Total Screw Job

[Scarface King]

Now I am a calm guy, but I have jsut seen both Training Day and A Beautiful Mind finally, and now I know what people were sayiong about the African americans winning their oscars because of..well you know...

Now I am completely against racism, but come on!

Russel Crowe was breath-takingly outstanding in A Beautiful Mind and Denzel was Very Good, but just that.

I am sure a lot of you agree, and I bet some of you don't.

What do you think?

[SubMethod]

I thought both were great and I had no problem with Denzel winning, it was well deserved.

[Tom Samborski]

The color of an actor or actress doesn't matter in my opinion, it's the performance they gave that counts. The academy apparently didn't see it that way last year.

[JoBlo]

Originally posted by Tom Samborski
The color of an actor or actress doesn't matter in my opinion, it's the performance they gave that counts. The academy apparently didn't see it that way last year.

Actually, when it comes to the Oscars, the performance isn't necessarily at the top of everyone's lists either, the winners are usually picked according to politics, reasons for being nominated in the first place, how many times they were nominated before and didn't win, etc...

A perfect example of this was when Crowe won for GLADIATOR, when he really deserved it for THE INSIDER the year previous, as well as Washington in TRAINING DAY, when he really deserved it for HURRICANE.

Same shit goes for Scorsese this year, since he really doesn't deserve it for GANGS OF NEW YORK, but did deserve it various times before, so he is likely to get it this year as well....

The Oscars blow.

[Beeblebrox]

I loved both performances. I have no problem with the Oscar choice.

[Ren Hoek]

Originally posted by JoBlo
A perfect example of this was when Crowe won for GLADIATOR, when he really deserved it for THE INSIDER the year previous, as well as Washington in TRAINING DAY, when he really deserved it for HURRICANE.

...

The Oscars blow.
Amen, Jo! The Oscars are all about studio politics and the almighty $Dollar$... IMO, the skin color or the quality of the performance/direction/whatever doesn't make any difference for the Academy members.

[notchreturns]

Both were pretty good, actually, Crowe was great, but it's a well known fact that Tom Wilkinson gave, by far, the best male performance of 2001 for IN THE BEDROOM. He was freakin' amazing.


And I have a solution for this fucked-up BEST ACTOR catergory:

If Pacino would've won for The Godfather in '72, then he wouldn't have beaten the true winner of '92, Denzel, who would've ended all the madness about race, thus Wilkinson could've won for In The Bedroom in '01 and I really don't have a problem with Crowe winning for The Insider in '99 over Spacey, who at this point in his career, doesn't deserve an 'Oscar...

[the movie guy]

Originally posted by notchreturns
Both were pretty good, actually, Crowe was great, but it's a well known fact that Tom Wilkinson gave, by far, the best male performance of 2001 for IN THE BEDROOM. He was freakin' amazing.

That's the most brilliant and true thing I've heard all day.

[notchreturns]

44 minutes and counting...

[Tom Samborski]

Originally posted by JoBlo
The Oscars blow.

Agreed. And what the hell were they thinking when they picked Whoopi Goldberg last year ?

[quoth_the_raven]

Originally posted by JoBlo

The Oscars blow.



never have three words resonated with such truth :D

[Reigh Kaufman]

I agree. I have had less than nice things to say about Russell Crowe since becoming utterly bemused at his recent career choices. However, upon watching A Beautiful Mind, I was first to order a big bowl of turtle soup, eat shit and die - the performance was remarkably affecting. Then I bought Training Day, after the palaver over here between the distributors and Blockbuster, an on-going saga which meant Training Day was never released to rent, and I was stunned that the movie a) was so average and b) was nowhere near as good as the original script I had read. It was, to my mind, an insult to both actors - not least Denzel, who has been outstanding elsewhere. I felt the same way about Halle Berry in Monster's Ball - sure, I love the film, and I own that too, but her performance seems to have been awarded the Oscar solely for her bravery during one particular scene (you know the one), which makes me angry becasue Burstyn showed a different and more dangerous kind of bravery for a WHOLE movie during RFAD. As fate luck would have it, this week the terrestrial premiere of Erin Brockovich was on and I sat down to watch it: Julia Roberts has a potty mouth = Oscar = criminal neglect = me being disillusioned by the whole process.

That said, I am a massive admirer of In The Bedroom and I thought that the film, as worthy as it is, did not and would not benefit any from an Oscar statuette. Spacek, if anything, was the only one in the movie who desrved that particular nod. Wilkinson was perfect, but lacked that certain pizzazz (not the role, which required no pizzazz) that makes me pay attention to the actor's craft.

And whoever said Kevin Spacey does not deseerve a gong at this stage of his career...? Yeah, right, it was notchreturns....He really should know better. Pick any movie up until Pay It Forward and see how an actor should perform in a role. It will be in the handbook soon enough. Or didn't you see Swimming With Sharks? American Beauty? Were you asleep during The Usual Suspects? Se7en?:D

[AE35Unit]

Well, this just goes to show that everyone has their own opinion. I personally felt "A Beautiful Mind" was by-the-book Hollywood pablum. I hated the artificiality of the film (this was supposedly a biopic, but the screenwriters couldn't resist turning it into a 'thriller' laced with badly executed twists) and felt Crowe's finger-counting-mad-genius-performance was as by-the-numbers as "A Beautiful Mind's" hokey script.

I don't really like "street" or cop films, but I loved "Training Day" from the minute Denzel Washington opened his mouth: a modern day Richard III - a classic modern villian. His performance was riveting and painfully real. I was very pleased that the Academy - for once - didn't award the obvious "movie performance" and gave the Oscar to Washington who powered the film with charisma instead of facial tics (mr crowe).

Do the Oscar's blow? Well, if Chicago wins...

[MarkItZero]

Originally posted by Reigh Kaufman
Wilkinson was perfect

He should have won the Oscar hands down, not Denzel or Crowe (though they were both very good also).

[Dude]

I have no problem with Denzel winning an Oscar for playing an evil charactor... as long as the Academy would have built a fucking Time Machine and went back to the 80's to award that trophy to Pacino for SCARFACE..... so, um, er', yeah, I guess I DO have a problem after all :mad:

Crowe should have won HANDS DOWN.. race having nothing to do with it.. and I dont even think Halle deserved her win.... a nomination, YES.. but if she didnt bare her ASS and bounce her titties, she wouldnt have even won..... barring the FACT that 2 months leading up to the Oscars, she was playing the fucking RACE CARD all over Hollywood in order to SHAME the academy into giving it to her. :rolleyes:

[notchreturns]

Originally posted by Reigh Kaufman

And whoever said Kevin Spacey does not deseerve a gong at this stage of his career...? Yeah, right, it was notchreturns....He really should know better. Pick any movie up until Pay It Forward and see how an actor should perform in a role. It will be in the handbook soon enough. Or didn't you see Swimming With Sharks? American Beauty? Were you asleep during The Usual Suspects? Se7en?:D

Reigh, you charming SOB, I've got nothing against Spacey. He's a good actor, and seems very genuine and nice off-camera, but in my bloody opinion, he's never given a performance that has deserved an Oscar.. there has always been someone better, or more worthy whether it be in his film, or another.

The Ref: Nothing memorable or great about this performance. Leary rocks, as does the film, but.... well, read above...

Swimming With Sharks: A fun, over-the-top performance, but extremely one note, and far from award worthy.

Glengarry Glen Ross: Again, a good performance, but he was outshined by EVERY other actor in the cast.

Se7en: In my opinion, his best performance, but he still doesn't get Best Supporting Actor over Pitt in 12 Monkeys or Cheadle in Devil in a Blue Dress.

The Usual Suspects: An overrated performance if I've ever seen one. Good, but far from great, or even engaging. The point of his whole character was to serve the story for it's big final "twist"... that just irks me.

L.A. Confindential: Another good performance, but Crowe and Pearce were much better and worthy of an award.

The Big Kahuna: Again, a solid job, but DeVito was far better and much more affective.

American Beauty: Another solid job, in an overrated film, but Crowe for The Insider or Washington for The Hurricane would've been much better choices.

[blankpage]

I honestly thought Denzel was better. They were both good, yes. But Denzel didn't really do anything like that before. He has done things something like that. But to play a real tough to the bone hard ass, take no shit, is something that he hasn't done. Personally I thought it was the best performance of the year. I didn't expect him to be that good. He also saved the movie. The movie was 5/10 material, but he kept it at 6/10.

Crowe who also was good seemed to play a role that everyone has seen before. There have been many performances that Crowe did in A Beautiful Mind. He did do a good job, but Denzel surprised me a lot.

My 2.5 cents...

[Scarface98.9]

Originally posted by JoBlo

The Oscars blow.
True dat. All hail The Golden fuckin' Schmoes! :cool:

[quoth_the_raven]

Originally posted by Scarface98.9
True dat. All hail The Golden fuckin' Schmoes! :cool:



forever and ever.

amen.

[MickeyKnox]

Originally posted by JoBlo


The Oscars blow.

You are 110% right Jo, Oscars dont mean jack shit anymore.Back when movies meant something the Oscars meant something but now the Oscars are given out to people who are just popular in the industry in conclusion, the Oscars are a popularity contest!

[Scarface King]

Originally posted by Dude
as long as the Academy would have built a fucking Time Machine and went back to the 80's to award that trophy to Pacino for SCARFACE..... so, um, er', yeah, I guess I DO have a problem after all :mad:




That would be the coolest thing ever.

Love live Tony Montana!

[Haddonfield]

Originally posted by JoBlo
A perfect example of this was when Crowe won for GLADIATOR, when he really deserved it for THE INSIDER the year previous, as well as Washington in TRAINING DAY, when he really deserved it for HURRICANE.


Very, very true. Pretty much everything Denzel has done is worth a nod. I think they also picked the wrong movie with Training Day...Should have been John Q.

[blankpage]

Originally posted by Scarface98.9
True dat. All hail The Golden fuckin' Schmoes! :cool:

Testify!

[Nate6]

Originally posted by Scarface98.9
All hail The Golden fuckin' Schmoes!

I will in two years, when LOTR can't win every fucking award...

[mrsfuz]

I also, had no problem with Denzel winning, thought he did a great job, however, I did think that Crowe maybe did a better job. In either case, it was close.

I don't think Denzel winning the award really had anything to do with the fact he was black, i just think that some people liked Training Day better. Films that shouldn't win certain awards win all the time, but I really think that this has nothing to do with the color of anyone's skin.

[Klaus Weasley]

I disagree. I thought Denzel gave a BETTER performance than Russell Crowe HOWEVER, the Oscar that year belonged to TOM WILKINSON. He deserved the Oscar out of the nominees.

[The Postmaster General]

I just feel bad that everyone knocks Denzel's performace, and brings up race. Like it's black people's fault -- it's Denzel's fault -- it's Halle's fault -- it's their fault that they won Oscars. Let's knock them down, and contrive vast racial conspiracies -- Gee Whiz Wally, why'd you have to go and mess up his face like that?

[max]

I think they also picked the wrong movie with Training Day...Should have been John Q.

Are you talking about the Razzies? :D

[Grim H.]

I thought Denzel did an awesome job. Crowe did outstanding as well, but I thought Denzel Washington's performance was better.