[The Annual Academy Awards - General Discussion]

8 hours ago, Hiyo said:

But there has been precedent for it. I remember Juliette Binoche snatching the Best Supporting Actress award from Lauren Bacall after Bacall had won the GG and SAG awards, but lost the BAFTA to...Binoche.
 

In addition to the Binoche/Bacall example, Best Actress 2018 is another instance where BAFTA presaged a shift in momentum.  Glenn Close had won the Golden Globe for Drama and the SAG (to be fair, Olivia Colman had also won a GG, but for Comedy).  BAFTA, however, went for Colman, which was dismissed as Brits voting for a Brit, but really signaled a shift.  Colman, of course, upset Close for the Oscar.  It was really similar to the Hopkins/Boseman race.

As far as Christian Bale vs. Rami Malek.  Malek did win the GG for Drama and the SAG, so it's not quite the same as this year.  Of course, Malek is the worst Best Actor winner ever (yes, I've seen all 93 winning performances), so there was no way a Boseman win would've mirrored that because Boseman, while not that great, was nowhere close to being utterly, horribly, completely, very, very, offensively, very terrible.

[The Annual Academy Awards - General Discussion]

Halle Berry's dress was red (well, the skirt was; the top was a beaded design on meshing), and it's my favorite Oscar dress ever.

[The NBA]

3 hours ago, Lady Whistleup said:

KD and Mike Conley won an Oscar last night. Congrats!

As executive producers, they themselves actually don't receive Oscars.  The person most responsible for the concept and execution of the live-action short film winner is the one who receives the award; in some cases, though, if it's deemed that two people are responsible for the concept and execution, two winners can be declared.  In this instance, the directors, Travon Free and Martin Desmond Roe, are the ones who actually receive statuettes.

[The Annual Academy Awards - General Discussion]

I cannot recommend highly enough recording the Oscars and then fast-forwarding through everything but the categories themselves.  It saves so much time.  I did not need the trivia interlude, but unlike seemingly everyone here, I did not miss clips.  At all.  I liked the presenters talking about the nominees, and I much prefer hearing the winners give speeches they want to give, even if the speeches are long (unless you're totally wasted and just ramble incoherently for an unending amount of time, Daniel).  And I LOVED how colorful the set and envelopes were!!

I'm a slut for color.

The only win I'm a bit annoyed with is the Cinematography win; Mank would've been my second choice, but I thought the cinematography for Nomadland was so exquisite.

I kind of love how spectacularly the decision to end with Best Actor backfired on the Academy/producers.  Just end with Best Picture, Jesus.

Also, I am truly sorry Chadwick Boseman was taken from the world in such an insidious way, and I also know he did not give the best performance in his category.  Or the second best.  Or the third best.  He was galactically better than Gary Oldman, though.  Ma Rainey's Black Bottom was just not a very good movie because it's almost impossible to take August Wilson's poetry and translate it from the artifice of the stage to the verisimilitude of screen.  Those operatic monologues Boseman had to deliver just didn't work; frankly, this was Viola Davis's worst performance, too.  I think Fences was much more successful because Denzel has a better sense of film that George C. Wolfe, who is a theater director first and foremost and directed MRBB like a play.  Boseman and Davis both suffered from that; both performances felt overwrought and ungrounded.

Anthony Hopkins absolutely, positively deserved that award.  I adored Riz Ahmed as well, but this is one of those rare instances when the best performance in the Best Actor category was actually rewarded.  Frances McDormand deserved both of her Oscars as well.  I was pulling for Carey Mulligan because I LOVED her in that film, but Frances was basically tied with her on my personal ballot.

Daniel Kaluuya was fantastic, but lord, his speech was awful.  Youn Yuh-jung was the one I was most rooting for tonight, and her speech was the best!  I was just ecstatic that she won.

I loved the screenplay wins; the song win; the Soul wins; the Sound of Metal wins; Thomas Vinterberg's heartbreaking speech; Regina King, who is everything wonderful in the world; and – especially – the wins for Nomadland, which was my favorite movie of 2020.

Honestly, this is the best set of Oscar winners ever.

[Figure Skating]

7 hours ago, Quof said:

Really? I've always considered her a teenager, in a child's body.  Her histrionics annoy me, and her technique made me give up watching pairs because I couldn't accept that they were the best in the world. 

Thisthisthisthisthisthisthis.

Nothing about her loudly braying how much she's the victim in all this surprises me in the least.

And The Skating Lesson blaming Radford for Papadakis and Cizeron contracting COVID?  Have a thousand seats, you toddlers.

[Off-Season Olympics Coverage]

What was explained to me a few weeks ago by a friend who has worked with Japanese people and companies before is that it's a hallmark of the culture to take forever to effectuate things like this on a nationwide scale.  Something like the COVID vaccine comes along, and committees need to be formed, data must be gathered and analyzed, all sides must be considered and talked about for a hundred years, and then a decision will be reached.  I have no idea how accurate that is, but it makes sense to a degree since the culture is historically very deliberately insular.

I'm also sure access to large numbers of vaccines has been an issue as well; it's easy to forget how asymmetrical that kind of thing is.  The US, Canada, and most of Europe generally have plenty of vaccines available to them; however, most of the rest of world (with a few exceptions, most notably Israel) does not.

[Off-Season Olympics Coverage]

1 hour ago, xaxat said:

Things are not looking good on the covid front in Japan.

Japan to declare state of emergency in Tokyo amid pre-Olympics Covid surge

 

When only 1.1% of your population has had one dose of a COVID vaccine and only 0.6% is fully vaccinated, it's not surprising that you're still struggling with big outbreaks.  If Japan really intends to host the Games, its government seriously needs to start vaccinating everyone immediately.

[The Annual Academy Awards - General Discussion]

13 hours ago, Sarah 103 said:

I am still annoyed that Black KKKlansman lost to Green Book for Best Picture. As movie, Green Book was okay, but nothing special. When I was watching Black KKKlansman, every 15-20 minutes I found myself thinking "wow, that's really interesting. I hadn't thought about that before." I think Black KKKlansman is more interesting, engaging story.

I wanted Roma to win, but I also think The Favourite, BlacKkKlansman, and Black Panther would all have been fantastic winners.  But no, let's go with the completely facile movie about racism with a repugnant white guy as the fulcrum instead.  I do, however, appreciate how totally grossed out Julia Roberts was (and failed at trying to hide) when she announced it as the winner.

[The Annual Academy Awards - General Discussion]

1 hour ago, Lady Whistleup said:

The other egregious "wuzrobbed" was Taxi Driver. It lost to Rocky, which is a nice enough movie but Taxi Driver might be one of the top 10 movies of all time.

Not unlike 2005/2006, the worst movie by a very significant margin won BP in 1976/1977.  Any of the other four winners would've been fantastic, yet the Academy collectively went with that facile piece of schmaltz.  Of course.

I've seen every Best Picture winner (and every Director, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor, and Supporting Actress winner), and Rocky isn't at the very bottom (Crash, though, is dead last with Green Book just above it); it does, however, suffer greatly when compared to its fellow nominees.

[The Annual Academy Awards - General Discussion]

2 hours ago, Lady Whistleup said:

But you picked up something about the Oscars -- I have no idea why everyone nowadays acts so sour and dour at the Oscars. They don't act this way at the Golden Globes, or SAGs. Maybe they're just exhausted after a long award season of campaigning. Maybe they haven't eaten for three months so they could fit into a dress.

I think it depends on the year.  Certain years have audiences that will barely clap, laugh at nothing, and just seem completely edgy.  I remember the 2006 audience (the year fucking Crash won) was really humorless, probably because they knew what was about to happen and were collectively grossed out at themselves. #conjecture  The 2015 audience (Birdman's year) was the same, although I would lay a lot of the blame at Harris's feet since I thought he was a surprisingly bad host.  On the other hand, the 2017 audience (Moonlight) seemed upbeat and game and stood up for everyone (except for shitbag Casey Affleck).  The 2009 audience (Slumdog Millionaire) was also having fun, probably because Hugh Jackman did such a great hosting job.  And then, individual wins like Olivia Colman and Bong Joon-ho/Parasite thrill the audiences.  It really just depends.

[The Annual Academy Awards - General Discussion]

Yeah, I want nothing that would extend the already interminable length of the Oscars.  The ceremony needs to be shorter, not longer.

[Figure Skating]

Scary Babs with your Eyes of Death!!  My heart is forever yours.❤️❤️❤️

[The NBA]

1 hour ago, Lady Whistleup said:

Jimmy Butler doesn't know what "coalesce" means, bless his heart.

That was sad.  I once used the word "effectuate" when talking to two close friends, one of whom went to Berkeley and the other of whom went to Vassar, and the Berkeley friend asked me what that meant (I'm not sure my Vassar friend knew either).  I told him it meant to cause to happen, and he said, partly to yank my chain, "Why didn't you just say that?"  I replied, "I used exactly the word I meant to use."  He took that in good humor.  I kind of wish the reporter had said something similar to Butler, who was much more obnoxious than my friend was.  It's not impressive not to know what "coalesce" means and then to try to shame someone who says it to you, Jimmy.

[The NBA]

4 hours ago, mojoween said:

I don’t know if this is giving Leonard the benefit of the doubt or not, but he is 29 years old.  I think it’s entirely feasible that he has heard that word used as an insult before, but he truly had no idea what it was in reference to.  I’m almost two decades older than he is so I do know why that word is terrible, but is it beyond possibility he didn’t?

Except that when people use that slur at all, they use it very specifically in reference to Jewish people.  I'll turn your first sentence around a bit; age is not an excuse: he's 29, so he should know what words mean, especially if he's going to use them as insults.  Frankly, I think he does and did have at least some knowledge of what that word meant, and he's lying about it to try to save his nearly $10 million per year salary face.

[I Care A Lot (2021)]

Yeah, I just watched this:

On 2/22/2021 at 10:58 AM, Razzberry said:

I've asked the same thing when I see a Will Ferrell film, for example, and have yet to receive a satisfactory reply.  

This explains it better than I can -  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_comedy

2 hours ago, Razzberry said:

Not everyone will like every dark comedy or find them equally funny, if at all.  A few that critics just love (Brazil, Trainspotting, for ex.) wouldn't make my Top 50 list.

I agree about Ferrell, but no one here seems confused by what defines a black comedy.  What they're saying is that this particular movie is not a black comedy because there is no humor, black or otherwise, to be found in it.  Fargo is a black comedy.  Parasite is a black comedy.  Heathers is a black comedy.  I Care a Lot is not.  Shitty people being shitty isn't funny in and of itself, and that's basically what this movie was, with a healthy dose of moronic plot contrivances.  Frankly, Pike's win in the Musical/Comedy category is about a thousand times funnier than anything in the movie itself.

[NFL Thread]

9 hours ago, Carey said:

if all goes well there might be a new Mrs. Rodgers with Shailene Woodley.

LOL

[NFL Thread]

Just now, Fukui San said:

But boy howdy, am I ever amused by how mad him winning makes 90% of the country!

Seriously, the hate directed at him is just so...innnnnnncredibly disproportionate.  In the live thread, a poster wrote that a friend of a friend of a friend (or something) of Drew Brees said Brees loathes Brady and that that means Brady is a giant asshole.  Given that Brees is a huge homophobe, that actually makes me think the exact opposite and like Brady more.

This title, as with all sports titles won during COVID, gets a big asterisk from me, but I would've been happy to give the asterisk to either team as I like both teams very much.  However, I definitely am amused to see the general and completely ridiculous rage that ensues anytime Brady dares to win, so enjoy the asterisk, buddy.

[MLB Thread]

3 hours ago, emmawoodhouse said:

Looks like the Dodgers won the Trevor Bauer sweepstakes.

As a Dodgers fan, I am...well...

*sigh

[NFL Thread]

7 hours ago, mojoween said:

In the hierarchy for SB I am aware of (it starts at XX) 35 was the WORST, then 49, then 51, then 48 (I think? The one where Peyton was pasted by Seattle), then fuck the Cowboys and Pittsburgh and oh yeah the blackout in New Orleans sucked too and also I cried when Joe Montana helped beat Cincinnati the second time.

I will hate Joe Montana until the day I die for breaking my ten-year-old heart that day.

Watching Peyton get his ass whooped made me laugh and laugh, though.  That was a great day. #memories

XLIX was the absolute best, though.  I don't think I've screamed more heterosexually than I did that day.  God, that game was amazing.

[Actors You Just Can't Stand]

On 1/22/2021 at 1:29 PM, Crashcourse said:

And she always looked bored. 

Well, to be fair, I think that's just her face.

[The NBA]

4 hours ago, grommit2 said:

Twoods and emma675 and Grosonwalls
I offer this...How about the coach and/or GM talk to Kyrie, one of the team's stars, the guy they pay tons of money to, the co-leader of the team and inform him how they are going to improve the team. For pete's sake these managers know Kyrie is a bit twitchy on these issues.  Yes, they pay him lots of money, but they should realize what they hired when the brought him on board.  It is no secret that he wants some attention.  They could easily have talked to him about this move.  But, failing to do so, puts one of the league's star players into a funk.  And puts the team's success into jeopardy.  Yes, he is flakey, but he sure can take the rock to the hole. 

 

Or how about he doesn't act like a flaky, passive-aggressive, petulant child and shows up to do the job for which he is paid more than 99.99% of the people in the world?  The blame for this does not lie with the management, and making excuses for or trying to shift the blame away from Kyrie's capricious entitlement is not helpful.

[NFL Thread]

1 hour ago, Magog said:

This whole stupid GOAT debate crap that is prevalent right now started with Brady vs Rodgers.

It started with Brady and Manning, and Rodgers (and I like him) really can't compare to those two, in my opinion.  I feel like Rodgers and Brees have had pretty comparable careers, though.

Speaking of whom, not sorry to see Mr. Focus on the Family ousted.

I'll be pleased with whichever remaining team wins the SB and gets my COVID-related asterisk to go along with it.

[NFL Thread]

1 hour ago, Carey said:

I'm sorry, but it's mind-blowing that anyone still in the postseason is testing positive for covid.

I find it to be the very furthest thing from mind-blowing.

[The NBA]

ESPN's golden boy is LeBron James; only the most delusional LeBron fanatic would believe anything else. 

And Michael Jordan is the GOAT.  Period.  End of sentence.

[College Football]

6 hours ago, AuntieDiane6 said:

Quote

I see that the grand tradition of ND being trounced in Bowl games by the college football teams who can actually live up to their reputation continues.

When that happened in 2018, Clemson went on to an embarrassing loss in the final.

That's the...literal opposite of what happened.  Clemson beat Alabama 44-16, a one-point increase from the margin by which it beat Notre Dame, and won the championship.