Our take on who will win at the Oscars

Christian Real says:

06:42am | 22/02/13

acotrel
The red budgie smugglers would most likely give him a points win over Gomez Adams

The Thing That Should Not Be says:

07:09am | 22/02/13

FFS Acotrel, give it a rest will you?

You’re becoming the new Erick - hijacking every thread and making it about the same old sh*t.

the watcher says:

07:19am | 22/02/13

please yellow card acotrel and give us a break for a day!

marley says:

07:41am | 22/02/13

What the Punch needs is a penalty box. You offend, you get stuck in a penalty thread, watching the game but not playing, and with no one but other offenders to talk to.

I envisage a scale of penalties:  any mention of budgie smugglers or Juliar, a half day in the box;  repeated use of the same arguments and refusal to address any challenges, a day out;  attempts to hijack the thread with off topic comments, two days;  repeated use of incorrect statistics, three days; boring us all to tears with asinine one-liners, a week; use of multiple identities on the same thread, a week; and so on.  Let Christian Real, PJ, Maria, Acotrel, Badger and a few others spend a few days talking to no one but each other.  That ought to be punishment enough for the lot of them.

Chillin says:

07:43am | 22/02/13

Erick was viewed as ‘anti-feminist’ and thus entirely ban worthy.
acotrel is pro-hand wringer so he will never be banned.

gof says:

07:44am | 22/02/13

#The Thing That Should Not Be, #the watcher.
If you look to the right of your screen there is a scollbar, use it rather than whinge and whine. dickheads.

Nilbog says:

08:02am | 22/02/13

Acotrel’s Law.

Coming from acotrel himself, somewhat unsuprisingly.

subotic says:

08:04am | 22/02/13

You’re becoming the new Erick - hijacking every thread and making it about the same old sh*t.

But Erick made sense....

Smith says:

08:06am | 22/02/13

I brought this up yesterday.

We already have godwin’s law. This should be known as acotrel’s law: bringing up Tony Abbott in the comments of an article that has nothing to do with politics.

We can maybe also have PJ’s law or similar for Gillard.

billy says:

08:18am | 22/02/13

acotrel,a Paul Howes sycophant

The Thing That Should Not Be says:

09:00am | 22/02/13

@ gof - Is THAT what that thing is?!? I would never have known! Thanks for that champ. You have yourself a pleasant day

Neil says:

09:06am | 22/02/13

Pathetic. If there’s one area where he does win it’s definitely body language. He’s as fit as a mallee bull!

Smith says:

09:40am | 22/02/13

@ Nilbog

Good to see it’s catching on!

gof says:

10:12am | 22/02/13

#The Thing That Should Not Be ,
No problems mate, always here to help.
Also remember a vote for the ALP is a vote for the best feelgood story of the year!

dovif says:

03:08pm | 22/02/13

Nomination
Julia Gillard for her role as a Full Forward for Carlton
Julia Gillard for her office creating the Australian Day riot where she lost her shoe
Julia Gillard for her acting when she said “No carbon tax under a government I led
Julia Gillard for her rehearsed “fake Misorgyny address”
Real Julia/Fake Julia

PJ says:

06:01pm | 22/02/13

Gillard and Milne should win an Oscar each for pretending to have a spat.

Almost had us going yer commies

Jack says:

09:00am | 22/02/13

Don’t worry. Even though they didn’t win, the Academy wont be taking away your Police Academy 7 and Fatty Vautin dvds.

Kika says:

09:45am | 22/02/13

Yep - Lincoln will be very successful. USA! USA! USA!

Troy Flynn says:

01:49pm | 22/02/13

I would anticipate that the American ‘chest thumping patriotism’ movie “Zero Dark Thirty” will pick up best picture award.
It’s from the same person that brought us “The Hurt Locker” and that load of drivel beat out what should have won, according to most commentators, Avatar.
Yes I know it was a “SciFI” movie, but it was still infinitely more deserving than Hurt Locker.

Jack says:

05:13pm | 22/02/13

Avatar was a terrible movie with great fx.

The Hurt Locker was an excellent movie, and a 97% score on RT means your opinion that it was ‘drivel’ is almost certainly wrong.

But keep waving that brave anti-american flag.

PJ says:

06:03pm | 22/02/13

Was Gillard in that movie “Pink Batts of Mass Destruction” ?

Or was she just the star role in “Carbon Tax Killer”

stephen says:

06:09pm | 22/02/13

I didn’t like Hurt Locker as much as ‘Jarhead’, which is a mighty good picture.
‘Avatar’ belongs in a jar.

Fred says:

07:34am | 22/02/13

How desperate are the likes of Foggy Goffy and Acotroll.
An article about the oscars in hollywood, is somehow linked to politics in canberra, and of course, their favourite boogy man, Tony Abbott.

Smith says:

08:07am | 22/02/13

Fine example of acotrel’s law

Ohcomeon says:

12:09pm | 22/02/13

How have you made it this far in life without realising that media awards shows are created and intended as industry promotion vehicles?

They are not there to reward excellence anywhere near as much as they are to promote the industry.

Once you realise this, they become a lot less offensive and hold as much weight as your local chamber of commerce awards night.

Troy Flynn says:

01:53pm | 22/02/13

Agreed Ohcomeon, that’s why I’ve never, repeat never watched a logies awards in my life.

Christian rRal says:

08:36am | 22/02/13

Mad Man
A least acotrel has a sense of humor, another quality of life that you liberal mob sadly lacks.

lostinperth says:

08:38am | 22/02/13

+1 - the hypocrisy is breath taking.
Bring back Erick - at least he could present decent arguments instead of acotrel’s trolling

Actually, I am begining to suspect that it is one of the mods posting incogneto or why else would he be allowed to get away with it for so long??

Chillin says:

09:00am | 22/02/13

CR

Let us know when he’s being funny, so we know to politely laugh.

Erick at least had an argument, rather than one line of nothing and sexual obsession (looking at you gof) about red togs.

Mad Man says:

09:32am | 22/02/13

Liberal mob? Are you kidding?? What is it with you guys that you adopt the whole “if you’re not for us you MUST be against us…”. Have you considered that I’m neither left…no right…bu just a guy who is tired of the usual cut/paste responses from the “usual suspects”...and the blind acolytes who rush to defend them.

Since when was Ctrl C & Ctrl V considered logical and well thought out argument?

Shane* says:

10:15am | 22/02/13

How long has it been since Erick was banned? 6+ months at least.

Remember, remember the banning of Erick.

The Punch is like the Matrix. Commenters were generally happy in our little manufactured reality, but then the powers-that-be decided to change something. They banned someone for having an opinion. It changed things. It broke down barriers. All of a sudden the mods weren’t objectively ticking boxes… they had made a decision based on emotion. A new world order was formed.

And now? Rather than ignore acotrel for bringing up Tony Abbott in a thread about Hollywood, as we would have done pre-Erick-ban, we rile up. Something’s not right. Something is askew. Acotrel survives, but Erick was banned. Something smells. It’s rotten to the core.

And somewhere, deep in the back of our minds, we hear the voice:

“Erick was frikkin right. He was banned because he riled up the feminists. He was banned because the Tory’s weren’t happy.”

Disgusting.

gof says:

10:17am | 22/02/13

#Chillin ,
“sexual obsession (looking at you gof) about red togs.”
No need for you to look today #Chillin, I am wearing blue!

subotic says:

10:28am | 22/02/13

Hell yea, freedom of thought and speech only for those who agree with our own point of view!

Death to the infidels who speak the same thing over & over and who disagree with our narrow take on life.

I don’t agree with the ac-ster.
I DO AGREE that he has the right to say it. Over. And over.

Is that enough rope for everyone.... ???

Paul says:

10:34am | 22/02/13

@ Mad Man: Don’t let it get to you. One of my fav films is Scarface. Hopefully Acotrel and CR will meet Tony Montana one of these days. ‘Say hello to my little friend.’

See Acotrel et al, us Libs do have a sense of humour.

Baloo says:

11:47am | 22/02/13

Erick is the hero The Punch the deserves, but not the one it needs.

kolman says:

12:32pm | 22/02/13

The boy child in the red budgie smugglers deserves to be mocked at every opportunity.
It’s free speech. just ask marley, the apologist for conservatives and the ltd. news peanuts that pass themselves off as journalists.

Just a short observation on Canadians in general.
“Canada could have been a great country with French culture, American industry and British civility. Instead, Canada has become a country with American culture, British industry and French civility.”

Paul says:

03:14pm | 22/02/13

@ Kolman: Have you actually been to Canada? I always found the Cannuks to have found a nice balance. Even the East Hastings St junkies are quite relaxed and fed via salmonella wagons.

Marley, Canada Rocks! I love Victoria and Whistler. Don’t listen to these muppets.

PJ says:

06:06pm | 22/02/13

Hey! it’s not Acotrels fault ...... have a heart.

You’d be like him too if you tried to have faith in the Gillard Government

As was the case with the carbon tax, the surplus and the private health insurance rebate: Labor will say one thing before an election and do another thing after.

Drive anyone bonkers

stephen says:

06:16pm | 22/02/13

Alcho, once in a while, says some interesting things, and he certainly has a bee under his kilt, but he does not seem to have that edge of maliciousness that Erick often had, and who, I knew, had copied stuff directly onto this page.
That’s bad, but A. has opinions, and if you do not like them, well write something - anything - that will change his mind.

Con says:

09:20am | 22/02/13

Hi Nalishan,
Thanks for your comment. This review also doubles as a movie review round-up and to counter-balance the politics of awards against their true artistic value. Movies like Life of Pi and even Silver Linings Playbook have that warmth. Yes, they are taking short cuts - even our Tropfest winner was pure plagiarism - but in amongst them there are original gems like Beasts of the Southern Wild that remind you what it’s all about.

subotic says:

10:20am | 22/02/13

Right now and most unfortunately we seem to be fascinated with different things such as catching terrorists like Osama bin Laden

“Breaking News” - Osama was “dispatched” quite some time ago by the US gubbermint.

NESLIHAN KUROSAWA, do you actually read what you post?

JoniM says:

11:09am | 22/02/13

As an avid film buff and long term fan of the Oscars, I can only say that in recent years the whole Hollywood scene has quickly descended into nothing more than a grubby, low rent, marketing of formularised pulp entertainment. Very little new or exciting comes out on film from Hollywood. You need to trawl through the Independent or Foreign films to find something that has not been franchised or plagerised 25 times before, but now with new casting strategies to maximise demographic appeal and quick returns on investment ! Any artistic pursuit has gone from Hollywood films in favour of turning a dollar and its very own traditional promotion vehicle the Oscar Awards continues to dive along with it !
This year’s theme seems to be pretty much a Rah Rah USA ! USA ! USA ! year, with the recreations of stories of great and brave successes of the USA from Lincoln to Bin Laden! Then there’s some token inclusions of technical development on display from Ang Lee and another serve of typical madness from Tarrantino, and a film version of a musical.
All so very mundane !
Even the Foreign Films this year are a disapointing lot with ‘Armour” as the one standout, and such a long way from that stellar 2010 year with the 5 nominations of ” In a Better World”,” Incendies”, “Biutiful”, ” Dog Tooth” and “Outside The Law” all great films of high quality and totally unfranchised !
It appears that the serious film artists ( actors, writers & directors) from Hollywood have moved to HBO to make TV movies rather than be part of the churn of franchised crap dictated that we now send out to the Megaplexes !

stephen says:

06:34pm | 22/02/13

I’ll see ‘Amour’, but generally, foreign films are dull because they are pretentious.
Film is essentially a Pop-Art, (no denigration intended) and it was with the influence of mainly the French, (Jean Cocteau - a real Genius, by the way - and an Italian (2) a Spaniard, a German (4), 2 Czechs and a Pole who gave the impetus to the gander who decided to film ‘Anna Karenina’.
No one should be allowed to film this book, or any other such piece, because film cannot handle the words.
It is essentially a visual medium, and that is why the United States, the master of the still image e.g. photography, can still lead the way.
Film are sometimes my favourite art form, and the Europeans have imbued it with a poetry which ‘time’ cannot withstand.

Mouse says:

01:33pm | 22/02/13

Then you haven’t seen Lincoln the Zombie slayer yet? Couldn’t believe it, was actually a dvd in our local video shop. Looking at the cover, am really not sure if I could watch it. I did like the Vampire hunter one though. Hmmmmmm, tough decision!!  LOL   :oD

Mouse says:

01:35pm | 22/02/13

Geez AitchB, I’m not sure I even want to imagine that thought!!  lol :oD

Jim Moriarty says:

09:31am | 22/02/13

Yup, the King’s Speech was such leftie propaganda. Couldn’t move for all the democracy and left wing references.

That Colin Firth is so working class.

James1 says:

10:52am | 22/02/13

Don’t forget Lincoln, Jim.  A movie about the founder of the Republican Party must be left wing…

Hold on.  Maybe I have that confused.

St. Michael says:

11:52am | 22/02/13

@ James1: quite arguably, you do.  Political parties mutate over time.  Remember, the Democrats in Lincoln’s time were not the affirmative-action party that put up Barack Obama; they were doggedly opposed to emancipation and wanted to keep black people in chains.  As it is, Lincoln was a hell of a lot more of a libertarian than any Republican Party candidate could ever be today.  Spielberg’s Lincoln appears committed to rapidly ending slavery and even suggests that suffrage might eventually be extended to black men.

By contrast, in his lifetime, Lincoln was consistently criticized by radical Republicans and African-American leaders such as Frederick Douglass for his equivocation on slavery and lenient plans for Reconstruction. Lincoln seems to have held a lifelong commitment to the free-soil ideology that every man, white or black, has the right to earn for himself by the sweat of his brow. Despite this conviction, Lincoln repeatedly stated that he wished to preserve the Union, either with or without slavery. Lincoln viewed the Emancipation Proclamation and the enlistment of black troops as a wartime expedient to preserve the Union.

The King’s Speech was not made in the Hollywood system.  That sets it apart from standard Hollywood filmmaking.  Hollywood tends to heavy Democrat and left wing by political persuasion and anti-government when it can get away with it; remember acting and the media industry remains one of the heaviest-unionised industries left in America.

Lincoln gets the period costuming right, but it still takes simplistic caricatures of people and situations.  Zero Dark Thirty suffers the same problems, right down to the title: “Zero” Dark Thirty is not a military term or time; it’s Oh-Dark-Thirty.  “Zero” was probably picked because some ignorant studio suit thought “it sounds More Military that way.”  That entire approach filters through Hollywood and ‘Zero’ in particular.  Any fool who thinks a loud, opinionated woman could survive long on the backstabbing field of a public service department needs their head read; just as similar fools need their heads read if they think US Navy Seals will be fist-pumping and doing other Biff Slamchest stuff in the middle of a covert mission with Pakistani aircraft scrambling due to their incursion.

It’s an entertaining version of history in both cases, but it’s not history, and not well-done history.  Anyone can fake costuming and buildings given enough time and money.  Tell the full truth about all the complexities of a US President? Never.  It’s not possible in Hollywood.  This can be witnessed from the fact the makers stand on the “historical authority” of their films, but when confronted with historical inaccuracies or plain old lies, just shrug their shoulders and say “it’s just a movie”.

fml says:

11:54am | 22/02/13

If Argo wins anything then I will eat my commie, leftist hat.

If Argo is considered leftist, I will hand in my badge at the local commune.

I can’t stand ben affleck.

Also, how does growing a beard make ben affleck look latino? Bloody hollywood. For-shame!

Jim Moriarty says:

12:26pm | 22/02/13

@fml

Ben Affleck is great in Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back.

fml says:

01:46pm | 22/02/13

@Jim,

That definitely was a good film, although, I believe his performance was lifted by the strong cast around him. Despite his performance, I still maintain a strong sense of disdain towards the man. I cannot say that it is in any way reasonable, but I believe I share the sentiment with many a discerning viewer. Also I think my perception of him changed after an episode of south park ... :p

Kika says:

01:58pm | 22/02/13

James1 - Lincoln was a commie! What are you talking about? The slaves should never have been emancipated! They should have kept slaving away making the USA more and more money off free labour. (I’m joking by the way).

Jack says:

02:32pm | 22/02/13

Any disdain I formerly had for Ben Affleck disappeared with Gone Baby Gone and then The Town (which he was also excellent in).

Argo was outstanding - a tense thriller that avoids being overly violent or reliant on jump scares.

It’s time to get over how rubbish Daredevil was. All the cool kids hate on Shai Lebouf these days, move on gramps.

VVS says:

02:39pm | 22/02/13

Ben Affleck was DA BOMB in Phantoms!

St. Michael says:

03:45pm | 22/02/13

@ Kika: CSA, not USA.  As in, Confederate States of America, not the Union.  That’s the main reason they wanted to keep slaves: most of their economic superiority was built on manpower-heavy agrarian industries like cotton harvesting; the North was building towards industrialisation but was still in the germinal phase.

Aitch B says:

09:37am | 22/02/13

Um…. wouldn’t be because the article has absolutely nothing to do with politics, would it Tony?

tez says:

04:01pm | 22/02/13

Agree Argo was very good, Affleck’s rug didn’t get in the way of the story eather.

JoniM says:

11:24am | 22/02/13

Yep !

Gotta agree ! Quite a lot of average rubbish nominated once again this year ! They just keep churning the pulp out ! With quality film options at an all time low, they even had to include a foreign film in the Best Picture Noms !
I reckon the Best Picture Oscar can only be between Argo, Lincoln or Silver Linings Playbook ( if the less patriotic members of the Academy win out !)

Jim Moriarty says:

11:58am | 22/02/13

@JoniM

There were a lot great films that I think are overlooked by films with more hype. I think they’re also a lot of teen and children’s movies that get overlooked simply because they’re not ‘serious’.

Some of the best movies of the last few years have been ‘kids’ movies - Toy Story 3 was one of the most tightly scripted, fantastically performed films I’ve seen in years. The Hunger Games had some wonderfully understated shots with no dialogue that told you so much more than any dialogue could. It had it’s faults, but the camera work was just amazing. The Potter films were filled with amazing performances from the younger actors in the last two films. All ignored!

AFR says:

12:38pm | 22/02/13

Surprise: a gay man picking a musical

But seriously, Django is the best film i have seen in a quite a while, but can’t see it winning. Not sure what will though. Di Caprio has been shafted by not being nominated.

St. Michael says:

02:01pm | 22/02/13

@ Jim Moriarty: I think the first time the Oscars ever really came out and announced itself as a pile of crap was with “Shakespeare in Love” winning several awards, mainly due to campaigning by the studio heads, right down to Gwyneth Paltrow’s fake (but well-acted, it must be said) breaking down in tears over her award.  That basically brought the Oscars out into the open as being marketing and political statements first, artistic merit second.

My wife’s got a nice method for picking good films: she says “look for the palm leaves”, i.e. the Cannes palm leaves.  This doesn’t entirely prevent the possibility of sitting down on a Friday night for two hours of idiots screaming at the audience about the misogynism inherent in the use of soft consonants in the word ‘vagina’, but it certainly prevents you from accidentally subjecting yourself to Forrest Gump.

Jim Moriarty says:

02:17pm | 22/02/13

@AFR

Oh come on, it’s one of the ‘musicals men are allowed to like’. Like Sweeney Todd or Little Shop of Horrors. Or Hairspray.

I haven’t seen Django Unchained, I find Tarintino really uneven.  When he’s on form, it’s wonderful, otherwise he’s very mediocre, so I usually wait until DVD to watch his films.

Jim Moriarty says:

02:43pm | 22/02/13

@St Michael

I was thrilled when District 9 was nominated a few years back; what a brilliant film. I knew it was never going to win, but a small part of me really hoped it would go to D9.

JoniM says:

03:37pm | 22/02/13

“My wife’s got a nice method for picking good films: she says “look for the palm leaves”, i.e. the Cannes palm leaves.”

Spot on your wife, St Michael !
At least you know with the European Film critics / judges at Cannes , Venice, Berlin festivals etc , they are looking for some artistic content rather than lobbying for the popcorn and merchandise franchises !

St. Michael says:

03:42pm | 22/02/13

@ Jim Moriarty: +1, District 9 was fantastic stuff - sci-fi that makes Avatar look like a cartoon and on about a hundredth of the budget.  Oh, and not US-centric, which makes it even better.

Gordon says:

03:56pm | 22/02/13

Agreed on District 9. Great film.

Jim Moriarty says:

04:27pm | 22/02/13

@St Michael

It was great hearing the accents in D9.

tez says:

04:06pm | 22/02/13

But these little blokes don’t have a trigger finger, and they got legs

Mouse says:

02:52pm | 22/02/13

Baloo, I am shocked to the bone!!  How can you NOT have seen Avatar? Do you not have a TV and dvd player?  I instruct you to go to your nearest video shop and hire it immediately. You will be thanking me for the rest of the year…. well, week anyway!  lol :o)

Gordon says:

04:01pm | 22/02/13

Sigourney Weaver in weird shorts, otherwise forgettable piece of by-the-numbers fairytale.  Overrated for all but the visuals. My advice: wear your ipod and listen to nice symphony

Baloo says:

04:28pm | 22/02/13

I don’t know Mouse, it just hasn’t interested me, but it should because it’s right up my alley. I’m sure it’s on a hard drive or one of my house mates has it. I have this problem of getting annoyed when the underdog wins in a movie though, lol.

St. Michael says:

04:29pm | 22/02/13

Or just rent out “Dances with Wolves.”  Or “The Last Samurai”.  It’s essentially the same plot in all three films, but Avatar has uninspiring blue alien sex, too.  The buffalo hunt in Dances with Wolves—thank you so much, Dean Semler—has four times the thrill of any action sequence in Avatar, with or without headache-inducing 3D glasses.

St. Michael says:

04:30pm | 22/02/13

P.S.: And at least “The Last Samurai” has f**king ninjas.

Baloo says:

04:35pm | 22/02/13

Are you calling me old? I can’t tell from all that sarcasm and odd exclamation points, because I’m 21..
JoniM you are quite strange.. I’ve never met someone who has tried to make fun of me for not watching “Avatar” before, that’s just so weird for some reason..