In a year where many big baity films fail, the ones that end up getting nominated may just be the best films of the year, at least closer than a lot of past years' nominees. That includes acting and directing categories. So it could be a blessing in disguise.

Ah, so admit it. This is the best year since American Beauty.... 2000 Oscars, right? After A Beautiful Mind, everything really went to shit.

Best year? No, since I've been watching from the mid 1980s. I thought 1987, 1991, 1993 was great, 2001 was absolutely brilliant and even though Seabiscuit wasn't "worthy" I wasn't disappointed with the 2003 noms. A Beautiful Mind wasn't "brilliant" but it was tolerable. I have a large threshold for Oscar pain, but some like Gangs of New York push me too far.

Life doesn't get much worse than 2002, which was the worst in my opinion (Where was Adaptation? Far From Heaven? Frida? WHAAA?)

(When I say 2001 I mean the year when the films were released, even though the show was in 2002)

I think Dr. Lecter can tell you why I've grown to hate the winners from 1993. Heh.

This is pathetic, but the first Oscar show I watched was 98 and I remember being so, so, so upset that Winslet lost to Hunt. In retrospect, it was the better call.... I was maybe 9.5 at that point.

Whatever year Halle Berry won seemed to be pretty disappointing. 03 Oscars? or 02?

I thought Berry deserved it.

Actually, I don't think Swank deserved her first Oscar, but deserved M$B Oscar.

M$B was so... not that great. It was ok. Meh. In general, it was such a weak year. I would have given the BP award to Bad Education, anyway.

Berry was good in MB, but the rest of the year seemed lackluster. I think Smith got nominated for Ali, right?

See, I'm a young person with a great memory and I can't even remember the past five years of Oscar.

See... I thought it was the best of the year, and it's by Haggis!!!! Mr. Crash himself!?!!??!?!!


OMG, why. Can I ask you a serious question? Would you always want a gay film to win BP


I thought he was great in Ali.

I was wondering about my taste in movies, as I checked out with Moulin Rouge!, La Cage Aux Folles 2, Chicago, Boys Don't Cry, and queer as folk season 2 today....

Seriously, I don't know why it always seems like I prefer gay movies. Maybe because I'm transitioning into adulthood and I relate very much so to their more interesting story lines? I find acceptance in their crazy takes on humanity? I dunno. I just think it was a fresh, unique, and completely dark movie. Whether or not I'd like to admit it, I've lived a version of that movie- evil Catholic church and all. (No, I wasn't molested. Don't ask, Spiderman).

Heh, maybe I do want a gay film to win. I am sort of rooting for Brokeback. I guess I look for something fresh and special each year, and until half the world gets over its homophobia, homosexuality (ESPECIALLY in movies) will be an interesting thing to see and discuss.

As for M$B, I really liked Hillary Swank and the ever so wonderful Morgan Freeman, but I just don't feel it's one of those everlasting classic films. Very solid, but overrated. Like I said, I really don't think it deserved BP. Not sure that anything (besides Education ) deserved much that go around.

Personally, my beef with Bad Education was that it just went nowhere and the characters and the writing died in the second half (just btw).


I guess. To me, not gay and maybe older, there has to be something a bit ambigous with the movie in order to hit the mark emotionally. I thought Hedwig and the Angry Inch was one of those films, where in the end he ended up in kind of a twisted but normal heterosexual relationship (even though in the play the boyfriend is really a guy?) but the journey wasn't false and the emotions came through.

Not that a gay romance movie can't be good. It's just stuck in a different place than many hetero movies are at the moment, some of it borders a bit too much on the "FABULOUS!" young, skinny, male, and "hot". It's almost porn. It's stereotypical, yes, but it's also not the way my gay friends act really. But they also tell me stories that the stereotypes are true. So I just don't know

I love/hate you.

The story fell apart? How so? I loved the execution, personally... on Bad Education that is.


I haven't seen Hedwig. At all. I sampled the soundtrack and was turned ff, but that could have just been my mood. I've been wondering about it for quite some time, so I'll probably rent it or even buy it if the price is right. That's why we have movie stop. Trade that shit if it's bad

As far as "gay" movies, I don't always find myself attracted to them. In fact, it's getting sort of hard to tolerate gay people in movies as they sort of seem like throwaway characters meant for comic relief. Hey, everyone, let's laugh at the fags! That's more disconcerting than assuring of acceptance in mainstream cinema. (case in point: Wedding Crashers, Monster in Law, etc...).

While I try to think I'm not one of those stereotypical blond twigs with the annoying voice, I see it far too often. That's sort of a fair stereotype.

I've pretty much referenced the only gay movies I know of/enjoy within the last ten posts. Of course I rely on heterosexual dramas, just like you. While we're on the subject of Crash and extremes, I like dramas that have extremely different, oddball characters (insert gay drama), but prefer those with natural, more humane stories. I basically want a good story, and from time to time I'll exchange an "classic" for one of those outlandish gay movies I can appreciate and relate to.

You love Me You And Everyone Who We Have Underage Child Porn Internet Sex With and Biblically "Know"

so you have no teeth!

I still love you though111!

I thought his reasoning for the impersonation was a little cloudy. Pedro walks a fine line of suspension-of-belief in his films, this one pushed it over the edge a bit. I also thought the flashbacks broke up the movie too much.

I haven't seen Boys Don't Cry, but Annette Bening was so amazing in American Beauty that I was quite upset about her loss.

Something that's gotta do with a penis.

Heh, those are the two years where I definitely think that the wqrse of the two frontrunners won, even though I love Titanic.

Oh, shit, I didn´t like "Bad education" either! So we agree in something!

On the other hand, I hated "Million dollar baby", so...

Just to put my two cents here: I hated "A beautiful mind" winning (That would explain why I haven´t seen "Cinderella man" yet). Another trite crap made for the Oscars about how love can save your life and make you win a Nobel Prize. I didn´t like ROTK - but I understood they were awarding the whole trilogy, not just the film. I disliked "Shakespeare in love", but wasn´t as big fan of "Saving private Ryan" anyway, so...

In a way, It´s funny, cause most of the time I hate/dislike/not particulary feel anything for most of the things they award or nominate. Yet I find myself really atracted to the whole thing - the race, the nominations, the watching all the films before Oscar night... and I almost always end up being dissappointed/angry. I guess that is why I love this year so much, there are many movies and people I really liked or want to do well (Match point and BBM specially so far, but maybe even more when I see all the films, which, damn Spanish distributors, can´t come soon enough).

Cinderella Man is a bit more true to reality than A Beautiful Mind.

The reasons I don't like A Beautiful Mind is I was disappointed that they had these actors and the subject matter they had and then chose conciously to strip out the really interesting aspects of the man's life and make it "safe".

I agree with you wholeheartedly on Beautiful Mind, andaroo.

I'd also like to throw in Ron Howard's goofy direction and especially the wretched third act where Howard and co. hit every mental illness film cliche they could find, save some card counting.

Hehehe... but the score. The score and Russell Crowe... very powerful.

I was a might disappointed that he lost to Denzel that year.

I've seen more movies this year that I've given an A+ too or a close enough A+ than any other year combined. its just that everything else just fell flat on its face.

List of A+ movies

Serenity
Batman Begins
March of the Penguins

Close to A+

Kong
The Weatherman

Umm .. thats it really. Last year, indie turned me off. This year, I avoided it like crazy.

I thought 2001 was a wretched year in the best actor category. Denzel was fine, but he could do that charismatic role in his sleep. Crowe was fine, but in an awful movie, and he had just won (undeservingly) the year before. Tom Wilkinson was good.

But I thought Will Smith and Sean Penn's perfs were sorely lacking. Yeeech. Where the fuck was Gene Hackman's nod for Tenenbaums? Even Ewan MacGregor, the best thing about that vile Moulin Rouge! was more deserving than either of those guys.

Crowe best performance to date was in The Insider, the Academy si great at givign the right person the award for the wrong performance.

Pacino, Crowe, Washington, they all gave much better performances in their career thent he one they won the oscar for., but they all won for a role where if anyone else had it I swear no one would have given a shit about the movie. Gladiator? Trainging Day? Scent of Women? Imagine these films with a lesser actor.

Wilkensen shoudl ahve won, but the buzz for in the Bedroom when to Spacek who had the showier role,t he Aadmey likes showy roles. Wilkensen was understated and showed his character pain through mere looks and few words, that's not going win you an oscar.

I HATE I am Sam, Fannig gave amuch better performance then penn in that trite, stupid film. As I said above, the Academy is great at giving best acotr awarsd to great actors for not their best performance.

Crowe should have wonf or The Insider, and Washington was better in The Hurricane, but at this point the Academy never going to get it right.