Pajiba

no best picture for wall-e. ahh bugger

I may be in the minority but I really wanted Leonardo Dicaprio to be nominated. He always seems to get overlooked. SIGH. Happy for Richard Jenkins though.
Big shame The Dark Knight wasn't nominated. I don't think box office success should guarantee awards recognition but how can you ignore 500 million? And it was one of the years best reviewed! Bah, I'll still watch - there's no point in saying I won't. Hope Milk wins best picture.

Love McDonagh getting some screenplay love for In Bruges. Think Doubt should be up for Best Picture. I think I'd probably give it the win there, too.

Oh boy, I've seen two of these movies. What an exciting night!

Can I just say that I have no clue why Brangelina have to be nominated all the time, because they never win and they never even deserve to be nominated. So many better performances every year get ignored because the Award Show people feel like they need big name celebreties at their events in order for people to watch. Stupid Stupis

I was really hoping this was the year that something magical happened, like a superhero film at least being nominated for best picture. But, alas, it is not to be. Even though The Dark Knight is definitely worthy, the Academy probably feels they can't consider "such drivel." That's what I like to imagine, anyway. Bitter old people.

It's great that Richard Jenkins was nominated, though I'm sure he hasn't got a shot between Mickey and Sean. I'm confused though, as to why PSH is nominated for supporting actor - was that discussed during the Globes?

I think Slumdog will have a clean sweep, and everything else will be fairly predictable.

The Powers That Be.

I'm just gonna throw in right now and say this will be the worst rated Oscar telecast in years. The Dark Knight getting shut out is ridiculous and I absolutely cannot abide that overrated ham Sean Penn. Good on Winslet but I think we all know Anne Hathaway is going to walk away with this one.

I've seen none of the Best Pic nominations. half of them didn't even come here. Like every year I'll watch some of them over the course of 2009. I've heard from multiple people that Benjamin Button is just not that great (not just DR's opinion) and I fully expect it to sweep. Happy for Fincher though, but the man has deserved it on every outing except Panic Room.

I'm just glad that RDJ got the nod for "Tropic Thunder". He was fantastically hilarious. Unfortunately he won't be able to win over Heath Leadger. Maybe the stars will allign and it will be a tie.

Yawn. That's what I love about the Oscars. They go for safe and predictable, and whenever they try anything mainstream, they always pick the biggest piece of shit and throw awards at it like a fat kid playing dodgeball. Oh well. As long as Milk and Slumdog Millionaire sweep all the awards (And Heath gets his oscar) I'll be fine.

Oh, and Hugh Jackman has to host the entire ceremony shirtless. Hey, we all know the reason why they chose him.

Kayanne: :) Indeed.

Because Dark Knight got shut out of every other award, i'm thinking that Heath won't even win best supporting...

...sniff

Oh, and M.I.A. has to win the Oscar for Best Original Song. I know Paper Planes was played nearly to death, but her work in Slumdog Millionaire was brilliant.

Guess who has two thumbs and is going to be insufferable for the next month?

If Button wins Best Picture, just remember that we've persevered through both Crash and Chicago taking the same honor in this decade.

In a dark bar somewhere, Larry the Cable Guy is crying into his Bud Light and Clamato after being snubbed.

Heath Ledger did get nominated, YEEEEEEEEEEEES!

Dark Knight lost Best Picture, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Brad Pitt finally got an Oscar nod, will the Academy make up for snubbing him in Fight Club and 12 Monkeys? I really hope so, even though Benjamin Button is unworthy. That's why people pulled for Forest Gump and Philidalphia.

on a completely different topic:

can we pleaeaaasseee start up with the LOST recaps?! i'm just dying to read them again. and then talk it to death.

Mondays. -- DR

Yes, keep your Lost rants to yourselves until us poor Brits have had chance to watch.

And with that I am avoiding this thread completely until I have seen it, as some bastard is bound to spoil it for me.

Oh wait. Never mind. It starts on Sat. night.

*breathes*

"WinsleT.One t only. :)"

Can someone please translate this into proper English for me?

At least Benjamin Button at deserves about half of these nominations (the technical ones).

I figured it would get a nom for best picture, but EDITING and SCREENPLAY?!? What were they smoking and where can I get some?

Here's to Slumdog!

Thirteen freaking nominations? Yuk. None of the acting was outstanding in BB, and it was BORING! What the hell? I knew it was going to get some nominatinos, but to get that many? I don't get it. Is there some sort of Hollywood political thing at work here?

Yay for Kate, Rourke, and RDJ.

If BB wins Best Picture, or if Pitt wins Best Actor, I'm going to be pretty pissed. And not do a damn thing about it, except maybe drink a lot.

Fucking Anne "that dude" Hathaway?

I wanna PUKE!

Oh, also, hooray for the Frank Langella nom.

Oh I am rooting for Slumdog all the way. Nothin' else I really care about here, although Tropic Thunder finally made it to the top of my Netflix queue so I can see what RDJ was up to after all this time. And Kate Winslet is becoming one of those people who is going to get an Oscar thrown at her eventually for something random just because she's been snubbed for so much good work.

Great point, B-Unit. I mean, hell, unless it has a direct affect on somone personally, why should anyone care about anything?

Right?

I hope BB gets DP.

yay for walz with bashir!!!!!

Thanks Jay!!! I thought it was some internet abbreviation, since I never saw Winslet mispelled. It makes perfect sense, NOW.

I just got sucker-punched by Hawkins being snubbed. I mean, don't get me wrong - mad props for nominating Melissa Leo (she's stunning in Frozen River), but I mean, Hawkins won most of the critics awards.

Therefore, the cycle is complete: Sally Hawkins = Angelina Jolie last year; Frozen River = The Savages, last year (pleasant surprise of Actress and Screenplay).

And I said Eastwood would win Best Actor if he was nominated. Keyword: if. It's a bit of a surprise that he's MIA, but I'm not shocked.

But boo on ignoring Hawkins. Boo I say.

Seriously, Oscars? No Sally Hawkins? No WALL•E for Best Picture?

::disappointment:: I was really hoping Happy-Go-Lucky would score some surprise nods for Supporting Actor and/or Director. I thought Hawkins was a given.

Yay for Anne Hathaway, though. I'm glad she's finally getting some awards recognition.

The Reader for Best Picture, though? I had so many issues with that film. To see it sneak in is just disappointing to me.

I actually was going to use a sports reference in my original post as well, because I feel that waaaaay too many people live and die via their por sports team of choice (as an example, witness the state-wide depression that affects WI when the Packers lose - which is a different form of depression that affects people when they simply realize they live in WI).

I clearly stated that its a fine passtime to discussion such trivialities, but some here seem to get so heated up over this nomination nonsense its borders on obsession.

BEETS - Why should anyone care about anything that doesn't directly affect them? That's an amazingly good question. Why? So let's ask...

SOFIA - Why do you care about the Academy Awards and their nominations? And don't give the easy answer of "I just enjoy them." Explain further than that.

The true answer is likely to be what's known in the psychology world as BIRGing (or Basking In Reflected Glory - which is clearly what most sports fans suffer from).

As for LOST, I spent 2 hours last saying, "WHAT THE FUCK??????"

Seriously - I thought we were headed on a slow train to Answerville; instead we took the Roundabout bus Alloverthefuckingplace.

I did love the Richard/Locke bit toward the end. And it got me thinking about when Richard visited little-boy Locke.

Minorly Spoilerish

So was the compass the thing Locke was supposed to show Richard back during that visit? This idea sort of makes my head spin, because Locke didn't identify it - and Richard left little-boy Locke. Does that mean that something got fucked up along the way, or that Richard time-traveled to visit little-boy Locke? Because little-boy Locke did not recognize the compass, but whether on purpose or not I do not know.

End Spoilerishness

Cindy,

I know, the compass bit threw me, too. Loved the reappearance of "Charlie's best friend---Mary". Was pretty distracted that the really annoying guy from "That Thing You Do," (eat my shorts, Chet!) suddenly appeared on the island. Wanna smack Kate, but then again, that happens every episode. REALLY enjoyed Sawyer's, um.....peck-formance.....mmmmmmmmmmm

Don't wanna give too much away, unless, of course, Dustin wants US to do the recap??? Huh, huh????

Well, B-Unit, I enjoy knowing the nominations and winners because they help me understand the Academy's standards. Especially the screenwriting ones. Not because I plan to copy or emulate them while writing my own scripts, but because it never hurts to know what's happening in the biz. (I'm a film major.)

B-Unit: Because it's boring and parochial to only be concerned with what affects you personally.

I'm calling it now:

Heath Ledger is going to get snubbed by Josh Brolin.

Pretty sure boozehound beat you to that one. And you're both crazed. Crazed I say!

I think B-Unit has stolen George's gerbil.

The best director nominees are identical to the Best Picture noms. Of Course.

I actually was going to use a sports reference in my original post as well, because I feel that waaaaay too many people live and die via their por sports team of choice.

Sports matter because they don't matter. That's the way symbols work, the way stories work. If they mattered, it wouldn't be important for us to care.

I am not a Red Sox fan, but one of the greatest moments in my life was their comeback from 3-0 against the Yankees. It was impossible. If you wrote what happened in a story, they'd never publish it because it's too unbelievable. I will always remember the stunned silence, the testicle tightening agony, of the Titans coming up short in the 2001 Super Bowl, the cameras looking down the goal line, the arm outstretched, the ball a foot short, the clock hitting zero.

Your sort of "it's just a game" mentality, that defensively cultured pretentious ennui posturing as intellectual superiority, is an infectious disease dragging people down from whatever heights they can manage, pulling them back down to the boring normalcy of work-tv-sleep, work-tv-sleep, work-tv-sleep. Sports don't matter, why bother caring? Film doesn't matter, why bother caring? Obama's the same as the rest, why bother caring? Anyone who gives a damn, clearly just can't understand the oh-so-original cynicism you have carefully mastered. Your philosophy exists only to tear others down, not because you have some reason to believe that what they've built should be torn down, but because the very act of building something bigger offends your small-minded world view.

I had a roommate once who didn't understand why a team would even come out of the locker room down 28-0 at the half. Why was the game not just cancelled? It was already over. Because it's never over, you ignorant twatwaffle. Because it isn't really a game. If it was just a game they wouldn't keep score.

We invent these things to live and die by, because there is nothing else. We are surface scum slimed on top of a rock, a rock that was here billions of years before we came around, and will be here billions of years after the tide comes in and washes us away. Everything we have built, is built on an abyss. The only meaning any of it has is what we give it.

You say sports don't matter? Of course they don't, nothing does. And that is why we have to care anyway.

They could give a nod to Beauty and the Beast but they must have made a pact with the Illuminati or some shit to never have to recognize another film as "best" again.

'Beauty and the Beast' was the last one to be nominated, just before they created that damned 'Best Animated' award. It really spooked them, I guess, that it could get that close. (Another year and BatB might actually have taken it, but I think that was the year 'Silence of the Lambs' deservedly picked it up)

Oscars is the awards show for people who neglect their inner-child.

A friend and I call it the Real is Brown school of storytelling. If you want to write a 'realistic' narrative guaranteed to sweep awards, make everyone ugly and have nothing good happen to them. Also, the requisite sex scene must be boring (novel) or titillating but ultimately futile (cinema).

... and on that 'why care' note - pretty much humans do just one thing, and that's looking for things to entertain themselves. So if I have to care about something, I might as well care about the thing everyone else cares the most about. Great stories don't write themselves.

BSlim, you continue to be THE voice of reason on Pajiba (that's right, I said it!). A nomination for Anne "Horseface" Hathaway? REALLY??? Over Kristin Scott Thomas? How much harder can Hollywood try to force her down our throats? The woman is basically another in the long line of boring, Disney-created starlets, only for some reason the "indie" crowd has bought into the total line of bullshit. If she wins the award over Winslet, there's gonna be some hell to pay. I said HELL TO PAY!!! I don't care if I have to hijack the Murdertank and gun down Dustin and his ass-licking minions to do it, I'll find that toothy bitch and put her out of my misery!

mondays are just too long of a wait. waahhh.

Cindy - you're right about the compass. It's what Locke was supposed to pick when Richard visited him as a boy. I think that there is going to be a little more revealing before it it is explained why the boy Locke didn't recognize it yet.

I seriously love the new formula they've taken with these episodes. I'm glad they dropped the flash-forward/back thing, it was getting played out, and instead decided to strap us to a rollercoaster of mindfucking for the next 3 years. I think it was the best season opener DL and CC have done yet.

I just thought of something...

If: Holocaust movies = Oscar Bait, Then: Rob Zombie is bound to win an Oscar!

Mark my words, the 2015 Oscars will be the year of "Werewolf Women of the SS"!

Best Actor: Nicholas Cage, for his riveting portrayal of historical menace Fu Manchu!

Best Original Screenplay: Rob Zombie and Adolf Schickelgruber.

Best Score: John Williams and Rob Zombie featuring the Senior Citizens Rap Choir of Poland.

Best Song: "F**k Your Concentration, and Load Up The Camps", "Nazi Sex Kitten Jamboree", and "The Fist of the Reich", all written and performed by Rob Zombie with the London Symphony Orchestra. Featured solos by Itzak Perlman and Yo Yo Ma.

Best Cinematography: Your drunken Uncle Morty who can't fucking hold the camera straight during the family cookout.

and Best Picture! You heard it here first!

i can't believe Torino or Eastwood wasn't nominated..
insane.

I love it when a really smart person comes in here and tells us how ignorant we are. We need more people like B-Unit.

B-Unit, you are a fool. You mistake camaraderie and mutual respect for group think because you are on the outside looking in. You rail against anything anyone cares about in a desperate attempt to somehow push your way into the company of your betters.

No one is discounting improving oneself, philosophizing or education. You are speaking to a group of the most self-reflective, philosophical and educated groups of individuals on the internet. The people on these boards are diverse, we see eye to eye on hardly anything. It is your blanket refusal to see any meaning, any point of view beyond your own that forces us to roll our eyes at you in unison, not some nefarious collaboration against your unique take on life.

You aren't raining on anyone's parade, you don't have that power. We don't hate you, we don't like you. We nothing you. You are a small, sad little thing that evokes but pity on the rare occasions you are even noticed.

I advised you on an earlier post not to feed the trolls. I will take my own advice now.

B-Unit you remind me of the "Good Times" episode in which JJ wakes up white.

"know that I've graduated from film school and am a currently repped screenwriter. I know what it takes to make it because I've been in the trenches, been bloodied more than once, and still struggle to see dollar one."

Oh. Fucking. SPARE ME.

So really what you are, more than anything else, is an embittered screenwriter whose cynicism comes from seeing others succeed where you've failed? And for that, you choose to make a pathetic attempt to insult a friendly community of fans and people who enjoy each others company and discourse?

You are far more pathetic than I'd originally imagined. Like stip42, I'm done with you.

Pookie, nothing's going to happen until tomorrow. Something about the West Coast or something.

I take that back, I did just insult stipe42.

And myself.

I appear to be nearly alone in this but Benjamin Button was my favorite movie last year so I hope it sweeps the awards.

And in response to Person, Brangelina aren't always being nominated. Brad hasn't been nominated for an Oscar since 1995, and IMO should have been for Fight Club and Jesse James. Angelina hasn't been nominated since 2000 (when she won) and should have been for A Mighty Heart. But while I love her, I think Meryl deserves to win this year.

SOFIA - Thank you. That's a honest, forthright answer. That's what I wanted to hear. Take that approach with your screenwriting (using your heart) and you've got a better shot of achieving that dream; following the Oscar mentality, you'll angrily struggle to write what "they" want.

But believe me, you will have to sell your soul on some level if you ever truly want to "make it." This industry is a cruel, heartless beast and the streets of LA are overflowing with film students all believing they have what it takes to succeed.

I know B-Unit, I'm trying. I'm sure you're an alright guy but I just don't have any animosity towards you like most of the people here and I kinda find you refreshing. You don't give me enough reason to hate you. And the fact that you're a struggling screen writer is kinda cool.

Your schtick is that you delight in poking a stick in the eye of the masses then faking shock about their discomfort. You're not really that complicated to figure out which is not necessarily a good or bad thing. Just keep doing whatever floats your boat.

There are maybe two or three people here that I absolutely love talking to, they really understand what pajiba is all about.

I don't know why nobody has said this yet but.. No Gomorrah in foreign film category? Unbelievale. Are you fucking kidding me?... The Benjamin Button craze is just silly. I'm getting a Titanic feeling (an overrated film sweeping up everything). The Dark Knight and Wall-E deserve being in best picture. As someone said, the Oscars ignore their inner child and just want to act all grown up... And why the hell is there a best animation category? Kung Fu Panda and especially Bolt don't deserve being nominated for an Oscar. The category is there simply to keep animations from winning other categories. Using the same reasoning why not come up with a category for every genre: best drama, best horror, best comedy, best adventure etc?