Comment by Chris Kent

Fri, 19 Mar 2004 13:50:31 EST

I love Shakespeare in Love! No wait, I have strong feelings for Shakespeare in Love! It was kind of odd that it would win Best Picture, but I never really thought Saving Private Ryan deserved the top nod anyway. I always thought the frame of that film, the old man visiting D-Day sight, family quietly standing behind him like a fucking Hallmark card - was so putridly sweet as to be repulsive. It almost ruined the entire film for me. I also thought the film tried to have its cake and eat it too - being a revealing work about the realities of war, yet giving us a story straight out of Sgt. Rock comic books. A well-made, though agonizingly uneven film. Spielberg's missteps in filmmaking, and he makes a surprisingly large number, are so glaring as to make you question his entire legacy.

Comment by Michael

Fri, 19 Mar 2004 10:06:18 EST

"Remember back when the movie Shakespeare In Love won Best Picture over Saving Private Ryan? How is that possible?" Because not everybody liked SPR. Hype for SPR as a great war movie with extremely realistic depictions of a battle convinced me that I really didn't want to see it. For the right movie, I could have seen it in spite of that, but the plot of actually saving the private didn't seem likely to be very interesting. I could've been dragged to it by spouse and friends, but Tom Hanks, star of Monsters and Mazes, Bosom Buddies, Dragnet, Turner and Hooch, and Joe Versus The Volcano is a box office disincentive for me. On the other hand, SIL had a clever Stoppard script, a fine cast, exceeded my expectations and we left the theater smiling and laughing and talking about the large and small things we'd liked in the film. I'd've voted for it and was pleasantly surprised when it won. It also probably didn't hurt the oscar voting that it had a theater setting or strong studio support, but I don't think that was the deciding factor.

Blogcritics: Comments on The Oscars

Comment by Chris Kent

Comment by Michael