It’s an interesting thing, awards season. It is never to be taken all that seriously, we get that. It does, by no means, declare anything or mean anything except to take a snapshot of who these people are at any point in time. It doesn’t reflect what the ticket-buyers think is best and it doesn’t reflect what the critics or the British film industry thinks is best. It represents the Hollywood film industry, those people who either once made movies and now spend their retirement in judgement of the people who do, or those who are trying to make movies and get slapped down by either the executives in Hollywood or the critics.
I’ve heard, from a source I will not disclose, that several Academy members recently said they weren’t voting for Boyhood because “did not speak” to them. What does that mean exactly? It means that they could never imagine living a normal life full of ordinary struggles in finding their way.
Drilling down more deeply into what they meant by “it did not speak to them,” one elderly female Academy member, the same one who reacted violently to Wolf of Wall Street of Wall Street said she was not voting for Boyhood because, and I quote, “it was about people who were ‘garbage’ and ‘losers’.”
Okay, now we’re getting somewhere. At first people thought it was that the critics lavished so much praise upon the film the industry snickered at their choice and said, “that’s not how you make a movie, THIS is how you make a movie.” But now, another dimension has been uncovered. It’s a film about people who are struggling with every day problems. Funnily enough, Boyhood is a movie for ordinary people who don’t yet know it even exists. It is a film I would recommend to everyone I know, even though some might think it inaccessible and snooty. Most people I know would relate and do relate to what they see on screen. They don’t dwell in the 1%, or aspire to dwell there in that rarefied air, forever gazing at the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock.
So now we must factor in “garbage” or “trash” when thinking about what “they” will do. Boy, they’ve come a long way since Midnight Cowboy won Best Picture, huh?
Boyhood spoke to me because much of my life was lived as a real life, raising a daughter on my own being the most fulfilling part of that life. I went through the abusive boyfriend who was my daughter’s father figure with the nice house in the Hollywood Hills, the 50K Mercedes and the hardcore drinking problem. I did it because I wanted to give her a better life than apartments with one bedroom and no natural sunlight. I figured it out at some point that being rich doesn’t make you a better person or more worthy in anyone’s eyes that matter. That doesn’t make me trash — it makes me human, yearning for a better life and struggling to get there. Let any of those pampered, entitled voters stand up and tell me they never made any mistakes in their lives with the people they chose.
Only one member in the group stood up for Boyhood and bravely said, “I think it’s better than all of the other nominees.”
My friend concluded with his own observations about how people were talking about the Boyhood, “There is great glee in knocking that film down. They don’t want it at the party,” adding, “they aren’t passionate about Birdman, particularly, but most just want to be on the winning side.”
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“Gbh” I meant.. ?
I’m just glad that all the frontrunners (the third being “gun”) are all ORIGINAL films that a decade ago proudly wouldn’t even have been in the running for anymore than their original screenplays and perhaps one or two more technical categories.
”And I’m pretty sure Michael Apted has said good things about Linklater’s work.”
In interviews, Linklater has referred to Apted’s ”7 Up” series as a ”monumental cinematic achievement.”
And after Apted saw ”Boyhood,” he gave Linklater his encouragement and said: ”Keep going.”
“And the more people like Tony Curtis and Hope Holiday who get gone out of the Academy, the better the Oscars will be.”
Until Jennifer Lawrence starts hating on the 2043 nominees for being about sea hags and dumpster juice.
Also, further to my comment above, this New Yorker piece from August is wonderful.
“The Scourge of Relatability” http://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/scourge-relatability
re: sentiments like “It’s so depressing to me to read that a lot of Academy voters can’t relate to Boyhood.”:
What’s so depressing to me is that people rely so heavily on “relatability” (on either end of the spectrum) when assessing a film’s worth. Does connecting personally to Boyhood make it a great or admirable film? Does not seeing yourself in it make it a bad film? Ugh, no. No to both.
The BIGGEST problem with awards season is the laziness–the unwillingness to judge filmmaking on the merits of filmmaking. While I’m not a fan of Boyhood, I respect anyone’s opinion if it’s about the filmmaking. I also respect someone’s, like my own, distaste for its filmmaking. But judging it based on relatability is ridiculous and LAZY. It’s lazy to not look outside yourself when developing an opinion.
It’s also lazy to want to vote on the winning side.
It’s lazy to vote for Birdman’s cinematography just because it keeps winning, when it’s easily Lubezki’s LEAST interesting and LEAST Oscar-worthy work in the last 10 years and when all FOUR of the other nominees and countless non-nominees created SPECTACULAR images this year.
Awards voters are LAZY and the system is incredibly broken.
Hi there
It’s the first time for a long long time that i’m commenting here but i swear i read you every single day and i genuinely think that the Awards Daily Community is the most varied, diverse, insightful and prestigious awards community online!
This year i wanted to create for the first time a Simulated Oscar Ballot in the main Oscar categories for my italian peers…
Would You like to contribute to the final amount of European/Mediterranean vote? 🙂
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1q_tLHPfWk-r18AK-vu6KXqiYxKdQzZTdsaNrnYsbukU/viewform
“At the end of the day, what did Birdman actually have to say about anything, let alone “art”.”
Pete, if that’s the case then what did Boyhood have anything to say? Everybody, in some way or another, acknowledges that Mason and his family are not really extraordinary at all but just people trying to make it through their lives. I know what Boyhood has said, I’m absolutely in love with the movie. But the fact that it didn’t try to tell us anything new was it’s masterstroke, it reminded us of how life plays out too quickly before our eyes…which is something Birdman hints at. It shows a man regretting his past but trying to prove himself for the future and not realizing (or maybe he does but is in denial) that he’s already been forgotten. Riggan wasn’t famous. Birdman was and Riggan’s body might as well have been the real costume. What did Birdman have to say about art? That it’s a tough business to break into and your past art will judge your future art, or so say the people who judge.
Complaining about the uppity Oscar voters, not voting for a film you view through a nose in the air lense, is kind of humorous. The movie is dull and not nearly as profound as it thinks it is. I have watched it twice now, thinking I was missing something the first go round. Nope. The film is mediocre and will win Oscars. It has been almost universally praised, so complaints it is not getting its due also feels silly. I know my opinion is the minority one. But I just flat out don’t understand the love for this movie. The best thing that could happen for this movies reputation is to lose. I feel if it does win Best Picture, its reputation will fade in time like Forrest Gump, Crash, and American Beauty. Often the loser stands out over time for not winning. Boyhood will be a classic based on nothing one award has to say. And that will also let its supporters keep their noses in the air. Win win.
I do get why Boyhood doesn’t speak to some filmmakers. Alfred Hitchcock once famously said that movies are ‘life with the dull parts cut out’. Boyhood, despite being filmed over 12 years, kept the dull parts in, while Birdman, despite the illusion of a single take, focusses only on the truly dramatic cahnges in the lives of its characters. So having to choose between the two, Birdman would without a doubt get my vote. (Though if there were any real justice in the world the truly rousing Whiplash would pul off an upset).
Yet there was a time when “The Lost Weekend”, “Marty” or “Midnight Cowboy” won.
@Ben, I seem to recall some Academy members and some of the Crash contingent having some pretty insulting phrases to describe the characters in Brokeback.
I’m hoping neither Boyhood or Birdman wins on Sunday now. I’m so sick of hearing fans from both sides rant at each other.
And for those who are comparing Michael Apted’s Up series to Boyhood, they are not the same projects at all, even if they both deal with characters over long stretches of time. Boyhood is dealing with one family, the Up series is dealing with individuals who are not related to each other. And I’m pretty sure Michael Apted has said good things about Linklater’s work. He may have even voted for him for the BAFTAs.
“On a separate note, I did post on the Simulated Ballot results page a link to all the ballots rankings from the preferential BP ballot in an Excel spreadsheet. I hope you caught it.”
I’m saving the best for last… 🙂 A lot of articles to go through tonight. (Been busy most of the rest of the day.)
Anyway, I imagine Boyhood won, given the picture that goes with the article, and, given that it’s a simulation run on AD, I imagine it wasn’t particularly close, either. I AM curious to see who was in the “final”. And the many awesome details, of course… 🙂
Wow. “Trash” and “garbage”. This is probably the worst I’ve heard since Curtis, Borgnine and “all their friends” similarly trashed Brokeback…though maybe this is even worse, as no human being should be called those names (though clearly those who refused to watch the overwhelming frontrunner more than implies that the poor gay shepherds of that film were not the sorts whom Margie and her gang were willing to condescend 2 hours of their time…”trash”?). Yet BAFTA and the Globes and BFCA and LAFCA and NYFCA and an overwhelming number of critical organizations embraced the everyman film with whole hearts.
Frankly, Boyhood was not my favorite, I thought the final quarter lapsed into cliche, but of course I realize it is a very fine cinematic achievement, full of humanity and heart, definitely superior to the technically brilliant but pretentious and emotionally slight Birdman. And frankly again, I generally don’t care what wins. But yeah, Margie, thanks for being so honest, now I’m strongly rooting for Boyhood to win. [Too bad voting ended yesterday; if this came out even a week ago, I’m sure many Academy members would have been similarly appalled, certainly the ones I know…2 of whom happen to be voting for Boyhood, 1 for Birdman, 3 for Grand Budapest).
By the way, how in the world was Margie an Academy member, with her slight credentials? It makes the invitation to 9 year old Dakota Fanning look good. But I’m betting she is far from the only grotesquely unqualified member, and it makes me ask again, who cares what the Academy thinks.
Claudiu,
I was being flippant with my “trash” from the other side of the planet comment. My point was more about the Academy Member who thought the family in Boyhood was “trash”. So she would probably point out that those in the slums of India would be “trash”; the fact that he overcame all by love and a bit of luck is acceptable and would be consistent with their history.
On a separate note, I did post on the Simulated Ballot results page a link to all the ballots rankings from the preferential BP ballot in an Excel spreadsheet. I hope you caught it.
LEOCDC I agree a win for GBH would make a hell of an exciting night..
First comedy to win BP? It ain’t gonna happen, though. The film has remained solidly in 3rd or 4th place throughout the season. Quite well considering its a quirky comedy, but not enough to win BP.
*”that IS interesting” is what I meant to say, of course…
“Trash CAN become millionaires as long as they come from the “trashy” side of the planet and are really doing it for love.”
I know you’ll just brush it aside as irrelevant, which it probably is, but I would just like to point out that the kid in Slumdog Millionaire is in no way an asshole (is he only trash because he’s poor?), the way Zuckerberg is portrayed in The Social Network. So, no, the Slumdog pick is not, in fact, inconsistent with the Academy’s tendency to award “positive message” movies. No Country for Old Men – that one is definitely weird, in that respect. And Birdman would be this year, mostly, though, again, it’s not that clear. And probably Chicago. Not many others, though. (The Departed had plenty of characters “fighting the good fight” to root for.)
“Interesting fact (assuming BM wins BP): Only 4 out of 86 BP winners have been about Hollywood and the Industry: BM, Argo, The Artist, and Crash.”
Wow… that IS be interesting! A number of them are about the theater (Shakespeare in Love, All About Eve, The Great Ziegfeld, The Broadway Melody), but, yeah, you’re right, only these are about the movie industry in any way – weird! I hadn’t realized. Bodes well for Birdman…
This was the opinion of one person. It’s irrelevant who wins (Birdman or Boyhood) if you’re seeing the great picture and love cinema, because in both cases, the Academy would have choosen an out-of-the-box and worthy winner. I admired Boyhood and loved Birdman, but what really would make me crazy happy would be to see TGBH being the BP winner. That would be just beautiful and unexpected, even I’m not in love (yet) with that movie. It would be a night for the ages.
TEXASGOLDRUSH: You’ve said much more about your own stereotypes about people in different regions of the country than those of “the snobby Hollywood liberals.”
@WHUNK
Please. Could it be I am right and that also that I don’t make the stereotypes, they do?
Look at Boyhood. Yes, they make a conservative look bad (the one that threatened to shoot the kids when they were putting up Obama signs), but they also make Mason Sr.’s wife family, who gave Mason Jr a Bible and a gun, sympathetic and even intelligent instead of another demeaning portrayal. In fact it kinda shows liberal Mason Sr. as snobbish. That’s Austin liberalism. I live in Texas, I see it.
Hollywood on the other hand, mostly looks down on America and looks inward, its liberalism by institution. Its closed minded in comparison. This is why Boyhood may lose.
I refuse to let all the negativity get me down. I admire Boyhood greatly, its my #5 of the year, and I give it wins for Director and Supp. Actress. Birdman is my #1 of the year and Id give it wins for Picture, Actor, S.Actor, and Editing. They both received amazing reviews. They’ve both won a lot of awards. That they are both in the positon to possibly win Best Picture continues to astound me.
Another article with Sasha crying because it is very likely that the EVIL ACADEMY does not go to give the Oscar to one of her favorite films. First was the drama about Selma, now for Boyhood.
This has become quite boring over the course of weeks… and i don’t want to imagine what will happen after the oscars if Birdman wins.
If that’s what Academy voters are thinking, then I don’t want Boyhood to win. It’s too good for them.
@JK
You’re right on that. It’s not like Birdman is Dances with Wolves or The King’s Speech. Boyhood is exceptional film, but so is Birdman.
And even I respected Dances with Wolves. 🙂
I can’t believe all the hate towards Birdman, everyone thought like two or three months ago that it was a great film, really quirky, so weird that it didn’t stand a chance to win. Nonetheless it was a great film, and then the favorites begin to fall: Unbroken, Selma, Boyhood and Birdman was the film that pretty much everyone loved since the beginning but now that none of the other favorites are in contention Birdman is just a standard actors film C’MON don’t be hyprocrites, if your horse is not winning fine, but don’t throw your frustration to a great film a deserving film and hopefully the winner of next weeks oscars: BIRDMAN
All we’ve heard for the last eight months of Boyhood’s reign as the prohibitive Best Picture favourite is how Linklater was so popular in Hollywood, everyone loves him, he’s worked with everyone and has a thousand friends in the industry, and he’s as highly-respected as anyone. Now suddenly he’s a pariah?
At this point I’d predict Birdman to win BP, but I dunno, if there really is this kind of backlash towards Boyhood and Linklater, you wonder if his legions of supporters (if they truly do exist) in the business and in the Academy will turn the tide again by voting for Boyhood and defending their friend.
Ever since I first heard of BIRDMAN early in the summer, I pegged it as the film to watch. I watched BOYHOOD and loved the concept and appreciate how it will stand out in cinematic history forever, but I didn’t unconditionally love it and I have my reasons as to why. Still, BOYHOOD is in my top 20 for 2014.
But BIRDMAN…after two viewings, I knew I had seen my favorite film of the year–a film integrated and excellent in pretty much all aspects of craft, technicals, story, theme, and relevance. I loved it wholeheartedly and held onto that love for it in the face of detractors. I know why I love what I love, and I wish to be always true to that–true to myself.
For the record, here’s the remainder of my top 5 for 2014:
– NIGHTCRAWLER has the relevance and the performance and the narrative logic, but Dan Gilroy is still a director who still needs to craft a unique vision for himself, otherwise, it would’ve been my favorite of 2014;
– WHIPLASH shot to number three due to pure passion from beginning to end, I’ll always love it, but not at the level of BIRDMAN;
– THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL was a further refining of Wes Anderson’s style and it’s fantastic, but I’m not head-over-heels a fan of Anderson enough to make it my favorite;
– THE TALE OF PRINCESS KAGUYA (because that extra “THE” ruins it) was simply gorgeous–the best animated film of the year–but I knew I couldn’t raise it higher because the story did teeter and wander a bit.
And, on an additional note,
– EDGE OF TOMORROW (and, to a slightly lesser extent, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY) will remain my most rewatchable films of the year–the films I can watch from beginning to end every time without fail that weren’t necessarily the best films of the year.
Is it narrow-minded and closed-off of me to deny admitting that BIRDMAN is my favorite film of the year and the most deserving to win Best Picture and Best Director? If someone can theoretically take away the one-take technique (one that seemed experimental in other films, but THEMATICALLY RELEVANT in this film) from BIRDMAN, I can take away the 12-year organic growth of BOYHOOD and just see it as an indie movie about a typical American boy and his typical path to adulthood.
Both BIRDMAN and BOYHOOD are simple stories at heart, but their executions made them fresh, exciting, unique, and (most importantly) worth the price of admission–NO ONE CAN EVER take those away from them or any other film.
Yet in the end, I honest-to-God just simply love BIRDMAN (and around 10 other films from 2014) more.
And, more importantly, I KNOW why I love them more than BOYHOOD if I ever had to discuss my tastes with another film buff.
What’s wrong with liking another film more, especially if they can defend it within reason? Everyone has the ability to make a valid opinion on art. Can’t a BIRDMAN fan be allowed to relish their time in the spotlight when it suddenly shines on them and away from a BOYHOOD fan, even if the spotlight is at the hands of a somewhat-easy-to-be-swayed 6K member Motion Picture Academy? (which, in spite of some corrupted contingents, remains the most credible voting body for film awards because, unlike critics, they’re the true industry peers of the honored filmmakers.)
I was feeling that BIRDMAN had a chance at Oscar glory from the moment I left the theater, even with BOYHOOD’s dominance. I even mustered up the humility to be ready to welcome BOYHOOD at the Oscars because it is a unique achievement and will be among those cinematic gems that will stand out from 2014, but now I’m ecstatic that my favorite film is suddenly gaining momentum (though I fear for Keaton likely inevitable loss to Redmayne for Best Actor). Is it wrong for me to celebrate?
BIRDMAN is my favorite film of the year and the film I’d immediately answer as the best of the year.
I really liked BOYHOOD and it will assuredly intrigue people enough to watch it if I tell them how it was made.
Can’t I still be a credible film buff and vigilant Oscar follower with that humble opinion?
I know I can and I pray that I will continue to be for the rest of my life.
And that, for me, is enough. 🙂
I wouldn’t deny that there are remnants of Baby Jane’s and Borgnine’s in the Academy. But I also feel (but don’t know for sure) that the Academy populus keeps changing. Adding and Subtracting. For every daft choice, there is also a good one. I’m not going to throw the baby jane out with the bathwater just yet. If I did, I would never look to the Academy again. Would any of us? Why do we keep following it? Why is it the holy grail? The piece de resistance if it is completely useless. It is not. It’s all about passion and advocacy and this site does it supremely. I also like Al’s sunny disposition and channeling Doris. I am going to keep on celebrating the stories and the storytellers that push things along. I have been encouraged and inspired to do so from the editors and commenters here. ‘Don’t stop til you get enough’ 🙂
Garbage and losers, eh? Oh, Academy voters. Bless them. Always looking down their noses.
No matter what films win or lose on Sunday night at the Oscars, I’m going to keep a happy, positive mindset, and not let myself get too upset. My stance is like what Doris Day sang:
“Que sera, sera
Whatever will be, will be
The future’s not ours to see
Que sera, sera
What will be, will be”
So true Doris, so true. 🙂
Shyd. Someone is really coming on full force in their dislike for Linklater and what he seems to represent to them. At least those idiot Academy members were venting out of a self-preservation reflex and not some out-of-place gate keeper complex. BOYHOOD really gave this people a hard time, prompting, by the likes of it, an existential predicament for 160 or so minutes — kind of like Keaton in BIRDMAN. They’re angry and they’re voting and submitting in this very state of mind. BIRDMAN and crackpot Inarritu just happened to be at right place at the right time. Should there have been a KING’S SPEECH this affair would have wrapped up weeks ago.
Steven,
At the end of the day, what did Birdman actually have to say about anything, let alone “art”. The technical wizardry masked a rather threadbare story. Again, this is akin to Ron Howard directing the Player.
At the end of the day, these things will be true
1. Linklater will be fine and will continue to make adventurous films. He’s already got a film in the can for release next year.
2. Inarritu will be fine and will be able to wear that moronic scarf to awards shows playing the auteur. Hopefully he’s not wasting Dicaprio’s time with that natural light shooting method he’s employing on the Revanant.
3. Keaton may or may not be fine, but if he doesn’t win, that was his one chance.
4. Del Toro will be the Depalma of the Three Amigos. Poor guy.
5. Apart from Soderbergh, none of the Indie revolutionaries from the 90’s will have a Best Director statue anytime soon.
6. Clint Eastwood will probably scramble to film, edit, and release a movie about Actors in order to jump on the three best pictures in four years trend.
7. The Oscar broadcast will have terrible ratings, par for the course, and the reactive Academy will come up with some new “fix” that will no doubt make things worse. All the while ignoring how the guild awards make the final telecast utterly irrelevant.
“Birdman is a gimmicky, the plot is pretentious, but it’s got a big cast and it is about SHOWBIZ, that is why it is winning. My hope relies on Boyhood’s uniqueness of 12 years in making.”
Oh my God…this is exactly my frustration with the word “gimmick” and reinforces what I stated above. “Birdman is gimmicky…but Boyhood did the 12 years thing so awesomely.” By calling something a “gimmick” you reduce it’s very artistic tendencies to a nub of shit and Birdman’s technical achievements, whether you liked it or not, cannot be denied. Calling a one-shot a “gimmick”? Do you call theatrical plays “gimmicks” too since they’re done without breaks? Using that word is an insult to a great movie. If a movie is filmed in 3D and the only 3D moments are when an object “comes out at you” and it’s forced and takes you out of the moment, that’s a gimmick. It’s being done because they feel like it. What Birdman, and Boyhood, have done is in service to the story.
Sam L — EVERYONE here knows about Michael Apted’s Up series. You don’t have to keep telling us to watch it. Cheers.
A large part of the success of “Boyhood” to me is it’s relate-ability. While it’s not my favorite of the year I still liked it a lot and much more than my wife who is a few years younger than I. For example: It’s easier for a young-ish man like myself, having gone through boyhood himself with divorced parents and an alcoholic step-father to relate to the film than my wife who, believe it or not, wasn’t a young boy at anytime in her life. Not to mention her parents are still together after 30+ years. Which with marriage inflation is like 50 years nowadays.
Oscar voters are saying mean shit about nominees. STOP THE PRESSES! Now there’s a shocker. And once again it’s easy to dismiss Boyhood…it’s already been done….8 times!
You’re a smug little shit, aren’t you, douchebag?
Birdman underperformed domestically for a studio film with that cast. Boyhood overperformed.
Sam,
The better analogy would have been Spike Jonze, and how freaking long did it take him to win one? I’m glad Anderson righted the ship, good for him. He should have won for Rushmore. Anderson is a great technician but a very erratic writer. The tendency to judge films primarily for technical wizardry these days is disheartening, it seems that only Woody Allen can get away with simply writing a movie.
The point about Linklater is that off the record Oscar voters are saying pretty vicious things about Linklater and his film, basically dismissing both the individual achievement of the film itself as well as marginalizing a very adventurous multi-decade career.
Pete, Boyhood was twice the length and performed about the same?? 165 mins vs. 119 mins and $36 vs. $25 mil, but of course foreign dollars don’t count, do they? Thank God you don’t work for NASA with your mathematical acuity, or else you’d be landing astronauts on the sun!
Stop with the martyrdom of Linklater! He’s been nominated for 5 Oscars! And Wes Anderson is as much “an oddball hippie” as Linklater and I’m sure some don’t fancy his eccentric (and far superior to Linklater) voice. You guys sound like a bunch of whiny Fox News people. Good Lord.
Ryan, dust off Jennifer Lawrence’s quote about black and white movies. Bears pointing out that the younger voters don’t know shit as well.
Ryan, I didn’t know who Hope Holiday was before you told me, and her acting history makes her accusations even more obnoxious than I thought they were. Sometimes people like her just can’t help letting the world know how hypocrite and out of touch they are. Her vote has the same weight as Scorsese’, Lynch’s, Woody Allen’s vote. This is what’s wrong with the Academy nowadays.
Sam,
Learn to fucking read. Boyhood was twice the length and performed about the same at the US box office. Look it up, twatnozzle.
To repeat, I am mystified at some of the personal anger being directed at Linklater by these anonymous Oscar voters for having the audacity to get nominated to begin with. Basically the cool kids accidentally invited the oddball hippie to prom and is now trying to back out of it while blaming the hippie for the whole faux pas.
I love this. Thanks, Pete.
Pete, what are you babbling on about? Birdman got 92% on RT and has made 72 mil. Hurt Locker got 97% and made $49. Now that’s a film that had a total disconnect. And Birdman was not designed as a cash cow, it was a freeform art piece. Who cares about whether the stars had been in previous bigger films? And Linklater made School of Rock which grossed $131 mil, so by your withered logic Boyhood should have done MUCH better.
*picks jaw off floor*
Usually, I roll my eyes whenever I read stuff from Oscar voters, but that garbage and losers comment made me gasp in shock. It confirms every bad stereotype about voters, and then some. So middle-class, everyday people are more garbage-y than mobsters and Javiar Bardem in a bad haircut? I guess I’m naive for being shocked that voters can think this way. The starfuckers at the HFPA seem more and more credible each day.
Sam,
Domestically, Birdman only made about $9 million more than Boyhood, not much of an achievement considering it was half the running time. But if you count the worldwide tally, it made about 4 times its shooting budget back. Boyhood made between 10 and 20 times its shooting budget (depending on which budget figure you believe). Birdman had a cast that included actors with five previous acting nominations. Boyhood had one. Birdman had a cast that had been in MULTIPLE $100 million plus blockbusters. Boyhood had none. Yet, they performed comparably, and in the US, didn’t really light the box office on fire. You had better believe that if Boyhood had won BP, that the “no ticket sales, no one cares” charge would have been flying heavy. Birdman gets that honor as one of the least seen BP winners ever. It’s actually a hell of a trick to have a BP winner that is that disconnected from both critical consensus AND marketplace consensus. King’s Speech was at least a huge box office hit. Crash is the only BP winner I can think of that broke this mold, and good luck trying to argue that Boyhood was just as divisive and radioactive as Brokeback.
To repeat, I am mystified at some of the personal anger being directed at Linklater by these anonymous Oscar voters for having the audacity to get nominated to begin with. Basically the cool kids accidentally invited the oddball hippie to prom and is now trying to back out of it while blaming the hippie for the whole faux pas.
And once again, everyone please watch the Up series by Michael Apted. It’s the greatest documentary series on the human condition ever committed to film. Maybe if you’d seen all installments, what Boyhood did would be put in proper perspective.
I mentioned “digging up” Tony Curtis for an opinion,
We don’t have to dig up Tony Curtis to get his opinion. He already made his dumb opinions about Brokeback well-known when he was alive.
The world is a sadder lesser place without the talent of Tony Curtis. But the Academy is a smarter better place with Tony Curtis gone.
And the more people like Tony Curtis and Hope Holiday who get gone out of the Academy, the better the Oscars will be.
TEXASGOLDRUSH: You’ve said much more about your own stereotypes about people in different regions of the country than those of “the snobby Hollywood liberals.”
Ryan, I think you’re missing the point. I mentioned “digging up” Tony Curtis for an opinion, not equating it with HH’s background. And she’s one solitary vote. I think the Linklater/Hawke/Delpy voting block will cancel hers out.
“I’ve never been Boyhood’s biggest supporter. But I passionately want it to win now.”
I’m in exactly the same boat, Paddy.
And, like Pete said above, too many recent BP winners were centred around Hollywood/show biz. We don’t need to reward another extended selfie.
This is sad, but valid. I find it hard to believe that every thoughtful human being, male or female, black or white, straight or gay, right or left wing, couldn’t identify with the touching truths of Boyhood. We all grew up, we all have insecurities. But Hollywood is different.
But in fact, I know lots of people, smart, compassionate, progressive people, whose reaction to Boyhood was (a) it was boring, (b) nothing happened in it, and (c) no one in it was “interesting”. For me, (b) and (c) were precisely what made the movie so good, and what made it NOT (a), but clearly there are lots of people who don’t think that way, and when they live in LaLaLand, their thinking is even more bizarre.
Boyhood’s problem is it is too ordinary, it is a straight on drama, it is something we can all relate, and it is not very “SHOWY” like Birdman. Birdman is a gimmicky, the plot is pretentious, but it’s got a big cast and it is about SHOWBIZ, that is why it is winning. My hope relies on Boyhood’s uniqueness of 12 years in making. Why not? It is a great film and has never been done before. Birdman is just another gimmicky and comedic version of Black Swan, nothing new, nothing unusual, if it pulls a win, it will be one of the most underwhelming best pictures winner like Crash. Yawn.
Sam L. You seem to be coming at me as if I’ve dug up some dirty laundry about Hope Holiday’s private life.
I don’t know anything about her private life. I’m just describing the only two roles that most people will ever know her from.
Role 1: Adulterous drunken barfly on the prowl for dick in 1960.
Role 2: Fun dimwitted French whore on the prowl for dick in 1963.
This is not something “I dug up”. Millions of people have seen and loved these movies, and they have loved the fun antics of these characters on the prowl for dick. Searching for dick for pleasure, hounding after dick for money. Hey. I’m not judging. I think these are great roles! Hope Holiday played 2 very convincing dick-hounds.
I’m not judging. HOPE HOLIDAY is the one doing the judging here. Thanks to playing sad lonely dick-hounds and whores, Hope Holiday has a comfortable life of wealth and privilege.
It’s just weird to me to see how Hope Holiday got all her money, fame and Oscar clout from playing horny drunk-girls and whores. And it’s creepy to me to see how NOW she’s too high and mighty for a movie about motherhood to “speak to her”?
She calls a struggling mother “garbage” and a “loser” but her entire status in Hollywood is based on her 2 performances as destitute girls who love to fuck?
It’s bizarre. And nobody knows how bizarre it is unless they hear the details. These details are not secrets I had to dig up. They’re details in the wide open.
All I did was connect the dots, alright?
For the record, Birdman and Boyhood are BOTH more than deserving Best Picture winners, IMHO. May the best one win.
That being said I do not condone at some Oscar voters’ reasoning in deciding Best Picture. I believe the films should be judged as art, not by schadenfreude as Sasha describes the voters’ rationale.
Ryan, look it’s obvious she’s also a Fox News viewer with those kind of opinions, but we NEED people like that for entertainment value. Imagine if the Academy was made up of nothing but Rod McKuens instead of Victoria Jacksons!
People say stupid shit all the time, doesn’t mean you should belittle their right to be small-minded.
Why not? Yes, I will mock small-minded people, especially small-minded people who seem to be making a habit, 2 years in a row, of being loudly and publicly small-minded.
People who don’t want other people to know the stupid shit they’re thinking should not be spouting that stupid shit from their blustery mouths in public.
I didn’t have to “dig her up” out of her grave to ask her feelings. She has freely announced her feelings, time after time.
She’s apparently very proud of herself. Proud to be the person who makes scenes in public frequently enough so that we can’t help become aware of her. She likes making scenes. That’s her right. It’s MY RIGHT to think she’s a hypocrite and say so if I feel like it.
Maybe you think people like this need to be respected and coddled, Sam L. I don’t.
All I did was fill in the gaps for anyone who doesn’t know who Hope Holiday is — (because, geez, how would anybody know her? She hasn’t been in a decent movie for 52 years.) I’m not digging anything up. I know these two movies inside out. I know the roles she played. Maybe she hopes everybody forget (and most people have). Not me. I know what a hypocrite she is.
Sorry if you didn’t want to know anything about her. How about YOU get inside the Academy and advise her to keep her silly mouth shut if she doesn’t want people mocking her hypocrisy.
“The movies are for the better with the structure given and those structures were used for a reason.”
THANK YOU! I am so goddamn tired of this stupid buzzword “gimmick.”
I used to chase whores with Wallace Beery, that’s my claim to fame. And Birdman has grossed $72 mil on a budget of $18 mil, which remedial math tells me is hardly a “massive” underachiever.
Sam…
Care to share us your filmography, given your apparent expertise in REAL filmmaking?
Again, three of the last four BP winners (including Birdman) are about actors and the industry. The awards are turning inwards. Guess what, Birdman was also a massive Box Office underachiever despite such a high powered cast. The casual fan will note this Oscar with “another film that no one saw about people I don’t care about”. That will no longer be Linklater’s problem.
“Filming 12 years is a gimmick”
“Filming in 1 take is a gimmick”
Give me a fucking break. The movies would be radically different if they were filmed in 3 months or had 500 cuts. The movies are for the better with the structure given and those structures were used for a reason.
Ryan, maybe while you’re at it you can dig up Tony Curtis and ask him his feelings again on Brokeback Mountain. People say stupid shit all the time, doesn’t mean you should belittle their right to be small-minded. Get in the Academy and change from within.
It only shows that this elderly Academy voter is narrow-minded, stupid and downright inhuman.
This has-been actress, her name is Hope Holiday. She only made two good movies in her life. She was in The Apartment, she played Mrs. Margie McDougall. Mrs. Margie McDougall is the barfly lush who talks Jack Lemmon’s character into buying her a drink. She gets drunk enough to go home with him. She’s married, and going home with another guy to fuck him. Notice how Wilder expressly calls her Mrs. Margie McDougall so we don’t miss the point that she’s an adulterous slut. She’s a floozy. Where’s her husband? He’s in jail in Cuba “for doping race horses.” Classy.
Mrs. Margie McDougall is so drunk that all she can think about is sex. She cares not at all that Shirley MacLaine’s character is unconscious in the next room, on the brink of death from a suicide attempt. How much help is Mrs. Margie McDougall in this crisis? She says to Bud, “Hey — over here, lover.” When Bud tries to kick her out, she says: “(bitterly) Some lover you are. Some sexpot!” She leaves angry — angry because she’s not going to get fucked after all.
See, all Mrs. Margie McDougall wanted was to get drunk and get fucked. That’s her only narrative purpose in the movie. To show the audience the sad slutty life of a barfly. It’s a great scene in a great movie. It’s Hope Holiday, in the best role of her entire career, playing a character who many people in 1960 would certainly have seen as “garbage” and a “loser.”
3 years later, Hope Holiday made another movie with Wilder. Irma La Douce. It’s another great movie, a great movie about a bunch of French hookers. Hope Holiday plays the small role of “Lolita.” If you think Lolita would be a great name for a French hooker, you’d be right. Hope Holiday plays a French hooker, in the only other movie in her entire career worth watching.
Somewhere between 1960 and 1963, in between her roles as a drunken fuck-toy and a French prostitute, Hope Holiday got invited to be an Academy member. I bet she was a hot spicy little number back then, probably a fun party-girl. She had no moral problem in 1960 playing roles as easy-lay sexdolls.
I hope to god somebody tells Hope Holiday that we’re talking about her here at Awards Daily. It would be great to have her drop in all huffy and complain about the way I’m describing her career — a career that’s a fine example of D-List mediocrity, except for the two movies where got to play two great roles: two brokeass underclass girls who love to fuck.
I invite Mrs. Hope Holiday to come explain to us how a struggling single mother in Boyhood is more “garbage” and “loser” than the bar-sluts and whores Hope Holiday played in her brief prime. The roles that got her into the Academy. The hilarious classic slut roles she played that enabled her to inflict her suddenly prudish taste on us for the past 50 years.
“There’s nothing artistic or revelatory in recording the mundane musings of miserable people.”
But if those miserable people muse a bit on the mundane side happen to be ACTORS…wellllll…that’s when the profundity meter goes off the charts.
Again, an industry awards show pretends that the awards are artistic but again will be awarding the highest honor to a film about the industry.
Linklater’s career will be fine and he’ll continue to try different things, although if he ever wants to scrape Oscar he’s going to have to sell out to the clip that the Scarfman did with Birdman.
Face it, AMPAS is a bunch of Hollywood snobs, the liberal version of the 1%.
Birdman is for Hollywood liberals, Boyhood was made by Austin liberals. Hollywood liberals are snobbish, self centered, narcissist, who love to hear themselves talk. They look down on everyone else like the conservatives they criticize. Austin liberals on the other hand are open minded and realize their place in the world, that they live in a red state. They are friendly and accepting of people who disagree with them. Not a shed of snobbyness or pretense.
This is why Boyhood will not win Best Picture, its an Austin liberal movie without pretense while Birdman is a typical Hollywood look at me film.
Interesting fact (assuming BM wins BP): Only 4 out of 86 BP winners have been about Hollywood and the Industry: BM, Argo, The Artist, and Crash.
All four come within the past 10 years—three in the past 4. They either have the plight of the artist or they show just how wonderful the industry is. No L.A. Confidential or The Player here.
I’d like to point out to those who think the Academy is self-obsessed, until 2011 no film about Hollywood had EVER won Best Picture. That’s 84 years of history. So much for navel-gazing. So all you Boyhood fans, go sit in your little Santa Monica tent on Saturday and enjoy. The Oscars are for REAL films, not adaptations of superior documentaries.
If, “it spoke to me” was my criteria I would campaign for Pride (the only one it seems). I felt much more about that film than any other I saw last year, in part, because it is about my people, even, my generation of my people. But my personal reaction, or that of an Academy Member, is irrelevant, or a frivolous reason for making a choice. At some point a voter should be thinking about what they want the Academy to say about its ideals.
Right now they are saying, ” So what if we’re self-absorbed? Screw you. We’re rich and really don’t give a shit.”
btw: I heard similar comments (trash) about Brokeback Mountain.
“I finally saw Boyhood over the weekend on Blu-Ray. It is a perfect film, sheer poetry. More than any film that I can recall, it’s about life in America in the 21 st century and how brutally fast life passes. I totally get your passion for Boyhood, Sasha, exactly like your passion for Lincoln it is so clearly the superior film that even a win by the magnificent Birdman or the powerful American Sniper would cause pain knowing that the Academy has missed the mark.”
Exactly. I didn’t see American Sniper or Birdman yet because it is not out un France yet, but a friend of mine says me Birdman is pretty good. I Will be okay with it winning or Whiplash (that is a wonderfull Movie) every year but not this one. Boyhood is too authentic and revolutionnary to loose; but then, If it happens, I still think it Will pass the test of Time.
Greatest mistake since Citizen Kane was overlooked??? SOMEONE ALERT THE HYPERBOLE POLICE! No, that honor belongs to Manhattan in 1979, which wasn’t even nominated.
I finally saw Boyhood over the weekend on Blu-Ray. It is a perfect film, sheer poetry. More than any film that I can recall, it’s about life in America in the 21 st century and how brutally fast life passes. I totally get your passion for Boyhood, Sasha, exactly like your passion for Lincoln it is so clearly the superior film that even a win by the magnificent Birdman or the powerful American Sniper would cause pain knowing that the Academy has missed the mark.
Overlooking Boyhood will be AMPAS’ greatest mistake since Citizen Kane was overlooked.
Losers? It looks to me like Mason overcame a difficult, if fairly normal childhood, to get a college scholarship and the movie ends at the point where SPOILER ALERT Mason has a world of possibilities ahead of him. It disappoints me immensely that it won’t be Best Picture.
What a movie. It kept my attention riveted throughout and I went back and rewatched several scenes.
Paddy, Boyhood won’t win for the same reason a Mike Leigh film will never win. There’s nothing artistic or revelatory in recording the mundane musings of miserable people. How’s that for alliteration? :o) And Michael Apted still did it better and first!
Contrast that with Inarritu, who has openly and desperately wanted the big prize for a decade now. Anyone get a load of his scarf and other self important schtick at the DGA? Fine. He made a relatively empty but technically brilliant gimmick film about actors that apart from the nonsensical ending, doesn’t really hold up to any scrutiny on repeat viewings due to its paper thin profundity.
Also, preach.
All this back and forth about Birdman vs. Boyhood. When will you people realize the only newly minted instant classic from this year will be THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL?
Several Academy members did recently via a source I will not disclose, said they weren’t voting for Boyhood because “did not speak” to them. What does that mean exactly? It means that they could never imagine living a normal life full of ordinary struggles in finding their way.
Eeeeerrrrrrrxatly what I thought as I was walking home from the cinema after watching Boyhood. Months ago. Thought that, then the progression of the awards race this year until recently convinced me that we’d gotten over that. But now it seems that we’ve come full circle.
I’ve never been Boyhood’s biggest supporter. But I passionately want it to win now.
I want just to say*
EDKARGIR I want just to say How Much I love Boyhood and indies in general, There are such authentic, true, living. Thanks God the cinema is not just about Hollywood.
My god, the dismissal of the Evans family as a bunch of garbage losers is horrifying. It only shows that this elderly Academy voter is narrow-minded, stupid and downright inhuman. You may not like the film but that’s frankly unacceptable. I hope she’s one of the few.
I am a independent spirit voter. I voted for Boyhood for picture, director, supporting actress and editing .
I voted for Birdman for Actor ,supporting actor and cinematography . So I love both Boyhood and Birdman but Boyhood a true masterpiece not just the best picture if. 2014 but of the 21 century so if the academy screws this up as they have done many times before and will get it wrong in the future. Hollywood has been the worst judge of there own industry.
Sasha, I don’t always agree with everything you write but I really want to applaud you for being so candid and open in this piece. I really and truly think that you are bang on about the rose coloured glasses the Academy members wear. It’s startling and saddening at the same time. Most of them started off as “regular” people and have made those poor decisions you speak of. I mean, there’s a whole tabloid industry that feeds off and makes billions of dollars just reporting on those poor decisions, both past and present. Your assessment further highlights the real need for the Academy to get off its high horse and re-connect with the people who matter – the fans, the viewers, the critics – instead of feeding their own delicate, troubled egos. Will that happen in my lifetime (I’m 30)? I could only wish, but I don’t know how optimistic I am. Regardless, bravo for your brave admission and for continuing to fuel the debate on whether awards really matter in the face of artistry in film making.
It’s so humanist and authentic. The true win for Linklater, it is that his Movie Will be in the heart of Many ordinary people.
It’s so shocking but I hope it’s a minority and that If Boyhood looses, it Will not be for these things. This Movie deserves better.
Joseph, what do you mean it’s why Roseanne didn’t win but Modern Family did?
“Garbage” and “losers”…then what the hell is Riggan and his daughter?! A has-been actor and his junkie daughter. But really resorting to calling characters “garbage” and “losers” and ACTUALLY holding it against them when not just accepting the film on it’s merits…oy. It’s a good thing this elderly lady’s opinions are probably drowned out because look at all the “garbage” and “loser” performances that won (Mo’Nique, Heath Ledger, Charlize Theron, Marlon Brando (On the Waterfront), Matthew McConaughey, Jeff Bridges, Nicolas Cage, Hillary Swank, Halle Berry, Melissa Leo, Christian Bale, Angelina Jolie, Chris Cooper). So judging by her barometer of greatness I think Boyhood and Birdman will both pull an acting win a piece!
So now we must factor in “garbage” or “trash” when thinking about what “they” will do. Boy, they’ve come a long way since Midnight Cowboy won Best Picture, huh?
But they’re completely different kinds of “white trash”. Those two movies are apples and oranges. I mean, if anyone sat down and watched them together , I’d be surprised if anyone chose BOYHOOD as the better film. But then again, I’ve been surprised a lot this year. Maybe people are just apples and oranges. I’ll take passionfruit, ftw.
I think Pete is right. I know it is usually the Director or Producer who accepts the honor and gives the speech (Linklater being both in this case), but his speeches don’t exactly keep the band from playing. Thats the bullshit of it all, if Hawke or Arquette were giving the acceptance speeches for the film, Boyhood may be weighing a little heavier on the minds of voters. But then again, if that were 100% the case, Affleck would have an Oscar for Directing, but you can’t help but to look at everything, even the small everythings.
This article makes me sick. Not you Sasha, but what it represents. It does put into perspective a lot of the concensus choices of late. There’s a strong Orange County feel to their decisions.
*** 12 Years a Slave being guilted into winning. (The we-awarded-the-racial-film-last-year that was said about Selma)
*** Gone Girl getting snubbed (I mean what is more disturbing than a film that shows a traditional marriage as one giant sham?).
*** Nostalgic look back at Hollywood when Actors were artists (The Artist and BM) and filmmakers did good things (Argo).
*** Noble king overcomes a disability is “right” message whereas slimy arrogant trash who manipulates others to become a billionaire is the “wrong” message probably because we don’t want to see slimy arrogant “trash” become billionaires. Trash CAN become millionaires as long as they come from the “trashy” side of the planet and are really doing it for love.
*** Hell, Ben Affleck can make extremely edgy films and get ignored. He makes the most mainstream banal film about Hollywood doing good and it’s the second coming.
Finally, a dedicated performer is tormented by a bird role. Hallucinations begin to take over as the performance intensifies to the point where on opening night, the madness takes over. Thunderous applause follows the brilliant performance. Yet, no one knows realizes the toll dark places or the insanity took. That is until the final somewhat ambiguous scene where a great fall reveals the perfect blending of the hallucination and reality. It won Natalie Portman the Oscar, but Black Swan lost BP. Switch out the gender of the protagonist, switch the medium of the performance from dance to acting—something relatable (to Hollywood), switch out that extensive bold lesbian sex scene between Mila Kunis and Natalie Protman to one that safely involves just a lesbian kiss, and throw in some cool camera tricks and now a Best Picture emerges.
Same as the Emmys. It’s why shows like Frasier and Modern Family kept winning. Why Roseanne never could (Or perhaps Orange is The New Black last year).
To be fair, I think this two people only represent a small fraction of the Academy, as after all Boyhood got nominations practically in everything it could be considered for.
Stop worrying everybody : Boyhood will win. Period.
And this attitude of the Academy reminds me of the year of Brokeback when obviously many Academy members couldn’t relate to a tragic gay romance, even if it was winning even damned award under the sun.
It’s so depressing to me to read that a lot of Academy voters can’t relate to Boyhood. It truly shows how out of touch they are with most people. No wonder so much crap that never deals with human beings’ real feelings comes out of the Hollywood machine.
A friend of mine who is a WGA member found Birdman completely cold and couldn’t relate to it. She also loves theater and lives in NYC.
I like Birdman but I don’t understand why it’s considered the winner, not when Boyhood, Budapest, Selma and Whiplash are in the mix.
So much wrong here, really. I’m beginning to wonder if Linklater’s laid back persona really worked against him here. He clearly never set out to make a multiple Oscar winner and really hasn’t drawn much attention to himself other than humble surprise that it took off like it did.
Contrast that with Inarritu, who has openly and desperately wanted the big prize for a decade now. Anyone get a load of his scarf and other self important schtick at the DGA? Fine. He made a relatively empty but technically brilliant gimmick film about actors that apart from the nonsensical ending, doesn’t really hold up to any scrutiny on repeat viewings due to its paper thin profundity.
Oscar isn’t just about being seen as being on the winner’s side, it’s DEMANDING the winner jump through hoops to prove worthiness. Linklater works outside the system completely on his own terms and for that he must be punished. It does sort of explain just how Before Midnight failed to get any awards traction last year (and just wait to see how much Jolie/Pitt’s similarly themed To the Sea will clean up next year, speaking of working within the system)
If the older Academy member really thought the Boyhood characters were “garbage” and “losers”, how do they reconcile that with the last 15 minutes or so of Birdman?
I’m beginning to suspect Emma Stone pulls the upset on Sunday if the voters are really that angry that Boyhood had the temerity to exist.
“Drilling down more deeply into what they meant by “it did not speak to them,” one elderly female Academy member, the same one who reacted violently to Wolf of Wall Street of Wall Street said she was not voting for Boyhood because, and I quote, “it was about people who were ‘garbage’ and ‘losers’.”
Hahaha. Holy shit. Does this person actually exist? I hope for humanity’s sake that “she” is a fabrication.