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Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 2:03 pm
by Big Magilla
OscarGuy wrote:Some people who vote wouldn't want the most honored film of the year not to also be the Best Picture winner. Sometimes that means they vote for more awards that they wouldn't normally vote for. Although, this is a small number. There are some who will vote the Best Picture winner in every possible category they can. This combined with the other can often lead to films winning awards they shouldn't: see the vast majority of Slumdog Millionaire's wins last year.
Yes, but sometimes they vote the same film in those categories because they believe it is the best in those categories.
Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 11:56 am
by rolotomasi99
Great choice! Although, I am basing this only on stills I have seen and the trailer.
Like many here, I am just glad it was not AVATAR. Not out of any general dislike of AVATAR, but because I do not recognize that as cinematography anymore than I recognize the "cinematography" of UP or any other animated film.
I think INGLORIOUS BASTERDS could end up winning this one though. As long as it is not AVATAR, I am happy.
Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 11:18 am
by OscarGuy
It's hard to tell sometimes when you're being facetious. I'll chalk this up to one of those times.
Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 10:16 am
by Sonic Youth
Bad example. SM deserved every award it won last year.
Every... single... one.
Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 9:43 am
by OscarGuy
Some people who vote wouldn't want the most honored film of the year not to also be the Best Picture winner. Sometimes that means they vote for more awards that they wouldn't normally vote for. Although, this is a small number. There are some who will vote the Best Picture winner in every possible category they can. This combined with the other can often lead to films winning awards they shouldn't: see the vast majority of Slumdog Millionaire's wins last year.
Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 9:21 am
by rudeboy
It's fairly warped logic... do you really think "the awards want" The Hurt Locker to match Avatar's haul? I've never bought into this tactical group thinking theory which is quite often attributed to Academy voters. Besides, I don't think Avatar is guaranteed four wins by any means. I could see it scraping by with just a couple of Oscars, or sweeping the techs. Who knows.
Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 9:17 am
by Hollywood Z
dws1982 wrote:Hollywood Z wrote:If The Hurt Locker wins here, expect Inglorious Basterds to take Best Original Screenplay.
That doesn't make any sense.
It does if you think of the rationale that the awards want The Hurt Locker to win more than a handful of awards as opposed to Avatar's already guaranteed 4 awards (Visual Effects, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing and Art Direction). Picture, Director and Editing seem locks for The Hurt Locker and in order for it to best or at least tie the same amount as Avatar, it would either need to win Cinematography or Original Screenplay or both. It could take both, but if the Academy wants to spread the wealth for Inglorious Basterds outside of simply Christoph Waltz, those would be the two most ideal categories for it to happen. It could win both, it could win neither, but I have a feeling that both movies will win either one or the other, but not both.
Again, that's just simple gut instinct at this point.
Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 2:39 pm
by Big Magilla
Hollywood Z wrote:From somebody who has done both color and black and white photography, it is definitely more difficult to capture color photography the way you want it other than black and white. Even though The White Ribbon was shot primarily in color, then corrected into black and white in post (and still not having seen the film yet), in any other year, it would definitely be the odd film out.
For a vivid example of this take a close look at Wings of Desire and how elegant West Berlin near the wall looks in black and white and how run down and ordinary it looks in color at the end of the film.
Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 12:02 pm
by dws1982
Hollywood Z wrote:If The Hurt Locker wins here, expect Inglorious Basterds to take Best Original Screenplay.
That doesn't make any sense.
Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 11:56 am
by Hustler
Great choice!
Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 10:07 am
by Hollywood Z
Also, Black and White Cinematography doesn't have a very good track record when it comes to this category in the Oscars. The last winner was Schindler's List, but since then, the only other nominees we've had have been The Man Who Wasn't There and Good Night and Good Luck, with movies like Ed Wood and The Good German being left out of the mix. While there aren't a lot of movies being shot in black and white, this does seem to be a category that recognizes capturing and manipulating of color over artistic bleakness.
From somebody who has done both color and black and white photography, it is definitely more difficult to capture color photography the way you want it other than black and white. Even though The White Ribbon was shot primarily in color, then corrected into black and white in post (and still not having seen the film yet), in any other year, it would definitely be the odd film out. However, with Avatar being primarily lighting added in during post, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince having a distinct color scheme and a couple of scenes with unique lighting effects, The Hurt Locker having only moments of brilliant color cinematography and the rest being well-orchestrated chaos and Inglorious Basterds having the industry standard for beautiful cinematography, The White Ribbon seems like a top contender.
However, with it not being very widely seen and, as oscarguy has pointed out, foriegn films generally have an uphill battle in this category. For every Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Pan's Lanbyrinth, there is a Malena, Amelie, City of God, House of Flying Daggers, A Very Long Engagement and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Foreign films and Black and White films seem to struggle in this category and the only way that I would see The White Ribbon coming out on top here is if it had generated a lot of steam which equated to a US box office of over $50 million and being discussed outside of the filmgoing community.
That being said, I'm predicting Inglorious Basterds for the win, here. It would be Richardson's third oscar and give Inglorious Basterds two awards, leaving Best Original Screenplay open for The Hurt Locker to win. If The Hurt Locker wins here, expect Inglorious Basterds to take Best Original Screenplay.
Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 9:54 am
by dreaMaker
Wow, great! Surprising, but fantastic choice. 
Glad it wasn't The Hurt Locker.
Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 8:04 am
by OscarGuy
At least it wasn't Avatar.
Although I'd be happy to see it win over the frontrunners just to shake things up, I'm not sure it's going to happen. The Academy has no qualms recognizing foreign language pics here. The ASC doesn't. A Very Lone Engagement was the last and that film didn't win the Oscar. This group has a 50-50 streak in the last 10 years, so it's pretty much a toss up whether the film will carry over. (Note that in 20 years, their record changes to 9 right out of 20)
The thing that I think may help The White Ribbon is that it has a lot of awards, which may suggest to some voters who don't know these kinds of things, that it's the film to pick. But this group does like Black and White. The Man Who Wasn't There won the ASC prize but lost to the first Lord of the Rings film.
So, I'm quite torn on this, but we'll just have to wait and see.
Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 6:39 am
by ITALIANO
Finally, in this mostly disappointing awards season, a pleasant surprise and a deserved verdict. It's a tribute to what is objectively a wonderful job of cinematography, but also to a movie which may not be flawless but it's still miles better than anything American this year. And the fact that Americans appreciate it is, of course, a tribute to their own insight.
Yet at the Oscars, where not only the cinematographers vote, the outcome can and probably will be different. But certainly I, for once, won't root for an Italian...
Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 1:13 am
by The Original BJ
Wow.
And WOO-HOO!
But still...wow.