Awards Season 2013

[Sonmi451]

To paraphrase Jeremy Goodwin for the nth time, is it the goal of an award show to be cunning?

Perhaps not, but then if it's all a foregone conclusion then they should just do away with the pretensions of suspense.

[lacritfan]

Kevin Spacey is willing to host the Oscars? What the fuck are you waiting for next year's Oscar producers?!

[dad1153]

I missed the "In Memoriam" but is it true they left out Dennis Farina?

The most surprising omissions would probably have to be Jonathan Winters and Bryan Forbes.

Other well-known names left out of the 'In Memoriam' telecast. Most I can understand since they're better known in other fields besides films (Nelson Mandela, Tom Clancy), but a few (Ruth Robinson, Alicia Rhett, Farina) are just puzzling.

[Altair]

Gravity walks away with seven Oscars, 12 Years a Slave with three, including Best Picture, like last year's Argo/I] (yet McQueen's film didn't even manage Best Editing)... Surely it is somehow contradictory that a film is the best film, yet not the best in directing? And if you're not an auterist, how can it be that in virtually all other categories except writing and a performance there were others film that the Academy deems to be superior? It's like it's the compromise choice, while the Best Director winner is the picture the Academy members really think is the finest, yet for various reasons can't quite stomach giving it their highest award.

[captveg]

I do not think it's a contradiction to give Best Director and Best Picture to two different films. They are focusing on different aspects of filmmaking. Auteur theory is not the only way to qualify a film's value. I'd argue that it should be split more often, and I'm glad it has been the last couple years.

[FrauBlucher]

I didn't watch the Oscars (I usually don't), I went to see Child's Pose. But in reading some of the highlights or lowlights, did Kate Blanchett take a verbal swipe at Sandra Bullock when accepting the award?

[CSM126]

I didn't watch the Oscars (I usually don't), I went to see Child's Pose. But in reading some of the highlights or lowlights, did Kate Blanchett take a verbal swipe at Sandra Bullock when accepting the award?

No, but she did tell Julia Roberts to "suck it".

[DarkImbecile]

Domino, I haven't seen Nebraska or Philomena yet either, but I'd be stunned if you (or anyone, really) thinks Dallas Buyer's Club is better than 12 Years a Slave. DBC is basically a competent paint-by-numbers biopic boosted by some excellent performances; perhaps the story might resonate with some people more than that of 12 Years, but on basically every level the latter is superior. In fact, you could make the case that DBC shares most of 12 Years' flaws, without some of its positives.

I couldn't disagree more, really. DBC has more characterization and vibrancy in its first 20 minutes than 12 Years has in its entire considerable running time.

Et tu, Sonmi, so soon after I backed you up in the Out of the Furnace thread? Sigh...

Seriously, though, two points here:

1. As I and others have discussed, 12 Years has different goals than your standard biopic, which necessitates dehumanizing and stripping down some characters while allowing others to blossom into the disgusting, damaged flowers they are, while DBC is almost solely reliant on the audience identifying with and buying into the two main roles (and it pulls this off, I should note; not trying to completely dismiss the value of DBC).

2. As I said above, if you want to compare only the respective stories (and their depth of characterization) and ignore the other elements, I'd still disagree, but it would be a more understandable comparison. But taking a holistic view that takes in the cinematography, editing, score, etc., I'm personally left looking at a significant gap between the two.

[Roger Ryan]

I didn't watch the Oscars (I usually don't), I went to see Child's Pose. But in reading some of the highlights or lowlights, did Kate Blanchett take a verbal swipe at Sandra Bullock when accepting the award?

No, but she did tell Julia Roberts to "suck it".

It was a weird off-hand compliment; something to the effect of "I'll watch you (Sandra Bullock) in GRAVITY until the end of time...and it felt like I was watching it to the end of time." Who knows what that was supposed to mean.

I probably agreed with all of the awards handed out, which is a rarity (no problem with AMERICAN HUSTLE being left out since I think it's significantly over-rated and the weakest of the nine), but the overall incompetence of the telecast itself made me more irritated than usual. How many performers (as in people who are paid to speak in public) seemed incapable of reading a few lines and making them sound coherent?

[Lemmy Caution]

I didn't watch the Oscars (I usually don't), I went to see Child's Pose. But in reading some of the highlights or lowlights, did Kate Blanchett take a verbal swipe at Sandra Bullock when accepting the award?

No, but she did tell Julia Roberts to "suck it".

It was a weird off-hand compliment; something to the effect of "I'll watch you (Sandra Bullock) in GRAVITY until the end of time...and it felt like I was watching it to the end of time." Who knows what that was supposed to mean.

Those space-time continuum jokes never work with large audiences ...

[geoffcowgill]

For a batch of nominees that are among the strongest there have maybe ever been (at least by dint of having very few appallingly unworthy choices), this felt like the worst show of the past nearly twenty years I've been watching this thing. As has been mentioned, it is getting increasingly difficult for there to be any surprises, but I would have found even one to be a nice change. The predictability of the winners only added to the sense of interminability of the evening. Degeneres did a fine job when on stage, but every time she was wandering the aisle and schmoozing, it ground any fleeting sense of momentum the show had to a complete halt. The clip packages were the most arbitrary and irrelevant I think I've ever seen, and the two musical numbers (Pink and Bette Midler) were maddeningly gratuitous. Maybe I've finally achieved a state of mature jadedness. Oh well, I'm sure it will wear off in eleven months.

There were some burning questions I had, that perhaps some of you may be able to answer:

Who was Jennifer Lawrence calling out for laughing at her as she came to present Best Actor? She seemed genuinely irritated.

What was Cate Blanchett's intention in what certainly sounded like a backhanded compliment to Bullock?

Was Harrison Ford drunk?

[Black Hat]

Thought Blanchett and Lawrence were joking. Blanchett's joke about Gravity I think was about the film being in space and the disaster that happened feeling like it would be about the end of time. Harrison Ford wasn't drunk, I think he's reached the I'm old and don't care about anything stage of life.

Degeneres was surprisingly good. She made the atmosphere far looser than it had been in recent years. The issue with the show has never been one to do with host as its quality can only swing the pendulum so far. The issue remains that the program is way too long. They're never going to cut down on the commercials so what they need to do is cut out the musical numbers. Nobody needs to see Karen O, U2 and Pharrell perform.

The one celebrity observation I couldn't get enough of was how uncomfortable Dicaprio looked in his seat the whole night. Felt bad for the guy.

[DarkImbecile]

Geoff: Worse than the Franco fiasco? I thought that was easily the worst in memory, with bad hosting, "themes", award decisions, and acceptance speeches combining for a perfect storm of Oscar hell...

[Finch]

If you were wondering why John Ridley was giving Steve McQueen the cold shoulder, apparently Fox Searchlight told both to keep quiet about their dspute re screenwriting credit for McQueen.

[Feego]

...and because I was killing time before the show started by reading one of those Oscar books I picked up, I can now confirm, per our earlier debate, that according to the numerous citations within Inside Oscar 2 Braveheart was not only not pegged to win in 1995, it was actually running fourth for most predictors. Much confusion from pundits and celebs alike greeted its win. Apparently golden child Meryl Streep even mouthed something along the lines of "What the fuck" when it won, which is awesome. Anyways, back to the present....

Streep does look surprised in this clip, but not necessarily unhappy, and she doesn't mouth anything on camera.

[domino harvey]

Who was Jennifer Lawrence calling out for laughing at her as she came to present Best Actor? She seemed genuinely irritated.

What interrupted Jennifer Lawrence's presentation of the best actor trophy?

That would be Ellen DeGeneres and the cast of "Dallas Buyers Club."

As the "American Hustle" actress waltzed on stage, DeGeneres cautiously exited, making sure last year's best actress winner didn't take another tumble before DeGeneres, who had earlier teased Lawrence about falling, got off stage.

While most of the crowd didn't catch the joke, Jared Leto, Matthew McConaughey and their cohorts laughed loudly, causing Lawrence to go off script.

McConaughey had the last laugh.

He won the best actor prize seconds later.

[domino harvey]

In case you missed it, Kimmel remade viral videos with movie stars instead of doing another Movie: the Movie, and the best was easily Ameowadeus starring Christoph Waltz, Kevin Spacey, Gary Oldman Ben Kingsley, Mandy Patinkin, Abbie Cornish, and Kimmel himself

[geoffcowgill]

Geoff: Worse than the Franco fiasco? I thought that was easily the worst in memory, with bad hosting, "themes", award decisions, and acceptance speeches combining for a perfect storm of Oscar hell...

I'm willing to concede that my reaction may have been in part colored by having an enthusiastic sense of faith in the Academy based on the general quality of the nominees, the naive hope that this year's show was going to be special in some way. Maybe it's more appropriate to say that the show disappointed me more than any other I remember seeing. As far as the Franco/Hathaway show, I have to admit to being, to some extent, entertained by the hapless amateurism of it. I still maintain, though, that this year's show as a prepared program was almost unconscionably dull.

Thanks, Black Hat and Domino, for answering my questions.

[lacritfan]

If you were wondering why John Ridley was giving Steve McQueen the cold shoulder, apparently Fox Searchlight told both to keep quiet about their dspute re screenwriting credit for McQueen.

Ah, figured it had to be something like that. That's a shame.

[mfunk9786]

The Academy's voting system is broken.

[swo17]

I don't know how you could prevent that from happening in any kind of voting system, and I'm sure it's happened many times in the past.

[Andre Jurieu]

Considering we often encounter the question of "can I include a movie that I've never watched on my list just because of its reputation?" within our own forum, I have no idea how you would ever stop it from happening for the Oscars.

[domino harvey]

This is nothing new at all

[swo17]

Besides, I'm sure a few people voted for Gravity without having seen it for fear of angering the physical laws that govern us.

[Feego]

I believe I read somewhere that one major star (was it Charlton Heston?) used to give his ballot to his wife to fill out. I'm sure that happens a lot too.