Author Topic: The Oscars 2007  (Read 9458 times)

Offline Pipedream

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Re: The Oscars 2007
« Reply #20 on: February 26, 2007, 05:45:00 pm »
Yeah! I'm happy for her, too. And how gorgeous did she look in that dress!  :D

I must admit, though, that I didn't see her take the statuette because I went to sleep before the end of the show. It must have been around 4.45 am overhere. Just didn't make it through my first long Oscar night... Lol.

I would have liked to see Adriana Barazza get the Oscar for best supporting actress. She was fantastic in Babel. But then, I haven't seen Dreamgirls.

 :)

Offline adrian

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Re: The Oscars 2007
« Reply #21 on: February 26, 2007, 06:31:40 pm »
Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls) won an Oscar?  :D  I just found out.
Way to go kiddo!
She is so new at all this too!

They say there's a curse to winning Best Supporting Actress.  That they virtually disappear after the win.
« Last Edit: February 26, 2007, 10:23:38 pm by Adrian »
There were only two of them on the mountain flying in the euphoric, bitter air, looking down on the hawks back and crawling lights of vehicles on the plain below....they believed themselves invisible.   A. Proulx

Offline Lumière

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Re: The Oscars 2007
« Reply #22 on: February 26, 2007, 07:13:52 pm »
Yeah! I'm happy for her, too. And how gorgeous did she look in that dress!  :D

Gorgeous!  She's a classy lady!  ;)


They say there's a curse to win Best Supporting Actress.  That they virtually disappear after the win.

Here's to hoping she keeps her career up!  :)


Offline delalluvia

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Re: The Oscars 2007
« Reply #23 on: February 26, 2007, 10:10:45 pm »
I didn't watch.  My friends were all wanting to know why I was boycotting since I normally throw a small dinner party and watch the Oscars.  Last year really pissed me off.  Still does.  Especially since the front runner film this year went all the way to the top.  It was expected to and it did.  Why didn't that happen last year?  >:( >:( >:( >:( >:(

Scorcese and Mirren were waaaaaaaaay overdue for their prizes. 

But again, like last year.  How many won what they won simply on hearsay or reputation without the Academy members even watching their movies?   :P


Right Oscar, right winner, wrong movie?


By JOCELYN NOVECK, AP National Writer 2 hours, 21 minutes ago

NEW YORK - Yes, "The Departed" was smart, highly entertaining moviemaking. But nary a critic would say it was
Martin Scorsese's best film — not by a mile.

Yet nobody but a heartless grinch would begrudge the masterful director his hard-won Oscar, the first in six nominations. It just points to a simple rule of Oscar history: An award isn't always about the actual work at hand. Often it amounts to a statement: that someone has finally arrived, or, in Scorsese's case, is long overdue.

In other words, when Oscar comes calling, it's not always for the right film.

Many fans thought it a crime when Scorsese didn't win the director prize for "Raging Bull" in 1981, losing out to
Robert Redford for "Ordinary People," or for "Goodfellas" in 1991, when he lost to
Kevin Costner for "Dances With Wolves."

"Yes, 'The Departed' is not a film that history will rank up there with 'Raging Bull,'" says Jonathan Kuntz, a professor of film history at UCLA. "But sometimes these awards are like lifetime achievement awards."

(And sometimes they ARE lifetime achievement awards: Alfred Hitchcock and
Robert Altman are both legendary directors who never won a directing prize and instead won special awards — Hitchcock in 1968 and Altman last year, months before he died.)

Ask any film buff, and they'll name a litany of actors and actresses who won for roles that even the performers themselves considered unworthy. Bette Davis was passed over in 1935 for "Of Human Bondage," so was rewarded for "Dangerous" the next year — a role that film historian Leonard Maltin calls "rather cheesy." And
Elizabeth Taylor didn't win for "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" in 1959, but two years later for "BUtterfield 8" — a film she freely disparaged, Maltin says.

More recently, how about
Al Pacino? Nominated seven times for acting awards, including for "The Godfather" (parts one and two) and "Dog Day Afternoon," he didn't win until "Scent of a Woman" in 1993.

"The last thing they're voting on at the
Oscars is the best work of the year," says Tom O'Neil, columnist for theenvelope.com Web site. "It's about passing out hugs." And sometimes, he says, the hugs come not too late, but too early.


"When
Nicole Kidman won for 'The Hours,' it was all about her becoming a superstar," O'Neil opines. And when
Russell Crowe won for "Gladiator," he continues, "It was about welcoming him into the Hollywood colosseum."

Is a system where people get rewarded retroactively or prematurely all that bad? Don't blame the academy, says Maltin, who also covers film for "Entertainment Tonight." The problem Oscar voters face is that they have no advantage of hindsight," he says. So when people say, 'How could so-and-so never have won,'" well, it's all about timing and luck of the draw. Why did
Peter O'Toole not win for "Lawrence of Arabia?" Because he happened to be up that year against Gregory Peck for 'To Kill a Mockingbird.'"

At least one analyst says the system is wrong. "I think Scorsese's win is absolutely payback to a person who deserved it for his other work," says Richard Walter, head of the screenwriting program at UCLA's film school. Walter calls this year's best-picture winner "Scorsese's most uninteresting film in years — a bunch of men talking on cell phones, and occasionally a woman talking on a phone."

"They should honor the person when they make a really good movie. Otherwise, why should the other nominees have to stand around and see a lesser film win?"

It's worth noting there apparently is no "payback" Oscar for certain categories — or at least it takes a whole lot longer. Sound engineer Kevin O'Connell was nominated for the 19th time this year, and still didn't win — a record for Oscar losses. (He was nominated with two others for sound mixing on
Mel Gibson's "Apocalypto.") "I'm already checked into therapy tomorrow," he quipped before the show.

Sunday's show was seen by 39.9 million people, according to Nielsen Media Research. That's up from the 38.8 million who watched "Crash" win the best picture award in 2006.

There were instances Sunday night when the academy chose to pass up a chance to redress a longtime omission. Despite a current of affection for O'Toole, who's never won an acting award in his long and storied career, the academy instead honored
Forest Whitaker's powerful (and most deserving) turn as Idi Amin in "The Last King of Scotland."

Just to prove you don't need a long resume to win an Oscar, there was newcomer Jennifer Hudson winning the supporting actress award for "Dreamgirls." And in an achievement that should have budding writers everywhere leaping with joy (or envy), Michael Arndt won the original screenplay award for his very first screenplay, "Little Miss Sunshine."

For film buffs worried that their favorite has been passed over for the wrong reason, it's worthwhile heeding the carefree attitude of the late Katharine Hepburn, herself a four-time best actress winner.

"Don't worry about not being nominated," she said in a telegram to Audrey Hepburn, who'd been passed over for "My Fair Lady," according to "Inside Oscar" by Mason Wiley and Damien Bona.

"Someday," she wrote, "you'll get it for a part that doesn't rate it."
« Last Edit: February 26, 2007, 10:23:55 pm by delalluvia »

Offline Sheyne

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Re: The Oscars 2007
« Reply #24 on: March 09, 2007, 06:33:17 pm »
That was such an interesting read, Del.  It voiced everything I've ever thought about the Oscars.  Its nothing but a political back-pat session. Or in the case of last year's mockery: about keeping gays "in their place".

"But!" they would shout indignantly, "We gave Philip Seymour Hoffman an Oscar and he played a gay man! We're not prejudiced against gay people!"

Yeah right..  I don't know about you guys, but I still sting badly when I think of the injustice of last years ceremony.  Brokeback had it in the bag, y'know.

I didn't watch this year's ceremony either.  I'm boycotting this awards show - unfortunately its the only American awards show we get televised here.  While a film like Brokeback can get snubbed for Trash - hell, Walk the Line was 10 times a better film than Crash! - as long as an actress like Laura Linney can not win an Oscar... as long as an actress like Gwyneth Paltrow can beat out Cate Blanchett (hey, I mostly like Gwyn, but come on!) and while Martin Scorsese can win for The Departed but NOT win for Raging Bull, Goodfellas or even the Age of Innocence....

Oscar Schmoscar... *puts nose in air and flicks off the telly*
Chut up!