'Avatar' and 'The Hurt Locker' Lead Academy Awards Nominations With Nine Each

[Hissyspit]

Source: NPR

NPR BREAKING NEWS:

'Avatar' and 'The Hurt Locker' Lead Academy Awards Nominations With Nine Each

Other movies among the 10 nominees for best motion picture include 'Up in the Air,' 'The Blind Side,' 'Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire' and 'District 9.'

Read more: http://www.npr.org/?sc=nl&cc=brk-20100202-0849

[rocktivity]

1. Glad to hear it

I've read nothing but nice things about The Hurt Locker, while Avatar sounds more a good move to look at rather than to watch.

P.S. Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' should win the award for Most Ludicrous Selfish Use of Legalese In A Movie Title.


rocktivity

[johnaries]

2. Like it or not, Avatar really should be in a different category.

It's not a movie so much as a "total immersion escapist experience". As a "movie", the plot is recycled, the acting is so-so, the dialog is stilted (although you have to consider that a lot of the dialog is by people for whom English is a second language, so of course it will be a little stilted), etc. The message is fantastic, and I love the nod to Paganism and even Taoism ("a cup cannot be filled if it is already full" is straight out of Taoism).

But it's all about this wonderful world that Cameron has created and takes us to in a way that no one has experienced before.

The first time I saw it, one of my friends I saw it with said she was "disappointed" to have to return to the real world. I, myself, couldn't wait to "visit" Pandora again. And again.

[DJ13]

13. Isn't escapism is the very reason motion pictures exist?

On that level Avatar should walk away with most categories.

[cali]

16. no. it's not. unless you consider all art and literature to be mere escapism

[DJ13]

18. They can be, yes.

Were not talking about a documentary with Avatar, were talking entertainment.

In that context its escapism.

Art isnt usually considered entertainment.

[DireStrike]

15. "In a way that no one has experienced before"

I think that there are two breeds of "good" media (stories, movies, video games, etc). The first is the kind that introduces us to something novel. I say introduces us because, to someone who has read or seen everything we've created so far, there is surely nothing novel to be created. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HomePage

The other type of good is good execution. Combining and working all the elements in such a way that, even though we can easily what's coming, we are still pleased by it. This is the realm of summer blockbusters like transformers, and once in a while, great popular movies like avatar.

[high density]

6. Best picture for Avatar is pushing it

It is a sight to behold and a great technical marvel, but best picture of the year it isn't.

[nebenaube]

3. sad..

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/04/avatar-pocahontas-in-spac_n_410538.html

[pasto76]

4. hurt locker wasnt that good

plot was disjointed. Also the artistic license where the E5 is Punching the E7 - outside the realm of suspending disbelief. Just dumb.

SGT PASTO

[zonkers]

10. Katherine Bigelow is amazing. She has made some really lame films but keeps at it anyway and voila,

is now on top. Just goes to show you that "sticking with it" means a lot.

[On the Road]

17. I Felt the Same Way About the Hurt Locker

A fragmented plot is OK provided that there is some cohesion provided by charater development. The events seemed too random, and the characters not deeply drawn enough to be a great story.

I suspect that political concerns from opposite sides drove a lot of the enthuiasm for Hurt Locker and Avatar. I suspect a lot of people (not just conservatives BTW) enjoyed seeing a film depicting US forces in a positive light.

[pattmarty]

5. I don't know about last years movies (or even the previous year).........

.........I did not see Avatar yet and did see the Hurt Locker and was disappointed in Hurt Locker. There for a while the "movie business" was putting out some pretty good movies especially "independent" films. Last couple of years has been mostly crap.

[Honeycombe8]

8. Last year's movies were pretty good, actually, over all. I saw Julie and Julia,

Up in the Air, Crazy Heart, and others. Most were exceptional movies, rarely done, with exceptional scripts and outstanding acting. Not even huge budgets (like the Avatar computer thingie they call a movie).

[Honeycombe8]

7. Avatar: Dances with Wolves, except w/big blue people.

It was good. Not great. Best picture? That will be a blemish on the Academy's voting history, if it happens. But they've made other mistakes. After all, it's not even really acted so much as it is computerized, digitized, synchronized, and harmonized.

Best actor should DEFINITELY go to Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart. Movie - good, but not great. His performance? One of the best ever done. That's an Oscar performance, if ever there was one.

[t0dd]

9. Yeah, I don't get the huge appeal of that film

Sure, it was visually immersive. But listen to the dialogue. It was atrocious. And the actual characters had no depth whatsoever. I guess it's all about what you expect from a film: whether pretty visuals can compensate for subpar storytelling and still make the film enjoyable.

And yeah, I think Jeff Bridges is the definite favorite. Good call!

[sazerac]

11. Duncan Jones - Moon

Duncan Jones, David Bowie's son, really came up with something ingenious with "Moon" and has won all sorts of awards in Europe. Sam Rockwell as an astronaut really shines. Best acting job of 2009. I strongly recomend the dvd which has just gone on sale. Duncan is a man to watch with several films in the works.

[Hissyspit]

20. It's in my Netflix cue.

[John Kerry VonErich]

12. Then there's District 9

That film is just a token nod for the geeks like me. :P

[winyanstaz]

14. I loved Avatar the movie and I am buying it when it comes out in the stores...

It was the best movie I have seen in ages.

[Alexander]

19. I liked District 9 a lot better than Avatar.

It managed to both use fancy CGI and have a decent plot. Imagine that.

[babylonsister]

21. I've seen neither, want to see both, and might see Avatar tomorrow,

with the glasses. I've never seen a 3-D movie either, so would like to.

Heard they're both great movies.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

22. Avatar's a joke.

So's the Academy.

I guess they're trying to stay relevant by staying popular. Oh well. Fuck 'em.