Or probably more fitting - how did Up in the Air lose??


Seriously that was the biggest shock this year and bigger than anything last year too or the year before.

Up in the Air was such a solid frontruner. Its wins (only the major ones):

BAFTA
BFCA
WGA
Chicago Film Critics Association
Los Angeles Film Critics Association
National Board of Review
Golden Globes (even more impressive considering they've got only one Screenplay category)


Precious' wins (all):

Satellite Awards
Black Reel Awards

That's all. And consdering this was the only category in which Up in the Air would have been rewarded this is all the more shocking.

I think the race and importance card is the only explanation that makes (a little) sense here.

Maybe that partly explains why Clooney looked pissed the whole night.

Pissed? I thought Clooney seemed to be having a great time the entire night.

As for Precious' Best Adapted Screenplay win, it was definitely upsetting. Can't believe the voters thought it had better writing than Up in the Air, In the Loop, and An Education.

Could the controversy over Up in the Air's screenwriting credits have hurt it? Remember when it won a writing award at the Globes and Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner came from different parts of the audience and Reitman didn't acknowledge Turner in his part of the speech? This was indicative of a fairly bitter feud going on behind-the-scenes, one in which Reitman (as talented as he is) ended up seeming the bully pulling rank.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/movies/ ... vatar.html

"The genesis story that Jason Reitman tells is by now well-honed. He discovered Walter Kirn’s novel “Up in the Air” in the independent bookshop Book Soup and spent a long time whipping a script into shape before getting behind the camera. “When I started writing this screenplay,” Reitman told NPR, “we were in the midst of an economic boom, and by the time I was finished we were in one of the worst recessions on record.”

What he hasn’t been saying as much was that the script was actually already in development for several years, first as an independent project and then at Fox, before he became involved, and screenwriter Sheldon Turner wrote an entire draft before Reitman put pen to paper. Turner’s draft would be recognizable to anyone who’s seen the finished film; significant elements from it, sources who read it say, appear in the finished movie.

The invention of George Clooney’s whippersnapper partner played by Anna Kendrick, for instance, came from Turner (in Turner’s version it was a man; another writer who wasn’t Reitman later changed it to a woman). A key plot point about a laid-off worker committing suicide came from Turner. And while Reitman invented many memorable lines, sources noted Turner made his mark too: he was responsible for the trademark line from George Clooney’s character to laid-off workers about founding an empire. Turner and Reitman separately declined to comment.

This all could have been fairly typical; Hollywood films, after all, often are the result of people drafting off predecessors' work. Except when it came time to allot credit, Reitman maintained that the substantive work on the movie was his and that he shouldn’t share credit with Turner. The two went to arbitration in front of the Writers Guild, which ruled in favor of Turner and handed him a credit. Turner is also nominated for an adapted screenplay Golden Globe, where, if he wins, he will share the podium with Reitman.

Still, Turner has mostly stayed out of sight on the awards circuit, and it’s rare to hear Reitman, who has been ubiquitous on that circuit, mention him at all. [UPDATED 10:07 PM: Reitman and Turner just won the Critics Choice prize for best adapted screenplay. They both came to the stage but, in what could only be described as an awkward moment for Turner -- who trailed Reitman by about five seconds in coming to the podium -- only Reitman spoke, thanking several people but failing to acknowledge the credited writer standing next to him. Turner looked like he wanted to speak, but Reitman finished and began walking off the stage, the exit music began playing and Turner again trailed behind Reitman, not having said anything.]"

There are alot of reason why.

1. It was made pretty clear that Precious was a stronger film with the amps when Oscar nods came out. Precious got Best Editing nod over UITA and Precious also got Best Directing over Clint.

2. The fighting with the two screen writers was a turn off

3. Other than UITA, Precious was the only other film to have major hype and Universal Acclaim from critics. The other films had Acclaim but not much AMPS hype.

4. It really helps having twoheavy weights like Tyler Perry, and Oprah who are really becoming a force in Hollywood.


All in All. AMPS just like Precious more. Get over it. Not everybody is going to love the same movie. Just like the people who thought Avartar was going to win because it made more money than a THL.

I haven't seen Precious, but I thought that Geoff Fletcher gave the most genuine speech of the night.

The precursor support for Up in the Air comprised mainly of critics/writers' groups who can relate a lot to this movie and Clooney's character. Especially since the writers who comprise of the voting groups aren't struggling writers but already made a name for themselves and have a lot of power. These writers can relate to the work autonomy and influence of Clooney's character; Clooney has a way with words that can inspire or calm down his laid off subjects just like successful writers have the power of words to control the readers' emotions. They can also relate more to Clooney's loneliness since they spend a lot of alone time thinking and writing.

Meanwhile, most other Oscar voters are in the acting or technical branches with very little creative control but rather are subordinate to the demands of the director. Thus they can relate to less to Clooney's powerful consultant role and more to the struggling plights of Precious. The idea that Clooney's character sells that getting laid off is your opportunity to pursue your dreams probably rang false for a lot of the voters, as their dream jobs already in the movie business are the jobs they're afraid of were getting laid off from. Also Oscar voters' work requires a lot of collaborative process with many different people so they don't relate as much to Clooney's inability to form real relationships with other people.

lol?

What about BAFTA? Or WGA?

It won BAFTA over their own An Education!

Is there an anti-Jason Reitman sentiment? There's always the looming nepotism charge (he is the son of an iconic, successful director) and he's had so much success so young. Throw in his reaction to the screenwriting-credit arbitration proceedings on UitA and it just seems to be a perfect storm for backlash.

Nothing against the dude myself. I thought Thank You for Smoking and Juno were solid and Up in the Air was amazing.

Maybe they didn't want two of three Reitman's films with a Best Screenplay win.


I think the race card is probably the most likely reason, though.

There is definitely a story behind Up in the Air's Oscar loss. It was cleaning up before the ceremony last night. The fact BAFTA awarded it over An Education's screenplay (by mega-popular British novelist Nick Hornby no less) is very impressive.

I am definitely leaning towards anti-Reitman sentiment. A "putting him in his place" type movement. And the fact Hollywood can pat itself for rewarding Precious. The "aren't we socially conscious?" sensation.

It's the anti-Canadian sentiment in the wake of the Olympics. That's why Cameron didn't win, either!

I agree.

Oh and Fletcher has written a lot of scripts to get into that position. All the scripts he had written before weren't produced. Oh and he is the first black screenplay writer to win the Oscars so congrats.

And was Sandra Bullocks really the best of the year? Jeff bridges?

Meh, awards are given for political and behind-the-scenes reasons all the time. This is just as much as crowning of the Prom Queen and King as it is an acknowledgment of talent.

[quote="Groucho"]And was Sandra Bullocks really the best of the year? Jeff bridges?

Meh, awards are given for political and behind-the-scenes reasons all the time. This is just as much as crowning of the Prom Queen and King as it is an acknowledgment of talent.[/quo



The Political and no talent speech may work on the blind side but not with Precious and Crazy Heart. And hear is why


1. Precious placed in the top 5 of 2009 most universal acclame films.

It has a 91% on rotten tomatoes with a 91% COTC rating.
It has an A- rating on yahoo and A- rating cinama score along with 89% rating from rotten tomatoes users. It was also the only movie last year to last 13 months in the award circle dispite not having any major stars or director. Jeff in Crazy Heart got the best reviews out of any of the other 4 actors. So maybe sandra won because of popularity but Precious and Jeff had the critical acclaim and audience support to back them up.

But Bridges was also helped by the fact that he was long overdue. I don't think general reviews for him were really better than those for Clooney in Up in the Air.

This strikes me as a ridiculous sentiment. Because of your qualms with the personality of the writer/director of the film you don't want it to win despite being more deserving? Neither movie deserved the award, but of the undeserving movies Up In The Air was definitely less undeserving.

What makes Reitman a douche?

his face\his movies

The answer is so simple. If you want to win this you need to put "Based on the novel _______ by _______" in the title. When there's a movie with that in the title running everyone needs to watch out because there's no way it's losing. They thought maybe it was a lie that the others were adapted screenplays, but Precious had it in the title so it must be true. That's why everyone voted for it. That or Oprah paid everyone.

Seriously though it was the biggest shock of the night.

Because the writer was black and Oprah was there.