Well, poo on you and poo on your Rocky Balboa!!

Back to the topic: What year did Krush Groove come out? Because that should've won.

Jules: You ever saw the first season of Mad TV? That trailer for "Gump Fiction" stands as the funniest five minutes of I've ever seen on television:

"We're gonna have to get medieval on YOUR buttocks!"

"Awwwww, I was aiming for Jackie!"

The problem is that with any debate that rages over subjective mediums such as art, music or literature - there is no right or wrong answer. People argue their points of view, and others will disagree - but there is no objective way of defining who and what is right, and who and what is wrong.

All we can do is voice our opinions, and try to constructively debate why we think a move is "great" or "not" without trying to get emotionally attached. Sensitivity is always high in subjective debates - it's just a natural byproduct.

Quote:

I wonder if it's possible for us all to agree on a movie's crappiness or greatness? Probably not. Could there be one film out there that we all think deserved to be Best Picture? One year that we can all agree on that the academy actually got it right? I'll take a shot: the only one that comes to mind would be The Godfather. Am I wrong?

I doubt you'll ever be able to make a conclusive list of "deserving" or "non-deserving" Oscars - and the topic is obviously volatile as can be seen. What can be conjured though is a good estimation of what deserved an award.

Of the films in the most recent list, I only feel that Casablanca was deserving. Well, perhaps there is a good argument for Patton as well. While I love The Godfather Part II I believe it was not only inferior to the original, but robbed the more deserving Chinatown of the Best Picture nod.

Cheers,

-matt

First off all, I'd like to comment on the earlier post about ROCKY. I happen to think it was a well deserved best picture winner. And as das said, it's a movie with so many levels.

The movie is so simplistic, yet it engages us to the fulliest. It becomes more than a movie and more of a inspiration an American success story. The little guy triumping over all odds. I mean, the tag line even says it: "His whole life was a million to one shot" and yet he defies everything. Rocky wan't fighting for money or fame. Just for the love and the respect. The whole movie he didn't care about winning so to speak. He just wanted to go the distance with Apollo.

Now c'mon, if that isn't a great movie, I dunno what is.

Anyway, my picks for undeserving Oscars would have to be:

AMERICAN BEAUTY (Good movie, but not deserving of its oscar[s])

SHAKESPERE IN LOVE (I didn't find the movie all the good, entertaining still)

I would have to say Ordinary People because it had no business what-so-ever being able to be mentioned in the same breath much less beating Raging Bull.

Gladiator and Titanic. This is the type of thing that makes me hate the system.

Titanic

Beauty and the Beast should have won best picture. This was a great picture, it was like watching a Broadway play. The only reason it did not win was becuase it is an animated movie. Why can't an animated win best picture?

well, i haven't seen these other movies, but i actually quite liked this movie. sould say something about the movie if i can watch and enjoy a 50 year old movie.

the 'obnoxious rocky score' statement

the question this raises is it obnoxious now? or obnoxious then? personally i haven't seen the movie too often (yes, even with tbs or tnt or whatever it is) and as such the music strikes me as really good. sure, there's the unforgettable/borderline over played song that goes with his training. that's good and such. but really, when the music goes soft, thats when it gets even better.

i would have to watch the movie to give you the specific moments i'm talking about, but maybe someone else can help here. i'm fairly sure it's a piano arrangment for one of the big songs, flying high or whatever the other one is.

regardless of this, the music is unforgettable. there aren't many movies that manage this (not including musicals!)

oh and "Forrest Gump" what a obnoxious, vomit inducing, overrated highly audience manipulated movie.

Das,
Rest your fingers. Bonkie has yet to give solid evidence for his stand, other then "It sucks" and "the acting sucks". You can't waste your time arguing with nonsense like that. I happen to love Taxi Driver, but think Rocky is better. The acting of Stallone, Shire, Young, Meradith and Joe Spinell is fantastic. I sense a lot of improvising. Listen closely during the dialog for good stuff like:

"I musta has 10 bucks stolen from my locker over the last 6 years. Doesn't sound like much, but it really adds up"

or

"Those are domestic turtles. The two on the rock are Cuff and Link. And the rest are marbles"

The movie must be pretty darned good if it earned $130 million back in 1976. That's equal to probably $300 million today. And it didn't earn that much money based on hype like a "Harry Potter" or a "Phantom Menace" did. It was a tiny movie that a few people saw, then told a few more people how good it was, and so on. That doesn't happen to bad movies. I'm not making the arguement that money means quality, but when a movie has no chance to be a hit, then becaomes a smash, that means something.

If someone can sit and watch this movie and think "This sucks. The acting sucks. This screenplay sucks", then so be it. But I would think that most people probably disagree.

Ethan,

Rest your fingers as well. You might want to review Bonkie's status (or lack thereof) around here ...

Shakespeare in Love over SPR? Pathetic!
Ordinary People over Raging Bull
Driving Miss Daisy.All of the other films nominated were better than this one.Not that it's bad i'm just saying it didn't deserve to win best picture.

I have a hard time believing nobody (to my knowledge) has mentioned A Beautiful Mind. While a good movie, I didn't feel it had any "great" qualities.

Years I've wholeheartedly disagreed with...

2001: A Beautiful Mind (any of the other nominees)
2000: Gladiator (Traffic, Crouching Tiger)
1998: Titanic (LA CONFIDENTIAL)
1996: The English Patient (FARGO)
1994: Forrest Gump (Shawshank, Pulp Fiction)
1986: Out of Africa (Ran, Brazil)
1981: Ordinary People (ESB, Raging Bull)
1969: Oliver! (2001, The Producers)
1953: Greatest Show on Earth (High Noon)
1952: An American in Paris (African Queen, Streetcar Named Desire)

with only glancing at the other 3 pages, i agree with gladiator. god damn. the only things worse than this was the aussie winning the best actor. gimme a break. movie and actor shouldn't have been nominated. -yack-

Ordinary People

Titanic

How could i forget this piece of garbage.

gladiator! :thumbsdown: it's an ok film but obviously not best picture quality. it just had VERY persistent producers!

Of all the mediocre Best Picture recipients I have seen, my vote would go for Dances With Wolves. Although handsomely shot and generally well-acted, its revisionist (and insultingly simplistic) political leanings did not ring true to me for a second. Well intended or not, Kael nailed it when she wrote that Costner has, "...feathers in his hair and feathers in his head."

Moreover, Costner's relentlessly narcissistic framing of himself in close-up is rivaled only by that of Barbara Streisand when she directs herself. Ugh.

1941: How Green Was My Valley beating the greatest movie of all time, Citizen Kane

I hate these threads because like everything else in movies and life for that matter, someone's garbage is somebody else's treasure. I loved Dances with Wolves and it still is one of my favorite films ever. I loved that it won Best Picture and still think it was a great choice. A lot of people worship Goodfellas on here and while i liked it ok, I didn't care for it as much as Dances with Wolves.

The other one that always gets me is complaining about Shakespeare in Love, which wasn't my favorite movie that year by far, but easily deserved to win over movies such as Saving Private Ryan in my opinion.

People get a grip on this for one time in your life. The Academy Awards isn't an absolute list of best films in a year and it certainly ain't your list of films. Like every other "best of" list, it is merely one group's choice of what the best films were this year and every single person's best of list is going to be different. You might as well quibble with your fellow DVDtalkers best of list as you should get all worked up over the Oscars.

It was called THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH. I mean, HELLO...

Considering how easily voters and public alike are swayed by spectacle and hype, I plan to make a forty-minute film, sonsisting of nought but explosions and crying, and I shall call it Two Thumbs Up! The #1 Movie In America!

Kinda like the Zuckers' original title to lure people in to see Kentucky Fried Movie... "Free Admission"...

As always, the contention that Fargo was somehow a better film than The English Patient always makes me chuckle.

I like Fargo, I own the DVD, but please.