I first started covering the Oscar race back in 1999, when very few people were. Tom O’Neil and a few others had predictions sites. The LA Times, Premiere Magazine, and Entertainment Weekly would cover the Oscars in “Oscar season.” But I was really the first (whether people give me credit for it or not, and usually they don’t) to build a site, for better or worse, that covered the Oscars year-round.
Since I’d already been online writing about film on a listserv before there was a working World Wide Web, I was digging through the archives the other day and found an old post I had written in October 1995 (twenty years ago!!) about Citizen Kane and why it’s such a good movie. My curiosity about the Oscars started with Citizen Kane and how and why it lost Best Picture when it was considered the greatest film of all time. What was the difference between recognizing a film’s greatness over time and how the Oscars chose their greatest film of the moment. Well, now I know all of the contributing factors. John Ford had won Best Director twice, but never with Best Picture. How Green Was My Valley was sincere and sentimental, and quite a beautiful film, as it turns out. Citizen Kane had been hit hard by William Randolph Hearst’s media empire, with press blackouts, with threats to theater owners and intimidation of Academy members. It was a big deal that Orson Welles had dared to take on such a titan as Hearst, even if, all of these years later we all know that there is very little in Citizen Kane that matches Hearst’s actual biography. What it is is a portrait of the American titan. The American winner who chases anything but money to find happiness because it is the one thing he can’t buy.
I built my site to answer the question why Citizen Kane lost Best Picture, by examining why other great films won and lost. I would track movies as they opened, track their reviews and box office and look at the race to see how it unfolded. I would build charts and compare critics awards and guild awards. As I started to do this, I would emphasize those were the best matches with Oscar, or the best influencers of Oscar, and best indicators. I noticed that more critics groups began to form. I noticed that the numbers began to rise in the guilds. I noticed that there was a kind of honor in “matching” the Academy — so much so that some groups put it out in their press releases noting how many times they matched. Even critics, who purport to have no respect for the Academy, often use their high matching rate as a badge of honor, or they did for a little while.
This matching up of precursors lasted as long as it could until it didn’t. At some point, and perhaps 2010 was that point, there was a major split between the film critics’ consensus and the bigger guilds. Maybe it happened right around the time the Academy changed up its ballots, like 2009 and onward, but 2011 represents the last time there was clear alignment between critics and industry. And even then, The Help won the SAG Ensemble award, not The Artist.
As many years as I’ve been writing about diversity, basically for over a decade, I’ve never seen the story get as big as it got this year, so much so that it actually broke up the long record of the SAG Awards never awarding any actor who did not have an Oscar nomination. It was the first time there was a “guild revolt,” as far as I could tell. The SAG voters were saying “this oversight was wrong and we’re going to correct it.” Of course, it helps that Idris Elba gave one of the best performances of the year, but from my perspective, going on 17 years in the game, it was a shock and an interesting twist to my own story covering the race.
It is a mistake to see Elba’s win as a “token” gesture to correct a wrong. What’s admirable in what SAG voters did, whatever their individual reasons, is that they picked the best performance, not necessarily the one that had the best chance of winning the Oscar. When it came time to pick Outstanding Ensemble they stuck to their pattern of only awarding one of the two films up for Best Picture, but the one loosening of Oscar’s grip has proved one of the most surprising and satisfyingly things about a very surprising race.
Beasts of No Nation was, to my mind, the best film of the year. I championed it so hard, knowing deep down that the Academy would never let in a “Netflix movie,” but I clung to hope based on SAG’s inclusion. How nice to see it rewarded there, in the supporting actor category, giving the SAG awards an opportunity to really stand on their own as a separate but equal institution — and by now, massive in size.
Part of this change could be the AFTRA factor. So far of course, 2013, 2014 and 2015 are the only years when this new dynamic of SAG-AFTRA membership has been tested. That membership, as defined by Wikipedia, is:
The Screen Actors Guild‐American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) is an American labor union representing over 160,000 film and television principal and background performers, journalists, and radio personalities worldwide. The organization was formed on March 30, 2012, following the merger of the Screen Actors Guild (created in 1933) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (created in 1952).
The SAG/Oscar bond in the past might have been because the group was made up of actors only. Now, someone like Tom O’Neil of Gold Derby has a SAG vote, for instance. This might be the first year we really see the full impact of that merger.
The other group that is separate but equal from the Oscars now is the Spirit Awards, which happens the day before Oscar Night. That ceremony has Beasts of No Nation represented in all the major categories, along with Tangerine. In the discussion about diversity, no one really brought up the Spirit Awards much, but I suspect it will offer a stark contrast with the Oscars this year, no matter what movie they choose (though I really hope they chose Beasts of No Nation).
Where all of this leaves the Best Supporting Actor race is anyone’s guess. The only other match-up between now and Oscar would be the BAFTAs. The only three who are nominated for both would be:
Christian Bale, The Big Short
Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight
Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies
Honestly, two British actors and one beloved hero. You got me there.
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Sly was excellent in Creed..!
For some reason, I didn’t get the out-of-place nature of the comment at first, being so used to off-topic comments (many of which are my own) being made here. But, yeah, it is kind of weird that he chose this article to make this comment. So, yeah, you definitely have a point. Still, I’m sure there wasn’t anywhere near as much malicious intent as you think (if any) on Bryce’s part. He’s a good guy. 🙂
“Spotlight” > “Soylent Green”
Completely agree. (Edit: Even though this is quite a bit off topic, as Sasha pointed out.)
Of course, there are always going to be more worthy contenders than there are slots.
But here’s something that Idris Elba had that none of the 10 contenders you named had:
* 2 SAG nominations (Supporting and SAG Ensemble)
* A Golden Globe nomination for Supporting
* A BAFTA nomination for Supporting
* An Independent Spirit nomination for Supporting
* Supporting nominations from various critics’ groups
With the possible exception of Mark Rylance, Elba was singled out for more Supporting honors than any of the other Oscar nominees. As a result, most all Oscar pundits predicted he’d make the cut. Nor was Elba a newcomer: He’s got 4 Globe nominations (1 win) and 3 Emmy nominations.
And that is why Elba’s omission and the all-white acting slate triggered such an uproar.
Maybe it’s all for the good. If Elba had gotten his Oscar nod, there wouldn’t be nearly as much outrage. In essence, the bad P.R. of OscarsSoWhite forced the Academy to act, and act quickly.
You sound like the sort of person who would say “Hollywood is shoving diversity down our throats” when The Martian would add people of color to play roles–oh wait…you did.
Fuckin’ boom! Thanks for this list!
“But I was really the first (whether people give me credit for it or not, and usually they don’t) to build a site, for better or worse, that covered the Oscars year-round.”
I give you credit Sasha, because I happened on your site back in the early years, and have been coming back ever since. The go-to site for anything Oscar related. Thanks for all the work you and the team do making this a quality site.
Why the fuck woyld anyone be mad at Stallone? He acted his ass off and for once got recognition… It’s not like de Jennifer Lawrence’s case who keeps getting undeserved nods… Sly is not a name we ofter see their, so let’s be fucking happy for him!
I just realized you talked about Bale… Sorry, my bad!
He was amazing in the first half of The Big Short, & energized it to a point of extreme watchability. But see my comment above.
Sasha, love what you do! My eyes have been opened by parenting a daughter. I have greater sensitivity these days to not only struggles for inclusion of POC, male & female, & our stories, but also the crushing sexism for half of humanity perpetuated by media in the majority. For example, film critics who are click-worthy by reputation gained through male privilege are overwhelmingly male and dissed a good film about a woman’s story (also including men) with a great supporting actress role for a woman of color in Rikki & the Flash. First weekend on Rotten Tomatoes, splat instead of fresh, which was slowly corrected over the film’s run as some female critics (and open-minded males) weighed in, but by then the chance for market momentum was largely gone. Also gone, the chance later to nominate a woman of color in a worthy film focused, gasp (!), on story told from women’s point of view, focused on a mother, stepmother & daughter, not on a son (Room), male trapper (Revenant), boys and male priests (Spotlight), males privileging themselves on Wall St. while trashing Main St. (The Big Short), etc. The focus on males and what they want and do in the film world sadly reflects the real world in which all girls and women live. Not that the Oscar-nominated films are not good. But they are only half the story, the part that revolves around males. Art including film needs, instead, to lead with inclusion to show the better that could be possible!
In another post she said Christian Bale gave THE performance of the year.
India is part of Asia…also Yul Brynner has some Asian in him.
I invite you to watch Maggie. Though he had minimal dialogue, Arnold was fantastic in that role.
Does Chariots of Fire count? Were they adults or teens? In Titanic Rose was under 18 (not sure about Jack).
Dano gave the best male performance (in my eyes) of last year and would’ve loved to see him get in with supporting actor, but he and Courtenay were definitely leads. I’d bet hard money Elba missed just so with the Oscar nomination.
I prefer Spotlight, but well said!! We ALL have our preferences. We shouldn’t be tearing down other films or other people’s opinions of said films to push one up. Every single film up for BP is worthy this year.
He certainly deserved to be in the conversation
Agreed!!
Mine:
Hardy
Stallone
Del Toro
Isaac
Rylance
But I was also impressed by Shannon, Elba, Dano, Keaton, Hoult, Etc. Tremblay is in my Lead line-up.
Well, right.
Jacob Tremblay.
Benicio del Toro.
Oscar Isaac.
Jason Mitchell.
Michael Keaton.
Steve Carell.
Michael Shannon.
Paul Dano.
Liev Schreiber.
Tom Courtenay.
All these guys missed out on an Oscar nom. Any one of them could and should have been nommed. Any one of them would have been deserving. And who knows if Elba was even 6th place in a long list like that.
Sasha, who would your personal 5 Supporting Actors of the year be ?
Well, this is your opinion but Sly is pretty much a lock right now…
Quite what is it you have against me? I wake up to find three replies in the last few hours, all from you, and new upvotes for every single comment Sasha has made in disagreement with me in this conversation, also all from you, and a comment of support for Sasha from you. If you have a problem with me, it might be healthier to just admit it, rather than start accusing me of trolling. Because if anyone’s trolling, it’s you, Jacob.
name 5: Gigi, Oliver!, West Side Story, The Last Emperor, Slumdog Millionaire (yes i looked it up) plus lots of nominees
i guess because of the tatum o’neal precedent, if you’re a kid, you’re automatically supporting, jacob tremblay was lead in room
I’d argue that last one. GWCTD is a lousy movie filled with great actors.
Beasts is one of the best movies of last year. There has been a lot written about how much Inarritu suffered to make The Revenant, but he had a big studio and superstar behind him. Fukunaga had neither of those things plus tough shooting conditions. The story of how Beasts was made and the miracle of it being distributed is more impressive to me.
I don’t really believe Beasts was left out just because of Netflix. It’s a movie starring Black actors directed by an Asian American man. I said in a previous thread that I’ll wait and see if War Machine starring all Caucasian actors and directed by one gets an Oscar nomination next year. AMPAS has nominated a lot of movies Pitt produced (Tree of Life, Moneyball, Selma, 12 Years a Slave), so I wouldn’t be surprised in the least. For all the people on here who believe it’s strictly about merit, it’s even more so about them nominating people they like.
Elba deserved both SAG awards. He’s an incredibly talented actor and if not for his skin color he would already have many leading man roles under his belt. I hope he also takes the BAFTA.
Agree that How Green Was My Valley is a masterpiece, a truly great film, in my eyes one of the 20 finest to win the Best Picture Oscar. But it wasn’t the BEST Picture of 1941 by virtually all so-called standards, on account of arguably THE greatest masterpiece of all time being its chief competitor. The NY Film Critics picked it as Best Picture, but the Academy chose Valley for all the reasons Sasha articulated. But my point is, as usual, they got it wrong…just because a fine film wins, it doesn’t mean its the so-called “Best”. History usually dictates that, though there are years where there is such overwhelming consensus, one has to wonder how the Academy could disagree…
…which is why Kane’s loss is rarely sighted as one of the very most egregious in Oscars history. Because a great film beat it. If you scour the internet, the most offensive move by the Academy was Crash beating Brokeback Mountain, not just because the latter was, in 2005, overwhelmingly hailed by almost all as Best, and a masterpiece, but because Crash is considered mediocre, at best. AND, because of the argument that has been being waged since Spike Lee called out the Academy for racism, namely Brokeback lost on account of old-school Academy homophobia (“John Wayne would roll over in his grave” if high profile members “and all their friends” even watched it). As Paddy said, its not just racism against black people, but Asians, Indians, etc., prejudice against gays, etc. Its institutional bigotry. It has been from the beginning of their mediocre history. And worst of all in, many ways, is that the Academy is BEHIND the times. The Utah Film Critics picked Brokeback as Best Picture even though it was banned by some in that State. Other groups recognized Do the Right Thing, Idris Elba, and so so many others, but not the Academy.
I’ve been accused of being a broken record since virtually all my posts on this site are on this topic. Its true. But isn’t the fact we’re – the entire country – is having essentially the same discussion a decade after the Brokeback debacle make it worth repeating? If we see a wrong, it should be called out, in the hope of creating change. Kudos to Cheryl Boone Isaacs and the Board of Governors for acknowledging there is a problem, and for trying to make change. But continued shame on Charlotte Rampling and other old guarders for refusing to listen and realize that the minority has a point, and just wants to be heard, and represented.
Absolutely not. I don’t even consider it a good performance (Steve Carell was much better).
no problem, friend. thanks for the advice. 😉
Couldn’t agree with you more. Cohen did get nominated for a few Breakthrough/Newcomer awards, but how could people nominate Ronan without nominating Cohen? They had great chemistry. Awards are often lavished on young women, but rarely on young men. I also thought Miles Teller got screwed last season. How could everyone nominate J.K. Simmons without seeing Teller’s work?
Tom Hardy- the revenant
1dris Ilba- Beasts of no nation
emory cohen- Brooklyn
Jeff Daniels- Steve Jobs
Oscar Isaac- Ex Machina
Benecio del torro- Sicario
I realize that many might associate Asian actors with the Far East (i.e., China, Japan, Korea), but India is a sizable part of Asia, too. So, yes, Kingsley is half-Asian. His father was of Gujarati Indian descent, and Kingsley was born Krishna Bhanji. … Technically, Yul Brynner is an Asian actor, too; he was born in Russia, also part of Asia. He claimed to be ”part-Mongol,” but was really Eurasian.
Definitely worth discussing. Asian actors have gone under Oscar’s radar for far too long. Even when they’re in Oscar-winning movies (”Last Emperor,” ”Slumdog,” etc.), they’re rarely ever nominated.
Jope, you’re ok. I lost my sense of humor for a while this morning.
Whatever you’re doing, please keep doing it. Don’t ever change!
It is not a ‘genuinely strange comparison’. HGWMV is infamously known as one of the worst BP Oscar choices. It won over Citizen Kane. And Emory Cohen was amazing in Brooklyn.
Sly is getting the Oscar. But I wish Idris Elba was in the Oscar race. Seriously, did Christian Bale really need a nomination?
Actually, the Academy (mostly older white men) does have an age bias … against boys (and young men). As KT notes below, a number of girls have been Oscar-nominated. Since 2000, there have been 5: Abigail Breslin, Keisha Castle-Hughes, Hallie Steinfeld, Saoirse Ronan and Quvenzhane Wallis. However, since 2000, no boys have ever been Oscar-nominated. The last boy to make the Academy cut: Haley Joel Osment (1999). Tremblay and Abraham Attah join a list of boys who gave acclaimed performances but were skunked at the Oscars. Most notably, Jamie Bell: A BAFTA, BFCA & NBR winner and SAG nominee.
Three girls have won Oscars: Tatum O’Neal, Anna Paquin & Patty Duke. No boys have ever won Oscars.
Since 2000, two girls have been nominated for Best Actress. Castle-Hughes and Wallis. But no boy has been nominated for Best Actor since 1930-31: Jackie Cooper, ”Skippy.” That’s a stretch of over 85 years.
I don’t recall the numbers, but I’ve read that SAG is much more diverse than the Academy. Perhaps, that accounts for why their nominations are more diverse, too. And how they nominated Elba AND Tremblay.
You should know it, Paddy.
Horse shit, Cameron. And you know it.
Tell it like it is Sasha! 🙂
Such an odd and genuinely strange comparison. In that case let me add by stating the obvious:
“Soylent Green” > “Spotlight”
“High Noon” > “Carol”
“The Manchurian Candidate” > “The Danish Girl”
“Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner” > “Joy”
Emory Cohen did NOTHING LOL, Domnhall Gleeson and Julie Walters were far more memorable in the supporting roles they had. Cohen didn’t even have charisma, he seems like Sam Worthington, the generic white guy actor they get for roles.
BUT I have only seen him in Brooklyn, so maybe someday he’ll give a great performance that blows everyone away. But Brooklyn?!?!?! HAHHHAAHHAHAA!!!!!! 😉 Yeeeeeaaahhh…….. NO.
Ben Kingsley is half-INDIAN, half-English, NOT Asian. So only 2 Asian Actors in history have ever won, Ngor and Umeki.
Nicholas Hoult’s work in MMFR was a thing of beauty. It would’ve been so, so easy to blow that role, and instead he gave it incredible life.
Actual real Latino astronauts:
1) Arnaldo Mendez, Cuba
2) Rodolfo Vela, MEXICO
3) Franklin Chang-Diaz, Costa Rica/USA
4) Sidney Guitierrez, USA
5) Ellen Ochoa, USA/MEXICO
6) Michael Lopez-Alegria, Spain/USA
7) Carlos Noriega, USA/Peru
8) Joseph Acaba, Puerto Rico
9) Jose Hernandez, USA/MEXICO
10) Serena Maria Agnon, USA
11) Pedro Duque, Spain
12) George Zamka, Colombia
Maybe you should stop lecturing people on subjects until you take some steps to correct your ignorance.
Child actors have been nominated for and have won Oscars. In fact, that happens with reasonable frequency. Anna Paquin, Quvenzhane Wallis, Haley Joel Osment, Hailee Stenfield, Abigail Breslin, Saoirse Ronan (the first time), Keisha Castle-Hughes…and that’s just since the 1980s. There were plenty of others in the decades before, going all the way back to the earliest years of the Academy Awards
In any case, I think comparing any potential underestimation of juvenile performers to the discrimination faced by black actors is facile at best.
And if you’re incensed that Jacob Tremblay got left out, I’d think you’d be a whole lot madder at Sylvester Stallone…
Ok, i won’t be weird. Alain Delon rules, btw.
So you are saying Messicans ain’t smart enough to be astronauts? I guess you miss the old when the “colored” folks weren’t so uppity.
I’m pulling the plug on this conversation.
Nurse, remove the life support doodads.
No, I don’t know it.
Maybe more of the Guilds will take a leaf out of SAG’s book and nominate and award a broader base of movies and performances. I for one would be quite happy for them to become more predictable in their unpredictability!
please stop being weird
Nothing in my comment disputes this fact: “a film award should be based on quality and quality alone.”
Idris Elba won because he represents quality.
Idris Elba’s SAG award qualifies as “QUALITY AND QUALITY ALONE” on every level.
Compare what Idris Elba did in Beasts of No Nation to Alan Arkin saying “Argo fuck yourself!” 10 times, and tell me which of those two men deserved an Oscar nomination more.
Elba earned an Oscar nomination, but snottyass voters either didn’t watch the movie or refused to consider it.
That’s fucked up.
and THAT is the political part of what the Academy did:
the politics of hateful resentful EXCLUSION.
The additional political impact that Elba’s SAG Award implies has fuck-all to do with the amazing performance he delivered.
The sharp pointy stick that SAG voters poked in the Oscar’s dumb eyeball is just icing on the cake.
Beasts of No Nation was ineligible
This is false. Try Google. It’s full of cool things some of us like refer to as “facts.”
Netflix fulfilled every eligibility requirement outlined in Academy rules.
“Must be ‘age’ bias against child actors in the Academy as well.”
You try to tease. But Yes, there is.
Name 5 Best Picture winners about kids or teens. Name 3. Name one.
Why?
A) Because Everybody with a story worth telling is over the age of 21?
or
B) Because self-obsessed adults don’t care very much about movies about kids.
(Answer: B)
Regarding the ‘percieved’ Elba Oscar nomination – what makes those ‘outraged’ think that Mr. Elba deserved a nomination over Jacob Tremblay in Room? That kid was nominated for a S.A.G. and also missed out on a nomination. Must be ‘age’ bias against child actors in the Academy as well. I surely thought that that kid would land in Lead or Supporting. More voters obviously seen that film vs. Beasts of No Nation, Concussion or SOC. Who’s to say that that child didn’t deserve to be included in the final stretch? If the Academy was forced to reveal its ‘racist’ voting, I’m sure that kid would’ve received enough votes to surpass Mr. Elba, Mr. Will Smith or any of the leads in S.O.C.
Which basically leads to the voting problem – would a ‘more diverse voting block’ select Mr. Tremblay over Will Smith? Talent is no longer colorblind. Who was better, Idris or Jacob? If each of the 5 nomination selects ‘must’ go to a ‘diverse’ actor, who says that spot can’t be given to a child?
However you look at it, it was trolling. You know it, and I know it. Some days I ignore it but today was not one of those days.
Beasts of No Nation was ineligible because it had been on Netflx at the same time it was being released to theaters. Those who would carry it, that is.
You are just vile..
I absolutely don’t understand the board to the right which recapitulates the awards on the site. For example:
NBR top ten/+winner*
NYFCC winner*
LAFC winner+
SAG nominee*
Globe winner+/nominee*
SEFCA winner+/topte*
Critics Choice nominee*
AFI Top Ten+
etc…
Stallone is + for NBR, SEFCA and * for Critics’ Choice
He should be:
+ NBR, + Globe, + SEFCA, + Critic’s Choice
+ Where are Oscars ?
+ NBR, + Globe, + SEFCA + Critic’s Choice and * Oscars
So:
++++*
Sorry for colors but it’s not possible in comments 🙂
Others seems OK.
“Awards should not be political statements”
Awards should be MORE than a political statement alone.
Lucky for all of us, this award for Idris Elba is an award for the genuine Best Supporting Actor performance of the year — and as extra bonus it gets to carry the honor (and the weight) of being a political statement too.
As further evidence of our luckiness and the quality of the performance, we get a film and an actor who are perfectly capable of bearing the extra weight of this extra honor.
I’m not the only person around here who knows that Beasts of No Nation is itself a masterful political statement — so why does it seem so abhorrent to some people when an award for one of the most politically confident and politically important films of the year is now forever associated with a political cause for which it was unexpectedly and very happily adopted to display?
How lucky we are to have Beasts of No Nation and Idris Elba classing up the joint this year, no matter how hard the Academy tries to put up red velvet ropes to prevent the next new wave of geniuses from mingling with the old wave.
haha Thanks Ryan! liked!
What i say makes no sense, and yet you have the ability to respond to it. Lol.
I made this into a tweet. Because whenever I see a great comment, I might just steal it. Shamelessly.
https://twitter.com/filmystic/status/693863764127420417
Are you retarded? What you say makes no fucking sense. Sly is nominated because he put his heart into this performance and his dramatic skills are way beyond Arnold’s. Oh, wait, Arnold doesn’t have any and will never be nominated at the oscars.
I’m actually not entirely against Big Short winning; I just like it a lot less than you, obviously. It’s not even a movie I can hate if I wanted to (I don’t). It’s got more substantial content in there than your average 21st century BP winner. I just think it’s an especially boring and uninspiring choice. I do my best not to troll but I realize I’m so all over the place with intent it’s hard to read where I’m coming from. I try to champion you and the site every time I can for what is worth. I mean, you didn’t come this hard on me when the film “Gravity” was the target of my affections and I was really disagreeing with you at every turn. Long live AD.
I don’t think he was dumping on The Big Short, just expressing that one other film is superior to it in his opinion. If Bryce wanted to do something assholish, I’m sure he’d have had no trouble in achieving it. He was just expressing his opinion, not ripping down yours. And anyway, there’s a difference between saying someone did something assholish and just plain old calling them an asshole.
Bryce has done so many efforts over the years to tone down his comments and keep out the rude words, such an unwarranted attack sounds rather unfair.
This day shall live in infamy: “Je suis Bryce”! “Peace for Bryce”!
THE BIG SHORT is my 2nd favorite movie of the year, but I do like HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY better. Some years have better movies than other years. It just happens.
Well, but i would not be surprised. Sly in Rocky 1 is really good, same thing for Arnold on Terminator. Those are the kind of roles they born to play. And that’s it. But, there’s this saying “soft water on hard rock, so much it hits until it sticks” So, there’s this idea that you can do this roles for 9 times, and at 10, Oscar finally award you.
How Supporting Actor plays out:
GG: Stallone
Critics: Stallone
SAG: Elba
BAFTA: Rylance
OSCAR: Stallone
The only way Sly doesn’t take it now is if the Brits reward someone other than their beloved Rylance. And if that someone is Bale or Ruffalo.
I would also love to point out the hypocrisy/ extreme irony that the Academy wont deign to let in a “Netflix movie” when they rely on screeners to watch all the contenders and getting their own asses into theaters is an epic quest. At least Elba has a major award this season for an incredibly deserving performance.
Assholish thing to do: come in after a piece about Idris Elba with a slight mention of How Green Was My Valley as an opportunity to dump on a movie he knows I love. We know how this game works. This was not a piece about The Big Short but explaining things I have learned about the race. It was not meant for it to turn into a pissing contest.
True. You’ll see. In two years or so, Schwarzenegger will do another Terminator, but in that one he will be a supporting mechanic who fix terminators and has this Obi-Wan-Kenobi aura around him. And he will win an Oscar for Supporting Role.
The conversation started out extended, and I don’t think Spike Lee nor the Smiths have done anything to diminish it. The argument has been about all forms of diversity, which extends further even than race – which is the only form of diversity which you mention – and includes gender identity, sexual orientation, age and many other factors. The simple fact that many of the most prominent voices of criticism on the issue are black does not mean that these voices support only greater representation for people of their own race.
Those who have narrowed the conversation and focused only on one race are just as ignorant and disrespectful as those who focus only on race as an issue within that conversation.
Elba was the best choice in there, following very closely by Shannon. And for me, that award was not only SAG saying something about diversity, but saying that its time the Academy stops giving Don-Ameche-bull-shit-honorary-supporting-awards to actors who don’t deserve one just because standing ovation is a beautiful thing. As a dramatic actor Sly is mediocre, and waste an Oscar on him is an offense to this year work of Mr. Elba, Mr. Shannon, Mr. Dano, Mr. Rylance, Mr. Del Toro, Mr. Hardy, Mr.Bale and lots of others.
Abraham Attah just was that film. He should not only have been mentioned, he should be winning. Idris Elba is the big name though and I guess they didn’t wanna push it with *two* black people from the same movie? I can’t understand it. Same way I don’t understand no one talked about Emory Cohen since they loved Brooklyn and Saoirse Ronan. If you loved both of those things you loved Cohen……and if you loved Beasts, Abraham Attah rocked you to the core
Attah was awesome. Elba? Not as much as I thought he’d be. The off-screen sodomy of a young, innocent boy was too just too much for me. Aren’t there any decent black performances out there that aren’t slaves or bad examples of humanity? Oh yeah, Michael B. Jordan, Will Smith, Abraham Attah….
HGWMV is not a bad film. People need to get over the fact that it apparently “stole” the Oscar from the box office bomb that was Citizen Kane and remember why people were honoring that type of film. It was a very dark time in history and they were honoring the “feel good” kinda movie..
Emory Cohen, yes!
Diversity means honoring every type of person out there. Not just the other dominant race. No Asian actor, outside of Hailee Steinfeld (1/4 Filipino), has been Oscar nominated since Rinko Kikuchi in 2007. Only 3 in history have won (Miyoshi Umeki, Ben Kingsley, Haing Ngor). Only 2 Native American actors in history have been nominated, the last being in 1991. None have won.
The conversation is much bigger than folks like Spike Lee, the Smiths and all other dissenters would like you to believe. Let’s extend this conversation further, shall we? It’s an important dialogue to have…
ugh what are people even like not nominating Emory Cohen for EVERYTHING this year
How is what Bryce wrote an attack? You’re the one calling him an asshole.
I really can’t tolerate awards assholes much longer. I’m trying to be as diplomatic as I can about Spotlight winning over The Big Short when I think that was not the right choice. I actually think The Big Short is better than How Green Was My Valley and a good enough film to more than stand the test of time. If it wins the Oscar, all the better for their record. If it doesn’t, all the better for it to withstand pointless and unfair attacks by people like you who can’t stand to see it winning. I don’t really care how the race comes out but I can tell you with a fair amount of certainty that Big Short winning would be a great choice for them. I’m not going to get in the trap of dissing Spotlight just because people online like to start petty wars about films. It’s stupid and a game I’m not going to play. But I do think the Big Short is a great film and Spotlight a very good film. Either as a winner is a good choice.
Very much in favor of awards groups going their own ways. We have a number of “best” films this year – and nearly every year. Spread the honors around.
My choices:
1. Mark Rylance – “Bridge of Spies” (w)
2. Nicholas Hoult – “Mad Max: Fury Road”
3. Oscar Isaac – “Ex-Machina”
4. Walton Goggins – “The Hateful Eight”
5. Emory Cohen – “Brooklyn”
“How Green Was My Valley” > “The Big Short”
I read in an article this year about a different film that the power to make and move conversation is an award in on itself and greater than the tangible thing. And Elba’s double SAG win has done that. It is small consolation for the injustice and definitely no consolation for the ways worse performances have been nominated over him, for being in a Netflix movie or otherwise but small victories.
I very recently saw Beasts and would just want to add that Abraham Attah was exceptional in it and more should have been said about him not getting anything and also not being in the conversation.