The title pretty much says it all…
Well, The Nail ended up going 12-10. Not great...but still, not bad when it’s broken down, because there were SEVERAL categories that The Nail knew “Hurt Locker” could take Avatar (sound and etc.) AND The Nail took a couple of chances that didn’t pay off, not to mention the fact that 3 surprise wins – “Precious” for screenplay over Reitman for “Up in the Air”, "White Ribbon" getting bested in foreign film AND “Up” over “Avatar” for Score – were total bombshells!
So, taking that into effect, The Nail should have been 18-4…but, like the great Don King once said; “Hey, woulda’, coulda’, shoulda’…Didn’t!”
However, what would APPEAR to be a rebuilding year for The Nail is actually just an off night. Think of it as having an all-star line up, but some unforeseen injuries and a tough schedule played the roles of an under-performance...and knowing you had to chose one star DH over another even though they both could work. Overall, the core group is still solid, just going to have to try and get healthy and come back and play to that potential.
So, let The Nail break it down…
The only real surprise The Nail had was dude got screenplay for “Precious” over Reitman and “Up in the Air”...SO did not see that coming, however The Nail was never so happy to be wrong in his entire life!!!
Other minor surprises were how “Locker” bested “Avatar” in Editing (though The Nail did call for a possible editing upset) and for Sound Editing and Mixing. Once that happened, The Nail KNEW it was “Hurt Locker’s” night…just as he predicted could happen! From then on, The Nail knew “Locker” had Oscar in it’s sights…and when Streisand came out to give the award for Director (and said “It’s about time…”), it was all but guaranteed that SHE was going to give the award out to the FIRST FEMALE to win, EVER! (Yeah, it’s about time…It’s about time that Female Directors get better scripts to work with and can therefore get more nominations! It’s about time my ass. Not every woman has to make “Sleepless in Seattle”, okay?! Bigelow proved that…so don’t buy the bullshit people!) Picture was a lock after that, and not a surprise, period!
“Up” besting “Avatar” for score…man, who would have guessed that?! The Nail is willing to bet good money that nobody on the planet picked that! And, hey…The Nail took a chance on the Short Documentary category for the first time, so points awarded for boldness. And never, NEVER would The Nail have thought “White Ribbon” loses Foreign Film…Never! By the way, the film that won…uh, er, um…”Christ, I can’t find it. The Hell with it!” to quote Harry Doyle! Yep, that’s how important that film was. Wonder if it’ll ever be out so anyone can see it…maybe by 2011's Oscars.
AND THAT BRINGS US TO:
Like the title says, "Hurt Locker" is the first movie to win picture that NOBODY saw! I mean, seriously!
Check it out...
It was released last year on like 2 screens, then every couple of weeks they would add a couple more. The Nail thinks by the time it was in it's "full run" (that would be Nationally AND Worldwide) it was only like on 200 screens, TOTAL!...compare that to Transformers on 6,500 screens! It was like they didn't want anyone to see it, even though it kept getting all these rave reviews! Every week The Nail checked the local listings for "Locker"...NOTHING! Supposedly, there was a "shortage" of prints available for release. Riiiiight...you make a movie that gets A+'s, 5 stars out of 5, Thumb's Up and rave reviews, and you DON'T get more prints made! The Nail isn't buying...
Then - and this is the best part - it's time to come out on DVD, and there's a "disagreement" with the distribution rights or negotiations on the royalties or some other crap, so NOW you go to the video store and there's like 1 copy! ONE! Welcome to THUNDERDOME!
Then, you go to Best Buy, and it’s NOT EVEN THERE TO BUY!
Compare that to the 550 copies of Transformers they have for rent and the 10 thousand copies to buy! RIDICULOUS! So, basically, if you're NOT a member of the Academy, you might have been one of the 500 people worldwide that actually got to SEE the goddamned movied before the Oscars!
The Nail was lucky enough to get a copy someone burned (great Birthday present shout out to the Maestro…thanks!), so The Nail was one of the few to have actually seen it. And yes, it was a great movie, full of tense moments...but it was truly the last 15-20 minutes of that movie that make it great:
(SPOLIER ALERT – since most of you haven’t even come close to seeing it: When dude cannot disarm the bomb strapped to the innocent Iraqi and it blows, following the emotional breakdown of his once confident partner, followed by the showing of his return home and the boringly mundane monotony of his everyday life after he makes it home, to his confession to his infant son that there is only one thing he knows he truly loves, followed by his return to Iraq and being all smiles, to his going off in the distance to disarm another IED to the heavy rock guitar starting up and the immediate cut to black with “Directed by Kathryn Bigelow”…OH MAN! TOTALLY AWESOME! I get tingles just thinking about that!)
But………
The Nail’s theory is that the producers WANTED to keep it in a very limited release (to great reviews) and hold up the public from seeing it so they would HAVE to buy in to said great reviews in the hopes that this would secure them their awards! THEN, release on DVD and a possible re-release in theaters on a massive scale for immediate profit returns to capitalize on the Awards!
Think of it as some chick playing "hard to get"! The harder it is to get her, the MORE your dumbass tries! After awhile, all you know is you have to get her. Same with the movie...hold it back till you're foaming at the mouth to see it.
I mean, one of the producers was actually BANNED from the Oscar ceremony for sending out an e-mail lobbying for votes against “Avatar”! That's right, BANNED! First time in history!
So the entire thing is quite shady to The Nail…and if there’s one thing The Nail knows well, it’s things that are shady!!
So, at the end of the day, whaddayagonna’ do, eh?!
The Nail takes extreme comfort in the fact he knew it was a 2 picture race between “Avatar” and “Hurt Locker”, so sleeping at night isn’t a problem. A 50/50 shot is going to go one way or the other, so you gotta’ go with your gut when it’s Game Time folks!
As for the rest of it? Fuggedaboutit!!! It was fun. The Nail liked Martin and Baldwin, and was most pleased to see Doogie Howser doing the opening number! The Nail has a feeling we'll be seeing more of Doggie in the Oscar's to come! And of course, a shout out to T-BONE! Awesome song...and at least The Nail isn't left here saying, "Hey T-Bone! No T-Bone? WHY no T-Bone?!" hahahaha ;-)
Next up: The Nail’s review of “Shutter Island”; and his list of “The Greatest Action Movies Ever Made”!
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With only seeing half of the films nominated, Avatar and Hurt Locker were both my faves of the year - for both different as well as simalar reasons. Since I am a Cle-vo girl, I AM glad that the 'underdog' won. Unlike politics, a lower budget can still produce a winner. I like that. However, a big surprise (as well as disappointment on my ballot) that Avatar did not win some of the 'tekkie' awards I felt it well-deserved. Have not seen 'Up' yet, but still scratching my head over the score pick. And, as far as the foreign category goes, I am surprised that something else won over a film regarding Facisim (sorry for spelling) which led to the next war's Holucost did not win. In Oscar history, you'd think that would be a clincher. Once again I was cursing my ballot.
ReplyDeleteEven though I have yet to see Crazy Heart, I am very glad that Jeff got his long over-due! Though, I personally feel that there are enough films out there about older, broken down men with a younger woman who finds him irresistable.
And, though I LOVE LOVE LOVE Streep as well as her DEAD ON performance of Child, I am glad Bullock won - and hopefully she will get the respect she is due. For anyone who thinks she's just a 'romantic comedy' actor, just take a peek at 28 Days (NOT THE ACTION FILM with a similar name) where she plays an alcoholic writer in rehab. That woman has DEPTH, AND can make you smile.
And, after just watching District 9 (twice), My husband and I were hoping for a little surprise. We LOVED that film's originality and combo of docu/cinematic style. Though, happy that Precious beat Up in the Air. An important film, even though most of us will (fortunately) never know of that world. Everyone loves a come-back.
Oh yeah --- LOVED the John Hughes tribute!!!! How great it was to see my dear Molly again. Attention agents: she needs more work! the last time I saw her was in a bit part in Cindy Sherman's Office Killer. And, I wouldn't mind seeing more films about broken-down women in their 40's or (oh my goodness) in their 50's or 60's and a hot guy in his late 20's or early 30's finds HER irresistable, in spite of her flaws. How looong ago was Stella Gets Her Groove Back? How critically acclaimed was that, except by divorced women? I'm thinking Ben Kinsley and Peneolope Cruz in Elegy?? yeah, RIGHT! Unless it's an Anna Nicole Smith case, get real. lol. Just some reel damn movie talk from a chick ;)
ReplyDeleteLove you, Nick! WTG with your GREAT picks! Too bad you're not in the Academy.
Oh - and I thought Michelle's speech about Bridges was the most heart-felt. Choked me up almost as much as Jeff was!