THE 2019 BOFFY AWARDS: Spider-Verse Wins 7 Including Picture, Cuaron Wins Director, The Favourite Wins Ensemble

[Avatree]

Just now, DAR said:

We get it

I don't think you do. I don't think you appreciate how good Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is. It should be making $500M at the box office, and did you see it was only nominated for one oscar? The times we live in.

[CoolioD1]

2 minutes ago, Spagspiria said:

 

 

 

A Star is Born begins and ends with music.

Take a minute to think, to yourself, about that fact.

This film begins and ends with music.

But how does it begin with music? Well, there’s a black screen. Then, out from the soundscape comes the cheers of a passionate audience. An amplified guitar riff is played. The screen fades from black. Country musician Jackson Maine stands backstage, hidden away from the audience; he shoves a handful of prescription pills into his mouth and drinks a clear glass of mysterious liquid—some of it falls from his lips like a dripping faucet, but he doesn’t seem to notice. He is promptly ushered onto stage, much to the audience’s pleasure. He picks up a guitar and plays the same note over and over again—we see this through a camera that displays his inebriated point of view with curved edges around the image. A chord is struck. The crowd cheers. He’s escorted away in a limo moments later.

The film ends with music, as well. A broken woman in a cyan-colored dress—the same cyan present onstage when “Shallow” had been performed earlier in the film. The broken woman asks for the audience’s support, and she sings a ballad, lamenting a love which has been lost. The song ends. She stares into the camera. Cut to black.

This film is notable not for the way it begins and ends, but for the way it interweaves these two moments together. I don’t even need to say anything else about the plot of the film: you already know that the country musician’s addiction to drugs and alcohol was the root cause of the woman’s loss. That is how affective the beginning and ending this film is, and it is no secret that the middle parts of the film are just as strong and affective as the beginning and ending which I’ve mentioned.

A Star is Born is film auteur Bradley Cooper’s musical masterpiece. One can hope it’s not his last.

- @Slambros

well, i'm convinced. a star is born is certainly a film that begins and ends, and has multiple scenes in between.

[Ezen Baklattan]

Something something endgame now.

 

BEST ENSEMBLE

 

Avengers: Infinity War

 

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

 

Black Panther

 

Crazy Rich Asians

 

The Favourite

 

Widows

The BOFFY goes to...

Spoiler

The Favourite

 

Runner Up:

Black Panther

 

[4815162342]

3 minutes ago, aabattery said:

Leave No Trace Gang, we out here.

In theory the truest support of LNT would have been to get no nominations

 

[Avatree]

Some things you can't refuse

She wanna ride me like a cruise

 

Yeah.... I mean, Lady Gaga is good and all but she has nothing on Ol Postie.

[DAJK]

Just now, Spagspiria said:

Something something endgame now.

 

BEST ENSEMBLE

 

Avengers: Infinity War

 

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

 

Black Panther

 

Crazy Rich Asians

 

The Favourite

 

Widows

The BOFFY goes to...

  Hide contents

The Favourite

 

Runner Up:

Black Panther

 

racist

 

Spoiler

kidding, never saw favourite, but BP's ensemble was fantastic. Guess you can't complain, 3 out of those 4 were nominated for an oscar

 

[DAR]

2 minutes ago, Avatree said:

I don't think you do. I don't think you appreciate how good Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is. It should be making $500M at the box office, and did you see it was only nominated for one oscar? The times we live in.

Alright man good talking to you.

 

Honestly can we have one thread without someone acting like a dick?

 

Sorry @Spagspiria for the interruption 

[CoolioD1]

i think thomasin was probably on the edge of losing, but Han's writeup secured some last minute votes and even got some to change their votes. it's inarguable. 

[DAR]

@aabattery  I gave Buster Scruggs some ensemble love

[Ezen Baklattan]

We're wrapping this up.

 

BEST DIRECTOR

 

Bradley Cooper

A STAR IS BORN

Alfonso Cuaron

ROMA

Debra Granik

LEAVE NO TRACE

Barry Jenkins

IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK

Yorgos Lanthimos

THE FAVOURITE

Spike Lee

BLACKKKLANSMAN

 

 

The BOFFY goes to...

Spoiler

Alfonso Cuaron (Roma)

 

Runner Up:

Debra Granik (Leave No Trace)

 

[CoolioD1]

1 hour ago, Avatree said:

hard for a film that no one's seen, to win. did well enough getting a nomination.

this is why ROMA will go home empty handed.

 

nostradumbass over here.

[Ezen Baklattan]

BEST PICTURE NOMINEE

SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE

 

 

Okay, so when I first heard that Sony were planning on doing a big cinematic animated Spider-Man movie, my first thoughts were… I’m not gonna lie- not exactly the most positive. It felt like just another notch on the belt of Sony’s ill-advised attempts to create a Cinematic Universe out of Spiderman, a feat that is significantly difficult to achieve even before you consider that literally every other attempt Hollywood has made to try to copy the MCU’s success has crashed and burned to some degree (minus the Conjuringverse somehow). Hell, one of the corpses littering that Cinematic Universe path was Sony’s first attempt at creating a Spideyverse via TASM2, which created a franchise that came out almost painfully stillborn.

 

So, with that in mind, I wasn’t initially very hyped for this movie when it was announced, in spite of being a huge animation fan. But, as more and more news and teasers came out about this film, my opinion slowly started to turn. First was the news that Lord & Miller (of LEGO Movie fame) were involving in the writing/producing, which was an obvious positive. Second was the teaser, which showed off some fantastically stylised animation that immediately got my interest and made it clear this wasn’t just going to be a cheap cash-in. Then the trailers came out revealing the whole ‘Spider-verse’ premise and I was firmly cemented as being fucking hyped for this movie, even before the absurdly positive reviews came out.

So, did the actual movie live up to my lofty expectations?

 

Well, it ended up being my No 1 movie of the year, so there's a hint. And, no joke, Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse may legitimately be one of the most well-constructed stories I've seen in a long time.

Seriously, I was amazed at  how well almost every single detail of this movie was constructed to help push the main story of this film. And I mean every single detail. Every line, every visual cue and theme, even the music, all worked to support this story and message and it all came together perfectly for what was arguably the strongest payoff in any movie I saw this year. It definitely has one of the strongest protagonists, in the form of Miles Morales, and his entire arc and evolution through the entire film was practically perfect in every single way. From the obvious stuff, to the hundreds of smaller visual details scattered throughout the movie that one could so easily miss, there's so much you can say about it and the storytelling works on so many layers.

 

And let's not forget the animation. Needless to say, it's excellent. Very pop and punchy, filled with a mishmash of different styles and techniques that all come together perfectly and make the movie great fun to watch. I’ve always felt that animation has a lot more freedom than live-action and this is an excellent example as to why. It fits the quick webslinging Spidey action to a tee and never felt too difficult to follow at any point. It captures the emotion of every character almost perfectly, not just from the expression on their faces, but on the frame and background and everything surrounding them. It's clearly had a lot of thought put into it and just works so well.

 

Honestly, it's kinda easy to dismiss a lot of this movie's popularity on Spider-Man's ubiquitousness as an icon. I'm certain almost all of us had at least some level of exposure to him growing up that we remember fondly. For me, personally, it was the 90's animated show, but I'm sure other felt the same way about the Raimi movies, the comics the more recent cartoons, possibly the 60's show for the real oldies among us or the Tokusetsu show with the giant robot for the hipster weirdos and/or Japanese viewers. And even if you didn't necessarily grow up with those, I'm sure you at least knew of them. Spiderman has been around for a really long time and has had a lot of different iterations over the years, both good and bad.

 

But when I watched this movie, I wasn't thinking about the 90's animated series. Neither was I thinking about the live-action movies (none of which ever really did much for me), or the comics, or the other shows, or anything else Spider-man related. I was thinking about how good this movie was on its own terms. Because, much like Miles Morales, it manages to strike that perfect balance between leaning on the past, while simultaneously forging its own path and way of doing things. And frankly, that is just something I have to applaud.

 

The fact of the matter is, Into the Spiderverse is freaking amazing on every single level. For a movie I initially dismissed as an attempted Sony cashgrab, I was blown away by all the passion, care and love placed into it. And for all its poppy, wild irreverent aesthetic, it's constructed so tightly you could make a fucking clock out of it. For me this is the best Spiderman movie by far and it's not even remotely close. In visuals, in characters, in themes, in everything it just plains works. It's a celebration of everything that Spiderman is, was and very well could be. And it's even more on top of that.

 

Also, it's one of the very few times I've actually agreed with the Academy on their Best Animated Feature Winner, so kudos to that.

- @rukaio101

 

 

When I was a boy, I knew who I wanted to be when I grew up. I learned it in the summer of 2002 when my parents bought a DVD player that came with Sam Raimi’s inaugural superhero film. Yes, I wanted to grow up and be Spider-Man. I regret to inform you all this hasn’t come true yet, but with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, my memories of this dream came back full swing.

Persichetti, Ramsey, and Rothman have directed a film that takes Spider-Man back to his biggest strength as a hero ideologically. Whereas Superman was born with his powers and Batman buys them, Spider-Man has always been the everyman. We may know Peter Parker is behind the mask, but for New York, anyone can be behind that friendly neighborhood hero. Furthermore, Spider-Man is entrenched in responsibility, something that seems often forgot from recent incarnations of his character. A deep loss and failure begins his journey as a hero, which really is just atoning for his biggest sin.

 

Spider-Verse has this in spades, reinventing Spider-Man in the mainstream consciousness to be an idea. You don’t have to be Peter Parker to be Spider-Man. Heck, even Peter Parker, portrayed here as a washed-has-been, doesn’t need to live up to the stereotypical image of Spider-Man. Miles, our main hero, wants to be just like Peter Parker, but it’s not until he realizes that he is worthy enough as his own self does he truly become Spider-Man. It takes him meeting two Peter Parkers, a Spider-Woman and a Pig, along with an anime heroine and a noir detective to realize this, which makes the point incredibly clear, and Miles even states it in film: “Anyone can wear the mask. You can wear the mask.”

 

Of course, all the waxing on about the philosophical points of Spider-Man as a character really doesn’t mean shit if the film itself doesn’t back it up in quality. Don’t worry, because this film is insanely good regardless. It being unconnected to a cinematic universe is for its benefit as it allows the film to throw anything to the wall to see what sticks, not caring about it messing up films down the road. This is most evident in the gorgeous art style, which combines vibrant colors, frame-rate fluctuations, and a genuine comic book aesthetic to create a wholly unique visual experience. I’ve seen it five times on the big screen and every time my jaw drops at so many of the visual moments in this film. Worth also shouting out visually is how Peni and Spider-Ham interact with the environment, never losing their individual two-dimensional feel despite their obviously 3D models.

 

@CoolioD1 posted an FYC for this being nominated for Ensemble and although it was snubbed, I whole-heartedly agree with that endorsement. I can’t think another an animated movie where everyone perfectly fit their characters and stood-out as strong casting. Moore anchors the films emotionally as Miles, melding flawlessly with the character. I always say this is a film where I can’t single out actors, but I will single out one who has been weirdly overlooked: Brian Tyree Henry as Miles’s dad, building a ton of dimension to a character who really doesn’t have a lot of screentime.

The smartest thing about Spider-Verse is how it focuses on Miles’ story. There’s an insane amount of ways that a film with alternate dimensions and several Spider-People could go awry, but by focusing it on Miles's origin, it gives something we’ve never seen before. The best aspect of origin stories are, well, the origin, but the way superhero blockbusters are set up, the origin has to be completed by the end of the first hour, so they can fight a villain by the end of the movie. Thanks to the more experienced heroes around him, mentoring him, Miles’ origin lasts the entire movie, only truly completing in the third act, allowing the emotional catharsis to hit at the peak of the exhilarating final setpiece. Lord and Miller have produced an utter masterpiece with this film, brought to life by Persichetti, Ramsey and Rothman’s excellent collaboration. It’s the best superhero movie in a decade and, yes, 2018’s best film. The first Marvel movie that really is a total marvel.

- @Blankments

[CoolioD1]

saw i got tagged in this post and was frightened that my one sentence review from that thread had been used as a write-up. phew.

[Avatree]

Don't do this to me.

 

Don't you fucking dare

[Ezen Baklattan]

Paul Thomas Anderson's THE MASTER

 

Alfonso Cuaron's GRAVITY

 

Wes Anderson's THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL

 

Pete Docter and Ronnie Del Carmen's INSIDE OUT

 

Damien Chazelle's LA LA LAND

 

Jordan Peele's GET OUT

 

 

These films all have one thing in common - they won the below award.

 

It's time for BEST PICTURE.

[That One Girl]

4 minutes ago, CoolioD1 said:

nostradumbass over here.

 

As we all know, 3-time Oscar winning Best Picture nominee Roma, which has been on Netflix for 3 months, has not been seen by a lot of people

Edited March 11, 2019 by That One Guy

[Avatree]

"Ryan Coogler's Black Panther"

 

I am asking kindly. Please.

[4815162342]

Just now, Spagspiria said:

Paul Thomas Anderson's THE MASTER

 

 

our finest hour @CJohn

[Jake Gittes]

1 minute ago, 4815162342 said:

 

our finest hour @CJohn

good times

[CoolioD1]

1 minute ago, 4815162342 said:

 

our finest hour @CJohn

was fun but the master only won cos that was back when like 12 people voted. we'd never pull it off today.