I rarely go by myself, but it's still more than I used to, which was almost never. I've seen M$B and Sideways by myself, because I wasn't waiting to schedule seeing them, and wanted to get all of the BP noms in asap. I knew I'd be seeing M$B again, so seeing it alone the first time wasn't an issue.

I edited in the names of the members in my first post. Of course, some aren't saying who they voted for, and I have my suspicions (Lecter and Loki :razz: ) The numbers aren't jiving.

What Film Are You Rooting For To Win Best Picture

Million Dollar Baby 46% [ 7 ]
The Aviator 26% [ 4 ]
Sideways 13% [ 2 ]
Ray 6% [ 1 ]
Finding Neverland 6% [ 1 ]

Total Votes : 15 (only 11 have posted who they voted for)


Million Dollar Baby

1. Maverikk
2. Libs
3. Goldie
4. jb007
5. Raffiki
6. andaroo

The Aviator

1. Riggs27
2. MikeQ.

Sideways

1. loyalfromlondon

Ray

1. Algren

Finding Neverland

1. bABA

I mostly go only for press previews into the theatre. Most movies I watch in my home cinema. I don't know why, but anytime I go to the movies there's always a jerk next to me who thinks he has to talk through the movie, leaves his cellphone on or makes funny eating noises. I soo hate this, that I only see movies in open-screenings which I desperately want to see and can't wait three months for the press dvd to come out

Regarding the deal with going to the movies alone...

I, too, see about 80%+ of my movies alone.
there are several reasons...

1) I live far away from school friends, so movie outings with them are limited to once every 2 months just about
2) There is no one I know in my circle of family/friends that is a movie fanatic as I am, as in seeing the independent pictures and all
3) I live in an area where ALL the movies released play here. Almost any independent movie that plays in like only 1 pr 2 screens in "LA" plays near me. Just about all the movies playing in America are spread throughout 3 mainstream and 3 independent movie theatre chains within 10 minutes of my house. Therefore, I don't have time to wait on other to see something, I want to see as many movies as I can and I hate seeing something I don't like just cuz I'm with others.

I'm not saying I'm a loner who only goes to movie by myself.
I go with my family once in a while, in summers we go together like once every 2 weeks
I try to organize alot of movie outings with a lrage number of friends but it's hard to please everyone, so that happens like once every 2 months or so.

I'm rooting for The Aviator to take it home on Oscar night.

I had a smile on my face and was thoroughly engaged in this movie for its entire epic running time. The stunning re-creation of old Hollywood, the dynamic, dizzying flight sequences, the manipulation of film stock and superb cinematography, the absolutely divine Ms. Blanchett, the sound, the art direction, the score, the songs....Let's just say that when I left the theatre I was drunk from the splendour of it all. But apart from the technical aspects, this was definitely Leo's movie and he excels as both the charismatic young Hughes and the cracked older Hughes.

I have to disagree with the complaints that The Aviator is just empty spectacle. Some of the best scenes in the movie are just two characters talking; like the senate hearings, the conversation at the door between Hepburn and Hughes, or their night-time flight. This film has a darker and somewhat seedy core that comes through in scenes like the "recruiting" of that young girl to be Hughes' "escort", the whole wonderful scene in the screening room and the ending. I don't think it hurts the movie at all that it is somewhat hard to get emotionally attached to the Hughes character. You know, I don't know the actual specifics of his life, but I would wager a guess that it is not of the tear-jerker variety. While watching the movie, I had an admiration for Howard Hughes, in how he would let nothing get in his way to accomplish his goals and how he fought not only the goverment and the big airlines, but also his inner demons and fucking well triumphed....for as long as he could. That's damn well good enough for me.

Show me all the blueprints. Show me all the blueprints. Show me all the blueprints. ](*,) ](*,) ](*,) ](*,)

M$B is a good movie, no doubt, but as I outlined in another thread, it's cliched boxing scenes and ridiculous turn of events rendered the last act emotionless for me. I realize I'm in the minority with this viewpoint and I'm cool with that.

Finding Neverland is a movie that is above average in just about every category, but fails to excel at any one thing. The audience is asked to get emotionally involved far too early on, without the film actually having earned these emotions and what follows can only be described as weak and sappy. I enjoyed the play at the end though and thought that would have made a much better movie.

Haven't seen Ray, but I pretty much know what to expect.

Haven't seen Sideways (I will in the next week), but I expect I will like it. It will really have to resonate with me though, if it is to top the spectacle of The Aviator.

million dollar baby

The last few seconds of The Aviator (Leo in the bathroom) is glorious filmmaking, and one of the best ending beats to any film this year.

The senate hearing was quite a sensational scene, the screenplay, direction and performances in that section of the film are absolutely golden. I think you can attribute Alan Alda's nomination to that scene alone.

I agree she was very good in it Also she has been good in almost all of her movies I have seen. There are some other good performances in The Aviator. The problem is that this movie is uneven like you mentioned in one of your other posts and runs too long.

Million Dollar Baby, hell anything except for Aviator.

Put me down for Finding Neverland! I love it.

If I were to root for these movies BEFORE seeing them, based only on commercials/anticipation/story/calibre of people involved, it would have been:

1. Finding Neverland (huge anticipation)
2. The Aviator (great cast and director)
3. Ray (no real interest but #3 by default)
4. Sideways (trailer looked so bland and unentertaining, who cares about these actors).
5. Million Dollar Baby (i hate sports movie, wanted to totally avoid this boring-looking boxing/feminist flick)

But because I actually did see the movies, rooting for them in this order:

1. Million Dollar Baby (even put up an LA Times insert poster on my wall)
2. Sideways (so did not expect it to be this entertaining and funny)
3. Ray (pleasantly surprised)
4. The Aviator (ranks in the bottom half of Scorcese movies I've seen, would have been even lower if not for stellar third act)
5. Finding Neverland (super disappointing except for ending).

Funny how things turned out.

Right now, probably The Aviator. I still haven't seen M$B, but I will this weekend. I swear to that!

Million Dollar Baby, though the only other film I've seen is Ray (which was fantastic as well).
I might see The Aviator and Sideways over the weekend and Finding Neverland I'll catch on DVD.

Finding Neverland for me.

probably MDB...best of the year...but l'd love to see Sideways win, too...

I'm rooting for Ray. I liked Aviator too but it's fun to root for an underdog. If either of those two win it will be cool but Ray especially since it is rarely mentioned as a serious contender for BP.

Maverikk, I too will be rooting for this film. And I agree with you, it is a masterpiece.

I updated the list in the first post. The poll votes aren't matching, so if you forgot to vote, please do, unless you are waiting to see something else listed so you can change your mind and vote then. The Oscars are only a few weeks away, so it will be nice to have a big list by then.

Yes, it's a movie that goes for the heart. Welcome to the winning team. We have a front row table reserved for the ceremony, right in front of the Aviator table.

I saw THE AVIATOR already and I thought it was awesome! Leonardo DiCaprio and Cate Blanchett MAKE this movie. They're both amazing. Leo has many great moments. The whole film is just as critics rave: glossy, detailed, fun, exciting Hollywood. It's fantastic. Scorcese is amazing. I'll probably write a detailed review up for this since I loved it so much, when I feel like it.

I'm seeing MILLION DOLLAR BABY tonight at 9:30!! I'll have some comments on that tonight. I'm actually looking forward to it a bit. I'm not very drawn in by the premise, but Eastwood is good, and I Freeman is great. Swank doesn't excite me at all.
We'll see! (You're lucky MDB fans, I almost chose Finding Neverland over MDB, because Depp and Winslet attract me much more, but I ultimately decided to see MDB.)

PEACE, Mike

At this point, I'd estimate my grade for the Aviator at an A, but it may drop to an A-. My films almost always do that. I don't think The Aviator is up to my two A films I already have: Garden State and Eternal Sunshine. The Aviator is my 3rd favourite film of the year, behind those two.

PEACE, Mike

Enjoy it , Mike! I am going to see it for a 3rd time at 10 tonight, because my nephew has heard good things about it at school. He's a big Eastwood fan too, as that was his dad's #1 favorite.

A quick comment about Hillary Swank. I was never a fan of hers. I haven't seen everything she has been in, but what I had seen was nothing that excited me, and even upon hearing of her being in Eastwood's new movie, Million Dollar Baby, I had no reaction, and would have preferred somebody else who I liked.

After seeing the movie, she was so good, that she is now an actress that I would be excited about hearing that she was a part of a movie. She's extremely likable. A little "toothy", but a great actress with a personable way about her that makes it impossible not to like her. The kind of person that you wish you knew in real life, is the impression she gave me in M$B.

*SPOILERS*BEWARE*SPOILERS*BEWARE*SPOILERS*BEWARE*SPOILERS*BEWARE*
(Don't say I didn't warn you.)

I'm a believer!

Eastwood is superb. He was great with Unforgiven, excellent with Mystic River (my personal fave), and just as great with Million Dollar Baby. He just has this slick style of directing that I love. I can't really say anything but great directing. Period.

Okay, on to the story. It was great. Characters are very strong (which is very important to me, so huge thumb ups) and this was certainly more than just a boxing story. The "third act" as people call it is what MADE this movie. Everything before that was great, but just a build up. Just a boxing story. The third act is what made the film what is was all about.

The writing in this film is FABULOUS! This was hands down the BEST part of the film: the writing. I don't know about Sideways, because I haven't seen it yet, but in my opinion, Million Dollar Baby deserves the Best Adapted Screenplay. Out of everything, this is THE award it deserves.



I think it's amazing that you said this before I saw the movie, because that is exactly my story. I was not a fan of hers, but in this film she was great. Loved her. When she sent that bitch of a mother of hers out of the hospital, I wanted to stand up and cheer! She deserves her Oscar nomination.

Morgan Freeman better win his Oscar. Not only was this Freeman's best performance ever, he deserves the award for his career as a whole. He's due, and he's deserved. That's all I'm going to say.

And finally, I wanted to say, that one of Eastwood's strengths, that I appreciate so much, is his ability to bring in the tragic emotion, and combine this with some light humour. "Danger" was this main source, and Frankie was also hilarious. I was laughing out loud at a lot of his lines. This combination is brilliant. I noticed he did this in Mystic River as well. Although the whole story is depressing, the two cops always had their quirky, funny quibbles to bring in some lightheartedness. It works so well. It's needed in a story like this. You need something to break that heavy emotion. It reminds me of Shakespeare, to be honest, because Shakespeare always adds comedy to his tragedies to balance things out. I personally like that, maybe other people don't, but I do.

Now onto the negatives:

This isn't so much a negative, but a "not as great as people say" comment. Clint Eastwood does not deserve an acting nomination. He was not THAT great. His character is SO loveable, but as an actor, Clint does not, in my opinion, deserve an Oscar nomination. He was good, but not great. (I loved his character though, he had some of the best lines.)

Some moments were spot on in this film, but sometimes I felt the story was dragging. I didn't enjoy this. It's really hard to explain, it's just personal enjoyment I guess. Some scenes I felt were awkward, while others were perfect. I think maybe the editing could have been slightly better, that might have cleaned it up a bit more, for me personally. I understand emphasis is used on certain moments by keeping the camera on and focused even while there is no dialogue, to let emotions or the scene sink in, but I felt this was overused in this film.

Overall: I loved the film. My fourth favourite film of the year, and is now being entered into my WOKJ Movie Awards ballot, in several places (including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, and Best Supporting Actor).

A

PEACE, Mike

So people kind of know where my films rank and how my mindset is:

1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2. Garden State
3. The Aviator
4. Million Dollar Baby
5. Collateral
6. The Village
7. Fahrenheit 9/11
8. Kill Bill Vol. 2
9. Man On Fire
10. The Bourne Supremacy

I still have to see Finding Neverland, Sideways, and Ray. I'm only interested in Neverland and Sideways. I still also need to see Closer (which I'm really interested in), Hotel Rwanda, and Kinsey.

PEACE, Mike

Hey Mike, glad that you enjoy it. I have the exact same positions in the top 10 as you have for The Aviator and Million Dollar Baby. I got some films to catch as well.