ntnon

No problem, hopefully it made some kind of sense there...! It might just be one of those films that doesn't gel with everyone, though.

They jump all around for me... sometimes they seem awful, others surprisingly strong and epic. The compellingly-crazy 'Jar Jar is the main villain' theory does add a lot for that character, though.

shadokitty

I just completed the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, by digging out my DVD of Return Of The King. The trilogy holds up very well, though I think that trilogy is better than The Hobbit trilogy. I watched the theatrical edition for the last movie, as I didn't have the motivation to watch a 4 1/2 hour movie right now. One day I will watch the extended edition of the entire trilogy. After revisiting the final movie, I think I finally pegged what makes The Two Towers seem better than Return Of The King in my eyes. I can't stand Denethor. He is not a worthy character to rule a land at all. Not only is he not willing to relinquish the throne of Gondor to Aragorn, but he belittles his own son, Faramir, not even caring when Faramir is riding off to battle. All he is doing during the battle is stuffing his face, and having Pippin sing a song for him. A song that does not even seem to move him.

Trevor

I actually keep my King Kong and Godzilla discs in the same bookcase (yes, they take up an entire bookcase), so maybe that'll count for my OCD. Thanks shado!

Ash Ketchum

Too bad no Godzilla films are eligible for this challenge.

ntnon

I wondered what was up for effects in 1999 (for 1998), and was amused to see What Dreams May Come and Armageddon joined by... Mighty Joe Young!

(And not Pleasantville....)

Mao

Finally just sat and watched 4 out of 5 of these Doc Shorts. Have never had this much access to the Doc Shorts in one year, without seeking them out at a theater.

Strong crop of nominees. Each one touching in its own way...need to find "Watani: My Homeland"...

BobO'Link

That surprised me. I'd have expected at least *one* of the Godzilla films over the years to have gotten at least a single nomination for graphics/sound/music/etc. Plenty of "Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films" (the Saturn Award) though... It *does* have the word "Academy" in it so use it as a wild card entry?

shadokitty

I know I was surprised when I first looked up Gojira, and saw it wasn't nominated for best foreign language film. It's more of an anti nuclear allegory than a science fiction film.

Trevor

Gojira pre-dates the "real" foreign language Academy Award. 1956 marks the first year where foreign language was a full award with multiple nominees and a winner. Pre-1956 they gave honorary awards to films for most of the years 1947-1955. If they had started the full process for 1954 I imagine Gojira would have received a nomination.

BobO'Link

Exactly. But I expected one of the two "updates" to have at least gotten something in the sfx areas. Oh well...

Ash Ketchum

GOJIRA was not seen in the U.S. in its original form until 1982. Its only previous U.S. release was in the re-edited version with new footage with Raymond Burr known as GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS, released in 1956. Not one review at the time even acknowledged the film it was adapted from. Even if it had been shown, it would have been dismissed as a monster movie and not even considered for Best Foreign Language Film.

pacaway

As a self proclaimed hater of rap music, it was recommended by one of my kids that I watch Straight Outta Compton, which I finally did last night. I have to admit that it really does make you sympathetic to these "gangsta rappers". It may never be a music genre that I seek out, but I definitely have a better understanding of where these musicians were coming from.

pacaway

Thinking about Compton now makes me think about 8 Mile. It was only nominated for an original song. Should this really make a film eligible for this challenge, since its Oscar nomination (and win actually) was for something that had nothing to do with the movie?

shadokitty

Well, there were Disney movies that were only nominated for a song as well. I watched Toy Story 2 earlier this Challenge, and that only had one nomination, for an original song. In my opinion, I don't see why not, as they are still Academy Awards.

I just finished a good documentary on YouTube, 'It's Everybody's War'. Henry Fonda did the narration, and it was all about how just because the fighting was far away, World War 2 affected everyone at home as well.

ntnon

Reading that Hedy Lamarr sued over "Hedley Lamarr" in Blazing Saddles, I discovered that it premiered on the 7th February. Synchronicity at work!

Mao

Big update to this post --> http://forum.dvdtalk.com/12995814-post34.html

ntnon

Possibly an odd choice of films to single out for music that "had nothing to do with the movie," since the music is integral to both!

I do sympathise with the broad view - some nominations essentially equate closing-credits songs with integrated numbers. Actors/Supporting roles are differentiated, but songs-from-musicals can be put against popular songs. (Though, as noted, neither Heathens nor You're Welcome were nominated this year, so it cuts all ways...)

lisadoris

I'm watching Shaft in my class right now and thankfully the song is integral to the film. I'm not sure what the rule is but I think as long as the song appears somewhere in the film it can be nominated which means it counts (even if the song itself doesn't necessarily speak to the film).

The Academy was late to the hop-hop party as there were several songs that should have been nominated but weren't (i.e. "Fight The Power" from Do The Right Thing and "Gangster's Paradise" from Dangerous Minds). They made up for it with Eminem and Three Six Mafia which probably weren't the best choices.

popcorn

I don't think I've ever seen TCM show a "recent" movie. Tonight they're showing 2006's Dreamgirls. That's not even 15 years old! I haven't seen it in quite awhile. Being a winner of two Oscars, I'll be watching.

davidh777

One nomination is eligible for the challenge. That's how we can catch up blockbusters that were nominated for effects or makeup.

Just watched Willy Wonka 1971, which was nominated for score, because I haven't seen enough musicals this month. Thinking about breaking out my UK Hobbit extended BD set. Those films were overlong already, but I wouldn't mind seeing the extended cuts at least once, and I think I only saw that cut of the first film.

I'm not crushed that Finding Dory wasn't nominated for animated feature this year, but it made it a "wasted" watch.

Trevor

Rock star of the day, thanks Mao!

mrcellophane

I made the mistake of watching Inside Job which won an Oscar for Best Feature Documentary. I've been meaning to watch it after seeing The Big Short with a friend and listening to her talk about both films. It's definitely worth watching, but only if you want to be very, very mad. Our new President is ruling Dodd-Frank and other banking and industry regulations, and it looks like we could possibly be facing more financial collapses due to the greed, avarice, and corruption of a small portion of the population.

Yesterday, I watched my shiny, new copy of The New World with my Movie Night friends. We've been working our way through Malick's filmography. It's just as poetic and beautiful as I remember. We watched the 172 minute extended cut, and I'm definitely curious to check out the other two cuts.

davidh777

Man, I ran across that while browsing yesterday but decided it would be too upsetting. Glad I skipped it.

pacaway

Yah, I get it. Some songs are more integral to a film than others. I don't know about 8 Mile because I haven't seen it, but it just struck me when I was thinking about watching it, that no matter how good the song was, does it make it a good movie? I don't know... I'm waffling on it. Of course it counts for the challenge... a nomination is a nomination... but I guess I don't necessarily want to watch a film just because it has a good song in it. I guess I just need someone to tell me that it's worth watching anyway. LOL

lisadoris

Well I can't help you with 8 Mile because I didn't care for the song or the film but there are a crap ton of films who were nominated and/or won Oscars that I don't care for. An Oscar nod or win does not a good movie make IMHO.

To reverse the examples I gave in my previous post I love Butch and Sundance which is odd because I don't like westerns but it won for Song "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" a song that I don't care for and is so randomly placed in the film that's kinda ridiculous. Great film, odd song. What can you do. On the flip side, Purple Rain is a pretty horrid film in retrospect but the music kicks all kinds of ass which is why it won the Oscar for song/score (which was an odd category).