Re: Had No Country for Old Men also been released this year...
loyalfromlondon wrote:
roo wrote:
loyalfromlondon wrote:
TDK last year, still nothing.
TWBB this year, wins (of course)
Juno? Slumdog isn't even nominated (Fox Searchlight can't push both)
I disagree about There Will Be Blood. Against Slumdog (which is passionate and accessible) the obtuse and difficult There Will Be Blood (hey that's why people liked it, is that it's complicated, right?) would likely always conquer.
The bleak has a disadvantage over the positive forward thinking frontrunner.
dark has won over light in all but two instances in the last 30 years (Annie Hall and Shakespeare in Love)?
You changed the parameters here and need to understand why. It's not light vs. dark, it's bleak vs. optimistic
Despite it's bleak center or dark themes, Forrest Gump, Titanic, Chicago, Return of the King, A Beautiful Mind, American Beauty, etc. etc. etc. always speak towards a positive/romantic/optimistic/audience friendly ending, an ending that people can take some solace in.
What I'm trying to say is that There Will Be Blood is intellectually friendly but not necessarily
audience friendly. An exception to this is actually the film that beat out There Will Be Blood... but No Country was also more immediate and audience friendly even though it ended on a pretty bleak note.
It's not an all or nothing type of rule... sure, drag up some counter examples, I'm sure you can find some, but in a wagering situation, where I would have to quantifiably defend my position on choosing Slumdog or There Will Be Blood, regardless of my opinions on them as films, I think the case for Slumdog is superior to There Will Be Blood.
In the early 2000s I would have made the argument that There Will Be Blood had a better chance because the connection between lead Actor and Picture was stronger back then, but the 2000s have been unkind to that relationship, so I would personally downplay that.
