Judging from our last poll, most readers seem to think James Cameron’s “Avatar” will rack up the most Oscar nominations in just under a month’s time. But does it deserve to win the big prize, as a great many prognosticators are currently expecting? The debate is raging elsewhere, but let us know your cut-and-dry answer in the sidebar poll and feel free to explain your position in the comments section below.
Comments
133 responses to “POLL: Does ‘Avatar’ deserve to win Best Picture?”
It’s absolutely makes my top 3 of the year, but it isn’t the best.
Would it be a deserving winner? Yes. For being a grand entertainment, a technical marvel and cultural event.
Would it be the MOST deserving winner? No, I can think of a few other films that I liked better, and there are a few contenders I’ve yet to see too.
No.
Its fun for sure, but best picture, no way.
Not even in my top 10.
It is not Inglourious Basterds, so no.
Are you kidding me? Absolutely not.
Yes, it’s a technical marvel. Yes, it’s pretty. But the script is awful. So awful that it took me out of the film with a scoff — multiple times. Oh, of course she gets shot! Oh, of course the king dies! Oh, here comes the battle between reformed-white-army-guy and evil-villain-white-army-guy! Ugh. There’s archetypes, and there’s plain cliché. If only Cameron spent a little bit more time on the script than on the fancy cameras and computers.
But is the film grand entertainment? Certainly. Did I enjoy myself? Sure. But do you know what else is entertaining? Balloons. Sparkly balloons filled with confetti. No, I’ve got a better comparison: “Avatar” is like cotton candy — sweet, but with no nutritional value.
I agree with the above posters. It’s fun. It’s visually stunning. It deserves to win every technical award possible.
But there’s no way it’s a better film than Up in the Air, The Hurt Locker, or Inglorious Basterds.
Avatar is a good movie – it is visually innovative in a way that has not been seen since probaly the introduction of colour. Is the best movie of the year – no but a cinematic breakthrough – yes. Therefore does it deserve to win best picture – yes as it has already changed cinema. Just wait for the next 5 year there will countless Avatar-esque movies.
Hell YEAH!! : )
The only award it deserves is VFX.
The Hurt Locker deserves to win.
I wouldn’t mind seeing Avatar win Best Picture, but in my opinion, it’s not the most deserving.
My vote would go for The Hurt Locker.
It is a great film, but if there is any justice “Inglorious Basterds” will win best picture. It is head and shoulders above all other films this year.
A magical movie-going experience even with flaws. Yes, it is deserving.
No way… Its visual brilliance doesn’t hold because of a poor screenplay full of flat characters… I haven’t seen many of the contenders, since I don’t live in the USA and most of them haven’t opened yet here, but for what I’ve seen so far, “Inglorious Basterds” is my favorite for the big prize… it’s entertaining, it’s auterish, full of rich characters and great performances.
I’ve already offered my two cents on a previous thread, but I think if we are going by what Best Picture is about (the best filmmaking of the year) I would argue that it deserves to win, if not for the fact that it’s a great film, but because it’s a landmark film. Sure, it doesn’t have the best screenplay, but worse films (and worse screenplays) have won Best Picture before. Take Slumdog Millionaire for example. Did anyone ACTUALLY think the screenplay to that film was great? I doubt it. But it was the movie of the moment (though The Dark Knight deserved Best Picture more than Slumdog on that criteria). Often, Best Picture is about the film that defined the year, rather than one that is necessarily the best film of the year. Avatar, for better or worse, has defined 2009’s cinemascope. Naming it movie of the year doesn’t seem like such a stretch. And if I does win Best Picture, it wouldn’t be the worst thing the Academy has done by a long shot. To each their own, but I think people need to separate the debate about Best Picture from whether or not they want to let others love the movie.
I found Avatar to be horrible. The visuals didn’t even blow me away to be honest. (In my opinion, within the context of the film, Pan’s Labyrinth had much more powerful visuals.)
The writing in Avatar was just plain horrible, there were so many cringe worth moments, (cue those love scenes), the metaphors were unaffecting, and the action was incredibly shallow. I waited for the movie to end after the first hour.
I didn’t find it fun like some of you guys, but even if I did enjoy the “fun,” it would still be very inferior to “The Hurt Locker” “Up in the Air” and some of the other contenders.
Sorry Avatar is better than Inglorious Basterds and that is saying something. IB – what 2 and half chapters that kept you entertained? I have to say repeated viewings of it over Xmas did not help highlighted its many flaws.
Avatar, Inglourious Basterds, Up in the Air, and The Hurt Locker all have very passionate support. It will be interesting to see where the biggest majority of the Academy’s support falls. With the 10 film field, it’s really going to split up the votes like never before.
I agree David, which is why the race this year is so exciting and tight. Not only are there several very deserving films with passionate support from all sides, but each one has a chance of winning. I’m backing Avatar this year, but I loved all 4 of those titles, so any of them winning would be OK with me.
I have included it in my top 10. Though I wouldn’t expect it to win, I wouldn’t be upset if it did. My pick is The Hurt Locker.
I personally couldn’t get mad at the Academy for picking either one of the three. Avatar, The Hurt Locker, or Up In The Air.
I’m trying to show some balls with this issue. But I just think that a solid case can be made for each one of them.
I think that The Hurt Locker deserves it. But at the same time I’m not going to cry my eye’s out, if the Academy gives it to Avatar
I’ve seen Precious, Hurt Locker, Avatar, and I.Bastards, and the only one that made me feel something diferent and special was AVATAR, is movie magic at is best, is what make movie going a special ocassion.
i think is going to win for sure “Visual effects”
“Sound Editing”, Sound Mixing”, Film Editing” and “Original Score”, the rest of the awards, well, i don’t know if it can win.
tough question. What about the best year of the decade poll? Will that happen?
As fun as it is to watch the Oscar race, I think we all sometimes loose sight of the fact that a film being named Best Picture isn’t that important in the long run. The films themselves will be remembered longer than the Oscars they won. The Dark Knight wasn’t nominated, but it’s still one of my top 10 favorite films of all time. Does it’s oscar snub somehow affect the way I watch and love the film? NO FUCKING WAY. But something about Avatar possibly winning Best Picture really has people up in arms, and I can’t understand why people are acting like it would be a personal offense to them if it did win Best Picture. Sure, it’s fun to watch the race and try and predict the winners, but since when have the oscars EVER been about the most deserving films of the year? If I had my way, The Road would win Best Picture, Director, and Actor. But that’s not going to happen, so I move on to the next best thing for me. Relax people, it’s not a presidential election.
Fuck No. Deserve’s got nothing to do with it.
I can only say that Oscar doesn’t have a particularly good track record of picking the best films of the year. I don’t care if Avatar wins, but I wouldn’t choose it. The script was bad, even for Cameron. On a personal note, I was curiously unwowed by the movie’s visual sense – I need a little more than Day-Glo flowers and floating mountains to impress me. I didn’t even find it a particularly clear winner in the SFX department; I think District 9 (while a very different film) did just as well. I enjoyed it, but simply can’t understand the extent of the critical orgasm that has been taking place. I’ve sat through many an Oscar ceremony where films that didn’t excite me kept racking up the awards, so… live and let live I guess. But as I said in a previous comment, ten years from now people will remember the movie as a phenomenon more than as something they want to raptly revisit, much like Titanic.
No. Way. No. How. Not. A. Chance. “Defined the year”? Not. Hardly.
A special Oscar for its innovation in visual effects makes the most sense.
Absolutely – yes! It’s the only movie that has transported me in years. Avatar is what “going to the movies” is all about. There’s no denying it’s Art in it’s highest form.
Sadly, no. I think “Up in the Air” and “Precious” are more deserving of the award, and if it gets in, “District 9” is also better than “Avatar,” so…nomination, damn right, but not the ultimate win.
@Kevin
If a deserving movie like “The Hurt Locker” won best picture, it would increase the movie’s viewership, which is one important thing, and indeed, down the line, say 30 years, BP winners are usually more likely to be remembered than nominees. Sad but true.
I’m getting tired of the inane Avatar is junk food/candy comparisons. I get that it’s a love it or hate it movie, but just saying the script sucked/ visuals were awesome is getting old. I think the Star Wars comparisons are apt, in that both movies cannibalize and mash up elements of other movies. I wonder if Star Wars had the same number of naysayers back in the day? The script for that film isn’t exactly “great” but that film has endured as a product of its time, much in the way Avatar probably will, for better or for worse. In short, I don’t think it’s bad choice for Best Picture. Certainly better and more representative of the year than some of the recent best pic winners.
The most deserving films of 2009 won’t even be nominated for Best Picture. They won’t even be let into the building.
Has Avatar earned Best Picture? Critical Acclaim + Happy Moviegoers + PGA/DGA (probable)/GG/ noms. Sure it’s earned it. So has other films.
It’s all a matter of personal taste at this point.
@phil
Star Wars received similar criticism back in 1977. And like you pointed out, look how that turned out. The people that hated it are still bitter and full of bile. The rest of the world loved it and moved on.
I think all four movies are great in different ways, but Avatar would be the only one outside of my top 5 for the year.
As someone up there put it best… it would be a deserving winner… but is it the most deserving? Perhaps not.
(Replying to Loyal)
Critical acclaim? Yes, but mostly for visuals. I haven’t seen one review that called it’s story well written and beautiful. Happy moviegoers? Well, I can’t speak for everyone, so if you go by box office, VERY happy movie goers. But the same could be same for Transformers or Alvin and the Chipmunks. And I’m starting to take the Golden Globes less seriously after nominating movies like Nine and It’s Complicated for BP. Perhaps that’s personal though.
No. “Avatar” does not deserve to win best pictures when there are plenty of more deserving films.
I´m not sure it deserves to win, but it will win. James Cameron might win director as well.
i think the only movie that deserves to win this year is inglourious basterds.
avatar cracks my top ten for sure, but most deserving winner? NO WAY!
I don’t think so. I think that much like Titanic, this movie will be judged more harshly once it has ceased to “wow” people.
I think it will win, but Up In The Air is this year’s L.A. Confidential, and history will judge it the better film.
BTW, I don’t think it’s a lock that Avatar racks up the most noms. If it fails to secure a screenplay nomination, and Laurent or Kruger were to slide into the Sup Actress category (a real possibility IMO), then Inglorious Basterds could lead the nominations.
Okay, I’m getting sick of all these people who are comparing Star Wars to Avatar and saying, “Look at Star Wars, THAT didn’t have a good story, and look how IT turned out.”
The observation that the plot of Star Wars was not exactly its most compelling aspect is correct, but what George Lucas created had far more imagination than Avatar. Most of what James Cameron cooked up were variations of things we’ve seen before, only with better special effects. Conor made a good point earlier about Pan’s Labyrinth having the level of visual creativity that absolutely warranted its critical acclaim. Making an alien race simply a mish-mash of Native American stereotypes on a tropical Thomas Kinkade-esque planet with creatures that we’ve seen before in other forms is not deserving of the overwhelming praise heaped at it. At most, it should be seen as a promising tech demo of what visual effects can bring us in the future, not compelling cinema on the level of one of the most influential films ever made!
@ Sawyer: You wish. Up in the Air is not racking up the critic’s awards the way L.A. Confidential did back in ’97, The Hurt Locker is.
OK, The Hurt Locker then. Loved both movies – I was saying Up In The Air because it has been mentioned as Avatar’s biggest competition.
I don’t know how deserving Avatar is, but I have my favorites, and two of them are possible Picture winners. So, yeah, no. Go Basterds and Hurt Locker. :D
Yes. I loved the original Star Wars but I loathe Avatar. Star Wars had Harrison Ford and all the other actors who brought it to life. Avatar is a bad b-movie that fails to ignite on a story level and it looks and sounds too much like a rehash of other movies. Star Wars was original showing us things we never have seen that would be difficult to come up with with extremely original visual effects and sound effects. Lucas has never been able to top himself, as the sequels have not been nearly as good. But hat film was clearly a classic, which Avatar is not.
If a classic sci-fi can’t win best picture, a bad b-movie like Avatar is not going to no matter how much money it makes. It’s going to take a sci-fi movie with a great script to crack that nut. I’m afraid as interesting as this years sci-fi films are, none of them have a story that is strong enough to win. They’ll cancel each other out.
A more appropriate poll would have been – Does “Avatar” deserve to be nominated for Best Picture?
Shorter entire commentariat: I am SO butthurt that this movie wasn’t the unmitigated flop I smarmily predicted it would be.
Translation of Marlowe’s comment: I can’t effectively provide a rebuttal to the complaints against Avatar, so I’m going to throw out a bunch of childish ad hominem attacks.
Hitler. There, now this thing is good and over.