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Post by D-Vader on Mar 6, 2006 19:27:18 GMT -5
Just to add: If Brokeback Mountain would have won, would you say the awards were playing to the "gay crowd"? Transamerica plays to the "tranny crowd"? Cinderella Man to the "pugilistic crowd"? Good Night and Good Luck to the "news crowd"? North Country to the "female crowd"? My point is that your statement makes absolutely no sense if you change the 'crowd' that is being played to.
At least make some sense and say that the Oscars appeal to the consumers, not the projects.
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Post by DarthMaximus on Mar 6, 2006 19:49:50 GMT -5
No, I'm saying that I didn't like any of the nominations for Original Song. They all sucked in my opinion. The only reason they picked the Hustle and Flow song is that it was the "hip" choice to make. I saw the Academy basically giving Brokeback and Crash a tie(Best Director and Best Picture respectively).
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Post by Amidala Starkiller on Mar 6, 2006 22:45:05 GMT -5
John the Oscars best song is almost always a joke. Can you name any song that has won in the past? For that matter who won best supporting actor in 1996? The Academy almost never gets it right. Brood said above me it is an already bloated narcissistic industry patting each other on the back for 4 hours. (OK I paraphrased ) I’m happy when a movie I like wins and don’t care when it doesn’t. What I care about is if I was entrained, moved, shown something new and different. And if a movie is truly ground breaking and special it will be rewarded with longevity and that’s better then a statuette.
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Post by SaberKnight76 on Mar 7, 2006 1:24:21 GMT -5
Well to chime in hear.....I really was glad to see Crash win best picture. Not because I was going against Brokeback Mountain, but becuase it was a great story, it had alot of emotion, hell i even cried during the movie when I thought the little girl died. There was alot of contraversy with the movies nominated for best picture, but another thing I like with Crash was how it didn't do as well in the box office as some of the other movies did, but there was so much buzz on the internet about it on alot of web sites like netflix and other places that is what made me interested, and why i rented the movie in the first place and I was glad I did, this movie was out for a long time and it never lost its buzz. Anyways...just my opinion.....
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Post by DarthMaximus on Mar 7, 2006 10:35:02 GMT -5
John the Oscars best song is almost always a joke. Can you name any song that has won in the past? And if a movie is truly ground breaking and special it will be rewarded with longevity and that’s better then a statuette. Yeh, just think Celine Dion won for that "My Heart Will Go On" song when Titanic won all those damn Oscars. That was a joke also. My point is that most award show winners like beauty pageant contest winners are politically motivated(not Democrat or Republican) or "fixed". In other words, undeserving nominees or contestants win. As for your last comment, can we say "Star Wars" is a perfect example...
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Post by D-Vader on Mar 7, 2006 13:22:39 GMT -5
I want to host a Hustle & Flow movie night. And after it's over, we'll all sing the song, "Hard out here for a pimp."
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Post by Jango-Joe1 on Mar 7, 2006 14:03:27 GMT -5
Has anyone seen Magnolia? When I was watching Crash this was the first thing that popped into my head. There is also Love Actually...these three films have an ensemble cast who are intertwined with one another. Crash theme is racism, Love Actually is love, and Magnolia is death.
The one thing I didn't like about Crash was the writer/director forcing racism down our throats. Pretty much most people are racist...even if they don't say they are. They use stereotypes,like Apu at the KwikiMart. The writer needed to actually look at human behavior. The Bullock/Ludacris scene was ok, but when she was talking to Brenden and yelling about the Locksmith...who was in earshot was pretty fracking stupid. People don't act that way...they will go into another room and let it out. That's why I liked the scene with Thandie Newton and Terrance Howard. It seemed like everytime the characters opened their mouths they talked about racism. We don't need it forced into us. If you want a movie that makes you think how to better your life about racism watch American History X.
Brokeback Mountain has gay cowboys in it but that's not what the movie is about...it's a love story.
Magnolia is a better movie than Crash, mostly because the writer/director knows human emotion and behavior. I've seen real life events that are close to what I've seen in the movie. It came out in 1999, and I highly recommend it.
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Post by DarthMaximus on Mar 7, 2006 15:29:55 GMT -5
I've never seen Magnolia, because I have never heard anything good about it. You're the first person to say it was good. I may rent it sometime.
I think there are some people who are overtly racist. If I remember correctly, Sandra's character was angry at the time she was yelling at Brenden. When people are angry, they tend to throw caution to the wind. Some people just don't care if others overhear racist remarks.
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Post by Amidala Starkiller on Mar 7, 2006 16:13:20 GMT -5
That whole scene with Bullock was laughable to me.
I thought to movie was too Soap Operaish to be taken to seriously.
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Post by D-Vader on Mar 7, 2006 19:43:12 GMT -5
I've been around different types of people all my life. I grew up in a neighborhood that used to be filled with older white people that was being taken over by hispanics. And Viet Namese. I moved to a town that was so segregated that the blacks literally still lived across the tracks. I lived in a place where my nearest neighbor was almost a half mile away.
I've known people who were so outwardly racist it embarrased me. I've known people who were so inwardly racist that they embarrassed themselves. I'd much rather be around the blatant racist, rather than the inward racist, because at least the outward racist will not lead you to believe otherwise.
I saw Magnolia, and was told by the ticket seller that the movie had a lot of language. She meant it cussed a lot, not they talked a lot. Crash, to me, was much better than Magnolia, with the exception of the main song. Crash's characters interacted better than Magnolia's characters, and Love Actually was intriguing once everyone's roles were exposed.
What I'm saying is that Crash was more realistic to me than Magnolia, because I've experienced people who have acted this way. I know what it's like to be in the car with someone who locks their doors when they see a black man. I've been around people who acted like Sandra Bullock's character. I've known people who act like Matt Dillon's character did. I wish I could say that I didn't have some prejudism in me, but it's not true. I mentally stereotype people I don't know, or don't try to get to know someone because I assume a certain thing about them, based on how they look, or more importantly how they dress.
I felt the writer of Crash had it right; We all have a little racism in us all, and the only way we can step away from that egocentric view is to have someone show us our ugliness in a big shiny mirror. We all do it, and to say we don't is to lie to ourselves.
I don't think you can compare Magnolia and Crash, because you can't prevent death. You can't keep people from dying (not even Vader...), but you can prevent racism. You can't live without dying, but you can live without racism. If you feel that the movie shoved racism down your throat, then take a good look at yourself and make a point to get to know someone who you don't think you'd like.
I could go on and on with this subject, but I have to get to class. I'm not trying to jab anyone, but racism is a subject that I feel we as Americans can never overcome if we don't put it out into the open and address it in mature and intellectual ways. Death is death, and anyone who's ever lost even a pet turtle knows what that is like.
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Post by Jedi_Pfaff on Mar 7, 2006 21:43:25 GMT -5
I totally agree with D-Vader. I have seen many people who does and says things like that all of the time and who are that blatantantly racist. It had power and story that was so in your face that you have to face the issue. The movie is not about a sheepish subject and should not have been done sheepishly.
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Post by Amidala Starkiller on Mar 7, 2006 21:47:00 GMT -5
And racism is racism. Racism is a fact of life and I don't think something that will ever be over come. But anyway... Crash is at best an ‘OK’ film. Of the two I saw this year Brokeback is just superior. Crash is a one trick pony. I got the one message of the movie about 15 minutes into it, “Yay I get it we are all a little racist. Are going anywhere else?” It relied too heavily on emotional manipulation instead of good writing and story telling. One thing that really impressed me was how good the actors did with a mediocre script. Don Cheadle and Thandie Newton were great. And I got a kick out of Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi) as Shereen. Brokeback is just one of those movies. After we saw it I couldn’t get it out of my head. It stayed with me for weeks after I saw it. I do disagree with my Joe Bear about Brokeback being a love story. It was more about Ennis’ character and how he could never face himself. He wasted his life in complete fear and how that hurt the people around him. Ennis and Jack’s relationship was so complex. Brokeback was beautiful. Crash was just run of the mill. I’m still waiting to see ‘Capote’ before I start to form an opinion about the best actor category. Heath Ledger was amazing but I get the feeling Philip Seymour Hoffman might have out done him. Speaking of ‘Capote’ and ‘Good Night and Good Luck’ both come out this month on DVD.
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Post by D-Vader on Mar 7, 2006 22:21:35 GMT -5
I don't think you can really compare the two like that. Death is inevitable, something that is part of life. It's something we prepare for, something we have to do. There are things that we have to experience in life. One is being born, although we don't remember that part. The other thing we have to experience is death, but we can't share that either. Racism, on the other hand, isn't something that is a part of life, in that we have to experience it. We aren't guaranteed anything in this life except death. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but it's something that can be avoided, and hell, even made extinct if we tried hard enough. I can't comment on Brokeback Mountain because I haven't seen it. I didn't go see it for two reasons. One, contemporary 'westerns' don't appeal to me. If it doesn't star John Wayne or Clint Eastwood (there are others, but you get my point), then it probably won't interest me. Second, it's a story about two men loving each other. Again, not a subject that appeals to me. Homosexuality has been around forever, it's not something that just crept in from nowhere and it's not going to go away. I'm not saying homosexuality isn't one thing or the other, it's just something that doesn't necessarily appeal to me. If it's a matter of aesthetics, then I think Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal fit perfectly. I've always thought Heath Ledger was a good looking man since I first saw him in '10 things....' I liked Jake in Donnie Darko. I suppose that if I wanted to see two men make out, I would want to see those two. Same if it were two women. The movie probably wouldn't be as popular if it was Charlize Theron from Monster as opposed to Charlize Theron in 2 Days in the Valley, Devil's Advocate, etc... Capote.... meh. I was never interested in Truman Capote's life. I know he was a writer, and he had some crazy gay lifestyle or something... but truthfully, I couldn't tell you a single thing about him. And when it comes to biopics, the bio needs to be someone I like. Muhammed Ali, Ray Charles, Howard Cosell, Earl Campbell, childhood hero types... people who have earned my respect. But then again, I can't speak till I see the movie. And that may even spark me to read his books, but who knows. And dare I say it, I don't think there was anything 'award' worthy of ROTS. Why? Well, first of all, these last 3 movies have really paled in comparison to the original 3. While ROTS is the best of the PT, I still don't think it matches the raw power and revelations we're given with Empire. As far as the score goes, John Williams was nominated for 2 other movies, and honestly, I think if he'd been nominated for 3, then it would look a little odd. I think the music was great, but he already won an oscar in 1978 for Star Wars. To paraphrase Elizabeth, a movie is special to you and only you. If it wins an award, then great, if it doesn't, life goes on. Sort of when you watch the reviewers, sometimes you wonder if you saw the same movie they did, other times, you think they got it exactly right. Award shows come and go. Movies touch us in special ways. Sometimes that touch hurts, sometimes that touch puts a love in us that lasts a lifetime. I can never get back what Meet Joe Black took from me, but at least Star Wars has given me more than I could have ever asked for.
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