Yeah, Ordinary People is a fine film. And a worthy winner, I think, although Redford beating Scorsese for Director is absurd.

If you took the 83 best Best Picture nominees that didn't win, and stacked them up against the winners, it'd be a close race indeed. I can't say conclusively - for every great nominee and bung winner, there's a Gone With the Wind, or a Lawrence or Arabia or an Unforgiven in there.

 

Ordinary People did deserve the Best Picture win. It's a masterpiece. Scorsese definitely deserved to win Director over Redford. But I also think I might have given Best Actor to Sutherland instead of De Niro. So I'm all over the map that year.

But I think what it really underlines is just how incredibly hard it is to really tell which films are really great and which are just very much of their moment. I mean, I like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and, in it's own manic way, it is a great film. But it's nowhere near as good as Jaws; I mean, Jaws is as timeless as a Van Gogh painting or Casablanca. Occasionally, they come very, very close to getting it right, though.

 

"The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced that Brian Grazer (Cowboys & Aliens, The Da Vinci Code) will be the new producer of the Academy Awards, the latest development in a wild 48 hours that saw previous producer Brett Ratner resign amid a firestorm of controversy and Eddie Murphy subsequently withdraw from hosting the show this morning. Ironically, Grazer also produced Ratner and Murphy?s latest film, Tower Heist. He joins veteran TV producer Don Mischer, who remained on as a producer after Ratner stepped down."

 

If they want to go "old school", I would applaud the return of Billy Crystal. I'd bet anything he's not busy that night and is totally available.

If they want to go "new school", I would welcome an opportunity for Neil Patrick Harris.

Or...how about Crystal and Harris together? That would be an interesting mix!

Anyone but James Franco.

 

I have to say nay to the idea of 2 hosts again - it's been done during the last 2 ceremonies with disappointing results. That's not to say it can't be done, but I think it's time they went back to a single host for a change.

Billy Crystal is great although his last Oscars ceremony (2004 for the 2003 film year wasn't it?) was a bit of a bust. NPH would be an interesting choice.

 

Eddie Murphy needs to let go of whomever is giving him career advice. This would have been an excellent opportunity to get back into the mainstream's good graces but he'd rather stand by a dirtbag like Ratner.

I think Neil Patrick Harris would be an excellent replacement.

 

I agree on both counts, but it's Billy Crystal.

 

Apparently Brett Ratner is a horrid human being for what he said, so the Academy has decided to replace him with a man who, earlier this year, produced (and had a hand in writing) a film that used the word "gay" in a derogatory manner, and caused great sturm und drang within the industry.

Short memories.

 

I'm not sure if it's that straight forward though. Ratner personally handpicked Murphy for the hosting gig and it's pretty obvious they both had big ideas on what they were going to do. With Ratner's leaving however we now have another producer (Grazer) in place who is probably going to have different ideas and Murphy understandably probably wouldn't have felt this was the gig for him anymore.

In short, I'd guess that Murphy giving up hosting duties isn't so much about sticking by Ratner (though he would feel some loyalty to his friend) as much as stepping aside and allowing Grazer to do his own thing with the show.

 

Which includes bringing back [link=http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/11/us-oscar-billycrystal-f-idUSTRE7AA2MZ20111111]Billy Crystal[/link]....

 

[link=http://insidemovies.ew.com/2012/01/03/oscar-predictions-after-producers-guild/]Oscar Predictions[/link]

 

[link=http://insidemovies.ew.com/2012/01/10/oscar-predictions-after-directors-guild/]Oscar Predictions this week[/link]

 

[link=http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2012/01/10/roger-ebert-on-where-the-new-oscar-rules-go-wrong/]Roger Ebert on where the new Oscar rules go wrong[/link]

 

[link=http://popwatch.ew.com/2012/01/24/oscar-snubs-2/]This year's Oscar snubs[/link]

 

Tintin got snubbed? WTF?

 

Drive and Shame were both horribly snubbed, yet somehow Extremely Loud Oscar Bait made it. . .

 

Tintin snub is not surprising, but disappointing all the same. Gore Verbinski will now be an Oscar winner - who would have thunk such a thing? Not that he won't deserve it.

The most important thing is that Academy Award-nominee Gary Oldman is now a thing. For one of his greatest performances no less. That's really the only thing I care about, beyond Tinker Tailor getting well-deserved look-ins for Screenplay and Score.

Drive was always going to fight an uphill battle. At least they've gone arty with the strong showing for The Tree of Life, which is a welcome change from the usually conservative choices (the last really arty BD nomination was The Diving Bell and the Butterfly).

Also, Jonah Hill is now an Oscar nominee. Also, Madonna has now directed an Oscar nominated film. As has Shawn Levy.

And using the highly scientific Dark Knight method, Aaron Eckhart will be an Oscar nominee next year. Each year since TDK, someone who was not an Oscar nominee from the main billing block has... been made a nominee. First Gyllenhaal, then Bale, now Oldman.

 

I'm incredibly pissed at Tintin's snub as well. I mean, I like KFP 2 and Rango, but come on....... (I've never even heard of the other nominees).

 

Thing is, Eisenberg's actually a pretty good actor, and his performance was the best of that crop.

Hill's work is OK. But it's hardly better than any of the Tinker Tailor troupe, or Mullan or Aretsup in War Horse, or even Tom Hiddleston in Thor.

 

The real travesty of the nominations is the fact that original song only has 2 nominees. Completely and utterly senseless. The music voting branch needs to change their rules back to the way it was and have 5 nominees.

 

Interesting article: [link=http://www.grantland.com/blog/hollywood-prospectus/post/_/id/41877/oscarmetrics-the-yes-the-huh-and-the-what-the-hell-of-nominations-day]Oscar Nominations Examined[/link]

 

Interesting, indeed.

Mark Harris implies that animators, as a group of voters, are begining to rival musicians
as the most reactionary branch of the Academy.



And you've been doing what for the last twenty years, Mark...?