Disc Dish is launching its second new feature this week. As well as the new Today’s Special column, Disc Dish is teaming up with Movies Unlimited (and its blog, MovieFanFare) to bring you fun videos about what we all like best … movies!
As we’re approaching the climax of the awards season with the Academy Awards revealed on Sunday, Feb. 27, we thought, what better way to begin this great alliance between Disc Dish and Movies Unlimited than with an overview of Oscar predictions?
Will The King’s Speech receive a royal welcome? Will people “like” The Social Network enough to see David Fincher take home his long-overdue prize in the Best Director category?
Join “Movie Irv” Slifkin — a Disc Dish reviewer — and his two expert guests (and Movies Unlimited colleagues) Brian Burkart and Mark Wildfeuer as they run down their theories about who will win the major categories and why. Let us know what you think of their predictions in the comments.
The King’s Speech may be characterised as “paint by numbers” history but it is at least accurate and deserving of an Oscar nomination, and in my view, one or more wins. The same cannot be said of the movie U-571 which reinvented history in unacceptable ways and should never have been submitted for an Academy Award. The following is a quote taken from Wikipedia:
…In 2006, screenwriter David Ayer admitted that U-571 distorted history and stated that he would not do it again….
He also stated that it was a mercenary (for money) decision.
Let’s have paint by numbers if it keeps the history accurate – and if a great movie results – give it an award.
PabloGC, thanks for watching! Of course as you probably know, The King’s Speech is indeed being argued about in terms of its accuracy, especially w/respect to how George VI viewed Britain’s policy of “appeasement” pre-WWII. As for me (the man behind Irv’s camera), I am of the mind that history is history and movies are movies, and you have to keep the fidelity to accuracy in some perspective. There are definitely “unacceptable” ways to reinvent history on film…the only problem is, history being the elusive thing that it is, no one can really agree on where the line between “dramatic liberty” and “revisionism” is to be thickly drawn from one case to another.
Hi George – there is a bit of revisionism or sheer inventiveness in every retelling of history. I can readily accept the bedroom antics of Shakespeare in Love – great story but I don’t think anyone would claim accuracy for that movie. But it did introduce the correct characters in and around young Will in a believable way. U571 was a slap in the face for many British navy servicemen since it effectively replaced their real and dangerous heroism with fakery in the minds of so many who now think that the USA snatched the Enigma machine. That is the difference. If the U571 movie had mentioned a fake dossier, or a V4 rocket, fictional, that would have been fine.
Anyway, nuff said, and I agree with just about all of the picks and especially that Best Actress should go to Padmé Amidala – who???? 😉
Your U571 info is very interesting — I’m not familiar at all w/the movie (tho I do have a vague memory of the fuss made over it at the time). No doubt we could rustle up some Marlovians and Oxfordians to debate just how heretical “Shakespeare in Love” is!
The King’s Speech has lots of good things being said about it, I am tempted to take a look at it myself, I have ten films here that I think will be good to see, click on my name to have a look if you want