<p>I’m glad that everyone here dislikes Avatar as much as I do. :D</p>
<p>@nwfilmstudent - that sounds weird… I sent them in fine. Try going to the USConnect page, clicking the Admission tab, and clicking the “Midyear Report” box. By the way, I totally agree with you on the Oscar thing. It pretty much is political, which is why James Cameron will win everything.</p>
<p>I actually liked it because the visuals were incredible and the 3D was the most efficient use of that technology ever. But yea, that story has been recycled a lot of times!</p>
<p>@littered3 thanks for the response. (on that note, sorry for the late reply, haha - massive timezone differences) Hopefully you’ll get that fat envelope soon.</p>
<p>But why we hating on Avatar? </p>
<p>Yes the story was recycled but it pushed the envelope of cinema. First movie I’ve ever seen that pulled 3D off quite effectively. The world they created was just stunning, there was painstaking attention to detail. In terms of production values, revenue, and marketing Wow. 2.5 billion dollars of revenue. I know that revenue doesn’t speak about a movie’s quality. But being dismissive of what Avatar did would be a mistake. Avatar was pure escapism and I think it did that extremely well, and for an escapism type movie, the story was going for broad appeal as opposed to a character driven-oscar bait type of affair.</p>
<p>Haha, sorry for being defensive. I’m a little protective of Cameron. (Huge terminator fan) </p>
<p>In terms of best picture, it’ll be between Avatar and the Hurt Locker. Inglorious Basterds would be my personal pick but judging by who usually wins Best Picture I doubt it. </p>
<p>I’d say the Oscar could go both ways, for Avatar it’s a landmark of cinema, so in that sense it is deserving. But Hurt Locker as a movie was firing on all cylinders so to speak. Story, special effects, characters AND it’s got that whole “soldiers fighting for us back home” sort of angle. I’d put my money on Hurt Locker.</p>
<p>Another quick question, does anyone know if they DHL or FedEx SCA decisions to international students? I remember hearing that before. There’s a 10-14 day delay between LA and where I live and the wait would just be excruciating.</p>
<p>Avatar definitely was a technological masterpiece. hah i remember walking out of the theater and hearing someone say “man, i felt like i just watched the lion king. but awesome and in 3d.” So story-structure-wise, your average film viewer has definitely been there before. Also, im hoping to see Inglourious Basterds win but not sure what will happen there.</p>
<p>@shicko
from what i remember, they use DHL for international students.</p>
<p>I mean, I think Avatar should just about take home every technological award it can get its hands on because it really did revolutionize those aspects of cinema, but I don’t think it should have been let anywhere near the Best Picture/Director/etc. awards.</p>
<p>I agree, especially about Best Director. Giving that award to Avatar turns that category into a joke.</p>
<p>Yeah, seriously. How in the world did Avatar beat out Basterds and Hurt Locker for Best Drama in the Golden Globes? Avatar’s win only cemented the GG’s status as a joke of an awards show. The GG’s suck. Like, why do the GGs even exist? We have the Oscars for movies, the Emmys for TV shows - the Golden Globes have no place in this world!</p>
<p>I think it’s only because people have different definitions of what “best picture” means. I’m going to be realistic and assume Basterds is pretty much out, so I hope Hurt Locker owns Avatar. I fail to see how people can think Avatar is worthy of anything but technical awards. A screenplay is the core of a movie and James Cameron’s was mediocre. Avatar was all smoke and mirrors.</p>
<p>Well said dream! Well said. Also, uh…am I the only one who was NOT impressed by Bullock in The Blind Side? She didn’t do a bad job, but nothing near Oscar worthy. I’m hoping Streep wins. Have you seen her in Julie and Julia? Absolutely adorable!</p>
<p>Honestly, at this point I care more about who doesn’t win than who does. If Avatar wins Best Picture/Director, I will scream. If Sandra Bullock wins Best Actress, I will scream. If The White Ribbon wins Best Foreign Lang–y’know what? Screw that. I don’t even care about Best Foreign Language Film; I’m too furious at the Academy for snubbing Danish film Terribly Happy.</p>
<p>I actually JUST finished watching The Blind Side. It was decent but Sandra Bullock’s performance was not really something I’d write home about. 
I think Meryl Streep will definitely win. She was so great in Julie & Julia. I was really hoping people would be rooting for Carey Mulligan because I thought she was AMAZING in An Education. I feel like a lot of movies didn’t get much recognition this year – An Education, A Single Man, In the Loop…</p>
<p>Don’t even talk to me about snubbed films! In addition to Terribly Happy being overlooked in the foreign-film category, I’m absolutely livid that Bright Star has been consistently snubbed all season. That film was flawless, goddammit!</p>
<p>Yes, Mulligan was great in An Education! First time seeing her in a film and I was very impressed. 2009 films I have yet to see but want to see are: A Crazy Heart, A Single Man, The White Ribbon, A Prophet (French film. Sounds incredible), Moon, a few animated movies and some other films I’m forgetting. </p>
<p>Don’t mention the snubbing of foreign films…I still want to cry knowing that Let the Right One In didn’t even score a nomination last year (but that’s mainly cuz the film came out too late for consideration or something. Still sucks). That was my favorite film of 08. :(</p>
<p>And this is why I said earlier SCA kids are the coolest. They’re movie buffs! I love movie buffs! I already got into USC as a Computer Science (Games) major, but I hope all of you guys get into SCA!!</p>
<p>Yeah, but the thing with Let The Right One In (although I agree that its omission was crazy) is that it wasn’t actually the Academy’s fault that time–Sweden would have had to select it as their official candidate, and they didn’t because whoever was in charge of that is clearly an imbecile. :P</p>
<p>Where do you guys see the foreign language films at? It’s not available on Netflix, and foreign films are never shown where I live.</p>
<p>A couple of my theaters showed DWB and UP… the rest you just gotta find yourself. :P</p>
<p>Let the Right One In was one of my top five favorites of all time. So good, and it came out right when vampires were being given the Twilight treatment so it was refreshing. I really like the score as well, it’s all I listened to when I wrote college essays.</p>
<p>wg- Netflix has a huge selection of foreign films. You can search by country and genre.</p>
<p>Magic: How do you like the CS department. I am seriously thinking of getting a minor in CS (If accepted to SCA and USC). I want to be able to integrate Film with CS as well as be “marketable” for getting a job :)</p>
<p>sorry to bust the film convo but I just got back from USC yesterday and I thought you guys would like to hear some news =)</p>
<p>I was there for presidential scholar and I got to see the SCA and meet professors for animation and everything and it is AMAZING. they get free tickets to screenings, new releases, academy awards and everything and they have soooo many connections! the campus is also beautiful.</p>
<p>I was able to meet with one of the deans there and he said that out of 120 freshmen who are accepted each year into SCA, 27 have been chosen already for trustee/presidential scholarships. so… there’s still about 90+ spots left.</p>
<p>It’s a beautiful campus and the SCA community is so tight knit. I’ve only seen good stuff about it and I’m sure if you’re passionate and willing to work your butt off and be amazed at the professors, this is the place for you. Good luck to everyone!! =)</p>