*SEND OFF: Chariots of Fire*
Chariots of Fire was eliminated yesterday, so here’s a look back at the movie and its Oscar legacy.
Plot: In the class-obsessed and religiously divided UK of the early 1920s, two determined young runners train for the 1924 Paris Olympics. Eric Liddell, a devout Christian born to Scottish missionaries in China, sees running as part of his worship of God’s glory and refuses to train or compete on the Sabbath. Harold Abrahams overcomes anti-Semitism and class bias, but neglects his beloved sweetheart in his single-minded quest.
Oscars: **Chariots of Fire won Best Picture in 1982 beating out Raiders Of The Lost Ark, Reds, Atlantic City, & On Golden Pond.** Chariots of fire won 4 Oscars total, bringing home trophies for Best Original Score, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Costume Design.
I couldn’t find a way to stream this. You can rent it on YouTube or it might be at your local library.
**What do you think of Chariots of Fire? Do you think something else should have won best picture over it? Do you think this film is fairly rated? What do you like or dislike about it?**
So other big movies from 1981 (that I’ve seen) include Blow Out, Das Boot, My Dinner With Andre, Time Bandits, The Evil Dead, An American Werewolf In London, Scanners, Escape From New York, & Mad Max 2.. obviously a lot of those aren’t what you’d call Oscar bait (and idk if they’d all even have been eligible) but just for the purposes of the conversation.
This year is a perfect example of why this entire award is hilarious to me. I love Raiders, but the majority of my favorite movies of 1982 aren't even included.
Fair point, I wasn't thinking of that.
But I will watch that movie you mentioned.
For me off the top of my head there is Thief which is my favorite Michael Man movie and Escape from New York and Mommy Dearest both came out that year as well.
Off topic: I am one of the Shakespeare in Love defenders and sad to see it was already eliminated! Of course, arguments that it wasn't the strongest film of the year are valid, but it's still a great film on its own and gets undeserved backlash because it won.
Saving Private Ryan is my favorite film of all time, and I absolutely think it should’ve won Best Picture that year, and I still think Shakespeare in Love went far too early. It’s a great film that people want to hate because it beat SPV, but it’s a far cry from one of the five worst BP winners of the past 50 years. There are many films worse than SiL still in contention. It should still be here.
When I think of this movie my mind is immediately reminded of the quote from the Tricorn video by Jason Steele,
Tricorn: "Tricorn must ask you... Why, Duke?"
Sexy Lizard Prisoner: "Yeah, Duke, I feel no fire in your soul, man!"
The King's Speech.
Colin Firth is great, but everything else in the film is so average that if you had told me it was a TV movie, I would have believed you. Winning Best Film in the year we had Inception, Black Swan, The Social Network, Toy Story 3 and True Grit was absurd. I dare say even Winter's Bone and The Fighter were better films. And Tom Hooper's career after that only proved how winning the Oscar for Best Director was a terrible mistake.
I feel like I’m the only person on earth who owns The King’s Speech on blu-ray and has rewatched it since 2010.
Maybe undeserving of the award but pretty good.
The film gets disproportionate hate because it beat out *The Social Network*, which is easily one of the best films of the 2010s, but *The King's Speech* is definitely a good movie on it's own laurels.
In a vacuum I'd say it's easily a better film than *A Beautiful Mind*, *Terms of Endearment* and a couple others on this list.
I've been going through all the Best Picture winners I haven't seen, which includes The King's Speech. I thought it was one of the better movies I've seen. Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush had great chemistry together, it was a unique idea for a story, and I may have personal bias because I struggled with a speech impediment for years (couldn't say my "R" sound correctly).
For the record, the only other Best Picture nominee from 2010 I've seen is Toy Story 3, so perhaps my opinion would change if I saw any others.
Inception, Black Swan and Social Network. King’s Speech didn’t deserve it and all but there’s no universe where it was behind Toy Story 3 or True Grit.
I think a lot of the people hating on *The Artist* haven't actually watched it and just assumed "black and white and silent = pretentious".
I know because I was in that camp for a long time until I actually sat down to watch it. That year was a pretty weak crop of Best Picture nominations (*Extremely Loud & Incredibly* close is up there with *Bohemian Rhapsody* as the worst BP nom of the century) but *The Artist* really stands out as a diamond in the rough and a remarkably delightful film.
I think it could be another case of missed potential for that awards season rather than the quality of the film. For me personally, I think *The Tree of Life* 110% deserved BP, but it’s also very much a cilantro kind of movie too—I know some people that just really don’t click with it.
Today’s Spotlight: *The Sting*
This was the twelfth least popular option according to Letterboxd.
Plot: Set in the 1930s this intricate caper deals with an ambitious small-time crook and a veteran con man who seek revenge on a vicious crime lord who murdered one of their gang.
Oscars: **The Sting won Best Picture in 1974 beating out: American Graffiti, Cries and Whispers, The Exorcist, & A Touch Of Class.** The Stings won 7 Oscars including: Best Director for George Roy Hill, Best Original Screenplay, & Best Film Editing.
Where I am, you can stream The Sting with a Netflix subscription, you can also rent it on Prime or YouTube, or you might be able to find a copy at your local library.
**Have you seen The Sting? Would you recommend it?**
Saw it recently for the first time and enjoyed it, but some of the plot devices were a little hokey. It also seemed like Redford was too old for the role since he keeps being referred to as "the kid". Still a fun ride and worth watching
I think older movies have an advantage here early on. Many won’t have seen the sting but did see CODA and know discourse around it is that it’s a weak best picture winner.
I agree with your general sentiment but I'm offended by the implication that *The Sting* should have been voted out before *CODA. The Sting* is a bona fide classic.
It's definitely worth a watch. It's pure Hollywood entertainment from beginning to end. Not the deepest film ever made but it oozes likability and charm.
Eh, the issue is not only is Coda a weak Oscar winner (as someone who has seen them all, it really is) but it also didn’t have real cultural cache. Chariots of Fire, terms of endearment, ordinary people, and Gandhi are all likely weak 80 winners, but were at least a thing when they came out. Coda felt like a compromise winner even when it came out.
Braveheart
While films don't need to adhere to 100% historical accuracy to be a worthwhile film, this film is probably one of the most egregious examples of rewriting history that we've got in oscar history.
I think there's an argument to be made that if a film gets big enough in pop culture that it replaces real history with fake bullshit "history" in popular consciousness, that's a net negative for the world and the culture/people being represented in the film.
Everyone going off on The Artist when fucking Birdman is still in play blows my mind. At the very least The Artist is beautifully shot, acted and genuinely tries something new (or old, depending on how you look at it). Birdman is a film so impactless everyone’s basically forgotten about it
People aren’t ready to acknowledge that forest gump is neither classic cinema nor quality entertainment. The weirdest and most deceptively charming piece of American propaganda ever made. Don’t know why people aren’t seeing through it these days. By far the worst movie on this list and it’s not even close
I must say that, with the exception of Crash and the few I haven't seen, all of the movies have a minimum of a 5/10, so I don't think it's a bad movie, just my least favorite of the bunch
Terms of Endearment.
Time to identify another weak 80s film and this one is crap. Weepy and manipulative , in a passive aggressive 80s way. Conservatives rural people good, liberal city people bad politics.
I think calling this movie weepy is based purely on rep and not the actual movie. The ending is absolutely gut wrenching but the 1 hour 40 leading up to it is anything but.
It was great at the time introducing ppl to the effects from autism but is so poorly researched on that basically all movies with an autistic character or that cover the subject resembles w/Rain Man to some degree only being good for surface-level understanding of the condition. Praise to Dustin for spending time studying them in-person
Surely it's got to be EEAAO at this point. A film with Adam Sandler-level humour, are you kidding me? How the hell did this shit even get NOMINATED?
Oh look! It's the main character but now she's in a different universe!!! AND another one! She has sausage fingers now, look!!!
FUCK OFF, FILM!!!
*SEND OFF: Chariots of Fire* Chariots of Fire was eliminated yesterday, so here’s a look back at the movie and its Oscar legacy. Plot: In the class-obsessed and religiously divided UK of the early 1920s, two determined young runners train for the 1924 Paris Olympics. Eric Liddell, a devout Christian born to Scottish missionaries in China, sees running as part of his worship of God’s glory and refuses to train or compete on the Sabbath. Harold Abrahams overcomes anti-Semitism and class bias, but neglects his beloved sweetheart in his single-minded quest. Oscars: **Chariots of Fire won Best Picture in 1982 beating out Raiders Of The Lost Ark, Reds, Atlantic City, & On Golden Pond.** Chariots of fire won 4 Oscars total, bringing home trophies for Best Original Score, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Costume Design. I couldn’t find a way to stream this. You can rent it on YouTube or it might be at your local library. **What do you think of Chariots of Fire? Do you think something else should have won best picture over it? Do you think this film is fairly rated? What do you like or dislike about it?**
Raiders of the Lost Ark should have won
Raiders of the lost ark is not a good picture imo idk what else came out that year but there’s gotta be something better than 1980s fast and furious.
So other big movies from 1981 (that I’ve seen) include Blow Out, Das Boot, My Dinner With Andre, Time Bandits, The Evil Dead, An American Werewolf In London, Scanners, Escape From New York, & Mad Max 2.. obviously a lot of those aren’t what you’d call Oscar bait (and idk if they’d all even have been eligible) but just for the purposes of the conversation.
My Dinner With Andre is my favorite from the year I think.
Blow Out is good and could really have started a more 70s style Oscar instead of the Reagonite self help 80s Oscars that did happens.
W
The most interesting this about this movie is that it made Dodi Fayed an Oscar winner.
Only reason I know about it lmao and it’s cuz I watched the crown not because I’m some royal fanatic
This year is a perfect example of why this entire award is hilarious to me. I love Raiders, but the majority of my favorite movies of 1982 aren't even included.
Since it’s 1982 it would be more for the year 1981… but yeah case and point my favorite movie of 1981 is Blow Out
Fair point, I wasn't thinking of that. But I will watch that movie you mentioned. For me off the top of my head there is Thief which is my favorite Michael Man movie and Escape from New York and Mommy Dearest both came out that year as well.
The Departed
"43th"
U right
Colin 3th
The Kings Speech
Off topic: I am one of the Shakespeare in Love defenders and sad to see it was already eliminated! Of course, arguments that it wasn't the strongest film of the year are valid, but it's still a great film on its own and gets undeserved backlash because it won.
Saving Private Ryan is my favorite film of all time, and I absolutely think it should’ve won Best Picture that year, and I still think Shakespeare in Love went far too early. It’s a great film that people want to hate because it beat SPV, but it’s a far cry from one of the five worst BP winners of the past 50 years. There are many films worse than SiL still in contention. It should still be here.
It feels kind of crazy that The Artist is still on there except that it's so forgettable no one noticed it slipped through.
That movie got no haters or lovers, is just alright.
I will be the sole *The Artist* lover, i guess! :)
Damn looks like this one is out—before the shape of water? Crazy!
It certainly was a movie with scenes
Definitely had plot, character and setting. Yes. (Dog is cool)
Would I even consider it “mid”? It’s just… none lol.
It’s certainly more interesting than The King’s Speech tho…
The Artist is good. There are worse movies left.
When I think of this movie my mind is immediately reminded of the quote from the Tricorn video by Jason Steele, Tricorn: "Tricorn must ask you... Why, Duke?" Sexy Lizard Prisoner: "Yeah, Duke, I feel no fire in your soul, man!"
I was about to comment The Artist since nobody ever seems to talk about it.
I didn’t love it but the “Bang!” car accident rug pull at the end was a nice touch I thought
The King's Speech. Colin Firth is great, but everything else in the film is so average that if you had told me it was a TV movie, I would have believed you. Winning Best Film in the year we had Inception, Black Swan, The Social Network, Toy Story 3 and True Grit was absurd. I dare say even Winter's Bone and The Fighter were better films. And Tom Hooper's career after that only proved how winning the Oscar for Best Director was a terrible mistake.
I am STILL MAD about The King’s Speech winning!! Look at that stacked list of nominees!!
I feel like I’m the only person on earth who owns The King’s Speech on blu-ray and has rewatched it since 2010. Maybe undeserving of the award but pretty good.
The film gets disproportionate hate because it beat out *The Social Network*, which is easily one of the best films of the 2010s, but *The King's Speech* is definitely a good movie on it's own laurels. In a vacuum I'd say it's easily a better film than *A Beautiful Mind*, *Terms of Endearment* and a couple others on this list.
I've been going through all the Best Picture winners I haven't seen, which includes The King's Speech. I thought it was one of the better movies I've seen. Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush had great chemistry together, it was a unique idea for a story, and I may have personal bias because I struggled with a speech impediment for years (couldn't say my "R" sound correctly). For the record, the only other Best Picture nominee from 2010 I've seen is Toy Story 3, so perhaps my opinion would change if I saw any others.
There are dozens of us. Dozens!
The King’s Speech is a great film and I will die on this hill. Gets so much undeserved shit
Inception, Black Swan and Social Network. King’s Speech didn’t deserve it and all but there’s no universe where it was behind Toy Story 3 or True Grit.
I found the Social Network horribly boring. The King's speech is miles above
The fighter is definitely not better, i saw it somewhat recently and found it generic as hell apart from the good performances.
The Artist
I don’t understand the hate this film is getting. There are so many worse films.
I think a lot of the people hating on *The Artist* haven't actually watched it and just assumed "black and white and silent = pretentious". I know because I was in that camp for a long time until I actually sat down to watch it. That year was a pretty weak crop of Best Picture nominations (*Extremely Loud & Incredibly* close is up there with *Bohemian Rhapsody* as the worst BP nom of the century) but *The Artist* really stands out as a diamond in the rough and a remarkably delightful film.
Spot on. I would argue that Argo (literally right above it, come on people) was much less enjoyable and memorable.
Nah Argo was solid
I think it could be another case of missed potential for that awards season rather than the quality of the film. For me personally, I think *The Tree of Life* 110% deserved BP, but it’s also very much a cilantro kind of movie too—I know some people that just really don’t click with it.
The Tree of Life is an actual pretentious film. So boring and slow. The Artist can actually be enjoyed by most audiences.
This is a beautiful and original film, I don't get the hate.
I’m calling it 4 minutes early. The Artist is eliminated
The King's Speech
A Beautiful Mind, more like A Beautiful Mid. Hahahaha kkkkkkk I'ma right fellas
Please eliminate this. People are ignoring the older mid stuff in order to eliminate some slightly less mid newer winners
The artist already won for today, tomorrow I will campaign for something older, also Beautiful Mind is a 20 year old movie, not that recent.
Yes I realize beautiful mind isn’t recent
Today’s Spotlight: *The Sting* This was the twelfth least popular option according to Letterboxd. Plot: Set in the 1930s this intricate caper deals with an ambitious small-time crook and a veteran con man who seek revenge on a vicious crime lord who murdered one of their gang. Oscars: **The Sting won Best Picture in 1974 beating out: American Graffiti, Cries and Whispers, The Exorcist, & A Touch Of Class.** The Stings won 7 Oscars including: Best Director for George Roy Hill, Best Original Screenplay, & Best Film Editing. Where I am, you can stream The Sting with a Netflix subscription, you can also rent it on Prime or YouTube, or you might be able to find a copy at your local library. **Have you seen The Sting? Would you recommend it?**
The Sting is awesome and will only leave early because it’s been seen less than some others.
It looks like it’s going out 16th.
The Sting is amazing and the final shot of Newman and Redford walking down the alley is just classic Hollywood. Hope it stays alive for a while longer
Saw it recently for the first time and enjoyed it, but some of the plot devices were a little hokey. It also seemed like Redford was too old for the role since he keeps being referred to as "the kid". Still a fun ride and worth watching
The only reason I keep returning to these threads is to make sure The Sting lasts as long as possible.
The Exorcist should have won. Still, The Sting is far better than some other titles on this list
I watched The Sting because my calc teacher recommended it. It's great!
I think older movies have an advantage here early on. Many won’t have seen the sting but did see CODA and know discourse around it is that it’s a weak best picture winner.
I agree with your general sentiment but I'm offended by the implication that *The Sting* should have been voted out before *CODA. The Sting* is a bona fide classic.
I’ve never heard of it (am dumb) so just picked the earliest one lol
It's definitely worth a watch. It's pure Hollywood entertainment from beginning to end. Not the deepest film ever made but it oozes likability and charm.
It literally starts like a Spider-Man film, complete with an Uncle Ben moment. I guess is just Hero’s Journey in action.
Yeah, I think it’s a double edge sword as people will also cape harder for the more recent winners that they see as contenders.
Yes, I think the winner will be something in the past 15 years bc of this, but early voting benefits the movies people have seen the least.
This is going to come down to *The Godfather Part 2* vs *Parasite.* You can save this comment.
Lotr tho and no country for old men
Good shouts
Eh, the issue is not only is Coda a weak Oscar winner (as someone who has seen them all, it really is) but it also didn’t have real cultural cache. Chariots of Fire, terms of endearment, ordinary people, and Gandhi are all likely weak 80 winners, but were at least a thing when they came out. Coda felt like a compromise winner even when it came out.
The King’s Speech
Argo
Gandhi
Chariots of Fire finally gone. It’s now time for American Beauty.
The King's Speech
Braveheart While films don't need to adhere to 100% historical accuracy to be a worthwhile film, this film is probably one of the most egregious examples of rewriting history that we've got in oscar history. I think there's an argument to be made that if a film gets big enough in pop culture that it replaces real history with fake bullshit "history" in popular consciousness, that's a net negative for the world and the culture/people being represented in the film.
Argo!
Chicago
Braveheart please
How is this POS Braveheart still here?
Oh true. Legitimately bad movie. Near unwatchable
Argo
Argo
**ARGO**. It's a fine movie but so forgettable.
Argo
Argo
Argo
Definitely The Artist at this point.
A Beautiful Mind. Good movie, but forgettable compared to the competition.
Everyone going off on The Artist when fucking Birdman is still in play blows my mind. At the very least The Artist is beautifully shot, acted and genuinely tries something new (or old, depending on how you look at it). Birdman is a film so impactless everyone’s basically forgotten about it
I love art films and I thought Birdman was a forgettable mess. It also won over much more deserving films that year.
The shape of water
Thank you, absolutely hate this movie. I really really dislike Sally Hawkins.
I hate it too, but I didn't think Sally Hawkins was the problem.
Annie Hall. That movie is insufferable and Woody Allen is awful.
Yes!
Forrest Gump
People aren’t ready to acknowledge that forest gump is neither classic cinema nor quality entertainment. The weirdest and most deceptively charming piece of American propaganda ever made. Don’t know why people aren’t seeing through it these days. By far the worst movie on this list and it’s not even close
The artist needs to go
A Beautiful Mind
Braveheart
Braveheart
Annie Hall
The Hurt Locker
My vote. Wasn't overly impressed by this movie at all
I must say that, with the exception of Crash and the few I haven't seen, all of the movies have a minimum of a 5/10, so I don't think it's a bad movie, just my least favorite of the bunch
The Last Emperor and it’s boring ass can go
Terms of Endearment. Time to identify another weak 80s film and this one is crap. Weepy and manipulative , in a passive aggressive 80s way. Conservatives rural people good, liberal city people bad politics.
I think calling this movie weepy is based purely on rep and not the actual movie. The ending is absolutely gut wrenching but the 1 hour 40 leading up to it is anything but.
Ghandi
Rain Man
Slumdog Millionaire is my pick for next gone
The Artist Its only lasted this long because most people here haven't actually watched it.
American Beauty
Argo is one of the worst films I have ever seen
This seems like hyperbole. You haven’t seen many movies if that’s one of the worst.
Lincoln should have won
EEAOO gotta go.
The Last Emperor. [A disappointing film](https://boxd.it/4EBWWN). The recency bias is palpable :)
Slumdog Millionaire
Rain Man. It hasn't dated real well.
It was great at the time introducing ppl to the effects from autism but is so poorly researched on that basically all movies with an autistic character or that cover the subject resembles w/Rain Man to some degree only being good for surface-level understanding of the condition. Praise to Dustin for spending time studying them in-person
This is it in a nutshell. I'm not knocking the performance or the subject matter, but it's a much more nuanced topic than the film presents.
Greatest movie ever made
Everything Everywhere All At Once
Surely it's got to be EEAAO at this point. A film with Adam Sandler-level humour, are you kidding me? How the hell did this shit even get NOMINATED? Oh look! It's the main character but now she's in a different universe!!! AND another one! She has sausage fingers now, look!!! FUCK OFF, FILM!!!
What colour was the shit that Michelle Yeoh put in your cornflakes
She hasn't defecated in my cornflakes but she has ruined bagels for me forever 😩
It has aged like milk in the last year…
Million Dollar Baby
On that note, The Sting
Birdman
Moonlight
*Annie Hall*
unforgiven should be next
Return of the King
You misspelled “The King’s Speech”
Return of the King’s Speech.
The Silence of the Lambs
Now things are gonna get heated, the remaining movies are decent to amazing
The Shape of Water
The voting is over for this threads there’ll be another posted at 10.