asajoseph wrote:

Also, I woke up this mrning to find out that Wolfman had won an Oscar. There really is no justice in the world.

Wow it did? I must've missed that. Lol.

It was actually half-deserved. Horror legend Rick Baker got one for the special makeup effects. It's a real shame that all the crappy CGI completely undid all his good work.

Finished Memories of Matsuko. Very good but sad movie, don't think it would be to everyone's taste though.

asajoseph wrote:

That's not at all uncommon, Ostalgie is very popular in Germany still, and has contributed to some of their best cinema from the last 10 years. Goodbye Lenin was excellent.

"Ostalgie" <-- nice term

it was a very strong year for film; i really don't think there could be many complaints if best picture would've gone 4 or 5 ways. the social network, true grit, and the kings speech were obviously strong, inception and the fighter had their solid moments, and personally i was pulling slightly for 127 hours, a film that captured isolation magnificently. but after best director and actor fell, it was only going one way.

I actually didn't think this year was particularly good.

There were some good films, and most of the nominations were deserved, but I thought personally that most of the films that ended up being winners this year would have fallen by the wayside in previous years.

Have to agree, 2010 was a terrible year for movies.

I must say, I'm glad The Social Network didn't clean up like it did at The Golden Globes. Nowhere near the best film of the year, in my opinion.

Congrats to Inception and The King's Speech for winning 4 Academy Awards apiece. Inception especially - absolutely fantastic piece of cinema. Fully deserved.

I'd actually say that this was a good year in terms of movies that appealed to both the Academy and the general public. Think about movies like Inception, The Fighter, Social Network, Black Swan and King's Speech. All made lots of money, as opposed to most years when it's just a select group of movies that most of us know little to nothing about. That's part of the reason that I watched the Oscars for the first time in close to a decade.

I'm sad that "Winter's Bone" didn't get anything, but to be honest I was surprised it even got nominated. Doesn't really fit the academy awards profile.

I watched "In the Valley of Elah" the other day. It reminded me of why I hate Paul Haggis. Basically it's a great film made weak by an incompetent asshole who can't even show two sad characters walking down a corridor without making a mockery out of it with ridiculous music. I hate films that tell the audience what they're supposed to feel. Unfortunately that's Haggis's director trademark. So many great performances from Sarandon, Theron and Lee Jones but all I could think of afterwards was how much I wanted to punch the director's teeth out.

I thought Black Swan, the Social Network and King's Speech were poor, mediocre and overhyped respectively.

Inception was great and the Fighter wasn't bad. Toy Story was really good too. Not much else I can think of worth a mention tbh. The one where the bloke cuts his arm off was decentish.

Inception was superb, a brilliant original idea

Inception is the type of non-traditional Oscar movie I would've been delighted to see emerge as the best picture. It was a well-told story, great dialogue, excellent action that didn't overpower the plot or the actors, and with sufficient intrigue and audience interaction. The last part for me is what set it apart from a lot of those other movies. The only other one of those movies that really registered in that domain was Black Swan which left me emotionally spent by its conclusion.

Inception I thought was a brilliant clockwork toy, visually beautiful with some superb sequences, but for me the dream landscapes were a massive letdown as they had no resemblance to real dreams. Shutter Island had far more affecting dream sequences for example.

Saw Tamara Drewe on the plane last night. Pretty vomitous.

Also saw bits of Conviction, which looked like absolute crap.

How was Gemma in Tamara Drewe? I imagine she was the key driver behind your decision to bear with the movie

Captain wrote:

Have to agree, 2010 was a terrible year for movies.

thirded.

Cali: she's stunning actually. I was only watching the film out of the corner of my eye, though.

She's the only reason I didn't walk out of Prince of Persia. Now THAT movie was a steaming turd

After Keira Knightley, she's the most irritating actress out there. Not my cup of tea, and pretty crap overall.