This is one of my favorite parts of the Oscar season, and I love that The Hollywood Reporter keeps doing this. For a few years now, THR sits down with Oscar voters from various branches (actors’ branch, directors’ branch, etc) and records them as they fill out their Oscar ballots. All of it is done under the condition of anonymity – all we know is which branch the voters belong to. THR published their first ballot article yesterday and it’s from a member of the “public relations branch” – likely a publicist working for a studio or a larger agency. These articles are just for unmitigated dirt and gossip about the inner workings of Oscar campaigns and what Oscar voters really REALLY think of nominees. I would suggest reading the full piece here. But here are some highlights:
The voter is tired of hearing about Selma’s “snubs”: “What no one wants to say out loud is that Selma is a well-crafted movie, but there’s no art to it. If the movie had been directed by a 60-year-old white male, I don’t think that people would have been carrying on about it to the level that they were. And as far as the accusations about the Academy being racist? Yes, most members are white males, but they are not the cast of Deliverance — they had to get into the Academy to begin with, so they’re not cretinous, snaggletoothed hillbillies. When a movie about black people is good, members vote for it. But if the movie isn’t that good, am I supposed to vote for it just because it has black people in it? I’ve got to tell you, having the cast show up in T-shirts saying “I can’t breathe”— I thought that stuff was offensive. Did they want to be known for making the best movie of the year or for stirring up sh-t?”
On Birdman: “I never thought that it would make it all the way to the finish line like it has — but then I remember that it’s about a tortured actor, and when you think about who is doing the voting, at SAG and the Academy, it’s a lot of other tortured actors. I just don’t know how much it’s resonating out in the world.”
Voting for The Imitation Game for Best Picture: “On paper, The Imitation Game seemed to be the one to me. It’s a great story, well-crafted, [Benedict Cumberbatch] is really good and it’s been a big success. It’s what you call “prestige filmmaking.” So why isn’t it receiving more recognition? I’d like to believe it’s karma for Harvey [Weinstein]. But I’m going to hold my nose and vote for it anyway because when you vote for best picture, what you should try to do is vote for the movie that, years from now, people will still watch and talk about. ..(1) The Imitation Game; (2) Birdman; (3) American Sniper; (4) Boyhood; (5) The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Vote for Best Director: “I’m voting for Richard Linklater. I think that what he did — as a “thing” — is extraordinary. I’m absolutely comfortable with breaking up picture and director; I wouldn’t know [The Imitation Game’s] Morten Tyldum if I walked into him. I thought all of the others were fine except for one: I could have watched my hair grow during Foxcatcher — it was so slow.”
Vote for Best Actor: “I’m voting for [Birdman’s] Michael Keaton because I love him and for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is he seems like a completely sane person who lives in the middle of the country and works when he wants to work. I’ve loved every interview that he’s done. He seems grateful, not particularly needy, and I don’t know when he’ll ever get another chance at this; the other nominees will. What Keaton had to do was harder than what the others had to do because they had the benefit of playing real people. I mean, Eddie Redmayne did an amazing impression of Stephen Hawking, but Keaton created a character from whole cloth.
Thoughts on Jennifer Aniston: “I’m not sorry that Jennifer Aniston isn’t nominated; she was fine, but I thought her movie [Cake] was ridiculous. …The minute I saw Still Alice, I remember thinking, “This [best actress race] is over. Four other women are going to have to get dressed and go to 5,000 dinners knowing they have no chance.”
Best Supporting Actor: “J.K. Simmons’ performance was in a different league. It’s kind of ironic that he’s in “supporting,” right? I’m voting for him because he was great in the movie — and because he was in 5,000 episodes of Law & Order. In other words, he’s been acting forever, I’ve seen enough of his work to know he is a journeyman, and I’m happy to be able to recognize him.
Best Supporting Actress: “Laura Dern was good, but I didn’t think she was as good as [A Most Violent Year’s] Jessica Chastain. Keira Knightley was fine and got in on the [Imitation Game] ticket. Emma Stone was pretty good [in Birdman], but she can do no wrong — she’s like Meryl Streep, although I wish [the film for which Streep is nominated] Into the Woods stopped after 20 minutes. But I’m voting for Arquette. She gets points for working on a film for 12 years and bonus points for having no work done during the 12 years. If she had had work done during the 12 years, she would not be collecting these statues. It’s a bravery reward. It says, “You’re braver than me. You didn’t touch your face for 12 years. Way to freakin’ go!”
There’s lots of other shade for some more minor players, like this voter strangely despises P.T. Anderson and Edward Snowden equally. The voter also loved The Lego Movie. Did we learn anything new here? Not really – three of the acting categories are completely done and I believe Julianne Moore, Patricia Arquette and JK Simmons should all be practicing their speeches. But I like that at the end of the day, Jennifer Aniston’s CAKE was a joke to some Oscar voters. As for the diatribe about Selma, I think that was really unfair criticism. And I do think Selma was artful or artistic or whatever you want to say – ever since I saw TIG, I can’t believe that Morten Tyldum got nominated over Ava DuVernay.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Now the fun begins, who was the Oscar voter that threw so much shade?
Lolol. Why does anyone care who the academy voter was that threw shade at Aniston’s ridiculous campaign? It’s not a ‘name,’ and though they may be powerful in H’wood (PR branch) the general public doesn’t care who’s dissing her accordingly just that she’s being dissed – period. She’s the most coddled person in the industry and everyone knows why that is.
Why is that exactly?
Two reasons – 1) she’s got the equivalent of a Goodfella in her power PR cutthroat flack that protects her with his life because she’s his number 1 cash cow..they might as well marry each other — except he’s gay. ..and 2) she’s the poor pitiful low self esteem ordinary hack that loads of other ordinary women ID with who was dumped for the beautiful Oscar winner. Insulting her and calling her out for what she is, desperate, embarrassing and ordinary is akin to insulting them personally.
@ Bugglez: You hit the nail on the head. Now if only she will go away.
Bugglez: You’ve said it perfectly. Aniston has always been a marketable commodity and not much else, more so than almost any other Hollywood actor (although Channing Tatum comes close). It’s ludicrous that she and her flacks thought she could finagle an Oscar on her “body of work.” The hell? 10,000 Iterations of Rachel Green? Please. The “poor Jen” thing ran its course years ago, too.
Don’t care who threw it. It was good shade. I like that almost as good gossip.
Her face looks…off.
Always interesting to see what these voters are thinking.. Lots of insight.
Regrading Jennifer Aniston.. the problem with her Oscar campaign is that many of the bloggers and pundits that were saying she would get a nomination ARE NOT THE PEOPLE VOTING. So no they were just speculating or buying into the hype she and her people created. You never know how these people are going to vote or why. Too many real legit omissions and way too many WTH how did that film/actor/actress win.
They are really trying hard to make this years Oscar interesting. I just don’t think it is
Someone p*ssed on their Cheerios this morning?
Simply saying what everyone was thinking. This is how it is on the other side. Not provoked. Just honest. No need to attack honesty. When all the manufactured images and pr bs falls away this is what’s left. Honest opinions.
Honesty sounds kind of defensively racist in this case.
The racist comment just doesn’t work. This person also didn’t like Foxcatcher and Jennifer Aniston and described Eddie Redmayne’s performance as an impression. Why can he/she be brutally honest about those things but not Selma?
I love it when someone in Hollywood is actually honest for a change. Everything said in this interview was on target, right down to Aniston’s glorified Lifetime Movie of the Week. Anyone notice that despite her protests that the Triangle was “BS”, the tabloid stories continue unabated? Too bad some of this voters honesty can’t rub off on Aniston – then we’d finally get the truth’ “I’m addicted to fame”, ” I’ll have Huvane stop the Triangle stories only if I win an Oscar”, “I don’t like kids, I never planned to have any, even when I was married, and I never will.”
Cake was truly ridiculous. I will say that Anistons performance was one of the only not awful things about the movie though, so good for her I guess? As for the Selma thing, I agree that nobody should feel compelled to vote for a movie ‘just because there’s black people in it’ and if voters genuinely didn’t see the ‘art’ in Selma, okay (though I loved it). But people who either don’t recognize or aren’t willing to admit that this issue goes beyond this one movie irritate me. There is absolutely a diversity problem in the academy and in Hollywood at large. The stats on this are plain to see.
Yeah I wish people would see more of the race problem in Hollywood, but at the same time I still don’t think Selma was snubbed because of race issues. It’s just not that great of a movie. I’m more mad that the only opportunities for blacks in movies are often just when there’s a movie about Slavery or rights.
@Mmhmm I completely agree with you on selma..
Jennifer’s film was not only snubbed by the academy but also the public! The movie couldn’t even make $2m at the box office. The woman doesn’t have a fan base and if she did before then its shrinking and nothing to write home about.. Her fans are only good at watching the other couple’s movie and trashing it.
This oscar voter is full of shade! Ha 🙂
Why are we in a place that there are still actual “black” movies? When black people are nominated why is it the result of a movie about race?
Is it Hollywood or the public who is creating these divisions.
I’ve heard the pother side of this discussion. That many black actors (is that pc?) hold out for the credibility of a civil rights themed movie. Even if it’s not a great script it will be made and they will fight to be in it and promote like it’s a best picture win.
Not for the art, but for the message. I go to the theatre to see art. I watch PSAs to see messages.
kcarp
Imo more public driven. If it brought in more money to watch non-white actors we would meet the demands.
Hollywood would sell its soul if it had one for more money over ethics.
In short. Vote for my movie about racism or i’ll cry racism.
well said.
The Oscars are all subjective. If they don’t fit the person’s taste, they don’t vote for them. It has nothing to do with art. Some in the Academy probably felt that since they gave the “black” movie the Oscar last year, they don’t have to do it again this year. They were off the hook as far as they were concerned. So even if Selma was the best, it was not going to win this year.
Many lackluster films and performances are given Oscars all the time. So, the Awards are based on who is “nice”–Keaton or changed their appearance–many. It is time to recognize that art is not on the top of the list for voters. Campaigns win Oscars just like they win elections. If they like your campaign, you win if they don’t they won’t vote for you. Aniston learned this the hard way. Plus, her film was not that great, so her not getting nominated should not have been a surprise. Being the best thing in a bad product does not make it Award worthy.
But she spent enough money to practically guarantee her a nomination, or so they said. Does anyone know how much money she did spend? Does she get a refund since she was not nominated for the Oscar? I went without makeup when I went to the dentist, does this mean I’m Oscar worthy?
“Some in the Academy probably felt that since they gave the “black” movie the Oscar last year, they don’t have to do it again this year. They were off the hook as far as they were concerned. So even if Selma was the best, it was not going to win this year.”
I think this is a total BS theory. As far as communities go the film industry is liberal and so is the membership of AMPAS.
@Katherine, I humbly disagree. Please see comment below from another Academy member who basically said exactly that.
“We gave our award to “12 Years a Slave” last year for crying out loud. I truly believe the blatant racism days in the Academy are well behind us.”
Some of the awards blogs said that Selma came out too soon after 12 Years and therefore diminished its chances this year. Some of the actors in Hollywood may be liberal, but the Academy is much larger and I would think some are on the conservative side. Rudin is supposed to be liberal, but still makes racist jokes about the President. Last year you would have thought they were being forced to give the Award to 12 Years to avoid being called racist. It was pretty insulting as the film was fabulous in and of itself.
Most people that saw the movie think the maid should’ve been nominated, because her performance was the best in The Lifttime movie.
I’m sure Aniston had a deal even before the film was made that SHE was to be the focal point of all PR and award campaigns. Probably why none of the other actors lifted a finger to promote it. The more I learn about this woman, the more I dislike her, and I really didn’t think that was possible.
How is there a diversity problem in Hollywood when African Americans are roughly 12% of the population and that’s roughly the percentage of the nominees of the last 20 years?
If you could move away from the thought of representation as a numbers game only to match existing numbers… you could see the problem. One of the premier symptoms of racism is the evidence of being locked out of economic empowerment opportunities and lack of inclusion in leadership roles.
Using your example, take for professional football teams and basketball teams. Given that the majority of players are black, why are most of the NFL/NBA coaches and owners white?
What a ridiculous argument. If you want to have a conversation about economic opportunity in general in this country that’s an argument I would be absolutely willing to have because that’s where the disparity of opportunity lies. But just to talk about placing black people in positions of power in Hollywood is not diversity anymore than “placing” black owners in the positions of white owners is any more feasible in professional sports.
More and more we see black people in roles that could’ve been written for anyone, and black people making their own work like Tyler perry whether you like his work or not. We see successful older actresses produce their own work. Not everyone gets to be Meryl Streep and work all the time, so eventually you have to start producing if you want to work. And many successful black artists have figured this out too.
In Hollywood there’s only one color and that’s green.
That is funny to me. We all know must of the films that are produced are automatically thought for white actor or actresses to say otherwise would be disingenuous. If it was the case then why is Cinderella always imagined white or Annie. Why are most fairy tales imagined as white people.
However, at the same time a lot of these screenwriters, casting directors and directors and studios choose people based on who they know or are familiar with. Studious want to make sure white audience seem themselves so of course the people who are writing this films are choosing to write particular stories. Another problem is that black people are seen as one dimensional individuals in Hollywood. Why can’t black people have dysfunctional or quirky families and depth of character it seems like that only exists in white lives. That is at least what Hollywood is telling us.
Why couldn’t the cast of Hangover be black or what about horrible bosses. Or even the the movie Judge. Hunger games, divergent so none of these lead characters could be imagined as black young women. Hollywood has to stop thinking or more importantly WRITING(Imagining) in white. You are right there is only one color white = green.
mia girl will be so happy to read that bit about Keaton! That was a fun read, but the argument against Selma was lame/annoying/depressing. Sub-par movies (and I’m not saying Selma is that) about white people get nominated what, 90% of the time? #icantbreathe
I think it’s hilarious how s/he feels that pressure is being put on giving awards to black films *only* because– black director, outside of the value of the film itself, while coming up with a multitude of reasons why s/he is going to vote for white people, because of reasons not directly related to their films. KWIM?
Michael Keaton isn’t needy and Patricia Arquette never got plastic surgery. Don’t get me wrong, I like both of these actors, a lot, but the voter’s reasons for selecting them, aren’t that the performance in those particular films alone are what’s driving her/his decision, predominately.
And what is wrong with people, involved in a film about taking a stand, actually taking a stand in real life, with the I can’t breathe tee shirts?
Great comment @Kiddo. Clearly many people aren’t just voting based on performance quality (although I am pulling hard for Keaton so whatever gets him the votes to win I won’t complain too much 😛 )
Yeah, I thought it was telling that s/he thought wearing those shirts was “stirring sh-t up” as opposed to say, raising awareness or showing support. Ditto to what you wrote about Keaton & Arquette as well.
I read this yesterday Kiddo, and I was just EYEROLLING throughout the whole thing. Just pick the movie you liked the best. The movie that made your jaw drop, that you couldn’t stop thinking about. What is so difficult about this? You’re voting for a flipping movie, not the president…..
And my impression is that everyone is SO dazzled by Boyhood being filmed over 12 years with the same people, and that’s all that matters.
The only thing I agree with about this voter is when she said she has no clue what constitutes good or bad sound, so she never votes on it.
Yep this 100%.
Hollywood considers itself to be at the forefront of equality and being socially progressive (remember George Clooney’s Oscar speech?) and yet “I can’t breathe” is stirring stuff up? Granted, this person voted for The Imitation Game as Best Picture, they’re clearly tasteless
I didn’t see this voter’s comments as meaning those non-performance reasons excluded her also thinking they gave a great performance. I read it more that out of all the great performances she had to pick from that she then looked for other reasons to narrow it down to her final choice. So I don’t think she voted for a performance she didn’t deem Oscar worthy.
@VC, o/t but I’ve been eagerly awaiting your FSOG review! 😛
@mimif
I can’t bring myself to see it. The more I see/read about it, the more I think I’ll be cringing throughout the movie. And seriously–I cringe at very few things. My friend saw it though. She gave it a 6/10. Said there was a lot of sex. And Jamie Dornan was NOT attractive. But it just looks SO bad. I’ll say it again mimif, if you fly up here and hold up a “I’M MIMIF!” sign at the airport, I’ll come pick you up and we’ll see it, lol.
Agree with it all.
But I still wanted to give a slow clap to the interviewed voter. I loved the shade and snark.
good points Kiddo. I wonder how they would have felt if it was a gay cause
Wait, so we should give awards to a sub-par movie to create a sense of equality? There are great movies to be made about the Black experience – let’s make them, not just make excuses for the so-so movies that exist.
Think about how Black performers have transformed the music industry. There’s really no obligation to get all up in praising Gladys Knight and the Pips when Stevie Wonder’s ‘Songs in the Key of Life’ and Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ and the entire Hip Hop movement are right around the corner.
I believe in rewarding excellence. ‘Selma’, in my opinion, is not an excellent movie.
Selma and Boyhood are the best reviewed films of the year yet this voter loves the most mediocre of the nominated films.
I did not say that AT ALL, I haven’t seen Selma, so from a personal standpoint, I’m not going to comment on the merits of its artfulness, that would be disingenuous. But this person is listing reasons outside of the films s/he chose for why s/he is choosing them. which is the exact opposite of really weighing the art alone.
Ann, I guess this shows that critics and reviews don’t always matter. Just because critics loved a movie doesn’t mean it’s great or not mediocre.
There are lots of movies that cover the horrors of slavery and the civil rights movement in depth. Not all are great films. The ones that are though are fantastic!
Selma was a good movie. It wasn’t great. I was entertained, but that’s it.
I think critics like to latch onto some movies based on personal beliefs or the flow of public opinion/goodwill. With all the terrible whte on black/black on white crimes there were in the news it gave extra attention to the film.
Ultraviolet, Not entirely sure what you are getting at re analogy involving Gladys and the boys. As a soul fan, I’d far rather listen to the wonderful Glad and the Pips than yelping wannabe whitey Michael.
Guess we’ll have to disagree on Gladys! I like her work, but I don’t find it groundbreaking, the way I do with some of Michael’s stuff. Can’t help but notice the way Michael’s music is still all around us, probably even more than Stevie’s.
Kiddo, I agree with everything you said. This person seemed to relish being able to dish about the process and the nominees and in doing so talked out of both sides of his/her mouth. Really annoying.
Basically this person is talking out of their ass, is how I read it. 😉
All of these voters interviewed do. I think that’s why they agree to be interviewed and why THR chose them. Because they’re great reads in the worst way.
*basking in the Keaton love*
and I feel similarly in that the other actors nominated all played real people, but Keaton made that role.
…but seriously, it’s hard to align in opinion with this “publicist” given their other ridiculous comments.
I like this guy lol. And I completely agree with him on Selma. Sorry but not sorry.
So you agree with a racist?
He/She is not a racist, they are just being real.
Yeah. A real racist.
Last year, the lead guy from 12 Years a Slave should have won the Oscar over MM, that actor was amazing. This year, Selma doesn’t deserve Oscar nods because of racial tension in the US, it’s just not that good.
The witchcraft accusation of our time.
@sills Wait, let me get this straight…are you comparing accusing someone of being racist with accusing someone of being a witch? Just WOW
Because one of those things actually exists and is common and legitimate. The other is a made-up tool of oppression that was often used to persecute (often underprivileged) women.
Kip, this conversation just went over your head. Sills is referencing popular or trendy false accusations.
sills, Yes, presumed racists are hung up (on crosses) and burned on front lawns. Oh wait…
@Kiddo I love you. The End.
Witchcraft, Communist party member, racist. Yea… You don’t agree? You’re a racist. Selma was a good movie, but there have been better and more worthy of nominations.
Katherine, um I think you’ve got it the wrong way round again. Witches don’t exist, ergo a witchcraft accusation can NEVER be true, so not exactly the same, amirite? and I heart kiddo!
Kip, sorry, but that is wrong. Witches do exist, and its very offensive to Wiccans to deny the existence of their religion. This is 2015. Google witchcraft. It pre-dates Christianity in fact.
I watched Selma and it really wasn’t all of that, I agree. But I do think this guy is fooling himself acting like racism is a thing of the past. Yeah – the voters will vote for a “black movie” if it’s good… but only if the characters are slaves, thugs, prostitutes, etc.
Oh, and while Selma was quite a forgettable film for me, this year is pretty mediocre. So it’s stll one of the best movies of the year by default, I guess.
Agreed! I was very moved during Selma, even tearful, however it’s execution was strictly Hollywood formulaic. The actors were too “pretty”, homes were to cutesy,etc. it just wasn’t real for the times and I’m Southern of the age to really remember this period in our history.
Ha, that’s the same impression I got. Too formulaic and Oscar baity. But that only works against this guy anyway – TIG got 9 noms for doing the same thing.
@ Ash T: You and me both are old enough to remember these days.
I liked the movie (Selma) and thought it was very good – not blown away. Some tearful moments. Twelve years a slave struck a deeper blow in my emotions. I would have to see at least 3-4 of the other movies in contention to lobby a stronger argument.
Not sure if there were 10 movies nominated for best picture. If there were less than 10, there was room for Selma to be nominated.
By the way, liberals are not abolitionists. They can be racists as well.
You also agree that Emma Stone is like Meryl Streep?
We wouldn’t even be talking about Selma if it were a movie with an all-white cast, about say Martin Luther posting his 95 theses on a church door…
I agree with everything this person said. (I thought it was a woman)
Yay for Patricia!
Yes! This movie is sooo good!!
I always find these annual anonymous ballot conversations hilarious because they’ve restrained themselves due to their words being recorded and publicly printed meaning everyone will recognise them.
Funny, that’s not my impression at all. I get the sense that this stuff is what people in the industry are really talking about.
This. I’ve said it before, but I worked for two members of the Academy (both older wealthy white racists) and they were the biggest (I’m gonna do it) c-nts on the planet. Ugh, I can actually feel the bile rising…
“I can actually feel the bile rising”
Hmm, yellow dresses…just sayin’.
🙅👘
Karate chop spam lady and….what-now?
A yeller dress! Well, I think it’s a kimono, but that flows nicely with the karate chop theme.
We need a Leo Dicap kick emoji at once! I hate that spam lady.
Vicious. 🐍
I work in the industry, know a few voters. Trust me *this* is very tame and restrained. I’ve heard worse. Shrugs.
@mimif: it sounds like you can’t wait to work for these folks again.
Bridget, She is going back to “normal’.
They both recently passed away
thankfully. But seriously, the swag these dudes got for being crotchety old pr-cks was such delusional. Altho I no lie, I did enjoy all the for your consideration videos.Okay, I’ll see myself out now.
This is exactly why I love this feature – because this was what they thought was the sanitized, acceptable version!
Shout out to Bridget.
Exactly Bridget.
I heart Bridget.
i LOVE that the HR does things like this. the bitchyness is priceless. this one at least somewhat focuses on the filmmaking, most others are just about “i dont like her haircut, he once turned down a role, thats why i wont vote for them!”
it shows how ridiculous the Oscars are. its all about politics and popularity. some actors are even blackballed after refusing to do those soul selling campaigns. ask Mo’nique from “Precious”.
+1.
@Maria …
I loss my last ounce of faith in the Academy the year they went to a 10-film Best Picture category just to make it easier for people ‘not’ to vote for James Cameron’s film “Avatar.” It wasn’t about “The Hurt Locker,” it was all about voting for Cameron’s ex-wife’s film in order to stick it to Cameron … who is universally hated in Hollywood.
I thought Avatar sucked balls.
Schweddy balls.
@mimif – thank you. I needed some balls today.
I never understood the Avatar hype.
@Kiddo, Mimif, and Mia Girl …
I guess that’s why the film only grossed $760.5 million Domestic and $2 billion Overseas for a Worldwide total of $2.7 billion (that’s Billion with a ‘B’). And that total doesn’t include “Avatar’s” $230 million in Domestic DVD sales and $159.7 million in Domestic Blu-ray sales, either. More importantly, when a film grosses that much money people are going to see it more than once or twice.
Yep, “Avatar” must really suck balls and be nothing but hype. 🙂
Transformers movies make a lot of money too. Avatar was pablum. Not that the Oscars generally reward artistic merit, but at least that one didn’t win.
Emma – in my short sentence I didn’t say Avatar was not wildly successful at the box office, never claimed people didn’t like the film immensely. Nor did I say the movie was “nothing but hype”.
What I did say is that I (me, myself, singular person) never understood the hype (ie box office, accolades, etc). I personally didn’t care for the movie.
I respect your opinion if you think the movie is great. I know lots of family and friends who feel the same.
But yeah, box office success is not always an indication of quality so you kinda lost me there. Fifty Shades made in one weekend twice as much as Selma has to date. The Wedding Ringer has made three times what Whiplash has ($10M btw). People saw Twilight movies 2+ times. And as Orly pointed out there’s Transformers.
@Orly, who wrote: “Transformers movies make a lot of money too. Avatar was pablum. Not that the Oscars generally reward artistic merit, but at least that one didn’t win.”
But people didn’t see “Avatar” multiple times because of cool CGI or because it was an action film. People around the world saw “Avatar” multiple times because something tangible about it resonated with them. Not a narrow, cultish group/band of people (can you say Nolan-ites?), but a large group of people around the world–representing all ages, all cultures, all races and all sexes–saw “Avatar” multiple times because something ‘universal’ in the film resonated with them on a ‘human’ level. That is the mark of a great film … That is what an Academy Award (Oscar) for Best Picture of the Year should be about.
@Mia, who wrote: “But yeah, box office success is not always an indication of quality so you kinda lost me there. Fifty Shades made in one weekend twice as much as Selma has to date. The Wedding Ringer has made three times what Whiplash has ($10M btw). People saw Twilight movies 2+ times. And as Orly pointed out there’s Transformers.”
Again, you and Orly are talking about films specific to certain groups of people pulled to theaters based upon their love of the ‘books/cartoons’ those films were based upon, ‘not’ an original film like “Avatar” with a compelling premise anchored with human sensibilities. Who filled the seats in theaters for “Fifty Shades of Gray?” … horny women and teenage girls around the world living out personal fantasies. Who filled the seats in theaters at “Transformer” films? … fan boys and girls (of all ages) around the world thrilled by CGI and action sequences. Who filled the seats for “Avatar?” … people of ‘all ages and cultures and races and sexes’ around the world who were visually stunned by the world James Cameron created and spellbound by the very human story and a ‘universal’ environmental message.
I really doubt Monique is being blackballed. She is just the typical BSA Oscar winner.
Did you see today’s Mo’Nique post?
I love this part of the Oscar build up as well… Do you think the comment about Emma Stone was a compliment? Perhaps a bit of a jab at Jennifer Lawrence?
I read her comment about Emma Stone as shade directed at Meryl – I thought she was implying that Meryl like Emma gets acclaimed for everything, even if its only a ‘pretty good’ performance. Maybe I’m reading that wrong, however, and she was actually saying that Emma is as good as Meryl – which is probably premature praise, even though I love Emma. Either way, I’m not seeing how J-Law features…
I thought perhaps it could be a slight snub at J-Law because when she won some award, can’t remember which one, she exclaimed “I beat Meryl!”– which is a quote from a movie and said jokingly but some people made a big deal about it.
She is either being sincere in her praise of Emma OR it’s shade towards Meryl maybe even both. The Jennifer part just seems like you’re reaching a little? Haha
And yes, the Lego movie was like my number one snub to be honest. It was one of the best movies period last year. My top 4 worst snubs:
1. The Lego movie (animated movie)
2. David O. (Actor)
3. Ava D. (Director)
4. Jake G. (Actor)
YES to this whole list, I can’t believe any of them didn’t get it.
IA. Definitely the 4 worst snubs IMO as well.
Agree with everything but the Lego movie. It had no heart, and wasn’t nearly as interesting as it should have been. I was really disappointed. I do find it interesting that the Lego movie split folks into two groups so cleanly. I only know people who loved it or hated it.
I always picture Tim Gunn as the grumpy THR Oscar voter. Idk why.
Bahaha.
Poor Jen she’s never gonna get the critical acclaim. Its sad about Selma – i haven’t seen that yet but clearly it was made with passion and from the heart.
Its an interesting insight to the movers and shakers of Hollywood and how they think and why the game is so important to careers.
Haha – i loved the shade to Bendy ”not particularly needy’, that just about sums up his whole PR campaign.
People will be talking about TIG 6 years from now? Seriously? That’s the American Hustle of the year for me. They were selling you this crazy, epic story that was nominated for all these awards, and then I watch it and I’m like – that’s it? That movie was too Oscar-baity for it’s own good.
TIG was so underwhelming as far as I’m concerned, Eddie’s performance is way better.
I didn’t watch TToE and I don’t want to, but I do think Cumby was a fantastic Turing. His nom and Kiera’s are definitely deserved, imo.
For those folks that say Selma was hollywood predictable-I challenge them to watch the Imitation Game. Such a thin movie, so underwhelming-it was your typical WWII at Bletchley park/genius vs. the world story. Except even saying genius vs. the world is being generous-it was more like genius who is quirky going through his day and his team starts to work with him because reasons.
And cumberbatch played a posh version of Sherlock in that movie.
I agree with you 100%! You could practically see the producers and director ticking off the boxes on a list of things an Oscar Bait Prestige picture should contain. I work in the industry and I’ve had several producer friends tell me that the original version of the screenplay was much edgier so it’s clear the TIG team made the choice to go the mainstream award route.
Also, I get not liking SELMA – film is always going to be subjective to a degree – but calling it artless just shows how far this voter has her head up her ass. I personally loved it and loved that it was a biopic without being a “traditional” biopic. It was as much about the people of Selma as it was about MLK and in a year where I feel like I had to sit through a lot of biopics, I really appreciated the difference.
I saw SELMA at a screening last year where Ava and David O did a post-film Q&A and my favourite tidbit was that Ava did a re-write on the screenplay which was originally mostly about Lyndon Johnson. I wonder if that original version of the film would have been nominated?
“You could practically see the producers and director ticking off the boxes on a list of things an Oscar Bait Prestige picture should contain.”
That goes for both TIG and Selma.
I disagree that this applied to SELMA as well. If they wanted to go the Oscar-baity route they would have chosen to stay with the original screenplay that focused on Johnson. Focusing on the black perspective is (clearly) a far riskier move.
@Sugar
That’s the thing, though. I thought the only crucial difference between TIG and Selma was that the former had a white protagonist. The rest of it – it was the exact same movie. The exact same formula, the exact same “to-do” list. But one movie got 9 noms while the other got 2. If it wasn’t for TIG’s 9 noms, I wouldn’t call Selma a snub (except for David’s performance, which truly was wonderful).
This woman is an embarrassment.
The Imitation Game : LOL, what? In what universe is TIG destined to be a film classic that “people will still watch and talk about”? The prevailing view is that it’s a competent yet standard biopic with a great lead performance.
She has nothing to say about the quality of Patricia Arquette’s performance, but a lot to say about how she’s rooting for her because she hasn’t gotten plastic surgery.
But it’s her comments on race are just vile:
“I’ve got to tell you, having the cast show up in T-shirts saying “I can’t breathe”— I thought that stuff was offensive. Did they want to be known for making the best movie of the year or for stirring up sh-t?”-
What an utterly disgusting and callous thing to say. She thought it was offensive that the cast was protesting police brutality during the NYC premiere of Selma? That is, the NYC where about one week earlier, a grand jury failed to indict a police officer who choked an unarmed black man to death?
To this lady, protesting police brutality against the black community – a theme highly relevant to the movie they were involved in- is “stirring up sh-t”.
And this: “they had to get into the Academy to begin with, so they’re not cretinous, snaggletoothed hillbillies”
That’s pretty telling. Her peers – and herself, of course – aren’t cross burning inbred hillbillies, they’re Academy members, so how could they possibly be racist?
+eleventy billion to everything you just wrote.
That’s how I read it too.
ETA !
+ 1000
It’s fine to think/say that Selma was unworthy of a nomination. Whatever, that’s your opinion and i can get past that. But everything she said to answer that question was absolutely vile, especially when she referred to hands up don’t shoot as “sh-t stirring.” This lady just proved that racism is alive and thriving in Hollywood, despite her protests, but we didn’t need her to open her stank mouth to know that.
Exactly
100% agree with everything you’ve said.
Thank you d. I agree with everything you said. Why are we cheering this voter when they are obviously a terrible, stupid, racist and superficial person?
Not gonna lie, I found the article…entertaining, for lack of a better word, because it just hammered home the insanity that is Hollywood & The Oscars. I mean, it’s like reading How To Be An Entitled Asshole’s manifesto.
You are so right, everyone (including myself) is debating over these fools and their voting and whether or not it is racist, when the voters, the actors and the directors are all so self-absorbed and have no idea that real life exists outside LA. Meanwhile in the middle east….
Yes, mimif, exactly. It’s the same sort of glimpse into people’s true colors that the Sony hack revealed.
Adding my agreement. The racism is pretty clear. If she had stopped at saying the film was not worthy, it could possibly pass, but to add the part about the cast lets everyone know what they were really thinking and to dismiss what is really going on in the world. What she said is code for “black people need to know their place and keep quiet”. Members of the academy or at least some of them, want to live in a bubble and pretend what they do is so very important, but in reality, it is not.
Yes, I honestly could care less what this racist idiot thinks of Jennifer Aniston.
Yes.
THANK YOU!
Thank you for saying what I wanted to say. Read her comments yesterday and felt an overwhelming urge to slap her silly. Don’t like Selma. That’s fine. But to be upset that the actors wore protest shirts to a premiere about social and racial injustice. How dare you!
Yup. D covered everything here.
Nailed it!
Yup. Not shocked by her or the idiots who play this ‘Affirmative Action is being forced on the Oscars, black people are so whiny and want awards when they don’t do good work’, game but she’s still a 14-karat ass and a racist, to boot.
What makes these people think they’re such hot s*** and that whenever blacks do something they have to thank/beg for the benolvence of mainstream power to tell them if it’s good or if they should be proud? What’s with this attitude (that’s not unique to Hollywood) that black people have been given an inch and now they want the mile, that they should so happy that once every ten years Hollywood deigns to acknowledge they were slaves who worked their way up to indigents (because that’s what’s rewarded) and should run along happy with the pat on their head?
This disgraceful person isn’t saying that there are black films that are good, she saying there are black films and if they’re lucky, someone like her will allow them to be considered good–but black people had better behave or else they’re getting that special dispensation withheld. She couldn’t stop at thinking that the film was fine, if not the best, she had to launch into this asinine, ‘ They should feel lucky that we even let them make movies, this is how they show gratitude?’ garbage.
Whining about protests over a man’s unpunished murder (really, the brutality black and women, don’t forget, they exist and and abused/killed too, not that anyone gives a flip, but that’s a whole other topic) and how much anti-brutality demonstrations over people not wanting to be violently murdered and have those murders celebrated hurt her pampered, plastic little heart. Her takeaway was that her bubble of obliviousness on the other side of the country that allows her to never have to develop any kind of social awareness and human sympathy is more important than people’s safety and lives, oh yeah, she’s ALL about the art.
Great points and thank you for stating them.
I find it really funny that there was one sentence about Jennifer Aniston amongst this battalion of cattiness and you choose that one sentence as the headline.
Hilarious.
Well to add to that, s/he was dissing the film, more than Aniston. “she was fine, but I thought her movie [Cake] was ridiculous.”
That’s how I read it too.
ETA:❗️
mimif, How do you do colors?
Magic! (It’s under punctuation towards the 🔚.
And the line about Aniston wasn’t even as bad as I thought it was going to be. The tidbit was kind of dull. She and Keira Knightley, who was actually nominated, got the same assessment: “fine.”
The stuff about Selma was the most interesting, since it said more about the voter’s racism than the actual movie. I wonder why voters (or the publicists for them?) talk if they’re going to make the though process that goes into the selections sound kind of weird. I mean, I know campaigning is involved to win, but I had no idea how the actual voters think until I read this. The opinions aren’t about the performances, but weirdly enough, the opinions aren’t even about how the campaigns are run either, but other stuff that has nothing to do with the whole race (either the campaigns or the performances, which have to do with the actual wins).
As usual it goes to show how much campaigning is important and how clearly the perfomance isn’t enough to win. For example the likability, the behaviour during the campaign and the career choices of an actor seem to be fundamental for the ultimate decision.
The part about Selma is so sad, I mean how can you consider a solidarity gesture offensive? I think that the fact that Ava and the Selma cast constantly compared the civil rights protests to the protests against police brutality and the whole Black Lives Matter movement irked the voters. It’s exactly how Kaiser said a while ago: Ava is considered “uppity” and they don’t like the fact that she is unapologetic about her vision and her work.
If TIG and TTOE can be considered artful than Selma can considered artful as well, and this is the opinion of most critics if you look at the reviews,
I think the voter felt that the Selma team was trying to campaign based on racial issues rather than on the quality of the film. That’s my take on what she said and why it annoyed her. Sorta like if Jennifer Aniston talked about her own personal issues as a way to get sympathy votes rather than focusing on the movie and her performance – oh, wait, never mind.
Here is the problem. We know there is racism in casting . That people of color are only given roles when they absolutely HAVE to be people of color and never just because. That there are movies like the Descendants that took place in Hawaii yet failed to have one speaking role for a Hawaiian. That auteur directors don’t put people of color in their movies just because they are good. That studios don’t want to have minority leads ‘because they are racist overseas’.
That the only movies ever made with minorities are either low brow comedies or independent movies that are too ‘ radical’ or the kind of roles that get attention from the Academy which are only about Civil Rights/ slavery and really must be stereotypical and subservient to be recognized and it will be begrudgingly like last year with 12YAS and then there will be a backlash like this year. Oh and the criticism of the Selma cast wearing ‘I can’t breathe’ shirts shows where he/she is at mentally.
True.
Thumbs up for THR, I agree. The story of Cake was good but didn’t deserve any award it got for anything, let alone for Jen. And yesterday I wrote Keaton might get sympathy vote! He might push Eddie away at the last minute because they think it’s Keaton’s last chance! May be they are right, Eddie is young enough to wait.
Arquette and Moore, I do agree, Selma was just ok, try harder next time Ava. David O was excellent in that movie.
TIG was kinda cliched in parts. Like they come in to break up his machine and at the last second someone intervenes. And at the last second…blahblahblah. That happened over and over again. All for dramatic effect, of course, but so obvious. What artistry? Was there some subtlety? I don’t think so. I think the film could have actually shown Turing’s sexuality so we have a sense of what he was robbed. It’s a little sterile, incidentally, to talk about sterilization when we never saw him as a sexual being in the first place. If anything, he seemed asexual at best. That’s just one of my complaints.
I thought it was a good film. But hardly categorically superior to Selma. Not at all. Plus Ava DuVernay had the challenge of putting MLK’s words to screen without actually using his words. That took craftsmanship.
Finally, that’s a dumb argument: any actor who creates a character is necessarily superior to an actor mimicking a known figure. That’s not true. Eddie Redmayne virtually became Stephen Hawking. His physical transformation was incredible. I don’t see why that’s somehow less skillful than the creation of character from scratch, without the boundaries of reality. This is just dumb, not to mention that Meryl Streep (among many others) won the Academy Award for accomplishing the so-called lesser task of imitating a public figure: Margaret Freaking Thatcher.
And there you have it. Art is subjective. So it is naturally subject to our biases and prejudices. Which means that racism is very much a plausible factor when it comes to awards.
I haven’t seen too many of the films you mentioned, @greenieweenie, but I suspect you are spot on and certainly correct in calling out these voters for the self-contradictory nature of their assessment of (sometimes quasi-)biographical films.
I have a question for all of the commenters offended by the Hollywood publicist’s comments about the #Icantbreathe T-shirts. Clearly, Ava & team were trying to show solidarity with the #blacklivesmatter movement, but they were bringing politics to a premiere.
What would you have thought if, say, Clint Eastwood and the American Sniper cast turned up at the premiere wearing T-shirts with pro-military, pro-veteran, or even pro-Republican or pro-Tea Party T-shirts? What about the Imitation Game’s current campaign suggesting that if you support gay rights, you should vote for their movie for Best Picture? What if ‘The Theorey of Everything’ cast had come out in support of Animal Testing to develop drugs that help people like Stephen Hawking, or against Animal Testing for that matter? Is it OK to link any political issue to an Oscar campaign, or just #blacklivesmatter? And should that political issue then influence voters’ choices?
The message I’m getting from you is that you think it is unacceptable for the publicist’s feelings about the #icantbreathe T-shirts to influence her vote on ‘Selma.’ Would it influence you if the cast of some of these other movies took a political stand you did not agree with?
I thought it was strange that she was offended by them bringing the t-shirts to their own premiere. It wasn’t like they crashed someone else’s premier or Betty White’s birthday part with the t-shirts — they brought the shirts to what I would most likely consider their own event.
I think she was offended that they were trying to make a link between their movie and the #blacklivesmatter campaign. She seems to feel that there was a suggestion that anyone who did not like and support their movie did not feel that #blacklivesmatter.
Of course, you could argue that #blacklivesmatter and a movie about the civil rights movement were a natural fit. But several of the movies I described above were also a natural fit with other political movements. In those case, people were free to like or dislike the movie without taking a stand on the politics.
She said she didn’t like that they were “stirring up sh–” (whatever that means — she didn’t use eloquence to state why the link was problematic). But since the stand was taken at their own premiere, I don’t see why anyone would be upset that they were making a political statement. They were making the statement on their own property, so to speak.
That’s quite a leap. They didn’t make the blacklivesmatter a campaign for the film. They used the film to campaign for awareness on a very current event.
And Cooper has been on a long spiel about what a hero the sniper was, but that didn’t PISS OFF the voter. In fact, it didn’t occur to this voter at all in the excerpt.
Actually, she said she chose to specifically ignore the politics of American Sniper. I get from your comments that you don’t like Eastwood, you don’t like Eastwood’s politics, and you don’t like the film, which is fair enough. (I haven’t seen it myself, so I have no opinion.) But ‘campaigning for awareness on a current event’, as the Selma crew did, *is* politics. #blacklivesmatter is about asking for political and cultural change. It’s not consistent to call that noble when connected with one film (Selma) and offensive when connected with another (American Sniper.)
It doesn’t matter what I LIKE. The voter wasn’t offended by political implications from one film whose cast is white (which she was able to ‘ignore’), while she was offended by the actions of a cast that was black, apparently not liking the ‘manipulative black’ element.
How do you not get it? Calling this sniper a hero has MASSIVE political influence, when half of the politicians are calling Muslims (in general) terrorists and people are getting killed or harassed because of their religion, in THIS COUNTRY.
They are the same things. One supports the status quo of military intervention and a soldier as hero above all, while another represents civil change, but they are BOTH acting as political vehicles, regardless of MY opinion. One you can ignore, the other is shit-stirring…okay, no bias there.
” They didn’t make the blacklivesmatter a campaign for the film. They used the film to campaign for awareness on a very current event.”
There is no difference.
The voter was talking about politics within American Sniper, not politics in its Oscar campaign. That’s what I took from what she said. There is a difference. I loved Downfall and I was perfectly able to distinguish my feelings about Hitler and nazis from my feelings about the film as a film and Bruno Ganz’s performance.
Uh oh. The Hitler argument. LOL!
@kiddo, well said!
Katherine
Bradley Cooper’s Oscar campaign was about how he wanted to project the hero in a real life person..
Sorry. BOTH films have political pushes. Shit-stirring is in the eyes of the beholder through colored glasses, I guess.
Totally agree, Kiddo. This woman is all over the place and completely inconsistent.
Eastwood film: DONE and done.
🚽 (I couldn’t find an empty chair.)
Omg, love the toilet!
The American Sniper cast wearing shirts that pay tribute to veterans/currently serving soldiers is a better analogy than “what if people wore pro-Tea Party t-shirts?”. The cast of TIG paying tribute to a recent victim of a homophobic hate crime or a bullied gay teen who committed suicide is also more comparable to the Selma cast wearing “I Can’t Breathe” shirts.
And guess what? In the American Sniper example, no one would give a damn, because paying tribute to soldiers is literally one of the most uncontroversial things you can do in the U.S. Even for people who are anti-war, it is almost a reflex to add, “but I support our troops” or “Thank you for your service”.
But we don’t need to play the “what if” game. Are we pretending that the way American Sniper was promoted was apolitical? That the way this movie’s promo campaign has framed Chris Kyle has no political import? That defending this film & Kyle himself against critics did not involve taking a political stance?
But don’t take my word for it! Let’s check back in with our Academy member – maybe she has some more insight:
On American Sniper: “I enjoyed it, I thought it was well done, and I can separate out the politics from the filmmaking”
I guess she can compartmentalize after all. Well, when it comes to American Sniper. Somehow with Selma, not so much.
Weird, huh?
THANK YOU.
Slow claps for D 👏👏👏
OOOOOOH YES
D, again this is missing the point. Politics within a film is not the same as using politics as the film’s marketing or as an awards campaign.
Katherine…repeating
Bradley Cooper’s Oscar campaign was about how he wanted to project the hero in a real life person.
BOTH films have political pushes, inside the film and out. Shit-stirring is in the eyes of the beholder through colored glasses, I guess.
BOOM. This woman contradicts herself at every corner and too blind to see it and too self-absorbed to know why.
Did you read what she said about American Sniper? : “American Sniper is the winner of the year, whether or not it gets a single statuette, because for all of us in the movie industry — I don’t care what your politics are — it is literally the answer to a prayer for a midrange budget movie directed by an 84-year-old guy [Clint Eastwood] to do this kind of business. It shows that a movie can galvanize America and shows that people will go if you put something out that they want to see. With regard to what it did or didn’t leave out, it’s a movie, not a documentary. I enjoyed it, I thought it was well done, and I can separate out the politics from the filmmaking.”
Why can this lady “separate out the politics from the filmmaking” on American Sniper while simultaneously slamming the cast and creators of Selma for making a political statement at the movie’s premiere?
Look, no one has to nominate or vote for a movie they find undeserving. But her comments about the #Icantbreathe t-shirts show her vote isn’t based simply on artistic merit.
Annnd bravo to KJ as well.
Excellent post!
Am i a bad person for enjoying every dingle shade this voter has thrown (even if I dusageed)? Hahahaha
Completely agreed.
I think what these movies grab people is more about how they tell the stories, than what they tell about. Good intentions and devotions are important, but crafts and arts should matter the most.
The shallowness of Hollywood goes clear to the bone. ‘He said, she said..’ Bleh.
And before anyone says it: yes, I know. I am still here. 🙂
We’re all still here.
🙋
I would be on board with almost everything this voter said… if it weren’t for the obvious privilege and disdain that oozed out of these words:
“I’ve got to tell you, having the cast show up in T-shirts saying “I can’t breathe”— I thought that stuff was offensive. Did they want to be known for making the best movie of the year or for stirring up sh-t?”
Stirring up sh-t?! I bet they would’ve said the same exact thing about the people depicted in Selma. Now I know that the “snub” was very real and very racial. It didn’t seem obvious to me at first — the academy gets things wrong all the time — but after a year in which the painful, fatal realities of white privilege were exposed over and over again, there’s still no respect or solidarity. Would this voter say the same thing about George and Amal’s “Je Suis Charlie” accessories at the Globes, or the AIDS ribbons that so many wear on their tuxedos? The entertainment industry has always played a big role in political and social changes. What a moronic and dismissive thing to say.
The article on awardscircuit.com was even grosser than this, this is a quote from one voter about Selma.
“I thought it was okay but didn’t think it was anything amazing. This talk about “racism in the Academy” was just uncalled for. If the movie isn’t that great, we don’t vote for it. Plain and simple. We gave our award to “12 Years a Slave” last year for crying out loud. I truly believe the blatant racism days in the Academy are well behind us.”
http://www.awardscircuit.com/2015/02/17/oscars-2015-a-peak-at-six-academy-voters-ballots/
Somewhere else I read that people are “tired” of seeing movies about the civil rights movement, and that’s why (cough) Selma was snubbed. You know what I’m tired of? Marvel. Disney. Sh-tty romcoms, frat boy humor, in other words *most* of the crap Hollywood churns out.
I’m actually tired of only seeing minorities in movies about Civil Rights and slavery. Not that history should be ignored but there are minorities with diseases like Alzheimer’s, there are minorities who are artists and inventors soldiers and athletes. Why doesn’t Hollywood ever do blind casting?
“You know what I’m tired of? Marvel. Disney. Sh-tty romcoms, frat boy humor, in other words *most* of the crap Hollywood churns out.”
I was going to ask you to come over, smoke some BBK and watch The Avengers, The Hangover, and a series of Kate Hudson movies.
OFFER. RESCINDED.
I’m using my Boston Bean Can launcher from a rooftop and aiming at your float, O’Kitt.
Offer Rescinder! I’ll give you a pass because a) you know I don’t smoke the dope and b) THUNDER SNOW.
*fires up potato launcher*
Can I just point out that Selma was not snubbed. It was nominated in the Best Picture category. However, snubs occurred in the other categories such as Director, acting categories, and script. I definitely think Oyelowo was snubbed and believe he should have been nominated over Cumberbatch, but I can also list three other actors who I believe were snubbed in favor of Cumberbatch. I believe Carmen Ejogo’s delicate, nuanced portrayal was also worthy of attention. However, if I recall, instead of pushing Carmen for a nomination as Best Supporting, Oprah’s wooden performance was being pushed.
This re-enforces what I said above.
We gave OUR AWARD to the “black movie” already last year, so STFU about racism–we did our duty. We can go back to awarding mediocre films by and about middle aged white men, like we prefer.
Wow, just wow.
Exactly! I love how they use the “quality” argument to pretend like sub-par white films (and performances) don’t win ALL the time at the Oscars. What was so radical and subversive about The Imitation Game and American Sniper?
Yeah, just last weekend when I was marathoning Crash, The King’s Speech, The Artist, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Juno, Slumdog Millionaire, The Blind Side, War Horse, Silver Linings Playbook, The Social Network (remember how UBER important and generation defining TSN is?) and Zero Dark Thirty, I was thinking man I can’t wait to watch TIG and American Sniper again… Said no one. When was the last time ya’ll watched those movies? Did you think “I can’t believe that didn’t win”, or “I’m so glad that won”? This person really has no clue of what she’s talking about. Not a shocker after the Sony emails or just looking at the movies that get made in H-Wood. Not to mention her criteria for what an award worthy movie/performance requires keeps changing. And I thought the point was to give it to best film as close as objectivity on an incredibly subjective thing will allow you. Captain America got great reviews and made a ton of money. And seeing how we’re going to get 9,000 years of Marvel movies that will tie back to it, I COULD argue that people will be talking about it for years to come and that it’s a helluva lot more “important” than Whiplash. The knock on Birdman is that it’s too insider-y, esoteric and some people aren’t really connecting with it. I loved it. To me there’s no question that it’s the best (and wonderfully crafted) movie of the year and it, along with Nightcrawler and Budapest Hotel were my favs. (OT- I love Wes Anderson movies. But I don’t love TGBH more than I love several of his other films. IDKY people are especially nuts about it.) I have no doubt that Birdman matters most to critics, film historians and cinephiles. I don’t think it’s a “show it my children someday” kind of film or something that’s going to be playing at noon on TNT years from now. Boyhood is another one. I haven’t seen it yet. (I’m literally going to watch it this afternoon.) But it bored a lot of people I know to tears. There also doesn’t seem to be much actually happening or a ton of creativity and “craft” on the screen. But HEY, did you know it took twelve years to make!? 12 years! (It’s the cinematic equivalent of 50 Cent getting shot nine times.) I think the era defining war movie already came and WON an Oscar with The Hurt Locker. I will say that Sniper is the biggest spectacle, kinda’ pop culture infiltrating movie of the nominees this year. But goodness, it’s not even the best war movie Clint Eastwood’s made. The people that made American Sniper a hit (and have no issues with the film) are probably not people who want to see TIG win. So what the hell, Anonymous Meany? And why hold Selma to a standard that you aren’t holding TIG or Boyhood to?
(Now the fun stuff.) One should only hold their nose to vote for mediocre “white” films. “Stirring sh*t up”.That’s something you could hear in the movie Selma. That’s some polite/2015 “Black people should just be happy to ride the bus and not make trouble” sh*t. If you look at Rotten Tomatoes (Boyhood kicks everyone’s a** EXCEPT SELMA) and Metacritic, you see that in spite of all the hype TIG and TTOE are in the middle of the pack or significantly below it. In fact, because of all the controversy, I was surprised by how solid Interstellar’s reviews were. Whiplash, Foxcatcher and even Gone Girl (remember GG?) were all better received too. That’s how the bait works, (and this person seems to be willfully submitting to it. Which is not shocking coming from a publicist.) Take a film that isn’t bad, but not that great either. And certainly not the best film in it’s year. But pedigree film in theory + hype + solid, just SOLID, reviews + PR, PR, PR + acting like you belong there = award worthyness. Stop giving awards to middling, posturing, but ultimately un-inspired, inoffensive, Oscar-bait fluff, that we won’t think about or watch again after all this ends. I feel like people were saying that about the King’s Speech before it even won. I’ve yet to hear anyone say Selma was formulaic, mediocre Oscar bait, and overrated, and then make a decent argument FOR The Theory of Everything or The Imitation Game. If it’s anything like this lady arguing for meritocracy but ONLY when it comes to films made by and/or about black people, you can keep it to yourself. *LOL to keep from crying* It’s similar to people saying Keaton’s only being hyped for it being a comeback thing, while ignoring the cliches and politics that influence the other nominations. Especially Redmayne’s My Left Foot-ing, Acting with a capital “A” and all the tricks that go with it. Don’t get me wrong, I adore Redmayne (and I think he’s lovely). I’ll have no issue with him winning. But it’s still the “transformation” + “playing some type of disability” tropes. (This is a good article about why some people cringe at that http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2015/01/20/the_theory_of_everything_and_disability_why_eddie_redmayne_shouldn_t_get.html ) I hate when people ignore cliches just because they don’t personally bother them at that moment, while they harp on others. And when you add racist and insensitive comments and pretend institutionalized racism doesn’t exist on top of it? Uuuuugggggghhhh. I mean of course we all know the release of a film about racial injustice is not the place to make a stand and raise awareness about racial injustice and stir sh*t up. See (petitions and) this type of thing is ok http://www.pajiba.com/miscellaneous/the-imitation-games-oscar-campaign-is-taking-an-interesting-less-cumberbatchian-approach.php. Because a vote for TIG is a vote for Turing.
Also “Boo” to Jennifer Aniston. Honestly. That crap, just like Harvey’s crap, are what I can’t stand about award season.
And screw this lady for her racist, oblivious and just plain rude comments. Particularly that underhanded garbage about Patricia.
This is a great comment.
Thank you. I truly didn’t think anyone would read it 😀
I have a 6 second attention span so I missed it earlier, but yeah, kudos to both your posts, Amber. 🙂
@Amber
YAAAASSS! Everything you said, but ESPECIALLY about “Boyhood”. Seriously–I have heard NOTHING about this movie, the performances, NOTHING….except for the fact that it was filmed over a period of 12 years. I know what the movie is about, because I read the wiki on it, but I’ve read nothing about the actors, etc. I think this movie is being marketing solely as a best director/best film award winner.
Lainey @LaineyGossip says this all the time: black people have to perform to a much higher standard to get the accolades, whether Vogue covers or Oscars. White people can skate by with just being somewhat above average. But OMG, how dare a black person complain. INGRATE!
I actually think that article you link to oversimplifies Eddie Redmayne’s performance. I loved his performance, not because he “so accurately imitated a cripple,” but because he so beautifully communicated Hawking’s vitality despite the physical deterioration (and while the author might argue I’m attaching a negative connotation to that, Hawking wasn’t born that way. He physically deteriorated–he didn’t just change, he lost physical capacity). What Redmayne did wasn’t mimicry to me, but embodiment. I thought it was a transcendent performance, really…because by the end of the movie, I felt I was looking at Stephen Hawking and in that scene where he stands up, it was almost shocking.
I get what the author’s saying about the portrayal of handicapped people in movies (unease, disgust, etc). I just think his critique doesn’t particularly apply to Redmayne.
Agree with everything you said. Especially what you said about birdman– that was an awesome art house movie with amazing technical aspects, themes, acting, and visuals. I think it deserves best picture, but I’ll admit that I’ve only seen boyhood out of the others.
This insider sounds pretty crass/ racist but I guess the Sony hack revealed that this is hollywood. Nothing surprising about this insider’s tone and opinions. I wonder, do the insiders always see all the films? Probably not, so these votes are always an outcome due to campaigning, word of mouth, and just how much someone has ticked off or kissed voters butts.
I wish MORE actors and actresses would take political stands in public, like at the Selma premiere. Not less.
The only way to facilitate change is to get the message out there, and celebrities are in an excellent position to do just that.
To try and shame people for standing up for the rights of others is a horrid thing.
Wish to see you soon Jennifer Aniston in London.
I do nit think the voted was saying Jennifer’s campaing was rediculos, he said it was fine and he loved Moore. It was the film that he was mocking.
This “When a movie about black people is good, members vote for it.” just drips of privilege and racism to me.
People who say sh-t like that are just exhibiting the first level of racism. There are other levels, but this is the first of them. The whole “black people aren’t really oppressed, they’re just not making good quality stuff ” level of racism…
Right. It’s simply not a true statement.
Just off the top of my head “Eve’s Bayou” and ” Beloved” both spring to mind as beautiful yet utterly ignored by the Academy. Neither received any Academy nods except best costume design for Beloved.
I’m amazed at how clueless this person is. On the one hand s/he’s arguing that Selma did not get nominated for more awards because it wasn’t a good movie and we should just judge it by its merits and not read that much into its lack of nominations. On the other hand, every single vote s/he casts is based on extraneous stuff, and not on just the actual performance. S/he approves of Keaton because he lived in middle America, s/he can’t bring her/himself to vote for TIG’s director because s/he has no clue who he is etc. Give me a break!! I have watched the Oscars regularly since Tom Hanks double win, but I’ve decided to stop watching from this year onwards. I don’t think I can stomach wilfully blind privileged people congratulating themselves for five hours.
I’ve lost interest and respect for the academy awards since Good Fellas lost to Dances with Wolves in 1990 for best picture.
what terrible things to say about patricia arquette! if she is reading – i have written her oscar speech: “thank you for this award. while I don’t consider being a human person for 12 years is particularly brave, i do accept this award for not for my dedication to being haggardly average but rather for my dedication to richard and the cast’s artistic vision. it was a labor of love and was happy to be part of such a unique film experience, the recognition is icing on the cake. i also want to thank my children and my parents. thank you – goodnight”
I’ll bet you dollars to doughnuts that she cast her votes for the films her PR firm worked on. Simple.
What are the odds?
Personally I think the Jennifer Aniston “snub” is more likely her peers thinking “you made a DOZEN crappy movies, pretty much played Rachel in every single one, yet you want recognition for ONE different role where you wore no makeup and actually tried to ACT?!!??!?: The first time you stretched your acting in YEARS??!!”. It’s often a “body of work” (like JK SImmons) that people reward. I bet most actors thought “If Jennifer Aniston wins an Oscar BEFORE me, hell has indeed frozen over!!”. Being the friendly, popular girl that has famous friends she vacations with does not mean they aren’t catty (and competitive) behind her back..this is Hollywood and actors are mostly needy for approval.
Outside of this blog, I think people will be more focused on the comments about Selma, and the weirdness of this particular voter.
+1
I think Eddie redmayne is going to win BA and Richard linklarter is going to win BD and bird man will win BP.
Re: Selma
Nail. Head. Boom.
You know I’m getting really tired of people telling black folks to “shut up” about stuff. As far as i’m concerned, they’re the ones who need to “shut up”. Whoever this moron is said something about them wearing “I can’t breathe” t-shirts as “stirring up sh-t”… really how agh… i’m going to hold my tongue since I’ll just be censored but wow… This issue is obviously close to them because they have to deal with it EVERY FREAKIN’ DAY… and people die from it. THEY DIE! Stop and have some g-damn compassion for a second… JEEZ.
I couldn’t get past the part about Selma. Wow…just wow. Even putting aside the white privilege behind claiming the the director’s race wouldn’t have influenced the vote, he actually called the “I Can’t Breathe” campaign to “shit stirring.”
A BLACK MAN WAS CHOKED TO DEATH BY POLICE AFTER HE BEGGED THEM TO STOP AND NOBODY ANSWERED FOR IT.
A. MAN. WAS CHOKED. TO DEATH.
IN AN *ILLEGAL CHOKEHOLD.*
Over “resisting arrest” for the awful crime of…selling loose cigarettes on the street.
And he thinks black actors showing their support while advertising a film about civil rights is “shit stirring.”
I just…I can’t even with that kind of privilege. I’m white as snow, and I can’t imagine being wrapped up in a bubble so thick that it couldn’t occur to me that maybe the prescience of those issues took priority over everything else. That maybe, yes, there was something there more important than the art, that the art would never have existed without that context to begin with. Holy sh*t.
seriously… that boiled my blood!!!
I am not surprised an Oscar voter would think it was impossible for rich people to be racist, and buy completely into the classist stereotype of “snaggle-tooth hillbillies”. Oscar voters are the Platonic ideal of Overprivileged Douche. They’re wealthy, they’re educated, therefore they think they’re wise and intelligent and can’t be wrong.
These things give me even more contempt for the Oscars than I had before. The only person who seems to be winning on the merit of their performance is Julianne Moore. Everything else? Nothing but politics, middle-school level. This is why Hollywood is so obnoxious.
So it would be a “bravery award” for Arquette? holy sh*t……
good gossip, but this voter is an idiot
Whoever they interviewed sounds like kind of an A**hole. Why would you pick Arquette just because she worked on a movie for twelve years? The end product is what counts (though I love her). I haven’t seen Selma, but from what I’ve heard, I do not respect how they represented LBJ. He was a civil rights mastermind, pushed the civil rights act through congress at probably the single most difficult point in history, a fact they totally overlooked in order to pin him up as the convenient antagonist. Given the antagonism MLK was up against, I don’t think that was necessary, i.e., you don’t have to go searching for a villain in this historical context.
The Oscars should be discontinued at this point. Those dinosaur awards shows are total shitshow shams. Basically, her votes come done to her weird personal opinions.
It’s funny how she tries to justify Selma’s snub as being based on quality and art, which is such bs. Meanwhile, The Imitation Game can’t be called anything but cliched Oscar bait. That movie is so filled with manipulative lies, it should be labeled Oscar propaganda. If you know anything about Turing at all, that film will give you a rage stroke for all its blatant lies. It’s basically Harvey Weinstein trying to buy himself yet another Oscar following the same formula he did for The Kings Speech, The Artist, etc. If these films are remembered at all, it will be for the fact that Oscars can be bought through influence and power, and they will use these films as examples of that and nothing more.
It’s been a shitty year for films, if you ask me. I’m insanely picky about films. I think Selma made me cry, Grand Budapest entertained me, and Bird-man was original, and that’s all I can say for the entire year. How sad, really. Films are being overtaken by great tv.
Ugh. Her again? Go to Cabo and drink some margaritas. So tired of the storyline.
What storyline is that? There are quite a few interesting posts on this thread, on important topics, that have nothing to do with Aniston.
Interesting commentary. Kudos for honesty and for likely giving voice to what a lot of people are thinking but perhaps don’t have the cajones to say out loud.
Sunday will be fun.
and I’m so glad this b**** had the audacity to be offended that people were supporting the civil rights of someone who was murdered by the police. That really makes me feel this idiots pain and suffering ARGH!!!
You people are ridiculous. Just because you support movies made by african-american woman that doesn’t make you a smarter, more aware person. I’m a feminist and a woman of color. Selma doesn’t build any suspense or effective narratives just as Birdman fails to reach enough climax. American Sniper and Unbroken have only one sided perspectives and poorly orchestrated. You people calling other people racist only seems like an unfair accusation to me.
You cannot cover up what she said. She represents herself and not you. What would be the motivating factor in changing what she said?
She put her foot in her mouth and a number of posts her have pointed out hypocrisy in statements.
We are focusing on her WHY explanation. It reeks of double standard and an air of privilege.
Patricia Arquette was working the whole time. She was on TV starring in Medium. She said that the job security, scheduling, and salary allowed her to commit to Boyhood
Totally disgusted by Hollywood. Grossed out by this voter’s grossed out-ness at the “I Can’t Breathe” t-shirts the cast of Selma wore. Yes how dare they be socially conscious black people. How dare they act like there’s still any sort of civil rights issue they should stand up for.
This interview just highlights the out of touch privilege and in my opinion, subconscious racism, of too many Academy voters.
They are so self righteous and bubble-trapped they’ll never see it.
Of course this person can’t see the artistry in Selma. No perspective, no emotional connection. So it’s not art to them. Whatever, bubble person.
It is so good to see a fellow voting member of the Academy really speaking the truth about Aniston and Cake.
Disagree on the best film – you should vote for highest quality, not longevity. And even with that in mind, Grand Budapest >>>>>>>>>>>>> Imitation Game.
No one will remember TIG in 10 years as much as they will TGBH. The latter is just a much much much better film overall.
Agree with him/her on the best actor category.
Interesting to hear the thoughts behind this person’s votes. It goes to show that not every vote is really about the actor’s performance in the movie, sometimes it’s because they like them as a person and it’s probably the last time they’ll have a chance for an Oscar…the latter being something that many have suspected has happened a lot in the past.
One thing I do agree with that I think has really been lost in recent decades is that the Best Picture should be something that years from now stands up and and is still enjoyed and talked about. People should instinctively understand, imo, why it was chosen. Now granted, sometimes more than one film can fit the bill and I always feel a bit sorry for the cast and crew of the nominated movies when that happens because is another year without so many wonderful films, they would be way ahead, but things often clump and some years have a lot of good ones. I know in the past there’s been some movies that won Best Picture and were just horrible films to see (No Country For Good Men, I’m looking at you). I hated it and I’m pretty easy to please in terms of going to a movie and enjoying it. Give me some popcorn and something reasonably entertaining and I’m happy, but I really disliked that movie and I don’t think it is something that people will love and enjoy years from now. I also don’t think movies should win on a gimmick. I also have to disagree with the idea that creating a new character “wholecloth” is harder than imitating someone who is real. Personally I thinkt he latter is much harder because everyone is comparing, whereas a new character is just something you create, no right or wrong. Playing Stephen Hawking, for instance, would have been incredibly difficult and exhausting I think, and Eddie R. did a fantastic job, and I think Benedict C. was brilliant in The Imitation Game, which I loved. I think the comments about Selma are a sort of subtle racism that often the speaker doesn’t think of as being racist, but imo it is. I think it’s almost like saying: “I’m tired of all this stuff about black history” but they can’t say that so they say it’s just not a great movie. That’s just my 2 cents.