If they're truly like us, they'll say "yeah, but not as good as Goodfellas. Let's wait to see how that Teddy biopic works out."

If by us you mean you.

I know, right? I think Loyal and makeshift are part of a very, very small minority.

what minority do you mean? loyal gave it a b plus, didn't he?

I just don't see the academy going nuts over a bio of a republican president.

Does anyone really think it's better then Goodfellas? Casino maybe, but not Goodfellas.

Departed just didn't feel like a Best Picture winner. I was too entertained.

I hope it does win, though. It's brill.

mahky mahk for best supportin'

Will it making good money at the box office play into it seeming too much like a regular entertainment film? Or will it help its chances?

The latter definitely because the only way an entertaining film like this can win is with te help of box-office.

It will help its chances; that's the way everyone has been speaking, and in general, the better the box office, the better for the film (in terms of Oscars). That's not to say that any big box office film is poised for Oscars (I mean, we don't have Shrek and Spider-Man topping the Oscars despite their whopping grosses), but a very well-received film that is being declared Oscar material coupled with a good box office helps the chances. In contrast, usually if a well-received film bombs at the box office, its chances can be hurt quite severely. For example, Little Children is pretty much cut out of the race now for Best Picture (Winslet is still strong for Best Actress though).

PEACE, Mik.e

Yeah, but he said Capote didn't deserve a BP nomination despite giving that an A.

So what do you guys think, though?

Shoo-in for at least a nomination?

I'm not the first critic to point out that The Departed is no Goodfellas. And I gave it a B+.

My point is, though, that the "minority" seemed to be comprised of Makeshift and loyal - one gave the film a 2/4 starS (somewhere around a C), the other gave it a B+...what do these two alone share in common that makes them a "minority"? Just thinking it's not going to win best picture? Well, no, many of us here think it's not gonna win best picture. Sok..:O

MD is always giving me shit for my grading and I'm always giving him shit for being a black Jew.

It's our schtick.

Q: What do you say to a black Jew?
A: Get to the back of the oven!

Whoo. Anyways, saying that a movie is fantastic but not quite as good as Goodfellas is hardly an insult, I think people would say that most BP winners since 1990 weren't as good. And for the record, I think The Departed is a much better film.

Lock for a nomination. I can't see no way that it would get snubbed with the exceptional reviews. Marty is an academy darling, despite the losses. As far as a win, it's not a stretch. It's definitely in a better position that A History of Violence was, and I think that it not being appealing enough to the academy is being exaggerated a bit. I do think, however, that Marty has a better chance of winning than the film does. There is still so much that has to play out.

I wouldn't be able to keep a straight face and say The Departed is better than Goodfellas.

why the f did I post this here?

I dont even know why the hell I posted that in the Departed thread, I saw a D in the thread title and Dreamgirls came to mind.

Oh and Magnus, movies usually go DOWN in rating not 40 rankings higher after the first week.

The subject matter is a tough one to get over, but at this point The Departed has everything else it can possibly have going for it. The reviews with quite a few calling it a masterpiece, the box-office, the stars, the due director...

The Godfather 1 and 2 were both similar to The Departed.

Goodfellas, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Pulp Fiction, Star Wars, and Brokeback Mountain were all very very close to winning.

Annie Hall was a romantic comedy.

ROTK was a fantasy about wizards and trolls.

But the biggest one...

Silence of the Lambs, no explanation is needed there. A horror with a man eating people, graphic like this. I dare anyone to say The Departed is not more accesible than Silence of the Lambs.

Yes, the fun of it is going to be something hard to get over. But for gods sakes it's not like a non-typical movie hasn't won this award before, this movie is so much on fire right now, I still call it the frontrunner. The competition winning-wise is pretty weak this year too, it's been obvious Flags can't win, so it's on the back of Dreamgirls... Which is still a Beyonce musical that nobody has seen yet.

If Dreamgirls busts or is merely good, it's The Departed vs ultimate critics choice The Queen. I can't see them giving it to the latter, it'll get all the acclaim, but ultimatley like Sideways and GNAGL, I'm not convinced of anything more.

And oh yeah, Babel is still alive. Will have to watch the reaction on that though.

Hmm, the rumor has started that Dicaprio could be pushed for supporting. Not sure how anybody would buy that, but look like Jack is pretty firm in his intention to go for lead himself, and Leo can prevent his own vote split with Blood Diamond this way, and it may just give him the first oscar.

I don't think anyone will buy that. Won't work.

PEACE, Mike.

I won't dismiss it so easily since it happened before (e.g. Training Day, Collateral, A Beautiful Mind) where a clear lead was campaigned as supporting successfully.