Unofficial Academy Awards Discussion Board

I take the Oscars seriously only so far as an industry promotional tool, one that promotes the public's love of movies and quality in entertainment. As someone who sees filmmaking as an art form and desire vigorous analysis and standards, I use the NYFCC's awards (the NSFC's from 1966 - 1971 at the ...

Woodward has been an early and staunch defender of gay rights. (And then there are the rumors about her departed husband.)

I only vaguely remember that specific scene; nevertheless, I recall the power of her acting in it.

I agree with Pauline Kael here in that Davis and Sarandon should have been allowed to compete as a team. They performed a duet.

I feel that I need to see the film again. Maybe it is because I walked in about a minute after George Clooney’s monologue began and I did not get the full set-up to the film. I really liked director/writer Alexander’s previous ventures (Sideways, About Schmidt). Maybe my expectations were too high. ...

It's hard to assess the most notable actor performances this year because we haven't been able to see them all yet. From the trailers and other previews, Clooney and Pitt seem fine but not necessarily excellent. DiCaprio is a very hard working actor. His Hoover, though, looks ludicrous and is not gi...

A Cry in the Dark represents Streep's greatest performance. She is humanly cold and digs deep into the chasms of her soul to uncover and reveal all of the raw complexities of the woman at the center of the drama. No contest for me.

Straight brings class and feeling to her role, but it's not special enough to do more than note how good she is at it.

Laurie is ludicrous and not bad at it. I'm not sure it's the right interpretation though.

Foster is excellent. Truthful and spunky.

Lange was fine, but the part was not much. Garr, I seem to recall, lacked good technique (unpolished) but was ok funny.

Stanley was good, better than solid, but not brilliant as she's often been.

I found GWTW melodramatic (not in a good way), as I noted earlier. I also find Vivien Leigh's lead performance histrionic without enough balancing subtlety. Finally, I didn't judge GWTW over whether it is the more difficult film to make. Just on the overall quality. I don't think difficulty is neces...

Of course, Oz is not the best film in my estimation only because of its cultural icon status. The music, the songs, the color, the sets, the costumes, the story and the performances jelled perfectly into a fairytale for the ages. Just sublime. GWTW I remember as being somewhat melodramatic. And for ...

Oz because it is sublime and the most iconic film from that year.

I just tried watching The Tree of Life. About 35 minutes of it. Then fast forwarded through about another 35 minutes, before I decided it wasn't worth it. That got me halfway through the film. I'm sorry to disagree with those of you on the board. The concept was great. The movie got better, but not ...

Yeah, I saw those.

I'd be happy to help. Or even coordinate.

Dien wrote:We used to have elimination/nomination games in the "Other Film Discussions" section. Doesn't look like they've been utilized in some time, though.

Thanks so much for the response. With the demanding folks here, I thought it would be interesting and a lot of fun; but I couldn't find any past threads for such discussions. I hope we get to vote like the critics do, i.e, ranked choices. Does this board conduct its own selection of the "best o...

While it may not seem a comprehensive deliberation, the critics only have to get screeners for about a dozen films not yet released and which have generated any advanced buzz. There may be cinematography or a screenplay that could get overlooked, but I would think that most anything worth seeing has...