Million Dollar Baby

Error message

Deprecated function: implode(): Passing glue string after array is deprecated. Swap the parameters in drupal_get_feeds() (line 394 of /var/www/pied-piper.ermarian.net/includes/common.inc).

Pages

AuthorTopic: Million Dollar Baby
Infiltrator
Member # 4592
Profile #0
(an attempt to more or less revive the film-oriented thread that reached a violent death sometime ago)

Is "Million Dollar Baby" the best picture of the year?

Is there such a thing? Are the Oscars and all award shows a sham?

Etc.

--------------------
quote:

"I suffer from spiritual malaise," said Cugel meaningfully. "which manifest itself in outburst of vicious rage. I implore you to depart, lest, in an uncontrollable spasm, I cut you in three pieces with my sword, or worse, I invoke magic."
Random Jack Vance Quote Manual Generator Apparatus (Cugel's Saga)
Posts: 604 | Registered: Sunday, June 20 2004 07:00
...b10010b...
Member # 869
Profile Homepage #1
You know, you're probably just going to end up starting a euthanasia debate instead.

--------------------
My BoE Page
Bandwagons are fun!
Roots
Hunted!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Infiltrator
Member # 1092
Profile Homepage #2
I got told there are other movies that got better reviews. My dad said that that Sky Captain thing had good reviews so we saw it and the cinema was almost empty

--------------------
When you think you can't get any lower in life and hit rock bottom, God hands you a shovel.

Following the rights movements
You clamped on with your iron fists
drugs being conviently available for all the kids

Minor drug offenders fill your prisons
You don't even flinch
All our takes paying
For your wars against the new non rich
Posts: 615 | Registered: Friday, May 3 2002 07:00
Shaper
Member # 5450
Profile Homepage #3
Ahh but because the cinema is almost empty, that does'nt mean its a bad movie. I was one of the only ones in the movies a couple of days after 2Fast 2Furious was released, and that is a classic movie. I havn't seen Million Dollar Baby so i don't know what it is like.

[ Sunday, February 27, 2005 23:22: Message edited by: Goddam ]

--------------------
I'll put a Spring in your step.

Polaris
Posts: 2396 | Registered: Saturday, January 29 2005 08:00
Shock Trooper
Member # 156
Profile #4
If you liked 2Fast 2Furious, you will not like Million Dollar Baby. There are no car crashes or explosions in MDB. Unlike 2F2F, MDB is a well written, well acted, well directed film.

MDB is a very sad movie and one well deserving of the Oswars it won IMO(though I don't think Morgan Freeman should have won over Thomas Hayden Church and Jamie Foxx when he was just playing the same Character he always plays(The Character he played in Shawshank Redemption only now he runs a gym)).

[ Monday, February 28, 2005 09:41: Message edited by: SkeleTony ]

--------------------
"I am in a very peculiar business. I travel all over the world telling people what they should already know." - James Randi
Posts: 219 | Registered: Saturday, October 13 2001 07:00
Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire!
Member # 919
Profile #5
Over Jamie Foxx? I could have sworn he won. Are you pinning movies to their actors, or did Freeman himself get an award that Foxx himself was up for?

--------------------
And though the musicians would die, the music would live on in the imaginations of all who heard it.
-The Last Pendragon

Polaris = joy.

In case of emergency, break glass.
Posts: 3351 | Registered: Saturday, April 6 2002 08:00
Shock Trooper
Member # 156
Profile #6
quote:
Originally written by Lady Davida:

Over Jamie Foxx? I could have sworn he won. Are you pinning movies to their actors, or did Freeman himself get an award that Foxx himself was up for?
Wasn't Foxx nominated for "Best Supporting Actor" for his role in Collateral? I know he won "Best Actor" for his role in Ray.

--------------------
"I am in a very peculiar business. I travel all over the world telling people what they should already know." - James Randi
Posts: 219 | Registered: Saturday, October 13 2001 07:00
Apprentice
Member # 5540
Profile #7
sidenote: no Jamie Foxx wasn't nominated for best supporting, but he damn well should have been.

Unfortunately, the oscars are quite meaningless. in my opinion nothin in 2004 even came close to touching Eternal Sunshine. Michel Gondry and Michael Mann were really the only people that deserved to be in competition. But they werent, and why?

Because the oscars arent decided by people watching all the movies and deciding which one was best. its more like an election. clint eastwood pumps millinos of dollars into a heavy heavy oscar campaign. All best picture nominees do. If you don't campaign, you 99% of the time will never get graced with a nomination. So for directors or studios that dont want to commit to an oscar campaign, you'll never see it on red carpet night. You wont even hear about it.

The Oscars really only come down to a big expensive celebrrity fashion show and thats it.

Although as a side note, i'm quite pleased that kid from Sheridan College (in Toronto, the place i reside) won an oscar for best animated short. But those awards arent in the same league as the main ones.

and also the only people really, really deserving of winning an oscar in this elaborate political game, is the award for Production Design, probably the most underrated, and most essentia dept. in filmmaking. Just as, if not more important than directing. And I say this as a director.

But blah blah blah, nobody cares. the end.

[ Tuesday, March 01, 2005 16:54: Message edited by: Fringy MacGee ]
Posts: 27 | Registered: Thursday, February 24 2005 08:00
Infiltrator
Member # 4592
Profile #8
(Luke Skywalker: "I care.")

Actually, Jamie Foxx was nominated for Collateral

Indeed Oscars are a highly lobbyist procedure. The Studios (more than any individual person) do indeed spend quite a lot of money in their campaigns which begin before the nominations are cast, then continue until Oscar night.

Miramax, for example, is one of the masters at this. The fact that they won for Shakespeare in Love could be used as an example. (That year Saving Private Ryan seemed to be almost a sure bet.)

The Oscars are funny, too, because as some people have said, winners of supporting acting awards specially, it can completely kill your career. Tommy Lee Jones made a joke about that way back when he won for The Fugitive

The Oscars also pull some darn silly stunts. They forbid John Drexler from singing the song for which he had been nominated, "Al Otro Lado del Rio." Instead they put Antonio Banderas (not a singer by any strecth of the imagination. In fact if you saw the performance, he didn't sing, per se) It was nice to see Mr. Drexler singing a couple of stanzas from it as his thank you speech.

The way they treated the "small" awards this time around was, frankly, beyond insulting. Some of them they just put together in the stage like some kind of of line-up either for a Police Identification thingy or one of those darn pageants. Also, they cut them up even sooner than other people.

Whatever importance actors, directors, and others of the so-called "big awards" may have in a movie, those who work in editing, costume design, production design, have an importance that have been for many years, and continues to be, insultingly underrated.

Morgan Freeman has been Morgan Freeman since. . . well since he began acting. I, personally, don't care. I love the man. I love all the portrayals he makes. I rather see someone like him, whose eyes impart so much. . . so much (sorry, ran out of words) than anybody like, say, Marlon Brando (and this more than borders on heresy (for the record, I love Mr. Brando and miss him terribly, at least his good roles. . .))

Kevin Spacey may be said, arguably, to be similar to Mr. Freeman. He seems to always be Kevin Spacey.

David Mamet once said that there were only tww Holidays in the American calendar, The Super Bowl and the Oscars. He may very well have been right.

Can you think of any Oscar winner for best picture that can be accepted as such by a hefty per cent?

And how the heck does Hitchcock and Scorcese get away with not winning a single Oscar? I'm sure they have their detractors but, still, come on. . .

I thought it was interesting that "Sea Inside," Best Foreign Film, and "MDB" both dealt with euthanasia. In different ways, but the end result was the same.

Still. . . 2004, at least for me, was a crappy year for movies. The other I sat down to try to come up with a list of Top 10 movies and. . . could barely make it, with some forced.

(for what's worth, I thought Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow was the best picture last year. . . perhaps not as bad as saying it was Alexander or Catwoman, but. . .)

Anyway, I've babbled enough. Good night.

[ Tuesday, March 01, 2005 19:03: Message edited by: Betamax sales collapsed. ]

--------------------
quote:

"I suffer from spiritual malaise," said Cugel meaningfully. "which manifest itself in outburst of vicious rage. I implore you to depart, lest, in an uncontrollable spasm, I cut you in three pieces with my sword, or worse, I invoke magic."
Random Jack Vance Quote Manual Generator Apparatus (Cugel's Saga)
Posts: 604 | Registered: Sunday, June 20 2004 07:00
Shaper
Member # 5450
Profile Homepage #9
Skeletony, I like a wide range of movies. Not all people are narrow-minded car enthusiasts that like seeing BANG across the screen. Harry Potter is good(as well as the books), and movies like Lord Of The Rings I enjoy. Jamie Foxx should win of won the Osacr for Ray , but since I don't judge, I hold no power.

Edit: 2F2F a bad written movie? Shame on you Skeletony, shame shame shame.

[ Tuesday, March 01, 2005 21:06: Message edited by: The Sprung Spring ]

--------------------
I'll put a Spring in your step.

Polaris
Posts: 2396 | Registered: Saturday, January 29 2005 08:00
Warrior
Member # 4278
Profile Homepage #10
me = fringy

Whoops, my bad, Foxx was nominated for supporting. Well he should have won that at least.

Although discussing oscar vehicle films is upsetting me, I don't believe that Scorsese will ever win an oscar for best pic/director. Well, I seriously doubt it anyway. But no doubt he'll win lifetime acheivment award. what a guy. Plus, Thelma Schoonmaker is arguably the best editor alive today.

(alright, self, time to get the gears moving on your feature)

--------------------
Pathological Jerk
Jerking at Spiderweb since 1999
Posts: 143 | Registered: Sunday, April 18 2004 07:00
Shock Trooper
Member # 156
Profile #11
Betamax: Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow was a brilliant movie. I think a lot of people who crapped on it were just young and unfamiliar with the old serials and pulp fictional adventures of the two-fisted thirties(1930's). It was WAY better than Raiders of the Lost Ark as far as I am concerned.

Also, I love Morgan Freeman as well, in pretty much anything. I just think that, in a perfect world, other actors worked harder and achieved more in their roles(Foxx being one).

Michael Mann is my favorite director also(ever since Manhunter(aka the original "Red Dragon").

Spring: Take what I say with a grain of salt but 2F2F was one of those Brucheimer-esque movies(like Gone in Sixty Seconds) that is hard to watch. The first "Fast and Furious" movie, with Vin Diesel was absolutely terrible but at least Diesel has screen presence. Replcing him with Tyrese and a bunch of rappers...sorry but there was no way that was gonna work.
Of course you cannot expect much from a script that is basically an excuse to show cars that very few people on Earth could even possibly own being raced at ridiculous speeds and crashed left and right but bad is bad.
Calling 2F2F a "classic" is right up there with calling Aliens vs. Predator "a masterpiece of sci-fi horror!".

--------------------
"I am in a very peculiar business. I travel all over the world telling people what they should already know." - James Randi
Posts: 219 | Registered: Saturday, October 13 2001 07:00
Shaper
Member # 5450
Profile Homepage #12
Skeletony, you cannot come here and tell me what movies I can and can not like. I know that those things in 2F2F are a bit un-realistic, but cars can go that fast. I have seen it with my own eyes. Also, I really enjoy watching Gone in Sixty Seconds , mainly because of that excellent Ford Mustang at the end of the film nicknamed 'Elanora'. Once again, you cannot tell me I can and cannot like. You might call that type of movie 'hard to watch', but I call it 'excellent'. Now you are calling The Fast And The Furious 'absolutely terrible'. As is said, THEY DO HAPPEN!! You are way too prejudiced.

[ Tuesday, March 01, 2005 23:52: Message edited by: The Sprung Spring ]

--------------------
I'll put a Spring in your step.

Polaris
Posts: 2396 | Registered: Saturday, January 29 2005 08:00
Law Bringer
Member # 2984
Profile Homepage #13
First off, I have seen "Fast and the Furious", and it sucked in my sadly-less-than-humble opinion.

That said, intellectual snobbery is pleasant to engage in, but it does little to make one popular. Believe me, it is experience speaking.

[ Thursday, March 03, 2005 06:14: Message edited by: Daryl Mycroft [Arancaytar] ]

--------------------
The Encyclopaedia Ermariana <-- Now a Wiki!
"Polaris leers down from the black vault, winking hideously like an insane watching eye which strives to convey some strange message, yet recalls nothing save that it once had a message to convey." --- HP Lovecraft.
"I single Aran out due to his nasty temperament, and his superior intellect." --- SupaNik
Posts: 8752 | Registered: Wednesday, May 14 2003 07:00
Shaper
Member # 5450
Profile Homepage #14
Well, it seems I am the only one that likes the movie.
Oh well

--------------------
I'll put a Spring in your step.

Polaris
Posts: 2396 | Registered: Saturday, January 29 2005 08:00
E Equals MC What!!!!
Member # 5491
Profile Homepage #15
I don't see SkeleTony telling you what you can and can't like, any more than you're telling him what he can like and can't like. You just have different opinions on a film.

The Fast and The Furious might have tied Gigli for Oscar noms, but a lot of people liked it. It was the studio's biggest profit-earner that year. I saw it on TV, thought it bordered on okay. Closer to the worst thing ever than the best thing ever, but not by a lot. However, I couldn't care less about cars, so long as they have four wheels and move. I'm not the target audience. I think you could make a good case that The Fast and The Furious did everything it was meant to do.

Every movie has good points and bad points. Some flaws we'll accept happily by saying "It's a movie! Who cares if that action sequence isn't physically possible, it's fun to watch!" Different people will forgive different flaws. The thing that irritates me most is inconsistency in character. Vin Diesel's monologue about his father's death is beautifully written - but I hated it because I couldn't buy a character like that coming out with a beautifully written monologue.

That said, it's a stretch to call 2F2F a classic film. Since we can't all agree on what movies are good and which ones aren't, 'classic' is generally used to mean a film generally everyone liked, such as The Godfather II or Rocky (both of which bored me, personally, but that doesn't invalidate the definition). I don't think you could say that about 2F2F. You liked it? Obviously. You think it's really well made? Sure.

On a side note, my favourite movies of the year were Collateral and The Incredibles. That said, I haven't seen a lot of the ones that did win a bunch of awards. And yeah, Foxx was nominated for Best Actor in Ray, and Best Suporting in Collateral (despite the fact that he played the protagonist...).

--------------------
Sex is easier than love.
Posts: 1861 | Registered: Friday, February 11 2005 08:00
Shaper
Member # 5450
Profile Homepage #16
Yes...over-reactions are my speciallty, I know.

--------------------
I'll put a Spring in your step.

Polaris
Posts: 2396 | Registered: Saturday, January 29 2005 08:00
Law Bringer
Member # 335
Profile Homepage #17
quote:
Originally written by The Sprung Spring:

Skeletony, you cannot come here and tell me what movies I can and can not like. I know that those things in 2F2F are a bit un-realistic, but cars can go that fast. I have seen it with my own eyes.
This is a complete nitpick and serves no purpose, but he never said that cars can't go that fast. He said that nobody can afford them, and while this isn't quite true, it's pretty close to it. Anybody spending that much money on moving from point A to point B has too much money.

—Alorael, who has a low tolerance level for movies in general. He doesn't enjoy most "classics," he doesn't like most new movies, and he has for the most part stopped seeing them. If there's a really good one, someone whose taste he trusts will recommend it eventually and save him the wasted hours of boredom.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Shaper
Member # 5450
Profile Homepage #18
I like seing movies. They are something to do, and if I don't like them, to bad. Its not like im going to get my money back off the tight-a** old hag that runs the movies.

[ Thursday, March 03, 2005 00:20: Message edited by: The Sprung Spring ]

--------------------
I'll put a Spring in your step.

Polaris
Posts: 2396 | Registered: Saturday, January 29 2005 08:00
Law Bringer
Member # 2984
Profile Homepage #19
That's precisely why I don't see them in the first place. Since I'm not going to get your money back if it sucks, I'm too cheap to spend money on a movie I'm not 100% sure I'll enjoy.

The last movie I saw was 'Land of Plenty', and the one before then LotR III. Both several months ago.

--------------------
The Encyclopaedia Ermariana <-- Now a Wiki!
"Polaris leers down from the black vault, winking hideously like an insane watching eye which strives to convey some strange message, yet recalls nothing save that it once had a message to convey." --- HP Lovecraft.
"I single Aran out due to his nasty temperament, and his superior intellect." --- SupaNik
Posts: 8752 | Registered: Wednesday, May 14 2003 07:00
Warrior
Member # 4278
Profile Homepage #20
i don't even pay to see movies since i'm a part-time projectionist, and i still don't like watching them.

--------------------
Pathological Jerk
Jerking at Spiderweb since 1999
Posts: 143 | Registered: Sunday, April 18 2004 07:00
Shock Trooper
Member # 156
Profile #21
To add to Aloreal's nitpick, many of those cars are not only expensive but have a several year waiting list to purchase IIRC. Nobody who waits 5 years and spends one hundred grand or whatever on a car is going to race it 180 mph down the city streets against gang-bangers putting the title on the line(if he survives).

My sister also works at the theatre(where one of my best friends is the manager) and sometimes as a projectionist. I see my movies for free and I still won't go see the likes of Catwoman and such.

[ Thursday, March 03, 2005 06:12: Message edited by: SkeleTony ]

--------------------
"I am in a very peculiar business. I travel all over the world telling people what they should already know." - James Randi
Posts: 219 | Registered: Saturday, October 13 2001 07:00
Law Bringer
Member # 335
Profile Homepage #22
And another nitpick, this one an extreme pet peeve: you should call me Alorael, not Aloreal. Alo will suffice for shorthand. Or even "That guy who keeps posting with the signature at the end. Yeah, the one whose name changes all the time. With the rifle and the skribbane? Y'know?"

—Alorael, who actually advises against identifying him with a several sentence description. That's a lot of wasted text. One of those sentences should suffice.

[ Thursday, March 03, 2005 17:27: Message edited by: Sacred ASCII Text ]
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Warrior
Member # 5520
Profile #23
A spin-off from L'Oreal . . . 'because you are worth it'? Somebody gets to decipher another mystery!. . or Somebody considers ***self dead?
Posts: 53 | Registered: Saturday, February 19 2005 08:00
...b10010b...
Member # 869
Profile Homepage #24
quote:
And another nitcpick, this one an extreme pet peeve: you should call me Alorae, not Aloreal.
Well, okay, Alorae. If you insist...

--------------------
My BoE Page
Bandwagons are fun!
Roots
Hunted!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00

Pages