THE 86th ANNUAL ACADEMY AWARDS

[Jet]

It doesn't have my confidence of winning because it doesn't cover the spectrum of what Hollywood strives to do: appeal to the masses. I am an avid, old time fan of Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Chris Cooper and Sam Shepard. Julianne Nicholson has won me over from her performances in Boardwalk Empire and this film. As much as I admire these actors, I don't feel they'll win based on a lack of wide appeal and politics. This is a heavy, mature film. If they do win...accolades to an Academy which still recognizes the sophistication and art of dramatic performances that are deserving based on solid acting.

[The_Lady_Snow]

I can't wait to see what everyone is wearing!!!!




Oh and Ellen, I Ellen

[Martina]

I loved Gravity. It was beautiful from beginning to end. I loved the long silences. Wasn't bored for a minute. I have never seen anything like it. It intentionally didn't have much of a story. In fact, it got faulted by some critics for the unnecessary melodrama of Sandra Bullock's back story -- her daughter. I agree with that. It was completely unnecessary.

I loved that there was so little bullshit. No romance. The space cowboy was a hero, but he couldn't save the day. The film did not pander. I liked it a lot.

[Jet]

Originally Posted by The_Lady_Snow

I can't wait to see what everyone is wearing!!!!




Oh and Ellen, I Ellen

Bottom line? Me either. Interesting stuff.

[Jet]

Originally Posted by Martina

I loved Gravity. It was beautiful from beginning to end. I loved the long silences. Wasn't bored for a minute. I have never seen anything like it. It intentionally didn't have much of a story. In fact, it got faulted by some critics for the unnecessary melodrama of Sandra Bullock's back story -- her daughter. I agree with that. It was completely unnecessary.

I loved that there was so little bullshit. No romance. The space cowboy was a hero, but he couldn't save the day. The film did not pander. I liked it a lot.

Interesting point of view, Martina. Thank you for sharing.

[Jet]

Bump. It's that time of year.

[Jet]

[Jet]

I think The Wolf of Wall Street will likely win out.

[*Anya*]

Originally Posted by Jet

I think The Wolf of Wall Street will likely win out.

Do you think it is a better film than American Hustle?

Or is it politics?

[Happy_Go_Lucky]

When Ellen hosts, her talents transcend to all. Her comedy is funny based on observational humor. She doesn't feel the need to cut, slice and dice a portion of her audience. Her heart is huge and she deserves all the gifts that this world has to offer.

And...Seth Rogen blows and sucks. Last year was a disgrace and he should have been escorted off the stage by the ears like the little creepy, troll he is.

I say Ellen hosts the Academy Awards every year.

[Jet]

Originally Posted by *Anya*

Do you think it is a better film than American Hustle?

Or is it politics?

I think it's always politics. Think of how many times people like Stephen Spielberg have been passed over. I don't know why that is, except that there's real control in an industry worth billions. Film making isn't that simple; people answer to major corporations and to investors who look for billions in returns. There's canvassing and campaigning that goes into this and you wonder about fairness. George Clooney came out this past year in criticism of (I believe heads of Sony Pictures, don't quote me here...I don't have the story in front me) who controls what kind of movies are being made. Corporations have a major say, and that's scary to me to think of their weight on film making. As for The Wolf of Wall Street, the collaborative team of Martin Scorsese and Terence Winter (Boardwalk Empire) and the influence of Leo DiCaprio in the title...I just feel it'll win. I could be wrong, but these are big men with big influence and backed with big money, you know? I am a huge fan Terence Winters' work, but this flick is rough.
_______________________________

I don't like either movie to be honest. In fact, I don't like most of the nominated movies. I appreciate the meticulous recreation of the 70s in American Hustle...from sculpted wall-paper to frosted figurines to 4-inch polyester knotched lapels and dropped collars to music by America and Chicago. I grew up in the 70s and this movie brought back things I haven't seen in years. But I'm tired of in-your-face movies that are brutal and aggressive. I have had a steady diet of that all year. And I take breaks with series like Downton Abbey, documentaries, some comedies, family films and classic movies.

The nominated films this year are over the top gritty or have such serious subject matter which seems to be the bent this year, as opposed to good a mix of films. When you consider that AIDS, the brutality of slavery, disaster, cancer, family dysfunction, con games etc. and a hearty party of mix of raunch and drugs dominate this year's films, you haven t wonder if there is another precedent being set. This bothers me; I wonder what powers that be are making what kind of statement.

Films overlooked include The Butler, Saving Mr. Banks, and All is Lost (Redford is great in this film about an aged man pitted against the sea.) It almost reminded of Old Man and The Sea with Spencer Tracy.

I won't watch the Oscars; I'm not a fan of the nominated movies.. I do think that art direction, costume design and direction in these movies are impeccable and deserve consideration.

I would love it if Bruce Dern won. He's been around forever and deserves an Oscar for Nebraska. I don't think he'll win...but we're losing our classic actors and I think the Academy should look at his work and the 50 or so years he's put in with supporting roles. This is a big nomination for him and I hope he wins.

[The_Lady_Snow]

Every year I wait with great anticipation when a POC is nominated, I'd love to see Hollywood, the movie industry give more POC more strong roles in movies other than your stereotypical roles of:

Maids

Servants

Slaves

Oppressed group


Druggies


There are so many movies that could and should be made with POC in main character roles, pretty silly to keep hoping but it sure would make for a better, more cultured experience.

[Jet]

POC roles are often written by and presented by POC. Oprah Winfrey, Spike Jones, Forrest Whittaker, Steve McQueen, Alfre Woodard and other "POC" film makers who obviously feel we need to see years of plight from POCs points of view. These movies are the concepts of POC themselves and are either based on true stories in history or experiences portrayed in fiction. Nothing new...dates back to Alex Haley's Roots, Sounder with Cicely Tyson and Backstairs at The White House, to name a few. There's obviously a substantial and supportive audience—and as long as there is, these films will continue. On the flip side, several flicks come to mind, which have absolutely NOTHING to do with POC stereotypes such as Philadelphia with Denzel Washington, and about 20 films for actors Morgan Freeman, Laurence Fishburn, Samuel L. Jackson and Halle Barry, off hand. These actors have excelled in their craft without being cast in stereotypical roles based on race. It's based on their appeal across audience demographics. I'm a fan of all of these actors. The industry has provided ample opportunity.

[Jet]

SAG Awards, just announced, could be early indicators in Oscar races.

http://movies.yahoo.com/blogs/movie-...040234319.html

[Jet]

The real Wolf of Wall Street; how close is the movie?

Jordan Belfort, the real Wolf of Wall Street, talks with Entertainment Tonight about his biography played by Oscar nominee Leo DiCaprio. Interesting piece on the man who bilked investors out of millions. http://www.cbs.com/shows/cbs_this_morning/video/

[Jet]

My vote for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Woody Allen finally wrote a script I like in Blue Jasmine, the subtle parallel of the downfall of Ruth and Bernie Madoff. Blanchett plays a woman in deep denial and humiliation as she falls from Park Avenue grace and down the ladder because of her bilking-swindler husband, played by Alec Baldwin.

Cate Blanchett seems to have done it all and, I think, deserves it all recalling her roles as Blanche DuBois (A Street Car Named Desire), Queen Elizabeth, Katharine Hepburn in (The Aviator), and now a woman striving to shore up some dignity after being thrown under the bus.

She's a terrific character actor in leading roles with her high cheek bones, wide smile and handsome square face—even playing Bob Dylan. I'll offer this great interview with Leslie Stahl before the Oscars air on March 2. If you haven't seen this, and you're a fan of movies, enjoy and cast your own votes here.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/cate-blanchett-talks-blue-jasmine-and-oscar-nominated-role-on-60-minutes/

[Jet]

Oscar-nominated documentary captures the life of Alice Herz-Sommer,
the oldest known Holocaust survivor who passed way at 110.

More on Herz-Sommer and the film, The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life.

http://news.yahoo.com/oldest-known-h...190725943.html

[dykeumentary]

Here are my picks:
Best picture: 12 years a slave
Best Actor: Chiwetel Ejofor (who I've liked since "dirty pretty things"
Best actress: cate blanchette
Best supporting actor: Jared Leto
Best supporting actress: Lupita Nyong'o
Director: Steve mcQueen
Editing: American hustle
Foreign language film: the great beauty (but "in bloom" and "wadjda" should have been nominated)

[Jet]

Nebraska

is shot on location in the fields and on the back roads of the state where I lived for more than 30 years. The scenery is all too familiar to me, though the writers have added the fictional town of Hawthorne which doesn't exist.

Da D's

Is Nebraska my kind of movie because I lived there? Or because it felt as though I'd flown back? Not at all. I've mentioned that I've had steady diet, all year, of films that either depict depression, dysfuntion, dispair, dissolution or danger. Well, Nebraska is just plain dull and drab. But the film has a redeeming quality in Dern—Bruce Dern— who plays a booze-addled drunk in search of his jackpot winnings in...Nebraska.

The Academy hasn't awarded Bruce Dern an Oscar for his lifetime achievements. And he hasn't been nominated since 1979 for Coming Home. I think it's time because of his longevity and his performance , and he is my second choice for Best Actor.

I grew up watching Bruce Dern. And, if you're my age, you'll remember him as a psychopath, sociopath, criminal or just plain dirty as dirty gets in more memorable films such as Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte, The Cowboys, Black Sunday, Marnie by Alfred Hitchcock, They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, and Diggstown, to name a few. He is a character actor in the ranks of nasty guys Jack Palance, and psycho Richard Widmark in his early years. Nobody played 'em better. I think Dern deserves consideration coming onto the screen in his late 70s in a leading role. When I watched him, I wondered if director Alexander Payne literally pulled him out of retirement in a wheel chair. A far departure from his early years.

June Squibb

Nebraska is drab with exaggerated caricatures of hicks in the sticks.(Stacy Keach, who I hardly recognized, cast as one of them.) I didn't know any people as dull when I lived in Nebraska and it grated on my nerves to watch this slow, slanted movie about uninteresting people, shot in black and white.


On the flip side...

the super nice thing about Nebraska is that it features senior citizens by the dozens and the best is 85 year-old Oscar-nominated supporting actress June Squibb. She is a scene stealer as Dern's feisty wife, and she is my second choice for the supporting actress Oscar. I have never seen anyone as natural in a role since Shirley Booth's Oscar, Tony and Golden Globe-winning role as Lola Delaney in Come Back Little Sheba. There is no camera in front of June Squibb...



Just my take on Nebraska. Have fun at the movies.

[Jet]

FALLON'S PROS AND CONS OF WATCHING THE OSCARS. (KICK ME, BABY....LOL)