District 9.
The others that I’ve seen are *Up *and Avatar, and I’d rank *Up *higher.
I’ve seen Avatar, District 9 and Inglorious Basterds. Of those, I thought *Basterds *was the best; I think one of Tarantino’s best too. I’ve heard good things about *The Hurt Locker *though, I’d like to give that one a go too.
I almost feel you. After seeing WALL-E for the first time, I was torn (because I was smitten by the trailers, and scifi is my favorite genre; and Pixar my favorite animation studio). I’ve grown to love it a bit more since, but I felt the first third of the movie was far stronger than the last two-thirds (once WALL-E arrives on the ship). It’s obvious to me they had the idea of this robot, and the unexpected arrival of a probe he ends up falling in love with, but just didn’t know where to take the story after that. It’s apparent they struggled to come up with a story that would’ve held up to the strength of the part when WALL-E and EVE are alone on earth. I can’t shake the gnawing sensation that they missed a huge opportunity to make a truly epic adventure, once WALL-E left earth.
Still, fantastic movie.
- The Hurt Locker
- A Serious Man
- District 9
- An Education
- Up in the Air
- Up
- Inglorious Basterds
- Precious
- Avatar
- The Blind Side
Yes, yes, yes. I am also a shill for Pixar, enjoyed Up, but not as much as their best films, which I would rank in the EXACT order you have.
Finally saw Inglourious Basterd and thought it was fantastic. The only others I have seen on the list are Up, District 9, and Avatar and out of those four I would rank them:
- IB
- D9
- Avatar
- Up
I’ve seen them all, and I’d vote for The Hurt Locker.
For some of these movies, the Best Picture nomination was a huge stretch. I know that the academy wanted to have commercial films be more represented, but they’ll discredit and embarrass themselves if a film like The Blind Side or District 9 wins.
I thought Avatar was dreadful, but I think it’s 50-50 to win.
Watched The Hurt Locker today. I’d rank it between Avatar and Up. I’ll be disappointed if it wins best picture.
Revised rankings after seeing a couple more contenders:
- A Serious Man
- The Hurt Locker
- An Education
- Up in the Air
- Inglourious Basterds
- Avatar
- District 9
The Hurt Locker has just picked up six Bafta Awards if that’s any indication.
The cynic in me is saying it won because the director is the ex-wife of the director of Avatar (spite), plus the fact that she is a woman (about time!), plus the fact that some think Avatar has made a boat load of money (greedy rich bastard) and doesn’t need no 'frickin awards (screw you, “King of the world”).
I know I piss people off when I say this, but which film will people be watching in 5, 10, 15 and 20 years from now at home - Hurt Locker or Avatar?
Ghandi beat out E.T. back then because it was a “serious” film - but my guess is few, if any, have ever watched Ghandi since. E.T. is still a film that kids like, and adults enjoy as they remember seeing it as (kids/young adults) back then.
Not that the Best Film should necessarily be the most popular film - but still - sometimes it seems like they intentionally select a film that is NOT popular, simply to try to get people to see it.
Gandhi won because it was a great film. It still is. It holds up in every way. Yes, it’s a serious film, about a serious subject, but the last time I saw it I was surprised again at how many humorous moments it had, simply because Gandhi himself had a fantastic sense of humor. It’s gripping, mesmerizing, fascinating, emotional, beautiful and timeless. It was then and it is now. If people don’t appreciate it it’s due entirely to their own shortcomings.
ET may be more beloved, I love it myself, but that doesn’t mean it should have won Best Picture. It got nominated, and that’s good enough. The right film won.
I’ve seen 5 of the nominees. Here’s my listing:
- District 9
- Inglorious Basterds
- The Hurt Locker
- Up
- Avatar
My margin between #1 and #2 on that list is incredibly slim - I think District 9 just edges out Inglorious Basterds because its themes and ideas are more complex.
I’m a little annoyed by the academy for nominating the same movie in two different categories just so that they can give it an award like they want while still giving another movie an award that their first choice might have taken. They did this with Life is Beautiful and they’re doing it again with Up. I know they’ve done this with actors in subsequent years (Denzel, as mentioned above, Al Pacino, Martin Scorsese, et al), but I’m annoyed when they do it to movies in the same year. I don’t like this practice.
I’ll be really annoyed should *Avatar *win. No way this is a Best Picture film. No way. It’s absolutely a huge technological achievement, but it’s not a Best Picture.
Who cares what they remember? The Hurt Locker will still be the better film. I suspect more people remember Jaws than One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest or Star Wars over Annie Hall, but that doesn’t mean the wrong film won.
“The test of time” is a pretty good metric, but certainly not a foolproof one (though you’ll get no argument about ET from me).
Who is “they” exactly? And what exact investment do this monolithic “they” have for having more people see a smaller, less publicized film over a bigger, more expensive one? Only a handful of people in the Academy worked on Locker–why should they care if people see it more than Precious, An Education, A Serious Man or any other similarly small film?
In short, they don’t. They simply vote for the movie (or actor) they like the most or think is the most “deserving” (by whatever criteria they choose).
- Inglorious Basterds
- A Serious Man
- Avatar
- The Hurt Locker
- Up
- District 9
I saw five last week during the best picture showcase (Avatar, Up in the Air, Precious, The Blind Side, and Inglourious Basterds) and will see the remaining five tomorrow.
Apparently this was not the year to expand to 10 movies; I’ve been underwhelmed so far.
Of the ones I’ve seen so far, Up in the Air was the one I liked best. IB is the one I’m guessing film students will be pulling apart in 10 years - even though I can’t remember the last time I was that bored in a movie theater.
Of the ones I’ve seen
1 Inglorious Basterds - movie of the year
2 Hurt Locker - best mainstream Hollywood movie
3 Avatar - most technically accomplished
4 District 9 - Best story
5 Up - nothing special
For my money, the 5 best are the ones you’ll be seeing tomorrow.
Having seen them all now, Up in the Air is my favorite, but unlikely to win. A Serious Man is my favorite of those that I think have (or should have) a shot at winning. Hurt Locker has a better shot, and deservedly so. I didn’t like Inglorious Basterds at all or Avatar very much for entirely different reasons, but I could clearly see why they’re on the list. And District 9 had a few too many problems to win, but the nomination wasn’t entirely undeserved.
UP! was cute, but not one of the better Pixar movies. They would have done better to wait for the next Pixar movie to give them their “body of work” nomination (which is what I assume this was). The Blind Side was a perfectly serviceable Lifetime Movie, but makes having 10 nominees looks like a stretch. Precious was not good. And An Education was a bad Afterschool Special in period clothing. What was who thinking when that got nominated?