Iron Man

VikingMachine · Post by **VikingMachine** » Tue May 06, 2008 2:31 pm

2006 nominees for picture of the year:
Babel - Grossed 34 million
The Departed - Grossed 132 million
Letter from Iwo Jima - Grossed 13 million
Little Miss Sunshine - Grossed 59 million
The Queen - Grossed 56 million

Night at the Museum grossed 250 million.....thats almost as much as the 5 movies nominated for movie of the year grossed COMBINED!

Post by **Cliff** » Tue May 06, 2008 2:37 pm

VikingMachine wrote:2006 nominees for picture of the year:
Babel - Grossed 34 million
The Departed - Grossed 132 million
Letter from Iwo Jima - Grossed 13 million
Little Miss Sunshine - Grossed 59 million
The Queen - Grossed 56 million

Night at the Museum grossed 250 million.....thats almost as much as the 5 movies nominated for movie of the year grossed COMBINED!

You don't think that because many movies aren't "child friendly" it takes out a lot of possible money?

If a movie's not meant for children you automatically discount a number of potential movies goers. You also possibly discount the parents if they can't get a chance to go to the movies without their kids.

BGM · Post by **BGM** » Tue May 06, 2008 2:42 pm

VikingMachine wrote:2006 nominees for picture of the year:
Babel - Grossed 34 million
The Departed - Grossed 132 million
Letter from Iwo Jima - Grossed 13 million
Little Miss Sunshine - Grossed 59 million
The Queen - Grossed 56 million

Night at the Museum grossed 250 million.....thats almost as much as the 5 movies nominated for movie of the year grossed COMBINED!

I saw all those movies (including Night at the Museum - three times, no less) and enjoyed them all immensely. How much they made is absolutely immaterial to my enjoyment of them or whether I think they are worthy of award consideration.

FWIW, Helen Mirren in The Queen was fantastic. And I though Letters from Iwo Jima was one of the best movies about war that I have ever seen.

BGM

VikingMachine · Post by **VikingMachine** » Tue May 06, 2008 2:53 pm

BGM wrote:Artistic merit has never been based upon popularity. Popular culture rarely outlives its own times. I don't expect a movie like Wild Hogs to be groundbreaking, but a movie like Raging Bull was and is. I am sure people chose to see Wild Hogs because they could reasonably expect that they would like it. Aside from William H. Macy (who I probably would watch reading a phone book), I had no desire to see it.

Many people I know tend to balk at watching foreign films. I see foreign films because sometimes I like the slow pace, depth of character and glimpse into a culture unfamiliar to me. I know what I am getting and I like it. Others don't.

Most comedies produced in Hollywood these days are short on anything revolutionary. Where they excel best is in screenwriting. Sweeping epics historically seem to really define what gets Best Picture because of the technical, artistic, and dramatic craftsmanship involved to really make a big movie work. Deep character studies also historically do well because of the dramatic craftsmanship required.

It may be that some find films like that artsy-fartsy, but that does not mean they are only for egg heads or geeks. If you don't want to put anything into a movie (and there are plenty out there into which I refuse to put anything) then you won't get anything out of it.

BGM

Its kinda like you said earlier Brian, sometimes you are looking for something thought provoking and other times you are looking for Terminator......

VikingMachine · Post by **VikingMachine** » Tue May 06, 2008 2:57 pm

BGM wrote: I saw all those movies (including Night at the Museum - three times, no less) and enjoyed them all immensely. How much they made is absolutely immaterial to my enjoyment of them or whether I think they are worthy of award consideration.

FWIW, Helen Mirren in The Queen was fantastic. And I though Letters from Iwo Jima was one of the best movies about war that I have ever seen.

BGM

How much they made is absolutely immaterial to your enjoyment of them. How bout if they won an award or how many awards? I would guess that that ALSO would be immaterial to your enjoyment of them.

BGM · Post by **BGM** » Tue May 06, 2008 3:03 pm

VikingMachine wrote:
How much they made is absolutely immaterial to your enjoyment of them. How bout if they won an award or how many awards? I would guess that that ALSO would be immaterial to your enjoyment of them.

Certainly. However. I have chosen to see movies because they were nominated. Many I enjoyed, some I did not. But, I think that The Queen, Babel, Letters from Iwo Jima and Little Miss Sunshine were award worthy, while The Departed and Night at the Museum were not. But that's just my opinion.

BGM

Krulik · Post by **Krulik** » Tue May 06, 2008 3:16 pm

BGM wrote: Certainly. However. I have chosen to see movies because they were nominated. Many I enjoyed, some I did not. But, I think that The Queen, Babel, Letters from Iwo Jima and Little Miss Sunshine were award worthy, while The Departed and Night at the Museum were not. But that's just my opinion.

BGM

Don't talk shiite about The Departed!

VikingMachine · Post by **VikingMachine** » Tue May 06, 2008 3:17 pm

Krulik wrote: Don't talk shiite about The Departed!

Lighten up Francis!

Ok what movie is that line from? Another fav movie of mine by the way!

Krulik · Post by **Krulik** » Tue May 06, 2008 3:23 pm

VikingMachine wrote: Which one? I was referring to Dead Mans Chest and I didnt think that was critically acclaimed or Oscar nominated, although I havent looked it up and could be wrong.

Dead Man's Chest was nominated for 4 Oscars.

Art Direction
Sound Mixing
Sound Editing
Visual Effects

Krulik · Post by **Krulik** » Tue May 06, 2008 3:24 pm

VikingMachine wrote: Lighten up Francis!

Ok what movie is that line from? Another fav movie of mine by the way!

Well that would be the great Cinderella story of Stripes

TrenchGoon · Post by **TrenchGoon** » Tue May 06, 2008 3:57 pm

BGM wrote: Certainly. However. I have chosen to see movies because they were nominated. Many I enjoyed, some I did not. But, I think that The Queen, Babel, Letters from Iwo Jima and Little Miss Sunshine were award worthy, while The Departed and Night at the Museum were not. But that's just my opinion.

BGM

I thought the queen was pretty good...the rest of them I did not care for, except I never saw night in the museum. It didn't interest me.

wang_chi7 · Post by **wang_chi7** » Tue May 06, 2008 6:58 pm

VikingMachine wrote:2006 nominees for picture of the year:
Babel - Grossed 34 million
The Departed - Grossed 132 million
Letter from Iwo Jima - Grossed 13 million
Little Miss Sunshine - Grossed 59 million
The Queen - Grossed 56 million

Night at the Museum grossed 250 million.....thats almost as much as the 5 movies nominated for movie of the year grossed COMBINED!

Thats because most of the public is looking for a movie where all you have to do is sit down and laugh and enjoy. Nothing wrong with that. But the awards go to pictures with depth. Most people would for instance look at the AFI list of the top 100 American Films and have interest in maybe 10-15, others like me are working through the list. I've seen about 70 of them, have found a few that I didn't like at all, but have enjoyed most of them. I guess there are two kinds of people when it comes to movies. Most movie buffs tend to enjoy critically acclaimed films overall (of course everybody has movies they hated that are considered excellent and love ones that got no respect from the critics); but there are some that stay away from anything that isn't necessarily "fun." Thats OK, its all in taste.

Many of the nominees for best pictures are just chosen for their artsyness, generally I don't like those because the story doesn't grip me. But many that are nominated are great films, and the winners generally go to quality films as there are few Best Pictures that I just didn't like (I've seen almost all of them.)

I watch both kinds of films, depending on my mood. Just using boxing pictures, if I want to watch something for a laugh I watch Rocky IV (because its so bad its good), if I want to watch an amazing film I watch Raging Bull, and if I want to watch something in the middle its Million Dollar Baby. Raging Bull is my favorite (and best) out of the three, but the one I watch the least because its draining to watch and slow. Rocky IV is by far the worst of the three but is by far the easiest to watch. I assume it also grossed the best (I'd have to look up its numbers versus Million Dollar Baby as I know Raging Bull didn't do well in the Box Office.)

Of those 2006 pictures I loved The Departed and Letters and enjoyed Night at the Museum; NATM was worth watching once or twice but not worth owning. The other two are in my collection. I haven't seen the other movies either because they don't appeal to me or I just haven't gotten around to it.

The Box Office (as a measurement for best picture) also misses out on movies that did badly in theaters but eventually caught on on video/DVD and become public favorites. Really it takes a couple years to truly judge the public's perception of a film.

wang_chi7 · Post by **wang_chi7** » Tue May 06, 2008 8:00 pm

TrenchGoon wrote: You forgot about Face Off

Live Free was great, I also liked Face Off. Both are silly action films, but great. Mann had a couple good movies: Collateral, Heat; not a great director but had a couple moments.

mefford76 · Post by **mefford76** » Tue May 06, 2008 8:32 pm

VikingMachine wrote: Lighten up Francis!

Ok what movie is that line from? Another fav movie of mine by the way!

Fruit or Speariment?

Minniman · Post by **Minniman** » Wed May 07, 2008 12:22 am

VikingMachine wrote: But is it all about winning awards??

Movies have to win my awards to be good to me. If I don't like a movie, I know I don't like it.

The thing is that there are people who are willing to sit out a plot and those that just want the action to slap them in the face. Neither is better or worse, but I know many of my favorite movies wouldn't be enjoyed by the latter group.

Who cares if Wild Hogs would sit well or not with the "intellectuals" who over analyze movies.

You make some assumptions there. I like movies that stimulate me intellectually, but I also like movies that are just fun as long as they are well written, well directed, and well acted. One does not have to over analyze to know what one likes.

Wild Hogs is a great movie to take the family to. Its fun, its funny, it has a decent plot, tells a good story and even has a few lessons in it. We went to it as a family. My wife, 3 children and I all had a great time. IMO it was an award winning movie for its niche.

It wasn't a bad movie, but it was lacking in many ways from script to direction. My wife and children all liked Master and Commander much better. We all like movies like Spirted Away and Down With Love better as well, so it isn't that we need an epic to get us going. 40 Year Old Virgin is from a similar genre to Wild Hogs, and 40 Year Old Virgin was the better film in my opinion. I thought Cloverfield was great, and it wasn't really an intellectual film.

Its not all about being cerebral....thats just a niche too, unfortunately thats pretty much the niche that gets the awards.

What is cerebral? Movies that are well written and logical or just artsy films? Which are you making reference to?