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Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2011 4:14 pm
by rolotomasi99
This is funny:
"Proof That The King’s Speech Was Filmed on a Gay-Porn Set
To be fair, Speech and U.K. Naked Men both used the same distinctive set in their separate productions, but it kinda makes you wonder how Lionel Logue paid the bills before the stammering king came along."
http://nymag.com/daily....ec.html
Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2011 4:28 pm
by Sabin
Has there been a shift? There used to be a time where you won Art Direction and you won Costume Design. This past decade, we've seen Memoirs of a Geisha, The Aviator, The Return of the King, Chicago, and Moulin Rouge take this. Then a Gladiator/Crouching Tiger split, a Sleepy Hollow/Topsy-Turvy split, and then Shakespeare in Love, Titanic, The English Patient...and then splits, and then unity.
Oddly enough, both Alice in Wonderland and The King's Speech could conceivably split in either way. I wouldn't have a hard time seeing Alice in Wonderland win both or The King's Speech win both. And if they do a split, in which direction? Ironically, the fact that The King's Speech has such an ugly wall might work for it. I mean, you notice it, do you not?
I'm a bit confused by True Grit's nomination. I haven't seen this Harry Potter, so I'm tossing them out the window. I'm rooting for Inception, but I doubt it has much of a prayer.
For the time being, I'm predicting Alice in Wonderland if only because I think we're in for one of the most unpredictable Oscar nights in a while. One where Hailee Steinfeld possibly upsets Melissa Leo, where money is split between Alexandre Desplat and Trent Reznor, where the winner of these categories cuts to a reaction shot of Helena Bonham Carter regardless of the film.
Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2011 2:27 pm
by Mister Tee
The first stat I'd use to look at the category: being nominated for best picture has historically been helpful. In the past 50 years, only 12 films without that designation have won -- though the majority have been since 1989, so perhaps that's an outdated metric. Also, the change from 5-to-10 under best picture obviously affects how we view this: some previous non-nominated, like Dick Tracy, Memoirs of a Geisha or Pan's Labyrinth would surely have made the longer list, while this year's Inception may well not have under the old regime.
A more determinative stat: though you'd think the spectacle of sci-fi/fantasy would be catnip to voters in this area, in fact such films have only won roughly once a decade. Over that same 50 years, only Fantastic Voyage, Star Wars, Batman, Return of the King and Avatar have pulled off the feat. (I exclude Tim Burton's other two winners because, even though their stories had horror elements, the designs were solidly in period re-creation rather than imaginative territory) And there have been many cases where eye-catching fantasy has lost to even pedestrian period work -- All the President's Men (presumably for its replication of the Post's main office) over Logan's Run; Gandhi over Blade Runner; Out of Africa over Brazil; Howards End over Bram Stoker's Dracula; the Madness of King George over Interview with the Vampire; Memoirs of a Geisha over King Kong.
Take these two together, and Alice in Wonderland looks like a deep long shot. Inception is more in the game, for at least qualifying under best picture. But I think The King's Speech provides just enough palace-tour footage -- and, I'm telling you, that goddamn Logue apartment wall -- to take the prize by a whisker.
Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2011 2:13 pm
by Big Magilla
I can't say I'm happy with any of these choices.
I don't like the dreary art direction of The King's Speech but I think that the competition in this category is so weak that this is the one aside from Colin Firth in which the film has its strongest chance of living up to its supporters' expectations.
Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2011 12:20 pm
by anonymous1980
Logic says The King's Speech: A period Best Picture front-runner is the winner here. But I don't think one should completely count out Alice in Wonderland since no Burton film that got nominated in this category has lost and Avatar's win last year shows the Academy apparently doesn't care if the sets are CGI.
Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2011 12:15 pm
by anonymous1980
Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Inception
The King's Speech
True Grit.