大象传媒

Anything but Avatar. It deserves awards for its special effects but if it wins best film over the vastly superior Inglourious Basterds and The Hurt Locker it will be a travesty.

#1. Inglourious Basterds
#2. 9

and what BulletMonkey said.

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I am hoping that Harry Potter gets Best Cinematography as it was absolutely stunning and has come such a long way since the first movie! But no doubt Avatar or The Hurt Locker will get it instead!

Ah yes, it's that time of year again; the Oscars.

The annual backslapping, self-congratulatory festival of falseness for shallow people with fragile egos.

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It really is about time this pointless display of extravagence was stopped. It's nothing more than a bunch of luvvies presenting prizes to another bunch of luvvies for simply doing their day job. I started to watch Inglourious Bastards on a long haul flight but stopped it, there's no need for such violence to be displayed on our screens, it most certainly is not entertainment - at least, not to normal people. I can appreciate the technical achievement that Avatar is but it's just that, a technical masterpiece, no greater than the mobile phone network is.

I wont be watching, I have far more important things to do - there's quite a lot of paint drying at the moment, I think I'll get more entertainment from watching that.

What a pity the financial excesses of this unrequired and un-neccessary event could not have been turned into something truly helpfull, like treating the sick or helping the people of Haiti.

Those taking part should be truly ashamed of themselves.

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Avatar is almost certain to win the award for best special effects and has a good shout for some of the other technical awards, but I do not think it should win best picture and director as much as I enjoyed watching it.

The Hurt Locker and Inglourious Basterds were both fantastic films, but I would personally love to see Up win best picture, the first 10 minutes got more of an emotional response than the whole of Avatar, as well as a brilliant story, the relationship and development between the main characters and the humour Pixar mix in. Of course The Hurt Locker or Inglourious Basterds would still be great winners.

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I have absolutely no idea. There just didn't seem to be anything worth watching in the cinemas last year. Either it was too blockbustery (e.g. Avatar) or too depressing (e.g. Precious). I like me a nice combo of drama and humour.

It is nice to see the gliterati in all their finery but in the immortal words of Catherine Tate "Am I bothered" who wins an oscar? No!

Oh come on!

The film which has been the most expensive to make. That is usually what matters.

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How can a bunch of pixel be best actor?

Avatar looks really amazing, but it is an animation! Special effects! Let it win those! But keep the 鈥淏est鈥� awards for the people who appear depicting a story!

Probably fallen foul of the anti-pixel discrimination front!

Between Avatar and Hurt Locker, my choice would be Avatar.
Of course, there鈥檚 always the possibility that these two could split votes, leaving 'Inglorious Basterds' to win.
The reason I like Avatar is that the movie is deeper than what most folk seemed to get out of it. It seemed to me that Avatar was about a psychological-type of warfare being executed upon the public without their awareness - a preview of the New World Order and all the spin & lies that comes with it.
In occult terminology, 鈥淎vatar鈥� means something like the Anti-christ, the opponent, the force against which humankind must combat. I鈥檓 very much looking forward to the sequal to see if my interpretations hold water.
I don鈥檛 watch Oscar ceremomines 鈥� too tedious to get to the "meat of the matter".
The future holds much more than 3D cinema; it holds virtual reality cinema that will surround watchers in the actual environment with the smells, tastes, sounds 鈥� everything that is happening.

Wallace and Grommit.
Not interested in the rest.

I thought the Shelock Holmes movie would get something;as long as that over-promoted,over-rated,over-long does'nt get an award

Oscars should be reserved for the best Actors of Stage,Film,Television and Politics.They are all entertainers.They all help to sell Newspapers and Magazines.
Without their activities or those of the Criminal fraternity it would not be worth while producing a Newspaper.Just watch any news programme tomorrow.You will be lucky to get 10 minutes news.The remainder will be gossip and the broadcasters opinions.Half of your newspaper will be mostly adverts.And we all skip them.Just don't tell the Advertisers.
Am sorry.Have to say the Oscars,Baftas ,Emmies etc.are no different from any Party Poltical Broadcast.
The object is sell the product,sell the message.
Advertising by anyones definition.

Gran Torino!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hurt Locker not even in same universe

Meryl Streep for " Julie and Julia " and Sandra Bullock for " The Blind Side "( cut the statue in half if the Academy is too cheap to make two statues ) . Star Trek clean sweep all nominations .

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No-one if i had my way I'd cancel the Oscars and all the other celeb promotion/pat on the back awards as well, why do they need to know how wonderful they are playing because that's all it is adults at play.

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Star Trek, Me & Orson Welles, Up, Up in the Air, The Last Station.

Not necessarily in that order.

There have been some extraordinary films released in 2009-2010. "Cold Souls": imagine that!

Paul Giamatti!

Looking forward very much to seeing Pirate Radio.

A huge problem with the Oscars in our generation: so many more films being released, there really is not much chance of accurately reflecting the true quality out there, with so few awards categories and only one award per. In that sense, awards have almost become moot. Nominations are probably ultimately more important.

Sandra Bullock is a delight, but it is impossible to measure anyone acting today against Helen Mirren, after all. Not even Streep can match Mirren for sheer guts. Really, go see The Last Station if you haven't yet.

Star Trek should not have been overlooked.

Deeply annoyed with the Hurt Locker people for not compensating & honouring the true identity of the living person who was used by the writer to make money & a name for himself. That is really disgusting, much in the way of identity theft.

Not a fan of Avatar. Pocahontas rehash... ho-hum. Blue skin, yuck.

Always a smart choice to just give Anything to Mr. Eastwood.

Update from LA area: nary a drop of precipitation in sight! Cheers, everyone!

Can't begin to say how utter boring I find this never ending stream of awards that the luvvies indulge in. Now, if they made films like they did in my day it would a different matter ...... Doris Day, Spencer Tracey. Those really were the days when stars were true stars and not hyped up ego driven money mad individuals. But then now I come to think of maybe my heros were just as flawed as the present mob.

Definitely Nick Park - I've got the Wensleydale in ready for the celebration. Nice one, Nick!

I think the new HYS format deserves an Oscar! After years of thinking this site was a nest of far-right lunatics, the removal of the 'recommend' button has clearly demonstrated that HYS was the hijack victim of pathetic sockpuppeters. The new version allows sane people to be just as visible as 'internet-warriors', the difference is stark and refreshing.

As for the movies... Avatar is shallow rubbish, the movie equivalent of a disneyland roller-coaster. Inglorious is a far better film and marks Tarantino's return from the wildnerness as a wiser, mature director.

Totally agree with Thomas 30#,
thats when you used your imagination , they did not have blood and guts right in your face .. and it was more scary . films are either bloodthirsty or over sexual ..or just plain manic.

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I would award a lifetime achievement Oscar to all of the wastes-of-space who immerse themselves each year in this pointless pantomime.

Believe me, I do try to watch a few of the more recent films occasionally, but give up because of the poor acting and direction, and an excess of special effects that appear to have replaced coherent dialogue and a decent plot.

The worst culprits are, of course, the Americans, with their grating voices, especially the women. If available, I have to use subtitles just to understand what they're whining about. Elocution lessons are something they are in dire need of.

Thank heavens the 大象传媒 is committed to buying less trash from the USA. With any luck, the so-called blockbusters will stay on the other side of the Atlantic.

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Wasn't there some of this self congratulatory rubbish recently? Oh right, I forgot that premadonna's AKA actors need to be congratulated all the time.

i would do away with all awards.

they are pointless now and always have been, just an industry marketing gimmick, to promote and increase sales and profits off the back of normal hard working people.

this applies to all awards that are linked to business.

Inglourious Basterds was a complete disappointment for me, I don't think it deserves any awards.

In contrast, I was a little skeptical before seeing Avatar (the last 3D film I went to see was horrible) but now I'm in complete awe over it. No, it's not a film for the critics and there's very little originality to the storyline but the flawless execution at each step of the film gave it an "epic" feel like no other. I think James Cameron deserves at least one Oscar for it.

Also definitely worth a mention is District 9, simply for opening up a whole new frontier for sci-fi films.

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Hopefully the OSCAR goes to the person who really deserves it..

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Avatar movie is cool...

I would give an oscar to almost any professional footballer

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"Comment 39 you are not the first as the moderation team chose to remove my comment (37) which simply said "Anthony Charles Lynton Blair" "

I trawled through the comments to see who would be first to do this. Why do certain comment-ors think that they have to put politics in something that wasn't meant for it. GET A LIFE!

The Oscars - Another bread-and-circuses news and TV - media hyped private slap-each-other-on-the-back party which should remain private.

I would give the Personnel of the News Media of every country a Oscar.

I went to see the Hurt Locker and I left feeling robbed. The movie was downright terrible, really could not get into it. Even Inglorious Basterds I was disappointed by. Then along came Avatar which totally blew my mind. While it's story isn't the most original, I found myself coming away from the cinema with my jaw dragging across the floor.

At the end of the day films are about affecting the emotions of those watching and all I got from Hurt Locker was sheer anger that I had wasted some of my life watching it. Yet when I was watching Avatar I just wanted to don a loincloth and help defend Hometree.

Either way, the simple fact is the Oscars tend to lean towards "artsy" films and away from Sci-Fi. So really I have never expected Avatar to win it, although the amount it has taken in alone warrants its winning.

Personal Preferance: Avatar
What will actually win: Hurt Locker

Who would I give an Oscar to?

No one!

To whom would I give an Oscar? Certainly not the 大象传媒 for English grammar!

How can it not go to Inglorious Basterds?

Avatar is technologically amazing and Hurt Locker is a tremendous film- but the Oscar is not about what's amounts to a political commentary, and Avatar deserves the Special Effects award, not best picture.

And Colin Firth earned it for his work in film. I love Jeff Bridges and have seen everything he's done - and he's terrific and if he weren't up against Colin Firth he'd win hands down, but he is up against Firth ...

I think it should be Carey Mulligan. I know favorite is Bullock and while I like her - I think it's Mulligan who earned the Oscar - just total movie star through and through.

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"Avatar" it's not as movie: it's a 3DF computer game for kids.

"49. At 03:25am on 07 Mar 2010, Pompadour wrote: It's just like that other stupid film based on a Hollywood rewrite of WWII "U-571". These films are for ignorant people who never opened a history book."


Well it was made by Americans for Americans.

Hurt Locker for best film Avatar is just a computer game for the big screen and a poor one.

Colin Firth or Jeff Bridges would both be worthy winners of the best actor but Sandra Bullock is not in the same class as Carey Mulligan and Meryl Streep but I expect they will give it to her .

Chittybang, what exactly does hash (#) 1 mean? Are you trying to say No. 1 - if so then why not just do that rather than silly Americanisation of the English language. (full Stop Not a period)

My Votes would be;

No. 1 Moon
No. 2 Star Trek

In the end though it is all a load on meaningless twaddle, more DVD/Blue-ray rentals or sales and that's about it.

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It really makes me smile how many people will just bash everything successful, simply because they think it makes them look sophisticated to do so. Last week it was the Harry Potter books, now it is Avatar. I am afraid many of you are confusing sophistication with ignorance and it is not a pretty site.

I just knew that there would be loads of comments saying how rubbish Avatar was before I even read the first post, don't you people ever get board of being so predictable?

I am a huge film buff and I can say, without a shadow of a doubt, that Avatar is one of the best films I have ever seen! Yes it has a weak story line and yes it was over hyped, but those things are not what make a great film! A great film is simply one that you want to see a second time, one that you actually recommend to your friends at the first opportunity. One you just know you're going to end up owning on blu-ray!

Many people confuse artistic merit with watch-ability. The two are quite separate. You can have a film with a really strong story line, very precise cinematography and fine acting yet still walk out feeling that something was missing. If fact, that happens all to often, which is why there are so many box office flops of critically acclaimed films. Most critics mistakenly put a films artistic merit above it's watch-ability.

It is that special 'something' that makes a great film and however much you may hate to admit it, Avatar did have that something in abundance! That, of course, is why it did so well at the box office and that is why it deserves to do so well tonight.

A film is just like any other piece of art, the only real test of it's success as art is an opinion poll of how many people enjoyed viewing it - It is not how it was made, what it was made of or who made it, those things have their place, but they are not what makes great art.

" am a huge film buff and I can say, without a shadow of a doubt, that Avatar is one of the best films I have ever seen! Yes it has a weak story line and yes it was over hyped, but those things are not what make a great film! A great film is simply one that you want to see a second time, one that you actually recommend to your friends at the first opportunity. One you just know you're going to end up owning on blu-ray!"


Whats the point of seeing Avatar on blue-ray?. I went to see Avatar with an open mind I thought it was a mess a poor story terrible acting the only thing that kept me in my seat was the 3d effects which are pointless for blue-ray/dvd without the effects this overblown computer game for teenagers would have been forgotten after a few weeks.

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Wasn't there another luvvie award ceremony last week as well? However do these folk ever find the time to make any movies?

Which film do you remember more,

"Saving Private Ryan" or "Shakespeare in Love"?
"Star Wars" or "Annie Hall"?
"Citizen Kane" or "How Green was My Valley"?
"The Graduate" or "In The Heat of the Night"?
"The Exorcist" or "The Sting"?
"Raging Bull" or "Ordinary People"?
"The Shawshank Redemption" or "Forrest Gump"?

Guess which column won the award for best picture?

That says all you need to know about the oscars.

Helo people.

I would give an Oscar to any of the hard-wroked birds who will guarantee to blub floods of tears when they receive their little plastic doll and start thanking everyone so that they can stay on stage for as long as possible.
I've been there. Backstage. It is hilarious watching the stage manager trying to get these under-wroked and overpaid non-entities back off-stage.
Priceless.
THAT'S what they should show on television.

To me the Oscars are simply a trade award to others in the Trade. They have a value in the same way that any peer group award has. Asking me my opinion is pointless, I do not have a vote. My vote for best film will be registered at the Box office. The other categories I cannot vote on, except perhaps for best soundtrack by buying the CD.
Like any other trade award the Oscars have an importance within the trade, in the rest of the world they are of limited importance.

Mmmmm as its an election year, I suppose any Oscar nominations for any UK politicians would break house rules

..mind you I think the Razzies would be more appropriate for any 'Whitehall studion productions'

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Star Trek has the misfortune to run against Avatar's financial (and therefore technical) investment. Of the two films Star Trek will be watched more often and the actors remembered.

I really enjoyed Inglorious Basterds - total hookum but entertaining. But along with Avatar not one I want to see again and won't work on the telly when it gets to DVD.

Bin it--phoney statues for insignificant people

I would give an Oscar to any actor that DOESN'T come over all luvvie and get involved in the 'save the planet' hogwash to which they seem so prone.

1. I don't think that anyone with more than a pair of brain cells can argue that the Oscars serve any purpose apart from the film industry's self congratulation. Any notion that the Oscars serve some higher purpose than that is risible.

2. Best film? Avatar. No doubt about it.
Has it the best story? No.
Has it an original story? No not really.
Is the acting second to none? Nope.
So why is it best?

Because if you watched it with an open mind and ignored all the critics, you will have seen something never seen before. James Cameron made 3D work, but more than simply making it work, his direction and camera work drew the audience in, immersing them in the whole world, not just the plot or the characters. For the first time, the unbelievable fantasy world of film became believable.

I've seen many, many films, but I've never seen anything quite like Avatar.

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OSCARS actually stands for

Outrageously
Shameless
Carnival
(for)
ArtyFarty
Rich
Showoffs

which means every member of the "specially invited audience" should get one so they dont feel peeved that Helen Mirren got yet another trophy just for being a rugged looking but puzzingly attractive old lady.

Pocahontis....sorry, avatar will win bestt film, although it shoukd go to Inglorious Basterds. I also hope Up gets some recognition.

Over paid, over rated and insignificant people in the I love me scam which has become the scourge of the acting profession. In the early days they depended on charity. Its time for them to humble. I would bury the awards along with the now abused and degraded national awards like the OBE, knighthoods etc. Awards should be very hard to get, there are special people who deserve and usually they are ordinary people with ordinary lives.

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No doubt the best actor / Actress / Film will be given to an ethnic minority just to prove once again the world is sorry for slavery.

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I'd give one to the MP's in the " UK Expenses Scandle" who did an excellent job of acting as if it was the fault of the rules.

The last year has been a terrible year for movies. There were a few that rose out of the general mire but I went to the cinema in 2009 less than I've done in a long time.

Only one film stood head and shoulders above all others (And towered over most!) - Watchmen.

Watchmen is a modern day epic. It had everything. An incredible story, terrific effects, action and adventure. It had me hooked from start to finish!

The best film I have seen in a long, long time!

Meanwhile if there is an award for best rip-off that has to go to Avatar.

It was one of the few other times I was tempted out to the cinema and after seeing it I want my money and my two hours back!

It was a truely awful film wrapped up in pretty packaging.

Pretty packaging doesn't cut it for me. I want substance, and Avatar had all the substance of a fine mist.

70. At 09:10am on 07 Mar 2010, ExpatKS wrote:
Well said number 70, (see above) with you all the way on this.

Problem is, and I fear for this country, the opinion polls don't agree with what appears to be the majority. I cannot believe the opinion polls I don't think and sencerelly hope the Bit Public are not that blind.
Hopefully this is just another attempt at brainwashing the Brit Public by the gov on the "bought media"? Just like the Iraq Enquiry.

No doubt the BBc won't print this as it offends the lies printed by the Brit Madia

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Personally, I am not very interested in internal industry awards. I think that the movie business should take note of the major awards programme in another entertainment business, that of role-playing games. (That is, the pen & paper sort like Dungeons & Dragons, not computer games).

The main awards programme for role-playing is called the ENnies, and like the Oscars attempts to mark the best productions over a given year. However it is a far more open process, which begins in July with the election of five judges by an online vote. These judges then spend the following year reading all the games submitted by their publishers and considering them for a range of categories. About June, a list of five nominations in each category are selected by the judges and these again are open to an online vote to determine the winners, announced at an awards ceremony at the US's main role-playing convention.

Instead of commenting here, would you folks like to actually VOTE for the movies and actors you'd like to see receiving Oscars?

Must shut up now, I'm one of this year's ENnies judges and I have a pile of reading :)

Why do so many people find it offencive that people receive adulation for their craft? Do you feel the same for sports figures, such as Olympic winners? Being rewarded for good work encourages excellence; what's wrong with that? The only problem I have with these kinds of awards is that there are too many excellent actors and pictures to definitively say who's best. Maybe they should give a first, second and third place.

Gordon and Tony for their perfomances in The Iraq Enquiry. A fantastical, Alice in Wonderland look at taking a country to war. Personally, I would have preferred Johnny Depp in the lead role but G & T availed themselves well and would have made Lewis Carol proud.

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I would only give an Oscar to someone to got up and said "There is only one group of people I would like to thank - the Public who come and pay to see the films that we produce"!

It all depends on what they mean by "best picture". If it's the most popular and entertaining film, then Avatar wins hands down; if it's the most powerful and compelling film, The Hurt Locker romps home.
As far as I'm concerned, you can't really compare the merit of completely different movies, with such different audiences. I took my grandkids to see Avatar, and the cinema was packed with youngsters. Unsurprisingly, there were no kids at The Hurt Locker.

Nos 70 and 88, well said. It is a toss up over which would win best actor or best suppoting actor though.

The best director award would have to go to George Bush.

I bet they have their speeches rehearsed already with a bit of help from Mandelson.

If Avatar wins best picture then the Oscars will lose whatever remaining credibility they have as a serious awards show. There is no doubt that it is in a significant film, given its success and also how it has been the first significant film to use 3d without it merely being a gimmick*.

However, the plot is predictable (and I mean, for first time watchers - everyone I went with knew what was going to happen, despite none of us reading up on it before going) the symbolism primitive, the pacing inconsistent, the length too long, and the antagonists such clich茅d stereotypes.

It was not a bad film, and I enjoyed watching it. However, of all the new films I saw in 2009 that I liked, it fell far short of the rest. Except maybe Star Trek, but at best it is level.

And don't think I am a science fiction snob, far from it, it is probably my favourite genre. However if I were to pick to sci-fi films from 2009 as my favourites they would been District 9 and Moon. The former is possibly my favourite film of 2009, and the latter - whilst not perfect - was a direct contrast to Avatar with its low budget, small cast and crew, and absolutely stunning model based special effects sequences.

* As for my comments regarding 3d - I know there have been many many 3d films prior to Avatar, including big name films. However these were always marketed as 3d with big 3d sequences to push the technology. Avatar, on the other hand, had no such sequences - the 3d was never used for the sake of it meaning that the use of it may seem irrelevant. However this is not the case, the use of the 3d made the film far more immersive and I was drawn into the world a lot more than I would have had I seen the regular 2d version.

I can`t see any film worth an Oscar - nor any actors.

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