Costner gets gunned down by Oscar

[The_Edge]

Well, the Academy Award Nominations once again reflect very little of what I enjoy. I'm not sure why I am surprised.

Ya know, there was a time in my life, say ten years ago, that I loved watching the Oscar show. It was an event that I enthusiastically sat through each year. Then one year, and I'm not even sure which, the whole thing faded for me and I stopped watching.

Open Range

Say what you will about Kevin Costner. He's never been one of my favorite actors or directors either. However, his western opus from last year was my absolute favorite film of the year. Costner made this one of my favorite westerns ever. It may not have broken any new ground in the western genre but the way in which it was crafted was first rate. The sets, the costumes, the glorious cinematography, the dynamic sound design, the gorgeous score and even the editing and pacing are wonderful. Yet this film didn't receive one nomination this year. Not even a Best Score nod for the late Michael Kamen. How disappointing.

It has been several years since I watched an Oscar telecast and this year will be no different.

Do yourself a favor and view 'Open Range' on DVD instead.

(Also, of note: I recently saw 'Once Upon a Time in Mexico' and it was a fantastic pastiche' of exaggerated action, comedy and violence with just a touch of mythological undertones. Very entertaining. Robert Rodrigous is one of my favorite contemporary directors. The documentaries and commentary featuring him on the DVD are well worth the rental price alone. Check it out.)

[Michaelson]

Was that the one with Johnny Depp and Antonio Banderas? Regards. Michaelson

P.S. To answer your question up HERE, Kyle, yes, I was referring to 'Once upon a time in Mexico'. Thanks!

[Renderking Fisk]

Well, Edge... would it make you feel better that Open Range is the movie I'm reviewing now?

[Sergei]

Wow... Duval was great too. What impressed me was the realism of the movie. Specifically to point, was how many times you missed with a pistol (even from close range), if you got hit you still kept going and the huge wall of sound from the gunfire. Huge...
And then not just one gunfight at the end but two, two for the price of one. And did I mention that Duval was great. I am glad I saw it on the big screen twice.

I remember just listening to a documentary about Wyatt Earp and that was his point. They missed a lot during those days and when you got hit, it wasn't necessaryily fatal unless it was a lucky shot. Then gunfighters were really rare. Speed was not the thing, but accuracy. So at a gunfight, it was the most accurate that won, not the speedster. Another Hollywoodism....

-S

[The_Edge]

Originally posted by Michaelson
Was that the one with Johnny Depp and Antonio Banderas? Regards. Michaelson

If you are referring to 'Once Upon a Time in Mexico" then, yes.

If you are referring to 'Open Range' then, no.


Sergei,

I only had the chance to see it on the big screen once. I just bought the DVD this past weekend and it holds up just as well and seems just as expansive on my 36" TV. My surround system is six or seven years old with prologic instead of the latest 5.1 digital but the sound was still really good. I just love this film so much.

The DVD has some really good deleted scenes and a superb hour long documentary on the making of the film. Costner is brutally honest through out the doc. It's not a promotional fluff piece by any means.

[Michael Mallory]

This is destined to be "Lord of the Rings'" year anyway. I predict most of the awards will go to it on behalf of all three films. Peter Jackson is equally destined to win Best Director, though Sean Penn will probably get Best Actor to make up for last year. But aside from that, the other contenders are just there to prop up "Rings."

[Michael Mallory]

An afterthought: How seriously can you take an organization that never gave a Best Director Oscar to Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles, Stanley Kubrick or Martin Scorcese, but did give them out to Robert Redford, Kevin Costner and Mel Gibson?

[Michaelson]

Just to respond to Sergei's observations....every 'professional' gunfighter who survived to old age, each and everyone of them, stated to interviewers that the reason for their success was that in those days, a successful gunfighter arrived at the scene with the gun already in their hand. Anybody who arrived with their revolver still in their holster had a slim chance of walking away unscathed, if at all. Like you said, Walt, Hollywood sure got THAT wrong all these years!!! Regards. Michaelson

[Andykev]

Like John Wayne said to Ron Howard in the "Shootist". It takes a cold heart and a willingness to kill. Most successes in gunbattles were within 7 feet, and the prevailing party had their gun out, and the looser was caught by suprise or unaware.

The same is true today. Check out the FBI statistics for Officer Involved Shootings.

It is a chilling account of what our brave men and women in blue put up with each day. God Bless them .

[farnham54]

Guys...

Raiders lost out to some movie with HORSES. That was before I was born, but I found that out about the same time I found out what the Academy was. And because of that I've never watched. Stuck up, insider snot nosed academy....I better not get started!

Regards,

Craig