Worst movie to win best picture oscar (vs, director, musical)

[jadybug]

Taxi Driver!

[silverwing]

Originally Posted by BlueWillowPlate

Wow.
Shakespeare in Love, so literate yet so funny, is one of my most favorite movies, with its countless inside jokes, the play within a play, and the soundtrack.

If it has Gwyneth Paltrow in it, I can't watch it ... I mean, I just can't. She can't even submerge herself enough in a character to make me believe that isn't her on the screen. Something about her ... I dunno. I'd rather stick a lit match up my nose to burn out the hairs than see her on the screen

I love most of the Jane Austen movies - one of my favorites being the little-seen version of "Persuasion" with Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds (how in the world is his first name pronounced?).
Sophie Thompson, Emma's sister, also stars and is a hoot ("Are you coming in, Henrietta, or is my cottage insufficiently grand for you? " Oh, boy, someone slap her!).
Corin Redgrave (brother to Lynn and Vanessa) steals every scene he's in ("I strongly object to the Navy. It brings people of obscure birth into undue distinction and it cuts up a man's youth and vigor most horribly! ").

I haven't seen "Emma" and don't know that I'll ever be able to. I saw a trailer for the Gwyneth Paltrow version and wailed in dismay. The lilted character; the arched tone! Aaaaach! If I can bleach my brain to dispel even the brief view of what I saw, maybe I can watch an earlier incarnation of the book. IMDB lists several.

[iluvmycuties]

No Country for Old Men...what the h*ll?

[BlueWillowPlate]

Originally Posted by silverwing

If it has Gwyneth Paltrow in it, I can't watch it ... I mean, I just can't.

Sounds like Paltrow is someone you love to hate.
I am somewhat the same with Catherine Zeta-Jones, but she hasn't been in anything decent since Traffic (a movie I had mixed feelings about) so I don't feel I'm missing out.

I haven't seen "Emma" and don't know that I'll ever be able to..

That's too bad. Emma, like Shakespeare in Love, was well put-together--and had Sophie Thompson (along with the divine Jeremy Northam).

[BlueWillowPlate]

Originally Posted by LovinDecatur

Agreed...whenever I watch a 'blockbuster' like SIL, I always think of what it would been like to produce it 50 or 60 years before.

It would not have been written 50 or 60 years before.
Certainly it is a hark back to 1930's screwball comedy (which itself probably goes back to Shakespeare's comic plays), but even the best of those films from yesteryear were not as full of historical, topical and literary references as SIP.
Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard's screenplay is incomparable; unique.
Judi Dench's 8 minutes on the screen were certainly enjoyable, but I respectfully disagree that she propped up the ensemble cast.

I guess it's all in the qualities you do or don't appreciate about a film.
Back in 2002, I just could not get all that excited about Chicago, the movie that won Best Picture.
What should have won? Gangs of New York was brilliant, but flawed, The Pianist was well-made, but one long downer, as was The Hours.
That leaves us Lord of the Rings, the Two Towers, which some find brilliant, while others are left either yawning or giggling at inappropriate moments.
It's all rather subjective.

[FlourChild]

Originally Posted by Sockeye

ET - there, I said it. Too many drippy cliches.

OH, the hate I have for "ET" could light a city. Craptacular, that flick.

[domergurl]

I felt the same way about Gwennie until I saw Sylvia ... wow, she really immersed herself into that role. Who knew she had it in her?? Other than that, she ruined the movie, Sliding Doors ... could have been so good! Oh that accent ... or lack thereof. Why why why???

[McGowdog]

I can't rep you again so soon, so let me highlight this beauty;

Originally Posted by silverwing

... Something about her ... I dunno. I'd rather stick a lit match up my nose to burn out the hairs than see her on the screen

...Gwyneth Paltrow version and wailed in dismay. The lilted character; the arched tone! Aaaaach! If I can bleach my brain to dispel even the brief view of what I saw, maybe I can watch an earlier incarnation of the book.

So I take it you didn't love her role in Shallow Hal?

Didn't see Brokeback. Didn't see Chariots of Fire. I would, on the other hand, watch reruns of Crash or Gump Fiction anyday. Remember that line? I'm gonna get Medieval on your buttox!

[jadybug]

Originally Posted by McGowdog

I can't rep you again so soon, so let me highlight this beauty;



So I take it you didn't love her role in Shallow Hal?

Didn't see Brokeback. Didn't see Chariots of Fire. I would, on the other hand, watch reruns of Crash or Gump Fiction anyday. Remember that line? I'm gonna get Medieval on your buttox!

"Run Forest! Run!!!!!!!!!"

[graceC]

Originally Posted by silverwing

I haven't seen "Emma" and don't know that I'll ever be able to. I saw a trailer for the Gwyneth Paltrow version and wailed in dismay. The lilted character; the arched tone! Aaaaach! If I can bleach my brain to dispel even the brief view of what I saw, maybe I can watch an earlier incarnation of the book. IMDB lists several.

Actually Gwyneth's version of Emma is not so bad, but I would still prefer the original with Kate Beckinsale as Emma.