Awards Season 2016: Movie edition (Update: BAFTA Winners, Oscar Noms, SPIRIT Winners)

[Kindly Old Man]

5 minutes ago, Mark Antony said:

Absolutely criminal Deakins hasn't won one. But I stopped taking the oscars seriously years ago 

He should definitely have won in 1996. 2007 too maybe although 2007 was such a ridiculous year. Probably the last time I was even remotely invested in the Oscars. I was talking about this with a friend the other day and he asked if I could name the last 5 best picture winners, I got 2 lol. It's harder than it sounds, a lot of forgettable films have been winning.

[Nictarion]

12 minutes ago, Kindly Old Man said:

He should definitely have won in 1996. 2007 too maybe although 2007 was such a ridiculous year. Probably the last time I was even remotely invested in the Oscars. I was talking about this with a friend the other day and he asked if I could name the last 5 best picture winners, I got 2 lol. It's harder than it sounds, a lot of forgettable films have been winning.

Looking at you Argo.

[Mladen]

1 minute ago, Nictarion said:

Looking at you Argo.

Amen... But, honestly, I also doubt that Birdman or The Artist will live a long life. Argo is a record breaker of what a short lifespan it had. Even Crash and The Hurt Locker are mentioned more...

 

[DireWolfSpirit]

 

Looks like Hateful Eight joins a small group of films made using 70mm.

This a relatively short list considering the thousands of movies made. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_70_mm_films

the Batman vs Superman movie has also been filmed using 70mm.

[WolfOfWinter]

On 20/1/2016 at 7:32 PM, Castel said:

The examples are why I'd think that the supposed mis-aiming at the Oscars is less significant than the framing of this as just a black issue. Are Hispanics and Asians doing that much better? 

If there's been a misfire it's because of that sort of focus.Looking on other sites it's totally been framed as a "black" issue now. (Perhaps ironically because no one can think of an Asian role to nominate?)

That bothers me a lot. Because if people are going to accuse the Academy of being racist, they should keep all poc in mind and not just black people. It's not as if Hispanic actors didn't give some Oscar-worthy performances in 2015. Two I can think of are Benicio Del Toro for Sicario and Oscar Isaac for Ex-Machina. Their performaces were way better than whatever Redmayne was doing in The Danish Girl. 

[Veltigar]

2 hours ago, Mark Antony said:

Absolutely criminal Deakins hasn't won one. But I stopped taking the oscars seriously years ago 

I'm always torn on this one. Like, I agree with you that artistically speaking, the oscars are a joke. And for that reason I too don't take them seriously anymore. On the other hand, winning an oscar is still a big deal, because if a film or performer you like wins one of the big ones, it will definitely have an impact on the profits of the film in question and the career of the people involved.

If for example Mad Max: Fury Road or George Miller get that Best Picture or Best Director oscar, surely that will give him a lot of bargaining power to make the next Mad Max even bigger in scope (if he wanted too). And especially if the film in question is a smaller one than the oscar can do huge things for its profits. For that reason, I'll still remain pissed at the Academy for all their awful choices, because they have the power to do a lot of good with their award, but they just refuse to do so. 

[Mladen]

27 minutes ago, Veltigar said:

I'm always torn on this one. Like, I agree with you that artistically speaking, the oscars are a joke. And for that reason I too don't take them seriously anymore. On the other hand, winning an oscar is still a big deal, because if a film or performer you like wins one of the big ones, it will definitely have an impact on the profits of the film in question and the career of the people involved.

If for example Mad Max: Fury Road or George Miller get that Best Picture or Best Director oscar, surely that will give him a lot of bargaining power to make the next Mad Max even bigger in scope (if he wanted too). And especially if the film in question is a smaller one than the oscar can do huge things for its profits. For that reason, I'll still remain pissed at the Academy for all their awful choices, because they have the power to do a lot of good with their award, but they just refuse to do so. 

Whether we like it or not, whether we agree with their choices, being awarded by the Academy is still a huge thing. And honestly, this year is just another example of how competitive it gets, for everyone. It is not matter of race, gender or age. Winning an Oscar has become equivalent of winning the presidency. The amount of effort that needs to put into it is absolutely amazing. Let we speak for example about Theron. Her Furiosa deserved a chance of being among those five. So, you have Charlize Theron, who is incredibly beautiful and popular. Someone whose talent can speak for herself, someone who is rather visible in media. And yet she didn't make the cut. Maggie Smith refuses to play on their tune, and naturally, Academy snubs her for the likes of Jacki Weaver in 2012 and Lawrence this year. So, here are two completely opposite cases that speaks how difficult is to get. And with the likes of Blanchett, Streep, Lawrence, Cotillard, you always have to assume that certain people will get nominated. So, the circle is even smaller. It is prestigious and that is why it still matters.

Academy most certainly doesn't vote on taste. Having or not having the Oscar at the end doesn't mean much in terms of how some things will resolve. Just ask Paltrow and Blanchett and the infamous race of 1999. Time is the judge of every single movie, director, actor and employee of the industry. I would say that the past 5 years had their moments and had their mishaps, but as much as Academy lost its touch when it comes to the art of film-making, they still have that sacred position and impact they always did. 

[Red Tiger]

To add to what Risto said, Halle Berry won an Oscar and it ended doing absolutely nothing for her later career.

[Mladen]

1 minute ago, Red Tiger said:

To add to what Risto said, Halle Berry won an Oscar and it ended doing absolutely nothing for her later career.

Hillary Swank won 2 and where is she now?

 

[Red Tiger]

44 minutes ago, Risto said:

Hillary Swank won 2 and where is she now?

 

Exactly.

Makes you wonder if Leo will be royally fucked once he wins it next month

[Castel]

48 minutes ago, Red Tiger said:

To add to what Risto said, Halle Berry won an Oscar and it ended doing absolutely nothing for her later career.

Halle Berry went on a run of bombs with movies she probably picked before the Oscars. It's not the Oscar's fault her proposed Bond spin-off died in the cradle and her franchise-starter Catwoman did too and then she talked herself out of her X-men job (she had to ask her way back in iirc). 

And apparently she grew an ego. Not good.

[Red Tiger]

Just now, Castel said:

Halle Berry went on a run of bombs with movies she probably picked before the Oscars. It's not the Oscar's fault her proposed Bond spin-off died in the cradle and her franchise-starter Catwoman did too and then she talked herself out of her X-men job (she had to ask her way back in iirc). 

And apparently she grew an ego. Not good.

Yes, all of this is true, but I like to believe that the dark spectre of the crownless Alfred Hitchcock curses some of these winners.

[Winterfell is Burning]

On 23/01/2016 at 7:45 PM, Risto said:

Amen... But, honestly, I also doubt that Birdman or The Artist will live a long life. Argo is a record breaker of what a short lifespan it had. Even Crash and The Hurt Locker are mentioned more...

 

The King's Speech is also on that list. And Slumdog Millionaire too (I'm not sure THL is the same case as those, as it remains a highly regarded if underseen film, although ended up being overshadowed by ZD30)

The problem is getting worse in recent years because the Academy enjoyed too much licking their own balls and rewarding movies about themselves EVERY TIME there's one in the race- Argo, The Artist, Birdman. Hell, even The King's Speech is about an actor too.

http://variety.com/2016/film/news/pga-awards-winners-2016-producers-guild-of-america-1201687085/

The Big Short wins the PGA award, which means is the frontrunner to the BP race now.

 

 

[Winterfell is Burning]

23 hours ago, Castel said:

Halle Berry went on a run of bombs with movies she probably picked before the Oscars. It's not the Oscar's fault her proposed Bond spin-off died in the cradle and her franchise-starter Catwoman did too and then she talked herself out of her X-men job (she had to ask her way back in iirc). 

And apparently she grew an ego. Not good.

Yeah, there's plenty of cases of winners that used the Oscar smartly to make great movies, to make big movies that made a lot of money, or both-  Angelina Jolie, Nicolas Cage (who would only screw up his career much later), Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Kevin Spacey (for the first one, definitively not the second), Geoffrey Rush, just to mention a few.

[Kindly Old Man]

23 hours ago, Castel said:

Halle Berry went on a run of bombs with movies she probably picked before the Oscars. It's not the Oscar's fault her proposed Bond spin-off died in the cradle and her franchise-starter Catwoman did too and then she talked herself out of her X-men job (she had to ask her way back in iirc). 

And apparently she grew an ego. Not good.

also she's not a very good actress

[Mladen]

26 minutes ago, Winterfell is Burning said:

The King's Speech is also on that list. And Slumdog Millionaire too (I'm not sure THL is the same case as those, as it remains a highly regarded if underseen film, although ended up being overshadowed by ZD30)

The problem is getting worse in recent years because the Academy enjoyed too much licking their own balls and rewarding movies about themselves EVERY TIME there's one in the race- Argo, The Artist, Birdman. Hell, even The King's Speech is about an actor too.

http://variety.com/2016/film/news/pga-awards-winners-2016-producers-guild-of-america-1201687085/

The Big Short wins the PGA award, which means is the frontrunner to the BP race now.

 

 

And then PGA made "The Big Short" frontrunner...  I agree completely. Not only that the choices are being boring, but there is a bit too much of awarding close to home. And the movies are getting more dull and dull. Like, last year we had two incredible choices. The wonderful, bigger than life, eclectic "The Grand Budapest Hotel" or very mundane but exquisite in its delivery "Boyhood". Even "Whiplash" had more life than the winner.

Also, their predictability caused entire group of blogger-astrologists to be named Oscarologists. The knowledge is not there, and usually, they either go with the flow, or are good in predicting what Academy will like. In entire discussion about the Oscars, the question of whether a movie is brilliant or not is lost. We solely ask ourselves whether Academy will like it. And at some point, it becomes idiotic. Last year, the best reviewed film of the year, "Boyhood" was left without Oscar. This year, even worse, several of the best rated movies on Metacritic are completely gone of the race for BP - Carol, Anomalisa, 45 years. Even Son of Saul deserved to be in BP race. Creed was better rated than 6 BP nominees, surpassed solely by Spotlight and Brooklyn. I know the Metacritic scores may not be the best indicator of the quality, but they do show some things. And that is that the gap between audience, critics and Academy is getting bigger and bigger.

[DireWolfSpirit]

SAG Awards tonight.  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/sag-awards-spotlight-dicaprio_us_56ad7ec3e4b00b033aaf679e

[Mladen]

SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARDS

 

 

Best Ensemble – Motion Picture
WINNER: “Spotlight” 
 "Beasts Of No Nation” 
“The Big Short” 
"Straight Outta Compton” 
“Trumbo" 

Male Actor In A Leading Role – Motion Picture
WINNER: Leonardo DiCaprio – “The Revenant”
Bryan Cranston – “Trumbo” 
Johnny Depp – “Black Mass” 
Michael Fassbender – “Steve Jobs”
Eddie Redmayne – “The Danish Girl” 

Female Actor In A Leading Role – Motion Picture
WINNER: Brie Larson – “Room” 
Cate Blanchett – “Carol” 
Helen Mirren – "Woman In Gold" 
Saoirse Ronan – “Brooklyn” 
Sarah Silverman – "I Smile Back"

Male Actor In A Supporting Role – Motion Picture
WINNER: Idris Elba – “Beasts Of No Nation” 
Christian Bale – "The Big Short" 
Mark Rylance – “Bridge Of Spies”
Michael Shannon – "99 Homes"
Jacob Tremblay – “Room”

Female Actor In A Supporting Role – Motion Picture
WINNER: Alicia Vikander – “The Danish Girl” 
Rooney Mara – “Carol”
Helen Mirren – "Trumbo" 
Rachel McAdams – “Spotlight” 
Kate Winslet – “Steve Jobs”

[Mladen]

So, what should one think about these awards?

Basically. they were incredibly Oscary save that one. They were so Oscary that there are inclinations that we will be seeing exactly this on Oscar night. Save that one. But, I won't be commenting that one category (the win, not the performance itself) because:

1. I haven't seen the movie
2. I know how it may look like
3. I know easily SAG-AFTRA voters can be publicly influenced (quite the sheeps)
4. I know how they LOOOOVE to be n.1 Oscar predictors

So, back to the other things... It was interesting to see Vikander clearing the path for herself. I though the voters would go for Mara, but it seems that "Carol" is expecting a rough night at Oscars. Even Sandy Powell outdid herself in "Cinderella". There were times these things were more exciting

[Winterfell is Burning]

Elba winning is actually good for Stallone, since neither Bale nor Rylance will get any momentum, nor the chance to get a killer speech (granted, Rylance wasn't there anyway, so the point is moot). I'm actually switching my prediction to him now- I thought Rylance would take this and the BAFTAs (which he almost certainly will anyway) and win the Oscar based on momentum and sheep mentality, but this being all over the place will probably lead to Old Sly winning.

Best Picture is still up in the air if The Big Short doesn't take the DGA, which is interesting.