Award archives...

Post by **James** » January 23rd, 2007, 6:02 pm

I will be in the chat room on and off tonight if any one wants to discuss the Oscar nominations. I should be in after 8 pm (once the kids are in bed) but may pop in before then occasionally as I can.

Forum members click here (or the link at the top of every page) to chat:
http://www.animated-news.com/forum/chat/flashchat.php

Post by **ShyViolet** » January 23rd, 2007, 6:18 pm

I'm sad.

That's all I have to say.

Post by **ShyViolet** » January 23rd, 2007, 6:19 pm

I will be in the chat room on and off tonight if any one wants to discuss the Oscar nominations. I should be in after 8 pm (once the kids are in bed) but may pop in before then occasionally as I can.

I'll try to stop by!

Post by **Meg** » January 23rd, 2007, 6:28 pm

Same here, though I might have to study.

Post by **Mitch** » January 23rd, 2007, 7:00 pm

James - I'll also try to stop by in the chat room...if my brain remembers to.

As for the Oscars...:

Maaan, I'm just crossing my fingers and hoping that Happy Feet will waddle off with that trophy; however, Cars sure does deserve an award, as well. It will be a tough decision for the judges and a sweaty day for the contestants, no doubt about it. I'm quite surprised that Flushed Away wasn't nominated, though I can kind of see why it wasn't, come to think about it. (No offense to Aardman; I'm not blaming them.... (snigger) ). Monster House, on the other hand.... Well, I don't know. I'm betting that it won't win the award, but you should never judge a book by its cover.

Post by **ShyViolet** » January 23rd, 2007, 7:06 pm

Hey anyone want to chat?

Post by **Mitch** » January 23rd, 2007, 7:06 pm

I'm up for a chat.

Post by **ShyViolet** » January 23rd, 2007, 7:07 pm

Cool!

Post by **YCougar** » January 23rd, 2007, 9:12 pm

Well, at least the "Pixar vs. Dreamworks" monster won't arise over the actual competition.

Though I have to admit I'm surprised. I enjoyed Over the Hedge at least as much as Cars, and it appealed to a lot of people who didn't find the same enjoyment in Cars that others did. I might rant about the silly Academy people, but as I haven't seen Flushed Away, Monster House or Happy Feet, I have no real foundation to condemn any of them.

Dang, I just realized how terrible an animation fan I am.

Post by **ShyViolet** » January 23rd, 2007, 9:48 pm

Well, at least the "Pixar vs. Dreamworks" monster won't arise over the actual competition. Razz

Yeah...plus I just don't have the energy for it right now

.

Ka-chow, we all know Pixar's gonna take the the trophy home again...'cause they eat losers for breakfast, right?

OK, that's the last thing I'll say until March about this issue.

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Dang, I just realized how terrible an animation fan I am. Razz

Don't feel bad, I haven't seen HF or MH either!

Most of the films I did see (OTH, FA, Ice Age 2) weren't even nominated, so I feel kinda out of the loop right now too.

Post by **James** » January 23rd, 2007, 10:33 pm

If it's true that the Weinstein Co. didn't submit Doogal - which would have put us over the top for five nominations - they should be ashamed. There just is no good reason not to submit them all, especially from a company that looks like they're trying to be a serious animation distributor. With 5 nominations DW would have gotten one - and maybe both - of the additional nods. Of course, DW did the same thing not submitting Sinbad(?) a few years ago, so hopefully they can see the consequences of that now for future reference.

Post by **droosan** » January 23rd, 2007, 11:44 pm

There were more animated features released in theaters in 2006 than I was able to catch (I got to see Monster House, Flushed Away and Happy Feet mostly thanks to the DVD 'screeners' I was sent). And that's a first, for me; I usually make it a 'point' to watch every animated feature released in a given year in a theater, at least once (often twice, or more) ..

Heck, I just remembered .. I didn't even catch the feature I worked on, in a theater ..

There really should have been 5 nominees, this time.

And yes, I am disappointed in the Weinstein Company .. assuming Jerry Beck's assessment is correct (and he usually speaks from good authority, in my experience).

Post by **ShyViolet** » January 24th, 2007, 2:35 am

Of course, DW did the same thing not submitting Sinbad(?) a few years ago, so hopefully they can see the consequences of that now for future reference.

Yeah but James, the film bombed....not just that, but it was actually ridiculed (indirectly) for being 2d.

Also remember what Ben said earlier in the thread:

Sinbad...from what I understand, was known by all at DWs - including JK - to be a turkey from when they had story problems in production. It was completed since they had so many boys-action-toy tie-ins in place and could not cancel it. Sinbad was released without any big publicity, the trailer didn't hit screens until a month or two before release. They knew it was going to bomb and just got out while they could. The film was finished to the level that DWs felt happy with, though there was never any thought given to the Oscars since it was so very clear that it wasn't going to win, so why throw that money at it to re-promote it? Sinbad was fun enough, but not a serious contended - perhaps DWs worst "tradigital" movie?

Maybe it seems like they were abandoning the art form but what would you do if you were in their position?

Why doesn't anyone ever cut DW any slack, especially after all those :"Well we don't know the real reasons for the layoffs we dont know what Frog Princess is really about We don't know what the real story is behind JL firing Alan Menken and Chris Sanders...etc......etc...."

I mean, it's like:

DW one of the last major studios to make a traditional 2d film, they get blamed.
DW 2d film bombs, they get blamed.
DW slinks away quietly and doesn't submit film for an Oscar nom after 100s of blistering reviews, they still get blamed....

Anyone see a pattern here...?

OK I'll sit quietly now.

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OK about those noms....uh, it'll be Cars. Almost certainly. It was the best reviewed this year and the only film not to be directly targeted by all those "No more talking animal films with big stars, PLEASE!" articles.

Post by **droosan** » January 24th, 2007, 4:31 am

I liked Sinbad, a lot .. the action sequences are really well-done, and the slinky/wispy shape-shifting character animation of Eris is among the very best work of the last decade, IMHO .. certainly, I couldn't imagine the goddess having the same 'impact' in full 3D-CGI. I also liked that the supporting characters in the crew were memorable, without stealing tons of screen-time; even the dog is used in 'moderation' (and he's hilarious!). Big kudos for that.

Not that the movie is beyond criticism .. I especially didn't like Marina's 'choice' at the very end of the film, and I would've preferred to see more of an 'Arabian Nights' flavor to the quests/environment, rather than the mythical 'Greco-Mediterranean' vibe they went with. The 2D/3D 'blend' could also stand improvement, in some sequences. But, as I say, I was able to enjoy Sinbad immensely, despite those things.

.. and I almost forgot to mention the score!

One of my favorite action scores of recent years (animated or live action) .. I often crank it up when I need some 'pulse-pounding' music to work by. Actually, I'm quite fond of all of Gregson-Williams' DreamWorks/Aardman scores.

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Maybe it's just that I pay very little attention to studio politics, ShyViolet, but I haven't heard (or seen) anyone directly blame DreamWorks for the 'abandonment' of the traditional 2D animated film .. as far as I can see, every studio made that (very sad and unfortunate) choice, on their own.

But even if I'm just turning a 'blind eye' to it, and 'everyone' really is saying those things .. you shouldn't let yourself get 'worked up' over it. Stress is not a good thing (especially over something as 'inconsequential' as anonymous internet posts) ..

Post by **chernabog** » January 24th, 2007, 6:01 am

I gotta say I disagree completely with Ben's comments about the Oscar nominations. Superman Returns inexplicably being nominated for best visual effects? Are you insane?! There wasn't a single effect in that film that looked 'stupid' and I haven't seen a single film since Jurassic Park that has been able to pull that off. Okay it wasn't a great film but that's not what it's being nominated for.