THE DEPARTED. BEST PICTURE.

[Guaranteed]

I think I have to agree.

[AZBlue]

1. See, I don't get that.

I thought Leonardo DiCaprio was amazing in it, but overall the film was just so-so. I didn't get what all the hype was about it. I'm glad that Martin finally won an Oscar though.

I was rooting for Little Miss Sunshine.

[Guaranteed]

6. I thought the acting and the themes in it were great,

and in that regard the Queen kept up. But the story put it over the top. I was just on the edge of my seat the entire movie.

[AZBlue]

10. I don't know what it was about it - I thought it was predicable and a little boring.

I know I'm far in the minority though - must just be me!

[AX10]

13. Me too. I thought it was average.

My choice was Letters from Iwo Jima.

[AZBlue]

16. I haven't seen that yet but I want to - I'm sure that was very compelling and moving.

I thought the award would go to that or The Queen.

[JackRiddler]

22. Sunshine...

Absolutely hilarious, with a riotous surprise at the end - and totally one-dimensional characters (excellent ensemble clearly having the time of their life).

Departed - was obviously going to get it. Scorcese reaches his own Baroque, with the absurd but highly entertaining story lifted from an HK classic, and you're willing to let him indulge it for about 40 minutes longer than he really needs (ditto the great performers). Lots of great music, a real party that way.

(Babel - so pretentious already in its self-presentation you're not roping me into this any more than Crash.)

Now who cares? This is always a popularity contest and the track record is terrible. You're telling me any of the nominees reach up to Children of Men, Pan's Labyrinth or Half-Nelson?* Oscar's just a reliable guide to what's middlebrow and safe for Hollywood - stars engaging in their own star-fucking.

(* EDIT: The Prestige was wow, too!)

[AX10]

24. While I am disappointed, American Beauty was one of...

the worse choices for film of the year.
I was for Letters from Iwo Jima.

[donheld]

53. American Beauty is an amazing film n/t

[AX10]

63. Your opinion, not mine.

I was turned off to Spacey and Bening after that film.
:puke:

[susanna]

25. Agreed.

Leo's performance, and even Mark Walberg's made the film. The rest? Kinda boring to me.

I have this thing about Leo. He was amazing the FIRST time I saw him ("What's eating Gilbert Grape"). What is the story with him constantly getting shafted for actor awards? His range is incredible, and the only career misstep he might have made was Titanic. But even then, he still nailed the performance and made me give a crap where I might not have otherwise.

I guess I get jaded, but a lot of really good actors, directors, producers, cinematographers and others always get pushed aside when it comes time for awards. I grow increasingly suspicious that insider politics have seriously trumped the actual ideal of artists voting for artists. Or that I have a completely different esthetic than the academy members. That is probably more likely...ah well.

[Connie_Corleone]

27. Hell, I liked him in The Aviator even though he looked nothing like

Howard Hughes. I thought his acting was great in that.

[susanna]

32. Oh, I agree completely.

He really astounds me, actually. He always communicates a depth to me that other actors just don't have. There is always something in his characters that really take me by (in a good way) suprise.

I know a lot of people see him as a pretty boy, and I will grudgingly admit he is good-looking to a point. But there is something way more intense in his performances that I respond to.

True story: hubby (before he was) and I went to see "Gilbert Grape" at a local theater. This was when it first came out. We were leaving the theater and my future husband asked me if I thought Johhny Depp was a good actor. I said, "yeah he is really good, but that kid playing his brother? I'm just telling you - he's gonna be HUGE." Hubby reminds me of that whenever Leo is on an awards show. :-)

Maybe someday he'll get the recognition I think he deserves.

[Horse with no Name]

70. He'll be one of those actors who shine in their later years

He is talented, but he is still little boyish.

[AZBlue]

29. No, you're not jaded - it is very political.

Honestly, I think The Departed's oscar was more for Martin than for the film. That, plus his award tonight, may have been a way for them to say "sorry" for not giving him an award earlier.

[susanna]

35. See, that's what bothers me.

Back, oh ten or even fifteen years ago, the whole spectacle made some sense. I saw upstart producers and directors get their kudos, and loved it - it's what made me watch.

I thought Martin should have gotten it for "Goodfellas," so I'm not anti-Scorcese in the least.

I guess now it seems like the Academy is making up for past mistakes, and I find that sad. There are great current artists who deserve awards who are being pushed aside to make room for what essentially amount to "we shoulda..." awards. That's just weird.

Or maybe the field is that much better these days that's it is hard to choose. Ah well.

on edit: thought change

[LTR]

42. Chew on this

Kevin Costner got Best Director for Dances With Wolves over Scorcese's Goodfellas, which is arguably his best film. DWW also beat Goodfellas for Best Picture.

Ordinary People won over Raging Bull in 1980 for BP and BD (Redford).

And Taxi Driver got beat by Rocky in both categories in 1976.

Yep, the Oscars often make little sense.

[AX10]

46. I thought Costner deserved Best Director that year.

I am not that much of a Scorsese fan though.

I agree about Taxi Driver though.

[LTR]

48. '76 was arguably one of the best slates of BP nominees ever

Three of them were:

Taxi Driver
Network
All The President's Men

Ironically, Rocky won it. Sure, it was decent, but a bit cliched compared to the competition. Taxi Driver was probably a bit disturbing to Old Hollywood, though. I thought Network was the best of that bunch.

As for 1990, DWW was a good flick, but Goodfellas completely blew it away. That was a masterpiece! There wasn't much other competition. Ghost? Awakenings? And what the hell was Godfather III doing there? That movie sucked ass!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_Award_for_Best_Picture

[Greyhound]

62. When you consider the make up of the academy it begins to make more sense.

I now several members and they fall into one of categories, the makers that all know and talk to each other and generally vote as a block, and the much larger wanna-bes that spend their lives looking through the window, trying to get in.

[IntravenousDemilo]

52. Little Miss Sunshine -- me, too. n/m

[okieinpain]

55. I feel the same way about the movie, it was a little corny to me. n/t.

[LTR]

2. SHOCKER!

Great movie, BTW.

Not his best, but pretty damn good.

I haven't seen the other nominees.

[dysfunctional press]

11. not his best by a long shot...

i can think of at least 4 that i enjoyed much more thoroughly.

[LTR]

34. Well, consider this

Alfred Hitchcock made classics such as "Strangers On A Train", "Rear Window", "Vertigo", "North by Northwest" and "Psycho". None of them won BP. Hell, I don't even thing any of them were nominated.

The only Hitch pic to win BP was "Rebecca".

And Hitch never won Best Director, though he got a lifetime achievement Oscar in his later years.

The Oscars never seem to make much sense. I mean, does anyone remember what film won BP over "Citizen Kane"?

[NYCGirl]

3. I agree too. I thought it was a magnificent film. I'm shocked, though.

Everyone said it didn't have much of a chance.

[donheld]

4. Congrats to The Departed and Marty

:yourock:

[champt10]

5. Agreed

I think that Babel is an overrated piece of garbage. LIttle Miss Sunshine is a good film too, but the Departed was just so gripping and so exciting.

[Connie_Corleone]

17. I saw Babel this weekend. I have no idea what was the point of the movie.

The acting was great, but what was the point? Pain is universal? And...?

[Greyhound]

57. Just saw it and I agree, it was just awful. The only sympathetic character

was the Japanese girl and she was only tangentially connected to the other stories. The Mexican au pair started out well, but was made an idiot at the end. Just manipulative crap. :thumbsdown:

[Connie_Corleone]

7. I loved the movie. DiCaprio was actually good in it.

I'm shocked that it won. I'm glad it won though.

[Guaranteed]

12. Yup. Everyone was good. Matt Damon was good.

Alec Baldwin, Nicholson, they all were.

[JackRiddler]

28. And yet Wahlberg stole the show! n/t

[LTR]

36. There wasn't a bad performance in the movie

All the actors in it probably did their best work ever. Even Nicholson, and that's saying a lot.

Scorcese brings that out of actors, and that's why he's one of the best there is. One interesting element in his films is that he often encourages improvisation. Usually, what's on film differs radically from the script, which is used as merely a guideline. This really ads to the realism and depth of the characters, turning them into multi-dimensional people as opposed to warm bodies that exist to further the plot.

Some of the most memorable scenes in his movies (De Niro's "You talkin' to me" monologue in Taxi Driver, Joe Pesci's "Funny how" bit in Goodfellas) were unscripted and completely improvised. Wahlberg said in an interview recently that of all the scenes he improvised in the film, only one was left unused.

[Aviation Pro]

8. I do too....

Too bad DiCaprio, Nicholson, Wahlberg and Damon got shut out, but it was an outstanding film.

[NYCGirl]

14. Salon gave it's honorary Oscar this year to Alec Baldwin...

http://www.salon.com/ent/movies/feature/2007/02/24/baldwin/

But every year there's at least one performer who did astonishing work and yet failed to show up on anyone's radar, slipping by unnoticed even by most critics. For me this year, that someone is Alec Baldwin, who appeared in three pictures, "The Good Shepherd," "The Departed" and "Running With Scissors." He's terrific in the first two, and off the charts in the third, playing a martini-swizzling dad who just can't comprehend why his young son is so different from him. Baldwin's role is small, and he appears mostly in the movie's first section, which is set in the late 1960s. But the performance works as a miniature study of bewildered fatherhood, and of the way some men, locked in an older generation's vision of what it meant to be a father, and a man, were left behind by what passed for free thinking in the 1960s (and some of it wasn't so free). The movie loses something when Baldwin's character drifts away, and for me, nothing else in it -- not even Annette Bening's carefully controlled turn as an unbalanced mom -- had much of an effect, because Baldwin had already broken my heart.

[AZBlue]

19. He is an amazing actor. Has he ever won an Oscar?

He wasn't around much for a little while but he's really come back now - perhaps an Oscar is in the picture (no pun intended) in the next few years for him. Do you watch 30 Rock? He's so amazingly funny - and then can play the most heart-wrenching serious role too.

[NYCGirl]

20. No, according to IMDB, he's been nominated for "The Cooler" but never won.

http://imdb.com/name/nm0000285/awards

Haven't watched 30 Rock — but maybe I'll give it a try.

[AZBlue]

26. It's his dry deap-pan humor that saves the show.

The writing's a little like Arrested Development too - a little out there, in a very funny way.

[leftchick]

68. He was Great in Glenngarry Glenn Ross

but then every one of the actors in that movie was top notch. One of my all time favorites...

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104348/

[AX10]

9. I disagree. Letters from Iwo Jima was my choice.

[marmar]

15. I'm happy for Scorcese, an underappreciated genius, but this year's field....

was very weak compared to last year's - Munich, Brokeback Mountain, Crash, Capote, Good Night/Good Luck et all.

[etherealtruth]

64. ... and out of all of last years greats ...

I liked "The Constant Gardener" ... guess it's all just personal taste

[Cha]

18. I saw The Departed (spoiler)

last night and was proud I could get through it cause it was so violent. I was on the edge of my cause I wanted Leo not to get it!

[AX10]

21. Why not for Leo?

[Connie_Corleone]

23. Zidzi is talking about what happens in the movie.

[Cha]

67. HeHe!

You got it..sorry for the ambiguity.

[ZinZen]

30. The Departed was disjointed the last 45 minutes

I was not that impressed. The performances were great and Scorsese FINALLY got best director (he should have got it for "Goodfellas"). I saw the movie "Infernal Affairs" on which The Departed was based upon and thought that movie was far superior.

[AZBlue]

31. Is that a US or a foreign movie?

Maybe I can rent it. I love movies like The Departed, but not so much The Departed specifically.

[ZinZen]

38. Infernal Affairs

is foreign. There is already Infernal Affairs two and three out also.

[fujiyama]

41. Infernal Affairs is from Hong Kong.

It's worth checking out. It's amazing how much Scorcese got from it. That's why, even though I enjoyed the Departed, I didn't think it deserved the best picture win. I didn't think it was original enough.

But there is one major difference in the ending. I won't give it away though.

[candidate]

33. Both The Departed and Infernal Affairs were brilliant

IA a bit moreso, but I'm probably biased because I saw it first.

Apocalypto deserved at least Best Director and Best Picture noms, though.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

61. Fuck Mad Mel. I'm glad he got nothing. -nt

[LTR]

40. The last scene of "The Departed" seemed a bit funny to me

I don't know why, but I just didn't buy it. And I will say no more.

This is a tricky story to do. In the hands of a hack, it could have been a piece of shit. But Scorcese and his actors really made this one work. It really needed the emotional element.

[Dover]

37. Why is this thread permitted, but the one titled Pan's Labyrinth moved to the Lounge?!

What kinda logic is that?

There are so many Oscar threads in here. I'd really like some kind of explanation.

[Greyhound]

58. New Mods?

I agree that there is no consistency at all.

[Arugula Latte]

39. I think I'm in a minority, but I despised the Departed.

The cast and the acting were good, but I lost interest in the first few minutes. It's just people finding different ways to inflict violence on each other, and women are just "cunts." That stuff bores me and my mind was drifting and I completely lost the plot.

[Bucky]

65. Thank you.

I've never really gotten into the whole gangster film genre. I've known enough criminals in my life to know that they're never as epic, heroic, tragic, honorable, or likeable as they seem in the movies.

[vajraroshana]

43. It was Scorcese's night

And I'm glad for him. I thought The Departed was brilliant. One thing that was stylistically odd for me was the music, the way it was a series of complete songs. I kept thinking it's been done this way in something else, was it Vanilla Sky? I'm not sure I completely like it as it was distracting, but it does set a distinct pace and feel.

[nonconformist]

44. I'm thrilled... The Departed was excellent, had me on the edge of my seat the entire time

I can only find one flaw in the movie, and that was the Comfortably Numb cover... because you just can't cover Floyd. But really, really fantastic movie.

This was Marty's well-deserved night!

[blogslut]

49. Ahem

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0407887/soundtrack

"Comfortably Numb"
Written by David Gilmour and Roger Waters
Performed by Roger Waters, Van Morrison, The Band featuring Rick DiFonzo and Snowy White
Courtesy of Universal Music International (GB)
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

:)

[fishwax]

45. woohoo!

:woohoo:

[CATagious]

47. I liked Babel...

I just watched it a few nights ago and thought it was great. It was painfully realistic and I even had to get up and leave the room for a minute out of fear for the characters (I won't say who, when, or why so not to spoil). It had my vote, but I haven't seen The Departed or The Queen. I did see Little Miss Sunshine and enjoyed that also.

[GreenZoneLT]

50. I haven't seen all the others this year, but it's not Scorcese's best

It's a pretty good gangster picture, but it's no "Goodfellas." The only thing outstanding is the seriously great piece of work DeCaprio does. Aside from that, it's not even as good as "Mean Streets," let alone "Taxi Driver" or "Raging Bull."

Marty has been screwed out of Oscars before, so I don't begrudge his finally getting Best Direction for something that's not his best work.

Nicholson, btw, is really past it. He just sort of does a Jack caricature; totally unbelievable in the part. Albert Finney would have been a lot better choice, if you wanted a name actor, or Ben Kingsley.

[Leilani]

51. Finally! Finally! Finally!

Marty wins the Oscar!

He's such a great director, Sharon Stone got an Oscar nomination in one of his films.

My 2 hopes: Al Gore & Marty, & they both won.

GoodFellas was a better movie.

:bounce:

[Greyhound]

59. Goodfellas was in a different league, all-time classic.

I haven't seen Letters yet, but this was a pretty crappy year for films, overall.

[JackRiddler]

60. Well and Oscar is about this year's consensus urge, not all-time classics...

Let alone which movies are actually the best! If they had rightly picked Goodfellas (was it even nominated that year?) or Raging Bull or one of the other truly great Scorcese films in their own years, they would have been going against their own history of being almost *always* (and obviously) wrong. They make up for it later by occasionally using "best picture" as a substitute for "lifetime achievement."

[Venus Dog]

54. It was about the Bulger Brothers

I know the construction of the film was based on "Infernal Affairs" (a must see film also), but Monahan amazingly was able to construct the story of the Bulger brothers hold on Boston for almost three decades using the framework of "Infernal Affairs". It's quite amazing what he did and then for Scorcese to make a film of it in less than 3 hours with the help of Thelma Schoonmaker is unbelievable because the true story is so convoluted. Please read Howie Carr's book "The Bulger Brothers: How They Terrorized and Corrupted Boston for a Quarter Century"

[Eurobabe]

56. I saw Babel, LMS and the Departed

and I totally agree. The DEPARTED was freaking awesome! Definitely best picture material.

I thought LMS was cute and quirky, but not best pix.

Babel was very good, that was my second choice, the interweavings of the stories were wonderful. And the young Japanese lady should have gotten the Oscar, but I didn't see Dreamgirls so I can't really comment on the comparisons between her and Jennifer Hudson. But I was quite moved by Rinko Kikuchi's role.

And GO AL GORE!!! :bounce: :bounce:

[Geek_Girl]

66. Matt Damon, Leonardo and Mark Wahlberg

It just doesn't get any better. What a bunch of hotties.

:loveya:

[graywarrior]

69. Saw it Sunday afternoon before I watched the Oscars.

It blew me away. Of course, I grew up in the Boston area, so it really hit home for me.

Amazing movie.