You will begin to hear the outrage at yet another year of 20 white actors nominated at the Oscars. This isn’t that surprising for women because there weren’t a lot of films that featured women of color in significant roles. Even if there were, the film critics groups are as culpable as the Academy for making their awards about humping the leg of white power as much as the Academy does. But even the critics, even the Hollywood Foreign Press, even the BAFTA nominated Idris Elba. The Screen Actors Guild nominated both Beasts of No Nation and Straight Outta Compton for its Outstanding Ensemble award. The Producers Guild nominated Straight Outta Compton, as did the Writers Guild and the American Film Institute. It’s when you get to the power center of Hollywood — the people who are supposed to matter most — that you see those doors, year after year, slammed shut.
In a year where Ryan Coogler altered and enhanced the public conversation by showing us what the Rocky legacy means to him, and then handing it over to the black community to announce their unappreciated power by owning the boxing movie and lifting it aloft to $105 million in 6 weeks. In a year where Straight Outta Compton made $160 million dollars and vividly illustrated the important story of the origins of the hip-hop movement. In a year where Cary Fukunaga made a masterpiece that no one in corner offices would touch because they wrongly thought America couldn’t handle it, and then it was branded with “Netflix” and oh, that’s “television.” And again, this wasn’t SAG; this wasn’t the Spirit Awards — this is all on the Academy.
This comes at a time when American culture couldn’t be evolving more powerfully in the opposite direction. The Black Lives Matter movement has forced the white-dominated country to listen to them, to see them, to count their existence as having equal importance. It’s an era where black men are routinely killed by cops for no particular reason, (an era that’s existed for 150 years but we finally have video evidence that can’t be unseen), and an era where an out-and-out racist and probable fascist is dominating the conservative presidential polls. For the Academy to turn its nose up at these groundbreaking black filmmakers is horrifying. So Straight Outta Compton got a single nomination, and so did Creed — but no offense intended that the Oscars can only honor the white participants.
All of this before we even get to Todd Haynes being shut out yet again and Carol being shut out for Best Picture. I know Todd Haynes, I’m lucky to have talked to him — the most gracious, sweet, honest person you’ll ever meet is going to be thrilled that Phyllis Nagy got in, as well as Sandy Powell, Edward Lachmann, Carter Burwell, and Cate and Rooney. Ryan Coogler will be thrilled that Sylvester Stallone got in. I’m sure F. Gary Gray will be happy about Compton’s screenplay recognition. The Beasts of No Nation cast and filmmakers have been lauded by the far more interesting and progressive Spirit Awards, standing in stark contrast to this year’s Oscar nominations. The Spirits make the Academy look outmoded, outdated and, frankly, a tad embarrassing. What is this, South Africa under apartheid?
I can’t really viciously savage the nominations like I’d like to — because too many people have worked too hard to get where they are. We can, however, talk about the Academy’s truly detrimental decision to limit their choices to five nominees for their members who can’t be bothered to fill in ten titles. With ten nominees, like the Producers Guild has, we might have seen Straight Outta Compton get in. With its 6 nominations (as many as Spotlight) it’s very possible Carol might have even made the jump into Best Picture history. Expanding the nominations ballot back to 10 possibilities is the only answer to help save the Academy from themselves — to help urge them to modernize and diversify. With only five nominees for Best Picture we never get more than their passion picks. They pick what moves them, not necessarily what comes from a different world than theirs — unless, of course, a white man is inserted into that world.
It must be said that the Oscars have, for the first time in a while, chosen three films for Best Picture that feature female leads. The other five movies are all male-dominated. Despite that, only two women in the Best Actress race have a corresponding Best Picture nod, but weirdly so does the Best Actor category, compared with 5/5 last year and 5/5 the year before.
The Academy might consider, after today’s debacle, to open their nomination slots for members to embrace a more generous ten. What’s the harm? Incurious unmotivated voters can continue to simply fill out five if they can only think of five movies they like. It would certainly solve the glaring image problem, their seemingly increasing inability to fully understand the world that is changing so very quickly around them.
What are the younger generations of movie-lovers going to do when they see these nominations? Of all of the Best Picture nominees, only 3/5 have any black actors in them at all, mostly in supporting roles: The Martian, The Big Short and Mad Max: Fury Road. Meanwhile, although The Revenant now makes Mexican history with Inarritu’s back-to-back nominations, as well as featuring a cast full of Native Americans, naturally the two acting nominations go to two white actors. At least back when Dances With Wolves was nominated, so was Graham Greene. Why have things gotten this bad when this — along with last year and the year before — illustrate that this industry and the people who help keep it in business are anything but white-centric? Why the continued focus on and preference for only white actors?
It’s worth noting that the short film, documentary and foreign language categories respect diversity every year, with women directors and filmmakers of color. It is only in the power center above the line where the Academy elders continue to show us who matters to them and who doesn’t. It’s time for them to remedy that and the only way to do that is to, at least, widen the Best Picture slate to a uniform ten.
Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, where does the Oscar race stand this morning? It’s still hard to say right now who’s ahead. We likely won’t know — honestly — until the Producers Guild announces their winner. Let’s see where we are.
- The Big Short – ACE/SAG/PGA/DGA/BAFTA
Picture, Director, Screenplay, Supporting Actor, Editing
Plus: It’s the only film so far that has hit every marker that usually indicates the Best Picture winner.
Minus: It didn’t get seen at Telluride or Toronto or earlier, no Globes directing nomination, slightly confusing storyline. - Spotlight – SAG/PGA/DGA/BAFTA
Picture, Director, Screenplay, Supporting Actor/Supporting Actress, Editing
Plus: It might end up being the one film people can agree on, even if it doesn’t win (and probably won’t win) director. It can still win Picture, Screenplay and maybe one other Oscar. Was seen at Telluride.
Minus: Independent studio vs. big studio, no ACE Eddie nomination, no BAFTA nomination for director. A harder sell for a low key film to go up against such visionary ones from directors. - The Revenant – ACE/PGA/DGA/BAFTA
Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actor, Editing, Cinematography, Sound, Sound Editing, Costumes, Visual Effects, Makeup, Production Design
Plus: It has the most nominations and it’s an epic.
Minus: No SAG Awards Ensemble nod, a December release, back-to-back Directing wins are near impossible, back-to-back Directing + Picture wins has *never* happened in the history of the Oscars. No screenplay nomination. - Mad Max: Fury Road – ACE/PGA/DGA
Picture, Director, Editing, Cinematography, Sound, Sound Editing, Costumes, Visual Effects, Makeup, Production Design
Plus: Miller could win director.
Minus: No screenplay or acting nominations. No BAFTA noms. No SAG noms. - Room
Picture, Director, Actress, Screenplay
Plus: Emotionally moving. Seen at Telluride. The only one of the BP nominees that has a Best Actress nomination.
Minus: No guild nominations, BAFTA for Picture or Director.
From there, you have more unlikely contenders for Best Picture because they don’t have a corresponding directing nomination. I think if Ridley Scott had gotten in, it might have been Miller vs. Ridley Scott. Without Scott, however, it becomes about George Miller versus Alejandro Inarritu for the visionary director slot. But there is an upstart with a wildly original film in the race with clear appeal to the key branch that actually dominates the Oscars: the actors. And that’s Adam McKay for The Big Short, the film no one really saw coming.
We will be starting our regular predictions column tomorrow.
Until then, thanks for reading along this whole year and I hope I helped a little with your predictions.
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Did you see Beasts of No Nation?
First of all, you didn’t address my criticisms, you just went off on a tangent. Secondly, you’re focusing on the story and characters being the issue while willfully ignoring how much the style of the film, and of Haynes as filmmaker, played a part. Too many people have said they admired Carol, but didn’t love it to dismiss this as a big factor. To get enough people voting it as number 1, you need that passion, that love. AMPAS isn’t intellectual, they’re emotional: they like easiness, they like warmth, and they don’t get that with Haynes. In fact, I don’t think they ‘get’ Haynes really, they never have. Take the exact same story directed by a more mainstream, audience-friendly gay director like Stephen Daldry or Rob Marshall or even Pedro Almodovar and I think they would have responded differently. So they nominated the cinematographer, and nominated the writer, and nominated the actors because they greatly *admired* all those elements, but they didn’t love the film itself, which they found too chilly.
I think more of McCarthy’s Director chances than you – but perhaps only so the movie comes away with at least three Oscars. Picture/Director/Screenplay, I could easily see happening.
Revenant got 2 acting nominations, just like Titanic. Just like I correctly forecasted.
When Ang Lee lost to Steven Sodergberg, no one complained about the lack of diversity, but oh boy, if it was Duvernay losing, there would have been such an outrage..The lack of diversity is that the public has been complaining about is really the lack of blacks. They couldn’t care less about Asians or gays. When Crouching Tiger got 10 Oscar nominations excluding Michele Yeo or Ziyi Zhang, nobody was complaining about “the lack of diversity” or blaming Academy for being racist or being too white. I wasn’t complaining because I knew Ang Lee was nominated, and the film was the second most nominated film of the year. As a native to Taiwan, I was already thrilled by that. I wasn’t hateful or cynical. Nothing will be enough for this outcry of the lack of BLACK diversity unless “Creed” was nominated for 12 Oscars.
definitely comes off as black actors matter more than other minorities , i wish they would stop acting like they’re the center of “woo me victim mentality” , mind you i’m black but not afro-american so i really wasn’t brought up with this race obsession .
i wonder how badly are black actors doing as a whole compared with other minorities trying to pierce into film industry ,do they not matter because their skin isn’t black enough?
his kid maybe but ehh i don’t think it was worthy of a nom , everything about this movie is to serve the character of glass , the only other two standouts that matter are hardy and mother nature
I see what you are saying…..my bad.
Minus acting categories
As posted in other thread, The Revenant surging on Gurus Of Gold: Best Picture up from 5th to 2nd, Best Director up from 4th to equal 1st
Jordan WAS better than Dicaprio in The Revenant, I’d say. And this is coming from someone who will be VERY happy to hear Leo’s name read on Oscar night. But I recognize that it is a career award rather than an award for this particular performance, like when Scorsese won for The Departed.
Definitely Carol and Anomalisa > Straight Outta Compton
Hateful Eight definitely has its supporters, but I feel truly alone on an island with Joy.
And the fact that Bridge Of Spies is considered an Original Screenplay (despite the fact it is based on real people and real events) somehow makes the movie better than Creed because, why exactly?
Just noticed that THE REVENANT got the EXACT noms TITANIC got in all 12 categories (minus the 2 categories it was not eligible for: Song and Score).
Thank you. It’s like someone tried to make Days of Heaven without the vision and talent.
And I don’t know who to blame for the lack of CREED noms. I read that there was an initial embargo on the early screenings which is a sure way to damage buzz. I’m just really sad that it didn’t get recognized for its writing and directing, as well as in the technical categories.
This is exactly what i said.
My comment was mostly in jest. As far as Jack Fisk goes, if I were shooting the Revenant I would have chosen Fisk because of his work on There Will Be Blood, which was my personal choice for the best production design Oscar that year. Lubezki would also be my top choice for The Revenant, or Elswit for his work on There Will Be Blood. After New World and Tree of Life there hasn’t been another cinematographer to capture nature as a character like he does, and nature sure played a role in this. The casting director, Francine Maisler, first worked with Malick on The New World. She first worked with Inarritu on 21 Grams, which came out 2 years prior. Other than Biutiful, he’s worked with her on every one of his films since 2003. Maybe Inarritu was inspired by Malick and Anderson to film Revenant the way he filmed it. Was Malick trying to copy 2001 because he used Douglas Trumball? Or even The Fountain with the microphotography? In a year when Oscarsowhite is really so white, the only minority up for a big award is being scrutinized because he’s using the same production team Malick uses. If Prieto was used instead of Lubezki then people would say Inarritu was taking Martin Scorsese’s team from Wolf of Wall Street since DiCaprio was in there too. That last part is a joke 🙂
Ryan’s response to my comment in the ‘Letter from a Reader’ post is the most plausible explanation for the snub.
Elba is the issue here..and I think there is a valid explanation though. Regarding Straight
Outta Compton. Excellent movie. Could have been in the Best Pic mix for sure…but
there is no standout role in the movie. The cast is a beautiful ensemble, hence
the SAG nom, but no Oscar noms for acting?!? That makes sense. Will Smith for
Concussion…good performance in a very average movie. It is not a snub.
Elba however did get snubbed…but I think this is Netflixs being snubbed, not
just a black actor. IMO numerous members of the Academy (those old codgers) will
take a while to start recognizing streaming services with Oscar noms….just a
thought.
“Meanwhile, although The Revenant now makes Mexican history with Inarritu’s back-to-back nominations, as well as featuring a cast full of Native Americans, naturally the two acting nominations go to two white actors. At least back when Dances With Wolves was nominated, so was Graham Greene.”
Which Native American actor in The Revenant should’ve been considered for an Oscar nomination? The majority of the film is focused entirely on DiCaprio’s character and Hardy’s basically the foil to his character. I don’t think that part of your argument holds water.
The point isn’t just that AGI decided to work with Emmanuel Lubezki on The Revenant; after all, they’d worked together on Birdman. It’s that, for some reason, suddenly Jack Fisk and Jacqueline West turn up to work with him on this one film whose shooting style and premise sound remarkably like a Malick project. What a coincidence!
And ftr, I fully believe AGI chose Lubezki at least partly cos he knew he was a buzzed-about DP who could elevate his film’s Oscar chances. He could very easily have went back to working with his long-time collaborator and highly-talented DP Rodrigo Prieto on Birdman, but then nobody was clamouring quite so loudly for him to win any Oscars back then, or even now. Not that Prieto couldn’t have achieved what Lubzki did on Birdman. It was 2nd rate Lubezki and it would have been 2nd rate Prieto too.
It has nothing to do with what Emmanuel Lubezki contributed. It has to do with the fact that AGI decided to make a movie shooting only during the magic hour on a subject that’s very close to one of Malick’s films and worked with four of Malick’s principal crew members, two of whom for the very first time.
And plz, I’m not taking credit away from anyone. It was AGI’s decision to shoot the landscape the way he did. I don’t think I’m taking any credit from Will Poulter when I claim that he’s in a film that places a lot of emphasis on its locations lol.
I do think that in a short career he has given sporadic good work, and that with collaborators of lesser talent that good work would be almost non-existent.
I am a casting director – please don’t throw them under the bus! As a casting director, I am given specs from the producer for each role, granted we do take risks and offer people to the production team that don’t follow the specs, but generally speaking, our hands are tied.
Preach, lady! About 4 years ago I worked on a 30 minute short film which I wrote and directed. Spent maybe a month on the script, 3-4 months just in pre-production (it was a bit too ambitious) and just 9 days shooting (all filmed on a beach and underwater between 9pm and 7am). I put my entire self into this project. So it’s never just a movie. It’s, as you say, people’s work. For me it was even more than that. I have a degree in film but to me that meant far less than for others. For me, every film I would make or wanted to make was my degree, my resume.
Brooklyn also has best picture and actress nominations.
Actually they’re people’s work. A lot of people work a long time so that a handful of people can deem their work inferior more than likely because they didn’t even take the time to watch them.
But let me ask you why the hell you’re commenting on a site about movie awards if they’re “just movies, for fuck’s sake”? I mean doesn’t that make you a troll? Don’t give a shit about movies, they’re not important? Then pardon me, but GTFO.
Cant agree with you more Alfred!
I don’t think the actors branch is dropping the ball at all. I think it is more of an industry problem. There need to be better roles made available to minorities so they can be rewarded at the Oscars. Personally, I thought Will Smith should have got a nomination for Actor, but it is such a strong category, I am OK with who they nominated. We never look at the general public either as part of the problem.
Thank you. I am glad I am not alone.
Because the Academy is racist?? Just kidding.
Couldn’t agree with you more. The public just keeps jumping on the bandwagon blaming the Academy for being racist. We should be more outraged by the media’s coverage for Donald Trump. Academy doesn’t have to do anything, it is the studios that the public should go after if people think minorities(it is really about blacks, they don’t give a shit about Asians or gays being under represented, let’s be honest here).
They’re far more than that. They’re a voice for those who’s voices can’t be heard. They’re also a way of life. It’s not pretentious at all and I don’t even agree with half of what she wrote. But I get why she’s doing it.
Not entirely the academy’s fault, but there are plenty of members who do not view all the movies under consideration, probably don’t even care to watch half the screeners that are sent over. I was at Sundance once and a friend, a SAG member, said she had a tough time voting on the nominees. So she handed me the card and asked if I would do it. I did, I voted on who I felt was the best because I had seen about all the nominees and about all the TV shows, and I don’t even get screeners. But yes, the studios are also to blame for this.
Who is Inarritu’s close friend? Cuaron. Who worked with Cuaron long before Malick? Chivo. :dropsmic:
But yeah Revenant looks like a Malick film, which I’m fine with. I’ll be seeing it tomorrow in all it’s animalistic glory. #LeoLovesBear
As fine as Damon was in The Martian, I’ll wager he gave the weakest performance out of those nominated, as most who weren’t.
I’ve seen you over at Hitfix and you are very combative to anybody who slightly deviates from your opinion. I am certainly not angry in the least. Where did you get the idea that I’m angry? I would have loved it if Elba and Kiki got nominations but only for the quality of the performances, not because of their gender or race. Those factors might keep AMPAS people from voting for them (shame on them, truly) but it’s no reason to bypass the artistic merit they’ve put forth, both geniuses in the craft Also, please don’t assume you know me because you see my picture. You have no idea what sort of background or past I have, and that’s not hinting at a “yes I have a fucked up past”. I am not prejudging you and I’d hope you stop doing that here because a lot of readers and commenters (a lot, not all) are film lovers and take the craft seriously and have a lot of fantastic things to say. Please don’t try to start some shit because you saw my picture and went “Oh look, a white man.” I’m a lover of all people if they show love back. I’m most certainly not pissed because I’m a white male.
1. You speak as if Lubezki had no voice on his own work.
2. Relies heavily upon the American landscape? It surprises me you take the credit away from the whole crew and actors who made possible such a challenging film just like that.
3. Talented ensembles? Many movies have a great cast but without good direction end up being nothing memorable. I do think that in a short career he has given consistently good unconventional work.
Maybe we’ll just have to agree to disagree about this one.
how fucking pretentious… they’re just movies, for fuck’s sake
I agree with these. Possibly the most accurate and well thought predix I’ve seen this week
Starting to think of a BP/BD split
BP – Revenant or Spotlight
BD – Revenant or Mad Max
lol plz. He made a film that relies heavily upon the American landscape, filmed only during the magic hour, worked with Malick’s casting director, worked with Malick’s cinematographer (for only the second time), worked with Malick’s production designer (for the first time) and worked with Malick’s costume designer (for the first time). You don’t think this was a rip-off? k…
And visionary? What good there is in his other movies has been largely due to talented ensembles and judicious editing (likely why Birdman’s his worst film).
Even when he was on All My children he was a better actor than Stallone. He left that show to play Walllace on The Wire.
That dude sure did disappear after winning for The Arttist. The last time I heard about him was when his follow up movie was panned at Cannes.
Sorry we’re coming down kinda hard on ya but Shakespeare in Love is a masterpiece, grandiose and incredible as the first twenty minutes of Private Ryan are
The ten minute montage in the middle as they’re beginning their relationship is one of the most romantic and erotic things ever put to film, and the ending is one of the most beautiful and captivating endings of any movie. I cry during that scene and during the reenactment of Romeo and Juliet every single time. I had been a Private Ryan pusher until I really gave SIL a chance and it blew me a way. Still love Private Ryan but Shakespeare in Love is a perfect movie
Campaign for change within The Academy. Include people who can bring attention to minority performances. Campaign for performances of minorities better…
But is it THAT important to have the Oscars nominate people of colour just for the sake of it? We’re all disappointed about something but in the end, it’s the preferences of The Academy and it’s something I don’t feel we should criticise them for. To accuse them of racism seem absurd and also alienating. Too many cinephiles are obsessed with this. I’ve come to see The Oscars more or less a pat on the back from the industry professionals to their own colleagues. Disappointed Michael B Jordan wasn’t nominated but I don’t really care THAT much about it. He has been recognised by so many already.
Just a thought, maybe the members of the Academy feel more obliged to ignore the press when it comes to racism because they feel it would affect their judgement?
My own personal choice for Best Supporting Actor would have been Jason Mitchell in STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON. Not just for a nomination but for a win. I would also have liked to have seen Benicio Del Toro nominated for SICARIO.
I like Leonardo DiCaprio but the fact is his role in THE REVENANT seemed like more of an endurance test than actual acting work. But he’s due for a career so I hope he wins. But if we’re going just based on performance I would have put both Will Smith in CONCUSSION and Samuel L. Jackson in THE HATEFUL EIGHT before him.
But since I’m not just seeing a lack of people of color in these nominations I’m seeing that it’s diversity in general that got kicked to the curb, I find it interesting that the British nominees in Best Actor are Redmayne and Fassbender when Sir Ian McKellen had a clear award worthy performance and is very much overdue and campaigned heavily.Maybe it’s okay to play gay or transgender but it’s not okay to be gay or transgender?
But without even getting beyond best picture I think there’s a huge problem. You have 8 movies when there should be 10. Now when you look at that list and you picture those casts the straight whiteness of those casts is pretty amazing. They’re not just white. They glow in the dark. It’s that bad. Had no minorities been nominated for individual acting awards but films with diverse casts had been nominated in Best Picture then maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. But look at that list. It’s sooooooooooooo….. white. Missing are obviously films with diverse casts like STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON, SICARIO, CREED, STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS, hell even, JOY. I’m not saying I would have nominated all of them or even more than one, but none?
Now about the biggun. MAD MAX: FURY ROAD. Not a favorite of mine. I wouldn’t have nominated it. But. BUT. It got nominations up the wazoo. Except its star who also wasn’t really billed as its star. It’s supposed to be a super awesome feminist type movie, except, whoopsie, your star had nothing to do with it apparently.
Maybe if you go category to category you can find ways to justify it. But when you step back and look at the big picture it looks really really bad.
You’re pissed because you’re a white male and quite frankly people of colour/women/queer people/etc. have the right to be angry because if we are not how are things going to change? Maybe quit complaining about other people complaining because you obviously don’t know what it’s like considering you come from a privileged background.
Also Mo’Nique’s visibility probably helped. Your last statement is true.
Also, Precious clearly had way more BP heat than UITA. I don’t see Room having more than The Big Short in any scenario this year…
As for Carol in that category, last non-Best Picture nominee to win a screenplay award was Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind in 2005.
Yeah… Still, that was a huge anomaly and upset. Unlikely to repeat.
Question: Why did Precious win Adapted Screenplay over Up in the Air?
Yup…
If Scott wins at the DGA, it would truly mess things up. Even moreso if PGA/DGA/SAG (and even WGA and ACE) split the lion’s share.
Of course. They could make a comeback by winning PGA+DGA. One of them, I mean. Seems plausible enough… then we’d have a tough one to figure out. But… we’ll see! Too early to start thinking of those scenarios…
BTW, no matter how many people say “anything could happen.” I still don’t believe Revenant and Mad Max: Furry Road as frontrunners since it is exactly in the position Gravity was (no SAG Ensemble nomination–Braveheart was the last one– and no WGA or Oscar screenplay nomination–Hamlet (1948) was last one to miss both while Titanic was last one to miss only Oscar).
Yeah, Room is the only threat, but I don’t buy it. Room is no Her, screenplay-wise…
I don’t see Martian as a threat in that category since director Scott was snubbed therefore showing signs of fatigue (especially since the whole membership votes on the award). Scott also no Affleck. Brooklyn does not seem to excite the industry.
AH was in a very unfavorable 3-way race vs 2 that won at different ends of the spectrum. TBS has a much easier time this year. Adapted at a minimum, IMO…
Have you actually seen Room and Brooklyn? Because that’s a very simplistic and condescending way to describe those characters and the films they are in. And what’s with treating Room and Brooklyn like Carol’s enemy? Sheesh, it’s like no one can cope with having more than one female-centred film to talk about at once …
Maybe Smith could have substituted for Cranston in Trumbo.
I thought that Will Smith was brilliant in Concussion.
Yeah. I wish thought a least Adam McKay would at least get Adapted Screenplay, but even though Steve Jobs –it’s would be main competitor in that department–got shafted, it could still lose the award to Room (especially since it got a surprise Directing nod). Then Big Short would end up becoming like Up in the Air or American Hustle.
Guys always default to bashing the Oscar-winning flicks with a female protagonist.
Crash is an obvious candidate for ridicule.
But other targets usually include Shakespeare in Love and Titanic. I’m surprised that Chicago isn’t cited more often. All three of these movies are entertaining and deserve their accolades. Their weaknesses (if you can say there are weaknesses) are easily overcome by their strengths. The writing, the production, and especially the performances carry these films.
I don’t understand the hate for films like Terms of Endearment or The Sound of Music, either. Gone with the Wind has fallen out of favor. Some might say that its depiction of race is outdated, but my guess is a lot of guys just go with their gut and spit out “Ew, girls!”
Shakespeare in Love happens to be a fantastic, intelligent movie. The screenplay is incredibly witty, incorporating Shakespeare’s plays into plot is a difficult task and yet the film makes it seem effortless. The cast is certainly on their game. Yes, even Gwyneth Paltrow, who deserved an Oscar that year as much as anyone else. Try watching it sometime.
Acting branch problem sounds very convincing. I think the actors are probably the most visible and accessible category in terms of actual people (You could also make the case for Directors, but there’s a reason that the acting branch is the largest department in AMPAS).
I’m all for diversity at the Oscars, and I do understand AMPAS IS the industry and not merely a reflection. That being said, getting more diversity is not gonna happen overnight no matter how many times #OscarsSoWhite gets posted. I believe that not only do we need more ethnically diverse execs, craftsmen, etc., but the film critics must be diverse as well. I would like to see more Blacks, Asians, Latinos as film critics and more people placing ethnically diverse films at the top of their end of year lists.
All 3 would make pretty good winners, at the very least. But Fury Road is (and has been for a while) dead, as far as winning BP goes, so, sadly, I only have Spotlight, from among my top 5 of the year, left to root for in the BP race. Definitely better than nothing! Way better…
Are all 3 in your top 10?
I can say that I am relieved that Spotlight was not given the cold shoulder in several categories like editing an acting. It’s essentially a tie at this point between Spotlight and Big Short. I won’t mind either film (or Mad Max: Fury Road) winning, to be honest.
Steven Kane, I disagree. She has championed lots of films this year, including Straight Outta Compton, Beasts of No Nation, and Creed. Each of them are highly acclaimed.
I’ve also seen her support of del Toro for Sicario, Tangerine, and The Second Mother.
I don’t understand your logic. Just because there isn’t a “dud”, what AMPAS has given us is acceptable?
EVERY year they could nominate nothing but top-notch films with only white faces. And that would be okay since they are good movies?
But Eddie Redmayne and Bryan Cranston delivered Danish girl and Trumbo and did not get snubbed. Is it now ok to talk about there being a race factor ?
Pretty divisive. The campaign also built people’s expectations up and did not deliver accordingly( what i heard from those people)
It is not that low. The reason is that it is a divisive film it seems.. lot of love and lot of hate. That’s my explanation. I hear people saying it is a masterpiece and magnificent (me included) and other people saying it is awful (which gives it bad scores, not middle ones). But being 81/77 means it has got much more love than hate 😉
I really admire and love everything you had to say and lay out in this post. I just posted my thoughts over at thefilmtank.wordpress.com, and i had to get my criticisms out of the way right away. i have trouble arguing with the films nominated as they are all deserving, but why not move to 10 nominations and stop all this bs! how can a film like CAROL and a magnificent director in Haynes be overlooked? how can idris elba, who gave one of the best performances this year, in one of the most daring, brilliant films of the year, not be nominated? how can they overlook STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON, when it captured a the times, culture and carried generational and social relevance to a younger, new generation? crazy!!
i love the nominations, but now that the Academy missed out on one or two in really horrible way. why not nominate and settle at ten, and if the your Academy member and cannot watch all the films, you do not vote! evolving times and the Academy is settled in the past. As sad as it is, we still have to appreciate the quality of the films, performances and productions that were nominated and it shows how a great a year in film it has been!!!
(Continuing my train of thought): Unless something gets an acting nomination, no one cares. Which makes me begin to wonder if maybe we don’t have an ACADEMY problem, so much as an Actors Branch problem.
If there had been 4 or 5 actors of color that had gotten nominated, but the cinematographers and film editors and sound guys had all remained the same, would we still hear the outcry? I suspect not.
Fixing the Best Picture thing isn’t going to help them with their image problem, as Selma’s nomination shows. So we should be specific: It’s our beloved actors branch who are dropping the ball.
Like Sasha, I prefer the solid 10 nominees. And I definitely agree that they need more diversity in both the nominees and the voting membership itself. I just have less confidence that 10 nominees would have produced significantly more diverse results this year.
I suspect that Carol and The Danish Girl probably would have filled out the top 10. Which would add gender and transgender diversity, true. But the hashtags and the image problem that the Academy has aren’t that it’s #OscarsSoMale or OscarsSoCisgender. Maybe we’d get Star Wars, but would that really be enough to give them a pass? I doubt it.
The only best picture nomination that really would have helped them is Straight Outta Compton, with its lone screenplay nom. But would that really have helped them either? The #OscarsSoWhite hashtag was STARTED in a year when Selma got a best picture nomination. But unless something gets an acting nomination, no one cares.
Why is it shocking? It’s not the AMPAS’s fault that there aren’t many juicy roles. Where’s a list of performances being snubbed? Apart from Idris Elba I can’t think of any. And that was Netflix, so they didn’t bite for that. Jordan was brilliant, but the 5 best actor noms were simply better. Can’t think of anyone else how we’re even close to being nominated that the race issue could have been brought up.
Blame overdramatic scrunchy faced Mark Ruffalo
Great points. I am frustrated by the lack of diversity in Hollywood too but I don’t get why we can’t also celebrate that GREAT DESERVING movies and performances are still in there. We would have been pissed if The Martian or Rampling or The Big Short, ect was snubbed.
Agreed there. Ruffalo was terrible in Spotlight.
but it is. BOS is original, whereas Creed is a,very good, remake of Rocky,
Alicia Vikander’s performance in Ex Machina was my favorite of the year and I wish she was in.. but I thought McAdams was wonderful in Spotlight, and i’m not even a giant Spotlight fan. She was very warm and benefits from being the only woman in that movie.
supporting actor was just toooooo stacked this year
Why the hell does Revenant have such a low score.
The mathematical impossibility happened not once but twice. You know people become a bit defensive when they think their world or the way the view the world might be changing. That’s why the likes of Trump are so popular. These Hollywood fossils know their days are numbered but are desperately trying to hang on to it. America is changing rapidly and the global film market is changing rapidly too. They will not accept the same stories told by one from these old farts.
The #OscarsSoWhite is definitely an issue and bothers me, but it really is not entirely The Academy’s fault. In fact, the people to blame are the studios and casting directors.
Studios need to greenlight more diverse stories. They need to join the year 2015 and realize that we want to see movies starring POC and women. Star Wars and Straight Outta Compton’s monetary success should prove that to them. Imagine if for every ten “white guy in danger” movie there was one movie all about a POC or woman.
Casting directors need to cast POC and women in roles that otherwise are going to men. There’s no reason for some movies to star white men.
Once this happens, there will be more diversity to nominate. There just aren’t enough opportunities out there.
Another solution will be to have TEN SET nominees. Not this “up to ten” preferential ballot bullshit. I have no doubt that if that was the case we would be see Straight Outta Compton, Star Wars, Carol, and maybe even Creed nominated.
The Big Short? 🙂 (I know, I know… The Blind Side…)
That would be interesting, to say the least… (Provided they also don’t win PGA and DGA. Either of those for either of them, and it’s probably over for the others.)
I can’t read through everyone’s comments before I post because I’m too tardy.
Here’s the thing. You know that I don’t think movies or performers or artists should be voted for because some one wants to help out a particular minority or anything like that. I think that the best should win. The best movie. The best director. The best writer. The best actress. Based soley on merit. I don’t think anyone ever should get special favors or special treatment.
Now I’ve been paying attention all Oscar season. I’ve got my own list of favorite performances and movies and I know I didn’t judge them based on anything but the quality of the films as I saw them. I have been reading groups after groups nominees and lists. I’ve been reading the choices my fellow commenters here have made. We all, without trying have lists with diverse types of people on them. I can’t imagine how a group of people could possibly randomly miss all the people who could be considered minorities in so many categories. That seems like it should be a mathematical impossibility.
I don’t think the Academy are acting as a bunch of racists with an agenda. I could be wrong. But how in the hell do they just accidentally miss everybody who isn’t white/straight/male? You know I don’t normally complain about this stuff, but this year I can’t see how this happened. Not with the films available.
The problem with BOS is, to me, that it doesn’t build tension well at all. Not that it’s safe.
I agree that Duane Howard was great and also the similarity to Malick’s work, but I seriously doubt that Gonzalez Iñarritu who has proven to be a visionary director was trying to rip off anything from Malick.
Even then.
They can’t nominate everything. (You’re just saying, I’m just saying…)
Which won’t be this year.
“Conversely, I thought Rylance was too subtle in BoS, to the point where he didn’t leave much impression on me at all.”
This.
“Every year a “rule” gets broken.”
Yeah, after many decades in which it never does… And how about mentioning how every year hundreds (literally) of other rules DON’T get broken? Maybe then the picture becomes a little clearer as to how good stats are at predicting stuff!… Sure, 1% of them might miss the mark every year, but the other 99% don’t. What reason have we to believe Miller is in the 1% this year? Critics’ prizes? The lack of a BAFTA nomination? Arguments aplenty for and against… meanwhile, the stat is at 100%. I’d say that’s a pretty good reason to believe Miller ISN’T in the 1%.
Ah, but they DO mean something until then. 🙂 Glad you agree!…
And no, each season some old record isn’t SHATTERED. It’s corrected. A 97% stat becomes a 94% stat, basically. Stuff like that. Is that “shattering”?…
Those are all ONE example each in 87 years (I assume you mean Halle Berry, because for Denzel there was a precedent, and others have won since). Never repeated. So you’re saying Mad Max has a 1/88 chance of winning, by that logic? 🙂 Not that far from 0.0, actually…
Do you really not see how those “statistics” are far less logical/reliable than the ones we’re talking about here? If nothing else, it’s because Oscar stats deal with trying to predict the general behavior of a group made up of mostly very old people, and that has shown time and time again, INCLUDING this year, that they are unwilling to change. See the article above! There are other reasons why these stats are far more logical – like, for instance: how many women/jews/Canadians/Cuba-Americans/billionaires had competed before, in the examples you give above? Do I even need to check in order to know the numbers are very, very small, and, therefore, the sample size is equally so? No. Plenty of movies not nominated for writing or acting have been up for BD before, I’m pretty sure (but do correct me if I’m wrong). So the sample size there is quite large.
Besides, it’s not that he CAN’T win. It’s that he’s unlikely to win. The OP was just being dramatic…
“Miller had a vision with or without a functional script. There were no acting nominations, because this movie didn’t rely on performances.”
Yeah, there’s just so much love in the Academy for movies that don’t rely on acting and writing… they just love giving those Best Director! 🙂
No… Not happening. But we could have had a 5 Picture race had Ridley Scott been nominated. Or if he was young, cool and an actor.
Bridge of Spies is excellent. It is totally underrated by many for it is not a thriller they expect. But it’s a great movie about fear and the dangers of fear mongering. Quite topical now: Coens’ script is deep and direction is one of Spielberg’s most subtle. Creed is well made but silly and insignificant.
I’ve seen The Big Short four times. There’s a black character there? It took me a full ten minutes to remember, that’s how supporting and minor that role is. I think you may have been too generous in giving them more credit.
The women issue is glaring. Room and Brooklyn yay but male directors and women as GFs/mommies (it kills me to type this- both are among my favorite movies of the year). Carol is made by a gay guy and is about two independent women rejecting men. I don’t know how The Kids are Alright ever got in
The whole thing is disturbing, but the thing that is worse is discussing it with people, who inevitably tell you that “it is the fault of the people who keep bringing it up that we have race issues.”
Sigh
Sasha, you have been saying for quite some time that you don’t think that a BP/BD is likely, and McCarthy could win alongside Spotlight. Now that he received DGA/Oscar noms, why did you change your mind?
And don’t forget, Michael B Jordan was A LOT BETTER than Sylvester Stallone
Isn’t the point that to get nominated you need a certain percentage of number 1 votes, and I think even people who really like Creed or Compton would struggle to place them as the BEST movie this year.
Yup, agree with all of that – though I maintain that, purely stats-wise, The Big Short is nominally ahead at this point. I just don’t buy it. Yet.
Spotlight is 97, not 98.
http://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/guide/oscars-best-picture-nominees-ranked-by-tomatometer/
I can’t still get how EL+IC and TBS were nominated for Best Picture.
No, Michael B. Jordan’s performance in CREED is not worthy of an Oscar nod as he capably played a stock character. His work in FRUITVALE STATION, yes. The day he delivers a performance like that in THE REVENANT or STEVE JOBS and gets “snubbed,” then we can talk about race being a possible factor.
Bridge Of Spies is the only movie nominated that I am kind of annoyed with. It is a good, professionally made movie that your grandfather would enjoy, but it just feels irrelevant and safe and could painlessly have been replaced by something more interesting or challenging.
Spotlight is the frontrunner. Unless it does not win either SAG or PGA. Really don’t see either it or The Big Short splitting it. The one that wins SAG is the one that can prevail over The Revenant and Mad Max at PGA.
But I don’t think McCarthy wins DGA and Best Directing.
Great list! You do seem anomalous in your high esteem of Joy and Hateful Eight though. Not having seen either, I wouldn’t know.
There are many many universes where Brooklyn is a better movie than Beasts of No Nation.
LOLOLOLOLOLOL at the idea that Bridge Of Spies is better than Creed.
The first thing I’ll do is agree with you about one thing: Jordan WAS better in Fruitvale Station than he was in Creed.
BUT…..
Michael B. Jordan did a better job in Creed than Dicaprio did in The Revenant. How’s that for a gauntlet? He was also WAAAAYYYYYY better than Matt Damon in The Martian. Abraham Attah did a better job in Beasts Of No Nation than everyone nominated, regardless of race or how “well known” he is (where were you even going with that point?). Idris Elba is also better in Beasts Of No Nation than Mark Rylance in Bridge Of Spies or Mark Ruffalo in Spotlight or any other fucking Mark you can throw at me. I can’t really argue much in the Actress categories beyond the obvious fact that the Tangerine actresses were head and shoulders above most of the nominees, but I’ll say that if Dheepan was eligible then Kalieaswari Srinivasan absolutely deserved recognition over fucking Rachel McAdams in Spotlight.
I will never get the point of praising movies based on the color of skin of who made them. Creed and SOC are just not very good movies and every single nominated movie is better. I think that there are no masterpieces this year (save for Mad Max) but the eventual winner Spotlight is a very elegant and complex piece, much better than trifle like The Artist or Slumdog or Argo. You know, 12 Years deservedly won because you need to make a good movie, not just a movie.
I agree with both statements 🙂
Yeah this year Academy really did great job. There are only very good movies in BP lineup. No Extremaly Close, Theory of Everything, blind side type of films
The Ridiculous Six!
Also Inside Out: RT 98% MC 94, Carol RT 94% MC 95. Such a shame 🙁
I’m such a conformist… 🙁 (My top 3 among the nominees are the same as Metacritic’s top 3, and in the same order, even. At least I didn’t like Room…)
would have loved to see coogler there, he’s a real talent, but The Revenant is a great film that towers above the other nominees.
Cool – thanks for this!
I think that that golden glovbes might have been doing a make good from last year when they a snubbed Birdman for picture and director by going with Boyhood and Linklater. Spotlight is still expected to win SAG. I think PGA will tell us everything we need to know
Some of you people down there are such fucking boneheaded racist pieces of shit.
There’s only one way to go about that, then. Get rid of racism in the film industry.
‘He deserves the nomination because of the color of his skin, and not because of his performance. THAT is racism.’
You’re the only one who’s said that. See, the thing is: doesn’t Michael B. Jordan deserve the nomination just as much as any of the other Best Actor contenders? Cos, in that case, what’s the excuse? How can you explain away the total lack of POC among the acting nominees?
I’m so fucking sick of being lectured on what discrimination is by people who don’t seem to grasp the very notion of it. The Academy is discriminating, whether it intends to or not.
‘”2015: The Year the World Was Offended By Everything”‘
It’s not offence for offence’s sake. Where discrimination occurs, it’s wholly reasonable to take offence, and completely proper to call it out. And just because you don’t find it offensive doesn’t mean that the legitimacy of that offence is destroyed.
Duane Howard was the best thing about The Revenant, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s half-baked Malick rip-off that’s just earned more Oscar nominations than any Malick film ever has.
‘Even if there were, the film critics groups are as culpable as the Academy for making their awards about humping the leg of white power as much as the Academy does.’
…ish. On the Screen On Screen critics’ tally, Michael B. Jordan and Benicio del Toro are both in line to score nominations come awards season’s end, del Toro being pretty much safe. And Oscar Isaac and Idris Elba are both knocking on the door for Supporting Actor and could well join him.
Oh Gosh.. I guess they could.
I explained my thoughts.
Editing is for MM:FR, can’t be otherwise.
Adams is not winning either.
Director I would say is Miller to lose.
That would leave with Screenplay, YES, Supporting actor (tough competiition), and Picture (well, really doesn’t seem so likely in the end).
I think it’s between Spotlight and The Big Short still, with The Revenant in third. I can easily see Tom McCarthy winning Best Director. They gave it to Tom Hooper and Michel Hazanavicius, so they’d totally give it to Tom McCarthy.
I paste my evaluations from the other thread (before having read this article, which I will do presently), as I said I would:
“Did y’all REALLY think it was going to be THAT easy for The Big Short? With Spotlight getting snubbed and everything becoming clear? In an insane year like this one?! 🙂 Cute… I told you it wouldn’t be!
The decision is once more postponed, I would say – for a further week and a bit, at the very least. Clearly, The Big Short is slightly less happy with the outcome here (people kept saying Spotlight would be the one that gets 5 nominations, and mentioning certain questionable stats…) – some will say it’s happier because it got in for BD, but, honestly, at this point, based on recent snubs, Spotlight was just as unsure of that spot and, especially, of the editing nomination, so I don’t think that point of view is valid. The fact that both Ruffalo and McAdams got in (and no Carell) is good for Spotlight, but not to be overestimated, in my opinion. It’s a plus, for sure, but not a big one. If you can win with 6 total, and two acting noms, you can probably win with 5 total, and one, as well…
Of course, some (further) people will go nuts now and predict The Revenant to win BP, even though this was all pretty expected (maybe minus 1-2 tech noms, and Hardy, whose nomination, however, like I said, is barely surprising), even though the SAG snub remains (as does the NBR top 10 snub, another high-percentage stat, if anyone cares), despite today’s Oscar screenplay snub (which is added to snubs in the same categories everywhere that matters), despite Inarritu winning the big 3 last year, despite its being too brutal and divisive… And it COULD happen, I suppose, if the stars align, but the scenario in which it does is, in my opinion, extremely narrow (DGA+PGA wins AND having to beat the SAG winner, which will, barring a huge upset, have A LOT fewer, and far less significant, snubs to deal with… a scenario in which I, personally, might still bet against it, though it WOULD be a tough one to crack) and I don’t see it happening. Certainly not based on no more evidence than 12 nominations and the GG wins. (Especially given what a terrible record the Globes have at predicting BP.) So… dream on! 🙂 If all that doesn’t convince you, further debate is pointless…
All that said, The Big Short remains a slight favorite, purely stats-wise (which, I repeat, is temporary, because THE most important stats have yet to be decided), but I think people need to stop saying the race is over and agree with me that Spotlight is still in it, despite the ACE and BAFTA snubs. I remain, of course, skeptical about The Big Short winning (two years in a row a movie loses the GG for comedy but wins BP? And other things…) and today has only confirmed this view. It CAN win, and, since the stats still have it in front (today has changed little, if anything), I’m forced to agree. But, intuitively, Spotlight continues to be the movie that feels like the more likely winner to me.
I’ll say one last thing: The Big Short doesn’t strike me as a movie that can win BP unless it also prevails with the PGA. If Spotlight wins the PGA, it’s winning BP. If The Big Short wins it, it’s winning BP. If something else wins the PGA… then we have a completely messed-up and extremely hard to predict race, but I don’t think The Big Short is the favorite anymore, in that case. At that point, I’d even consider deeming Spotlight the official new favorite, at least until it loses (or not) the SAG Ensemble award.”
Well.. For one as I said, going through the list of nominees I doubt that Spotlight will win securing just 2 Oscars.. Screenplay and Picture.
The Revenant got a huge boost with the Globes and today and MM got a huge boost today. Those are the momentum movies for me. Voting only starts now, so.. In the end, who knows, I suppose campaigning for the win kicks off today too so we’ll see. BUT to me this year, with two big epics in the race doesn’t feel like those crappy years with BP winners getting only 3 Oscars.
Yep. It seems inconceivable to some that an actor of color could give an extraordinary performance AND be Oscar-worthy on merit alone. No one is asking for quotas. … That said, race matters. The Academy is 94% white. If the Academy were 94% black, do you really think they would pick the same movies? What if they came up with a slate of all-black acting nominees? … OscarsSoWhite might be a recent hashtag, but the reality is that it’s been basically the theme of Oscar’s 80-plus-year history. And now that actors of color and their supporters are finally speaking up, after decades of often being shut out, the defenders of the status quo are whining.
In my honest opinion Idris Elba was the only black performer who stood a chance at getting nominated. Maybe the possible “anti Netflix” movement killed his chances… And of there were 10 bp nominees, like there should be, Straight Outta Compton would’ve snuck in probably.
Well constructed thought! I can’t wait until we can talk movies again instead of racism.
Spotlight got 2 acting and an editing nom more than expected. The Revenant got supporting actor and maybe a few more tech categories than expected. TBS performed as expected. MM:FR missed the Score nom, and was already considered weaker than those three that overperformed.
Why do you think Spotlight lost momentum? I think it over performed this morning with nominations. I would say that it might be more liked by the academy than we originally thought, especially with Ruffalo and Adams both getting in…and the unexpected editing nomination.
After going through all categories I think that:
1. The Martian will be left empty handed
2. MM:FR will win most awards including BD
3. Mara will be the only Oscar for Carol
4. Spotlight may end up with just one award: Screenplay
5. TBS will probably get Supporting Actor, Screenplay and Picture???
6. Best Picture comes to TR, TBS and MM. I think Spotlight lost its momentum. Unless Ruffalo can beat Rylance and Bale, I doubt it can happen.
I know I’m replying to myself here but …. TV has moved forward a lot in the past few years. There must be lessons there.
Don’t worry- nothing will change. Like you, most academy members will continue to tell themselves year after year, “the 20 best performances of the year just happened to be all white. Funny how that always happens!”
The only thing that I had a feeling would happen, when I was commenting here last september, was that JOY would get only a best actress nomination.
George Miller for the win! 🙂
Should also be noted that the two strongest gay themed film contenders had male leads. Brokeback and Imitation Game. The female leaded ones, the Todd Haynes duo… Failed.
Elba’s problem was that he was alone in the boat for Beasts. Who was snubed with him? Dano and Shannon, also the only nominations their films could get. For supporting, a duo with a lead or another supporting is crucial if your film is not strong or you are fighting for that last spot. The only one that missed in this situation was Helen Mirren, but Rachel McAdams got in… The duo vote McAdams and Ruffalo proved stronger than Mirren and Cranston. Redmayne and Vikander, Fassbender and Winslet. The odd nomination comes from that scenario virtually all the times, unless in the lead categories (Laura Linney in The Savages). Tom Hardy (Leo), Jonah Hill (Leo), Laura Dern (Reese), M. gyllenhall (Bridges), Jacki Weaver (the other 3), Alan Alda (Leo and Cate), even Michael Shannon (with Winslet, that likely received votes to secure the nod for Revolutionary Road but didn’t because the rules don’t permit double nomination in the same category)…
It’s just another 45 days now.
She’s saying that WB did campaign aggressively, they just left it late. (Very late as far as I can tell because they waited until In The Heart of The Sea flopped in early December, then waited some more to see whether Black Mass gain traction). The studio’s shift in focus may explain Miller’s weariness. I’m not sure he’ll be keen on flying back and forth to LA but that’s what they’ll want him to do now.
I think there will be some TR backlash, but I don’t know whether it will be enough to undermine it, nor whether that backlash would principally aid MM:FR. (Though in my heart I support ANYTHING that would aid MM:FR.)
Methinks this fellow doth protest too much.
Now. see her twitter
I knew they wouldn’t nominate T. Haynes. They may never. But everyone else working on the movie did, practically. My fave “The Danish Girl” got four and many people thought it wouldn’t get anything. (J.Wells, I’m lookin’ at you) The homophobia is present still in all these push-backs.*sigh* I cried all the way through “Danish Girl” because that was MY life story up on that screen, something I never thought I’d live to see. So Kudos to Eddie and to Alicia, whom they stuck in Supporting when she should have been lead. And to Paco Delgado and Eve Stewart for their nominations and their great work in Costumes and Production Design.
Except Mad Max is a great film, which Avatar is not.
When was this?
Actualy I am because of my keen insight and knowledge. Unlike some posters, I left my parents basement long ago.
I think that, despite its incompleteness, this year’s lineup is promising. We have
1 understated drama about a journalistic investigation
1 comedy farce about one of the most dramatic events of the last decade
2 female-led dramas that combine great acting and great storytelling
1 history drama about a key phase of American and arguably world history
1 groundbreaking female-led action movie
1 visually spectacular and technically extraordinary western movie
we just need MORE
we need animated movies, foreign movies, and definitely more diversity in casts and crews
Your key word here is “making”. The actual content itself, however, is silly and frivolous. And they do vote on content, if they didn’t, Avatar would have beat Hurt Locker.
Not when Saving Private Ryan is involved.
Shakespeare in Love deserves to win every year any year
The American Sniper crowd wants to see Jack Dawson (and similar Leo) and not be given a “Dances with Wolves” lecture on mistreating American Natives and all that. I’m not sure the auteur-side appeals so much to that type of crowd. If the Hugh Glass narrative gets really derailed — as in, the story widely differs from what we know to be true — that could get ugly too.
Already people are arguing vehemently about whether Leo made a deal with Hardy when he blinked. Even Inarritu seems frustrated that many people haven’t been able to understand what he was trying to get across (I think that reflects poorly on the director if that’s not his intention).
Sahsa tweeted something about the campaign and i cannot figure out what she is trying to say
The page six thing sounded really fake from the start and i cannot belive big news sites ran with it. Well in May no one thought it would even e mentioned come awards season and when it won NBR no one thought it will actually get nominated so i will always have a bit of hope for it but i know rationally that the buck stops here. WB Miller Theron no one can change that.
For the love of Gumby, it’s not like Miller is OWED an Oscar! He has one already! And Tolkien is a little classier than apocalyptic mutants chasing each other.
And for that reason I really hope they don’t go on and on about how hard the movie was to make. It would be cynical, and ultimately counterproductive since people were beginning to mock The Revenant for its constant focus on on-set suffering.
Anyway, I’m starting to wonder if the lack of hard campaigning has helped MMFR supporters rally even more behind it. (“I’ve got to make sure I vote it in cos AMPAS hates action movies and Warners isn’t doing crap to help it”)
His Q&A with AOL last week was kind of funny. Someone in the audience asked him who he would be in the movie, and he said Immortan Joe, lol… Hoult was there trying to cover for some of his sloppier answers.
Even recently, Page 6 (NY Post) reported he wasn’t going to make anymore movies which everyone ran with — I didn’t think that sounded right and he’s cleared the record today. He does come across as a bit exhausted and disengaged from this whole process at times, and I wonder how much WB will really help. They need to get across how this is cinema and not just an exciting, two-hour car chase.
How well did they digest American Sniper? Pretty damn well actually.
Compared to Inarritu’s “suffering for art”, he’s a breath of fresh air. And I like Inarritu’s movies.
In terms of diversity I’m pleased and relieved that three female-lead films made it onto the BP list. At one stage I was worried only MMFR would be left standing ‘for women’, which is nuts when you think about it. In terms of racial diversity, the nominations are poor once again. However, none of the films cited here were considered big contenders, not like Carol (and I think that film had AMPAS issues beyond subject matter). The problem, as always, is the industry itself, the Oscars are just another symptom. The industry needs to be making more diverse films, in numbers. It’s a numbers game and only that will create better opportunities to win awards. We need diverse good films and diverse crap films, in different genres – the whole gamut. Until that happens we’re forever clutching at straws, talking each year about a few ‘women’s films’ or a couple of ‘black films’ or one ‘gay film’, measuring diversity on a year by year and award by award basis: one year up, one year down. And some of the films we focus on, out of desperation, aren’t strong enough to bear the weight. How to get those numbers up overall is the million dollar question because a lot of people in the industry will dig in their heels …
Yes Phoenix was better rated as well, and also Son Of Saul and 45 Years.
Have you heard his interviews ?? He comes across as the kindest gentlest man and even the deepest struggles sound like engaging stories. I cannot believe they cannot successfully campaign with this man.
Lots of people really like the band Nickelback. McDonald’s has served trillions of satisfied customers. Hitler convinced a nation to…. okay I’ll stop. I’m trolling, relax. It’s fine you like Brooklyn. I wasn’t very satisfied with it. Beasts Of No Nation blew me away. Sasha really loved that one too and I’d almost guarantee she’d say it was better than Brooklyn. Clearly there’s a sizable group of Brooklyn fans large enough to get it nominated on the AD ballot, and clearly there was enough support at AMPAS. In a perfect world, we’d all get our favorites recognized. Beasts could’ve been the 9th nominee instead of taking away something else. For the record, I like Beasts Of No Nation better than EVERY SINGLE FILM nominated except Room. That should help to clarify my position. Brooklyn is my least favorite nominee, and thus would be the first to go to make way for something else. But I would much prefer Creed to get in over everything else that got snubbed. Including Beasts.
His film was pushed aside twice for external reasons, he resurrected it, shot it in 6 months pulling a cinematographer back from retirement and spent two years in postproduction.
If Mad Max has a studio that is serious about campaigning for a freaking Oscar, everyone will hear about this quite soon.
Probably very well since Leo and manliness.
Miller should have whined more
I just see some chinks in the armor when you look more deeply at it that goes beyond the self-indulgent Malek/Tarkovsky type stuff — especially when stacked next to Mad Max.
I’m waiting to see how General America digests this movie because it’s still relatively shiny and new.
Nothing will hurt The Revenant, because Innaritu is Oscar’s golden child now and they will shower him with praise once again this year. Yay!
Well more people agree with me so ….
There is no universe where Brooklyn is a better movie than Beasts Of No Nation, but I’ll let you have your opinion.
Um nope. Brooklyn is the best movie of the year. Maybe something else should’ve been kicked out of best picture but not Brooklyn.
Being heavily male centric has never hurt any movie and it will not hurt Revenant too.
Not sure. If this was voted like 2009 and 2010, There would be 10 slots to be fill in the ballots. Inside Out was number 3 in critics top 10 lists (critics top 10 website… Google it). It could definitely be in LOTS of top 10s of the industry. But not top 5.
Carol and Inside Out are better movies than Brooklyn according to critics also. And both missed.
Was going to post this in the other thread, but as it kind of deals with the diversity issue in a way, I’ll post it here instead. (format might be funky)
When making MM:FR/TR (no writing/strong techs) comparisons, no one thinks that the way women are portrayed in the two movies will have any impact?
Support for the feminist subtext in MM:FR is pretty strong in certain circles (now no Carol to back either), and has reminded me of a lot of the critical praise MM:FR has garnered over the many months for its handling/depiction of the theme.
Where MM:FR subverts the male-dominated hierarchy with a protagonist female ensemble, TR hardly has any women in the cast to speak of. The mistreatment and abuse that could be so much more easily portrayed in MM:FR is not, but in TR, one of the few scenes featuring a woman, (**SPOILER**), depicts the rape of a native essentially as a plot device to later help save Leo from Hardy’s fate before ending on a note reminiscent of Vince Vaughn at the end of the beloved season 2 of True Detective (sorry, I cannot help but mention this).
Even though males dominate the academy, we’ve seen the backlash already in the media for QT in his depiction of JJL in H8 with accusations of sexism. The stories of MM:FR and TR are obviously different, but there seems
to be much more of the narrative of “suffering for the craft” driving TR. Both shoots (MM:FR & TR) were very difficult, but I’ve been under the impression that there’s just more of a… stench after what was endured on TR.
I guess what I’m getting at is that the TR still seems to be in its honeymoon period, and I wonder what kind of pushback we’re going to hear when it comes to what lengths are acceptable to get certain shots/crew
treatment to justify art — as well as how heavily male-centric it is?
Even if isn’t good enough?,,,None of these films with POC are good enough, though you can make a case for Michael B. Jordan over Razzie worthy Bryan Cranston
Um nope. Sorry to tell you but more people preferred Brooklyn over Beasts because Brooklyn is a better movie.
Yeah I’ll throw Brooklyn out there too as an example of a film that Beasts could’ve and should’ve gotten in over.
I guess I’m in the minority here, but I thought McAdams was fantastic in Spotlight, but I do agree, Vikander should have been nominated for Ex-Machina and not The Danish Girl. I feel like votes for The Danish Girl were lazy votes and would have been just fine had it been snubbed across the board.
Sure… If if missed for Carol and Inside Out, with their 90-plus metascores, OK. There would be fewer complains. But when you miss for Bridge of Spies and there were two slots that were not used, it opens the door for discussion. They (Beasts and Bridge) are at least in the same level.
Interesting observation. She takes notes while walking. You can’t do that and expect to read it back. You especially can’t do it when your notes might have to be presented in court.
If BP noms were expanded to 10, im sure that Carol and Straight Outta Compton would get in. Carol is pulling a Foxcatcher, but i was fine with Foxcatcher last year. But this is Carol we are talking about. Very beautiful movie.
I’m not an American, so i cant comment to this kind of racial issue in the US, but as a non-Caucasian, it’s a shame to see that no non-Caucasian represented in major categories. It’s already 2 years in a row 🙁
Beasts is a good movie but it’s hardly a masterpiece.
Don’t see a problem. We are talking about the matching of the two awards nominations. Not about the quaIity of the performances.
There are always a lot of worthy in each category. But I will use the worst again (sorry… Inevitable): this is the worst best actor lineup I’ve ever seen. And it doesn’t diminish Leo’s win. He competed in some very strong ones.
My top 10:
1. PHOENIX
2. INSIDE OUT
3. CREED*
4. THE HATEFUL EIGHT*
5. JOY*
6. SON OF SAUL
7. ROOM
8. IT FOLLOWS
9. MISSISSIPPI GRIND
10. BEASTS OF NO NATION*
* – counts as diverse
Sorry – missed it.
Nope, Creed was one of my absolute favorites, as was The Hateful Eight, Beasts Of No Nation and Joy. There were great films (top 5 stuff) featuring non-white actors this year and they all got screwed.
This isn’t particularly fair to Sasha who also was a big proponent of Beasts of No Nation. But the truth is, all of our “best of” lineups may have 1 or 2 movies that can count as “diverse,” but not more. The problem is the movies available obviously, not the blind or ignorant voters.
No, I don’t think anyone wants automatic POC nominations, but CREED was one of the 5 best movies of 2015 and it got shut out completely (except for the one admittedly great white guy in the movie). STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON hit almost all guilds, yet its single nomination is for its white screenwriters. BEASTS OF NO NATION got well represented at SAG and the Globes but couldn’t even manage the one seemingly obvious lock (Elba). JOY, a movie with a female protagonist and arguably the most diverse cast of any film this year, was shut out of every party except for the golden ticket reserved for JLaw.
These are real problems that demonstrate a deliberate and willful snubbing of anything that is even vaguely “ethnic” or “exotic”. We shouldn’t ignore this.
“Worst” isn’t a very good word to use. There were a glutten of fantastic performances in each category. I’d say there were at least 8 to 10 worthy performances in each category being considered.
SAG matched only 13 out of 20. Probably their worst in a very long time.
It’s easy to gripe. I’m mad that there aren’t more (any!) POC in the Oscars too. It’s stupid and embarrassing that producers and directors haven’t taken more risks by focusing on the lives of non-white people. It narrows what we get to see and think about. But Sasha’s favorite films of the year were films about white men: The Martian, The Big Short, Spotlight, The Revenant. Just like the rest of us. Actually many of us prefer the films about white women to the films about white men. And sure there were 1 or 2 POC in The Martian, and a couple women two. What a headache. Who do we blame? The voting system? Not convincing–as if the 5-nomination voting system would have produced a more diverse lineup. The white men voting? Not convincing either, given that the more diverse AD readership also produced nominations that were #sowhite. It feels like there are grievances to be made, but it’s not as clear how to make them honestly and sincerely without lying to ourselves about ourselves.
Dude – just so we’re completely clear, I’m pulling for The Big Short – it’s both what I believe the best film that I’ve seen this year and my favorite.
That said, your comment that Mad Max was soulless is completely off base. There was more passion and soul put into making this movie than anything else nominated for any other category. You really should read Tom Hardy’s letter of apology to George Miller. It’s a testament. I understand that the story seemed ridiculous and the film was a genre piece (SciFi no less). But in the spirit of Roger Ebert’s philosophy of how he reviewed films, this film is at the top of the list for its target audience and beyond. Miller made an ACTION film that was just nominated for Best Picture. He elevated the action film genre – which is what a best picture nomation should do – and certainly a best director should do. Last time I checked, it wasn’t necessary for a screen writer to single-handedly elevate the action genre. It was not up to the actors to single-handedly elevate the action genre.
I agree the voting system is highly messed up. My point was more about which cause she fights for, of which there are many and that’s a good thing. But she will prop up all white films and then wag her finger when something like Straight Outta Compton is not nominated when I’ve barely heard her championing it all year. One day it’s “People of color don’t get nominated” then it’s “Women don’t get nominated” and then it’s something else. It goes on. She focuses far more on the bad than the good and acts like this is a terrible slate when the films she has loved the most, with the exception of Beasts of No Nation, are almost all exclusively about white people. I don’t disagree with her on the shit show we see now and again but it’s not like any of the nominees are actually that bad.
I easily would’ve replaced Cranston with Jordan.
re: “It’s worth noting that the short film, documentary and foreign language categories respect diversity every year,”
I’d argue that’s because they’re selected by volunteers and/or juries. When you scale down the amount of people choosing the nominees you’re much more likely to weed out the safe bets and get a more well-rounded and diversified list.
The Gift!
I know. And you know that whole scene he was thinking “Yea, I’m nailing this.”
We can see that when more than none get nominated tho.
I think it’s safe to say that no film has relied more on direction than this one – Miller had a vision with or without a functional script. There were no acting nominations, because this movie didn’t rely on performances. The thrill of this movie was the direction – plain and simple. Just as some go to see a film scripted by the Coens or Sorkin or Kaufman, people went to see this movie for two reasons – the continuation of the Max franchise and Miller being the one to direct it. I hear what you’re saying by no one winning Director without a screenplay or any acting nomiations – but I see this movie the way that I see LotR:RotK. Jackson was going to win that year no matter what. It’s not so cut and dry for Miller, but it’s in the same spirit – The Academy just may reward him for his life’s work. I’ve seen four of the films nominated for Best Director – I believe that I’d vote in this order:
Miller
McKay
Abrahamson
McCarthy
(Still need to see The Revenant)
Seems really likely, though, that #OscarsSoWhite would still trend with one or two nominations.
At the end of the day, we shouldn’t be that surprised. These are the people that chose Crash and Shakespeare in Love for best movies of the year, after all.
I don’t agree. Jordan was great in Creed (the best part actually) but Redmayne, Cranston and Damon deserve their nominations, along with Fassbender and DiCaprio. I think Steve Carell was the one who had a better chance to knock out one of the nominees.
the supporting actress Oscar is built on the backs of actors benefiting from being the sole woman of note in an otherwise all male ensemble with BP power
I think that just shows that Spotlight has a lot of support with her and Ruffalo both getting in.
No. I am sure the Big Short is what they vote for with their souls.
You don’t get invited to many parties, do you?
But but but I thought 12 years a slave winning was gonna fix everything!?!?
MM has the most soul ever
They can always start with one or two.
How many non-white should be nominated for people to calm down about this?
This year is especially glaring and embarrassing given performances that were worthy of recognition: del toro, Elba and Jordan. Change is hard, but at this rate they seem more and more antiquated and ultimately meaningless.
You could take out Redmayne and Cranston and have both Will Smith and MBJ in. If you want to take one out Redmayne and his quivering lips are right there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqhkdHlCHLk
THANK YOU!!
She has NO IDEA what to do with her hands. No idea. She’s only good in close-up in that movie.
Jordan could easily replace Redmayne, Cranston, or Damon. So could Tremblay, Attah, and Dano if you want to go farther.
Jesus Lord Almighty , can we put these “it can’t win because of this statistic or that” to rest? Hillary can’t win because no woman has ever won before, Sanders can’t win because no Jew has won before, Cruz can’t win because nobody born in Canada has won before, Rubio can’t win because no Cuban-American has won before and Trump can’t win because no billionaire has won before.
Let’s be clear, this is a very good Best Picture slate. Of the seven nominees I’ve seen, six were very good to great and only one (Bridge Of Spies) was a dud. This year’s BP field destroys last year’s BP field without question.
Sasha isn’t saying that Beasts Of No Nation/Carol/Straight Outta Compton/Creed should’ve necessarily all been nominated. But her point in this post and in several others is that the way the Academy has run its balloting system since 2011 has seemingly closed the door to a lot of diverse choices. Why not just keep it as a ten-movie Best Picture field, as that way perhaps two of BONN/Carol/SOC/Creed would’ve claimed those extra spots. This nebulous and silly eight-or-nine movies thing is pointless.
And I’m sorry but why the HELL was McAdams nominated? Vikander (Ex Machina), Allen, and Mirren were far more deserving. McAdams gave me anxiety. I thought she was on coke the entire time.
I need to watch Beasts of No Nation – other than Scott not being nominated, Elba’s missed nomination surprised me the most. I will say though – I didn’t think Ruffalo was the fifth best name on the nomination list. In fact, he was not the fourth best name on the nominations list. Someone else IMHO should have been knocked off in place of Elba if Elba was indeed good enough to be nominated – probably the person that will end up winning – Stallone.
I was in another forum and this Depp stan insulted like my seven genrations of ancestors when i said Depp wasnt special in it. So i thought it must have been something i dont get.
You say that Jordan deserved an acting nomination. It’s fair for you to say that. However, I’d ask you to share which name he should replace. Please limit your answer to films you’ve actually seen. I have seen Creed, Steve Jobs, The Danish Girl, Trumbo and The Martian. I’ve not seen The Revenant but will this weekend. I can honestly tell you that I do NOT believe that Jordan could replace Fassbender, Redmayne, Cranston or Damon. I am going to assume that he’s not better than DiCaprio. In fact, he was not better than Smith in Concussion. I think it’s fair to say that Jordan was very good – maybe even oscar nomination-worthy; however, he was certainly NOT robbed.
Yes, go back to 10.
It can’t until it breaks that rule.
And “Birdman” couldn’t win last year without an Editing nomination…
I put “The Big Short” at #2, “Mad Max” at #3 and “The Revenant” at #4
I don’t think anyone really pretended the movie was good. I remember hearing it’s much better than Depp’s other recent stuff, but since that means Mortdecai, it’s not saying anything.
if you can’t fix what’s broken…you’ll go insane
I like Ruffalo but his big scene (that’s the Oscar clip right there!) was jarring to me because everything else had been so low key. Conversely, I thought Rylance was too subtle in BoS, to the point where he didn’t leave much impression on me at all.
Box office isn’t done yet – and it just earned 12 nominations for The Academy Awards. I suspect it will top $100M after everything is said and done.
Masterpiece
I listed Ex Machina but it deserves to be listed twice!
Hope is a mistake.
I’ll remember the Netflix comment when AMPAS probably nominates War Machine and/or the Dicaprio documentary next year.
No one is asking for affirmative action Oscars. We just want movies with poc led casts and poc to be included when they are worthy.
I just wish good storytelling played more of a role in considering nominations for this category.Out of all the movies nominated for best pic, I honestly think The Revenant should’ve been left out. It was a great LOOKING movie and obviously incredibly well-acted, but the story was generic and slow. I mean there was a fucking 5 minute scene of Leo catching snowflakes on his tongue.
Ex Machina
I can’t believe they’ll keep being lazy. With a proper campaign, they could at least get a Best Director win. Imagine Mad Max pulling a Gravity!!!
They had a bad box office year so maybe that explains the muted effort. I said a while back MMFR should be re released.
They were probably never prepared for it / forced into it. I believe it’s up to the studio to organize and push all the creative participants in a movie into campaigns. The studio is the one with the most direct financial profit if a movie gets the Oscar winner sticker on it, after all.
It was also because Beasts Of No Nation wasn’t that great.
Is the suggestion to have affirmative action Oscars? A Rooney Rule like the NFL? Beast of No Nations didn’t get nominated for a very simple reason: It was made by Netflix—nobody in the business of making movies for movie theaters is going to vote for a film made by an online service. Not going to happen. At least the Emmys are in the 21st century.
WB is so fucking lazy like i want to fly out and scream at them.
I just came here to revel in Sasha’s butthurt. I’m not leaving disappointed.
It didn’t help star wars.
I’ve heard there hasn’t been much campaign from the MMFR team. I bet that if Charlize Theron had campaigned, she would have at least been seen as a possible contender.
WB needs to campaign the shit out of this. They have a huge player.
Revenant is going to explode in Box office now, should reach 150M. Dont know if its gonna help, just saying.
BP race looks like that:
1. “Spotlight”
2. “The Revenant”
3. “The Big Short”
4. “Mad Max: Fury Road”
5. “Bridge of Spies”
6. “The Martian”
7. “Room”
8. “Brooklyn”
Intense scowling.
Or behind Mad Max, when all the critic love started. A better campaign might have gotten Charlize in, and might have raised BP chances. As it was, people a couple of days ago still thought it likely to get snubbed. What other film has received so much critics and guild love (I think it’s practically everywhere except BAFTA) and people still don’t think it’s a lock? Let’s be honest, these awards are about the campaigns, too, and WB fell asleep at the wheel this season.
Depp’s acting technique = Costumes and makeup.
Sherpa
Not biased at all. LOTR was a great choice, Silence Of The Lambs was another great genre choice. I was commenting on the idea of “heart” and MM occupying the same galaxy together.
WB should have put the Black Mass campaign money/effort behind Creed. It at least made them money.
I am just so angry that WB to back this was skimping on MMFR and Creed
Miller can win if he has enough votes, quit your silly analysis.
No, every year a rule does not get broken. The Oscars conform to form more often than not
you’re changing your tune. First it was all about history, now its just the movie isn’t good enough. You’d be better off just saying you have a bias against genre movies. At least that would have been honest instead of hiding behind stats that get broken all the time.
The Washington Post says that minorities make up 37% of US population (will be majority in my lifetime) and 46% of the movie audience. The real America is not represented in movies on any level. It’s easy to blame AMPAS but the problems in the industry are way deeper. White women are at least in the room while poc can’t even get the door open. Look at the difference in tv compared to movies in terms of diversity.
Creed and Compton both had great box office tallies. Netflix’s chief said Beasts was seen by over 3 million people in the first week it was available. Smith campaigned hard. Del Toro in Sicario was one of the most acclaimed performances. Isaac in Ex Machina and a big overall year. Haynes, a gay man, directed one of the best films. In a year where poc led movies had such success it’s appalling not to see it reflected in Hollywood’s biggest award.
It will take decades to integrate the Academy given how few people are invited every year. The only thing I can do is refuse to give them my ratings. I can always watch the winners speeches later on Youtube.
No, you are incorrect. I was commenting on the post “Birdman can’t win, no film has ever won without Best Editing nomination!”, which is factually incorrect
Exactly. Everyone just pretended it was a good movie and that Depp’s performance was the best of his career when everything about that movie was mediocre.
Hey, who let JJ Abrams in here???
seriously, fuck Black Mass. Glad that ended up being a big ball of nothing. The Oscar talk was so forced. It happen because it was Sept and they just felt it had to happen.
If voters vote with their heart do you seriously think it will be over something as soulless as MM???
Good riddance
Oh, so this is just an anti-genre movie thing. How boring and pitifully out of date you are.
Correct. I was commenting on “Birdman can’t win, no film has ever won without Best Editing nomination!”
Taxi
Dude…we all know that! Jesus Christ you don’t understand sarcasm. Is Drax the Destroyer your relative?
Do you guys all hang out in The Dark Knight Fanboy room?
I just love how Depp had so much buzz a few months ago and at the end of the day, all he got was a Razzie nom for Mortdecai.
Maybe The Revenant won’t be a juggernaut but its numbers are pretty impressive.
The Second Mother
Don’t you see the quotations? He was being sarcastic. It’s actually what a lot of people were saying last year.
And yet these movies showed up at BAFTA, SAG, critics awards. They’re not taken seriously by their own studios and by the whole industry.
Pixels
Every year a rule gets broken. How stupid do you have to be to hold fast to precedent when the unprecedented happens practically every year?
Many people here think animated films are not films. Animation is something else. Just like foreign films and docs. Exactly like a lot of members of the Academy.
BTW, the animated film category is stronger than BP this year.
Forgot Eden!
EDEN
Peanuts movie
Yeah I know, I meant for more categories. It’s one of the absolute best of the year and at least deserved adapted screenplay.
Who said that? Do you guys even do your studying? Driving Miss Daisy won without a directing nom. I’m simply stating that in the history of Oscars no film has ever been missing both acting and writing and won director. Period. End of story.
I’ll just write here the amazing films of 2015 left off of the Best Picture list. Feel free to expand on my list:
CAROL
PHOENIX
CREED
INSIDE OUT
THE HATEFUL EIGHT
45 YEARS
EX MACHINA
SICARIO
JOY
SON OF SAUL
GIRLHOOD
TANGERINE
BEASTS OF NO NATION
CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA
ANOMALISA
DHEEPAN
STAR WARS EPISODE VII – THE FORCE AWAKENS
IT FOLLOWS
MISSISSIPPI GRIND
THE END OF THE TOUR
GRANDMA
STEVE JOBS
YOUTH
MISTRESS AMERICA
LOVE & MERCY
THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY
WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS
WHILE WE’RE YOUNG
And yet it takes just one year to change it.
That’s the point. So people should stop saying “this movie CAN’T do this because it doesn’t have this!” Every year a “rule” gets broken.
It is there in animated.
and as we all know, things can never change. French films can never win Best Picture. Black Actors cant win lead roles. Women can’t win Best Director. Nothing can ever change, ever.
Anomalisa got nominated for Animated.
They did send screeners for Creed. WB did not promote any of its movies well.
They aren’t. Someone still cares about the GG but no one cares about the People Choice Awards.
I will lose more faith in movie watchers if they believe it’s an outrage Straight Outta Compton got more robbed than Carol or Anomalisa.
Has nothing to do with it being a genre film, has to do with 88 years of history.
Anyway The Revenant can’t win BP without a screenplay nomination. Titanic did it but it was a box office juggernaut.
Creed wasn’t promoted like an Oscar winner(they didn’t even send a screener), Beasts of No Nation might not have even qualified with the way the rules are set up, and there wasn’t enough passion for Straight Outta Compton to get into BP.
The main thing is, its like those 3 pictures vs….what, hundreds of other possibilities starring white people? Then we act shocked that it ended up all white. The odds are in their favor, people! They have the numbers, they have the marketing, they have the box office, they have Hollywood.
Obviously you know nothing of history. Ordinary People was the last film to win without an editing nom. No one, except the uneducated, would’ve said no film ever won without a Best Editing nom.
Stats mean something … until they don’t. Each season some old record is shattered.
I think voters vote with their heart – they could care less about the stats we obsess over.
Bravo, Steven… couldn’t have said it better myself. I understand the frustration, Sasha, but outside of Beasts, which of these “snubs” did you truly go out on a limb for? It seems like many of the films you rooted for, championed, and fought for actually did quite well in the end. If I saw as many articles on “Straight Outta Compton” as I did “The Martian” perhaps your arguments wouldn’t feel as disingenuous as they do. Now that films like The Martian, Mad Max, Spotlight, Room and Brooklyn actually got recognized (films you liked and fought for), it almost feels like the AMPAS should be punished for recognizing them.
Well, the Globes just picked The Revenant for everything, so fuck that
I’ll say I also concur on Carol and Ex Machina too
Creed ABSOLUTELY deserved it. So did Beasts. Compton, not so much.
Your pic just reminded me they also snubber BDT. The fuck ?
+1
Sorry but neither Creed nor Straight Outta Compton deserved a BP nomination. Beasts of No Nation did, like Carol and Ex Machina.
The difference between ”Revenant” and ”Dances With Wolves” is: DiCaprio’s principal foil is Hardy, just as Costner’s was Greene (and just as Hoffman’s was Chief Dan George in ”Little Big Man”’). The Native American actors in ”Revenant” – like Forrest Goodluck & Arthur Redcloud – don’t have enough screen time for a nomination.
“Argo can’t win without best director!”
Elba should have snagged Ruffalos spot. Ruffalo was good but I thought it was a bit overacted and a little annoying. Elba was excellent: just so natural and charismatic.
Point is that Creed, Beasts of No Nation and Straight Outta Compton are three successful movies made by and starring people of color. Where are they in the Oscar lineups?
Come on now.
I thought DiCaprio pushed for his Blood Diamond performance over The Departed. I remember it being a thing that year and I remember thinking he should have gone with The Departed.
Like last time 2015 when Selma was the only one that could have taken part in BP BD this year they legitimately snubbed SOC, Creed and Beasts. I hope people raise hell over it. Also not just for actors.. crew and tech are also pretty white.
No, they are not.
Its just like the Hollywood Reporter All White Actresses thing, in that its ultimately an industry problem. The Academy/Hollywood Reporter is simply reflecting the film industry that we have now. If you want more diverse nods, they’re gonna need to be more diverse films with more diverse casting, that are promoted as award worthy, so they can get on they can on those covers, so they can be in those “FYC” ads, so they can be sent as a screener.
That one still hurts. My only hope is that Nightcrawler becomes this legendary film everyone watches while all of last year’s films are forgotten.
Also, DiCaprio was nominated for The Departed by all 3 groups (in different categories) but ended up nominated for Blood Diamond. So kinda him. And Kate Winslet for Revolutionary Road, but Oscars gave her lead on The Reader so kinda her too. Tom Hanks (Captain Phillips), Ziyi Zhang (Memoirs of a Geisha), Tilda Swinton (We Need to Talk About Kevin), Helen Mirren (Hitchcock), Marion Cotillard (Rust and Bone),
Emma Thompson (Saving Mr. Banks) and Cameron Diaz (Being John Malkovich).
Sasha, congratulations for being the most vocal pundit on this aspect for so many years. It is obvious this BP voting system is a mess. When you have a film that scores 6 nominations, 3 of them in the top 8 categories and it still fails to be nominated, same for Foxcatcher last year. Either go back to 5 and limit the number of non-diverse nominees or go back to the 10 of 2009 and 2010, which is the alternative I prefer. Or at least expand documentary and animated, since they will never be nominated under this voting.
There’s something about the relationship between how casting decisions get made and awards that is causing this problem. It’s not just lazy voting (although that’s always an issue) and it’s not just prejudice (although the inability to see emotional impact of characters beyond skin tone and appearance is always an issue). Do casting directors (and film directors, and movie studio execs) cast overwhelmingly white because that’s what they think people want to see or because that’s what will win awards? Either way, There needs to be decision making at the early, top levels that create more opportunities and more parts for diverse casting. This will continue to be an issue until colorblind casting is the norm or until the large balance of the voting population changes (or the old guard dies off).
Is it serious that someone thinks the nominations in The Revenant should not go to white actors? Are we talking about the bear being snubbed? Greene had an actual role.
I don’t see the correlation especially since this is a genre film.
It’s way too easy to see the 20 acting nominations each year and automatically think in black and white terms. It’s too easy a target and way too easy to get traffic on the web. As with any awards season, try and choose 10 to as many as 100 worthy nominees into one acting category that has only 5 slots.
I wish there was just as much outrage when it comes to diversity in craft areas within the motion picture industry and not just the performers in front of the camera.
Actually, Brooklyn is also a film nominated for BP with a best actress nomination. Curiously, for the first time since “less than 10” nominees era began the same amount of BP contenders got bast actor an best actress nominations (2 each)… that may be partially because Spotlight and Big Short are ensamble films, but also has to do with the fact that 3 out of 8 (37,5%) BP nominees are starred by women.
So, last year outrage of being a boys club out may have had some impact… hope this year outrage of being a white club also have some impact next year
PS: being Brazilian (thus, latin american), quite happy to see The Boy and the World and Embrace of the Serpent in their categories. Being grandson of a Indonesian woman, happy to see Look of Silence in… those special categories just hit the right spots.
Actually I wasn’t looking a perfect place to comment. I just wanted to state, that Elba’s performance was criminally overlooked. The context of the article might skew my comment towards the racial factor, but that’s not what I had in mind. I would have written exacly the same thing if the article was about how the AMPAS is prejudiced against Netflix and future channels of film distribution. But truth be told, I don’t give a shit. What’s important is that a huge performance (one of the best this year) is not nominated. That’s all I wanted to say.
It’s always difficult for a movie to get best pic when it doesn’t have a screenplay nom, ie Revenant and Mad Max. My vote is on Spotlight… Big Short in 2nd.
“Birdman can’t win, no film has ever won without Best Editing nomination!”
The 5-nomination ballot is truly infuriating. With 10 nominations, we would have probably seen Carol, Straight Outta Compton, Inside Out or even Son of Saul in the lineup.
But no. They’re too lazy to think of ten.
What’s worse is that in a year or two, they’ll go back to 5 nominees, period. What a fuckup.
Miller has 0.0 chance as no director in the HISTORY of the Oscars has ever won when missing both acting and writing nominations for their film. Lots of examples of a director winning when one of those two might be missing, but NEVER both. Never happened, never will.
Room is not the only BP nominee that has a Best Actress nomination. Brooklyn also has one.
Holy shit – Ziyi Zhang. Ok, I’m gonna stop searching now. Obviosly it’s more common than I expected.
I’m still recovering from it.
So fucking what? Just because he’s white it’s no longer a crime that his brilliant and oscar worthy performance wasn’t nominated?
“With its 6 nominations (as many as Spotlight) it’s very possible Carol might even made the jump into Best Picture history.”
This to me is the real frustration. The six nominations show that Carol had broad support, and could very well have received a lot of number 2 and 3 votes. It’s strange to think that a Todd Haynes film (his best, in my opinion) wouldn’t get pushed through via passion votes. That said, there are four women in the screenplay race and several female led films that made it into best picture. Small victories.
I’ve also been wondering, and would be curious on your thoughts – it seems like this year, leading up to the nominations, has been relatively free of controversy. There haven’t been any major controversies (ala Zero Dark Thirty) or think pieces (Gone Girl, Selma, American Sniper). Or maybe I’m just way too far out of the loop?
Another crime
Wow, there are more of them, also Jane Horrocks. The search continues…
Nope. My boy Jake Gyllenhaal got Sag, Bafta, and Globe and still missed on Oscar.
Same thing happened with Daniel Bruhl.
“Humping the leg of white power”
That’s exactly how I felt when exquisite performances by Charlotte Rampling, Mark Rylance, Paul Dano and Kristen Stewart kept getting rewarded. Sometimes I don’t get what cause you’re fighting for. I have seen you raise the roof for Room, Brooklyn, Revenant, Big Short and The Martian far more than for Creed or Straight Outta Compton, though you were always the most vocal for Beasts of No Nation. If Haynes got in then there would still be outrage because he’s white. Every year there is outrage no matter who gets nominated. In the end the movies you loved the most got in (Mad Max, Big Short, The Martian ect). There are still intolerant curmudgeons in AMPAS to be sure, but maybe they loved Mad Max, Big Short, The Martian, Room and Brooklyn just as much as you did. I wish Carol got in, boy do I wish that. But there really isn’t a complete dud among the lineup.
It’s amazing how Idris Elba got fucked over. Is it the first time when a Globe, SAG and BAFTA nominated performance doesn’t get an Oscar nod? It’s a fucking crime this is.
Thanks Sasha! Your predix helped me score 85% accuracy today!
You were SPOT ON in many hard categories such as the shorts and techs.
Keep being awesome