The One Ring Forums: Tolkien Topics: Movie Discussion: The Hobbit:
Drat it all--TH:AUJ loses to Life of Pi for Art Directors Guild Awards!



elf_wannabee
Lorien

Feb 3 2013, 6:03am


Views: 1446
Drat it all--TH:AUJ loses to Life of Pi for Art Directors Guild Awards!
Is the art direction for Life of Pi really that good? Is it better than AUJ? I haven't seen LOP yet so i can't judge! AUJ better take at least one Oscar this year or i'm gonna be severely disappointed!


Aragorn the Elfstone
Tol Eressea


Feb 3 2013, 7:17am


Views: 996
Try not to take it too hard.
It's awards season politics. While Life of Pi's Art Direction is nothing to sneeze at - in my opinion, it doesn't hold a candle to some of it's competition (Prometheus, Cloud Atlas, The Hobbit). But the simple fact is that Life of Pi is being positioned as the film to sweep the technical categories at the Oscars (though I think in this particular category at the Oscars, it will lose to Anna Karenina). Voters tend to go with the movies that have all the buzz, and Life of Pi is one of those films this year.
"All men dream; but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds awake to find that it was vanity; But the dreamers of day are dangerous men. That they may act their dreams with open eyes to make it possible."
- T.E. Lawrence


Tintallė
Gondor


Feb 3 2013, 5:34pm


Views: 813
Too bad, really.
I recently saw Life of Pi and while I thought it was a rather unusual and intriguing movie I feel there are others more deserving of recognition, including AUJ.


Kimtc
Rohan


Feb 3 2013, 5:57pm


Views: 787
Agreed
The group I saw it with was focused almost exclusively on the tiger, and why it looked so real, yet wolves never come out looking realistic. The rest of it was a bit too "arty," if you understand what I mean. Hard to describe, but like I was looking at something that was supposed to be "artistic."

In Reply To
I recently saw Life of Pi and while I thought it was a rather unusual and intriguing movie I feel there are others more deserving of recognition, including AUJ.


burrahobbit
Rohan


Feb 3 2013, 6:38pm


Views: 809
I don't expect a good awards season for AUJ
We had unprecedented awards recognition for Lord of the Rings, and I feel The Hobbit will generally be viewed as more of the same and so be passed over. Oscar nominations were few and far between for AUJ, and it may well come away empty handed. Also it's a trilogy of course, so we'll have to wait a couple of years for the final verdict.

Life of Pi was a really great film- beautiful cinematography, enchanting story, funny and thoughtful. Personally I enjoyed the film more than AUJ, and thought the special effects were superb. I think it will have a strong awards season. In Oscar terms, films often get more technical awards when they are nominated for best picture (like FotR). So we may well be in a similar situation later with Life of Pi pipping AUJ to the visual effects Oscar.


sharpened_graphite
Rivendell

Feb 3 2013, 9:15pm


Views: 768
Awards are nice and all...
But are really no big deal.

Great Art Direction/Sets/Costumes/CGI speak for themselves without needing an award to proclaim them as such. And besides, there's so much amazing work done in so many movies these days that singling one out for an award seems unfair to all the others (Prometheus, Cloud Atlas, Brave, Frankenweenie, Rise of the Guardians... And that's just the most prominent movies of 2012 in that regard, all as good as the Hobbit in terms of art and visuals (haven't seen Life of Pi yet, but I imagine it's pretty good too!)). There's so much that's beautiful and inspiring in today's Cinema, we live in a truly blessed age as far as motion pictures are concerned.


(This post was edited by sharpened_graphite on Feb 3 2013, 9:17pm)


andwise
Rivendell


Feb 3 2013, 9:42pm


Views: 744
life of pi.
I went to see life of pi over the Xmas hols and enjoyed it a lot more than what I thought I would.my wife had read the novel as part of the village book club and she talked me in to going.it is a very arty film and like some have said it has been the movie with a buzz about it.if it gets the award I can't argue with that as i think the academy will probably ignore middle earth this time in a 'we've seen it before' type of way.it probably grated with a lot of them when LOTR was given such huge recognition 10 years ago,they won't want to give anymore without very good reason.
Arrow....black arrow,I have saved you to the last.you have never failed me and always I have recovered you.I had you from my father and he from old.if ever you came from the forges of the true king under the mountain,go now and speed well


Starling
Half-elven


Feb 4 2013, 6:07am


Views: 690
Well if I was in charge of the awards
I'd be giving them to Life of Pi over The Hobbit for sure.


Tintallė
Gondor


Feb 4 2013, 7:08am


Views: 687
I'd be interested to hear
what, in particular, you appreciated most about Life of Pi. I liked it very much, particularly the opening scenes from the zoo.


Starling
Half-elven


Feb 4 2013, 7:53am


Views: 684
Lots of things
I loved the multi-layering, and exploration of themes of suffering, grief, loss, faith and resilience, and finding joy in unexpected places and ways. I loved the exploration of the idea of truth and what it really means, and what we do when reality is too much to bear. I loved the idea that there could be more than one layer of story/reality, and what if they are co-existing alongside each other somehow?
It was stunningly beautiful in a most believable way, and for me this added another layer of richness to the experience.
I thought about it for weeks afterwards, and I still think about it sometimes. There aren't many films that affect me in that way.


Elessar
Valinor


Feb 4 2013, 2:11pm


Views: 679
Eh
Life of Pi is the flavor of the month. It looked like a rather crappy movie from the trailers and intersted me little in making the effort to see it. From the trailers it reminded me of something you'd see at Disney Land during some kind of ride they might have.


imin
Valinor


Feb 4 2013, 2:24pm


Views: 663
Have you seen Life of Pi?
Just curious as from the people i have spoken to who have seen both TH and Life of Pi, all think the CGI etc from Life of Pi was superior, myself included. It was truly beautiful without becoming cartoony like TH did in parts - thinking Goblintown especially.

The story itself is also much deeper than the one presented in TH - though obviously this is really only the first third of the story for TH where as Life of Pi had the luxury of being able to complete its tale in the one movie.


imin
Valinor


Feb 4 2013, 2:27pm


Views: 653
Great post
This is how i felt whilst watching and afterwards, i should have just said this before posting my other reply in this thread, lol.


Elessar
Valinor


Feb 4 2013, 2:50pm


Views: 657
Nope
Like I said it looks awful (story wise) and so I have no interest in seeing It. The CGI looked alright in the trailers but it didn't look like anything special, and after five viewings of TH none of it looked like it could touch what I saw. Goblin Town as pretty darn impressive IMO. To each their own. If people enjoyed Pi that's cool. :)

Edit: I'm not trying to come across cranky if I am about Pi. It just never looked impressive to me in really any way is all. Standard CGI driven story is what I was getting at. Sly


(This post was edited by Elessar on Feb 4 2013, 2:59pm)


imin
Valinor


Feb 4 2013, 3:21pm


Views: 655
Fair enough
It is certainly a movie for the cinema as its CG is just so beautiful there is nowhere else better to see it.

Trust me it looked better than TH in the cinema, but each to their own as they say.


Elessar
Valinor


Feb 4 2013, 3:34pm


Views: 639
Cool
I'm sure just looking at the trailer its one that will fit and look better CGI wise on the big screen.

We will have to agree to disagree there. As you said to each their own as you said.


Tintallė
Gondor


Feb 4 2013, 4:22pm


Views: 640
Yes, it's a very complex story
and bears some serious contemplation. I may see it again after some time has passed to discover nuances I missed the first time around.

People talk about the CGI in Pi and I always think of the animals, but for me some of the most beautiful scenes were not CGI at all (such as the ones I mentioned at the beginning of the film), and the others I found of particular note were the phosphorescence and ESPECIALLY the night sky reflected in the still water.

I'm glad I'm not in a position to judge films for awards, because comparing Pi with many of the other films out last year is like judging apples against oranges - both fruit, but that's where the common ground ends.


macfalk
Valinor


Feb 4 2013, 4:26pm


Views: 658
Hmm
I saw Life of PI and while it was beautiful, some of the CG was incredibly OTT and cartoonish (or to be precise: Avatarish), like the meerkat island which just screamed "fake" all over it.


The greatest adventure is what lies ahead.

(This post was edited by macfalk on Feb 4 2013, 4:27pm)


adnan
Rivendell


Feb 4 2013, 5:17pm


Views: 626
Anything but...
LOP is one of the best movies of 2012 IMO, personally I thought it was much superior to The Hobbit. It is anything but a CGI fest (CGI is great, but the movie has a lot more to offer); has a beautiful story, gret acting, and fantastic direction. I recommend you watch it, on the big screen if you can.
Rivendell


Elessar
Valinor


Feb 4 2013, 5:27pm


Views: 628
No interest sorry
It may be the total opposite for many of what I said. For me I saw all I need to see in the trailer. It looked like an average movie at best and having seen 37 movies in the theater last year it didn't even make my top films I would make an effort to see. I am glad people like it though as that's the reason we make the trek to the theatre.


BoromirOfWinterfell
Rohan


Feb 4 2013, 6:28pm


Views: 615
I enjoyed the Life of Pi
It had some really beautiful scenes - but I went to see AUJ three times, so guess which is my favourite. Smile Somehow I feel the art direction of the movies can't be compared - you've got a lot more action in The Hobbit, and LOP is a completely different film.
Žęs ofereode, žisses swa męg - that has passed, so may this.


macfalk
Valinor


Feb 5 2013, 11:29am


Views: 584
LOP is a CGI fest
Not saying whether thats a good thing or not, but it certainly was a CG-driven movie.


The greatest adventure is what lies ahead.


imin
Valinor


Feb 5 2013, 11:32am


Views: 586
I would say this is partially true
though the same is true for The Hobbit. I just think one pulls it off better than the other.


macfalk
Valinor


Feb 5 2013, 2:09pm


Views: 580
Oh yes
The same is probably true for The Hobbit. I just reacted to the notion that LOP was not a CG-heavy film.


The greatest adventure is what lies ahead.


Rostron2
Gondor


Feb 5 2013, 6:52pm


Views: 767
Well....
That depends on what story you believe, now doesn't it?