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Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 10:18 pm
by Hustler
Which are A Prophet odds after winning the Bafta?
Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 11:12 am
by Movielover
Was supposed to go to two screenings this weekend, but my date cancelled on me for the first one, so we only went to The Milk of Sorrow.
This one ain't getting the gold - Trust me.
SPOILERS BELOW: A potato is placed in the protagonist's vagina as birth control and capillaries have attached to it and the potato is growing (this is all handled with magical realism). The potato every so often grows big enough to peep outside the entrance ( or in this case, exit) to her vagina and the girl has to cut off the end.
I mean, I don't have to comment on the rest of the plot to tell you this one ain't winning.
I knew in advance of seeing the film that it was about a disease passed on through breastmilk. I didn't realize that the 40-or-so-year-old protagonist was the one who was still suckling her elderly mother.
The AARP members in the screening room with me are just not going to vote for a movie with potatoes in vaginas and middle-aged sucklers.
I am suspecting it will be either A Prophet or El Secreto de Sus Ojos as I saw the other three and I would imagine there is something stronger out there. Of the three I have seen, The Milk of Sorrow would be the least likely to win. The White Ribbon would be most likely, but I just can't see it winning.
I thought I'd recognize some people there but I didn't. I'm sure I knew these people's names, but they were too behind-the-scenes for me to know their faces. Their was, however, a famous woman sitting in front of me, whom the moderator went up to and introduced himself to... and I know the woman's face and I should know her name, but it escaped me. I believe she is more famous in the NY Theatre community than in the film community.
Edited By Movielover on 1266865637
Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2010 2:56 pm
by Hustler
I know. I was answering to Wes´point.
As for this year, could be possible for Germany to be the winner? (I would be delighted) Take into account that when you say Austria, it is Austria/Germany
Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2010 2:39 pm
by Big Magilla
No country will win for a third year in a row this year.
Japan won last year and Austria the year before.
Germany has only won three times, for The Tin Drum, Nowhere in Africa and The Lives of Others.
Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2010 2:25 pm
by Hustler
OscarGuy wrote:I don't think the country of submission is a big factor in these things. Oftentimes the category goes to the same country usually representing a revival in that country's film culture.
I don`t remember any country having won three years in a row in that category.
Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2010 2:15 pm
by OscarGuy
I don't think the country of submission is a big factor in these things. Oftentimes the category goes to the same country usually representing a revival in that country's film culture.
Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2010 2:13 pm
by Hustler
The White Ribbon has to face the fact that Germany have recently won with The Live Of Others ( 3 years ago) and The Counterfeiters (2 years ago). Although the last one represented Austria at the Oscars, Germany was a copoducer (Studio Babelsberg Motion Pictures)
Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2010 8:56 am
by FilmFan720
Heksagon wrote:It is impressive how often the discussion on this board turns to Lives of Others and Pan's Labyrinth.
OK, new topic: Gods and Monsters is much better than Life Is Beautiful. Discuss.
Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2010 2:11 am
by Uri
Heksagon wrote:For Donnersmarck, the focal point of the film is to show how Wieser "finds" his humanity by emphatizing with the people whom he wiretaps. In a wider sense, the film is intended to portray how people can change themselves through art.
No wonder that in this day and age, characters being captivated by glamour, beauty and celebrity status can be described as people who "change themselves through art".
Give me a break.
Edited By Uri on 1266390702
Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2010 12:08 pm
by Heksagon
It is impressive how often the discussion on this board turns to Lives of Others and Pan's Labyrinth.
Although the film's director, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, has gone through a lot of effort to give the film an air of realism, it is probably a mistake to look at Lives of Others as being primarily a historical document. Indeed, in Germany, the film has been heavily criticized for portraying Stasi too sympathetically, and for the improbable "defection" of the film's protagonist.
For Donnersmarck, the focal point of the film is to show how Wieser "finds" his humanity by emphatizing with the people whom he wiretaps. In a wider sense, the film is intended to portray how people can change themselves through art.
Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2010 2:59 am
by Damien
Let's be honest. The Lives Of Others won because it's so sentimental -- which places it firmly in line with most movies which have won this Oscar in the last decade or so. (And which is why it's unlikely that the more ambiguous, and merciless, The White Ribbon probably won't win.)
Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2010 6:17 pm
by Hustler
IMO The White Ribbon is the strongest option.
Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2010 1:46 pm
by ITALIANO
Well, maybe not propaganda but certainly not pro-totalitarian regimes (communist or fascist), which honestly, and especially as I live in a country which WAS totalitarian once, well, maybe I'm biased, but I don't find anything conpletely wrong with. (And some women ARE bitches, let's say it for once even if it's not politically correct), Most importantly, it works, and it's a very good movie. Pan's Labytrinth isn't reassuring only because it isn't threatening to begin with.
Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2010 1:46 pm
by Johnny Guitar
I agree with Uri about The Lives of Others (which William F. Buckley cited as his favorite film)--and it's very much in a fantastical vein of its own. Just not honest about it.
Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2010 10:04 am
by Uri
When all is said and done, The Life of Others, for all its quite elegant execution, or rather because of it, is the epitome of conservatism – it's all about reassurance that the way events turned out to be is for the best. Harmony and acceptance are finely set, people can forgive and carry on with their lives, the privileged artists will keep on being just that while the non creative parasites, once the Stasi is gone, will resume their proper place in society. And the treacherous bitch was conveniently removed so her place could be filled with a younger, softer replacement. It's a very subtle West German propaganda piece.