Oscars 2016

[PeterG]

I really think that there is a hell of a lot more to diversity than the colour of one's skin. For example, in the lead actress category, of the 5 ladies nominated, there are 4 different nationalities (USA - Lawrence and Larson, Ireland - Ronan, England - Rampling, Australia - Blanchett), and 4 different nationalities in supporting ladies as well (USA, UK, Sweden, Canada). What about mother tongues? Brie Larson grew up in a French speaking household, Alicia Vikander - Swedish. What about religion and ancestry?

I am sorry, but...how is this diversity? Maybe in a world solely inhabited by skinny English/Swedish-speaking white people, this counts as diversity.

Well, when you think about it, there really is quite a lot of colour in this example. You've got one blonde, one sandy blonde, one dyed-blonde AND one brunette. And you know it's only those f***ing gingers who are going to complain about these nominees, can I get a HELL YEAH??!!

 

[Xela M]

I've not seen 'Hugo', as I hate anything to do with magic/science fiction/kids-led films, but are people claiming it's better than 'Goodfellas'?!

 

[VGThuy]

Not to spoil anything too much for you, but Hugo isn't about magic (other than movie magic) and it's not science fiction either. It's about the technology and art and craftsmanship behind early film making. It is told in a quasi-fantasy way, however.

 

[Xela M]

Not to spoil anything too much for you, but Hugo isn't about magic (other than movie magic) and it's not science fiction either. It's about the technology and art and craftsmanship behind early film making. It is told in a quasi-fantasy way, however.

Aha. The trailer led me to believe it's fantasy/magic/kids-led. Maybe I'll give it a try soon

 

[vesperholly]

I'm still in love with Scorcese's treatment of Edith Wharton's Age of Innocence. It's still one of my faves.

I LOVE Age of Innocence too. One of my favorite movies.

 

[MR-FAN]

I had to search Middle Eastern countries specifically before I realised that Wikipedia had put the only Middle Eastern person to be nominated under the Asian category. Shohreh Aghdashloo was nominated in 2003 for The House of Sand and Fog for Best Supporting Actress.

Omar Sharif is another middle-eastern actor who was nominated for supporting actor in '62 for Lawrence of Arabia (and totally should've won )

 

[Jay42]

Well, when you think about it, there really is quite a lot of colour in this example. You've got one blonde, one sandy blonde, one dyed-blonde AND one brunette. And you know it's only those f***ing gingers who are going to complain about these nominees, can I get a HELL YEAH??!!

As a red-headed woman I am extremely offended by the lack of Ginger representation in the Awards Season this year. I mean last yet we had Emma Stone and this year we have nothing.

Omar Sharif is another middle-eastern actor who was nominated for supporting actor in '62 for Lawrence of Arabia (and totally should've won )

Thank you. I was having a really hard time finding Middle Eastern actors and it was super late last night when I was doing all that digging so I kind of gave up after 3 or 4 Google searches failed me. I forgot Natalie Portman as well, she was born in Israel.

 

[Spareoom]

As a red-headed woman I am extremely offended by the lack of Ginger representation in the Awards Season this year. I mean last yet we had Emma Stone and this year we have nothing.

Thank you. I was having a really hard time finding Middle Eastern actors and it was super late last night when I was doing all that digging so I kind of gave up after 3 or 4 Google searches failed me. I forgot Natalie Portman as well, she was born in Israel.

Emma Stone isn't even a real ginger.

 

[Xela M]

Ahh, I don't follow the ins and outs of movie making as much as I used to. I didn't know that.
Yes, the only ones that seem to get easy big money probably are action flicks, especially the summer time releases.

i didn't know that. Why? (curious)

As far as I recall it was to do with his closeness with Elia Kazan (the whole McCarthyism thing)

Omar Sharif is another middle-eastern actor who was nominated for supporting actor in '62 for Lawrence of Arabia (and totally should've won )

Omar Sharif as Nick Arnstein in "Funny Girl"... just... swoon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU6DqMyFDOU

 

[PeterG]

Well, when you think about it, there really is quite a lot of colour in this example. You've got one blonde, one sandy blonde, one dyed-blonde AND one brunette. And you know it's only those f***ing gingers who are going to complain about these nominees, can I get a HELL YEAH??!!

As a red-headed woman I am extremely offended by the lack of Ginger representation in the Awards Season this year. I mean last yet we had Emma Stone and this year we have nothing.

Oh, man....!

 

[Jay42]

Emma Stone isn't even a real ginger.

I know. She was just the most recent person I could think of. I should have gone for Jessica Chastain instead. Or Benedict Cumberbatch who apparently is a natural red head and dyes his hair brown.

Oh, man....!

Sorry I was typing on my iPad. I'll admit I was having trouble with the wording but it's hard to accurately convey sarcasm on a slightly awkward touch screen trying to spell all the words right in the very short time I had to get it out before I had to go back to work.

P.S. Not actually offended. That takes way to much energy that I could spend on other things. Like figuring out if Suicide Squad is going to be good or not and watching the Stargate shows for the 5th time.

 

[PeterG]

I know. She was just the most recent person I could think of. I should have gone for Jessica Chastain instead. Or Benedict Cumberbatch who apparently is a natural red head and dyes his hair brown.

Sorry I was typing on my iPad. I'll admit I was having trouble with the wording but it's hard to accurately convey sarcasm on a slightly awkward touch screen trying to spell all the words right in the very short time I had to get it out before I had to go back to work.

P.S. Not actually offended. That takes way to much energy that I could spend on other things. Like figuring out if Suicide Squad is going to be good or not and watching the Stargate shows for the 5th time.

No...your post was perfect! I was just trying to keep the joke going. Looks like I failed......

 

[dramatheater]

To me the biggest snub is 'Straight Outta Compton' - great movie and should be a best picture nominee!
When I see that 'Brooklyn' was nominated - I just can not compare. 'Straight..' was such a complex story and so well made. I think Brooklyn has one flaw that took me out of the film - the way Eillis acted near the end of the movie - just bugged me. Just one comment or extra scene would have fixed the issue.
JMHO

Totally agree about 'SOC'! Would have been thrilling to see it nominated! At least it got screenplay nom. btw I wonder if they kept 100% truth of what happened in real life or there were some changes?

Though I dont get what u mean by the way she behaved at the end??

the biggest snub I noticed was F&F 7 song. I totally thought it's gonna win.
Hopefully Spectre one will.

 

[screech]

I did some Googling about non-white Actors and Academy Award Winners and nominations.
...
I had to search Middle Eastern countries specifically before I realised that Wikipedia had put the only Middle Eastern person to be nominated under the Asian category. Shohreh Aghdashloo was nominated in 2003 for The House of Sand and Fog for Best Supporting Actress.

I wanted to stick to these specific groups because there is a pretty good knowledge base of Africa/British-African/African-American nominees and winners.

Middle Eastern - Natalie Portman (Israel) won for Black Swan

Actualy, regarding Africa, there have only ever been 5 acting nominees, with 2 wins (Charlize Theron and Lupita Nyongo)

 

[smurfy]

Though I dont get what u mean by the way she behaved at the end??
.

I thought she was cruel to the Irish guy. I think if there was a scene or a mention that he was an old boyfriend or someone she had a crush on in the past would have helped. Or at least one moment where she said to him - I have a boyfriend in Brooklyn. She really led him on. She did speak up at her sister's employer, or at least attempted. To me she seemed passive, undecisive. If her earlier decisions in Brooklyn had mattered to her, she would not behave as she did in Ireland. I wonder in the editing process - one little scene/comment was left out.
I saw this movie in my preview film club and there is a discussion afterwards. I know I am alone in my thinking. I was loving the movie up til then, but her passive behavior pulled me out of the movie/story so the ending fell flat.

 

[Jimena]

I'd really appreciate spoiler tags...

 

[Xela M]

Omg, I have now seen 'The Room'. I expected to hate it because the trailer looked very sentimental and I don't like kids in lead roles (or most roles). It looked like a movie Hugh Grant would starr in. But... I cried the whole film through from the first scene to the last - it was so realistic and the acting of the cast was superb. The kid was incredible! Not what I expected at all. I liked it!

My daughter is just a bit older than that boy and the relationship between the mother and the kid and the boy's reactions to things were very believable.

 

[Vash01]

Omg, I have now seen 'The Room'. I expected to hate it because the trailer looked very sentimental and I don't like kids in lead roles (or most roles). It looked like a movie Hugh Grant would starr in. But... I cried the whole film through from the first scene to the last - it was so realistic and the acting of the cast was superb. The kid was incredible! Not what I expected at all. I liked it!

My daughter is just a bit older than that boy and the relationship between the mother and the kid and the boy's reactions to things were very believable.

'Room' (not 'The Room'- - I did the same thing until I saw the title) is a great movie, IMO. It's loosely based on real events that we heard or read about. Those stories were horrifying, but seeing similar things on the movie screen made it an even bigger impact. The movie shows very effectively not only the horror of being trapped in a hopeless situation, and yet finding love (in the child). Not only that, it shows that after the escape life is not easy, or 'happily ever after'. It really made me think. The next day I was still thinking of that movie. Brie and Jacob totally carried that movie without being melodramatic. IMO the director did a fantastic job. It really bothers me that Jacob did not get an Oscar nomination. I read that before they started filming, Brie and Jacob spent some time together.

Xela, you really should see some of the kids movies. There are some good ones out there. I think we already talked about 'Hugo'.

 

[Vash01]

I saw this movie in my preview film club and there is a discussion afterwards. I know I am alone in my thinking. I was loving the movie up til then, but her passive behavior pulled me out of the movie/story so the ending fell flat.

Spoiler

She was imperfect, like the rest of us. She was confused. When she went to Ireland upon her sister's death, she had no idea that the place would appear so different to her after living in NY. Before leaving she had no life in Ireland and that's why she left. During her visit, she got the things she would have loved to have, and she got caught in it. She forgot for a short time what happened in NY; it was almost like being reborn in Ireland. When the old lady reminds her that she was actually married to the guy in NY, it shook her up. She realized what her responsibility was. She had been a shy young woman all her life, and it was difficult for her to directly tell the new (Irish) man in her life what the reality was. She did write him a note, so it's not like she was totally irresponsible. To me, her behavior was understandable, given her nature and her surroundings. [\spoiler]

 

[Cachoo]

I've not seen 'Hugo', as I hate anything to do with magic/science fiction/kids-led films, but are people claiming it's better than 'Goodfellas'?!

I know they share the same director but I believe it is ridiculous to try and compare the two films. They are so different. I would give the director kudos from making two very different but both great films (imho.)

 

[danceronice]

'Room' (not 'The Room'- ) is a great movie, IMO.

Every time someone mentions "Room" I think of the poor people who have mistakenly Googled "The Room" and got the Tommy Wiseau movie instead...

Apparently I am told I should watch "The Revenant", per my boss, not for the plot or anything but apparently the costuming, sets, etc. are incredibly period-appropriate and there's tons on the fur trade. So...research!

 

[Jay42]

No...your post was perfect! I was just trying to keep the joke going. Looks like I failed......

Sorry, my bad. I should have waited to reply and posted today. I could see what you meant today. I need to stop "night posting" when I'm tired. It's creating havoc for me.

 

[Seerek]

I know they share the same director but I believe it is ridiculous to try and compare the two films. They are so different. I would give the director kudos from making two very different but both great films (imho.)

Yes, you have to give Scorcese credit for having a go at movies with a very broad spectrum of premises and backgrounds. I think a lot of that has to do with the diverse screenwriters he's worked with over the years.

I've not seen 'Hugo', as I hate anything to do with magic/science fiction/kids-led films, but are people claiming it's better than 'Goodfellas'?!

I think most movie goers are able to separate between "best" and "personal favourite" (in other words, I know full well that my "personal favourite" movies are far from the "best", but are still favourites for any number of personal reasons).

 

[Xela M]

Apparently I am told I should watch "The Revenant", per my boss, not for the plot or anything but apparently the costuming, sets, etc. are incredibly period-appropriate and there's tons on the fur trade. So...research!

Well, somewhere in this thread someone posted a review comparing the Revenant to watching ISIS put a hostage in a cage and set fire to it. If that's your kind of thing, you will enjoy the film. Otherwise it's pretty repulsive in every sense of the word and there's no real story and barely any dialogue (and half of the little dialogue there is, is in a native American language). It's not a very pleasant way to spend an evening.

 

[VGThuy]

I wonder if some people said similar things regarding Ingmar Bergman films and their depressing content. His films aren't violent, but man can they get under your skin, and I love my reactions to them.

 

[gk_891]

I wonder if some people said similar things regarding Ingmar Bergman films and their depressing content. His films aren't violent, but man can they get under your skin, and I love my reactions to them.

Yes, I love Ingmar Bergman and a lot of his movies are burned into my memory. My personal favourites of his are The Seventh Seal, Shame, Persona, Cries and Whispers, and Autumn Sonata. I also quite liked The Hour of the Wolf and The Passion of Anna.

 

[Karina1974]

Must also give a shout-out to Jennifer Jason Leigh who finally received her first Oscar nomination - I've just seen Dolores Claiborne and she was great in that. Very intense actress, very dedicated in her preparation for roles, but sadly underrated - figures that it would take Quentin Tarantino to give her a part which garners her the mainstream critical notice she deserves.

I have three of her movies: Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle; Single White Female; and Kansas City. I have Georgia on my List on Netflix; I really need to watch it before they decide to take it off.

 

[Vash01]

Lupita Nyongo and others speak up against the lack of inclusion in the Oscars:

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/...ng-o-speaks-out-about-oscar-diversity-n500476

 

[VGThuy]

It's telling that the go-to contrarian "celebrity" being used in the media is Janet Hubert. I found the above article's portrayal of her to be a bit less-than-favorable, and I don't really blame them.

 

[gk_891]

I must be one of the few who didn't like Hugo. I found it a little too precious for my liking.