Academy Award nominations are out

[757690]

Straight Outta Compton? Brother, please.

I really liked Dope. It's problem was that it was a small crowd-pleaser that got released too early. The Academy rarely goes for that type and it had nothing to do with race...

Some excellent acting in Straight Out of Compton, even if the movie wasn't all that special.

And Room was just as small as Dope...

[RedEye]

This whole discussion is interesting to me, because I still think Sean Penn (i am sam) was robbed in favor of Denzel Washington (Training Day) in 2001 when the Academy got political.

In that case though, I don't think it was the politics of race as much as the politics of lifetime achievement. Denzel had had so many great roles up to that point and had only won one trophy, a supporting nod for Glory.

In the end, though, we're really talking a subjective judgment that isn't verifiable one way or another. Training Day isn't a great movie, but it's a very gripping good one, and mostly because of Washington's performance. And Sean Penn won a few years later anyway, for much the same reason -- you can only give out one Oscar at a time.

[RedTeamGo!]

I am Sam?

Everyone knows you can't go full ......

[RedEye]

I am Sam?

Everyone knows you can't go full ......

Is that a Tropic Thunder reference?

[klw]

Odd question: Why are there separate categories for Actors and Actresses? They put on a performance and gender should not matter in how they are recognized. No one would ever abide by a category of "Best Performance by a Person of Color" so why is there a differentiation based on gender. It was just my odd thought for the day.

[ac084c]

I am Sam?

Everyone knows you can't go full ......

Dustin Hoffman says hello.

edit: I still haven't seen Tropic Thunder - though I've been told by many that I should.

[RedTeamGo!]

Dustin Hoffman says hello.

edit: I still haven't seen Tropic Thunder - though I've been told by many that I should.

Dustin Hoffman was autistic, not mentally retarded in Rain Man

[*BaseClogger*]

I think Best Supporting Actor was the most crowded field. Tough luck for Elba, but there are several others I'd put right there with him.

Some excellent acting in Straight Out of Compton, even if the movie wasn't all that special.

And Room was just as small as Dope...

I mean, I guess you can make a pretty good argument when you ignore the other two characteristics I listed like "crowd-pleaser" and "released too early". There's plenty of small movies that get some Oscar lovin...

[BuckeyeRed27]

I just think that movie is going to lose a lot on the small screen. The scenery was incredible to me and the fact they used absolutely no artificial lighting.

I watched it on a screener and I will concede that given the scope of the movie you do probably lose something. Doug and I have a very similar review of the movie. It looks cool, it's very well acted, but the story is just whatever and for me I thought it was absurdly long and didn't need to be.

[ac084c]

Dustin Hoffman was autistic, not mentally retarded in Rain Man

True. Tom Hanks then (I realize that the Tropic Thunder quote addresses this too).

[*BaseClogger*]

I watched it on a screener and I will concede that given the scope of the movie you do probably lose something. Doug and I have a very similar review of the movie. It looks cool, it's very well acted, but the story is just whatever and for me I thought it was absurdly long and didn't need to be.

It's funny how subjective this stuff can be Bolded above is my (and I think others from reading these threads) #HotTaek on The Hateful Eight...

[RedTeamGo!]

True. Tom Hanks then (I realize that the Tropic Thunder quote addresses this too).

Forrest isn't mentally retarded, he just has a low iq.

[ac084c]

I understand. I guess I don't think you can separate story from the overall viewing experience. How you see something affects what you think of it. You might be able to get the story just from reading the screenplay too, but you wouldn't get the overall effect and amplification that the director intended to certain scenes -- especially in a film like this one, where we are less talking about complex plot twists than we are about intense experiences and the grandeur of natural scenery.

I guess I just bring it up (the Academy getting political) because I think they deliberately wanted to pair up the first tandem best actor/actress by persons of color that year (with Berry's win for Monster's Ball). Which was made all the more meaningful on the same night that Sidney Poitier (the first man of color to win a major award) got a lifetime achievement award.

[Raisor]

Forrest isn't mentally retarded, he just has a low iq.

Your momma sure does care about your education.

[RedEye]

I guess I just bring it up (the Academy getting political) because I think they deliberately wanted to pair up the first tandem best actor/actress by persons of color that year (with Berry's win for Monster's Ball). Which was made all the more meaningful on the same night that Sidney Poitier (the first man of color to win a major award) got a lifetime achievement award.

Sure, I can see that. Politics is part of the Oscars though. As we all know, the best films and the best performances of the year rarely win anyway (or at least the films that most critics deem most notable in terms of film history). Oscar is heavily skewed in terms of certain kinds of films, certain kinds of performances, and certain kinds of people. Always has been, and probably always will be since the voting Academy is made up of certain types of people too. Given that, I don't think it is surprising that race is a perennial issue, that comedies almost never win, that violence (at least of the thrilling action movie sort) and genre play (in the Tarantino sense) are less valued artistically than they are generally in film going.

I'm a film nerd. I love the Oscars, but I don't take them too seriously. Doing so would be bad for my health.

I will say that I am curious to see what Chris Rock will do with the stage this time around. His last hosting performance was uneven -- at times brilliant, at others flat.