Awards Season 2016

[mfunk9786]

I mean, maybe I'm just in a bubble, but every critic I care about was making jokes about how terrible Nocturnal Animals was in the past few months, and this forum's fairly universal love of it has frightened and confused me.

Maybe you could............................................................................................see it.

[knives]

Gross that I have to watch Gibson now. At least best animated is a genuinely great set of nominees. Though the worst of the bunch is probably going to win.

[domino harvey]

Gibson's noms are so funny in that the Academy went out of their way to not court controversy by being highly inclusive in all top level categories, but now people will be talking about this instead!

[knives]

I really wish he stayed in exile, but his come back has been brewing for a while now. I just wish it wasn't so successful.

[dda1996a]

Beginners is one of the best films of the last decade, fight me fight me bring it on

Seeing as you like that and Miranda July it's a hopeless battle. I'll just say I didn't hate Beginners, just indifferent

[mfunk9786]

I mean, Fences looks like pure Oscar bait, but outside of that, I really think last year's controversy was just followed up pretty coincidentally with a year of strong, diverse films. I can't see anything here that looks to have been nominated out of some kind of careful political concern, though I'm sure it'll be spun that way, and I'll continue to contend that it's a shame since these are strong films/performances we're talking about, when something like Selma had a good deal of issues and probably was fairly evaluated by the Academy from jump street. The mainstream press giving them an Affirmative Action sneer will be majorly underselling their merits, particularly Moonlight and Ali's beautiful supporting performance.

I still find it absolutely crazy that there wasn't more campaigning (or just discussion) for Trevante Rhodes, as it's his ability to embody the two younger actors' spirit in the final third of that film, and his vulnerability, that sticks with me more than anything in it. Unless there were concerns of vote-splitting, I'd go as far as to call his omission an outright snub.

[Brian C]

Dom is right about Beginners. It's a lovely film, and I'm very happy to see 20th Century Women get a screenplay nomination. Like its predecessor, Women is an extremely delicate balance of tones with an attention to emotional detail that I would describe as something like a novel in cinematic form. It absolutely deserves recognition for its writer, and it's probably the best single call made in this list of nominations this year.

Meanwhile, I haven't seen the film, so can someone briefly explain to me how an animated movie gets nominated for visual effects?

[domino harvey]

[Feego]

Also, Passengers for best score over Arrival?

Arrival's score was disqualified.

[mfunk9786]

Meanwhile, I haven't seen the film, so can someone briefly explain to me how an animated movie gets nominated for visual effects?

They made Benedict Cumberbatch look more lifelike than I ever thought possible, I would say it's an awards-worthy achievement based on that alone.

Wait, which film are we talking about?

[domino harvey]

Passengers got more Oscar noms than Silence, Sully, or Nocturnal Animals!

[DarkImbecile]

It hasn't been mentioned yet, but when it comes to surprises, Viggo Mortensen was not really considered a contender for a nomination six weeks ago for a movie that came out over the summer; even after the SAG attention, I don't think he was considered a lock. That said, I don't know who was snubbed for that spot, except maybe Adam Driver for Paterson. Really a notably top-heavy year for Best Actor, compared to the depth in both actress categories.

[domino harvey]

Yeah, I think Captain Fantastic was this year's screener success story

[Brian C]

I mean, Fences looks like pure Oscar bait, but outside of that, I really think last year's controversy was just followed up pretty coincidentally with a year of strong, diverse films. I can't see anything here that looks to have been nominated out of some kind of careful political concern...

I wouldn't say "careful political concern", but Hidden Figures is an extremely mediocre piece of filmmaking. It's a good enough story that I liked it anyway, and I think that enthusiasm for it is sincere as far as it goes. But I think it's fair to wonder if the political aspect of it was enough to push it from "audience pleasing box office hit" to "Best Picture nominee".

As possible evidence for that position, it didn't get any other nominations other than Spencer for Supporting Actress, and it doesn't seem like anyone will argue very strongly that it was snubbed for anything else. Basically no one seems to think that it was distinctive for its writing or direction or ... anything, really, except the political aspect of it.

ETA: It also got a nomination for Adapted Screenplay, as pointed out later in the thread, which obviously undermines my point.

[mfunk9786]

I don't know who was snubbed for that spot, except maybe Adam Driver for Paterson.

Far too quiet a performance and film. Speaking of quiet, though, I'm sort of shocked that Andrew Garfield wasn't nominated for Silence as well as Hacksaw Ridge, sort of expected to see his name twice in that category as unusual as that would be. Just seemed like a weak enough year for that to happen, and it would've made carmilla mircalla's head spin to our great delight.

[DarkImbecile]

Also, Passengers for best score over Arrival?

Arrival's score was disqualified.

On “Arrival,” the Academy’s music branch ruled unanimously that voters would be influenced by the use of borrowed material in determining the value of Johann Johannsson’s original contributions to Denis Villeneuve’s alien invasion psychodrama.

Per Rule 15 II E of the Academy’s rules and eligibility guidelines, a score “shall not be eligible if it has been diluted by the use of pre-existing music, or it has been diminished in impact by the predominant use of songs or any music not composed specifically for the film by the submitting composer.”

They get to pre-emptively decide that non-relevant material will influence voters and disqualify candidates on that basis? Why don't we have the Academy running American elections?

[mfunk9786]

I mean, Fences looks like pure Oscar bait, but outside of that, I really think last year's controversy was just followed up pretty coincidentally with a year of strong, diverse films. I can't see anything here that looks to have been nominated out of some kind of careful political concern...

I wouldn't say "careful political concern", but Hidden Figures is an extremely mediocre piece of filmmaking. It's a good enough story that I liked it anyway, and I think that enthusiasm for it is sincere as far as it goes. But I think it's fair to wonder if the political aspect of it was enough to push it from "audience pleasing box office hit" to "Best Picture nominee".

As possible evidence for that position, it didn't get any other nominations other than Spencer for Supporting Actress, and it doesn't seem like anyone will argue very strongly that it was snubbed for anything else. Basically no one seems to think that it was distinctive for its writing or direction or ... anything, really, except the political aspect of it.

I think you might be in the minority on that (yuk yuk) as it's been very popular with audiences, and is far and away the standout family film and word-of-mouth champion of 2016. I haven't seen it, but its inclusion isn't surprising at all.

[domino harvey]

I don't know who was snubbed for that spot, except maybe Adam Driver for Paterson.

Far too quiet a performance and film. Speaking of quiet, though, I'm sort of shocked that Andrew Garfield wasn't nominated for Silence as well as Hacksaw Ridge, sort of expected to see his name twice in that category as unusual as that would be. Just seemed like a weak enough year for that to happen, and it would've made carmilla mircalla's head spin to our great delight.

Acting categories cannot have the same actor nominated for different films within the same category

[Brian C]

Acting categories cannot have the same actor nominated for different films within the same category

God damn it, there goes my hope of seeing Vin Diesel nominated for both xXx: Return of Xander Cage and The Fate of the Furious.

[mfunk9786]

I'm surprised to hear that, I thought there was one year where that was a real possibility for Leonardo DiCaprio, of all people. But I stand corrected.

[DarkImbecile]

Since it's one of the only categories where I've seen all the nominees, I'll go ahead and predict that - while La La Land will win Best Picture - there'll be another Picture/Director split and Barry Jenkins will (and should) win for Best Director. I'm probably as big a fan of Chazelle's work on his last two films as anyone, but what Jenkins does with Moonlight is really special. The fact that the three actors playing Chiron never saw each other's work during production and still entirely inhabit that character nearly seamlessly is a sign of the skilled hand guiding them through their performances and couching them in a world that feels continuous even as the character grows and evolves. I could also see an impulse among those who appreciate La La Land - and will heartily give it BP and Actress but want to spread the love - to reward another talented young director with the expectation that they'll have multiple opportunities to reward Chazelle in the future.

[Dr Amicus]

Meanwhile, I haven't seen the film, so can someone briefly explain to me how an animated movie gets nominated for visual effects?

They made Benedict Cumberbatch look more lifelike than I ever thought possible, I would say it's an awards-worthy achievement based on that alone.

Wait, which film are we talking about?

I'm assuming Kubo and the Two Strings - which was stop motion (but doesn't look it, it's extremely smooth). Having seen it I have no problem with the nomination at all, it looks absolutely stunning.

[DarkImbecile]

Also, Passengers for best score over Arrival?

Arrival's score was disqualified.

On “Arrival,” the Academy’s music branch ruled unanimously that voters would be influenced by the use of borrowed material in determining the value of Johann Johannsson’s original contributions to Denis Villeneuve’s alien invasion psychodrama.

Per Rule 15 II E of the Academy’s rules and eligibility guidelines, a score “shall not be eligible if it has been diluted by the use of pre-existing music, or it has been diminished in impact by the predominant use of songs or any music not composed specifically for the film by the submitting composer.”

They get to pre-emptively decide that non-relevant material will influence voters and disqualify candidates on that basis? Why don't we have the Academy running American elections?

Thread-inappropriate political joke aside, does it seem odd to anyone else that the Academy throws out an artist's entire work out of concern that voters won't be able to separate their feelings for another related element of the film? This seems as absurd as disqualifying Jeff Goldblum's performance in The Fly or Brad Pitt's in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button because voters wouldn't be able to disentangle the actor's "real" performance from the prosthetic/puppet/motion-capture work on their characters in the film.

[knives]

Meanwhile, I haven't seen the film, so can someone briefly explain to me how an animated movie gets nominated for visual effects?

I don't know what convinced them in this case, but animated films have always had a side crew for special effects that can't be done with normal animation. All the bubbles in The Little Mermaid for example are special effects and not animation proper.

[Dylan]

Only two big surprises for me. One is Jackie not getting a cinematography nomination (its Super 16mm look has been highly praised) and Passengers getting an original score nomination when there's been absolutely zero buzz about that score in the film music community (far more people have been excited about Abel Korzeniowski's gorgeous Nocturnal Animals score).