Unofficial Academy Awards Discussion Board

Precious Doll wrote: it's better to nominate the best film your country has to offer then a lesser work (i.e. The Past & by everything I've read Renoir) even if it means no nomination.

This is interesting, and it's actually a dilemma that most countries face when choosing "their" movie for the Oscars. And it actually should be as you said - the best movie, or let's say the movie which is generally considered to be the best, should be selected. Yet I kind of understand when a more suitable - or thought to be more suitable - movie is chosen instead, because let's face it (and we are all sort-of experts here), the Academy, while unpredictable, has its own tastes, which aren't necessarily "very American" but are certainly peculiar. And it's the Academy which proclaims the winner.

Today Marco Giusti, a movie critic famous here because he also has its own tv show, has written a piece where he predicts that, if chosen, The Great Beauty has no chances of winning the Oscar (he's optimistic enough to say that "it could MAYBE be nominated"), and that at least two of the seven finalists (Honey and I Travel By Myself) would be better candidates. He knows that Sorrentino's movie is by far the best made in Italy this year - but he also knows that this doesnt mean that the Academy will understand it.

A few years ago Italy could have chosen I Am Love, a movie which had been more or less ignored here (by both critics and people) but had been well-received in the US and, if submitted, could have easily been nominated for Best Foreign Film. They preferred to send a movie which I personally wasn't enthusiastic about, but which had been popular here - and which, needless to say, the Acadeny didn't want to have anything to do with.

So it's not easy, really. But I can't deny that this year NOT sending The Great Beauty would be unthinkable - it's so obviously superior to the others (it is, by the way, much, much better than the same director's misguided American effort). But we all know that it will be a losing move, which is a bit masochistic (but then Italians are a bit masochistic by nature, so it probably makes sense).

The French distributor of Blue Is the Warmest Color chose to release the film outside of the Oscar eligibility period despite pleas from France's Oscar committee to do so, leaving them no choice in the matter. Why they made the choice they did I have no idea.

There was an article on Blue Is the Warmest Color. Some part of its lineage made it ineligible for Oscar consideration. I'm sure France would have tapped that had it been eligible. The reason I suggested The Past is not because it's good (honestly, I haven't seen any of their potential nominees), but that hot off A Separation, it might be able to skirt by even if its inferior.

OscarGuy wrote:France continues to commit Oscar suicide by selecting "Renoir" this year instead of "The Past."

Well France really never had much of a hope this year anyway. The Past is good but pales compared to A Separation which is going to harm its chances of inclusion (the disappointment factor). It may very well be better then Renoir (I'll be seeing that shortly) but far more annoying is the France has ignored the two most acclaimed French films of the year: Blue is the Warmest Colour and Stranger By the Lake. Both probably too 'adult' for the Academy but I think it's better to nominate the best film your country has to offer then a lesser work (i.e. The Past & by everything I've read Renoir) even if it means no nomination. And besides some of the selections so far like Ilo Ilo from Singapore & Gloria from Chile are much better than The Past. Both would make reasonable winners.

Also Denmark are likely to go with The Hunt, which would make a very impressive winner and I do hope Italy does go with The Great Beauty (I'm passing on it's upcoming cinema release and am going to buy it on Blu Ray instead) as by all accounts it's a return to form for Paolo Sorrentino after the train wreck of This Must Be the Place.

Anyway Iran may be able to enter The Past. If the Academy is going to go with anything from the Middle East this year it will more likely be Wadjda from Saudi Arabia and/or Omar from Palestine, which though it has been announced yet, is pretty much a no-brainer for selection if it is eligible.

It played at the film festival.

I'd like to think it has a shot at a nomination, but you're probably right.

Okri wrote:

ITALIANO wrote:The Italian movie will be chosen on September, 25rh from a group of seven. Of these seven, three have been respectable box-office hits - Paolo Sorrentino's The Great Beauty, Roberto Ando's Viva Freedom and Maria Sole Tognazzi's I Travel By Myself. One is a bizarre, low-cost horror movie directed by a Sicilian director still in his 20s which has been shown almost only in Sicily (but which, to be honest, has got good reviews by the few critics who have seen it) - its title is Midway Between Life and Death.(Italy has, of course, a long tradition in this kind of films, but they have become a rarity nowadays).

The daily La Repubblica has asked its readers to vote for the movie they'd send to the Oscars, and, unsurprisingly, 69% has at the moment chosen The Great Beauty. I'm sure that the official committee will do the same. The movie, which I wrote about in another thread, is definitely an impressive effort - rich, colorful, ambitious, even touching I'd say. A very good movie actually.

The result? No nomination for Italy this year. No doubts.

The Great Beauty is probably my favourite film of the year.

Oh you saw it? I thought it had been only shown in Italy...

I'm glad that you liked it. It's probably my favourite film of the year, too. But I guess you'll agree with me that it's not exactly the kind of movie the Academy likes too much...

ITALIANO wrote:The Italian movie will be chosen on September, 25rh from a group of seven. Of these seven, three have been respectable box-office hits - Paolo Sorrentino's The Great Beauty, Roberto Ando's Viva Freedom and Maria Sole Tognazzi's I Travel By Myself. One is a bizarre, low-cost horror movie directed by a Sicilian director still in his 20s which has been shown almost only in Sicily (but which, to be honest, has got good reviews by the few critics who have seen it) - its title is Midway Between Life and Death.(Italy has, of course, a long tradition in this kind of films, but they have become a rarity nowadays).

The daily La Repubblica has asked its readers to vote for the movie they'd send to the Oscars, and, unsurprisingly, 69% has at the moment chosen The Great Beauty. I'm sure that the official committee will do the same. The movie, which I wrote about in another thread, is definitely an impressive effort - rich, colorful, ambitious, even touching I'd say. A very good movie actually.

The result? No nomination for Italy this year. No doubts.

The Great Beauty is probably my favourite film of the year.

OscarGuy wrote:France continues to commit Oscar suicide by selecting "Renoir" this year instead of "The Past."

You think they would be riding Bejo's Artist coattails. When will they ever submit something worthwhile?

France continues to commit Oscar suicide by selecting "Renoir" this year instead of "The Past."

The Italian movie will be chosen on September, 25rh from a group of seven. Of these seven, three have been respectable box-office hits - Paolo Sorrentino's The Great Beauty, Roberto Ando's Viva Freedom and Maria Sole Tognazzi's I Travel By Myself. One is a bizarre, low-cost horror movie directed by a Sicilian director still in his 20s which has been shown almost only in Sicily (but which, to be honest, has got good reviews by the few critics who have seen it) - its title is Midway Between Life and Death.(Italy has, of course, a long tradition in this kind of films, but they have become a rarity nowadays).

The daily La Repubblica has asked its readers to vote for the movie they'd send to the Oscars, and, unsurprisingly, 69% has at the moment chosen The Great Beauty. I'm sure that the official committee will do the same. The movie, which I wrote about in another thread, is definitely an impressive effort - rich, colorful, ambitious, even touching I'd say. A very good movie actually.

The result? No nomination for Italy this year. No doubts.

Precious Doll wrote:Pakistan - Zinda Bhaag

Never heard of it but Oscar winner Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy was on the selection panel so could be interesting.

Precious Doll wrote: Portugal - Lines of Wellington

This is a total fraud. It's directed by Raoul Ruiz's widow who is from Chile and doesn't even speak portuguese. The cast is lead by some portuguese actors and John Malkovich alongside Catherine Deneuve and Isabelle Huppert.

Some more updates:

Croatia - Halima's Path
Latvia - Mother I Love You
Morocco - God's Horses
Netherlands - Borgman
Pakistan - Zinda Bhaag
Portugal - Lines of Wellington
Saudi Arabia - Wadjda

Two more:

Australia - The Rocket (a patronising bore)
New Zealand - White Lies

Precious Doll wrote:Pakistan announced that they would submit a film for the first time in 50 years.

That's SO friggin' cool. Haha