesson that you can't just be a jet setter, you need to settle down and have a real relationship - is this a bubblegum card or a movie? Harrumph.

Oh, yes, and Bad Lieutenant, the latest (and supposedly pretty good) Herzog movie, I've got to see that.

 

[MvRojo]

didn't really get A Serious Man, which was more vague than most Coen Brothers films.

I thought it was an astoundingly direct film. It's all about one guy's quixotic search for meaning in the contest of his confusing and messed up life. Heck, the rather excellent trailer is also the film condensed, and the prologue touched on the film's issues also.

Honestly there are few Coen Brothers films that have spoken so directly to me as this one, but I may be alone here. Absolutely riveting, I honestly felt, and I know I am a fanboy.

Yeah, I'm a huge Coen Brothers fan, but I felt detached from the film. I thought the film itself was really well done (especially the use of lighting, music, and sound, which gave it a horror movie tension at times), but didn't get into the story as much.

Up should get a nomination, but it will be interesting to see whether they are pushing it in both the animated and the best picture categories.

That is the question. For years, Best Animated Picture has basically been Pixar's to lose (which it didn't even do to Persepolis... grr...), and with the enormous critical acclaim at their beck and call, dare they go for the big one?

The thing is that the rules allow them to enter into both categories, so they could get both nominations, and then win one or the other.

I'm looking forward to the seeing Up in the Air,

As a fan of Thank You For Smoking I'm bound to see this though the trailer simply seems... well, alright. George Clooney learns life lesson that you can't just be a jet setter, you need to settle down and have a real relationship - is this a bubblegum card or a movie? Harrumph.

Oh, yes, and Bad Lieutenant, the latest (and supposedly pretty good) Herzog movie, I've got to see that.

There's an interview with Jason Reitman at AICN (http://www.aintitcool.com/node/43234) that made me much more interested in seeing the film. I actually haven't seen the trailer yet (only posters), and I think I'm just going to avoid them entirely. I really liked Thank You For Smoking as well, and liked Juno as well.

 

[MvRojo]

Interesting article from MSNBC:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34264855/ns/entertainment-movies/

“It looks like there is going to be a sci-fi film in the best picture race,” says Entertainment Weekly's Dave Karger. “My feeling is that ‘Star Trek’ has the best shot. The reviews were pretty fantastic, and even...non-science fiction fans appreciated it.”

The fact that this has been considered a down year for Oscar-worthy contenders, along with a well-timed DVD & Blu-ray release in mid-November, all seem to play in ‘Trek's’ favor.
...
But Trekkers may want to hold off on planning a camp-out outside the Kodak Theater. Because as it has done so many other times, the Academy may have bungled this latest attempt to shake up Oscar.

One look at Tom O'Neil's Gold Derby blog for the Los Angeles Times, which gauges the temperature of the awards season, suggests that instead of providing slots for a summer blockbuster, Oscar voters may simply use the five extra selections to add more movies that no one outside of New York and L.A. has seen.
...
The question is, should “Star Trek” be in the discussion? While it certainly enjoyed stellar reviews (including one from this Web site), is it, as Scalzi mentioned, “Best Picture” caliber? Worthy of earning a nomination only 18 other genre pictures have earned in the Academy's 81-year history?

The list of genre films that have been overlooked in the past is staggering. “2001: A Space Odyssey,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “Superman,” “Alien,” “The Empire Strikes Back,” “Blade Runner,” “The Matrix” and “Pan's Labyrinth” were all given the cold shoulder. So was the original “King Kong.”

Is “Star Trek” really deserving of such an accolade, or will scoring a nomination be an indication that the Oscars have lost some of its luster?

 

[Jeri]

Were both Mr. Karger and Mr. O'Neill correct, there would be both a sci-fi film nominated, and it would be offbeat: i.e., "District 9." I like it, but not as much as Star Trek.

 

[Kegg]

^
I had assumed District 9 would be more to the Academy's taste, yeah, if any sci-fi films were to get a nomination. However:

“It looks like there is going to be a sci-fi film in the best picture race,” says Entertainment Weekly's Dave Karger. “My feeling is that ‘Star Trek’ has the best shot. The reviews were pretty fantastic, and even...non-science fiction fans appreciated it.”

I guess the implication here is Star Trek has more mainstream appeal than District 9? That would seem fair, though District 9 was more of a hit that I had ever anticipated it would be.

The list of genre films that have been overlooked in the past is staggering. “2001: A Space Odyssey,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “Superman,” “Alien,” “The Empire Strikes Back,” “Blade Runner,” “The Matrix” and “Pan's Labyrinth” were all given the cold shoulder. So was the original “King Kong.”

Pan's Labyrinth was nominated. For Best Foreign Film. If we're calling that overlooking a film now, well, the Academy has much to answer for, no, with all those non-English language films it's 'overlooked' for decades?