Scots Taffer on 26/2/2007 at 05:31
So, Scorsese finally got honoured by the Academy (if you give a crap) for The Departed. It got Best Movie to boot. An excellent flick for sure, definitely deserving of the honour on its own merits despite it probably being weighted more as a "make-up" Oscar for all the previous slights - too many to count really: Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, The Last Temptation of Christ, Goodfellas and so on.
Didn't take long for the obligatory wikipedia editing wars to begin either:
Inline Image:
http://i15.tinypic.com/29yh4xc.jpgWell deserved win for Scorsese, and I'm sure it was nice to see the awards being delivered by Spielberg, Lucas and Coppola. I just need to get around to seeing the rest of his back-catalogue.
BlackErtai on 26/2/2007 at 06:03
'Bout time. Congrats on the award Marty.
Film's fuckin' awesome. I saw it right after Smokin' Aces, so I got to see [SPOILER]Ben Afleck AND Matt Damon killed off in less than a week's time. Ben's death was amazing, and almost as wonderful and funny as I could have imagined. Especially considering how prominently he seemed to figure into the trailer. I should also say the end of The Departed rocked, and only the Funky Bunch got to walk away.[/SPOILER] ACE.
Printer's Devil on 26/2/2007 at 06:06
Go watch Infernal Affairs II before the American version hits.
Scots Taffer on 26/2/2007 at 06:19
Quote Posted by Printer's Devil
Go watch
Infernal Affairs II before the American version hits.
I'd rather not have this devolve into an IA vs The Departed discussion, especially since they are both very different movies despite one being an adaptation of the other. It was not a "remake" in the Ring/Ringu sense, so I doubt any follow-up to The Departed would be even close to the sequel to IA.
Anyway, IA II was good but it changed the face of the series, it became like
The Godfather in scope but still rooted in very simplistic film-making. IA on its own was a masterpiece of tension.
I can't imagine any possibility of a sequel/prequel for The Departed just based on the way the movie was handled, everything about it was very final.
SD on 26/2/2007 at 07:12
30 years too late, but who's counting?
Nobody should go through the ignominy of seeing their most iconic, brilliant work beaten down by mawkish shite like Rocky, Ordinary People and Dances With Wolves.
Of course United 93 was hands-down the best film this year, but that's the Academy for you; always mending one injustice with another injustice ;)
Fafhrd on 26/2/2007 at 08:17
The only real disappointment for me was Pan's Labyrinth not taking Best Foreign Film. It had seemed like a such a lock, even during the ceremony based on everything from crowd reaction to its other wins, and the crowd reaction to Javier Navarette just whistling the lullaby melody during the "The Nominees" montage that opened the show. And I really really wanted to hear Guillermo Del Toro's acceptance speech.
Here's hoping At the Mountains of Madness brings it home for him in a few years.
scumble on 26/2/2007 at 09:06
Quote Posted by Scots_Taffer
(if you give a crap)
I suppose one could ask how much it really matters for the film-goer, even if one thinks a film is deserving. I don't think Scorsese not winning an oscar has been an obstacle in his career, anymore than it was for Spielberg before he won a basketful of statuettes.
So my question might be, how much do the Oscars
really matter beyond a cheesy celeb-fest ceremony? It undoubtely gives winning filmmakers, cast and crew a career boost, but does it have anything to do with good films getting made?
Scots Taffer on 26/2/2007 at 10:23
Probably not, scumble. And it's an interesting question to pose - in fact, I would say that there's possibly a valid argument that the Academy, over the years, has provided an inspiration for a lot of bad Hollywood movies that would otherwise never have been made. Or perhaps I'm giving the Oscars too much credit here, but I think movies such as Titanic, Forrest Gump, Dances With Wolves and Crash were written and directed with the Oscars firmly in mind as a target, as much as box office success. Are any of those movies good? Well, they arguably have merits - however if the Oscars didn't have the relative weight that they do in Hollywood, perhaps they would've produced more restrained movies?
I don't know, but it's an interesting hypothetical.
scumble on 26/2/2007 at 12:40
Apparently, Tom Hanks is the vice president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences at the moment...
That's probably not too relevant to the question, but it has to be said that similar types of film tend to get the Best Picture award. Looking back, it seems a bit disappointing for me. I forgot that Gladiator got best picture. Lots of epic films (Ben Hur), musicals, films like Ghandi. Historical drama like Gone With The Wind.
Maybe it's a similiar handful of film types in general. Often big-budget stuff with over-the-top love stories or actors in Big Roles dealing with Big Issues.
I suppose it's just the way "Hollywood" is and it's feeding back into itself.
On the whole I don't tend to be that interested in films that score highly at the oscars. I have a soft spot for Rain Man but most of the films in the Best Picture list I wouldn't bother watching that often, if at all. Well, I don't actually watch that many new films (films new to me that is), as I can rarely work up any enthusiasm for most of them, so either I'm just going off watching films or I have trouble watching films the same narrative and visual devices.
Something like Flight 93 may actually be good, but I usually get the feeling that it would be much like any other film dealing with a similar kind of tense situation. It may be emotionally similar to watching Schindler's List or the first bit of Saving Private Ryan. Am I just tired of being emotionally manipulated in the same way? Again, it's probably just me, as I have a habit of pre-empting certain dramatic devices and get annoyed when what I can tell is going to happen happens. The "emotional ride" film turns up the oscars quite a bit.
I must be turning into a grumpy old man where all this is concerned, just bored of it all and looking for something different in the medium.
Phydeaux on 26/2/2007 at 12:59
Quote Posted by Scots_Taffer
Titanic,
Forrest Gump,
Dances With Wolves and
Crash Don't forget American Beauty.
