Children of Men wuz Robbed yo

[Ravenseye]

Emmanuel Lubezki should have won for best cinematography for Children of Men. Pan's Labyrinth was a great movie, and very gorgeous to watch, but the stuff Lubezki did in Children of Men was in another league. The single shot car scene/attack/escape was the best single shot of any of the movies nominated this year, and the rest of the movie was just perfectly shot.

Why no love for Children of Men?

[Reverend_Smitty]

1. I had it in my Oscar pool...

I thought for sure that pick was a lock. Yet Pans Labyrinth didn't win for best foreign picture...so go figure

[Ravenseye]

3. I wasn't suprised by Pans Labyrith

I liked it, but the voting pool for best foreign picture is alot smaller than the main academy as you have to see all of them, and the buzz on The Lives of Others was that it was so good, that if it had more than a 1 week run in LA it might have even gotten nominated for best director or more.

Still, I thought it was pretty close to a lock. I thought they'd give at least one award to each of the 3 (Babel, Pan's Labyryth, and Children of Men)...that was the one that Children of Men truly deserved and I don't understand why it didn't get it.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

2. Pan's Labyrinth wasn't even that good.

Children of Men was far superior.

Why the snub? Who knows.

[Ravenseye]

4. Maybe because of the sci-fi-ness of it?

Pan's Labyrynth was fantasical, but it was grounded in the reality of the spanish civil war, so you can write off the fantasy.

Is it possible people saw Children of Men and simply dismissed it as a prettier version of the more typical 70's sci-fi futuristic fare like Logan's Run or Soylent Green? I know my mother in law didn't like it simply because of the story and it's unfortunate that if that's the case Sci-Fi still carries such a stigma.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

5. I don't know about that.

Maybe it was too depressing. Not enough cheese.

[Ravenseye]

6. So (spoilers)

If he had gotten her on the boat, and Julianne Moore was there alive and said "Oh everything will be fine now you'll see" and we got a text scroll about how the world was saved it would have been different? I don't know...

I mean The Departed wasn't exactly a light movie and it won it all...

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

7. They'd need to have that...

and a touch-feely easy listening musical montage.

[Ravenseye]

8. lol

Maybe if they changed that great car scene into a musical 'escape' montage with cheesey lyrics...

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

9. Hey, they've already got the burning car.

[Zookeeper]

10. Absolutely, Ravenseye...

Children of Men was one of the best films I've seen in years. I was disappointed that it only received two nominations, but winning nothing was outrageous. There's no doubt that it should have won for cinematography. I think Pan's Labyrinth was the sentimental choice to win awards this year.

But, I don't expect much from the "Academy." Very few of the winning films hold up well over time and frequently aren't the best of the nominated films anyway.

[Ravenseye]

11. I know

That shot really struck me though. I turned to my wife afterwards and commented on it, and I know I'm not the only one.

If the cinematography (not the story or writing or acting or set design, or costumes, etc) actually makes people stop and go "wow"...it should f'ing win an Oscar.

[bigwillq]

12. Too late of a release?

I think it played in like two theaters in Dec. just to qualify and then got a wide release in Jan.

That might've hurt it.

[Ravenseye]

13. Yeah but Academy Members get em all on DVD

Heck I "could have" seen it before it was released in the theaters...

[bigwillq]

14. If they choose to watch them

Not all the members watch every movie