I think it often happens with the nominations and maybe occasionally it helps having a worthy history behind you for the win (especially if it the voter is either torn or just doesn’t have a strong opinion either way) but I don’t think it’s that prevalent. Over the last few years I can think of ones where people who…

When I first read Harry Potter in late 2001 I only had a small selection of movie soundtracks to put on in the background and so went for the one with the most connections to the supernatural and dark arts. And that’s why the sounds of The Exorcist will forever be tied to Hogwarts for me. 

I get what you’re saying and the frustration at how inaccurate the comparisons can be but both methods are flawed. The availability of media and the way people consume it are also factors (if the cinema is the *only* way to see a film then there’s a chance it’ll sell more tickets than films that can be later watched…

That’s similar to how I feel - the film was a phenomenon when it was released but now it’s mostly just a synonym for ‘huge blockbuster’. Every other biggest film of all time has left an impact in pop culture big and small - Titanic, Jurassic Park, E.T., Star Wars, Jaws, The Godfather, etc. They get referenced to death…

That analogy doesn’t work at all (and not juts because the composer would have had to have written the three acts when they commissioned the symphony) because HBO didn’t commission Martin to write the books - they paid for the rights to make a series based on his books. That’s all. There may have been a hope that…

That's the one(/two). 

I haven't watched that yet (damn UK release schedules) but I saw The Hunt - his previous film with Vinterberg - and I can't recommend it enough. The film is amazing and he's so fucking good in it. 

They started it knowing that there was no guarantee they’d be finished by the time they got around to them. They could have held off on starting the series until the books were wrapped up if they wanted that security but I guess then they risk losing the rights. But even then, they knew the risks (and at least had the…

I hate the ending of Lost and I don’t mind finales that use the afterlife - I’m one of the ones who’ll stand up for the BSG finale (not quite the same thing but enough spiritual stuff for the comparison) and I LOVED the finale of the British show that finished just before Lost and had a very similarly-themed finale…

Still sounds a better technique than sticking a tape recorder next to the TV speaker - which was the only way 10 year old me could get a copy of the Brain Gremlin singing New York, New York.

The technicality - that it was originally written but never used (or even recorded, as far as I know) for Romeo + Juliet - definitely seemed petty. I’m sure there are plenty of Oscar-nominated songs that originate as previous unused ideas.

The worst thing about this post is that you've proven recognitions to be right. 

(And with that I shall, as you wish, quietly fuck off from this weird debate of ours. It makes no difference to me what a stranger on the internet believes and I know I can’t change your mind so I feel silly having spent so much energy on something so frivolous. Sorry that my replies seemed to wind you up - that…

I'd written a more snarky reply but hey, all good. Whose got the energy for such silly arguments on the Internet? I still disagree with you but wish you well. 

You are very strange.

Isn’t it pretty much moot anyway? They got to have their plot cake and eat it by having Picard die for drama but it’s OK because there’s a spare android body, only it doesn’t change him physically, he’s still got all his memories and he’ll still die at a human-appropriate age. Basically no difference to how he was…

You think the 36 reviews on Metacritic represent the whole of 1999's reaction to the film? Even there look at the “middling” ones - they’re condemning it as soulless, saying it lacks story or character, “The Empire Strikes out...”

Thanks! I wish their default was their original review for every film. That's a much better and more interesting archive than the years-later hindsight reviews that mostly seem to be on the site. 

Yeah, I like the film but it was definitely seen as a disappointment at best, hate crime at worst (again, the “George Lucas raped my childhood” reactions online) as soon as it was released. “It’s fine but childish” was the defence some tried to use to defend it but the overall opinion was that The Phantom Menace was a…

True. That should have been his win.