The 2015 Film Awards Series MEGATHREAD
- Thread starter Charlie Don't Surf
- Start date
I just youtubed Lady Gaga's performance at the Oscars.
It made me sad. All that talent, and she chose to be a pop zombie.
I hope she did all that to make money and now that she has it, she does stuff that's really worthwhile. I kind of feel the same way about Miley Cyrus. It's sad in today's music landscape that being a great singer isn't enough to make you famous, you have to be some sort of self-exploitationist.
It made me sad. All that talent, and she chose to be a pop zombie.
I hope she did all that to make money and now that she has it, she does stuff that's really worthwhile. I kind of feel the same way about Miley Cyrus. It's sad in today's music landscape that being a great singer isn't enough to make you famous, you have to be some sort of self-exploitationist.
Necronic
Staff member
Fwiw I called Birdman for best picture. Watching that movie was like feeling ants crawl on my brain while drunk in a rocking chair suffering from crippling vertigo listening to speed metal. It was exceptional in so many ways.
Grand Budapest would have been my first pick, but I just don't Wes Anderson's work, as good as it is, as being "Oscar". Which is a shame, and a real flaw of the Oscar system. It was arguably the best movie of the year. But it was a comedy, and those just never make it.
Whiplash was excellent, but it was a little up its own tuccus and one-dimensional. The story it used about Charlie Parker was inaccurate at best, and the ideology it espoused was less than questionable. JJ Simmons was incredible though. "Not quite my tempo"
American Sniper had no chance. Ignore the controversy around it, it was simply not a very good movie. You really only had a single character, and they didn't do that good of a job developing him.
The Imitation Game was just bad. It was a boring movie pandering as Oscar Bait. It was a lame attempt to show the oppressed genius. The oppression didn't click like it did for Dallas Buyers Club. The genius didn't click like it did for Theory of Everything. Cumberbacht should stick to Sherlock. Or August Osage County.
Boyhood and Selma I didn't watch. One day I'll get around to it.
Grand Budapest would have been my first pick, but I just don't Wes Anderson's work, as good as it is, as being "Oscar". Which is a shame, and a real flaw of the Oscar system. It was arguably the best movie of the year. But it was a comedy, and those just never make it.
Whiplash was excellent, but it was a little up its own tuccus and one-dimensional. The story it used about Charlie Parker was inaccurate at best, and the ideology it espoused was less than questionable. JJ Simmons was incredible though. "Not quite my tempo"
American Sniper had no chance. Ignore the controversy around it, it was simply not a very good movie. You really only had a single character, and they didn't do that good of a job developing him.
The Imitation Game was just bad. It was a boring movie pandering as Oscar Bait. It was a lame attempt to show the oppressed genius. The oppression didn't click like it did for Dallas Buyers Club. The genius didn't click like it did for Theory of Everything. Cumberbacht should stick to Sherlock. Or August Osage County.
Boyhood and Selma I didn't watch. One day I'll get around to it.
Necronic
Staff member
she was a juliard trained pianist iirc. I believe she was a straight up prodigy. She would have done well whatever she did.[DOUBLEPOST=1424813031,1424812907][/DOUBLEPOST]My mistake. Wasn't Juilliard. It was CAP21. I just remember something about her sight reading at age 12 or something.
I can't disagree with you enough.
Necronic
Staff member
I'm being a bit unfair. Cumberbacht really was quite good in it, he wasn't the problem. The problem to me was that the movie seemed to condescend to the viewer and used his genius like an unearned Deus Ex. "Oh, you don't need to understand his genius, just accept it, because we need it to move the plot forwards". It felt very different from The Theory of Everything in that regard. And while the difficulties he faced were truly tragic, they felt more tacked on than they did in Dallas Buyers Guide. It was also highly inaccurate and fictionalized, which is something that really bothers the hell out of me when it comes to a person whose life contributions were buried for multiple reasons. That's simply not cool to me, and does a disservice to his legacy.
To each their own though. It just wasn't for me.
Anyways. Ran across this interesting quote from a forum conversation about Keaton's up and down career. I ran across it looking for stuff about what it was that made Keatons career go dark for so many years:
0.0
Source: http://www.chud.com/community/t/68288/the-strange-career-of-michael-keaton[DOUBLEPOST=1424816479,1424816328][/DOUBLEPOST]Fwiw, it may be worth pointing out that while the Imitation game was nominated for a bunch of awards, it won almost none.
To each their own though. It just wasn't for me.
Anyways. Ran across this interesting quote from a forum conversation about Keaton's up and down career. I ran across it looking for stuff about what it was that made Keatons career go dark for so many years:
This quote is from 2004
0.0
Source: http://www.chud.com/community/t/68288/the-strange-career-of-michael-keaton[DOUBLEPOST=1424816479,1424816328][/DOUBLEPOST]Fwiw, it may be worth pointing out that while the Imitation game was nominated for a bunch of awards, it won almost none.
I only knew 3 things about Alan Turing going into the movie.
1) He was a code breaker during the war
2) He was pretty much the father of algorithmic computation
3) He was persecuted for being gay which led to his chemical castration and suicide
So, as far as I was concerned, the main bases were not fictionalized. As for everything else, such as some of the cloak and daggerier aspects, I assumed were sensationalized. I doubt you'll find many truly accurate Hollywood adaptations.
1) He was a code breaker during the war
2) He was pretty much the father of algorithmic computation
3) He was persecuted for being gay which led to his chemical castration and suicide
So, as far as I was concerned, the main bases were not fictionalized. As for everything else, such as some of the cloak and daggerier aspects, I assumed were sensationalized. I doubt you'll find many truly accurate Hollywood adaptations.
There are videos of her pre-Gaga stuff and she's much, much better than what she's overall known for.
Dave
Staff member
I disagree. Had she not built the persona nobody would have given a shit. Her rise to fame was as much that as the music.
Agreed; you can see with how the "weird" levels increased over time that it was a calculated and intentional act, a method to fame (granted, with her talent as the foundation) and it worked.
Now that she has the fame and fans, I'd like to see her do more stuff like pre-Gaga.
Now that she has the fame and fans, I'd like to see her do more stuff like pre-Gaga.
She wouldn't have been pop-star famous, because she wouldn't have been a pop star. But there are other levels of success. Just because most people can't name a famous opera singer doesn't mean that singer isn't famous or successful. But she decided she wanted to be a pop star, and she did.
And I'm glad, because I like her pop music.
That's fair. But I went in knowing a bit more (not a lot, as you'll see), and watched it with some physicist friends in the same situation. And some parts were so obviously imprecise/exaggerated/invented that we all thought the female character was probably invented to add drama, for instance (she wasn't!). So the sensationalization eliminated a lot of the impact that comes from it being a 'real' store, even beyond what is actually sensationalized.
It was a good movie though (but it didn't deserve a Best Picture Oscar)
I still want to see The Imitation Game because it looks like my kind of movie, even if some others would find it boring.
There's a few movies I have to remember to rent when I can from last year. I just don't like seeing dramas in the theater.
There's a few movies I have to remember to rent when I can from last year. I just don't like seeing dramas in the theater.
Can't believe Tomm Moore got snubbed again. I can understand Secret of Kells losing out to UP, but Song of the Sea was WAY better than Big Hero 6 (and The Lego Move was better than both and didn't get nominated at all).
Has a foreign film EVER won Best Animated Picture? Miyazaki should be pissed if he doesn't have at least ONE.
Has a foreign film EVER won Best Animated Picture? Miyazaki should be pissed if he doesn't have at least ONE.
I remember Ebert saying that if Spirited Away didn't win, then the Animated Feature award was a joke.
It's still kind of a joke. Pixar, Disney, and Dreamworks duke it out for the award every year... it's only had two foreign winners (Spirited Away and Curse of the Were-Rabbit) and only 4 that weren't one of those three companies.
At least it keeps those filthy children's cartoons out of best picture.
I think Gaga's dropped a lot of the weird over the last year or two. She's done a lot of work with Tony Bennett, among other things, and doesn't seem to appear "in costume" as often as she used to.
I think she has a new pop album coming out soon. The hype machine will be back in action.
Hopefully she has made enough money with the "act" that she can work to her talents now.