The 82nd Annual Academy Awards

[Sleepless]

WTWTA didn't even get a nod for visual effects? Stupid stupid stupid

[mogwai]

It's not very good.

Part I:
Part II:

Haha, funnier than the Phantom Menace review.

[Myxo]

Anyone else feel like 2009 was a really weak year for movies? From the best picture category, there are at least 5 films (An Education, The Hurt Locker, Precious, A Serious Man, Up in the Air) on that list which you could label as inaccessible to the general public. I've seen a lot of them but most of the general public haven't. Oh and normally I've seen at least one, sometimes two of the documentaries nominated for an AA. I haven't even heard of the nominees this year.

[Stefen]

I think it's actually been a great year. If you judge it by what the academy thinks, it was fucking terrible, but there's been some good stuff this year that maybe didn't appeal to upper class old white people.

Treeless Mountain, Moon, The Girlfriend Experience, Dear Zachary, Anvil!, Tyson, Two Lovers, Bad LT II, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Drag me to Hell, Gomorrah (08?), Away We Go, Advenureland and those are just the ones I've seen.

There are still lots of great stuff that I haven't, like everything.

I've enjoyed this year more than most, but you wouldn't be able to tell by the wasps choices.

[matt35mm]

Anyone else feel like 2009 was a really weak year for movies? From the best picture category, there are at least 5 films (An Education, The Hurt Locker, Precious, A Serious Man, Up in the Air) on that list which you could label as inaccessible to the general public. I've seen a lot of them but most of the general public haven't. Oh and normally I've seen at least one, sometimes two of the documentaries nominated for an AA. I haven't even heard of the nominees this year.

Maybe it's been a good year for movies, and a bad year for publicity/advertising.  The turds were polished up and put out there while the pearls remained trapped inside the oyster.  I guess we, as movie lovers, have a responsibility to rip those oyster shells the fuck open ourselves and take those goddamned pearls.  If we can collect enough pearls, we can string them together as a necklace and watch them drape between a woman's breasts.  Then, she will finally fuck us.  And she won't even care that we can't make her cum, because she'll think we're rich.  It doesn't matter that she'll find out that we're not rich, because we only have to fuck her once, and then we can jerk off to that memory forever.

... What were we talking about?  Oh yeah, fuck the Oscars!

[polkablues]

These nominations are great news for people who hate surprises.

[Kal]

Nothing for Moon or Where the Wild Things Are?

The rest was very predictable and I hate having 10 best film nominees. Five is enough. Perhaps 6. But TEN? No.

I'm glad the Argentinean film "El Secreto de Sus Ojos" made it because its an amazing film. You should watch it if you can find it. Not sure when it will come out in the USA.

[Alexandro]

It's just weird to have 10 films nominated. It looks as if everything got the nomination.

[Stefen]

Everything and nothing.

I was hoping that if there were going to be 10, they could throw us at least a couple bones, but nope. 10 most popular.

[Captain of Industry]

I'm glad the Argentinean film "El Secreto de Sus Ojos" made it because its an amazing film. You should watch it if you can find it. Not sure when it will come out in the USA.

Is this something you saw on a festival circuit, or do you live in Argentina/a country which regularly receives Argentinean films?  I haven't seen this movie, I'd love to see this movie, and for various reasons it looks like I will get the chance to soon.  I did just watch Fabián Bielinsky's The Aura which also stars Ricardo Darín.

Related to this, did you see Pablo Trapero's Lion's Den?  A great great women in penitentiary film which would be an awesome double feature with the Oscar nominated A Prophet.

[Kal]

I'm glad the Argentinean film "El Secreto de Sus Ojos" made it because its an amazing film. You should watch it if you can find it. Not sure when it will come out in the USA.

Is this something you saw on a festival circuit, or do you live in Argentina/a country which regularly receives Argentinean films?  I haven't seen this movie, I'd love to see this movie, and for various reasons it looks like I will get the chance to soon.  I did just watch Fabián Bielinsky's The Aura which also stars Ricardo Darín.

Related to this, did you see Pablo Trapero's Lion's Den?  A great great women in penitentiary film which would be an awesome double feature with the Oscar nominated A Prophet.

Somebody gave it to me a while back.

And nope, I have not seen the Trapero film yet but I also have the DVD somewhere. I have to watch it.

[Pubrick]

These nominations are great news for people who hate surprises.

i said almost that exact thing to someone this morning.

it's like that episode of futurama When Aliens Attack, Lurr from the planet omicron persei 8 is watching Single Female Lawyer and it cuts off and he comes to destroy earth if they don't make the final episode again, and then fry makes the final episode cos he actually made it cut off if you remember a thousand years back and then he only writes about half a script so when it gets to the end Leila has to make up the ending and she improvises "I"M QUITTING LAW AND GETTING MARRIED" something like that, which she considers pretty good cos it's clever and unexpected. but fry thinks it's shit and this is what he says:

"that's not why ppl watch tv, clever things make ppl feel stupid and unexpected things make them feel scared".

that's why invictus is there, that's why crash won, that's why the blind side is there, and that's why hurt locker is actually going to win, not cos it's actually the best movie but cos it's the good movie that all the scared and dumb ppl agreed to get behind, they had to ALL get behind it, otherwise they'd hav to defend their own tastes instead of resorting to "well everyone else liked it".

the docos list is good tho, all those are great and the cove should win (i've seen it!).

[©brad]

After repeat viewings I've come around to really liking Inglourious Basterds. However -

"We're going to win Best Picture. This is the movie people love and it's Quentin's time. We are going for it and we are gonna get it," says Harvey.

Fuck this movie in the face. I hope Up wins. Or District 9, or anything else.

[Alexandro]

come on.
it's bigelow's time.
that's it.
tarantino will maybe win the writing awards but that's that for him personally. too many people think he's a spoiled full of himself egomaniac, unlike all those down to earth gentle geniuses like wes anderson, pta, james cameron, spielberg, scorsese, allen, nolan...

[MacGuffin]

Artists behind Oscar-nominated songs won't perform

LOS ANGELES - Some of Oscar's most memorable moments have come during performances of nominated songs.

Among them: rap group Three 6 Mafia surrounded by streetwalkers as they performed "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" from "Hustle & Flow" in 2006, and Celine Dion's resplendent performance of the "Titanic" hit, "My Heart Will Go On," in 1998.

Don't expect such musical moments at the 82nd Academy Awards.

The artists behind the year's five nominated songs will not perform during the Oscar telecast. Instead, the songs will be showcased with clips from the films that featured them, "which is how most nominated achievements are featured within the show," Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences spokeswoman Leslie Unger said Wednesday.

That means Randy Newman won't get to take the stage for his two nominated tunes, "Almost There" and "Down in New Orleans" from "The Princess and the Frog."

Marion Cotillard won't reprise her sexy, heart-wrenching performance of "Take It All," written by Maury Yeston for "Nine." Reinhardt Wagner and Frank Thomas can't bring their "Loin de Paname" from "Paris 36" to life.

And "The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)" won't be performed by "Crazy Heart" star Jeff Bridges or writers Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett.

"We haven't been invited," Bingham said, seeming a bit surprised.

Yet there will still be dancing on the show. Producer and choreographer Adam Shankman announced on his Twitter page that he cast 69 dancers for the show's production numbers, though he hasn't revealed exactly what he has planned.

The Oscar troupe includes at least a dozen dancers from the Fox reality show "So You Think You Can Dance," where Shankman serves as a judge.

"All there for the movies!" he tweeted.

The Academy Awards will be presented March 7 at the Kodak Theatre and broadcast live on ABC.