Oscars 2015

[daflyboys]

Re: Oscars 2015

Joan Rivers excluded from the "In Memoriam" tribute done yearly by the Oscars? Was this a snub? Does it have something to do with Johnny Carson's banishment of her?

Obviously not a big deal, but this is the Oscars 2015 thread.

Would be more appropriate at the Emmys, no? Rivers didn't do pictures.

[Brandon13]

Re: Oscars 2015

I don't really think there's much of a relationship between the sales of a movie and its worthiness of an award that is truly attempting to select the best film of the year. Some films may not have the marketing behind them, others may not pertain to a subject matter with much mass appeal, etc. But that doesn't mean they cannot be great, award-worthy films.

Granted, I'm sure the Academy Awards are chock full of political bull**** that go on behind the scenes and the voting is subject to everyone's personal biases, so it really isn't something to take very serious. But I do find about good movies I missed throughout the year when we hear about the nominees.

[55]

Re: Oscars 2015

Is a movie still good if no one buys it?

Absolutely. Quantity and quality certainly don't always go hand-in-hand. Granted, the two aren't always mutually exclusive, but more often than not, they are.

Very few people saw Winter's Bone in 2010, but it was the best film of the year in a lot of critics' opinions. It also was nominated for Best Picture and it didn't even gross a million dollars by the time the nominations were announced.

It's like this: many more people eat at McDonald's than they do at Five Guys. Does that mean McDonald's burgers are better just because they sell more? Of course it doesn't and its a pretty absurd notion to even think about.

N*Sync and The Backstreet Boys sold more albums than anybody around the year 2000 or so. Does that mean they had the best albums out of all music artists in that time frame? Hell no. Those guys sucked.

See where I'm coming from?

[dickey1331]

Re: Oscars 2015

Absolutely. Quantity and quality certainly don't always go hand-in-hand. Granted, the two aren't always mutually exclusive, but more often than not, they are.



Very few people saw Winter's Bone in 2010, but it was the best film of the year in a lot of critics' opinions. It also was nominated for Best Picture and it didn't even gross a million dollars by the time the nominations were announced.



It's like this: many more people eat at McDonald's than they do at Five Guys. Does that mean McDonald's burgers are better just because they sell more? Of course it doesn't and its a pretty absurd notion to even think about.



N*Sync and The Backstreet Boys sold more albums than anybody around the year 2000 or so. Does that mean they had the best albums out of all music artists in that time frame? Hell no. Those guys sucked.



See where I'm coming from?

Yeah it all proves that it's all opinions. You don't like what mainstream America likes.

[Brandon13]

Re: Oscars 2015

Sounds like you got it.

[RockinDaMike]

Re: Oscars 2015

No but I think sales should have something to do with it.

I'm curious how sales translate to Best Picture winners.

Is a movie still good if no one buys it?

Why do you think the oscars are a joke if you haven't even seen most of the nominated films? Its like saying a game sucks by only playing the first level.

Because your favorite movie didn't make it, the academy got it wrong? I actually saw every nominated film and they got most of it right in my opinion. 2014 was a fantastic year of film and the directors from all the genres took it to the next leavel.

Keep in mind these smaller budget indie films don't have the money to promote like Interstellar or sometimes can't even afford to to make a trailer or to put it out in a bunch of theaters. So yes, they will fail making as much money as a movie that can market as much as their whole budget or even more.

At least with the academy, they are on an even playing field. It doesnt' matter who spent the most, or made the most, they look at all factors of making a movie, story telling, directing, acting, editing, cinematography and more. They pick the movies who are strong in multiple categories.

It seems that these indie films win all the time but big budget films win too, look at Lord of the Rings, Forrest Gump and many more nominated. Does the Academy get them wrong? Yeah they do, but for the most part I believe they do a good job on picking the best of the year overall with a few snubs here and there but I've never seem them blow it as far nominations go.

[JayBee74]

Re: Oscars 2015

Would be more appropriate at the Emmys, no? Rivers didn't do pictures.

Yeah, but she did a lot of celebrity "red carpet" Oscar interviews.

[daflyboys]

Re: Oscars 2015

Yeah, but she did a lot of celebrity "red carpet" Oscar interviews.

But that was her "job". If you honor her in this venue then you have to look at others who worked the Oscars. I know what you are saying, though. When Don Rickles passes, he should be honored everywhere, but all in all, he's a comedian on the small screen and live stage.

[55]

Re: Oscars 2015

Just went to five different stores (2 Best Buys, 2 Targets and an independant retailer) and every single one of them was sold out of Whiplash on Blu-ray. Only one place still had it on DVD and it was the last copy. While it is annoying since I wanted to watch it today, it's also a little comforting knowing that so many people actually purchased a physical copy of it. I wouldn't watch a DVD in my home theater for free, so I'll just order the Blu-ray on Amazon and watch it in a couple of days now.

[wwharton]

Re: Oscars 2015

No but I think sales should have something to do with it.

I'm curious how sales translate to Best Picture winners.

Is a movie still good if no one buys it?

I think 55's experience with Whiplash furthers the point I was going to make about American Sniper doing better in the box office than some other movies.

I saw the commercial for American Sniper and didn't think much... something I'd probably check out but not a "must watch". Then I started hearing all of the news about how it may be the picture of the year and I made it more of a priority to see. I don't know why this happens more with some nominated movies than others, but great movie or not, this definitely helped the film in the box office. I feel like this is true for one or two films every year, while others I never hear of until I actually see them nominated on the show or after reading who won/was nominated for what.

All these movies end up flying off of shelves after the Oscars so my guess is many people are like me in this regard... that and all the other already mentioned reasons using box office sales doesn't make much sense.

[55]

Re: Oscars 2015

Finally managed to snag a copy after posting my dilemma. A friend of mine just happened to be at a Best Buy a few towns over when she saw my post. Ran in and grabbed the LAST copy on Blu-ray and drove it over to my place. Awesome!

Going to give this one a thorough watch now.

[55]

Re: Oscars 2015

Just finished Whiplash and it was easily the best film I've seen in a long time. Not just the best film of 2014, but probably of the 2010s so far. Absolutely remarkable in every way imaginable.

[Blzer]

Re: Oscars 2015

Okay, I guess I gotta see that now.

[55]

Re: Oscars 2015

Okay, I guess I gotta see that now.

I totally related to this film on all fronts. Perhaps it's just the musician in me or the fact that I've hung around with too many drummers (some classically trained like this too) over the years. But I just "got" it.

[RockinDaMike]

Re: Oscars 2015

Just finished Whiplash and it was easily the best film I've seen in a long time. Not just the best film of 2014, but probably of the 2010s so far. Absolutely remarkable in every way imaginable.

yeah, i put it in my top 20 of all time, i seen it 6 times already.