Of the Oscar nominated movies there were only two that I watched with my son: Creed and Bridge of Spies. We liked both films and I appreciate it when movies are PG-13 because they’re complex enough for him to enjoy and yet age-appropriate. Out of the performances in those movies, including Tom Hanks and Michael B. Jordan, he kept referencing Mark Rylance. My son has excellent taste is what I’m saying and while Hanks and Jordan both turned in excellent performances (and Jordan was robbed of a nomination) Rylance’s was also Oscar-worthy. He was able to show emotion slipping through the cracks of his spy character’s carefully constructed facade, and it was masterful.
Honestly I found Sylvester Stallone’s performance somewhat distracting at first because it took him a while to warm up to that role. He didn’t convince me as the character until about halfway through the film. So while I think he ultimately turned in a decent performance I don’t think it was Oscar-worthy, especially compared his costar. That’s why I was pleasantly surprised when Rylance took home the Oscar, not Stallone.
The Best Supporting Actor was considered somewhat of a lock for Stallone as he took home the Globe and Critics Choice award, although that category was more up in the air than the other acting categories. (Idris Elba won the SAG, for which Stallone wasn’t even nominated, nor was he nominated for a BAFTA.) Some people have postulated that the predominately older white male Academy voters didn’t bother to watch Creed, which is possible. I think that the best actor won whichever the case, although Mark Ruffalo was also incredible in Spotlight. He did an excellent job at seeming genuinely upset and frustrated without overacting. (I liked Christian Bale in The Big Short but that movie fell flat for me overall.)
Anyway Stallone had some things to say about his Oscars loss, or least whoever runs his social media accounts did. Someone posted this to Stallone’s Instagram yesterday.
To clarify, Stallone posted another Instagram blaming his brother for that previous post. I mean, it’s possible that his brother wrote it but it’s also possible that he doesn’t want to take responsibility for it. (Update: Stallone was most likely apologizing for his brother’s tweets, not blaming his brother for the post, see below.) It wasn’t bad either way. It’s got to be disappointing to think you’re going to win the highest honor from your industry and then see it go to someone else. He wasn’t being disparaging at all, he was just saying that he wasn’t going to let it discourage him. That’s not a bad message and I would definitely watch another Creed movie. MGM has confirmed that it’s happening.
Also, if you haven’t seen Creed yet it’s out on DVD today! So many of the Oscar nominated movies are out now. Creed is well worth watching for its entertainment value and for Michael B. Jordan and Tessa Thompson’s performances. We’re going to hopefully be seeing a lot more of her too.
Update thanks to Jess for pointing out that Sly’s brother, Frank, went off on Mark Rylance on Twitter. So when Sly apologized for his brother he was probably referring to his tweets and not claiming that he posted the original Instagram about never giving up. Frank has since deleted the tweets and apologized but you can read them here. He dissed Rylance’s hair and claimed that the Academy should be ashamed of not giving an Oscar to his brother.
photos credit: WENN.com and FameFlynet
I liked that post it was sweet.
I’ve got a soft spot for Stallone. My favorite performance of his will probably always be as Angelo Provolone in “Oscar”.
I thought he gave his best performance in Cop Land. He played what could be seen as a simple character with such nuance and sadness.
He was excellent in Cop Land…great movie too.
Oscar was a silly, fun movie. I enjoyed it 🙂
He was so awesome in Cop Land
I agree! I remember that was his first “comeback” moment, as they love to say in Hollyweird.
OMG! I forgot about that movie!!! I loved it when I was a kid. I can barely remember the plot… just that he was a gangster and his daughter ran off with/married someone he thought unsuitable. Oooh, the nostalgia!
I have a major soft spot for him too because he reminds me of my dad. I actually prefer Stallone’s performance in Rocky Balboa to the one in Creed. I cried at the end of Balboa and teared up during the movie when it showed how hard he was taking Adrian’s death
OMG I completely forgot about that movie!!!!!!
The last picture in the post is funny, it looks like Sly’s wife is posing with a life-sized cardboard cut out of him.
That’s his wax Museum figure. 🙂
I love Sly. I wished he had won but I think the Academy just didn’t want to make it too obvious.
This is why people keep saying the Oscars are bs. Stallone basically lost because he wouldn’t campaign for it. Sure, he went to events, but he didn’t do interviews about “being changed”, “respecting the craft” etc. so they picked an old dude from a Spielberg movie.
But YES!!!! to the Creed sequel!
Did you see Bridge of Spies and Rylance’s performance? He was very, very good.
And he’s not an “old dude” and it’s not about Spielberg. He was simply superb.
The way these contests pit different actors in different vehicles against each other… it’s always hard.
Glad to hear a Creed sequel is in the works!
haha yes the ‘old dude’ comment…Rylance is younger than Sly!
I tried to watch BOS, but I went to sleep. Seriously, I went to sleep, but I’ll try it again.
I did, Rylance was ok.
I agree that Sly didn’t play the game but neither did Denzel and he won for Training Day.
if Stallone had won it would have been yet another example of how BS the oscars are….in this instance the oscars didn’t go with the popular sentimental vote but with the better actor. I’m sure he’ll get one for the sequel though!
No, he really didn’t he lost to a vastly better actor. Furthermore “the old guy from the Spielberg movie” is 55 years old to Stallones 69 years old soo….. um..
I didn’t say Stallone wasn’t old y’all. I’m aware he’s older lol.
Either way its not accurate to describe him as “the old guy from the spielberg movie” as hes also younger than Tom Hanks…. And also kind of an unnecessary diss given his achievements in acting. I am guessing you’re not familiar with this actor at all?
Oh seriously Mark Rylance for you is an old dude from a Spielberg movie, clearly you know nothing about Cinema. Oh and Mark Rylance is notorious for never campaigning, so have seat.
I’m baffled some people seriously think that Stallone is better than Rylance.
For me Sly was third best in his category and not the best part of Creed either. I thought both Marks pulled out excellent performances in different ways and I was pulling for either of them for the win. So the Academy went with the talent not the sentimental pull
Stallone would have won for sentimental reasons, rylance won for acting reasons.
Btw check out stallones brother he went off on Mark rylance on Twitter 😂
He literally wrote mark who? A few other celebrities were quick to voice their disappointment. It amazes me that other actors wouldn’t know and recognise the talent of someone like rylance.
The man is on his way to become the only actor who have won every major acting award.
The only one who has won literally all stage and screen awards both in the uk and us is the great Vanessa Redgrave.
exactly!!!i’ve seen both films and Rylance far outclasses Stallone. Stallone’s performance in tango and cash was better than that in creed 🙂
that twitter post also reminded me of galaxy quest ‘never give up, never surrender!’ haha 🙂 aww alan rickman……
Ok I need to fix this then because Stallone wasn’t claiming his brother wrote that he was apologizing for his brother’s twitter rant. I read this on ETOnline and I didn’t get what he meant about his brother.
sly has just updated his instagram to a pic of him and rylance, with text congratulating him on his win- classy move sly 🙂 ( i genuinely mean that I’ve always had a soft spot for him)
Both messages are sweet. I do notice a different writing style and lots more typos in the second one, so it looks as if Sly really didn’t write the first one himself.
Can we take a second to give Tessa Thompson her props? She is simply amazing in everything role she takes on. I’m low-key obsessed with her. Hope she gets the recognition from Hollywood that she deserves at some point. Preferably sooner than later.
She inspired me to get my Marley twists. She is so…..lovely. Like, that’s the word that comes to mind. Lovely.
I LOVE Marley twists. Getting some next month for my cruise to Cozumel 😍
She’s just so happy and full of life and inspiring. Love her.
Marley twists have saved my life. I wanted to give my hair a break during the winter (and being pregnant I get tired super quick) so this has been the best month lol. I gotta take them out this weekend. 🙁
She is so wonderful…reminds me of Lisa Bonet. I didn’t know who she was before Creed but she really impressed me and I looked her up after
Stallone is a Superstar.
I can believe that Frank has access to the account and put that up. Frank for those of you who dont know is the hanger on sibling that will not be shaken. The man has built a D list acting and singing career on his brothers name, and he is shameless about drawing the association. He is that sibling who has an extras role in every movie his brother can get him in.
(He is also a crazy right wing nutjob. He used to have a podcast a few years ago and he came into my radar during the Trayvon murder/Zimmerman trial. You can still catch snippets of his racist nonsense on his twitter. Nothing shocked me more than when he tweeted that Michael B Jordan and Ryan Coogler were robbed of nominations. I could smell his brothers PR agent in that little post, praying that nobody digs too deep into brother Frank. That was seriously ideologically off script for that man.)
That’s interesting since Sly is a known diehard Democrat
Oh yikes. Poor Sly, losing the Oscar and then having to clean up his brother’s social media mess.
Didn’t see BoS, but even the little clip of Rylance in the Oscars broadcast impressed the hell out of me. I might have to check the movie out.
Rylance is one of the greatest actors in the world today, but people are likely unfamiliar with him because he’s primarily worked in the theater. I’ve seen him in Jeruselam and Twelfth Night on Broadway and he’s an unforgettable performer. His performances in Bridge of Spies and Wolf Hall were surprising to me because they showed he can perform in a minimalist style every bit as well as the virtuosic, grand style I associate him with on stage.
Rylance was offered a part in a spielberg movie 30 years ago. He chose to do a play in London instead. He basically choose the theatre as his career.
Just shows how classy his brother is for not knowing who Mark Rylance is. Try watching some theatre perhaps? Stalone is sweet, but one should not win an Oscar for playing the same character since the 80’s. Sorry not sorry, he just isnt good enough.
Great message! Never ever give up!
Didnt watch the Oscars but I am glad Rylance won. His performance as a captured spy was so subtle and great. As for Stallone, at first he dint want anything to do with Creed or its director Ryan Coogler when first approached. Only after Coogler gain fame after Fruitvale Station, then did Stallone meet with Coogler. Then when he won the SAG (I think) Stallone didnt even thank Coogler. Creed is a great movie and I initially loved that its simultaneously continued and branched off from the Rocky storyline. I was reading the above comments and had no idea about Frank Stallone being right wing nutjob. That seriously disappointed me. I dont know why but in light of the recent political culture, it saddens me to see all these closet racists being so bold. Trump is running on an anti-minority platform and its shocking how much support he is getting. I am from NYC. Believe me, New Yorkers are embarrassed about Trump.
I was on another blog and the comments along the lines of “blacks should get over slavery “, “blacks deserved to be enslaved” breaks my heart.
Those comments about blacks are exactly the type of stuff Frank Stallone retweets. He is just lucky he floats so far under the radar, the majority of people who take notice are also into that stuff. His turn around for Creed is the most blatantly self serving insincere thing I think I have ever seen on social media. Anyway, in another week or two, he will be back to tweeting about how “white culture” is under threat. Check his twitter in a month, you’ll see. Or go over his history, starting before Creeds nomination.
It’s amazing how he’s mellowed and his family seems lovely (daughters and wife, I mean; not the brother). Jennifer Flavin hasn’t aged, barely, and any work done has been subtle. I remember reading her saying that she eats whatever she likes but always runs an hour a day. AN HOUR. Holy.
An hour? A day? That’s commitment.
I have to be slightly amused at someone calling for all new members of the Academy because the old white guy DIDN’T win.
Even if it is his brother.
For anyone to suggest that Sylvester Stallone did not deserve his Oscar nomination is mind-boggling to me. He absolutely gave the best performance in Creed (yes, better than Michael B. Jordan and Tessa Thompson and Phylicia Rashad and they were all brilliant).
Mark Rylance and Sylvester Stallone gave my two favourite performances of the year. Rylance is, obviously, the better actor overall but I think Stallone does extremely well within his limitations (don’t forget he has a speech impediment and facial paralysis) and when he has the right role and right director. He has always been a very good actor but has chosen to hide his talents for much of the time, I guess for fear that his action audience only wanted to see him fight and shoot people. That genre calls for over-the-top shouting and not much emotional resonance. The less you use your talents, the more they become stale, which is what I think happened to Stallone prior to Creed.
When it comes to the two nominated performances, I actually think in this instance that Stallone’s performance was better. Rylance’s performance was probably technically better, but for realness, for emotion, for audience connection I just can’t go past Sly. It sounds like most people on here won’t agree with me, but I think Stallone deserved that Oscar just slightly more than Rylance. I truly believe Rylance was rewarded because, of course, he gave a great performance, but also because of his (rightly deserved) reputation as a brilliant actor. How many of those secret Oscar ballot voters revealed how great they thought Rylance was as an actor and that he was “due” and didn’t actually mention the performance? Stallone couldn’t get past the “action star” persona for enough votes.
Well done to both men. Both performances were excellent.