My Picks for the 2012 Academy Awards... :-D

[DC_MPA]

HERE IT IS! My bad it was mark wahlberg (another jerk).

http://nation.foxnews.com/oscars/201...-oscar-winners

[SalvadorMontenegro]

Billy Crystal is always funny. They could wheel in Crystal's corpse and get a better show than they did out of Franco.

As for Do the Right Thing, the best picture nominees in 1988 were:

Driving Miss Daisy - winner
Field of Dreams
Born on the 4th of July
My Left Foot
Dead Poets' Society

Obviously, Daisy's not the best of that bunch. Field of Dreams and Dead Poets' are sentimental favorites for a lot of people, and Born on the 4th of July was our first look at Tom Cruise as a serious actor.

But not a single film in that list was considered revolutionary, now or then.

EDIT: I'm not sure why you redacted your post. It was nothing to be ashamed of.

I've not seen Born on the Fourth of July or Dead Poet's Society, but I did enjoy the other films, including Driving Miss Daisy. That said, I think Do the Right Thing is better than all of them. It was, quite simply, too abrasive to be considered. Twenty years later, it's still difficult to watch that film and not feel uncomfortable.

I'm ticked off now. Has anyone heard what James Franco had done? He has informed the media that a close personal source with PriceCoopersWaterhouse has told him what the winners are for tomorrow and blatantly told the media what the winners are.

The Academy should file charges against him if his predictions turn true. That really pisses me off. He's another example of what's wrong with Hollywood.

I don't know where you're getting that from, but I searched around on the net and found nothing corroborating it. James Franco was an awful host last year, but he seems to me, based upon interviews and his public image (I don't know him, of course, so I could be wrong), to be a genuinely nice and affable guy. I cannot imagine he would do this, because it doesn't seem like something he'd do; and also because it would put him in very poor standing with the Academy and the film industry in general. He's a pretty good film actor and that would be career suicide.

[DC_MPA]

Did you not read the above post? I corrected myself and found the story.

[SalvadorMontenegro]

Nope. My apologies. I started writing my response, left to eat breakfast, left to take a shower, left the house, came back and hit submit reply. By that time, there were several new posts.

I read the article. To be honest, I don't care that much. We'll see whether or not he's correct. Anybody can say anything. I thought maybe he had a list or some sort of verification. He says he has a friend who blah blah blah. Whatever.

I mean, the fact that it's Mark Wahlberg changes everything. He loves to to hear himself talk. He's always saying dumb... uh... poop.

[DC_MPA]

So far mark wahlberg has been spot on from what I've read online from the winners so far.

[SalvadorMontenegro]

Maybe I was just in a really good mood, or maybe it's because the previous shows have been so dreadful, but I thought that was, maybe, the best Oscars' program that I've ever seen. I don't have a single complaint. I thought Billy Crystal was terrific, whether it was his scripted opening or his improvisational, off the cuff moments; such as when he botched Angelina Jolie's intro and mocked doing a rewind.

Other favorite moments: Octavia Spencer's unrestrained emotion, Chris Rock's monologue about acting in animated movies, the guy who won for Adapted Screenplay mimicking Angelina Jolie, Meryl Streep, Christopher Plummer, "You're only two years older than me. Where've you been all my life, darling?"

I thought the whole show was wonderfully entertaining without being garish. It reminded me of the shows I grew up watching.

[TonyH]

I missed two of my predictions, but I'm happy with the results. The show seemed pretty brisk for 3 hrs 10 mins, and it was great to see Billy Crystal at it again. My favorite moments were Chris Rock, Plummer's acceptance, and Dick Smith winning the governor's award. Smith actually choked me up a bit.

Overall a good show with some great nominees. I've been telling everyone I know about The Artist since I saw it back in December and I'll continue to tell them. It's the best Best Picture winner in years.

[ouch]

Getting things wrong isn't a new phenomenon. Anyone still think Around the World in 80 Days is better than The King and I or The Ten Commandments?

[The Count of Merkur Cristo]

Maybe I was just in a really good mood, or maybe it's because the previous shows have been so dreadful, but I thought that was, maybe, the best Oscars' program that I've ever seen. I don't have a single complaint. I thought Billy Crystal was terrific, whether it was his scripted opening or his improvisational, off the cuff moments; such as when he botched Angelina Jolie's intro and mocked doing a rewind. Other favorite moments: Octavia Spencer's unrestrained emotion, Chris Rock's monologue about acting in animated movies, the guy who won for Adapted Screenplay mimicking Angelina Jolie, Meryl Streep, Christopher Plummer, "You're only two years older than me. Where've you been all my life, darling?" (+1...and I thought Christopher's & Octavia acceptant speeches were 'top notch)I thought the whole show was wonderfully entertaining without being garish. It reminded me of the shows I grew up watching.

Sal:
+ 1...and I thought that not only was Crystal outstanding...I think he 'saved and salvaged' the show for many more years to come. I vote he should be made the 'permanent' host because at last...the show was very entertaining w/o being geekish, silly, nerdish or just overall....hmmmm what's the word I'm looking for? Contrived perhaps?

The Best & the Worst of the 2012 Academy Awards

Other than that, I had only one pick win (Christopher Plummer...it's about time), for an Oscar, but I wouldn't have never thought the silent film "The Artist" would win Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Original Score (music), and Best Costume Design....imagine that.



I guess the Mrs. and I must see this film the "Artist", but I hope we won't fall asleep for lack of dialog.

"A film is a [amazing] fountain of thought". Jean Cocteau

[TonyH]

Getting things wrong isn't a new phenomenon. Anyone still think Around the World in 80 Days is better than The King and I or The Ten Commandments?

Rocky won over Network and Taxi Driver, Dances With Wolves beat Goodfellas, and Forrest Gump came out on top of Pulp Fiction, The Shawshank Redemption, and Quiz Show - all far better movies.

It's more often than not that the Academy gets it wrong, but I really feel like this year they got it right. Of course, they could have picked Midnight in Paris, The Tree of Life, or Hugo and gotten it right as well. This was a great year for movies.

[ouch]

Rocky won over Network and Taxi Driver, Dances With Wolves beat Goodfellas, and Forrest Gump came out on top of Pulp Fiction, The Shawshank Redemption, and Quiz Show - all far better movies.

Funny you should mentions those, Tony. I was thinking of referencing all of them.

Quick quiz:
1) What was the last silent film to win the Oscar? (bonus points for last silent film to win an Oscar)
2) What was the last b&w film to win the Oscar? (two answers)
3) What was the last X-rated film to win the Oscar?

[TonyH]

Funny you should mentions those, Tony. I was thinking of referencing all of them.

Quick quiz: what was
1) What was the last silent film to win the Oscar? (bonus points for last silent film to win an Oscar)
2) What was the last b&w film to win the Oscar? (two answers)
3) What was the last X-rated film to win the Oscar?

Without Googling:

1) I don't recall, but I believe it was 1928.
2) Schindler's List comes to mind.
3) The only ever was Midnight Cowboy, if you mean Best Picture.

[The Count of Merkur Cristo]

Funny you should mentions those, Tony. I was thinking of referencing all of them.

Quick quiz:
1) What was the last silent film to win the Oscar? (bonus points for last silent film to win an Oscar...("Wings" in 1929).
2) What was the last b&w film to win the Oscar? (two answers)...("The Apartment" in 1960 & "Schindler's List" in 1993).
3) What was the last X-rated film to win the Oscar?...(Midnight Cowboy" in 1969).

Ouch:
If I win the quiz...what do I get...a years supply of 'Turtle Wax'?

"I go to school the youth to learn the future". Robert Frost

[ouch]

Ouch:
If I win the quiz...what do I get...a years supply of 'Turtle War'?

Very good, googlemeister, but you didn't score any extra points, so someone else still may win.

[TonyH]

Very good, googlemeister, but you didn't score any extra points, so someone else still may win.

Tabu was the last silent film to win an Oscar prior to last night (1931, I think), for cinematography. I just watched that one the other night. Wings was definitely the last silent to win Best Picture, made in 1928 and released in 1929, but how were there two answers to #2? Schindler's List was the last b&w Best Picture, and it's not like it tied that year with another b&w Best Picture.

[TonyH]

Also, A Clockwork Orange and Last Tango in Paris were both nominated with "X" ratings but neither won, and Orange had it's rating reduced the next year due to some cuts that Kubrick made of his own volition.

[SalvadorMontenegro]

I think the most famous instance of the Academy getting it wrong is How Green Was My Valley beating Citizen Kane. How Green Was My Valley is a good movie, it's just not as good or as important as Citizen Kane. It took years for Kane to be publicly recognized for its technical brilliance.

Biggest slip up ever in my opinion is Bogart in The African Queen beating Brando for A Streetcar Named Desire. Brando's performance is probably the most important single performance in the history of films with sound and a watershed moment that opened the floodgates (I'm going with aqua metaphors here) for the inside-out, method acting that is used today. It's particularly goofy considering that Streetcar swept all three other acting awards.

[SalvadorMontenegro]

Here we are. The most overrated Best Picture winners according to some dude:

http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,2031....html#21123151

I don't agree with all of these. I liked The Last Emperor a lot. I also liked Gandhi.

[DC_MPA]

Citizen Kane was so controversial. Hearst was so close to have it completely destroyed. That is my all time favorite movie.