The 81st Annual Academy Awards

[pumba]

robert downey jr. !!!
hahahahahahahahahahaha
That's the best. I can't take this award show seriously anymore, especially after crash won.
mtv movie awards have more integrity

[Gold Trumpet]

I don't care either way about the Oscars. I just hope more of these films come to my neck of the woods, but I expected the Dark Knight to have been nominated for Best Picture. It was a blockbuster, yes, but did represent an agreement between audience and most critics as being great. The original Star Wars accomplished the same thing and was rewarded with a Best Picture nomination in 1977.

And considering few of the nominees are coming in with great fanfare of any kind, I expected it would have been nominated.

Other than that I don't give a shit. Let Hollywood congratulate itself again with a bad award show.

[Pozer]

as much crap as we all will forever talk on them, we all will forever watch them.  ALL of us.  forever.

[picolas]

anyone who calls 2008 a shit year simply hasn't seen everything it has to offer. 2008 was ACE. this list might make you think otherwise, but that's just because it's wrong and shows a total lack of imagination on the academy's part. the best picture race is almost 100% cop-out.

- i was really hoping against hope the wrestler would sneak in despite not getting too many nods elsewhere, just because more people would have seen it... it's a real mistake to see it as just about a great performance. not to mention acknowledging the goodness of rourke and tomei but somehow leaving evan out.. and not considering the DIRECTOR that shaped all these great performances. even from non-actors. i wonder if the wrestler is just the victim of a late release. i know it's going to be remembered long after these five choices.
- i don't understand how you can nominate a movie 8 times and not give the director a nod. that's messed up.
- i've never cared about the best song category, but the lack of "the wrestler" there makes zero sense. not only are there TWO slumdogs in there, but the category has been shortened??? jesus. and "little person" got no love anywhere i don't think..
- i am glad everyone in doubt got nommed, though viola should've made room for evan.
- no one's talking about waltz with bashir's exclusion from animated film. i don't think anyone takes this category seriously. i've heard bolt and kung-fu panda are great, but every year with the exception of last year it's two kids movies and a pixar. it doesn't need to be a joke category.
- supp. actor is pretty much right on.
- i guess i should see this "frozen river"...

i think in general the academy was afraid to acknowledge such unconventionally good movies. animated/futuristic, comic-book/action, ...wrestling? that still doesn't compute to me.. so they stuck with what SEEMED important. historical, forrest gump, historical, historical... slumdog... this year's noms are a victim of tradition. thoughtless tradition.

[Gold Trumpet]

as much crap as we all will forever talk on them, we all will forever watch them.  ALL of us.  forever.

I always hear that, but I didn't watch a second of the Golden Globe award show and have no plans to watch the Oscars either. When I was younger I was antagonistic to the Oscars, but I still cared about a few categories and who won so I was always checking in. Now none of it is of any interest to me. 

[Alexandro]

Herzog's first Oscar nomination, right?

for such a weak movie!

what about to reprise?

excuse me? so encounters is weak?

[pete]

I mean, herzog lite is still way better than everything else.  I still loved the movie, but literally it was just herzog going to a place and talking to people.  no fevered dreams and no inner demons.

[w/o horse]

This is the third draft I've made of a goodbye letter to Xixax and I've finally erased all tinges of bitterness or trite renunciation.  Including an Oscar rant in regards to this thread's attention.

Besides, whatevs.  Thanks for good times.

[Alexandro]

I mean, herzog lite is still way better than everything else.  I still loved the movie, but literally it was just herzog going to a place and talking to people.  no fevered dreams and no inner demons.

i found the whole thing fascinating. never occured to me before the place would be filled with new agey hippies...and in this particular case, the images speak by themselves. but i do get your point. he should win. i liked man on wire too, but i was levitating with encounters....

[cine]

WHERE'S THE PARANOIDS

[Kal]

WHERE'S THE PARANOIDS

Didn't you read what others here said? Good films get snubbed at the Oscars 

Actually, the film was not released in the USA during 2008 (only Canada, Cuba, Spain and Argentina so far) so maybe we'll get nominated for next year 

[MacGuffin]

[Sleepless]

Meh.

[matt35mm]

That reminds me of a recurring dream I have where I'm naked and encased in gold in front of 2000 people while millions more watch on live TV.

[MacGuffin]

Academy chief promises 'truly different' Oscars
Sid Ganis warns nominees that show will take 'risks'
Source: Hollywood Reporter

Promising an Oscar show that will be "truly different," Academy president Sid Ganis used the annual Nominees Luncheon to put this year's awards hopefuls on notice.

Teasingly withholding actual specifics, Ganis on Monday warned that "it's going to be a show that takes some risks." Speaking directly to the actors, he warned, "Your categories are being presented in a completely different way. Heads up."

Turning to the entire room full of 112 nominees gathered at the Beverly Hilton's International Ballroom, he added, "Cinematographers, editors, composers. All of you guys. You're in for a big surprise."

In hopes of stemming a ratings decline, the Academy has enlisted a new team, headed by producer Laurence Mark and exec producer Bill Condon, to give the 81st annual Academy Awards a makeover. ABC will broadcast the show live from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood on Feb. 22.

In an effort to build suspense, the producers are attempting to withhold details about the event, which will be hosted by Hugh Jackman. This year, for example, the names of the celebrity presenters are not being announced ahead of the broadcast in hopes of piquing viewers' interest.

Traditionally, the show's producer speaks at the luncheon, usually exhorting the eventual winners to avoid reading lists of thank yous. But while Mark and Condon mingled with the guests, they avoided the podium, leaving it to Ganis to make the annual appeal.

"If you insist on reading from a list, Larry and Bill just hope you're going to cry while you do it," he joked.

The luncheon, at which the nominees are presented certificates marking their nominations as well as commemorative sweatshirts, is one of the awards' seasons few non-competitive events.

And so, as the nominees gathered for a group portrait, best actor rivals Sean Penn and Mickey Rourke were virtually arm-in-arm, while best actress nominee Kate Winslet whispered to supporting actress nominee Marisa Tomei, who giggled in return.

While Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie as well as Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman did not drop by for lunch, the other acting nominees were all front and center as the Oscar countdown continues.