Posted by Jeffrey Wells on January 10, 2010 at 1:50 PM
comment #1
TM says ...
I don't get the point of these two offering their insights.
Basically they re-hash stuff that's been said more eloquently by others.
Plus, Musto is a gossip columnist not a critic (even if he sometimes offers his opinions on a film in his column -- but in that respect he's just like Liz Smith used to be) and O'Neil is a self-appointed "expert" on awards who by his statements shows he 1) has little or no taste, and 2) more importantly, little or no understanding of what anyone contributes to a movie -- be they a director, a screenwriter or an actor.
Posted by TM at January 10, 2010 2:26 PM
comment #2
kantcdick says ...
Oy Vey! Very funny and hopefully no deep undertows (like the pictures on the wall). People are STRANGE!
great concept game, top this oscar outrage, but, could it possibly be more poorly executed?
Given the Academy's plentiful mistakes, this is the best they could do?
I'd love to see this idea undertaken by critics who actually can connect with film fans, not a pair of queens obsessing over All About Eve, Judy Garland, and Liz Taylor. Yaawwwwwn.
In an 8 minute video they didn't even get to a decent outrage until minute 6.
And how 'bout keeping it -slightly- contemporary? The most recent reference is thirty years old. Maybe Lady GaGa will star in a musical soon and they'll have something to be outraged at being underappreciated.
The one that gets talked about sometime is Marisa Tomei (MY COUSIN VINNY) winning an Oscar over several higher profile contenders (i.e Miranda Richardson for DAMAGE, Judy Davis for HUSBANDS AND WIVES), enough so that Ebert had to debunk the urban legend about Jack Palance being drunk and giving it to her by mistake in his Answer Man column. That said I've never seen any of the films involved so I can't say shit about whether it was deserved or not. I do recall the camera swooping onto Davis' face after the announcement, showing her looking like someone who'd just heard the after-show refreshments were going to consist of gallons of lukewarm horse piss and buckets of week-old roadkill.
I think I saw ORDINARY PEOPLE on TV years ago. I haven't seen it since or wanted to. RAGING BULL is hard to watch sometime but it's a bleakly amusing comparison to imagine Scorsese on the set pushing his demons and his art to the limit, and then getting snubbed by Redford's typically pro but unmemorable domestic drama.
One ostensible snub I probably agree with - Morricone losing for his work on THE MISSION's soundtrack to Dave Grusin's score for THE FIRM.
Posted by Anthony Thorne at January 10, 2010 4:21 PM
comment #8
Anthony Thorne says ...
Note - 'agree with' in that I think Morricone should have won, big time.
Posted by Anthony Thorne at January 10, 2010 4:22 PM
comment #9
Noah Cross says ...
Thorne - Maisa Tomei Oscar - deserved. Great comic performance and those are usually overlooked.
Musto and O'Neil probably thought "Crash" was deserving.
And just for DeeZee - "Pulp Fiction" should so much have beat "Forest Gump".
Posted by Noah Cross at January 10, 2010 4:41 PM
comment #10
Noah Cross says ...
My pet peeve for Oscar snubs... "E.T." over "Blade Runner" for special effects.
Gandhi over E.T. and Shakespeare in Love over Saving Private Ryan are two obvious ones. The 'Berg gets shafted twice. Even Attenborough admitted E.T. should have won.
Posted by Eloi Manning at January 10, 2010 4:54 PM
Tomei has been good in so many things since then - "Slums of Beverly Hills," "In the Bedroom," "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead," "The Wrestler" - that she's proved herself retrospectively worthy.
To quote Jane Lynch in "Role Models," "I don't wanna get graphic, but...." have you ever looked at the list of winning screenplays? Movies with no scripts, movies written by the acting ensembles, movies that were big spongy nothings, movies that were little piffles, winning too damn often over real pieces of writing. Makes my pen hand hurt.
I fucked those dates up. I agree with Blade Runner being screwed over for Rambaldi's alien. Spielberg (or Attenborough) mentioned how when Attenborough won the Oscar the older director approached the younger on the way to the podium and earnestly said "This should have been yours!", which charmed SS to the extent that it cemented a friendship that led to RA being cast in JURASSIC PARK. Aww...
Hang on - THELMA AND LOUISE screenplay fucking over Toback's for BUGSY. BULLSHIT!
Posted by Anthony Thorne at January 10, 2010 6:14 PM
I'd love to see this idea undertaken by critics who actually can connect with film fans, not a pair of queens obsessing over All About Eve, Judy Garland, and Liz Taylor. Yaawwwwwn.
Mee-ow
Posted by Bob Violence at January 10, 2010 8:25 PM
1985 Best Director -- Sidney Pollack for Out of Africa over Peter Weir for Witness, John Huston for Prizzi's Honor and Akira fucking Kurosawa for Ran. And the real best director of that year, IMHO, was Terry Gilliam for Brazil and he wasn't even nominated in that category.
Posted by C is for cookie at January 10, 2010 9:01 PM
comment #24
reverent and free says ...
Robert Duvall giving the performance of his life in The Apostle and losing to Jack Nicholson in As Good As It Gets. It was the beginning of Nicholson's lazy mugging period (The Pledge is the only serious performance he gave in the last decade). And even if they didn't give it to Duvall, there was Peter Fonda in Ulee's Gold, also in the best role of his career.
Posted by reverent and free at January 10, 2010 9:02 PM
"Singin' in the Rain" not even being nominated for Best Picture!
That was the year, 1952, the Academy lost their minds, giving the Oscar to "The Greatest Show On Earth".
And I think every one of us would crap our pants if we knew just how close "Cabaret" came to beating "The Godfather" for Best Picture.
Posted by Travis Crabtree at January 10, 2010 10:09 PM
Kind of surprised Scarface didn't at least get a nom for Best Actor.
Posted by DeeZee at January 10, 2010 11:05 PM
comment #30
Noah Cross says ...
I saw Quiz Show in an empty theater and it was deservedly so.
I'd take "Four Weddings" over it. But "Shawshank" is the film I've gone back to the most of those nominees.
Shakespeare in Love over Saving Private Ryan
Gwyneth Paltrow over Cate Blanchett
Roberto Benigni over Ian McKellen (this may be the worst decision of all-time)
wow...1998 was just awful.
All of Juno's nominations.
All of The Reader's nominations.
Stephen Daldry has 3 nominations and he's one of the most bland directors of all-time.
Stephen Daldry and Ron Howard nominated over Chris Nolan. How was their direction superior to Nolan's again?
0 nominations for Zodiac
0 wins for The Insider
0 nominations for 25th Hour
First, let's all agree that O'neil's suit is bigger than any Oscar outrage.
Second, i hate when people go after comedic-leaning Oscars, as if no worth comedy was made since Annie Hall. I wish more Shakespeare in Love's, Tomei's, and Roberto Benningni's were championed; not less. Morgan Freeman over Thomas Hayden Church was an outrage, IMO.
Some outrage occurs when they give an award for a wrong category. They wanted to give Billy Bob an Osacr, but for some reason, also wanted to honor Geoffrey Rush. So they give Sling Blade the adapted screenplay Oscar, which is ridiculous against Hodge's Trainspotting.
Agreed Mark, It's a lazy pick to badmouth a comedy after it dares to win a critical award. If 'The Big Lebowski' had won best film of 1998, film snobs would be apopleptic that some foul-mouthed, stoner comedy had won the big prize.
If you didn't like 'Shakespeare in Love', that's okay; but why does everybody name the overbearing, self-important, and laughably plotted 'Private Ryan' as the robbed party when there were a dozen far worthier films released that year.
And watching that shitty Elizabeth sequel last year made me happy for the first time that Blanchett lost. She will get her BA Oscar some day...for the right movie.
comment #1
TM
says ...
I don't get the point of these two offering their insights.
Basically they re-hash stuff that's been said more eloquently by others.
Plus, Musto is a gossip columnist not a critic (even if he sometimes offers his opinions on a film in his column -- but in that respect he's just like Liz Smith used to be) and O'Neil is a self-appointed "expert" on awards who by his statements shows he 1) has little or no taste, and 2) more importantly, little or no understanding of what anyone contributes to a movie -- be they a director, a screenwriter or an actor.
Posted by TM
at January 10, 2010 2:26 PM
comment #2
kantcdick
says ...
Oy Vey! Very funny and hopefully no deep undertows (like the pictures on the wall). People are STRANGE!
Posted by kantcdick
at January 10, 2010 2:38 PM
comment #3
cleopatrajones
says ...
O'Neil is no better than Musto. He's the freaking senior editor at Life & Style magazine. L&S makes People magazine look like National Geographic.
Posted by cleopatrajones
at January 10, 2010 2:52 PM
comment #4
Sams
says ...
They're basically saying Oscars = popularity contest. So this year that may impact the Best ..... Are you praying?
Posted by Sams
at January 10, 2010 2:54 PM
comment #5
kantcdick
says ...
Insha'Allah, "The Hurt Locker" will win Best Picture, the rest , in pieces.
Posted by kantcdick
at January 10, 2010 3:03 PM
comment #6
citizenmilton
says ...
great concept game, top this oscar outrage, but, could it possibly be more poorly executed?
Given the Academy's plentiful mistakes, this is the best they could do?
I'd love to see this idea undertaken by critics who actually can connect with film fans, not a pair of queens obsessing over All About Eve, Judy Garland, and Liz Taylor. Yaawwwwwn.
In an 8 minute video they didn't even get to a decent outrage until minute 6.
And how 'bout keeping it -slightly- contemporary? The most recent reference is thirty years old. Maybe Lady GaGa will star in a musical soon and they'll have something to be outraged at being underappreciated.
Posted by citizenmilton
at January 10, 2010 4:00 PM
comment #7
Anthony Thorne
says ...
The one that gets talked about sometime is Marisa Tomei (MY COUSIN VINNY) winning an Oscar over several higher profile contenders (i.e Miranda Richardson for DAMAGE, Judy Davis for HUSBANDS AND WIVES), enough so that Ebert had to debunk the urban legend about Jack Palance being drunk and giving it to her by mistake in his Answer Man column. That said I've never seen any of the films involved so I can't say shit about whether it was deserved or not. I do recall the camera swooping onto Davis' face after the announcement, showing her looking like someone who'd just heard the after-show refreshments were going to consist of gallons of lukewarm horse piss and buckets of week-old roadkill.
I think I saw ORDINARY PEOPLE on TV years ago. I haven't seen it since or wanted to. RAGING BULL is hard to watch sometime but it's a bleakly amusing comparison to imagine Scorsese on the set pushing his demons and his art to the limit, and then getting snubbed by Redford's typically pro but unmemorable domestic drama.
One ostensible snub I probably agree with - Morricone losing for his work on THE MISSION's soundtrack to Dave Grusin's score for THE FIRM.
Posted by Anthony Thorne
at January 10, 2010 4:21 PM
comment #8
Anthony Thorne
says ...
Note - 'agree with' in that I think Morricone should have won, big time.
Posted by Anthony Thorne
at January 10, 2010 4:22 PM
comment #9
Noah Cross
says ...
Thorne - Maisa Tomei Oscar - deserved. Great comic performance and those are usually overlooked.
Musto and O'Neil probably thought "Crash" was deserving.
And just for DeeZee - "Pulp Fiction" should so much have beat "Forest Gump".
Posted by Noah Cross
at January 10, 2010 4:41 PM
comment #10
Noah Cross
says ...
My pet peeve for Oscar snubs... "E.T." over "Blade Runner" for special effects.
Posted by Noah Cross
at January 10, 2010 4:42 PM
comment #11
drbob
says ...
Marisa Tomei kills in My Cousin Vinnie. The movie itself is only mezzo-mezzo (how come Jeff never uses that phrase anymore). But, Tomei owns.
Posted by drbob
at January 10, 2010 4:47 PM
comment #12
Eloi Manning
says ...
Gandhi over E.T. and Shakespeare in Love over Saving Private Ryan are two obvious ones. The 'Berg gets shafted twice. Even Attenborough admitted E.T. should have won.
Posted by Eloi Manning
at January 10, 2010 4:54 PM
comment #13
btwnproductions
says ...
Morricone lost to Herbie Hancock (ROUND MIDNIGHT) in 1986. He wasn't nominated in 1993, the year Grusin lost to John Williams (SCHINDLER'S LIST).
Posted by btwnproductions
at January 10, 2010 4:57 PM
comment #14
gogocrank10
says ...
Tomei has been good in so many things since then - "Slums of Beverly Hills," "In the Bedroom," "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead," "The Wrestler" - that she's proved herself retrospectively worthy.
Posted by gogocrank10
at January 10, 2010 5:10 PM
comment #15
Gaydos
says ...
To quote Jane Lynch in "Role Models," "I don't wanna get graphic, but...." have you ever looked at the list of winning screenplays? Movies with no scripts, movies written by the acting ensembles, movies that were big spongy nothings, movies that were little piffles, winning too damn often over real pieces of writing. Makes my pen hand hurt.
Posted by Gaydos
at January 10, 2010 5:27 PM
comment #16
Anthony Thorne
says ...
I fucked those dates up. I agree with Blade Runner being screwed over for Rambaldi's alien. Spielberg (or Attenborough) mentioned how when Attenborough won the Oscar the older director approached the younger on the way to the podium and earnestly said "This should have been yours!", which charmed SS to the extent that it cemented a friendship that led to RA being cast in JURASSIC PARK. Aww...
Hang on - THELMA AND LOUISE screenplay fucking over Toback's for BUGSY. BULLSHIT!
Posted by Anthony Thorne
at January 10, 2010 6:14 PM
comment #17
DeeZee
says ...
Emily Blunt's gonna be @ the Grove on Thursday @ 7-ish to talk Young Victoria. Oh, and is she now Ms. Evan Rachel Manson or just Ms. Evan Rachel Saviano for short?
http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/thatsreallyweek/63341/jan4-10-wedding-toaststoo-much-champagne/
Posted by DeeZee
at January 10, 2010 6:39 PM
comment #18
EdHavens
says ...
Shawshank and Quiz Show were both better than Gump or Pulp Fiction.
Posted by EdHavens
at January 10, 2010 8:04 PM
comment #19
Bob Violence
says ...
I'd love to see this idea undertaken by critics who actually can connect with film fans, not a pair of queens obsessing over All About Eve, Judy Garland, and Liz Taylor. Yaawwwwwn.
Mee-ow
Posted by Bob Violence
at January 10, 2010 8:25 PM
comment #20
DeeZee
says ...
Jack Kirby's children don't seem to take kindly to Marvel.
http://tinyurl.com/yd2ft46
Lee Daniels Q+A.
http://tinyurl.com/yjcnukt
Sleeper hits?
http://tinyurl.com/ykccnx2
Jonah Hex needs re-shoots? Brolin admits it sucks.
http://www.heatvisionblog.com/2010/01/jonah-hex-back-in-action-for-reshoots.html
Blake Lively in Green Lantern.
http://www.darkhorizons.com/news/16034/blake-lively-joins-green-lantern-
Julie Andrews tells the tooth.
http://www.darkhorizons.com/interviews/1531/julie-andrews-for-the-tooth-fairy-
Slightly different Confucius trailer.
http://www.darkhorizons.com/trailers/
Posted by DeeZee
at January 10, 2010 8:53 PM
comment #21
DeeZee
says ...
Missed a couple. A look at the Best Foreign Language contenders @ http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3i3a9920d504eb9654a1ae02773aa56dd9
and Best Actress contenders @ http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3i0bdeb9f8495547e10b2054dad75aa6bf
Posted by DeeZee
at January 10, 2010 8:55 PM
comment #22
CMed1
says ...
Ed, you might have an argument with Shawshank being better than Pulp Fiction or Forrest Gump, but Quiz Show?
Talk about a forgettable Redford drama, that's gotta be up there at the top.
Posted by CMed1
at January 10, 2010 8:56 PM
comment #23
C is for cookie
says ...
1985 Best Director -- Sidney Pollack for Out of Africa over Peter Weir for Witness, John Huston for Prizzi's Honor and Akira fucking Kurosawa for Ran. And the real best director of that year, IMHO, was Terry Gilliam for Brazil and he wasn't even nominated in that category.
Posted by C is for cookie
at January 10, 2010 9:01 PM
comment #24
reverent and free
says ...
Robert Duvall giving the performance of his life in The Apostle and losing to Jack Nicholson in As Good As It Gets. It was the beginning of Nicholson's lazy mugging period (The Pledge is the only serious performance he gave in the last decade). And even if they didn't give it to Duvall, there was Peter Fonda in Ulee's Gold, also in the best role of his career.
Posted by reverent and free
at January 10, 2010 9:02 PM
comment #25
CMed1
says ...
Roberto Benigni winning best actor in '98 over Norton, McKellen, Nolte, and Hanks is a big oscar outrage that comes to mind.
Posted by CMed1
at January 10, 2010 9:24 PM
comment #26
PrisonJake
says ...
It's hard to top the combo of 'Do the Right Thing's snub mixed with the 'Driving Miss Daisy' win.
Posted by PrisonJake
at January 10, 2010 10:07 PM
comment #27
Travis Crabtree
says ...
"Singin' in the Rain" not even being nominated for Best Picture!
That was the year, 1952, the Academy lost their minds, giving the Oscar to "The Greatest Show On Earth".
And I think every one of us would crap our pants if we knew just how close "Cabaret" came to beating "The Godfather" for Best Picture.
Posted by Travis Crabtree
at January 10, 2010 10:09 PM
comment #28
Gaydos
says ...
Here's Armond White's view of this year's scene courtesy of a long byline piece in Variety:
http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=awardcentral&jump=news&articleid=VR1118013553&cs=1
Posted by Gaydos
at January 10, 2010 10:45 PM
comment #29
DeeZee
says ...
Kind of surprised Scarface didn't at least get a nom for Best Actor.
Posted by DeeZee
at January 10, 2010 11:05 PM
comment #30
Noah Cross
says ...
I saw Quiz Show in an empty theater and it was deservedly so.
I'd take "Four Weddings" over it. But "Shawshank" is the film I've gone back to the most of those nominees.
Posted by Noah Cross
at January 10, 2010 11:20 PM
comment #31
jse33
says ...
Shakespeare in Love over Saving Private Ryan
Gwyneth Paltrow over Cate Blanchett
Roberto Benigni over Ian McKellen (this may be the worst decision of all-time)
wow...1998 was just awful.
All of Juno's nominations.
All of The Reader's nominations.
Stephen Daldry has 3 nominations and he's one of the most bland directors of all-time.
Stephen Daldry and Ron Howard nominated over Chris Nolan. How was their direction superior to Nolan's again?
0 nominations for Zodiac
0 wins for The Insider
0 nominations for 25th Hour
Posted by jse33
at January 11, 2010 2:43 PM
comment #32
Mark
says ...
First, let's all agree that O'neil's suit is bigger than any Oscar outrage.
Second, i hate when people go after comedic-leaning Oscars, as if no worth comedy was made since Annie Hall. I wish more Shakespeare in Love's, Tomei's, and Roberto Benningni's were championed; not less. Morgan Freeman over Thomas Hayden Church was an outrage, IMO.
Some outrage occurs when they give an award for a wrong category. They wanted to give Billy Bob an Osacr, but for some reason, also wanted to honor Geoffrey Rush. So they give Sling Blade the adapted screenplay Oscar, which is ridiculous against Hodge's Trainspotting.
Posted by Mark
at January 11, 2010 3:04 PM
comment #33
polarbear2
says ...
Agreed Mark, It's a lazy pick to badmouth a comedy after it dares to win a critical award. If 'The Big Lebowski' had won best film of 1998, film snobs would be apopleptic that some foul-mouthed, stoner comedy had won the big prize.
If you didn't like 'Shakespeare in Love', that's okay; but why does everybody name the overbearing, self-important, and laughably plotted 'Private Ryan' as the robbed party when there were a dozen far worthier films released that year.
And watching that shitty Elizabeth sequel last year made me happy for the first time that Blanchett lost. She will get her BA Oscar some day...for the right movie.
Posted by polarbear2
at January 11, 2010 4:01 PM
comment #34
polarbear2
says ...
'Hoop Dreams' was better than Shawshank, Pulp Fiction, Gump, Quiz Show, and 4 weddings...
Posted by polarbear2
at January 11, 2010 4:03 PM