The Oscar Farce

So Chicago wins. Quel surprise.

Personally I though it was tripe, and so did the 5 Westerners I saw it with. The same group, however, raved about The Hours.

Chicago? What gives?

I loved Chicago AND The Hours, thought they were great, although obviously very different. Nicole Kidman was fantastic in her role, but Rene Zellweger was also fab. Two movies worth seeing, in my book. (Interesting how in both movies, it’s the women that are the reason behind the success. That’s a nice change…) :sunglasses:

I was just happy to see Spirited Away win Best Animated Feature, though I think it should have been given Best Foreign Picture as well. (It wasn’t even nominated. Perhaps because it was dubbed in the States?)

I thought The Hours was a decent movie about chronically depressed women, nothing more. I actually found Meryl Streep to be rather lackluster in her role.

My vote was for Chicago.

“Crossroads” sadly overlooked again, what a farce… :smiley:

There’s a blast from the past, Benny!

There’s a blast from the past, Benny![/quote]

No, there are two “Crossroads” now – the stunningly awful (apart from the Ry Cooder soundtrack) Ralph – what an apt name – “Karate Kid” Vecchio vehicle and the more recent truly gut-clenchingly excerable Britney flop.

I also thought that Chicago wasn’t very good. Nothing special. As far as musicals go, Moulin Rouge and Dancer in the Dark were both much better. Also Chicago seemed to be doing watered down, but sometimes quite blatant copying of Dancer in the Dark sometimes.

Brian

All I know is that Madonna (Swept Away, Die Another Day) and The Jackass Movie were robbed! Talk about Oscar shutouts!

Chicago was OK, but why the big deal over Renee Zelleweger? Anyone with 10-months of top of the line, hardcore singing/dancing training (apparently she could barely sing or dance before she got the Chicago role), and a touch of Hollywood magic, would look that good. Why didn’t they just hire someone, um, that could already sing and dance?

Same reason they didn’t hire a British actress for Bridget Jones. She’s a Hollywood darling, Flicka! I think it’s in the lips.

Not big on musicals so Chicago didn’t do much for me.
The Hours just made me want to kill myself.
I wonder why Road to Perdition was overlooked. It won for cinematography, however, and it was beautifully filmed. But I think the film itself deserved the Oscar more than the ones on the list. I say that not having seen The Pianist yet.

I was rooting for ‘The Pianist,’ and I’m delighted that Roman Polanski and Adrien Brody got the recognition they deserved.

I would have liked to see Lilo & Stitch get something. I enjoyed it more than Spirited Away, but I suppose in such cases the more “serious” and “deeper” of the two will probably win out. They’re both good and deserving, however.

My girlfriend felt the same way about The Hours. She had such a morbid look on her face after seeing that film that I had to take her out for some shopping and a grande Starbuck’s Vanilla Latte to help her recover :slight_smile: .

My girlfriend felt the same way about The Hours. She had such a morbid look on her face after seeing that film that I had to take her out for some shopping and a grande Starbuck’s Vanilla Latte to help her recover :slight_smile: .[/quote]
What was Steve Martin’s line about Meryl Streep’s performance in The Hours? “It really made me think – and for that I will never forgive her.” :laughing:

But “The Hours” is supposed to be a serious movie. I don’t think many people realised that. It

I thought Moulin Rouge was total crap from start to finish. If Chicago is even worse, I’ll certainly give it a miss.

Couldn’t have put it better if I’d tried!

kid u not, friends, CHICAGO is one hell of a movie going experience, top notch film making from start to stop. To see the puppet dance with Richard Gere and Renee Z is a vue of a lifetime. And Mike Douglas’ wife is something else! WOW! ANd Gere’s tap dance is cool. THis is one movie you don’t wanna see on the small screen. See it up close and personal. I was in the 10th row, loved it! I give it 10 stars.

AND: yes, Cranky Laowai, Steve Martin was fantastic at the show, i skipped work that day and watched it live on Star TV! His monolgoue, his jokes, everything. in my book, Steve martin is the best in Hollywood. he is so funny, in a serious understated intellectual way. He is the thinkiing man’s Woody Allen. He made the Oscar show worked, as was Peter Otool’s little speech and best of all, Mr Brody’s great speech when he said CUT IT OUT CUT IT OUT, damn he reminded me of someone in Taiwan named Timothy Culpann. Ever met the dude? I met him at some party somewhere, looked just like Adrien Brody! Only diff is Brody is from NYC and Culpann is from Oz.

Yeah, well maybe killing oneself if better than killing others–sometimes :smiling_imp: , but who needs such depressing matter as entertainment? Haven’t we got enough of it on CNN?

I personally loved Chicago, but then again, I have a soft spot for Bob Fosse musicals so I might be a little biased although all 10+ people that I went to see it with loved it and some immediately bought the soundtrack (western and taiwanese people, mind you). I think Richard Gere needed a little more than just 10 months of vocal training. If they can teach Richard, Renee, Catherine, and John C. Reilly to sing and dance, then only one question remains:

Where can I sign up for classes?