The Annual Academy Awards - General Discussion

[mtlchick]

Oy.  What a mess to wake up to. 

 

And considering the Academy is spending several THOUSAND dollars just for envelops and Steve Harvey blamed the font for his gaffe, you would think this could easily be avoided.  I don't blame Beatty or Dunaway really.  I really can't blame the accounting firm either (but someone is going to take the fall for it) but this shouldn't have happened.

 

Congrats to Moonlight, but they were robbed of their moment especially with the last minute push. 

[DearEvette]

I went to bed before best actor was announced.  Just couldn't hang any longer.  And I am glad I didn't stay to the end to watch because my ass would not have gotten to bed til well past 1:00 am.  LOL.  So much better to wake up to the news. 

I am happy Moonlight won.  Not gonna front, LOVED that damned movie. 

When I actually got a chance to watch I couldn't help but  wonder how did the correction take so long?  It feels like it took forever for them to actually announce a mistake was made.  Faye announced the winner, the La La Land folks had enough time to hug people in the audience before making it up to the stage, they all trooped up there, the one guy made his thank yous, then the second guy made his, and then the third guy was in the middle of making his when he must've heard what was happening behind him because in the middle of his speech he said "we lost."  Maybe it is like how time seems to elongate when you see an accident happening, but to me it just felt like it took forever from the moment she announced to the moment they made the correction. 

[JudyObscure]

In the annual In Memoriam segment, a photo of veteran Australian film producer Jan Chapman was mistakenly used instead of that of her late friend and colleague Janet Patterson.

See?  Continuing with my "get off my lawn," rant, I can't help but notice that we old women all look alike to the young.  But then I'm part of that 8% minority who has blue eyes, and apparently we should all hate ourselves anyway. ;)

[Keepitmoving]

LOL, this was the best, can't say it was a snooze fest. Best part were the reactions from the audience, Taraji's face, LOL.

I know Faye Dunaway is pissed, the Diva that she is, oh hell no. All these years, and I come out here for this shit, she got to be thinking this.  Unless she's from the school of thought that even negative publicity is good.

Quote

I would laugh - these Hollywood people take themselves so seriously (just look at Denzel Washington's face after he lost)

How did he look? I didn't notice, because he does have two Oscars in the supporting and lead categories, for Glory and Training Day. It's not like he doesn't have any at all.

Although, Casey Afleck? Yeah, no...anyone but him should have gotten it.

[Frisky Wig]

I didn't like how Faye Dunnaway vanished after reading out La La Land, leaving Warren to apologize alone, when it was HER that read the wrong name. 

[TheOtherOne]

1 hour ago, JudyObscure said:

Why has this never happened before?  Because, for the first time,  the person handing out the cards was probably of the latest generation who has been messing up all his/her life and always told, "Don't worry about it.  We all make mistakes.  Be proud of yourself!  You did your best!"   So why be nervous and extra careful about which envelope you're holding?  The important thing is to have fun and check out all the stars, right?   I see it everywhere now and I expect we'll see lots more of it in years to come, because they are here.  We raised them  to be careless about everything they do because they know they'll be instantly forgiven and even hugged and praised for doing their best.  This was "only" the Oscars but it took the shine off the winners' moment.   Just hope one of them isn't your doctor, or your lawyer or like the very  young financial manager my parents hired who lost them over $100,000.  He apologized beautifully.

The two accountants who handled the envelopes gave numerous interviews in the days leading up to the ceremony (and likely wish they hadn't gotten their names out now). Both look to be well in their 40s, if not 50s (and can be seen in the clips of the incident among the La La Land and Moonlight crews looking as befuddled as everyone else.)

 

Pic

Another

Onstage

Edited February 27, 2017 by TheOtherOne

[Keepitmoving]

5 minutes ago, Frisky Wig said:

I didn't like how Faye Dunnaway vanished after reading out La La Land, leaving Warren to apologize alone, when it was HER that read the wrong name. 

Oh that's right, Diva move, LOL, I love it. Just can't take all this that seriously, it was rectified, now I'm just laughing.

At least both movies got recognized on multiple occasions because they won more than one Oscar.

Edited February 27, 2017 by Keepitmoving

[sadiegirl]

If the accountants actually memorize the winners, then as soon as LLL was announced, someone should have been screaming.  Not wait for that group to actually come up on stage and start their speeches.  Big fail for the accountants and the stage manager.  Seriously, color code those envelopes.  Better to be right than to look good.  That way, if Warren is holding a red envelope and Best Picture is in yellow, that would be noticed right away by someone whose job is to pay attention to that. 

[Wings]

22 minutes ago, DearEvette said:

I went to bed before best actor was announced.  Just couldn't hang any longer.  And I am glad I didn't stay to the end to watch because my ass would not have gotten to bed til well past 1:00 am.  LOL.  So much better to wake up to the news. 

I am happy Moonlight won.  Not gonna front, LOVED that damned movie. 

When I actually got a chance to watch I couldn't help but  wonder how did the correction take so long?  It feels like it took forever for them to actually announce a mistake was made.  Faye announced the winner, the La La Land folks had enough time to hug people in the audience before making it up to the stage, they all trooped up there, the one guy made his thank yous, then the second guy made his, and then the third guy was in the middle of making his when he must've heard what was happening behind him because in the middle of his speech he said "we lost."  Maybe it is like how time seems to elongate when you see an accident happening, but to me it just felt like it took forever from the moment she announced to the moment they made the correction. 

It took so long because only a few know the results from the accounting firm.  No actor or Kimmel would recognize La La Land was not correct.  There must have been many, "No, wait, what?" moments.  

ETA.  It took time for the mistake to reach backstage and the accountant.  He was done, last envelope and could have been in the bathroom for all we know.    

Edited February 27, 2017 by wings707

[Wings]

Denzel is getting a lot of flack for his facial expression, many claiming he looked pissed.  Not so.  That is his resting face.  He was bored and probably spaced out a bit, too.   This was noticed at the Golden Globes, too, and he won!  

Edited February 27, 2017 by wings707

[Constantinople]

Somewhere, somehow Joan Crawford is laughing her ass off

Jack Palance too.

[Laurie4H]

I can't believe that people think this wasn't staged.  Of course it was to create buzz after what will be the lowest rated Oscars yet.

i suppose you thought the bus of tourist showing up at the Oscars as a surprise was really also?  Those were actors or people who knew what was going on.

[scarynikki12]

Whoever handed out the wrong envelope probably had a "wait, what did they say?" moment, then there's double checking the briefcase, finding the correct envelope, freaking out in some capacity, grabbing the stage manager/nearest broadcast worker/Jimmy/other PWC person, quickly explaining, and then moving to fix it.  All of that was probably happening while the La La people were gathering on stage because, once they were there, the commotion of people moving to fix the mistake happened pretty quickly.  I think that, if this were to happen again (which I seriously doubt because this makes PWC look really bad and they want to keep this contract) then I think we'll see someone come running on stage yelling "STOP!"  Which, in all fairness, would be hilarious.

[Luciano]

34 minutes ago, TheOtherOne said:

The two accountants who handled the envelopes gave numerous interviews in the days leading up to the ceremony (and likely wish they hadn't gotten their names out now). Both look to be well in their 40s, if not 50s (and can be seen in the clips of the incident among the La La Land and Moonlight crews looking as befuddled as everyone else.)

 

Pic

Another

Yeah, Brian Cullinan is 57 and Martha Ruiz has been with the company for 19 years so unless she started working there as a grade-schooler, she has to be at least in her forties as well.

Edited February 27, 2017 by Luciano

[Chicken Wing]

5 minutes ago, Laurie4H said:

I can't believe that people think this wasn't staged.  Of course it was to create buzz after what will be the lowest rated Oscars yet.

i suppose you thought the bus of tourist showing up at the Oscars as a surprise was really also?  Those were actors or people who knew what was going on.

Why are you so convinced that the Academy would go out of its way to completely and utterly humiliate two teams of filmmakers, themselves and the entire PWC accounting firm, just for a (completely unfunny) stunt? Not everything is fake or a conspiracy or fabricated just for buzz or ratings.

As for the tourists, I'm doubtful they were actors, but I do believe they learned what was going on at least a little while before they got to the door.

[vibeology]

8 minutes ago, Laurie4H said:

I can't believe that people think this wasn't staged.  Of course it was to create buzz after what will be the lowest rated Oscars yet.

i suppose you thought the bus of tourist showing up at the Oscars as a surprise was really also?  Those were actors or people who knew what was going on.

There is a huge difference between a comedy bit and announcing the wrong winner for any award, let alone the biggest award of the night. The embarrassment for the La La Land cast and crew was huge and Moonlight's cast and crew didn't get their moment. The Academy takes itself way too seriously to mess with the award winners. Skits, sketches and jokes are all okay but the integrity of the Academy and PWC is on the line and I don't think either would, for one second, allow anything like this to happen intentionally.  

[Keepitmoving]

15 minutes ago, wings707 said:

Denzel is getting a lot of flack for his facial expression, many claiming he looked pissed.  Not so.  That is his resting face.  He was bored and probably spaced out a bit, too.   This was noticed at the Golden Globes, too, and he won!  

Yes, I agree, that is his resting face. Does the man have to smile from ear to ear to please? It would be one thing if he sat on his ass and decided not to stand and clap like everyone else. Or refuse to shake hands, but he does none of that. Yeah, I don't get where this comes from because I too have seen this claim being made in reaction to him at other award shows. It seems like a bunch of shit stirring to me.

[mtlchick]

Quote

Of course it was to create buzz after what will be the lowest rated Oscars yet.

Quote

Why are you so convinced that the Academy would go out of its way to completely and utterly humiliate two teams of filmmakers, themselves and the entire PWC accounting firm, just for a (completely unfunny) stunt? Not everything is fake or a conspiracy or fabricated just for buzz or ratings.

Exactly.  Awarding someone for a role that you may feel is unjustified is one thing because it's subjective.  But saying "It's La La Land!  WOOT!  Speak for 2 minutes before we yoink this away and give it to the rightful winner!' was nothing more to create buzz is borderline insulting.  These filmmakers AND the crews involved put their time, effort, energy and (hopefully) love into the projects.  Now one film got humiliated because it was given to them in error.  Another film couldn't bask in the glow of the win as it came out to a "This isn't a prank, you guys really won."  It's been proven that the more commercial interests in the films, the bigger the ratings.  Arrival, La La Land and Hidden Figures passed 100M domestic. I doubt the Academy would pull a "stunt" like this when you have 1/3 of the best picture nominees pulling money in.

[Luciano]

9 minutes ago, vibeology said:

There is a huge difference between a comedy bit and announcing the wrong winner for any award, let alone the biggest award of the night. The embarrassment for the La La Land cast and crew was huge and Moonlight's cast and crew didn't get their moment. The Academy takes itself way too seriously to mess with the award winners. Skits, sketches and jokes are all okay but the integrity of the Academy and PWC is on the line and I don't think either would, for one second, allow anything like this to happen intentionally.  

Yeah, entertainment industry aside, this is a huge screw-up for PWC. Their two people are the only ones that had the results - how would it make any sense for them to intentionally mess up for (next year's?) ratings? It's an accounting firm, its whole thing is to be working with complex numbers/tax codes/business crap and now, in front of a huge audience, it got something as simple as handing out the envelope for the biggest award wrong. That's not good publicity at all.

[Cotypubby]

2 hours ago, JudyObscure said:

Why has this never happened before?  Because, for the first time,  the person handing out the cards was probably of the latest generation who has been messing up all his/her life and always told, "Don't worry about it.  We all make mistakes.  Be proud of yourself!  You did your best!"   So why be nervous and extra careful about which envelope you're holding?  The important thing is to have fun and check out all the stars, right?   I see it everywhere now and I expect we'll see lots more of it in years to come, because they are here.  We raised them  to be careless about everything they do because they know they'll be instantly forgiven and even hugged and praised for doing their best.  This was "only" the Oscars but it took the shine off the winners' moment.   Just hope one of them isn't your doctor, or your lawyer or like the very  young financial manager my parents hired who lost them over $100,000.  He apologized beautifully.

Seriously, where do people come up wth this crap? Yep, those damn 57-year old Millennials.

[DollEyes]

PWC really fucked up, big-time. They handle numbers for a living and they can't even keep track of a few envelopes? Because of their incompetence, both La La Land and Moonlight suffered and Moonlight didn't get the moment that they deserved. That this would happen to Moonlight, which is not only the first Best Picture winner with an all-Black cast, it's also the first LGBT-themed one to win, makes it even worse. I'm not accusing PWC of bigotry, just stupidity. I don't think that this was a publicity stunt for the Academy because there's much better ways for them to get attention without humiliating themselves, the nominees or the show. 

  Hated the tourist bit. As far as I'm concerned, the only non-famous people who I want to see on the Oscars are either in the technical categories or are back-up singers/dancers. 

Edited February 28, 2017 by DollEyes

[Wings]

23 minutes ago, Chicken Wing said:

 

As for the tourists, I'm doubtful they were actors, but I do believe they learned what was going on at least a little while before they got to the door.

Kimmel does this kind of stuff on his show regularly.  These were not actors, I agree.  The entire point is to get the man on the street.  I don't think they knew what was going on before hand though.  He loves the shock value.  

I am glad he kept his "feud" with Matt down to a dull roar.  I feared it was going to be overly done.   I would have preferred he skipped the tour bus.  This sort of thing plays well on his show but not here.  The celebs seemed to genuinely enjoy it.

Aniston and Kimmel are close friends so he may have tipped her off to bring something in her bag she could give away.   I think he did a good job with only one lame joke (OJ).  I am a fan.  His political jabs were smooth and worked perfectly.  

[BW Manilowe]

14 hours ago, DearEvette said:

I am loving the play out music when the show goes to commercials.  They are doing tv shw themes, first Mission Impossible and now SWAT.

Those were also movies--MI is a whole movie "franchise"--& probably chosen because of that.

[slf]

1 hour ago, JudyObscure said:

See?  Continuing with my "get off my lawn," rant, I can't help but notice that we old women all look alike to the young.  But then I'm part of that 8% minority who has blue eyes, and apparently we should all hate ourselves anyway. ;)

...Most of the people who run these things aren't millennials. They're from older generations. I'm not going to touch the blue-eyes comment

Edited February 27, 2017 by slf

[Conotocarious]

3 hours ago, cincivic said:

Why didn't Warren just call over the producer or Jimmy when he realized there was an envelope mistake? He has been around the block. It's not his first time opening an envelope. Granted, he never had this kind of mistake before. All he had to do was ask for Jimmy . True, the envelope should never have been handed out.

I'm sure he wishes he had but he likely froze in the moment. It's like your brain turns to glue. He could have also played it off like "Oh this must be one of Jimmy's pranks!" but then it really would have looked scripted. Also, I can only imagine the "old man dementia" jokes if he shuffled off the stage to get help reading a card. He was in a no win situation and I don't think it was his fault at all.

Edited February 27, 2017 by Conotocarious

[zxy556575]

Ratings

The show was 3 hours and 49 minutes; the longest in 10 years.

2017 was down 4% from the same stats in 2016 and averaged a 22.4 rating, or 34.43 million viewers.

The broadcast lost almost 10 million viewers between 2014 and 2016. The least-watched Oscars on record was the 2008 ceremony hosted by Jon Stewart, with around 32 million viewers and a 20.8 overnight rating.

The link has a list of total viewers from 2000 to now.

Edited February 27, 2017 by Lord Donia

[Conotocarious]

Yeah, it was staged. For tweets! Yeah, because twitter is all the new rage! Hey, let's make everyone look like an incompetent buffoon and embarrass a whole bunch of people publicly in the process. For....tweets!

LOL!

Edited February 27, 2017 by Conotocarious

[Wings]

Usually the card is given to the winner.  Emma must have walked off stage without hers so it ended up backstage and mistakenly grabbed. That is my guess as to how an award card, already given, got used again.  

[Artsda]

4 minutes ago, wings707 said:

Usually the card is given to the winner.  Emma must have walked off stage without hers so it ended up backstage and mistakenly grabbed. That is my guess as to how an award card, already given, got used again.  

There's 2 cards. Emma had hers they opened. PWC had the copy.

[vibeology]

2 minutes ago, wings707 said:

Usually the card is given to the winner.  Emma must have walked off stage without hers so it ended up backstage and mistakenly grabbed. That is my guess as to how an award card, already given, got used again.  

PWC has confirmed that they go to the Oscars with two sets of cards. Each accountant has one and is on opposite sides of the stage to hand them out depending on where presenters are coming from. Obviously Leo came from one side and Warren and Faye came from the other. The second accountant somehow confused the envelopes and gave the second Best Actress envelope to Warren rather than Best Picture. Leo had Emma's card and must have given it to her once they were off-stage because she later confirmed that she had her card with her once she got her award.

[slf]

Heh:

[Misslindsey]

48 minutes ago, Chicken Wing said:

As for the tourists, I'm doubtful they were actors, but I do believe they learned what was going on at least a little while before they got to the door.

I think I would have figured it out because I would have known it was Oscar night and if we were anywhere near the theater. Also, if I knew I was going to be on television I would have dressed way better and put some extra makeup on.

6 minutes ago, Lord Donia said:

The broadcast lost almost 10 million viewers between 2014 and 2016. The least-watched Oscars on record was the 2008 ceremony hosted by Jon Stewart, with around 32 million viewers and a 20.8 overnight rating.

Was 2008 the year of the writer strike? I remember award the Golden Globe winners being read with no actual ceremony.

[Artsda]

How did Viola even end up in Supporting? She won Supporting Actress for a Lead Role.

[Wings]

5 minutes ago, Artsda said:

There's 2 cards. Emma had hers they opened. PWC had the copy.

Well, no wonder, I am surprised this hasn't happened before if there are 2 cards.  

[mtlchick]

2 minutes ago, Artsda said:

How did Viola even end up in Supporting? She won Supporting Actress for a Lead Role.

Simply put: widen her chances of winning. 

[slf]

I will say this: Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone handled it well, with Gosling kind of smiling into his hand over the whole thing and rushing forward to congratulate the cast/crew of Moonlight. Emma Stone also rushed over, all smiles, to congratulate the Moonlight crew. The LLL producer was the classiest of the bunch, of course. Loved him just yanking the card out of Beatty's hand and holding it up for the cameras.

Still don't know wtf the guy who started giving a speech was thinking.

[starri]

Bonnie & Clyde claim their final victim.

[Constantinople]

In past years I vaguely recall the Academy Awards show being nominated for an Emmy.  I forget the category, or if it even exists any more, but if it does, I don't think the Oscars will win an Emmy this year.

Edited February 27, 2017 by Constantinople

[BW Manilowe]

14 hours ago, wallflower75 said:

Now we just need to get her a Grammy...

She just started doing the voiceovers on Delta Air Lines commercials. Too bad they don't give Grammys for that--I think they do give Emmys for that (commercials), but she already has 1. If she'd write a book about something & read the audiobook version, or if she'd read the audiobook version of someone else's work, she could win a Grammy fairly easily for that (It worked for 1 or both of the Clintons, as I remember).

[Wings]

13 minutes ago, vibeology said:

PWC has confirmed that they go to the Oscars with two sets of cards. Each accountant has one and is on opposite sides of the stage to hand them out depending on where presenters are coming from. Obviously Leo came from one side and Warren and Faye came from the other. The second accountant somehow confused the envelopes and gave the second Best Actress envelope to Warren rather than Best Picture. Leo had Emma's card and must have given it to her once they were off-stage because she later confirmed that she had her card with her once she got her award.

OK, this is the reason.  Thank you!

[starri]

1 minute ago, Constantinople said:

In past years I vaguely recall the Academy Awards show being nominated for an Emmy.  I forget the category, or if it even exists any more, but if it does, I don't think the Oscars will win an Emmy this year.

Outstanding Variety, Musical, or Comedy Special.

That almost always goes to the Kennedy Center Honors anyway.

[Harry24]

Quote

Something rather karmic about the LLL producer(?) thanking his "blue eyed" wife only to learn that they hadn't actual won.

Yeah, that remark landed with a distasteful thud.  I suspect it was an ill-considered "inside" comment between him and his wife or within the staff of the film.

[sally-can-wait]

9 minutes ago, mtlchick said:

Simply put: widen her chances of winning. 

Yeah, happens all the time. Like last year both Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara were leads in Carol but they put Rooney in the supporting category so they would not have to compete against each other. Lots of tomfoolery.

[J0nas3]

5 minutes ago, Constantinople said:

In past years I vaguely recall the Academy Awards show being nominated for an Emmy.  I forget the category, or if it even exists any more, but if it does, I don't think the Oscars will win an Emmy this year.

There's the overall award, as starri mentioned, but there's also one for directing the special that I recall often going to the Oscars director, though quite often it's the same director for the Emmys, and he accepts the award while still directing the Emmys.

[TheOtherOne]

14 minutes ago, Artsda said:

How did Viola even end up in Supporting? She won Supporting Actress for a Lead Role.

The controversy over Viola being in Supporting Actress is hilarious to me (and she certainly has more claim to it than Vikander being considered a Supporting Actress last year). In the original production of the play, Mary Alice won for the Tony for the role...for Featured, not Lead, Actress. In 2010 when Viola won for the role, the producers had to petition to have it considered a Lead instead of Featured (because Lead was considered easier competition that year). And now that the role is back in supporting, it's controversial again. Funny.

[starri]

The snafu seems more on the shoulders of Price Waterhouse Cooper, so it will probably cost them at this years Accounties.

What's hilarious is that it's already been added to the PWC Wikipedia page, listed alongside other scandals like fraud and corruption.

[Chicken Wing]

10 minutes ago, starri said:

Outstanding Variety, Musical, or Comedy Special.

That almost always goes to the Kennedy Center Honors anyway.

It always amuses me when the Oscars are nominated for an Emmy, because the nominee is usually also working on the Emmys at the same time and we see him in his little "I'm working right now" cage when they announce his name.

Or, like J0nas3 said five minutes ago:

there's also one for directing the special that I recall often going to the Oscars director, though quite often it's the same director for the Emmys, and he accepts the award while still directing the Emmys.

Edited February 27, 2017 by Chicken Wing

[starri]

Just now, Chicken Wing said:

It always amuses me when the Oscars are nominated for an Emmy, because the nominee on behalf of the Oscars, the producer, is usually also producing the Emmys at the same time and we see him in his little producer cage when they announce his name.

Is that still the case, now that Dick Clark has gone off to the big awards show in the sky?  I mean, I think I remember Mark Burnett producing the Emmys a few years ago.

[Chicken Wing]

22 minutes ago, wings707 said:

Well, no wonder, I am surprised this hasn't happened before if there are 2 cards.  

Apparently the only other time something even close to this happened was the 1964 Oscars. Sammy Davis Jr. was presenting Best Score and then announced a winner that wasn't even one of the nominees he'd just said. They gave him the card for another category.

Last night's snafu could have been cleared up very quickly if anyone else but Emma Stone had won Best Actress, as none of the other Best Actress nominees were from a movie also nominated for Best Picture and it would have been obvious immediately that they had the wrong card. What a perfect catastrophe this was.

[starri]

I wonder if this will spur an actual Broadway production of In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue.