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Which is why I don't get too emotionally invested...

207.67.53.106

Posted by Harmonia on February 27, 2007 at 12:12:12

In Reply to: Re: At least Marty finally got his gold statue. posted by halfnote on February 26, 2007 at 21:08:22:

...in the Oscar race.

As I've posted nearly every year, the Oscars are a great show and fun to handicap but AMPAS is basically about film business, not film art. (Undoubtedly many AMPAS voters *think* the awards are about the best films, but I can't take Dakota Fanning seriously as an aribter of cinematic excellence.)

That the Academy occassionaly rewards a few fine films and some true cinematic craftsmanship along the way doesn't really change anything. The Oscars are, after all, industry awards, decided by a wide range of commercial film people, not scholars and critics.

I simply don't look to the Academy for validation of any film. It's like a horse race, - fun to handicap, a great show, fun to be snarky about the clothes and hairdos. But there will always be far more great films that never won a Best Picture Oscar than there are great films that did. This is not criminal IMO - this is just show BIZ. (The flim montages were underwhelming this year, and as much as I love Pilobolus Dance Theater, their dancers didn't add much to the broadcast. More interesting to see that kind of thing in person.)

What is the best film of any given year anyway? Who can say what that animal is? The one thing a film needs to achieve classic film status (time) isn't available for annual awards, so you're down to opinion, influence and perceived value at a very specific moment in time. The result is that you usually get more of a snapshot of contemporary ideas about filmmaking than you do films for the ages.

Of my top 10 "best of" list (Children of Men, Pan's Labyrinth, Army of Shadows, Death of Mr. Lazarescu, United 93, The Departed, The Queen, Tristam Shandy, When The Levees Broke and Volver) an astounding TWO MOVIES (admittedly in my bottom 5) were nommed for best pic. That's a huge percentage for me. And for once, this year's 5 Oscar BP nominees didn't contain a single movie that made me cringe, a true rarity.

I was disappointed that CoM didn't win for cinematography, but the film is just as brilliant today after as it was the day it was released. The people who know and appreciate such things (such as the American Society of Cinematographers which gave CoM its highest award) don't need Oscar to validate what Emmanuel Lubezki accomplished.

I thought when I saw Spielberg, Lucas and Coppola come out to present that it had to be a Marty's year. That he won for a very fine genre film (as opposed to one of his masterpieces like Taxi Driver, Raging Bull or Goodfellas) doesn't trouble me in the least. In fact, I would have been perectly happy to have seen him win for The Aviator, which I thought was very underrated. A great director finally has an Oscar...and he apparently actually wanted to win one in competition (as opposed to Robert Altmann, who was amused by the whole process.)

I don't think Bergman ever received a Lifetime Oscar (a la Chaplin or Altmann) - he did get the Irving Thalberg Award sometime in the 70's (I think). The DGA gave him a Lifetime Acievement Award in the 80's, and Bergman won every other major award at one time or another.

I rest my case.

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