comment #1

BoomerSooner says ...

Picking up your reward > Family vacation?

Good to see bloggers have their priorities in order.

comment #2

EdHavens says ...

Whether or not she wants the Oscar, the fact of the matter is, the award is important to the film and the people who put up the money to make it. Lee Daniels and his producers have every right and expectation for the stars of the film to participate in all aspects of publicity for the film, and yes, that includes the fucking Oscars, the fucking Golden Globes, the fucking New York Film Critics Circle and any other fucking award ceremony that a representative for the film could logically be expected to attend.

And you can't tell me Mo'Nique didn't know for close to a year now that she was going to be positioned as an award front runner, and she couldn't plan accordingly. Take a family vacation in September, a month before the awards season starts and two months before the film is even released. Don't take on a new television show just before the start of an awards season you know is coming.

Mo'Nique was blessed with the part of a lifetime, and she owes it to those who believed in her to help them keep the film relevant for years to come.

(For the record, I've had a screener sitting atop my entertainment stand for two months now and I have no desire to see the film.)

comment #3

sumo-pop says ...

Oh for the love of god, I will be so glad when this awards season is over and you can move onto something else. I love your site, check it 2-3 times a day, but please give this a rest.

comment #4

BoomerSooner says ...

Quite frankly, if she rather spend time with her family and go on a holiday vacation, she has every right to do so.

If she honestly doesn't care about the award, or if she wants to let the performance speak for itself, then by all means, enjoy the time with your family and enjoy the relaxing time.

Just because some bratty film bloggers get pissed off that she doesn't put the utmost importance on an awards ceremony doesn't mean she's obligated to put everything on hold for it to pass.

If the voters are going to let the actions of the performer get in the way of the performance, then it's pretty clear that their credibility is shot to hell.

comment #5

lazarus says ...

Kill the pig! Slit her throat! Bash her in!

comment #6

Jeffrey Wells says ...

What do you think, sumo-pop? That I leaned on Whitty to write what he wrote?

comment #7

EdHavens says ...

Sorry, Boomer, but if you think Stephen Whitty is a mere "bratty film blogger," you clearly have zero idea of what you're talking about.

comment #8

austin111 says ...

Ummm.....onceuponatime awards actually meant something. But now they're given out by every Tom, Dick, and Harriet who can form a group and call themselves judge/critic/arbiter of cultural taste and excellence. I mean maybe Mo'nique is just making a statement that these awards are just shite to her, given out by folks who want to use you to promote their self-importance. I dunno.......so maybe she don't want no stinkin' oscars --- she may or may not live to regret, but that's her choice at least.

comment #9

Sams says ...

Gauging who deserves to win is highly subjective and even emotional. And we have seen also very susceptible to the wiles of Harvey Weinstein. All is not yet lost, Jeff.

comment #10

BoomerSooner says ...

EdHavens, I was talking more about Wells.

comment #11

Chase Kahn says ...

"Oh for the love of god, I will be so glad when this awards season is over and you can move onto something else. I love your site, check it 2-3 times a day, but please give this a rest."

Are you talking about "Avatar?"

comment #12

EdHavens says ...

Boomer... if you have such a low opinion of Wells, why do you come here? Seems to speak volumes about your own character.

Austin... we aren't talking about just any critics group. The NYFCC's been doing this for 75 years now. Hardly a fly-by-night organization.

comment #13

BoomerSooner says ...

I come here because, oftentimes, Wells' hypocrisy, superiority complex, and demeaning and pretentious behavior prompts me to speak out.

Also, at the end of the day, if the NYFCC don't give Mo'Nique the award because she doesn't want to go to the ceremony (and this reason alone), they don't have the credibility to be taken seriously. Their history aside, if her actions affect her chances, it's hard to take that group of critics seriously.

And judging by Wells' incessant rambling and insults aimed at her, I can assume this is a possibility.

comment #14

BoomerSooner says ...

Don't mind the typos, by the way. I didn't edit that post.

comment #15

Chris Willman says ...

EdHavens: "Don't take on a new television show just before the start of an awards season you know is coming."

Seriously? Pass on getting your own talk show so you can prioritize going to critics' awards?

I just saw her on Kilborne a few nights ago. Not sure if it was a first-run or rerun. But it's not as if she blew off all publicity for the film.

The more shit Mo'Nique gets for this, the more I like her.

comment #16

Phreaker says ...

NYFCC = nobodys. All that matters is who gets their awards on paper so that it can be used in advertising. No one cares who goes to their dumb show. No one. Not a single person. Anyone who says it matters knows absolutely nothing.

comment #17

Chris Willman says ...

Stephen Whitty: "...most of us are, I suspect, way past getting starstruck by meeting the co-lead of Soul Plane."

OUCH! THAT'LL TEACH HER! SNAP!

Thinking that Oscar voters are consciously keeping track of who does or doesn't show up at the New York critics' awards comes dangerously close to delusions of grandeur.

comment #18

EdHavens says ...

"Seriously? Pass on getting your own talk show so you can prioritize going to critics' awards?"

Because BET would have said "Fuck no" if she asked if they could wait a few months?

I'll give you a damn good example of how important critics awards can be... I've been playing The Hurt Locker for 20 weeks at my theatre now, and we've done as much business in the past two weeks on it as we did the first 18. Critics awards matter, because they kick people in the ass to check out films they might not have otherwise checked out. And in turn, critics groups do help Academy members separate the wheat from the chaff for many of the same reasons.

When the 1987 Academy Award nominees were announced, The Last Emperor had been out for three months and has grossed but $16M. By the time the Oscars were handed out April 11, 1988, they had grossed $25M. By the time it was done, the film had grossed $44M. Still one of the lowest grossing Best Picture winners of the modern era, but most people didn't go see the film until after it was showered with enough attention.

Jone Lone and Joan Chen had zero chance of getting nominated for Oscars that year, but they still hustled their asses off to support the film any way they can, because non-Hollywood blockbusters need every leg they can get up.

As does Precious.

Without Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry, the film only goes so far. With awards from highly respected critics groups, you get that much farther. With Oscar nominations, that much farther still. And with Oscar wins, still that much more farther.

This isn't about just Mo'Nique, no matter how much anyone would like to make it that. This is about a team effort from everyone involved. Oprah and Tyler had nothing to do with the movie, but they busted their ass to help get the word out about the film, because they felt it was an important story that needed to be seen and shared and discussed. Every Oscar nomination helps the film that much more. Shit, even Terrance Howard tried to explain that to her on her show back in November.

But here is the kicker... it was Mo'Nique, through her publicist, who started this whole brouhaha. She didn't have to make an announcement that she wasn't going to show. She could have just not shown up next week, nobody would have been the wiser and this wouldn't have been a topic of conversation for weeks now.

comment #19

LYT says ...

Nice Vikings reference, Jeff.

comment #20

Sams says ...

Well said, EdHavens.

comment #21

Gordon27 says ...

"She could have just not shown up next week, nobody would have been the wiser and this wouldn't have been a topic of conversation for weeks now."

So, by the logic expressed in the entire rest of your post, she actually *did* help the movie by getting it discussed for multiple weeks, rather than only getting discussed when the announcement was made that she'd won, right?

comment #22

Chicago48 says ...

Obsessed Jeff?

comment #23

TM says ...

Stop for a second and consider who is the president of the NYFCC this year. A guy named Armond White. Remember his reaction to the movie? Maybe she just doesn't want to break bread with the guy or be in the same room with him?

Just a thought. And maybe she feels that by ignoring one award, she should just ignore the rest of them. Maybe deep down she doesn't give a rat's ass about awards.

comment #24

Snookie Stackhouse says ...

[Snookie Stackhouse has been banned for life.]

comment #25

Chicago48 says ...

The Oscar award only means something important to -- tada -- actors! If you're an actor and you're trying to get to the next salary level, or be considered for the next ACTING project, then yes, it's important. She's a comedian and now talk show host. It doesn't mean that much to her, because she's not going to be called to audition for the next GREAT MOVIE part, like Charlize or Penelope. She's honest. She cannot compete. So she stays where she's most comfortable.

Now if showing up means that she picks up a wider audience and makes more money, she'll be there.

However, I agree with EdHavens, she should at least give some consideration to Lee Daniels, the producers, and Oprah.

But then again, we don't know what cash payout she got for the role do we? She may be like Eddie Murphy, who proclaimed that he worked for free....maybe she made little money and didn't get a bonus afterward...we don't know, and maybe that's what's po'ing her off.

comment #26

Jeffrey Wells says ...

Wells to LYT: Thanks for noticing the Vikings line, Luke. Nobody else seemed to. Especially the charming Snookie Stackhouse, who is now in the Land of the Dead, and I don't mean Valhalla.

comment #27

moviemorlock says ...

It is well known (and mentioned in the extras of Reds by Warren himself) that Warren Beatty refused to do any publicity for Reds when it came out because he felt the film should speak for itself. He won the Oscar for Best Director that year.

comment #28

BoomerSooner says ...

TM makes an excellent point about the NYCCG and White.

comment #29

BoomerSooner says ...

Sorry, NYFCC.

comment #30

corey3rd says ...

Mallick did show up for the NYFCC - didn't help him win

Bill Murray showed up for at least 1 of his 2 wins

comment #31

JulesWinnfield says ...

EdHavens, very very well spoken. I do think that Mo'Nique should still get the award even if she didn't attend the ceremony because like above, we are honoring the performance not the person.
Mo'Nique is exactly how I would have portrayed my mother if I had written a screenplay about atrocious human being. I have been waiting since I first got into the business to see a writer, director and especially an actress go out on a limb and make themselves so vulnerable and take on a character of that magnitude and give one hell of a performance.

comment #32

EdHavens says ...

Mo'Nique won the NYFCC Best Supporting Actress award, Jules. Nothing is going to change that. This is a question of attitude and gratitude.

As for Warren Beatty and Reds, Morlock... Mo'Nique is far from being as iconic as Beatty was in 1981, and Precious is far from being the movie Reds was. That, and Beatty did show up to accept his Best Picture award from the NYFCC in 1981 for Reds, and his Oscar for Best Director, and all the other major awards Reds won that year. That was a bad, bad comparison.

comment #33

/3rtfu11 says ...

(For the record, I've had a screener sitting atop my entertainment stand for two months now and I have no desire to see the film.)

Yet you have the audacity to judge her!

comment #34

EdHavens says ...

I'm not judging the film or her performance, /3rtfu11. Try to make the distinction.

comment #35

moviemorlock says ...

Bad comparison? Maybe in terms of NYFCC. However, Beatty had $35 million of Paramount's 1981 dollars on the line with a 3 hour 20 minute film about the leftist movement in pre/post WWI America and the Russian Revolution. To be the producer, director, co-writer, and star of that film and to not do a single ounce of promotion--given his star quality and clout? That is a bit more damaging than what Mo'Nique's done to Precious.

However, I will concede that had Mo'Nique done proper promotion for Precious, given the buzz about her performance, it would have dragged more people into the theater to see it.

comment #36

Noah Cross says ...

Finally, after centuries of debate by the great minds and philosphers, March 7th we will finally know.... Mo loses - there is a personal, loving God... Mo wins - we are alone in the universe with no purpose and no eternal destiny

comment #37

bobbyperu says ...

Imagine a world where a deserving actor could just be rewarded for the quality of his or her performance rather than whether they show up somewhere or say the right words or schmooze the right people or kiss all of the right asses.

This attempted Mo'Nique hijacking, with all this unflagging bullshit back-biting and spin of a few measly innocent comments, is sickening.

It's really just an indicator of how devalued the whole process really has become and the NYFCC look more arrogant than Mo'Nique for their snide comments about how other more congenial actors will show up, etc. They are really overestimating their own importance. They write about movies, for chrissakes, and that's IT.

It's funny that Mo'Niqe, an admitted Hollywood outsider who has been pretty much treated like one since the beginning, is now being criticized for being one.

Too bad for the almighty NYFCC she did the year's best work.

comment #38

Gordon27 says ...

"He won the Oscar for Best Director that year."

True, but the movie lost the Oscar for Best Picture, so I guess it didn't speak for itself quite loud enough...

comment #39

Gordon27 says ...

"However, I will concede that had Mo'Nique done proper promotion for Precious, given the buzz about her performance, it would have dragged more people into the theater to see it."

I disagree with this; I don't think there's anybody out there who's going to go see a movie for Mo'Nique's performance who isn't already aware of that movie and her performance in it. She has done a ton of promotion -- on her television show, to her fans. People who watch her show are almost certainly the only people in the world who (1) recognize her name and (2) don't think she's horrible.

comment #40

Noiresque says ...

It is actually repulsive to me that people comment on Mo's lack of "gratitude". It reveals the whingers to be guilty of harbouring the worst kind of middle-class self-loathing which they are projecting onto the, ahm, co-star of "Soul Plane".

I hope she romps home.

comment #41

shahriar khan says ...

Excellent dude. Thanks for sharing. I enjoyed the article a lot while reading. Thanks again for sharing.

God