Oscars 2021

[Frau Muller]

Big yawn!!! ?
For the first time in my long life, I DID NOT CARE! Didn’t tune in; not even for the Red Carpet. It used to be a family event - since Mary Poppins & Sound of Music times, LOL.

Lowest viewing rates ever, I just read. Under 10 mill.

Oscar Viewership Rises To 10.4M In Final Numbers; Remains Least Watched & Lowest Rated Academy Awards Ever – Update

Even before the show, predictions were dire for the 93rd Academy Awards viewership ...they weren't wrong

deadline.com

Maybe due to ******? Due to folks having more entertainment options? Or...tired of Hollywood PC dictates and such? Who cares? I’m in & out of this thread just to post this incredible story. How the world changes.

 

[Parsley Sage]

There was a letter sent to all the nominees a few weeks ago with "instructions" about their speeches. Instructions were to make them personal and not just list a bunch of names. It's possible they were all given the option of submitting a speech for the teleprompter that could have been uploaded during their walk to the stage.

The producers did 45 minute interviews with all the nominees ahead of the show. That's where the random trivia bits during the presentations came from.

 

[overedge]

That being said, I did think that several of the winners seemed well prepared for their speeches, and it looked like at least some had their speeches pre-loaded into teleprompters, so maybe this year was different. There was also a lot more synchronization required to ensure that people in other locations were in place and ready to go when the camera went to them.

I was suspicious about Florian Zeller, the screenplay winner, who was in Paris. Somehow, mysteriously, there was an Oscar on hand to give to him But there were a couple of other nominees who were standing in the same spot later, so maybe the Academy sent an Oscar over just in case.

 

[overedge]

Also, the thing that annoyed me most of all about the show is that they didn't include Adam Schlesinger in the In Memoriam segment. The guy was a previous nominee, for the absolutely brilliant That Thing You Do!. How hard must it be to write a song that is played about 10 times in a 2 hour movie, and NOT have people get sick of it?

I may be misremembering, but wasn't Adam part of the In Memoriam segment last year?

 

[screech]

I may be misremembering, but wasn't Adam part of the In Memoriam segment last year?

Adam died last April 1st, the Oscars was in February. He was likely included in the Emmys broadcast (he won Emmys for writing songs for Crazy Ex Girlfriend)

 

[overedge]

Adam died last April 1st, the Oscars was in February. He was likely included in the Emmys broadcast (he won Emmys for writing songs for Crazy Ex Girlfriend)

That's right. He was in the montage at the Grammys too.

He also should have been in the Oscars montage for "Pop Goes My Heart" and the other songs in Words and Music.

 

[MacMadame]

Well he’s dead so it’s not like winning it was going to give him career opportunities.

Or that he has any idea what happened.

 

[starrynight]

I think they need to put streaming movies into the Oscars. I always carefully monitor everything that goes up on streaming, but I don't think that I've even heard of any of these films. I think because cinemas have been closed in lots of the world this past year, there hasn't been any hype about cinema releases.

 

[VALuvsMKwan]

In theory though, no one but the accounting firm knows the winners in advance, so had they done that, it would have indicated that the winners were known to the show's producers and production designers well before the ceremony.

That being said, I did think that several of the winners seemed well prepared for their speeches, and it looked like at least some had their speeches pre-loaded into teleprompters, so maybe this year was different. There was also a lot more synchronization required to ensure that people in other locations were in place and ready to go when the camera went to them.

Just listen to poor Judy Garland (the real one, not that thing played by Renee Zellweger) on her experience for the 1954 Oscar ceremony in 1955.

Judy Garland - Oscar Story + The Man That Got Away

From The Judy Garland Show # 4

youtu.be

 

[Jenny]

I was suspicious about Florian Zeller, the screenplay winner, who was in Paris. Somehow, mysteriously, there was an Oscar on hand to give to him But there were a couple of other nominees who were standing in the same spot later, so maybe the Academy sent an Oscar over just in case.

The ones they hand out at ceremonies aren't the final one they get - they take them around to the parties after, but then they either send it back or get another one with the engraving with their names.

Here's a really fun BTS article about how the Emmys were handled, so perhaps it was a similar arrangement for the Oscars.

 

[annie720]

TCM usual does a nice job for its In Memoriam montage. Here's the one they did for 2020, posted in December. https://www.tcm.com/video/066667061/tcm-remembers-2020-tcm-original

 

[overedge]

The ones they hand out at ceremonies aren't the final one they get - they take them around to the parties after, but then they either send it back or get another one with the engraving with their names.

Oh, I know it wasn't the final Oscar. It just looked kind of suspicious that he was a nominee and there just happened to be an Oscar on hand in Paris.

 

[overedge]

I think they need to put streaming movies into the Oscars. I always carefully monitor everything that goes up on streaming, but I don't think that I've even heard of any of these films. I think because cinemas have been closed in lots of the world this past year, there hasn't been any hype about cinema releases.

I think there were quite a few nominated movies this year that were streamed. The best documentary (My Octopus Teacher) is on Netflix and I don't think it's had a theatrical release.

ETA: There's usually a requirement that films had to have a theatrical release to be nominated, but the Academy waived that this year: https://www.indiewire.com/gallery/best-movies-eligible-2021-oscars/

 

[allezfred]

Am watching the highlights now and if ever there was a need for an orchestra to cut people off it was this year.

 

[starrynight]

I think there were quite a few nominated movies this year that were streamed. The best documentary (My Octopus Teacher) is on Netflix and I don't think it's had a theatrical release.

Oh ok. I'm clearly way out of the loop - I just scrolled through some news articles with photos of attendees etc and I was completely clueless about who and what I was looking at. Probably a symptom of how much the cinema and entertainment industry has taken a hit over the last year ... although ironically we have all been glued to screens watching streaming? Maybe if we don't see a heap of red carpet photos all the time in magazines we don't get to be told who the 'latest star' is by film studios.

 

[MacMadame]

Am watching the highlights now and if ever there was a need for an orchestra to cut people off it was this year.

I actually was happy that people got to get their moment without feeling rushed.

 

[allezfred]

I actually was happy that people got to get their moment without feeling rushed.

There’s “having a moment” and then there’s “rambling on without end”.....

 

[screech]

Is Anthony Hopkins the first neurodivergent person to win an Oscar? The diagnosis hadn't been made at the time of his first win, however in 2017 he revealed that he's been diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome.

In any case, aside from the set, the highlight of the whole awards show for me was the first 10 minutes with Regina King. The intro with her long walk made it seem like it was going to be a great night. I wish that had lasted throughout the night.

 

[VGThuy]

I am very upset that Chadwick was not given the best actor Oscar. It was his last chance. Reeks of racism, IMO. The Academy is racist. It's not new. I have decided not to watch the Oscars in the future. I can watch the movies and make my own decisions.

You think Chadwick should have won because he died and was black? That seems the be the main argument I’m seeing here and nothing about whether Hopkins actually gave a performance worthy of an award over Boseman. It’s kind of like the opposite situation where people who were not supporting Boseman’s win were saying Boseman dying caused a huge narrative for him to win and was robbing Riz Ahmed and other nominees a chance of winning and were thus only attributing his perceived Oscar win only to his death and his fame due to Black Panther rather than his performance. I thought that was an unfair way to view Boseman’s whole Oscar narrative but it seems they may have a point since a lot of his supporters only bring up his death and race as to why he should have won. That kind of feeds to those who were not on board with giving the award to Boseman who said he was only winning because of his death. He’s not the first nor will he be the last black actor to lose so I’m confused why this specific loss is the one that will make one quit the Oscars when there have been brilliant performances in the past that have lost too.

I had my fair share of winners that I hated but I got over it. Boseman may be a disappointment loss but he lost to a highly regarded performance that some think is one of the best performances of the past few years and wasn’t a product of a huge studio campaign or over-the-top Oscar push.

 

[skatingfan5]

Oh, I know it wasn't the final Oscar. It just looked kind of suspicious that he was a nominee and there just happened to be an Oscar on hand in Paris.

I thought that they would have at least one Oscar statuette replica at each of the remote locations to use if/when any nominees there did win. Maybe I’m wrong about that.

 

[puglover]

I am so out of the loop I hardly know there is a loop but I thought the whole thing was a total bore. Watching a few of the actresses make their way to and from the stage was nail bite inducing but I gather due to coviid they probably can't touch them.

 

[MacMadame]

I thought that they would have at least one Oscar statuette replica at each of the remote locations to use if/when any nominees there did win. Maybe I’m wrong about that.

If I were in charge, that is what I would do.

This Oscar broadcast wasn't perfect but I liked the idea and some of the execution better than the events in a big auditorium with lots of production numbers and schtick.

 

[Parsley Sage]

The Oscar you are handed on stage is the Oscar you keep. They always make sure to have enough on hand for all of the potential winners so for categories where there are multiple people on the nomination (Picture, Shorts, Song, Animated Feature etc) they make sure they have enough statuettes for the nominee with the most people.

There is an engraving station at the Governor's Ball after the show. They make up nameplates for all the nominees ahead of time and destroy the loser's nameplates.

They might have done something different this year as I don't think they had a Governor's Ball.

 

[kedrin]

This Oscar broadcast wasn't perfect but I liked the idea and some of the execution better than the events in a big auditorium with lots of production numbers and schtick.

Agreed. I liked that they didn't play people off and encouraged personal speeches. I liked the lack of schtick, the venue, and the smaller feel overall.

I didn't like: the memorial segment was rushed, and I wanted clips of the work. I also don't like the presenter directly speaking to each nominee, which they've been doing in recent years.

 

[overedge]

I also don't like the presenter directly speaking to each nominee, which they've been doing in recent years.

I agree. It's not like the presenter is going to say something like "You were terrible in this movie and only got cast in it because your agent is so pushy" ?

 

[kedrin]

I know, right?

 

[overedge]

You think Chadwick should have won because he died and was black? That seems the be the main argument I’m seeing here and nothing about whether Hopkins actually gave a performance worthy of an award over Boseman.

The other argument is that Hopkins won because he's old, and who knows how many more movies he'll be able to make. So it's more of a "lifetime achievement award" than it is actually about his performance being the best of the five that were nominated.

IIRC there was a lot of outrage that Boseman wasn't nominated for an acting award for Black Panther.

 

[genevieve]

The other argument is that Hopkins won because he's old, and who knows how many more movies he'll be able to make. So it's more of a "lifetime achievement award" than it is actually about his performance being the best of the five that were nominated.

Except he already has a Best Actor Oscar (no need for lifetime achievement), and all the buzz that I've seen has been that the performance is really that good.

 

[overedge]

Except he already has a Best Actor Oscar (no need for lifetime achievement), and all the buzz that I've seen has been that the performance is really that good.

I'm not saying I agree with this opinion - just that I've seen it being floated as an explanation of why Hopkins won when pretty much everyone thought Boseman would win.

 

[Japanfan]

Big yawn!!! ?
For the first time in my long life, I DID NOT CARE! Didn’t tune in; not even for the Red Carpet. It used to be a family event - since Mary Poppins & Sound of Music times, LOL.

Lowest viewing rates ever, I just read. Under 10 mill.

Oscar Viewership Rises To 10.4M In Final Numbers; Remains Least Watched & Lowest Rated Academy Awards Ever – Update

Even before the show, predictions were dire for the 93rd Academy Awards viewership ...they weren't wrong

deadline.com

Maybe due to ******? Due to folks having more entertainment options? Or...tired of Hollywood PC dictates and such? Who cares? I’m in & out of this thread just to post this incredible story. How the world changes.

I think it's because people haven't been going to the movies this year due to the pandemic. Could be because people weren't interested in seeing some of the top films. Not sure, but I'm sure looking forward to seeing 'Nomadland' and 'Minari' and 'The Sound of Metal', once they become available on demand. Well, I think they are now for $20, but that's a steal. I'll wait until they become cheaper - shouldn't be too long.