Oh lord. Tom O'Neil is now predicting an upset by George Clooney! I'm not ragging on him because it seems unlikely (upsets DO happen after all), I'm ragging on him because of his reasoning.
First, he cites the Old Geezers who seem to suggest that they are voting for Clooney and then O'Neil reminds us that there are many "old geezers" in the Academy. And I suppose this means they all think the same way by virtue of being "old" (even though Day-Lewis is slightly older than Clooney and seen as more of an actor's actor, but whatever) and of course TWO is a wonderful statistical sample.
Secondly, O'Neil's Math gets even better as he hilariously reminds us that "Clooney has never lost an acting race" by which he means HE WAS NOMINATED ONCE AS AN ACTOR AND WON.
Thirdly, he keeps beating the "Gangs of New York" drum. Oh for chrissakes! That race was way more wide open than he makes it out to be. Nicholson and Gere won the Globes, then Gere was "replaced" by Cage at the Oscars (who was picked by people like Roger Ebert as a "should win") and Day-Lewis won the SAG award. So yes, he had the last bit of momentum (seemingly) but he was by no means considered a lock. This year Day-Lewis has all but swept the critics awards, the Globe, the SAG, the BAFTA and stars in a film way more well received than "Gangs of New York."
Of course I'm going to feel really silly if Tom O'Neil's prediction comes true, but that doesn't change the fact that his reasoning -- and writing -- is horrible. I'm sorry, I obviously take way too much pleasure ragging on this guy. He just represents everything I hate about this season.
Reel Geezer choices & predictions
Listening to the old guy argue that screenplays shouldn't be recognized in a separate category from Best Picture, and then listening to him gush over the screenplay for fucking "Enchanted", made me want to put my head in a vice. It made me realize that a) old married men are crazy fools and should always listen to their reasonable wives and b) this is how Crash won people.
Yes, when I watched Semple, Jr. I was thinking "Wait, did I mis-remember that?"rain Bard wrote:If it's any comfort to you, the spoiler in question gets to the gist of the ending of Into the Wild, but is not wholly accurate in its detail.
"Y'know, that's one of the things I like about Mitt Romney. He's been consistent since he changed his mind." -- Christine O'Donnell
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HarryGoldfarb
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Was I the only people on earth not knowing who this guy was? maybe, but he's definitely not JC and it's absurd to compare those figures...
I'm not upset, not even for the sarcastic comments. I just thought you'd undrestand at some point that being a foreigner implies that you don't know everything you guys assumed as common ground. I guess it won't happen. Now, I went to wikipedia to find out about this guy and great... I'll take dws1982's word when he says knowing the ending to this film beforehand won't probably affect my opinion, and that it ain't a big deal. But twist-heavy films are not the only ones to protect.
If I tell a guy who hasn't seen El Laberinto del Fauno (Pan's Labyrinth) that it starts with the image of a girl, the lead actress of the film, lying death on the ground with blood coming out of her temple... isn't that a spoiler too? you might spoil the beginning of a film as well as the ending of it...
I'm not upset, not even for the sarcastic comments. I just thought you'd undrestand at some point that being a foreigner implies that you don't know everything you guys assumed as common ground. I guess it won't happen. Now, I went to wikipedia to find out about this guy and great... I'll take dws1982's word when he says knowing the ending to this film beforehand won't probably affect my opinion, and that it ain't a big deal. But twist-heavy films are not the only ones to protect.
If I tell a guy who hasn't seen El Laberinto del Fauno (Pan's Labyrinth) that it starts with the image of a girl, the lead actress of the film, lying death on the ground with blood coming out of her temple... isn't that a spoiler too? you might spoil the beginning of a film as well as the ending of it...
"If you place an object in a museum, does that make this object a piece of art?" - The Square (2017)
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Mike Kelly
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Big Magilla
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He's dead at the beginning and his story is told in flashback so it's not really a spoiler.HarryGoldfarb wrote:dws1982 wrote:However, the ending to Into the Wild, which it is faithful to the true story of Christopher McCandless, whose fate is well-known--which was widely mentioned in the publicity and reviews for the film--is not the same kind of oh-my-god-I-never-saw-that-coming ending that Atonement, or The Sixth Sense has.
I don't want to be rethoric but the well-known fate probably is well known in your country. It's still a shock when you don't know anything about that story and when you try to keep it that way until you see the film... I know it's based on a true story but it doesn't mean that everyone knows about it. Maybe I'm overeacting, sorry, but my point remains, a spoiler is a spoiler.
SPOILER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
All the mentions of Into The Wild -- not reviews but publicity regarding the picture -- indicated that the Emile Hirsch character died, I didn't know that a year ago but I certainly knew it when I went into the movie, and it didn't prevent me from feeling the movie was one of the year's best.
What's shocking to me is that Lorenzo Semple Jr. is 86 years old -- I remember when he was a hot young writer. How old is Lorenzo Semple Sr.?
Edited By Damien on 1202618006
All the mentions of Into The Wild -- not reviews but publicity regarding the picture -- indicated that the Emile Hirsch character died, I didn't know that a year ago but I certainly knew it when I went into the movie, and it didn't prevent me from feeling the movie was one of the year's best.
What's shocking to me is that Lorenzo Semple Jr. is 86 years old -- I remember when he was a hot young writer. How old is Lorenzo Semple Sr.?
Edited By Damien on 1202618006
"Y'know, that's one of the things I like about Mitt Romney. He's been consistent since he changed his mind." -- Christine O'Donnell
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HarryGoldfarb
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I don't want to be rethoric but the well-known fate probably is well known in your country. It's still a shock when you don't know anything about that story and when you try to keep it that way until you see the film... I know it's based on a true story but it doesn't mean that everyone knows about it. Maybe I'm overeacting, sorry, but my point remains, a spoiler is a spoiler.dws1982 wrote:However, the ending to Into the Wild, which it is faithful to the true story of Christopher McCandless, whose fate is well-known--which was widely mentioned in the publicity and reviews for the film--is not the same kind of oh-my-god-I-never-saw-that-coming ending that Atonement, or The Sixth Sense has.
"If you place an object in a museum, does that make this object a piece of art?" - The Square (2017)
No, and I never said or suggested otherwise.HarryGoldfarb wrote:I don't want to know the end of a film before I see it, or the details about it. Is that a bad thing?
However, the ending to Into the Wild, which it is faithful to the true story of Christopher McCandless, whose fate is well-known--which was widely mentioned in the publicity and reviews for the film--is not the same kind of oh-my-god-I-never-saw-that-coming ending that Atonement, or The Sixth Sense has. The movie practically telegraphs the ending from the opening scene. My point remains--knowing the ending to this film beforehand is less likely to affect one's opinion of it than it is in more plot-heavy, or twist-heavy films.