that actually fits 2009's profile on paper. Curious what the Up reviews will say about the screenplay.

No, the Oscars are too pretentious, as seen by this years list which ignored highly regarded films like TDK and Wall E in favor of ones that struggled for critical acclaim like The Reader.

Besides they say "Why should we? That's what the animated category is for."

Same reason it's so hard for foreign language films to be nominated for BP no matter how good they may be

So I've been reading a lot about Up and the 45 minute previews Pixar has been giving to various press outlets (the next one is WonderCon).

The consensus by far seems to be the opening part of the film, Act I, is the best thing Pixar has even done. Ever. Far surpassing WALL-E's dialogue free sequence. I mean, it deals with

The downside and it's apparently is a dozy, is that the tone shift is monumental. Tectonic plates.

Early reviewers don't know if critics will embrace it or not. But apparently within the halls of Pixar, there's a lot of concern and the reason they're showing the 45 minute preview is in essence to put all their cards out on the table.

Interesting stuff.

hmm... its a fine line they tread between acclaim and box office. Could they actually turn off both critics and audiences (by that i mean families)? Most likely not, but this one will be an interesting one to track and watch.

btw - If Up doesnt get nominated (which it wont) doesnt look we'd have another Pixar animated get nominated for some time as none of the upcoming films - TS3, Cars 2, newt, Bear and the Bow - have much of a chance.

I know people think that logic doesn't apply to films and only acting roles (It's now or never for Peter O'Toole!) but I would think the voting body is in tune with upcoming releases and such. Maybe not. Maybe they don't even watch movies.

But yeah, the upcoming Pixar slate is about as Oscar unfriendly as possible.

I dunno...Newt sounds rather brilliant to me.

I can't get a read on Newt



The only brill part thus far is the Lifted credit and 7 Oscar wins out of 14 noms.

http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/up.html?showVideo=1

Not sure if Up will match previous Oscar nom tallies.

Pixar trailers are very erratic. I kind of liked it, actually.

Plus, it looks good for the sound categories, with the adventure aspect and all. Hell, if Ratatouille got in...

Yikes, sounds like the same problem a lot of us had with Wall-E!

I don't see why people had a problem with the tone shift in Wall-E. They weren't supposed to be similar places.

But it's 2001 suddenly becoming Blazing Saddles.

Actually, that sounds brilliant.

And Blazing Saddles went from Wild West to Hitler so even more shifts, sounds great.

Now that I think about it, Disney really would have nothing to lose pulling it out of Best Animated Film. It probably wouldn't get nominated in a major category outside of Screenplay anyway, but it's worth a shot. And especially, they already have a huge number of films under the Disney brand competing this year anyway (including their big return to 2D, which I'm sure they're gonna use as a litmus test). Princess/Frog, Ponyo (well, they're marketing it), G-Force and A Christmas Carol. Especially the first two. Do they really want to compete that much against themselves? I'm sure they'd want to buckle down against films like 9, Coraline or Fantastic Mr. Fox.

An Oscar nomination is still an Oscar nomination. Pulling out of a race is stupid if you practically have a guaranteed spot. Disney is no crazy Moore.

Eh...I don't see it this way for them. I mean, for a solid Pixar film, beating the competition is like for a well-trained sportsman to win in the Paralympics. They are collecting those Animated Oscars in dozens.

Disney needs to do what Nike says: Just Do It.

Get it over with! Pull it out of the race and push for the Picture. Nobody gives a shit about Best Animated Picture anymore.

Assuming Up gets in the upper 90s on RT and makes $250+ Mill, why not pull out of the BP race?

There's nothing to lose really. Up will already be on DVD by then, the bottom line won't change.

Because it's still better to go home with one Oscar than empty handed. Academy members might not be so reactive if Disney went and pulled out of the BA race just to get a nomination for a BP. Once a Pixar movies does get nominated both in BA and BP, I'm thinking Disney will then with some future project decide to push the BP win and bail out of BA race.

It would be much smarter. At least they would have a certain basis to pull a stunt like that.

If the last two films couldn't break out of the Best Animated ghetto, no film will.

Besides Disney would still be in the race with Princess and the Frog. It would just be Pixar taking a stand for its work.

The Venice film festival has even seen fit to award the entire Pixar team for its body of work this year.

It would be much sweeter to get a nod both for BA and BP. Rather than force a nod for BP.

Despite hopes, I never really thought WALL-E had chance. Rat definitely had much more chance. And I have a gut feeling UP will be closer than both of them.

As we've seen before, that's not going to happen.