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Oscar Nominations (LotR, Spirited Away, and more)
An anonymous reader noted that the
Oscar Nominees
are now online. The Two Towers is nominated for Best Picture, and Miyazaki's Spirited Away is nominated for Best Animated Picture (someday an Anime will be nominated Best Picture). Road to Perdition, Spider-Man, and even Star Wars have random nominations throughout the list. Even Eminem's got a nomination now ;)
There's tons of other good movies in there too (Adaptation, Chicago) and a bunch of movies I've never seen. Anyway, talk amongst yourselves ;)
I believe Andy Serkis was also the motion capture actor for Gollum (if you watch the making of specials on the first DVD you can see him wearing the mocap suit and interacting with the other actors), so he's not just voice acting. He was the underlying actor that the CG was rigged to follow.
Upgrade your grey matter, cause one day it may matter
...are at Rotten Tomatoes.
What, you guys didn't love Juwanna Mann ?
The Two Towers. We see a great flick. Self-important Hollywood sees Elves and Dwarves beating up on Orcs, so we can fucking forget it
I think you can forget it, but not because of "elves and dwarves beating up on orcs" -- forget it because FOTR won last year, and the Academy is unlikely to award the top prize to a sequel.
Of the rest, I've only seen The Hours, and while it was interesting I don't see it as a Best Picture.
The fact that Gangs Of New York got nominated sort of cinches it for me. I havent seen acting that bad and Irish accents that poor since.... uhh
Absolutely. It shows what a farce the Oscars are.
I find it difficult to put into words quite how bad it is. Thankfully, others have done it for me.
Ice Age does have rough edges but for a first shot full-length feature, it works quite well, though I doubt it'll win (maybe it's there to be the sole CGI-animation representative?)
Lilo and Stitch was probably Disney's best and tightest work since TLM and B&tB: they took out the musical numbers, focused on comedy and timing and plot, and brough together good characters and good voice talent to make it work. (And my understanding is also that this was not a big budget film, pre-marketing/advertizing fees, compared to previous Disney ventures). No, it's not as good as Spirited AWay, but the elements that got B&tB the Best Picture Oscar nomination are there in L&S, and by and far, the race will be between these two films.
"Pinky, you've left the lens cap of your mind on again." - P&TB
"I can see my house from here!" - ST:
I think in some ways there probably shouldn't be a "Best Picture", because that will inevitably lead people to make to apples and organges comparisons (Spirted Away to LOTR, in this case). However I don't think it's going out on a limb to say that Miyazaki's works are generally some of the finest filmmaking ever.
Miyazaki's work has three hallmarks, none of which are anime/animation specific:
Pacing: Miyazaki has the confidence to let things take time instead of rushing to the payoff. He doesn't need explosions and chases to generate excitement: he uses psychology and timing. He makes you want to know what is around the corner, and then makes you wait as the characters discover it in real time.
Composition: Miyazaki's animation doesn't have the attention lavished on character motion that Disney animation has. It is rudimentary and sometimes jerky by comparison (although this is also used for effect). However, the landscapes he puts the characters in is lavishly realized, almost every frame a masterpiece of landscape painting. Furthermore, these aren't just throwaway backdrops against which the action takes place; the landscape is often another character in itself, telling you about the situations the character is in.
Characterization: It's been said that Miyazaki's characters all look alike from movie to movie. This may be true; I like to think of them as actors that he uses over and over again. However, they are all distinct persons. Miyazaki's stories are character driven; the plot arises out of putting characters in situations. Even while he uses elements of magic and the fantastic, he's most interested in specific human conditions. In Spirited Away, he is interested in what happens to the bond between a child and parent when the child reaches an age where she has the capacity to become independent.
Looked at on these dimensions, Spirted Away is far superior to LOTR:TTT, which in my book is high praise. But it's apples and oranges again. Peter Jackson is somewhat saddled by the nature of his source material. Miyazaki conceives his work specifically for his medium, for what he knows will work in an animated film. For Jackson to try to display the same strengths Miyazaki has would either result in a movie that was several times longer already, or to cut and compress the source material until it was unrecognizable.
I'm glad Jackson did the LOTR movies. But if there were one series of movies I wish everyone would see, it would be Miyazaki's.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
The nominees include Pinochio, Star Wars II and Pluto Nash, among other (very deserving) candidates.
I heard on NPR yesterday that Mexico doesn't want to submit Y Tu Mama Tambien because it's already won an award (best foreign film) and they want El Crimen del padre Amaro to have a shot at getting an award. Each country apparently only gets to submit one film for consideration.
Ravi
When the axe came to the forest, the trees said, "Look out - the handle was once one of us."
Blockquoth the poster:
...or 'Wings of Honneamise'.
...or 'Perfect Blue'.
...or 'Robot Carnival'.
...or 'Ghost in the Shell'.
...or 'Jin-Roh: the Wolf Brigade'.
...or 'Serial Experiment Lain'.
can anyone believe he hasn't won best director yet?
Yes.
This is only his fourth nomination in the best directors category. In the other 3 years he got beaten by directors of better films.
1990 Goodfellas beaten by Kevin Costner for Dances With Wolves
1988 The Last Temptaion of Christ beaten by Barry Levinson for Rain Man.
1980 Raging Bull beaten Robert Redford for Ordinary People.
OK. Maybe the last one is a bit dodgy but you can't really describe it as a conspiracy when he was beaten by better films.
I hope spirited away gets best animated picture. That'd really do wonders for getting anime into America, and increasing American awareness. Plus, imoho, Spirited away is the best thing I've seen all year that's animated. I dunno, maybe Disney's losing their touch. (So they have to leach off Miziaki.)
I would like to point your attention to one nomination in the animated short category: The Cathedral.
It's a really nice short, loosely based on a story by Jacek Dukaj, directed by a Polish animator, Tomek Baginski. It won the best animated short award at SIGGRAPH 2002.
You probably won't get a chance to see it in a movie theater (it ran for a some time in a few Polish cinemas before Minority Report and Signs), but you can download a trailer here: hi-res Divx (15 MB), low-res Divx (8 MB), low-res MPEG (9 MB).
Here is the author's page about the film (flash required).
-jfedor
Including facial expressions, BTW. They have dots all over his face to catch his expression while he acts to the camera. Really helped make a difference, I believe.
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