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

[Mladen]

I don't agree with you at all. I think she certainly got them from acting though the fact she's an Oscar darling helped. She was excellent in all the movies she was nominated for. The issue is more to do with the people who were nominated who were equally excellent and should get nominated over her.

Well, that is a stretch... Of all her work, the role in "Winter's Bone" is the only thing I would have nominated her. "Joy" is a terrible movie. Like truly bad. Like "it is so bad that nothing helps it". She was also mediocre. She was miscast under the usual O'Russell recipe. She was neither convincing nor natural in the role. And on the top of that we have, some 4-5 roles that were infinitely better than what she did. Dame Maggie Smith was hilarious in "The Lady in the Van", we spoke about Theron, then we have Vikander and Mara who were placed in the wrong category. The Best Actress lineup had the possibility of being the very best in the past decade, but Academy chose the popular vote, making it more and more like People Choice Awards.

I'd have to disagree with earlier posts labeling this Oscar season as a snoozer. I'm rooting for DiCaprio and Sly Stallone. Also have to disagree over the critics of Jennifer Lawrence. Her performances in "Winters Bone" and "Silver Linings" were both really impressive imo. I havent seen "Joy" or whatever she's nominated in this season and I found the "Hunger Games" stuff as only mildly entertaining. But both the "Winters Bone" and "Silver Linings" performances by Lawrence constituted some heavy hitting and major character development/portrayal, just fantastic performances.

Well, I am also excited about some things, Stallone among first. But Lawrence being impressive? Give me a break. Blanchett is impressive in half of her movies, Cotillard was impressive in "La Vie en Rose", Streep in her first two Oscar-awarded-roles, and on and on... Her win in SLP is the worst win ever since Paltrow won over Blanchett in 1999. She is talented, that is undoubted, but the term overrated was created having her in mind. Simply, there is no substance to her roles.

[Grand Moff Mithrandir]

I like J Law in Hunger Games & X-Men but I never got the hype around her SLP & American Hustle performances. They were too over the top imo, especially American Hustle.

[Corvinus85]

The Mad Max thread is closed now, so I'll post here

Apparently the news that Miller was done with the franchise is BS. Miller claimed that the reporter, due to the noise on the red carpet didn't understand everything he said. http://www.thewrap.com/george-miller-promises-more-mad-max-movies-after-scoring-first-directing-nomination/

“That was a completely garbled interview. I was in New York and it was so noisy and the journalist was asking me questions on a red carpet at the National Board of Review,” he said. “She completely got the wrong fragments of information that were just not true. I said no, [another ‘Mad Max’ movie] will not be next, and she took that to mean I never wanted to make another ‘Mad Max.’ It won’t necessarily be next, but I have two more stories.”

So keep calm and carry on. 

[The Anti-Targ]

Alicia Vikander being the most tanned person to get an acting nomination has created a bit of a stir. It's not like there haven't been critically acclaimed performances by darker hued actors this year. Seems like possibly the biggest snub in that regard is Idris Alba, possibly / probably deserved a nomination ahead of Tom Hardy. I'm watching Beasts of No Nation tonight, and I've seen Revenant so I'll be able to form my own opinion on their performances. I thought Tom Hardy was fine in Revenant, but probably not a terribly demanding role, not a lot of emotional and psychological range to his character.

Also some people got upset that Star Wars didn't get nominated for best picture...LoL!!

[Winterfell is Burning]

Ridley Scott not getting nominated was the biggest surprise.

Di Caprio has this in the bag, the movies of the other contenders weren't that well received withing the Academy.

I don't see Stallone winning- he missed both BAFTAs and SAG and the Academy loved Bridge of Spies, so I'm guessing Rylance will win both and arrive with a lot of momentum and with his victory nearly inevitable.

Supporting actress is very much up in the air at this point.

With Scott missing, I honestly think Miller is the frontrunner now.

I haven't seen Joy yet, but J-Laws nomination for American Hustle might have been the worst of the decade (the other two were fine).

 

[Corvinus85]

Also some people got upset that Star Wars didn't get nominated for best picture...LoL!!

Of course they were. There are always people like that.

I would not have been surprised if it had been though. Sure it didn't get one for director or actors, and it wasn't get in on those, but besides the effects, and soundtrack, it also got in the film editing category, a category which often goes hand-in-hand with the best picture category. I would not be shocked to learn that it might have been just a few votes shy of being the 9th film in the best picture category.

Fun fact - with the 5 nominations that The Force Awakens received, the Star Wars franchise has tied LOTR with 30 nominations. If you count the Hobbit, the Tolkien movie verse has the largest number of Oscar nods of any franchise, at 38. I think Star Wars will catch up.

[DireWolfSpirit]

I'll just have to agree to disagree on Lawrence in SLP. That character was not over the top for me, in fact it was eerily realistic and familiar to people I have been around and I remember being so surprised that an actress could bring that character and diologue off so realistically. It was like being the fly on the wall witnessing someone more than an act. As for Winters Bone, just juxtapose the 2 characters for these movies and you can see the dramatic range in character she can do. It was her breakout role as a very young actress and she nailed a serious role.

Anyways if im in the minority thats fine, dif strokes for dif folks.

[Aemon Stark]

I liked Silver Linings Playbook. Lawrence was up against Chastain in Zero Dark Thirty (certainly a good performance, but I'm not sure it was "better") and Quvenzhané Wallis in Beasts of the Southern Wild (a not-altogether-convincing child actor performance in a highly overrated movie). I didn't see the other performances that year. 

Having said that, I did not like Lawrence in American Hustle (though I could say the same for most of the characters) and her work certainly didn't approach Lupita Nyong'o who ended up winning. 

It certainly sounds like Joy is neither a good movie nor an example of her better work, though. I haven't seen it and don't have any interest. 

[DireWolfSpirit]

^^^Agreed on all points. As much as Ive defended Lawrence, I can add that I too have no interest in seeing "Joy" right away either. I totally get the Lawrence fatigue, I just cant extend that to "She cant act".

[Red Tiger]

I'll just have to agree to disagree on Lawrence in SLP. That character was not over the top for me, in fact it was eerily realistic and familiar to people I have been around and I remember being so surprised that an actress could bring that character and diologue off so realistically.

I agree, problem is I don't think she's done anything nearly as good since.

[The Anti-Targ]

Of course they were. There are always people like that.

I would not have been surprised if it had been though. Sure it didn't get one for director or actors, and it wasn't get in on those, but besides the effects, and soundtrack, it also got in the film editing category, a category which often goes hand-in-hand with the best picture category. I would not be shocked to learn that it might have been just a few votes shy of being the 9th film in the best picture category.

Fun fact - with the 5 nominations that The Force Awakens received, the Star Wars franchise has tied LOTR with 30 nominations. If you count the Hobbit, the Tolkien movie verse has the largest number of Oscar nods of any franchise, at 38. I think Star Wars will catch up.

The Middle Earth Franchise will always have one award that Star Wars will, probably, never get: best picture, aside from that and best director the SW and Middle Earth awards cabinets probably look very similar, being dominated by a bunch of technical awards.

I watched Beasts of no Nation a couple of days back. Very good movie, it's always a huge challenge having a pre-teen as the main carry of the movie. Idris Elba (right spelling this time) was great, with a more complex and nuanced performance than Tom Hardy in Revenant. So I think he should have been nominated ahead of Hardy. Personally I think Hollywood is punishing Netflix for being sneaky and doing a tiny little theatrical run in order for Beasts to qualify for the Oscars, instead of "only" qualifying for the Emmys. I also think Netflix should have kept Beasts as an Emmy qualifier. They are a TV content provider and they should be proud to bring great TV content to people. If they want to break into cinema, then they should do it properly and do full release movies.

[Mexal]

The Middle Earth Franchise will always have one award that Star Wars will, probably, never get: best picture, aside from that and best director the SW and Middle Earth awards cabinets probably look very similar, being dominated by a bunch of technical awards.

I watched Beasts of no Nation a couple of days back. Very good movie, it's always a huge challenge having a pre-teen as the main carry of the movie. Idris Elba (right spelling this time) was great, with a more complex and nuanced performance than Tom Hardy in Revenant. So I think he should have been nominated ahead of Hardy. Personally I think Hollywood is punishing Netflix for being sneaky and doing a tiny little theatrical run in order for Beasts to qualify for the Oscars, instead of "only" qualifying for the Emmys. I also think Netflix should have kept Beasts as an Emmy qualifier. They are a TV content provider and they should be proud to bring great TV content to people. If they want to break into cinema, then they should do it properly and do full release movies.

Feels fair to me. Oscar's don't recognize HBO movies to my knowledge.

[Mladen]

I liked Silver Linings Playbook. Lawrence was up against Chastain in Zero Dark Thirty (certainly a good performance, but I'm not sure it was "better") and Quvenzhané Wallis in Beasts of the Southern Wild (a not-altogether-convincing child actor performance in a highly overrated movie). I didn't see the other performances that year. 

TBH, it was incredibly weak year. I think it was the weakest year in the past 10-15 years when it comes to Best Actress race. As for other performances, I would recommend Emanuelle Riva in "Amour". Now, that was the Oscar-worthy performance of that year.

^^^Agreed on all points. As much as Ive defended Lawrence, I can add that I too have no interest in seeing "Joy" right away either. I totally get the Lawrence fatigue, I just cant extend that to "She cant act".

There is a quite huge difference between "she can't act" and "she is overrated". I do think that her SLP year was the weakest win in the past 10, 15 years and if we would rate Best Actress performances, or even nominations in some years like 2007, 2013 and 2015 (par the Lawrence), SLP would be quite low on the list.

Di Caprio has this in the bag, the movies of the other contenders weren't that well received withing the Academy.

I don't see Stallone winning- he missed both BAFTAs and SAG and the Academy loved Bridge of Spies, so I'm guessing Rylance will win both and arrive with a lot of momentum and with his victory nearly inevitable.

As for DiCaprio, it seems that starts have aligned. I am not sure whether he would be my first choice, but he makes a great winner, that is for sure. Although, I would wait for BAFTA and SAG, before making final predictions.

As for Stallone, it can go either way. Perhaps Academy needs a popular win, which Stallone is, because they managed to angry every minority group with the nominations from African-Americans and other minorities to LGBTQ. That is why Chris Rock was invited to host. But, regardless of that, Rylance is a decent competitor and I can see him winning.

Feels fair to me. Oscar's don't recognize HBO movies to my knowledge.

Well, AFAIK, HBO movies were not released in cinema, like "Beasts of no nation". That was the whole point. Also, small theatrical runs are usual when it comes to underdogs... Sometimes, wide openings do more harm. Just look at Steve Jobs.

[Veltigar]

I liked Silver Linings Playbook. Lawrence was up against Chastain in Zero Dark Thirty (certainly a good performance, but I'm not sure it was "better") and Quvenzhané Wallis in Beasts of the Southern Wild (a not-altogether-convincing child actor performance in a highly overrated movie). I didn't see the other performances that year. 

Tsss, Beasts of the Southern Wild was pure poetry. Wallis or Emanuelle Riva should have won that year (probably give it to Riva, since she's a legend. She was the protagonist of Hiroshima Mon Amour after all).

 

[The Anti-Targ]

Feels fair to me. Oscar's don't recognize HBO movies to my knowledge.

If HBO released a movie in theatres then the movie would qualify for Oscar nomination. It's that simple, and that's what Netflix did.

Well, AFAIK, HBO movies were not released in cinema, like "Beasts of no nation". That was the whole point. Also, small theatrical runs are usual when it comes to underdogs... Sometimes, wide openings do more harm. Just look at Steve Jobs.

That is true, and more than likely Beasts of no Nation would only ever have had a limited release regardless of who made it. But in this case, being Netflix, I think the Hollywood elite decided it was a cynical ploy by Netflix to put the movie in to the Oscar category rather than the Emmy category and so it got the cold shoulder as a result. If Network and cable TV felt a bit put out by Amazon and Netflix producing stuff good enough to enter the Emmy fray, Hollywood must be apoplectic about Netflix qualifying for the Oscars. I remember at the first Emmys where Netflix got a nomination (House of Cards I think) someone made the quip that now cable / HBO knows how the networks feel. Hollywood hasn't really experienced an upstart outsider moving in on their annual round of self-congratulatory parties.

[Mladen]

That is true, and more than likely Beasts of no Nation would only ever have had a limited release regardless of who made it. But in this case, being Netflix, I think the Hollywood elite decided it was a cynical ploy by Netflix to put the movie in to the Oscar category rather than the Emmy category and so it got the cold shoulder as a result. If Network and cable TV felt a bit put out by Amazon and Netflix producing stuff good enough to enter the Emmy fray, Hollywood must be apoplectic about Netflix qualifying for the Oscars. I remember at the first Emmys where Netflix got a nomination (House of Cards I think) someone made the quip that now cable / HBO knows how the networks feel. Hollywood hasn't really experienced an upstart outsider moving in on their annual round of self-congratulatory parties.

Perhaps... But, it all comes down to what Academy has seen. That is why the nominations are becoming more and more narrower. Simply, they just reflect what people in Academy have been watching and paying attention to. And that is why we get less and less thematic versatility with the focus on the group Academy voters can easily sympathize with.

[Aemon Stark]

Tsss, Beasts of the Southern Wild was pure poetry. Wallis or Emanuelle Riva should have won that year (probably give it to Riva, since she's a legend. She was the protagonist of Hiroshima Mon Amour after all).

 

It aspires to poetry but couldn't figure out whether it wanted to be naturalistic, magical realism, or about mythic archetypes. Ambitious, I'll give it that, but it didn't really work.

[The Anti-Targ]

Perhaps... But, it all comes down to what Academy has seen. That is why the nominations are becoming more and more narrower. Simply, they just reflect what people in Academy have been watching and paying attention to. And that is why we get less and less thematic versatility with the focus on the group Academy voters can easily sympathize with.

Anyone who wants to be a serious Oscar contender will send out DVDs of their movies to all and sundry who have Academy votes (which is why you see a lot of those DVD rips on...parallel... streaming services, not that I ever use those services of course. Still it does require those voters to bother themselves with watching movies that they get sent that they haven;t already gone out of their way to see because they want to see a movie.

I don't think lack of seeing the movie is Beast of No Nation's problem. There are plenty of limited release / low grossing movies with nominations in at least one category. It also got nominations for the Golden Globes, so it's not like the movie's been forgotten by anyone.

[HexMachina]

Mad Max is taking a fair few awards so far http://variety.com/2016/film/news/critics-choice-awards-winners-list-2016-1201681953/. 

Stallone won supporting actor btw

[DireWolfSpirit]

Brie Larson just took the Critcs Choice Best Actress award.