First Annual Best Picture Discussion/Challenge Thread

[Maserschmidt]

@Mean_Mr.Mustard

That’s awesome, Maserschmidt. I did the five-a-day in 2008 (Frost/Nixon, Benjamin Button, The Reader, Milk, & Slumdog Millionaire).
mmm

That’s not a bad five!

We started doing this a few years ago, with Winter’s Bone, The Social Network, Black Swan, Inception and The King’s Speech, all in one shot. We’ve been hooked ever since!

[Mean_Mr.Mustard]

Updated to include Amour; just one more to go

Amour – ****
Argo - ****
Beasts of the Southern Wild - ***
Django Unchained - ****
Les Misérables – ** ½
Life of Pi – Not yet seen
Lincoln - ****
Silver Linings Playbook – ***
Zero Dark Thirty – *** ½
In preferential order, from most to least favorite:

1. Lincoln
2. Argo
3. Amour
4. Django Unchained
5. Zero Dark Thirty
6. Beasts of the Southern Wild
7. Silver Linings Playbook
8. Les Misérables

[Spoke]

@Moonchild

Tommy Lee Jones seemed ridiculously miscast (and the wig looked ridiculous).

The wig was supposed to look ridiculous. Historical accuracy.

[Moonchild]

@Moonchild

Amour - Haven’t seen it. Hadn’t even heard of it until the nominations were announced.

Argo ***½ - to me, the best move I’ve seen this year, but it left me pause with so much obviously fabricated content. And it won’t win without a Best Director nom.

Beasts of the Southern Wild - Haven’t seen it. Plan to.

Django Unchained - Will see it this weekend – at QT’s theatre, if possible. I can’t see a movie this graphic winning Academy Award.

Les Misérables - Haven’t seen it and don’t know if I will.

Life of Pi **½ - Visually impressive, but the movie stagnated for me. And never once did it convey the feeling of the belief in God, as the lead character purported. And the guy who played the author seemed like a putz.

Lincoln *** Masterful portrayal by DDL, but otherwise, not enthralling enough for me. Tommy Lee Jones seemed ridiculously miscast (and the wig looked ridiculous). I like Fun Spielberg more than Important Spielberg.

Silver Linings Playbook *** Watched it in fits and spurts (at work & home), which probably hurt my experience, but it just seemed like a very good film, not close to a great one and I would have nominated Looper over it. Jennifer Lawrence was terrific, though.

Zero Dark Thirty ***½ A very well done movie, but I dunno, too much bureaucratic content for me and I found the suspense was lacking (because I knew the ending).

Okay, adding to this now that I have seen all except Amour:

Beasts of the Southern Wild ***
Interesting flick, but easier to appreciate than to like.

Django Unchained ***
I think I would have liked Django more if I hadn’t seen Tarantino’s previous work. Cartoonish violence, cleverly timed humorous dialogue, good suspense and a big shootout someplace important. It felt like a bit of a retread for me, although a good one nonetheless. Samuel L. Jackson & Jamie Foxx could have easily received acting nominations, and I think Waltz should win Best Supporting. But still, this movie definitely missed in some places. And the over-the-top violence keeps it from getting Best Picture anyway.

Les Misérables - **
Had it’s moments, but I think it would be a better movie by not being a musical and making it a more traditional drama piece (with decent doses of action and suspense).

Argo is still my winner. The only thing that knocks it down a notch was the blatant fabrication of the climax, which is still a significant. But all the nominees have warts. I think it will be a deserved victory.

[Moonchild]

@Spoke

The wig was supposed to look ridiculous. Historical accuracy.

Thanks for the info. TLJ’s wig looks more ridiculous than that.

[Maserschmidt]

@Maserschmidt

We watched four of them today, so…

**Amour **– **** What a tough movie to watch, and what amazing acting. I won’t say that I enjoyed it, but it’s well worth seeing.
**Argo **- ** 3/4…lightweight and straightforward. It will disappear from my memory shortly, like the Chinese food of cinema.
Django Unchained - ***. QT movies are sort of like arming The Simpsons with large-caliber weapons, all clever references and exploding blood. A good movie, both weird and solid.
Les Misérables – *. Ugh. I didn’t know the story going in, so the direction/editing felt awkwardly pasted together. And the singing of the leads? Exécrable!

ETA: five more next weekend!

Beasts: *
Life of Pi: **1/2
SLP: ***
Lincoln: ***
ZDT: ** 1/2

[DMark]

Amour – Not seen and probably won’t…hits too close to home with some family members and I think it would depress me even more.

Argo - ** I started the thread on this movie here and said it was a “good film” but not “great film” and stand by that. It was OK - but Oscar worthy? Nah.

Beasts of the Southern Wild - Not seen, but looks good. Will watch when it comes on cable.

Django Unchained - **** Was pleasantly surprised at how good it was!

Les Misérables – No stars! I hated/loathed this film. I like Broadway musicals and was a fan of Chicago and Sweeny Todd and other recent Broadway to film movies, but this seriously sucked the big one. Plus, this film seemed to go on and on and on - I though it would never end, and the music all started to sound the same after about 10 minutes.

Life of Pi – Not yet seen but from the trailers, the CGI looked horrible to me. I have read here that is not the case, but it looked really fake and cheesy in the trailers.

Lincoln - Not yet seen - both times we intended to go see this, life got in the way and we had to cancel our trip to the multiplex. Might get around to it soon though.

Silver Linings Playbook – Another film I am not looking forward to seeing - not a big fan of watching people have a breakdown on screen and from what I have read, this is not going to be a romp through the park with me giggling and smiling on my way out of the theater.

Zero Dark Thirty – Not yet seen for the same reasons at Lincoln - planned on it but had to cancel seeing it at the last minute.