Comments on: Oscar politics 101

By: ashok

ashok — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 05:28:27 +0000

I wouldn’t worry too much about the Oscars – some years they’ll be good, others they’ll be awful no matter what. What’s important is whether people generally have informed, thoughtful opinions on movies: can they critically evaluate them?

The answer is most certainly yes. The best film criticism online comes from a variety of places, but Pajiba might be the best site online. They’re fun, irreverent, and very learned. Dana Stevens at Slate is just incredible.

I think the trick is to give critics of that caliber as much popularity as possible, so much that they’re competing with actors and directors and what-not. The Academy will fall into line fast when having to confront serious opinion, and while it will still make awful choices, the sort of garbage we saw this year will be less frequent.

By: cftoto

cftoto — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 23:06:30 +0000

James – if “Titanic” came out in 2008 – does it get a Best Picture nod, let alone the golden trophy?

By: James Frazier

James Frazier — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 17:52:24 +0000

Is there any hope of the Oscars pulling out of this decline? It seems unlikely to me because of the shift in membership. The people casting the votes simply aren’t as interested in honoring good mainstream fare, instead focusing on politically oriented art-house fare like “Milk.” 10 years ago, “The Dark Knight” would have been a lock for a nom, now, who knows if it even came close.

By: cftoto

cftoto — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 22:10:33 +0000

It upsets me, too, James. I know the Oscars aren’t “important” like life, death, taxes, the Super Bowl, etc. But it was once the pinnacle of movie making … if you had an Oscar it meant something – that for one special year you were the best in your field. And few could deny that.

By: James Frazier

James Frazier — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 22:07:49 +0000

Not to be melodramatic, but it’s really sort of upsetting for me to how flippantly the selections are made. I really enjoy the Oscars because it’s like a big event for movie people, but the past few years have been difficult to stomach. This one won’t be much easier: films such as “Frost/Nixon” and “Milk” getting tons of noms but vastly superior ones such as “The Dark Knight” and “WALL-E” being relegated to the lesser categories is a sincere disappointment.

Guaranteed that in 20 years books about the Oscars will lament this sort of thing. Or am I being far too liberal with my time estimate?

By: K

Sat, 14 Feb 2009 20:41:56 +0000

Thanks.

Oscars = beauty contest.

Gotit.

The subtext being that movie workers don’t give a tinkers damn for either the tastes of their audience OR the artistic quality of their medium. Sad for movies, sad for the audience.

By: cftoto

cftoto — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 20:30:32 +0000

Having trouble finding it … I read the print version. I did link to another site which printed out the articles text in toto.

By: K

Sat, 14 Feb 2009 19:38:31 +0000

Link?