jmu878

Right...we'll see where Slumdog sits in a couple years. My bet is right next to Crash on the Academy's "oopps we fucked it up" pedestal. If TDK was so boring, how did it make a billion dollars? That billion dictates a lot of repeat movie goers and last time I checked, boring doesn't equal multiple trips to see the same film. Just because the Academy feels obligated to honor trite pretentious shit doesn't mean they are any good. I'm sorry they couldn't realize the merit of a very well done movie just because its based on a comic book, but maybe they should get over themselves. Hell, this is the same organization that didn't give Hitchcock or Kubrick a single directing Oscar. Oh well, I guess that's why no one really gives a shit about them anymore, hence them doubling the picture noms. Also, your Michael Bay comment just makes you look like another prick film snob. I too think Michael Bay is laughable (although I do enjoy the Rock), but it doesn't get any better for my money then old school Scorsese. I judge a film's quality based on how well it was done and let me tell you something, as much as fan boys drool over TDK, its deserves it. When someone is able to take a seventy year old American icon and transform it into a three hour movie spectacle, that deserves some credit. Was there a lot of explosions? Of course, its a fucking action movie, but that was mixed in with brilliant acting performances (not so much Bale as you pointed out), a magnificent script and a superb story. Sorry, but it was just done better in every regard over the Indian Millionaire knock off, and established one of the iconic villain performances in cinematic history to boot. The Academy needs to grow some balls.

Kenshiro

It's probably even money that Avatar is going to be one of the 5-10.

lamphorn

The funniest thing about all this is that The Dark Knight was the most trite and pretentious film of the year. Give credit to Ledger for his performance, but one of the most iconic in history? Kind of early to say that, wouldn't you think? I mean, unless you're Harry Knowles.

I am a prick film snob, but I'm not a snob for any particular genre. I just like films that are good. I love a good action flick. I could have even seen Iron Man being nominated over TDK. Iron Man was a much better written, directed, and acted movie. Body of Lies was a much better movie. Just one question, did you see The Reader or Slumdog? Or did a fan blog tell you they sucked? For my money they were both a hell of a lot better and more exciting than TDK. There was actually tension and suspense in Slumdog... did you really think for a second that our caped crusader wasn't going to pull it off in the end? If there was a lame selection on the Best Picture list, it was Benjamin Button. I could have seen something like Synecdoche, NY or yeah, even Iron Man, filling it's place. If we judged movies the way so many people seem to want us to, every one of those craptacular Shrek movies would be up for Best Picture because it made a bundle at the box office.

I definitely think the Academy fucks up more often than not. Crash sucked ass. Chicago was a stupid choice. They picked Oliver over 2001. But this notion that the Academy Awards should reflect public opinion is incredibly dumb. The Oscars should reflect the opinion of film professionals because that's who's voting.

If you don't like being introduced to new things and simply want awards shows to just reflect the tastes of the masses, then again, watch the MTV Movie Awards instead. I hear Twilight did really well this year.

Giles

and under that theory, Transformers 2 should be 'best movie' of the year (so far)

lamphorn

Damn right! I just don't get that whole notion that the Oscars are "out of touch" and should reflect the majority opinion... why? Why should it? Should Pulitzer just hand the Best Fiction award to John Grisham and J.K. Rowling every year?

Goat3001

You do know that all three main characters in the movie had 3 different actors play them and Danny Boyle made the transition between them pretty damn seamless. I'll agree that Nolan did a terrific job with TDK* but Danny Boyle was better and had a tougher job to do with a bunch of no name actors.

*The semi flip wasn't the best scene in the movie to begin with, the best directed scene was the Batman and Joker in the interrogation room. The semi-flip wasn't even the best stunt pulled in the movie, that would be the hospital blow up.

jmu878

Why too early?? The Joker is one of the essential villains in American pop culture and Heath hit it out of the fucking park.. TDK..pretentious? How? Its a comic book movie, a very well done one, and my point is the Academy snubed it because of this fact. Should they mirror public sentiments? Absolutely not, then garbage like Twilight would be winning as you said, but they shouldn't totally disregard Nolan's efforts because of the source material. That is capital A bullshit. Yeah I know he wasn't directly responsible for the stunts, but everything in that movie flowed through him, including the casting of Ledger. Which btw, if you go back and read initial reactions on the issue from this board, were quite negative.

Yeah, I see every nominated best pic every year, and I wasn't particularly impressed by any of them this year. None blew me away like TDK, it was an action movie with a backbone. They all seemed hackneyed and uninspired. Well made, sure. Going to be remembered in the long run? Doubt it. I mean Christ, the Academy couldn't even muster the courage to nominate The Wrestler which was an acting tour de france. So, just because I wasn't jizzing my pants over Slumdog like everyone else doesn't mean I don't appreciate good cinema. Let me ask you a question? Did you really think the poor slumdog wasn't going to get the final question right? Hell, I can get the same drama staying at home watching Regis Millionare reruns on the game show network. So just like you, I like good cinema, I'm just not a prick about it when someone has a differing opinion.

Groucho

If a genie showed up right now and granted me one wish, I would use it to retroactively award TDK Best Picture so that all the fanboys would STFU.

dino88

Lance Armstrong was in The Wrestler?

This statement makes me think you missed the point of the film entirely. Or as lamphorn said, you just didn't watch it.

Do you really think they would stop? They would just start complaining that it didn't win a special Oscar for Best Film Ever Made.

RichC2

Something has to beat Highlander eventually.

Jaymole

The Oscars have gotten it wrong so many times that I always wonder why people get so upset that a film wasn't nominated or awarded the big prize.

Hokeyboy

The anti-TDK Babymen are getting to be just as annoying as the TDK Babymen. Enough already from both of you.

And Slumdog Millionaire was trite, predictable, and grossly overpraised. It was basically Hollywood at it's patronizing PC best, "Look we love the brown people too!! They have something to *say*!!" Cloying, obnoxious, and insulting. The best picture of 2008 was Synecdoche, New York. I don't lose any sleep over it not winning any major awards. I'm usually heavily sedated.

Travis McClain

Funny, my wife and I finally saw Slumdog Millionaire last night. I concede that much of it was predictable, but I don't know that I would go so far as to call it trite. I can't speak to "grossly overpraised" because I only heard word of mouth that it was interesting and absorbing--and I found both claims to be true. I really wanted to see a happy ending for Jamal and Latika, and it's been a while since I cared enough about two characters in a movie to invest that much of myself in their fate.

The notion that it was "Hollywood at [its] patronizing PC best" is quite an accusation, given some of the films that have come forth over the years. I saw it as a class issue, exploring the dismissive view that the haves tend have of the have-nots, which is (unfortunately) universally held, it seems. That the characters were Indian were not relevant to the social commentary; that they were poor, was. Such miserable and brutal experiences are an unfortunately true way of life for many people across the world, and I did not see their depiction in this film as patronizing in the least. If anything, I was surprised at how much cooperation the film received to shoot amongst a society it exposed as so contemptuous toward its down-trodden.

RichC2

More or less agreed there. Enjoyed the movie a good deal, thought the setting was nicely shot, and didn't feel it was a PC pick at all -- it was just an entertaining, feel good movie that a lot of people liked.

Of course, in this day and age, EVERYBODY is required to have an agenda for "liking" something.

Gaff

I think the timing of Slumdog Millionaire really worked in it's favor. Everybody was so wound up about the economy and just wanted to feel good for a second. Predictable or not, I really felt the weight of everything coming together at the end. It was genuinely moving.

In regards to the broadening of the category I'm predicting that at least two of the candidates each year will be a laughable entry. There truth is there's really not that many Best Picture quality titles every year, and the number will be even less now that all the studios are cutting back their slates.