Oppenheimer wins 7 Oscars (Best Picture) (film & awards)

[Landslide Lyndon]

The Goldfinch shouldn't be overlooked here.

The Goldfinch was trashed by critics and bombed at the box office. It might pick up a few Razzie nominations.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Regarding the awful "Life is Beautiful", I like what Oscar historian Damien Bona said about a decade ago: Benigni is the Richard Nixon of Oscars. If you ask the Acdemy members today, nobody will admit that voted for him.

[Landslide Lyndon]

I haven't followed Best Picture closely yet, but based on my understanding from previous years I think that you're probably right in saying that there are 5 movies with an actual chance. I would be really surprised, though, if Parasite or 1917 won based on the fact that foreign language films and war movies (respectively) don't seem to win very often. My guess is that it will come down to the Irishman (peak Scorsese is always a contender), Marriage Story (the kind of film that often wins Oscars), and Once Upon a Time (subject matter + Tarantino being due for a win).

Tarantino has two Oscars (one more than Scorsese) and even his fans admit that OUATIH is his weakest film.

[Landslide Lyndon]

I haven't followed Best Picture closely yet, but based on my understanding from previous years I think that you're probably right in saying that there are 5 movies with an actual chance. I would be really surprised, though, if Parasite or 1917 won based on the fact that foreign language films and war movies (respectively) don't seem to win very often. My guess is that it will come down to the Irishman (peak Scorsese is always a contender), Marriage Story (the kind of film that often wins Oscars), and Once Upon a Time (subject matter + Tarantino being due for a win).

Tarantino has two Oscars (one more than Scorsese) and even his fans admit that OUATIH is his weakest film.

Many fans think it's his best film...

Honestly, I haven't heard/read anyone say that. There are many people who love it but even they don't think it's his best effort.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Who are these Academy members who had a problem with Up being nominated but were ok with Black Panther or Hacksaw Ridge?
What a bunch of idiots.

[Landslide Lyndon]

DGA:

1917
The Irishman
Jojo Rabbit
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Parasite

Jojo Rabbit just might pull off a BP win after all

Happy to see Todd Philips being ignored for his shameless Scorsese rip-off. 

[Landslide Lyndon]

I still can't comprehend what cinematic greatness people see in Joker that eludes me.
Philips got a nomination just because he aped Scorsese good enough?
A screenplay nominated for having a message that it's ok if you are mentally and don't take your medicine and/or it's ok to kill rich people if you think they wronged you?

[Landslide Lyndon]

Joker's only deserved nominations are Phoenix, art direction, and cinematography. Even the much praised score is generic tripe IMHO. I couldn't remember a single note the moment I left the theater.

Arthur becomes the hero by default because every other character in the movie is a horrible human being (which is another one of my big problems with the film).

And when it comes to politics Phillips wants to eat his cake and have it too. On one hand he clearly has a political message, even if it's presented in a superficial and heavy-handed way, but on the other he has Arthur declaring that he is just an apolitical clown.  

[Landslide Lyndon]

It's the same thing that happened to Jim Carrey when he gave some good performances in  quality movies. The Oscars snubbed him because voters were thinking about "Ace Ventura" and "Dumb and Dumber".

[Landslide Lyndon]

The Shining is my favorite scary movie ever and I enjoyed Doctor Sleep very much. It's overlong and casting Henry Thomas (who looks nothing like Jack Nicholson) as Danny's father was disconcerting. But it deserved better at the box office.

[Landslide Lyndon]

I wasn't a big fan of Dune. The characters were kept at arm's length and I hated the dark cinematography.
When it ended I really didn't care whether a second part would ever materialize or not and I still don't.

[Landslide Lyndon]

The entire reason Maestro was made was to get Bradley Cooper an Oscar. It probably doesn’t have the steam to get there all the way, but when you’re as well liked in Hollywood as Cooper seems to be, this type of thing generally garners at least a nomination.

Are there really so many people in Hollywood who think that Cooper is overdue for an Oscar? I don't think so. If Glenn Close and Chadwick Boseman couldn't get sympathy awards then I doubt that Cooper will succeed.

[Landslide Lyndon]

"Parasite" was a pretty good movie up until the point it decided to become a splatter.
"Snowpiercer" was much better both as a film in general and as an anti-capitalist satire.

[Landslide Lyndon]

What? Absolutely not. EEAAO, Shape of Water and even freaking 12 Years a Slave all had bigger box office in US than Parasite as well.

Parasite did great box office in US for a foreign film but it wasn’t even more watched  like it would have if it was in English, because of the natural limitations of being a foreign film.

Only reason so many BP winners have even lower box office than Parasite goes back to my original point: Many of the films the Academy embraced last years were films that average people didn’t care about, besides not being that great or memorable either.

Parasite is the only BP winner from last years that I consider truly a masterpiece, so it should have been much more seen because it isn’t a small film or a slow watch either.

Moonlight was also pretty great but naturally a more intimate smaller film that wouldn’t get much of an audience.

ΕΕΑΑΟ was a bone fide blockbuster compared to the Oscar winners of 2010s. Anyway, I couldn't have said it better than James Berardinelli did four years ago, after the "Parasite" win.

I can’t argue with the statement that Parasite deserved Best Picture. I would have said the same about 1917, The Irishman, Once Upon a Time, or Joker. But the “Best Picture” category has never been fully about merit. It’s about celebrating cinema and, on that level, Parasite falls short. Why? Because hardly anyone has seen it. For 2019, it ended up at #70 on the box office chart with a domestic gross of $35M.

To be fair, that’s an incredible haul for a subtitled movie and indicates it had some penetration into multiplexes. Nevertheless, Joe Mainstream or Jane Mainstream probably didn’t see it. And that’s where the Oscars’ continuing problem lies.

Think back to the ‘90s and titles like Dances with Wolves, The Silence of the Lambs, Unforgiven, Schindler’s List, Forrest Gump, Braveheart, Titanic. Those were excellent movies that everyone saw. They were worthy of the Best Picture designation.
In the 2010s, however, there have been The King’s Speech, The Artist, Birdman, Spotlight, Moonlight, The Shape of Water, and now Parasite. It’s not a matter of quality, it’s a matter of perception. And the perception is that the Oscars have become elitist, losing touch with “regular” movie-goers.

[Landslide Lyndon]

It’s not that Oscars became elitist though, Hollywood simply stopped making big or medium sized “prestige” original films like they used to because they don’t deliver money. Everything is a superhero franchise or another big IP brand that doesn’t have the necessary quality to be nominated.

That’s why the Oscars turned to indies more recently or rely more on “safe” auteurs and also are more open towards foreign films, where they can find that type of adult movie that is original and good more easily.

I don't buy that. Reading all these anonymous Academy members interviews every year I'm pretty sure that if "Titanic" or "Lord of the Rings" came out during the 2010s they wouldn't even have been nominated.

We can debate the reasons for that but I think that the "Dark Knight" snub in 2009 was an inflection point that signalled a turn away from big budget/event movies and towards more obscure, artsy stuff.   

[Landslide Lyndon]

2010: The King's Speech
Many people consider this a steal, i can see why because it won over the much more popular Inception and Black Swan but these two are indeed not ones you would also have expected an Academy win. I'm sort of okay with this win but it should have been Black Swan.

"The Social Network" was the odds-on favourite that year, and should have won.

2018: Green Book
Not a great year for oscars when i check nominated. Most people consider this oscar bait (which is yes to some extent true). It's a bit sentimental. But i still also agree with the pick here, though i would've been fine with The Favourite as well. Everything else is a bit underwhelming and some films didn't deserve the nomination (Vice kuch). Didn't vibe with Roma too much but it would've been allright for me, would have been a more cinematic and daring winner than the easier Green Book.

If the Academy members wanted to send a message about racism then they should have voted "Black Klansman". But I guess they just wanted to pat themselves on the back and that's why they preferred a milquetoast film featuring another white saviour.

2019: Parasite
Great year, great winner, right pick as well, not much to say. Haven't seen Little Women and The Irishman but i liked every nominated here that i watched (1917, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Ford v Ferrari, Jojo Rabbit, Joker, Marriage Story), no exceptions, sometimes with the expectation i wouldve not liked a certain film but every film is solid at the very least in its own ways. One of the years that has the reputation for having been great for cinema in general, and it shows at the academy awards.

It's not even a question, "Irishman" should have won. No other movie came close.

[Landslide Lyndon]

I though that since 10 films are noms for Best Picture, but only 5 are noms for Best Director, it's very hard for a film which isn't nom for Director to win the best for Picture. But I checked now in Wikipedia and I saw that it happened 3 times: Argo (2013), Green Book (2019), CODA (2022).
However, I still believe that the Best Picture winner of 2024 will be one which was nom for Best Director too.

CODA had just three nominations overall which is a record low for a Best Picture since the early 1930s.

[Landslide Lyndon]

The problem with the Oscars isn't elitism, it's that they routinely go for the "safe," inoffensive, crowd-pleasing picks. Parasite, American Beauty, and Birdman are the rare recent exceptions when the Academy honored truly subversive, innovative art-- but aside from that, their pattern from the 90s through to today has been pretty consistent. It's either conventional crowd-pleasing period pieces like Titanic or The King's Speech; films with anodyne racial messages like 12 Years a Slave, Green Book, Dances With Wolves, or Moonlight; or just sickeningly feel-good tripe like Forrest Gump.

I'm long past the point of caring about what wins Best Picture, but if we're going to have these types of awards, they should honor boundary-pushing films that innovate with the medium and challenge audiences. The idea that this should be a coronation ceremony for whatever superhero movie the largest number of drooling neckbeards watched that year renders it completely pointless.

They go for the "safe," inoffensive, crowd-pleasing picks, but the awards are not going to big blockbusters anymore, like they used to between 1996 and 2004. After Braveheart, Titanic, Gladiator, Lord of the Rings 3, this kind of picture is not winning anymore.

You say that as if Oppenheimer isn't the overwhelming favorite to win Best Picture this year.

Oppenheimer will be the first blockbuster to win since Return of the King, 20 years ago.
Two years ago CODA became the lowest grossing Oscar winner ever with just 1 million.

[Landslide Lyndon]

I don't want to be too kind to the Oscars, because there are a ton of problems and I really can't stand them most of the time, but I do think they deserve quite a bit of credit for never jumping on the superhero bandwagon. Obviously everyone is pretending to have always hated Marvel now, but for practically the entire 2010s they were trying to force everyone to acknowledge stuff like Avengers 2 as cinema. Endgame is the most powerful film ever, Black Panther is the most bold and important movie ever made, etc. Outside of a few nominations here and there, the Oscars resisted that. I would much rather nonsense like Coda and Green Book win than Marvel. For all their faults, they deserve the award more than something like Infinity War does.

I'm sure many people were spewing this same elitist nonsense back in 1977 about Star Wars.

[Landslide Lyndon]

I don't want to be too kind to the Oscars, because there are a ton of problems and I really can't stand them most of the time, but I do think they deserve quite a bit of credit for never jumping on the superhero bandwagon. Obviously everyone is pretending to have always hated Marvel now, but for practically the entire 2010s they were trying to force everyone to acknowledge stuff like Avengers 2 as cinema. Endgame is the most powerful film ever, Black Panther is the most bold and important movie ever made, etc. Outside of a few nominations here and there, the Oscars resisted that. I would much rather nonsense like Coda and Green Book win than Marvel. For all their faults, they deserve the award more than something like Infinity War does.

I'm sure many people were spewing this same elitist nonsense back in 1977 about Star Wars.

Except that Star Wars was nominated for a boat load of Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director, and won six awards (the most of that year). No Marvel movie could ever claim that (and for good reason).

Umm, Black Panther got seven nominations and three wins.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Star Wars was actually an incredibly groundbreaking and important film though, it really did change cinema forever and no one had seen anything like it before. It deserved to win over Woody Allen. But it did at least get nominated (back when there were fewer nominees too), and Alec Guinness was even nominated for Best Supporting Actor.

To pretend any Marvel movie is in the same league as Star Wars in 1977 is nonsense.

That's what YOU say NOW. Back then there were many people sneering that it was a kids movie which had no place in a serious competition like the Academy Awards.

Anyway, I believe than in 2018 both Infinity War and Spiderverse were much better films than Bohemian Rhapsody and eventual winner Green Book.

[Landslide Lyndon]

It's not an opinion, it's a fact.

Hahahahaha!!!

How old are you kid, eleven?

What exactly do you take issue with? It's completely true that the first Star Wars movie innovated more with visual effects technology than the Avengers movies, which just used tech that already existed. If you have a counterargument, make it.

No kid, Star Wars didn't "revolutionize" and "innovate" visual effects technology. Lucas just perfected the work done by a REAL visionary: Stanley Kubrick in 2001.
Better luck next time.

[Landslide Lyndon]

the reason why the Oscars resisted the MCU were twofold: 1) the oscars prefer self-contained movies rather than being part of some broad narrative dictated by a studio and 2) the sheer quantity of them.

The Oscars resist comic book movies in general (let's not pretend the Dark Knight's snub didn't happen) for the same reason they resist westerns, thrillers, horror, comedies, sci-fi, action, fantasy, animation, etc.
Because Academy members consider genre movies to be beneath them and unworthy of such lofty recognition.

Sure, there will be the occasional Silence of the Lambs, Dances with Wolves, or Lord of the Rings.
But they are the exception that proves the rule.

[Landslide Lyndon]

the reason why the Oscars resisted the MCU were twofold: 1) the oscars prefer self-contained movies rather than being part of some broad narrative dictated by a studio and 2) the sheer quantity of them.

The Oscars resist comic book movies in general (let's not pretend the Dark Knight's snub didn't happen) for the same reason they resist westerns, thrillers, horror, comedies, sci-fi, action, fantasy, animation, etc.
Because Academy members consider genre movies to be beneath them and unworthy of such lofty recognition.

Sure, there will be the occasional Silence of the Lambs, Dances with Wolves, or Lord of the Rings.
But they are the exception that proves the rule.

You say that the Academy resists genre films as if Everything, Everywhere, All at Once didn't sweep the Oscars last year as a comedic Sci-fi film. Likewise genre action films like Top Gun: Maverick were nominated last year, along with a sci-fi fantasy like Avatar: The Way of Water. To be frank there are simply not enough westerns being made to have them nominated frequently, but True Grit (2010) and The Revenant were both nominated for a slew of awards. Likewise, Get Out was nominated in 2017 for both Best Picture and Best Director. Genre films get nominated every single year, that doesn't mean they win every year, but then again the Academy isn't a hive mind, but rather over 10,000 individuals who I do think in general cast their votes for who and what they consider to be the best in each category.

This entire post is the apotheosis of naivete. But don't worry kids. That's what many of us believed when we were your age but thankfully it took us only about a decade or so to knock the Oscars (which have an almost 100 years history, they weren't established yesterday) from their pedestal.

BTW, don't give me that crap about Academy members. I've read enough anonymous interviews to understand that most of them are a bunch of self-conceited blowhards whose voting criteria are anything but the artistic value of the movies nominated.
Here is what a prominent online critic told me last week: "About 20 years ago, I remember reading comments from a voting member who admitted to never seeing any of the nominated films and basing his vote on which studio treated him better and sent him better swag. In the same article, another person said he voted for his friends regardless of how good a film might be. As to whether this is more prevalent than the Academy might like to believe...how else to explain "Shakespeare in Love?"
 

[Landslide Lyndon]

Disney can afford the best swag bags in the business, so it's hard to see how Marvel would be at a disadvantage if that were the problem. They already hand out goodies, toys, and pre-screening tickets to YouTube "critics" to generate buzz, and to tremendous success. Could it be that... the Avengers movies are just bad?

You are so obsessed with your Marvel hate-boner that you're unable to get any point I'm trying to make for two pages now.
Take a cold shower and come back.

I'm just trying to get you to carry on the conversation you started. You haven't replied to a single point I've made.

Trying to pass your opinion for fact isn't making a point.
The Avengers movies got great reviews and grossed billions of dollars. That's not what bad movies do.
You don't like them? Fine. There are after all people who think the Godfather and Citizen Kane are crap.
But don't try to argue that your opinion is the right one and everyone else's is wrong.