Phil,
Nah. I think the reason some people (like me) are "angry" about it is
because every other contender that year was far more deserving of best
picture and ENGLISH PATIENT was so very boring that it getting the award
was even more of an affront than usual. No way was this a "better" film
than FARGO, SHINE or even JERRY McGUIRE... or even SECRETS AND LIES, if
you want compare chick flicks head to head: Rotten Tomatoes rates
SECRETS at 94% while PATIENT gets 82%.
Plus, it did not just win best picture. It also won:
* Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Juliette Binoche (beating out
Lauren Bacall for THE MIRROR HAS TWO FACES/? Please...)/
* Best Art Direction-Set Decoration (Stuart Craig and Stephanie
McMillan)
* Best Cinematography (John Seale)
* Best Costume Design (Ann Roth)
* Best Director (Anthony Minghella)(the thing was "directed" in the
same way paint drying on a wall is directed...)
* Best Film Editing (Walter Murch)(you're kidding... someone
actually claims to have edited that film?! It was almost 3 hours
long, with only enough real material for a 30 minute short! It
looked like they used every scrap of film they shot, regardless of
if it was even vaguely interesting or pertinent to anything).
* Best Original Score (Gabriel Yared)(who can recall a single note
of the music to this thing? I couldn't five minutes after walking
out of the theater.)
* Best Sound (Walter Murch, Mark Berger, David Parker, and
Christopher Newman)
...normally, up until 1996 at least, this kind of big sweep only went to
a truly deserving film. So, with such a massive Academy "seal of
approval", many people (like myself) who would never have bothered to
see the film were "tricked" into going to see it. We (I) got stuck for
cost of the tickets and sitting through almost 3 hours of truly painful
boredom. Yeah, you bet I was "angry" and retain that reaction to this
day. But only because all those awards were so clearly undeserved -- not
because it pushed any buttons (other than the snooze button).
As I mentioned, I was so angry about it that I concluded the Oscars had
become the equivalent of a high school student body election -- and so
stopped watching the Awards Show and have not paid much much attention
to who wins what since then.
-- JR
Phil Edwards wrote:
The English Patient is one of those movies that people either love or
hate, not much in between.
I'm in the former category.
At the time, and over the years since, I've noticed that people who
hate it also seem to be angry about it.
Very odd, really. It is only a movie after all, unless for some people
at least it perhaps presses some buttons
they would rather not have pushed.
Phil
----- Original Message -----
*From:* John Waldman <mailto:jhnwald...@yahoo.com>
*To:* MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
<mailto:MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU>
*Sent:* Thursday, March 18, 2010 3:01 AM
*Subject:* Re: [MOPO] Best Picture Oscars and others
My mother had me watch the English Patient with her. I agree, one
of the most boring movies ever made.
John
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*From:* Franc <fdav...@verizon.net <mailto:fdav...@verizon.net>>
*To:* MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
<mailto:MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU>
*Sent:* Wed, March 17, 2010 10:09:00 AM
*Subject:* Re: [MOPO] Best Picture Oscars and others
I only saw about half of that film. The other half I slept
through. FRANC
-----Original Message-----
*From:* MoPo List [mailto:mop...@listserv.american.edu] *On
Behalf Of *Doug Taylor
*Sent:* Wednesday, March 17, 2010 9:44 AM
*To:* MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
*Subject:* Re: [MOPO] Best Picture Oscars and others
Couldn't agree more on English Patient.
Regards
DBT
Profile <http://www.linkedin.com/in/douglasbtaylor>
*From:* MoPo List [mailto:mop...@listserv.american.edu] *On
Behalf Of *James Richard
*Sent:* Wednesday, March 17, 2010 4:41 AM
*To:* MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
*Subject:* Re: [MOPO] Best Picture Oscars and others
Rich,
And let's not forget THE ENGLISH PATIENT winning best picture...
That's when I stopped paying much attention to the Oscars.
-- JR
Richard Halegua Comic Art wrote:
the answer is simple.... the awards are not entirely
accomplishment based. They are frequently an emotional
response by the members of the Academy who are unable to
compartmentalize their emotions from their intellect, and so
you get results that are not necessarily in line with truly
award-caliber films.
Rich
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