Plain Old Tele

I was talking more in straight box-office terms than award ones.

It's been many years since the Oscars have given out a special honorary award, especially for a film. Previously, they used to do it for categories that weren't established (such as giving out a Special Visual Effects award in a year where VFX wasn't its own category).Let DH2 get nominated for the People's Choice Awards, the MTV Awards, etc -- that's the best reflection of their popularity.

But I already get that in any HP-related thread.

BLACK SWAN was a crazy outlier... we can't really expect an indie film that like to break out every year.WAR HORSE will definitely fit into KING'S SPEECH/TRUE GRIT territory -- it's very entertaining, very accessible to a wide range of audiences (teens to the AARP crowd) and very classically made.

What's the point of this thread?

KOH:EE is a great film, agreed, and goes to show that when you make story decisions simply based off running time and your ideas of what an audience may be willing to sit through, usually you'll make a weaker film.Off the top of my head, probably the earliest "director's cut" is Spielberg's CLOSE ENCOUNTERS (although since then he's removed the extra footage from the ending that the DC added). And Cameron probably was the one to start popularizing them, at least in terms of getting the movie-going public aware of what DC's were (ALIENS and THE ABYSS in particular were stand-outs, and THE ABYSS:DC, like KOH:EE, proved that a DC could actually be a much better film).

57... pretty much everything 1984. I've got a couple of 5-year gaps or so here and there, especially in the earlier years.

WAR HORSE is great. I could see it really being embraced by an older crowd.

They're not the only one who're delusional, but still: funny.

You young hipsters.

God, all those choices are so terrible. PHANTOM MENACE is slightly redeemed by the really kickass lightsaber duel, though.

LexG is hilarious! (If a bit tiresome and one-note at times).

I rather enjoy Wells and his crotchety-ness. He's so off-the-wall sometimes... and yet, he really does love film and film history, and it comes out in oddly poignant comments or examinations, especially about older films. It was a hoot listening to him and Sasha Stone on their Oscar Poker podcast last year, especially with Wells getting so deeply depressed about TSN going down (even though I was rooting for TSN too).

I don't think Wells would know what to do if a film he championed won Best Pic.

The Oscars are not the People's Choice Awards.

I agree completely.

Looking at popular blockbusters, IRON MAN and DARK KNIGHT didn't get a nomination (they were at 94% RT). Neither did STAR TREK (95% RT).

I was referring to SOCIAL NETWORK, but then I realized we're talking just nominations here. That being said, we're in another year that's new territory in terms of who/how many get nominated, and without a requirement to find 10 nominees, and with a BP needing 5% of the #1 votes, I think that hurts fringe movies, whether they're fringe blockbusters or fringe art-house movies.

Uh, I live in LA, I get screening invites, screeners, see the trades, etc. It's been the same (so far). It's very simple: do ~305 Academy voters think DH2 is the absolute best film of the year?

As we saw last year, reviews mean bupkis.

Hilarity aside, WB has pushed HP every year -- plenty of trade FYCs, screeners, screenings, etc. I don't see an appreciable difference (so far) between this year and others.

My cat sneezing has more emotional impact than DH2.

MONEYBALL isn't locked. In fact, some pundits are thinking it's burnt off its early BP momentum and the campaign might need to be jumpstarted.

Hmm, fishnets in a room with Kira, B'Elana, and Miranda Otto. What happens? :lol:

Tintin is lighter than Raiders. Despite me being a Tintin fan, I'm just not sure it has enough oomph to get it.