The Annual Academy Awards - General Discussion

[MVFrostsMyPie]

As far as Lady Gaga is concerned, she is very talented, but there is something about her that seems fake.   Somehow she has always been a part of every single major event - like 9/11 (even though she was in middle school at the time), or now she is a victim of sexual abuse.  She always claims she is part of some major issue, or she experienced it, and really she is full of it.  My friend went to NYU when she was there, she was a very talented, but very traditionally plain girl, so they gave her a gimmick so she could make money.  

 

Also, the school she attended in NYC when 9/11 hit was no way high enough for her to have seen the planes hit the towers, and she would have been in class at that time.  But, according to Gaga, she was on the playground at 9am in the morning and saw the planes hit from rooftop playground that was probably about 4 stories high from across the city?  Yeah right!

 

Gaga wasn't in middle school during 9/11. She and I are the same age - we were 15 and in high school. Also, her mom worked across the street from the towers and it took her and her father several hours before they were able to find her. She also wasn't on the playground AT the time the planes hit - she and her classmates went up to the playground on the roof after the planes had hit. What she said she witnessed was the towers collapsing.

 

I wouldn't say I'm a Gaga fan, but I don't have a problem believing that the events of that day greatly resonated with her enough to speak passionately about it. It's also a slap in the face to question the validity of someone's sexual abuse because you don't care for their persona. 

Edited March 2, 2016 by MattDuffysCat

[Kromm]

Sacha Baron Cohen defied producers to appear as Ali G.

What a dick.

I know the phrase "they were asking for it" is one that's been used to justify some truly horrible stuff, but I DO think it applies here. What did they THINK they'd get putting Baron Cohen in front of a mike? Perhaps not necessarily Ali G, but they should have know automatically that he was going to be outrageous, not give a shit about their agenda, 

 

In other news: If you put King Kong on stage, he's going to break his chains and kidnap the girl. 

[proserpina65]

This may be an unpopular opinion, but for me, that fact that Leonardo Dicrapio (as I like to call him) has an Oscar when Peter O'Toole never won a competitive one and Alan Rickman was never even nominated makes me throw up in my mouth a little.

[Ohwell]

While I agree that Peter O'Toole and Alan Rickman deserved Oscars for certain performances, I don't think that means that Leo didn't deserve his.  

[DollEyes]

  My verdict: while the show itself wasn't "perfect," for the most part, it turned out better than I expected. Chris Rock did great. TPTB knew what they were doing when they hired CR & he delivered, with a vengeance. If anyone could take the diversity controversy head-on, it's Chris Rock. The Stacey Dash joke might have worked better if it was Tracy Morgan or Leslie Jones playing her instead of her doing a cameo. That bit was more for Black Twitter than anything else, the way I see it. However, I've got no sympathy for Stacey Dash, who IMO is a moronic, hypocritical, self-righteous bitch who deserves to get clowned as much as possible. If SD had kept her big mouth shut, her dumbass wouldn't have gotten punked in the first place. Another bit that didn't work for me was the "Man On the Street" in Compton. It was like he picked some of the most ratchet fools there. About the Asian kids bit, it raised my eyebrows a little, but I wasn't offended. I also would have loved it if he mocked the nominees more. For example, re the best Actress category, imagine if CR had said: "Ladies & gentlemen, the Most Beautiful Woman In the World: Eddie Redmayne," as a shout-out to The Danish Girl. However, the Girl Scout bit was hilarious. My favorite cookies are peanut butter & shortbread, but I digress. Back to the Girl Scouts, another funny thing about it was that it underscored how long & boring the show can be and that the nominees needed to keep up their strength. However, when the Best Actor/best Actress categories came up, it would have been even funnier if at least one of the nominees was caught eating their cookies, which Leonardo DiCaprio probably was, hence his briefly lopsided facial expression.

 

   On a serious note, racism in society in general and Hollywood in particular are very painful subjects and the dialogue has to start somewhere re the latter. In the vast scheme of things, racism in Hollywood seems small, but the way I see it, racism is a cancer and the racism in Hollywood is just one of the tumors & tumors start small, but if they're not treated, they just get bigger and bigger until they're untreatable. To use another cancer-based metaphor re the Academy, it looked like the cancer was in remission a couple of years ago with the wins for 12 Years A Slave, but it's back. Changes must be made in the system and across the board, not just the Academy. To this day, there's no person of color running a major movie studio. I don't want to see Oscar nominations given to actors/directors/writers of color who've made shitty films just because of their color. From my perspective, it's not about rewarding mediocrity; it's about giving well-qualified artists of color a chance to prove how good they are, aka affirmative action. Rock could have said more about Latinos, Asians and Native Americans, but that he didn't neither surprised nor bothered me. If Aziz Ansari hosted and joked way more about his own people than others, I'd have no problem with that. Minority comics tend to dis their own people as much or more than they dis Whites, so CR was just being himself, the way I see it.

 

  Loved the wins for Mad Max: Fury Road. That film is a rare instance of a reboot done right. Co-writer/co-producer/director George Miller took his own franchise and gave it a high-octane, feminist adrenaline shot. Costume design winner Jenny Beavan was my favorite, mostly because of her outfit. She looked like the most comfortable woman/person there. I just wish that one of the winners said that their Oscar looked "shiny & chrome."

 

  Lady Gaga's performance of "Till It Happens To You" moved me to tears. Rape can happen to anyone, regardless of age, race, gender, background, class or sexual orientation. IMO, it doesn't matter when a survivor comes forward, it matters that they do. If this song can help one survivor, and this one has helped much more than that, then that's fine with me.

 

  Kudos to Leonardo Di Caprio. His Oscar was long overdue. The older he gets, the better. Now, he just needs to do something lighter, like a screwball comedy or even a Pixar film.

Edited March 4, 2016 by DollEyes

[marmalade]

I think the thing I can say about the Oscars is that as much as I like Chris Rock, and I think Gaga is talented, the show turned from being a nice glamorous escape, with some social awareness, into a late night comedy routine, with tons of social statements, and it just wasn't fun to watch at all for the most part.

 

If Gaga's song, and Biden coming out helps people who have suffered, or people who are now victims that is worth it, even if I question how she is always somehow experiencing every social issue, and how she somehow misrepresents her background quite a bit to be part of everything big, and also pretends she was some poor struggling artist!  I can't say she was raped or not, and I do not care, if it helps others, that is good. I just feel like she will literally turn into whatever she needs to be t get attention and be relevant at the moment.  She is crazy talented though, so she is fun to watch.

 

I just do not feel that they needed to make the issue of the lack of black actors part of the whole show.    The ratings did drop after the opening, and it makes sense.   Sorry, but I can watch the news for constant reminders of racial issues, that I agree exist, but IMO  it's not the Academy Awards problem that black people were not represented, it's the fact that movies lack diversity.  Do we now need affirmative action for nominations?  To me that is stupid.   If there were more people of color, different ages, and nationalities  represented in movies in the first place, we would see more diverse nominations.

 

And sorry, the Compton thing only did not make black people come across well.  And once again, it was something that belonged on the tonight show.

 

Were all of the actors supposed to feel guilty for being nominated?  When they put black actors in montage, I thought that was pretty stupid and overkill, and a bit disprespectful.

 

I get the issue, I think protesting movie studios would make more sense than the awards show which did not have a lot of minority roles to choose from.

 

And WTF is with Al Sharpton protesting the awards?  IMO this overkill just makes it look like there are not any important issues facing black people, when there are serious issues of injustice.  

[topanga]

 

First of all, I like Chris Rock a lot, but I felt like he could have made a great point without being so vulgar.

That about sums up Chris Rock's comedy. The vulgarity doesn't bother me, but he certainly doesn't fit everyone's taste. 

 

 

 

Yeah when she came out and did that you could literally hear a pin drop.  She managed to top David Letterman's "Uma/Oprah" for most awkward Oscar moment ever.  I don't know how they thought that wouldn't bomb.  This was an ultra liberal Hollywood celebrity audience, for one.  And I get she was going for irony, but there's funny irony and...not so funny.

 

 

Is Stacy  Dash on Fox News? I think it says something that white people don't know her bc they don't watch Fox News... for obvious reasons?

 

Okay, so maybe only black people and people who watch Fox News would've understood the joke. But what bothers me is hearing so many non-black people say they have no idea who Stacy Dash is. Has no one seen Clueless? Stacy Dash, for all of her faults, looks almost the exact same way she did 21 years ago when she played Dionne. And the tone of the people who mention her is always so dismissive. "Stacy Dash? Who the hell is that?"  How about Googling her, you idiots?!!!

 

And plenty of white people watch Fox News. People of all races, actually. 

 

And I guess I'm the only person in America who loved the Uma/Oprah joke. And I still do. 

[candall]

Re Baron Cohen, agree:  dick.

 

Being a presenter is a job.  If you get the call and you accept the gig, then you show up, read the lines that are written for you, collect your 50 billion dollar gift bag and go home.  SBC was offered an opportunity that specified "no characters," then he hid in the handicapped bathroom for 40 minutes assembling his character.  Now he offers the excuse that Rock (another hiree) gave him a thumbs up as he was walking to the podium.  It's not Night At The Improv and it's not The Sacha Baron Cohen Show, asshole.

 

************

I watched a number of "Hollywood Reports" aftershows and they all echoed what was said here:  omitting Abe Vigoda was a regrettable oversight and the biggest bomb of the evening was the Stacey Dash gag.

 

 

[topanga]

 

************

I watched a number of "Hollywood Reports" aftershows and they all echoed what was said here:  omitting Abe Vigoda was a regrettable oversight and the biggest bomb of the evening was the Stacey Dash gag.

It seems like every year, someone is left off the list. Couldn't the people in charge of that segment hand the list to a few people to look over? Surely at least one person would have noticed that Abe Vigoda was missing. Heck, send it to People magazine. They mention every celebrity who dies. 

[ari333]

That about sums up Chris Rock's comedy. The vulgarity doesn't bother me, but he certainly doesn't fit everyone's taste. 

 

 

 

Okay, so maybe only black people and people who watch Fox News would've understood the joke. But what bothers me is hearing so many non-black people say they have no idea who Stacy Dash is. Has no one seen Clueless? Stacy Dash, for all of her faults, looks almost the exact same way she did 21 years ago when she played Dionne. And the tone of the people who mention her is always so dismissive. "Stacy Dash? Who the hell is that?"  How about Googling her, you idiots?!!!

 

And plenty of white people watch Fox News. People of all races, actually. 

 

And I guess I'm the only person in America who loved the Uma/Oprah joke. And I still do. 

Im white and Im not an idiot. I don't watch Fox News because of their content, so therefore I don't know who Stacy Dash is. I didnt' see Clueless. I haven't seen every movie ever.  The whole Dash bit fell flat for me and all I heard on the tv was silence. It seemed to bomb

 

I do love Chris, so there's that. Didnt' know he was separated from his wife so I wondered about the Rhiana's panties thing. :-).

 

I was kind of pulling for Sly.

[topanga]

Im white and Im not an idiot. I don't watch Fox News because of their content, so therefore I don't know who Stacy Dash is. I didnt' see Clueless. I haven't seen every movie ever.  The whole Dash bit fell flat for me and all I heard on the tv was silence. It seemed to bomb

 

I do love Chris, so there's that. Didnt' know he was separated from his wife so I wondered about the Rhiana's panties thing. :-).

Chris talked about women's panties (and other female parts) throughout his marriage. Maybe that was part of the problem. 

 

No, you're not an idiot. I think Stacey Dash is, though. She previously said that Black History Month should be abolished, so why would she come on stage and yell Happy Black History Month? She really had no idea that Chris was making a joke about her being the representative for diversity? Was she oblivious to the controversy surrounding the Oscars and Chris's prior comments about this year's Oscars?

Edited March 2, 2016 by topanga

[candall]

It seems like every year, someone is left off the list. Couldn't the people in charge of that segment hand the list to a few people to look over? Surely at least one person would have noticed that Abe Vigoda was missing. Heck, send it to People magazine. They mention every celebrity who dies. 

The producers are clearly making an effort to include more "behind the scenes" people in the memorial tribute, but it's a shame Rod Taylor didn't make the cut.  He had a worthy Hollywood career. . . for people my age--which is to say, no one who matters much anymore to the film industry.

 

Vigoda had to have been a simple mistake, which was stupid, as you say.  All the reports of his recent demise played his famous scene from The Godfather.   The interview with his daughter--note the resemblance!--was sad.  She was crushed.

 

ETA:  I don't watch Fox News, but I could make an exception if they ever team up Stacey Dash and Elisabeth Hasselbeck for some in-depth reporting.

Edited March 2, 2016 by candall

[proserpina65]

While I agree that Peter O'Toole and Alan Rickman deserved Oscars for certain performances, I don't think that means that Leo didn't deserve his.  

True.  The fact that I think he's a shit actor is why I didn't think he deserved his.  The rest is just icing on a crap cake, imo.

[slowpoked]

 

 

No, you're not an idiot. I think Stacey Dash is, though. She previously said that Black History Month should be abolished, so why would she come on stage and yell Happy Black History Month? She really had no idea that Chris was making a joke about her being the representative for diversity? Was she oblivious to the controversy surrounding the Oscars and Chris's prior comments about this year's Oscars?

Take it for what it's worth, but both Chris and Stacey have said that they planned the bit together. So they both know the joke, and it sort of bombed for the most part. I think her yelling Happy Black History Month was supposed to be an irony to her earlier saying that Black History Month should be abolished. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

ETA:  I don't watch Fox News, but I could make an exception if they ever team up Stacey Dash and Elisabeth Hasselbeck for some in-depth reporting.

 

Since you don't watch, you wouldn't know, that Elisabeth"WordSalad" Hasselblech was canned, so that'll never happen.  I would say that Dash is most famously known for her role in Clueless, but she did appear in the second season of The Cosby Show as Denise's friend; and then she was in that stupid movie, with Damon Wayans, where they were both in the Army, and Wayans was the drill sergeant or something. I'm too lazy to imdb it to get the details.  I don't watch Fox either, but since we live in the age of social media going amok, Dash's statements about Black History Month, and other shit went viral, so that all outlets had it. Just saying one doesn't need to watch Fox to know the idiocy that comes out of everyone's mouths who work there.

[topanga]

Take it for what it's worth, but both Chris and Stacey have said that they planned the bit together. So they both know the joke, and it sort of bombed for the most part. I think her yelling Happy Black History Month was supposed to be an irony to her earlier saying that Black History Month should be abolished. 

But then she did an interview--well, she filmed herself talking--and said she felt humiliated and set-up, as if Chris deliberately brought her on stage to make fun of her. Which he totally did, but if she knew about it, or at least had an inkling what was going to happen, she has no right to be mad at Chris Rock. 

[ari333]

But then she did an interview--well, she filmed herself talking--and said she felt humiliated and set-up, as if Chris deliberately brought her on stage to make fun of her. Which he totally did, but if she knew about it, or at least had an inkling what was going to happen, she has no right to be mad at Chris Rock. 

Sounds like she's steamed that it was received with

****** crickets ******

:-)

Edited March 3, 2016 by ari333

[HalcyonDays]

It seems like every year, someone is left off the list. Couldn't the people in charge of that segment hand the list to a few people to look over? Surely at least one person would have noticed that Abe Vigoda was missing. Heck, send it to People magazine. They mention every celebrity who dies.

 

Heck, just have an intern create a spreadsheet or word document, and be responsible for spending 30 minutes a day hitting a few of the most popular celebrity sites every day.(and our PTV thread here!) Then just copy and paste the names into the document and boom - by year end, a substantial list.

[Kromm]

And I guess I'm the only person in America who loved the Uma/Oprah joke. And I still do. 

{Raises hand}

 

No, I laughed like a hyena the first time I heard it, and in fact enjoyed it MORE knowing that other people were dissing it but that I still liked it.

Vigoda had to have been a simple mistake, which was stupid, as you say.  All the reports of his recent demise played his famous scene from The Godfather.   The interview with his daughter--note the resemblance!--was sad.  She was crushed.

Vigoda could have just been a tough call. I mean as beloved as he was (and I loved him a lot), other than The Godfather, where if we're honest it was only a small although very memorable role, he was perceived as a TV actor, not a movie one, and before TV as a stage actor.  They can't literally fit everyone in those montages and maybe thought that between the Tonys and Emmys that he'd be covered there with more relevance. 

To be clear, he actually WAS in a lot of films over the years. But it was basically a long string of cameos resting on the combination of his Godfather, Barney Miller and Late Nite with Letterman and later Conan fame.

[topanga]

{Raises hand}

 

No, I laughed like a hyena the first time I heard it, and in fact enjoyed it MORE knowing that other people were dissing it but that I still liked it.

Vigoda could have just been a tough call. I mean as beloved as he was (and I loved him a lot), other than The Godfather, where if we're honest it was only a small although very memorable role, he was perceived as a TV actor, not a movie one, and before TV as a stage actor.  They can't literally fit everyone in those montages and maybe thought that between the Tonys and Emmys that he'd be covered there with more relevance. 

To be clear, he actually WAS in a lot of films over the years. But it was basically a long string of cameos resting on the combination of his Godfather, Barney Miller and Late Nite with Letterman and later Conan fame.

But he was part of SAG, right? So he should have been included. 

[Kromm]

But he was part of SAG, right? So he should have been included. 

Do you really think every SAG member gets in the broadcast montage? They'd have to add an extra half hour to the show for the montage then.

[GHScorpiosRule]

Vigoda could have just been a tough call. I mean as beloved as he was (and I loved him a lot), other than The Godfather, where if we're honest it was only a small although very memorable role, he was perceived as a TV actor, not a movie one, and before TV as a stage actor.  They can't literally fit everyone in those montages and maybe thought that between the Tonys and Emmys that he'd be covered there with more relevance. 

To be clear, he actually WAS in a lot of films over the years. But it was basically a long string of cameos resting on the combination of his Godfather, Barney Miller and Late Nite with Letterman and later Conan fame.

 

The same could be said of Alex Rocco, who was included.  The Godfather is the only movie I recall seeing him in. I mostly remember him as playing Nancy McKean's father on The Facts of Life.

[candall]

. . . we live in the age of social media going amok. . .

The stuff I'm missing!!

 

When my recent phone conversation with a young Customer Service Rep kept blipping in and out, I apologized that I live in an isolated area with sketchy phone reception and painfully slow internet.  There was a long silence where I thought I'd lost him, but then he whispered: "I'd have to kill myself."

[Kromm]

 

The same could be said of Alex Rocco, who was included.  The Godfather is the only movie I recall seeing him in. I mostly remember him as playing Nancy McKean's father on The Facts of Life.

Ultimate I think Vigoda became a bigger pop culture figure, but Rocco worked a lot more than Vigoda. You are correct though that it was mostly on TV (a shit ton on TV). So yeah.. there's actually a good argument he shouldn't have been in the montage and left to the Emmys.

 

Really the two organizations should coordinate on their montages (even though they broadcast months apart). I mean with some actors there's no clear line between their movie and TV work. But you can definitely take certain actors and draw a pretty good line.  Heck, even some who DO appear in series on TV shouldn't be in the Emmy montage. Should Burt Reynolds, when HE dies, be in the Emmy montage because he lead a shitty TV show called Evening Shade for a few years? Probably not. He's a movie actor. It's the heart of his celebrity.

But then take Burt's Evening Shade co-star, Marilu Henner. She's been in a few theatrical movies, sure... but she's a TV actor. Most definitely.

[Milburn Stone]

I think the thing I can say about the Oscars is that as much as I like Chris Rock, and I think Gaga is talented, the show turned from being a nice glamorous escape, with some social awareness, into a late night comedy routine, with tons of social statements, and it just wasn't fun to watch at all for the most part.

 

Exactly. What many producers of the Oscars don't get--and what this year's producers especially didn't get--is that length is relatively unimportant. What's important is that an Oscar show remind us how much we love the movies. An Oscar show, to be good, must reawaken that part of ourselves that realizes deep-down that the movies remain our cultural touchstone. If an Oscar show does that, speeches can go on and on and we'll still feel the show was necessary viewing. 

 

But this show trivialized film. Even had the length of the show been an hour, it would have been dispensable viewing. Whereas an Oscars that celebrates film is essential viewing, even at four hours' length. The Academy, with its Oscar shows of late, has been training America not to care about film.

[pennben]

Oh, for goodness sake, whether we go to movies or not is not dependent on the quality of the Oscar's telecast, if it were, no more movies would be financed. 

 

In my opinion, no one really watches the Oscars anymore unless they already are movie fans. And, some of that is the Academy's fault, as it seems no movie, nor actors/actresses, can really win anymore based on overwhelming box office approval.  Seriously, that seems to have become a kiss of death (I know, exceptions, etc.). But give us a film that virtually no one goes to see, and you'll find your Oscar winners!

 

I don't know that there's an answer, I don't know that there is a need for one, it just is what it is.

[topanga]

Do you really think every SAG member gets in the broadcast montage? They'd have to add an extra half hour to the show for the montage then.

I see your point. But Vigoda was a well-known actor who had an iconic scene in an iconic movie. 

[Blakeston]

I think even a lot of people who know who Stacy Dash is didn't get the joke, because a lot of them only know her from Clueless, and don't know her politics.

And a lot of people who know her and know her politics still didn't get it, because it was just handled so weirdly - with Dash seemingly not understanding that it was a joke, and there being no real punchline.

It might have worked better if Rock had chosen to name-drop Clarence Thomas as the Academy's new liaison to the black community.

Re: how much of an effect the Oscars have on how we remember films. I think most of us fully expect that Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be a lot better known 20 years from now than Spotlight is. But Spotlight will also be a lot better known than it would be if it had lost Best Picture.

If you're hoping for a film to be remembered years later, and it didn't get huge numbers at the box office, a Best Picture Oscar is one of the best things that could happen to iti.

[orangekit]

That about sums up Chris Rock's comedy. The vulgarity doesn't bother me, but he certainly doesn't fit everyone's taste. 

 

 

 

 

I actually don't mind his comedy, I like it, but I think that there is a time and place for vulgar comedy,  like stand up routines on late night talk shows, comedy central and comedy clubs. If he can't modify his language a bit for a primetime formal affair, he might not be the right host.

[MyAimIsTrue]

I watched about three minutes of the broadcast because I'm really not a movie person (the Tony Awards are my big night) but I finally saw a clip of Dave Grohl's in memoriam segment and it was perfect, a soft voice with an acoustic guitar performing a lovely Beatles song.  I heart him big time.

[cpcathy]

I agree, Grohl is my favorite rock person after Chris Martin. I enjoyed this world's more than an overwrought version, say, by Carrie Underwood.

[mojoween]

David Bowie was montaged in the Grammy's and the Oscar's this year so my takeaway is that there is no good answer on how to handle anything.

[Kromm]

David Bowie was montaged in the Grammy's and the Oscar's this year so my takeaway is that there is no good answer on how to handle anything.

I can't essentially disagree with that. Bowie's acting work was in the nature of novelty work, even if he actually did quite a lot of it. And when he DID lead? Is "The Man Who Fell to Earth" on anyone's best movie list? I hope not. His voice/music was in a lot of movies--which is why he certainly deserved an Academy acknowledgment, but let's not pretend he was the essential force in movies that he was in music.

[Trini]

I believe Bowie is first-billed in Labyrinth. I'm surprised they used a clip from Zoolander instead of from that.

[vibeology]

The Zoolander clip is just a cool moment. Sometimes, in a montage, that matters more than what work is the most famous.

[DollEyes]

 More observations:

 

Hated Sasha Baron Cohen. Instead of announcing Room as one of the Best Picture nominees like he was supposed to do, SBC made it All. About. Him, at the film's and co-presenter Olivia Wilde's expense, which wasn't just rude and unprofessional, it was in very bad taste. I was cringing on Olivia Wilde's behalf. That she managed to keep it together despite SBC's bullshit is to her credit. There's a right kind of offensive and a wrong kind. Chris Rock's was right and Sasha Baron Cohen's was wrong, on several levels.

 

  This year's "In Memoriam" left me with mixed emotions. Dave Grohl was as great as ever, but being reminded of those who died made me sad all over again.  Their leaving out Abe Vigoda added insult to injury. He may have been primarily known as a TV actor, but his small-but-crucial role in The Godfather, one of the greatest films of all time, should have counted for something.

 

  I thought The Weeknd did great. "Earned It" isn't just the best thing about 50 Shades Of Grey, it's the only good thing about it. The most disappointing musical performance of the night was Sam Smith. He's not only sung much better songs, he's written much better songs than "The Writing's On the Wall," which IMO, doesn't even belong in the same book as "Goldfinger," "Diamond Are Forever," "Live & Let Die," "Nobody Does It Better," "For Your Eyes Only," "A View To A Kill," "GoldenEye" nor "Skyfall," much less in the same sentence. As for Smith's acceptance speech ,let that be a lesson of us to think before we speak and if we can't do that, that's what's Google's for.

[orangekit]

I loved Tina Fey's comments about the Oscars! She did an interview with Howard Stern and basically said what I have felt a long time.

 

I felt like the Oscars and their social conscious stuff was just too much!   All of the topics are important, but really, the VP had to come out and talk about rape?  Gaga has to use an awards show to reveal she was raped?   And then there was the corporate greed talk, when they are all multi-millionaires who are probably investing in corporations.    

 

I know that most award shows have some preachy moments when the winners accept their trophies, so I expected that Leo would say something about global warming.  But when the whole show focuses on racial bias,  rape, and corporate greed, it is annoying. I am so glad Tina said what she said.

 

All of those issues are important, but it seems more and more like we need to be preached at every minute, and we need hear about how victimized people are.   I am ok with all of that, but when the entire awards show is constant "issues", then I just think it's a bit  much.   

[slowpoked]

I loved Tina Fey's comments about the Oscars! She did an interview with Howard Stern and basically said what I have felt a long time.

 

I love how Tina Fey can give a middle finger to Hollywood's self-importance, and still be respected herself as an important force in women's roles and comedy. But make better film choices soon, Tina. Heh.

 

Kinda like how she made a joke about George Clooney receiving a lifetime achievement award at the GGs for being an actor when she pointed out that his wife has had a much more significant career. I love how Tina balances delivering it as both a joke, and both as a screw you to Hollywood and their sense of importance. I hope she considers hosting the Oscars. 

[HalcyonDays]

The most disappointing musical performance of the night was Sam Smith. He's not only sung much better songs, he's written much better songs than "The Writing's On the Wall," which IMO, doesn't even belong in the same book as "Goldfinger," "Diamond Are Forever," "Live & Let Die," "Nobody Does It Better," "For Your Eyes Only," "A View To A Kill," "GoldenEye" nor "Skyfall," much less in the same sentence. As for Smith's acceptance speech ,let that be a lesson of us to think before we speak and if we can't do that, that's what's Google's for.

 

I complete agree. Bond has some of the best opening credit songs ever. I don't even understand how this song (Sam Smith's I mean) actually WON an Oscar for best song. It was like nails on a chalkboard. I love Bond opening credits but when I watched Spectre, I had to fast forward through the credits because of this song. Absolutely terrible. So when it won, I was like, WHAT?

[cpcathy]

There was an interesting piece on Vulture.com, where we learn that the Oscar ballot only had the name of the song and the film's name on it, as in "Writing is On the Wall/Spectre." No songwriter was listed. Vulture thinks that had the academy voters seen who wrote the songs, i.e. Diane Warren and Lady Gaga, they would have voted for Til it Happens to You. I tend to agree. Academy voters, who are not listening to the songs (obviously) are voting based on what they know and what they've voted for in the past.

I'm just pissed that now Sam Smith has an Oscar. Yeech.

[CaughtOnTape]

 

The same could be said of Alex Rocco, who was included.  The Godfather is the only movie I recall seeing him in. I mostly remember him as playing Nancy McKean's father on The Facts of Life.

 

He was in That Thing You Do!  as the head record exec yelling at Tom Hanks.

 

He was also J.Lo's father in The Wedding Planner.

 

Vigoda played John Travolta's grandfather in Look Who's Talking.

 

None of these are Oscar movies but....just pointing it out that they had both been in movies since The Godfather.

[Kromm]

I love how Tina Fey can give a middle finger to Hollywood's self-importance, and still be respected herself as an important force in women's roles and comedy. But make better film choices soon, Tina. Heh.

 

Kinda like how she made a joke about George Clooney receiving a lifetime achievement award at the GGs for being an actor when she pointed out that his wife has had a much more significant career. I love how Tina balances delivering it as both a joke, and both as a screw you to Hollywood and their sense of importance. I hope she considers hosting the Oscars. 

Amy Poehler is like that too. Although it kind of pained me that she pulled strings to get her brother than shot at that terrible show he did, I do always get the sense that like Tina, her brain is just on the other coast, even if her body was stuck in Hollywood for several years straight. 

 

That said, if either one of them even hosts The Oscars they'd do better as a solo. The pair of them together feels too "done" now.

[methodwriter85]

Honestly, I could go for James Franco dressed up as Marilyn Monroe and a panicking Anne Hathaway all over again. LOL.

[JustaPerson]

http://deadline.com/2016/03/bridge-of-spies-supporting-actor-winner-mark-rylance-oscar-campaign-1201714271/

Edited March 6, 2016 by JustaPerson

[DollEyes]

More observations:

 

*Thrilled that Alejando Innaritu won another Dest Director Oscar, making history in more ways than one. Not only is he the first director to win back-to-bak Best Director Oscars in 65 years, he's a person of color. As for all the behind-the-scenes drama behind The Revenant, as long as no one was raped and/or killed on set, I don't care. Some parts were shot in Argentina? Meh. So there were a couple of fights between Innaritu & co-star Tom Hardy? Whatever. Innaritu & Tom Hardy must have squashed their beef, otherwise Innaritu wouldn't have mentioned TH is his acceptance speech. 

 

  Make room (no pun intended) on the Jacob Tremblay Love Train for me. I'm not much of a kid person, but he's too adorable to resist. That goes double for Abraham Attah, the other star of Beasts Of No Nation not named Idris Elba. If Jacob & Abraham play their cards right, their careers could be much closer to Leonardo DiCaprio's than Lindsay Lohan's.  I'm also thrilled for Brie Larson. Her Best Actress win for Room was a pleasant suprise. Her hugging the rape survivors after their performance of "Til It Happens To You" was sweet. I think that's she's got a great career ahead of her. 

Edited March 7, 2016 by DollEyes

[methodwriter85]

Well, he doesn't look TERRIBLE, just a bit older than I realized. Sorry. I still love him though.

 

 Traffic was 15 years ago. He doesn't really seem like he's trying any intervention to seem younger, so he's gone naturally from a guy in his mid-30's to a guy pushing 50 in the meantime. I thought he looked fantastic in Sicario.

 

 

I'll never understand Room's appeal. I couldn't get through it. Brie is nice and bland so of course she's the new It girl. 

 

Hey now. Don't tell Brie she's the It Girl or she'll give it you straight.

 

Honestly, Brie is a Disney Child Actor Survivor. She failed hard at becoming a teen pop star (basically just one minor Radio Disney hit), and I feel like that's given her a perspective you wouldn't really expect of most young ingenues. She already knows what it's like to be hyped hard as the Next Big Thing, and then the disappointment/being treated like garbage when you fail to make good on that.

 

I don't think she'll be a big star, but I bet she'll be a long star.

 

[WendyCR72]

For the future, while it may not have been used in a derogatory context, using words like "retarded" to describe anything on these forums is a no go. So please refrain from doing so in the future.

 

You're all a creative bunch, so I'm sure other descriptions can be thought of!

 

Thanks and carry on.

[Pete Martell]

Asian Academy Award members speak out about the racist jokes on the broadcast.

 

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-asians-protesting-oscar-jokes-20160315-story.html

[Milburn Stone]

Asian Academy Award members speak out about the racist jokes on the broadcast.

 

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-asians-protesting-oscar-jokes-20160315-story.html

 

I salute those who are protesting. All people--including members of those groups (Jews, Asians, others) who for some reason are considered "safe" to pick on--deserve respect.

[Kromm]

I empathize with their POV, but I do think context is important. The context of the main joke being questioned (Chris Rock and the Asian kids) was dangerous, but it wasn't meant to support the stereotype, but be subversive with it--to use it to make people think about race by thrusting the stereotype in their faces and making sure they KNEW the joke teller was using it that way (because he pretty much straight out said he was).

 

The thing with Sasha Baron Cohen is different, because he's a loose cannon and we already know everything he did onstage was unauthorized by the Academy and the producers (who were noticeably and publicly upset about it). 

 

I applaud them standing up for themselves and the question of what "diversity" really means. But I have to take it with a grain of salt in that the more complex context is being totally dismissed/ignored in their complaint. Although the flip side of that is that in other parts of the broadcast Rock really DID seem to be speaking only about black vs. white, so I can understand why in this one case where he wasn't, they went for the worst possible explanation for the joke.