Other than Martin Scorsese’s win for Best Director and The Descendants win for Best Picture Drama, the Golden Globes were dominated by Weinstein backed films — it’s beginning to look a lot like last year.
Picture/Comedy – The Artist – Weinstein Co.
Actor/Comedy – Jean DuJardin – Weinstein Co.
Actress/Comedy – Michelle Williams – Weinstein Co.
Best Actress/Drama – Meryl Streep – Weinstein Co.
Best Song – Madonna – Weinstein Co.
Score – The Artist – Weinstein Co.
Best Screenplay – Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris, Sony Pics Classics
Best Director – Martin Scorsese/Paramount
Best Picture/Drama – The Descendants – Fox Searchlight
Best Actor/Drama – George Clooney – Fox Searchlight
Supporting Actor – Christopher Plummer, Beginners – Focus
Supporting Actress – Octavia Spencer, The Help, Dreamworks
Animation – TinTin – Dreamworks
From here, it’s hard to imagine any film having the momentum to beat The Artist. The only two films that are close are The Descendants and Hugo – Hugo has Scorsese winning for Director. The Descendants has George Clooney as the strong leading actor contender, with Alexander Payne, a beloved unrewarded American director. Both Paramount and Fox Searchlight are going to push their films hard. But no one is a better Oscar/Globe whisperer than Harvey Weinstein and the Team Weinstein co. They are great at finding films that can win awards because they’re great at knowing what kinds of films DO win awards.
When Weinstein Co. picked up The Artist in Cannes they knew they had something really special — it was the kind of movie you can sit almost anyone down in front of it and they will like it/get it/love it. It’s the only one, in fact, that doesn’t have any haters. The only haters the movie has are people who are bored by it winning everything. It has a built-in Oscar story: silent black and white French movie winning Best Picture? And it’s one that charms the pants off of everyone.
The Artist will always be that movie that makes people smile when they think about it. Is that enough to drive a sweep? Absolutely. Does that make it the best film of 2011? That will be a matter of opinion. In my opinion it isn’t the best film of the year. But when you’re talking about award wins, you’re talking about the common denominator. This is why the Best Picture winners are almost always the most vanilla of the bunch. That is also why it’s dangerous to take the film awards race seriously when it comes to deciding what is good and what isn’t, what will last and what won’t. When 6,000 Oscar voters vote and pick a movie to win you can’t really expect that individual choices are going to be honored. The consensus wins the day.
As expected, Meryl Streep’s 5th win for Actress at the Globes even made Streep feel uncomfortable. When she said, “Viola, you’re my girl,” it was obvious her own support was with Davis. They love her at the HFPA. No doubt she gave a wonderful performance as Margaret Thatcher. Davis’ performance is the best of her career. A role like that for a black actress doesn’t come around very often. Streep herself made the plea to Hollywood to come up with a great script for Davis. They did just that. It must feel strange to Streep, then, that her main competition is Davis. Except for the fact that Streep is almost always in the hunt now. She is offered the best parts because she’s Meryl Streep. Davis might get offered better parts as the result of this year, but she will really soar if she wins.
The Best Actress race will likely be decided by the Screen Actors Guild. When Halle Berry was up for the award, she lost the Globe but then won the SAG and then won the Oscar. She was the last black actress to win the Globe and the first and only to win the lead Best Actress Oscar. It is unacceptable that only one black actress has won in that category. Anyone who can sleep at night with that stat, more power to you. It is easier in 2012 to win the Presidential election if you’re black than to win the Best Actress Oscar.
Bringing up race and racism is a double edged sword. You will say, well look at the performances. That’s all that matters. Meryl Streep gave the better performance so she should win the Oscar. Viola Davis’ role could be considered supporting by some so she shouldn’t win the Oscar. You can look at it that matter-of-factly. When I look at it, I see how rare of a situation this is. It’s nearly impossible for a film about black characters to be a strong best picture contender. Nearly impossible to get the films made at all.
When Meryl Streep started naming other actresses in contention that weren’t in the hunt for Best Actress it was her way of saying how great everyone is and that we shouldn’t have to pick a winner. But we DO have to pick a winner, Blanch, WE DO. And 99% of the time, that winner is a white actress. You have to start talking about why it’s so hard to fund, produce, promote films about black characters. Sure, Precious did extremely well when it was in the running. The DGA nominated its first ever black director with Lee Daniels. Geoffrey Fletcher became the first black screenwriter to ever win the Oscar. Was Precious better than Up in the Air? You’re damned right it was. It was just a given that Up in the Air would win. That’s how the awards race rolls. That’s how Hollywood rolls. There are patterns that are deeply ingrained and it takes some effort and some awareness to change things.
The Globes actually have a better record than the Oscars, as Whoopi Goldberg and Angela Bassett both won before losing the Oscar ultimately to white actresses (of course). So why should Meryl Streep have to pay the price for 84 years of racism in Hollywood? She shouldn’t. And indeed, if voters feel that they must reward Streep her third Oscar and deny Davis her first, so be it. But there is no reason to shut up about it. As we learned from last year, it doesn’t matter how much we try to convince voters to vote for a film — in the end they’re still going to listen to Harvey Weinstein — er, I mean, vote with their hearts.
Social tagging: Golden Globes
I agree; it does appear that The Artist will not be stopped. I look at the field and see nothing that could stand in its way. So it’s going to be another long slog to the middle. Oh well; they’re simply wasn’t any film of the knockout variety that could have made the race interesting. The only truly remarkable work of art (The Tree of Life) is deemed much too far removed from the mainstream to be a serious contender.
At least we won’t have to deal with the Academy making a dreadful decision like they did last year. At least they won’t completely shoot themselves in the foot this time around. And perhaps there will be a few respectable winners that come from The Artist’s scraps.
You have every right to argue that Viola Davis deserves best actress, because she turns in unquestionably (and I truly mean unquestionably) strong work. And if you think her work was the strongest, vote for her. I’d rather leave race out of the Oscar question and instead go the very root of the problem: a lack of well-crafted scripts with black characters and a lack of black directors being given large budgets and a major studio’s trust. I’ve always despised affirmative action because it draws attention away from the fact that schools with large black (or Hispanic) populations are overstuffed, underfunded, and populated by children whose abject poverty precludes their educational ambitions. So vote for Viola because her performance moved you. It’s a great choice and she would certainly make my top five. But voting for her because she occupies a rare racial space in Hollywood seems like a small honor that doesn’t come close to stopping a far more significant issue.
I do appreciate that you have the passion to draw attention to how whitewashed and male-dominated Hollywood remains, Sasha, and I know you’ll continue to do so. But I still think the work should be rewarded, not the circumstances that produced the work.
How did Harvey Weinstein earn the monicker “Punisher?”
Although The Artist is obviously the clear frontrunner at the moment, I don’t think it deserves the ‘unstoppable’ just yet. It didn’t win screenplay at Critics Choice, it didn’t win screenplay OR director at the Golden Globes and the other contenders could still get in the way easily.
1. Hugo will probably have the most nominations and if the DGA also goes to Scorsese, it will be suddenly the frontrunner for bp.
2. Although The Help doesn’t have a realistic shot at getting a bd-nod, if it wins the PGA and the SAG Ensemble, I think we shouldn’t rule out a ‘Driving Miss Daisy’ kind of best picture victory.
3. The Descendants now has a strong shot at Best Actor, it will probably win adapted screenplay, as well (Sorkin won last year, they might not give him another one so quickly), and if it has acting and writing awards, Best Picture is definitely not that far away.
4. Apparently, the Academy is madly in love with Midnight in Paris…could that translate into a bp-victory ? I didn’t think so…until the DGA nomination.
5. What if the game will be the same as last year only the players switch places ? The Weinstein-crowdpleaser getting the early ones (critics, BFCA, Golden GLobe), the Fincher/Rudin film surprising at the Guilds (PGA/DGA) ?
why is race even being brought up? lol. davis was good but ur talking as if she should sweep the awards just based on previous stats and her being the possible 2nd black actress to win in 84 years. is that fair? i havent seen streep or williams’ performance to judge but i did see olsons, therons, maras, swintons and by no means did i think davis had it over them in a landslide. they actually were all equally good and because they were so good a sensible person would judge it strictly by the best performance, right? when watching the help i just saw davis as another supporting character within an ensemble piece. yeah she was good but she didnt lead the movie at all and if anything the focus was on various women who i all thought did their part. infact i thought octavia spencer was a lot better than her actually. wanna talk about a robbed lead performance by a black actress then talk whoopi goldberg, (color purple), angela bassett, (whats love got to do with it), diana ross, (lady sings the blues). how in the world those women lost was beyond me.
davis doesnt hold on candle with her *supporting* performance to those and her losing certainly wouldnt be an “injustice” or “travesty” as this article is making it out to be… just sayin’!
Eh. There are still zero lead East Asian nominees in lead acting, and zero in writing (not counting co-writes with white writers).
It’s nearly impossible for a film about black characters to be a strong best picture contender.
Steven Spielberg did it a couple times. And I forgot how the whole Dreamgirls thing played out but he was the producer on the first trailer I saw for it.
So why should Meryl Streep have to pay the price for 84 years of racism in Hollywood?
Is it really racism? I mean if you were able to count up all the leading female roles over those 84 years and then did the math to find out what percentage of those roles were portrayed by black actresses don’t you think it’d be less than 1/84?
Come on. Acting award is based on acting alone and indeed the nominee who is getting the advantage of the race card is Viloa Davis. She is a good actress; however, the help is not her best! She was better in Doubt for the short 10-15 minutes she had In that movies. Besides for all fairness, Viola doesn’t carry the Help as Meryl does in Iron Lady. Sasha, your comment about Meryl Streep getting the best role is also unfair. I don’t really think there are any other actress can play Margaret Thatcher better than Meryl. It is a matter of whom suits which role better. If we are discussing an award to pity another actress whom performance is just not quite the best of the year. I am not sure if anyone will like that award. In a way, I hope you are not denying Viola being a talented actress that will win her well deserved award some other time.
This win gives Descendants a much-needed shot in the air, since it seemed like that film has completely lost its buzz. (Or, in fairness, maybe I’m just perceiving it that way since I thought the movie was pretty average.) I’m still not sure I see Clooney actually winning Best Actor, though — still think it’ll be Pitt, with Dujardin/DiCaprio as possible dark horses.
Williams is still my bet to win Best Actress, but that race is a tossup.
The supporting awards are over. I think we can pencil in Plummer/Spencer for the supporting awards right now.
Scorsese’s win is fascinating. Granted, it could be a case of the star-loving Globes going for the biggest name whenever possible (Fincher over Hooper last year, for instance) and Scorsese is a GG favourite, having now won three of their best director awards. But, all things being equal, I think he is now the front-runner for the Oscar. “Hugo” isn’t a BP favourite by any means, but Scorsese is just so respected and beloved that I can see AMPAS giving him his second Oscar ahead of Payne (who already has an Oscar himself anyway) and Hazanavicius. I think most of us would agree that Scorsese deserves at least two Oscars anyway — just odd that they could be for Departed and Hugo, not that those aren’t great movies themselves.
My predictions for Oscar night….Artist, Scorsese, Pitt, Williams, Plummer, Spencer
@James : Watch the movie “Unauthorized : the Harvey Weinstein Project”. It is explained quite clearly
Congrats to Meryl! Considering almost always a Golden Globe winner in best actress for drama also has won an Oscar, I think Streep’s going to continue to win, from SAG to Oscar.
Hm, to be more relevant to this article, honestly, I don’t really care if Davis is black or not. Though I strongly agree black actresses get fewer roles, Davis’s win shouldn’t be based on that very fact, and she clearly doesn’t need sympathy votes because her performance stands on its own, whether it be in Doubt or The Help. I just think this year alone, she simply gave a more convincing performance in The Help than Streep in Iron Lady. That’s all.
That being said, I’d be happy or happier if Swinton wins. Or if Theron wins. Or if Williams wins (ideally for Meek’s Cutoff but since that’s not possible…). Now, these three + Davis resonated more with me in better developed roles in better scripted/directed movies. How someone even says something like “how could anyone think Davis was better than Streep blah blah” is beyond me. Gawd, Iron Lady is such a mess. I really hope Streep won’t work with Lloyd ever again. I couldn’t care less about the politics when the script/direction was that bad.
“Davis might get offered better parts as the result of this year, but she will really soar if she wins.”
Unfortunately, I don’t think winning the Oscar will boost Davis’ career (or anyone’s, for that matter). What did Halle Berry do after winning – Catwoman and a Bond film. As long as most corporate money flows to projects guaranteed to make profits, written and directed by middle-age white guys for their teenage sons, nothing will change. And that process will never change for the better because that’s where the funding comes from.
The only thing different will be that Davis will have an Oscar on her mantle. She will continue to struggle to find roles unless she can get an entourage a la Streep to find the right projects. Don’t forget that Streep, until Mama Mia, was never a cash cow.
Davis will continue to get good parts – better parts – in higher profile films, regardless of the outcome if she follows Streep’s path and sticks to the high ground.
It goes without saying that our judgments are subjective, and I respect your opinion Sasha. But for my money, ‘Up in the Air’ was a better script (and film) than ‘Precious’ by some margin. I liked both films but I thought the main strength of ‘Precious’ was in the performances more so than the writing. I think a contributing factor in that Oscar race was putting Jason Reitman back in his box.
I think The Descendants actually has a shot at Best Picture. I think it is silly to bet on Marty winning director and The Artist winning picture, especially this far out. Voting on a split just isn’t wise, even if it happens. The GG clearly love Marty, and the film is what their group is all about: preserving old films. That said, I did take it as a sign that The Artist isn’t quite as strong as you’d think.
Sure, I’d put good money on The Artist, but I think The Descendants has a shot. It’s very “Hollywood” compared to the “adorable French movie” who the Hollywood Country Club/AMPAS voters know little to none of. They all know George and Alexander Payne, and I think that helps.
That said, if another film was to surprise, I still think it might be The Help. It’s a much better film than Crash and was a box office smash. Plus, it’s got some really strong acting support. It’s likely to win SAG Ensemble and be big with the actors…
In summary: I think 2 or 3 films might have a chance. If The Help is winning SAG, I’m very curious to see if there’s a surprise at the DGA…
Steve50 – I thought both Prada and Julie and Julia both did well at the box office because of Streep.
Paramount needs to hire a better Oscar consultant because I think they could have worked better on Hugo’s campaign. They should have worked harder to get Kingsley a supporting actor nomination. I wonder if Hugo would be ahead if it wasn’t perceived by some as a children’s film.
The one thing that really confused me with this year’s winner (and this is something that happens frequently with the Globes) is the fact that Clooney won Best Actor in a DRAMA while Williams won Best Actress won Best Actress in a COMEDY or MUSICAL. How is My Week with Marilyn not a drama and how is The Descendants more a drama than My Week with Marilyn?
I like The Descendants but it seems like a weak best picture choice to me. Payne may get screenplay again, Marty director, The Artist picture. Unless The Help gets nominated for director it isn’t likely to win best picture.
On the actress front, I think it’s a three-way race until the end. No matter what happens at SAG, I think the support for The Help is much stronger than The Iron Lady or My Week With Marilyn. Being in a stronger and broader film always is a help. Plus, I think The Help is a hit with SAG, giving Davis a nice little boost before the Oscars. I for one think all three are deserving this year, so I don’t mind. That said, is it wrong to hope for Davis to win her first Oscar? I have to think there are some Academy members with the same feelings: Streep: Will be up again and again in better films, Williams: Still young and will have a great career, but Davis: Hard to get a great leading role that did so well at the box office, etc…this is a great chance to reward her.
In that regard, race may be subtle and subliminal in that, from a different perspective of Sasha’s critique, these roles don’t come around too often, and the Academy likes to honor actors when its their due and when they finally have a good role to show for it. Even Plummer, Albert Brooks’s attention is similar to this idea…
The Weinsteins got 40% of the Globe wins tonight while only grossing 3% of the total box office in 2011. Yet it seems like all the best films this year came from the 97%, while films like The Iron Lady, My Week With Marilyn, and W.E. are at best mediocre.
Tis the season.
@Kevin Landry
I haven’t seen MWWM but in the commercial it looked like she might have been performing. I think the Globes in trying to make room for as many movies/actors as possible take anything with music or a performance in it and shove it into the musical/comedy category.
As a Latina woman, I must say your article is incredibly racist and offensive. Silly me. When I mark my ballot, I vote for the best performance regardless of the races of the actors/actresses in the category. In my opinion Michelle Williams gave the best performance of the year and I will be voting for her based on her *performance.* The second I start letting race enter my mind before I select my choice is the second my membership should be revoked. What a shameful article. I suspect Ms. Davis would be embarrassed by it.
There is little to no comedy or music in MWWM. Total Weinstein play to expand its wins. The Descendants is no comedy either (hence, it was properly put in Drama), nor is Young Adult a comedy.
Has anyone brought up that The Artist is probably not going to play well at all with Average Joe? It’s enjoyable, but it doesn’t transcend. No way the people going out to see Contraband and The Devil Inside in droves, who are the majority, are going to dig it. Absolutely no way. At best, The Artist will be forgotten in a few years, but there’s a chance that people will get really pissed by the idea of a meta-silent film winning Best Picture. For a group worried about looking out of touch and ratings, The Artist is almost suicidal.
@Antoinette : There is ONE scene where she sings, but that’s it. If this is the case, that would explain the other big WTF moment I had with them in the past years, which is Jamie Foxx winning Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical with Ray.
Christine J–I didnt find Streep’s performance the least bit unconvincing. I agree the film itself wasn’t very good but Streep played each of her scenes with conviction . She’s probably winning the BAFTA unless they go for Swinton.
@JMC : I’m gonna have to disagree. The Descendants, at its core, is a comedy (or a dramedy to be more precise). It takes some very tough subjects (death, parenthood, adultery) in light fashion with some more dramatic moments scattered here and there. Actually, Clooney plays the character as a goofy father/husband not knowing how to deal with everything he’s going through. Again, it is quite light comedy-wise, but some scenes (like the one where he confronts his wife’s lover) just takes it out of the drama category completely.
@ Sasha, sorry, but the way you put it in words is actually an absolutely racist way of thinking. Yes, I’ll sleep perfectly on nights if only one black actress has won lead actress. And you know why? Because I don’t really think of winners in terms of their color – it’s called BEST ACTRESS and a win to a black woman is as owed as a win to a Chinese or a Hispanic. The way to really acknowledge that we don’t care about somebody’s skin is to give them equal opportunities.
I’m happy Meryl won – it’s a well-deserved win for a great performance in a so-so film. I’m tired of people not shutting up about the movie. Yes, it’s not a very good movie, but it’s a great performance in it. And actually nobody cared when Bullock won for a bad movie or when Winslet won for a so-so movie. And by the way, if you check, Bullock’s The Blind Side has a worse metacritic score than The Iron Lady. And the one thing that really makes The Iron Lady appear better than it is is Meryl’s performance at its center. Anyway, I read somewhere about a reviewer stating that one day we’ll look back at Meryl’s performances and we’ll really wonder why she didn’t pay more attention to them. I believe that Meryl could easily win even without the SAG, but why isn’t she a likely SAG winner?! She’s Meryl Streep in a killer performance! And she has the NYFCC and now the Globe for drama. Actually the last time she won the Oscar was the last time she won lead actress in a drama. And over the years only two actresses have won the Oscar without the Globe – Sarandon in 1995 and Halle Berry in 2001. And four actresses won without the SAG – Jessica Lange, Hilary Swank, Nicole Kidman and Marion Cotillard. Three of them won lead actress in a drama. But I think it’s still Meryl’s to lose. And she’s a beloved actor and really Hollywood owes her that third Oscar.
@ Kevin. Interesting. I still see it very different. I view the film in reverse: While it has jokes to be had, I view it as a drama at its core. Most Payne films are that way to me (About Schmidt, Sideways), etc. That’s why I love Payne films. There are almost moments to laugh at in life, but at their core, they are studies about the small and large dramas of our lives: Death, death of a loved one, love, raising a family…I do see your view completely, I suppose I just take it in a different way.
The Descendants to me is an amazing film. I realize many don’t connect with it. Though, I think many people look at it in the wrong light. They think it is a film about dealing with the death of your spouse when you found out they cheated on you. That’s the subplot. Most say the land subplot is a waste, but that IS the movie. Look no further than the title. It’s what the film is all about, family, lineage, hence the scene on the couch with the daughters while eating ice cream…
Can’t wait to see The Artist, The Descendents, Hugo… Sadly, will have to wait a gazillion years before the blus are out.
Viola Davis vs. Mery Streep – Sorry, Viola’s role is a secondary role. Yey Meryl! Hope this is her year.
T.
– It’s nearly impossible for a film about black characters to be a strong best picture contender.
- Steven Spielberg did it a couple times.
The word “nearly” has an important function in that sentence.
How wonderful though. 500 films in serious contention for BP over the past 20 years and you can name 3 of them with black casts. You must be great at finding Elmo!
i’d be happy if viola davis won and i’m sure she will, but i think people should stop saying she should win because she’s black. that’s really how it’s coming across.
I loved how Rogen called attention to the bogus placement of MWWM and called it, “the hysterical comedy, my week with marilyn” ahaha
@Daveylow – OK, Prada was a success, I’ll give you that, but not as big as Mama Mia, which seemed to kick start better financial performance for Streep’s films.
Regardess, my point is that Streep worked 30+ years, cranking out one acting masterpiece after another. She was the reason – usually the only reason – to see many of those films between her last win and now. If anyone thinks that Davis will be on the gravytrain if she wins the Oscar, in this financial environment, with the current crop of producers and writers….
Another concern is that she wins for what is essentially a supporting performance over actors of equal stature in leading performances. Had she gone for supporting, it would be in the bag – no contest from anyone, no other issues would enter the campaign.
From “out here” (outside of the US, meaning) it appears to have turned into a whole other thing, with an acting genius like Davis being used as a battering ram to get into a room where there really isn’t anything of value, in the long run.
I will watch anything that either Meryl Streep or Viola Davis choose to do, happily, but be wary of the oscar. When you get to the top of the stairs, guess what…more stairs!
@ Zach. I agree! No matter how wonderful The Artist may be, it is not even Slumdog or King’s Speech as far as American audiences are concerned. Out here in middle America, no one even knows what it is, and they’re not drawn to a French silent film. That doesn’t mean the film isn’t good, but I think it’s going to matter to some industry insiders, you know, the ones that vote. Slumdog and King’s Speech had mass appeal and were box office hits. Other than The Hurt Locker which was the only real alternative to Avatar, a film that is not their cup of tea, the Academy likes awarding “the best consensus film that also connects with Joe-blow audiences.” I think The Artist has a peak. Is it going to win? Likely, but The Help and even The Descendants is lurking. The Help was a hit and The Descendants is actually doing surprisingly well, passing $50 mil, maybe able to pull $75 or $100 with a bunch of nominations…
wanna talk about a robbed lead performance by a black actress then talk whoopi goldberg, (color purple), angela bassett, (whats love got to do with it), diana ross, (lady sings the blues). how in the world those women lost was beyond me.
gee, it’s mysterious, isn’t it? Whatever could be the reason?
I think it might have helped if anyone had been advocating for them. But what if someone had? Would Sasha have been allowed to bring up race if you’d been keeping an eye on things back then too?
@JMC : Well at least we can agree on the fact that The Descendants was an incredible movie (one of Payne’s best) and I also find your view on it really interesting.
And that ice cream scene was a perfect book-end moment to the movie. I hope Clooney will be rewarded for this performance once the oscars roll around.
I think Davis’ win would be more important than a Streep win, but since both performances are great, how can one choose?
I think Streep knocked the speech out of the park, even if it was a little messy and all over the place. She really drove home the point that this year there were so many great performances that it is impossible to choose who the best was. The fact that she had the class to mention Pariah and Jane Eyre when those two performances aren’t even in contention makes me respect her so much more.
I mean really, let’s be honest, who else would have done that? She forgets her glasses, and starts naming performances that she admires in order to cover herself, and she names two of the most overlooked female performances of the year. I understand that it is a simple gesture, but considering stars can say anything they want to at the podium, and Streep chose to say their names, shows that she is a class act.
@Daveylow
Well, I didn’t/wouldn’t go as far as to say Streep’s performance was unconvincing. I mean, Streep saves the film. It’s just all relative.
For me, Davis’s (Theron’s and Swinton’s) performance was more convincing though I wasn’t even a fan of The Help either.
I’d rather leave race out of the Oscar question and instead go the very root of the problem: a lack of well-crafted scripts with black characters and a lack of black directors being given large budgets and a major studio’s trust.
If the root refuses to take hold after 80 years, Chance the Gardener might say the root of the problem must be given special fertilizer or grafted with care so that once these rare roots are seen to flourish, others may be planted.
Or he might cut the bullshit and say the reason there are no well-crafted scripts for black women is because writers like to sell their scripts — and they’ll be better able to sell their scripts if a precedent for success is established.
Anyone who doesn’t see that awards potential is a key to success doesn’t understand what the Oscar greenhouse was built to do.
How is My Week with Marilyn not a drama and how is The Descendants more a drama
Helps to have a character in a coma throughout the film?
“How wonderful though. 500 films in serious contention for BP over the past 20 years and you can name 3 of them with black casts.”
Even most of the major films dealing with racial tensions view the circumstances through white perspectives, like Mississippi Burning or A Time to Kill. Give Quentin Tarantino credit for casting black leads in Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, and, apparently, Django Unchained. Any white person who gets pissy when his films use the word nigger should take it upon themselves to write an enthralling script for black actors.
Michelle Williams sang at least three times in MWWM. Once in the Opening Musical Number, then in the end musical number, then in the bathtube scene, she also sang. AND it was very funny, I thought.
You’re all gonna be so surprised when it ends up nominated for Best Picture!
The Golden Globes like to spread the glory around, and they did just that tonight. Except most of the films were Harvey Weinstein’s as Sasha points out!
I must say however that I thought Jean Dujardin was the deee-light of the night with his hilarious/charming/miming acceptance speech.
He’s so nervous about being interviewed in English. I know, I had him on my show and spoke to him as much as I could in French and encouraged him to speak in French, too, and so he relaxed and was VERY funny!
He’s a big, handsome, strapping guy, who reminded me of Clark Gable. Though I’m WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY too young to have actually had Gable on my show.
But he’s light on his feet. And the tap-dancing! And bringing Uggie, the dog from the movie, on at the end! He was the essence of fun. And of great comedy.
So many people feel that the only great comedy is silent comedy. And when he went into his Douglas Fairbanks imitation! HI-larious! Some people thought he was being BLEEPED! He was MIMING people!
There was sooo much bleeping tonight! And I loved the back and forth in Spanish with Antonio Banderas and Selma Hayek AND Sofia Vergara!
They perked it up. So what’s next? A week from Tuesday the actual Oscar nominations themselves! AT LAST!
I, for one, have been bitching about The Blind Side and how I felt about Bullock’s win. Some Meryl Streep fans complain that people complain about her movie being not good and her performance not being looked at properly on its own, but that’s what Oscar watchers have been always talking about–what actors/actresses should/will win for what roles they play and how well they play them in what kind of films (great? good? bad?). Streep isn’t exactly the only one who’s subject to this sort of conversation.
I would be glad if Davis wins though I am rooting for Michelle because I liked her performance better. Isn’t that what voters should think of? Anyway, I am getting tired of the pro-Davis and anti-Harvey agenda this blog has. Would be nice to read a more objective piece on the race.
@Ryan : Little Miss Sunshine had a character try to kill himself at the very beginning of the movie and had another die in the middle – still a comedy.
Kevin Landry & Antoinette.
We sort of suspect the HFPA sticks movies in categories rather arbitrarily. The main reason they have categories at all is simply so they can have twice the number of nominees and thus attract twice the number of stars to the party.
Bottom line: There are never 5 comedies or musicals worth nominating. So they have to find slippery reasons for lifting 3 or 4 light-dramas out of the 10 films and calling them musicals if somebody happens to sing in the shower.
“Even most of the major films dealing with racial tensions view the circumstances through white perspectives”
SO true, Jesse. I’m immediately turned off by any film that provides me with a white, usually male, protagonist to guide me through the plight of any racial or ethnic group. Get out of the way and let me discover the story myself. Not necessary to interpret, thanks. Almost comes across as a cover-yer-ass strategy, sometimes.
I have to agree with Kevin Landry about The Descendants. It’s a comic novel, despite the looming hospital fatalities. It’s a funny book, a funny script, and Payne has only ever directed comedies.
The HFPA have a strange sense of humor when they have any humor at all. The had Charlie Wilson’s War nominated as comedy, remember? Because what could be more hilarious than the origins of endless war in Afghanistan?
Hate to be this way: but they’re foreign. I don’t understand some of the nuance in international humor, and it’s for damn sure the HFPA don’t have a firm grasp of the American vernacular either.
Afer last year’s Social Network collapse, I will never call another film “a lock” ever again. The Artist is the sure frontrunner, but we’ve all seen how fast momentum can swing in the Oscar race. I’ll reserve judgment until after the guild awards.
“Has anyone brought up that The Artist is probably not going to play well at all with Average Joe? It’s enjoyable, but it doesn’t transcend. No way the people going out to see Contraband and The Devil Inside in droves, who are the majority, are going to dig it. Absolutely no way.”
Well The Artist still hasn’t gone wide yet. It’s hard to tell. But the people who see Contraband and The Devil Inside certainly weren’t the audience for The King’s Speech and that had no problem finding an audience. Once The Artist goes wide we’ll be able to see if it can find a larger audience.
@Ryan Adams: Uh-oh. I’ve decided to pull up lame in this discussion because I’m a White guy from the San Fernando Valley, I’ve never had a single black friend and I’ve never had a personal discussion with a black person about race (not by personal choice, It’s just that my neighborhoods were largely White, Hispanic, and Armenian and my schools were White, Asian, and Hispanic). All I can say is that were I a studio executive, I’d recognize that, like with pop records in the 50′s, there’s a sizable black youth market ready to spend money on movies and it would be a good idea to cast talented actresses like Viola Davis in them. I agree that an Oscar would make her a more marketable star, at least for a time. But man, if I keep going on this subject I’m going to sound like a moron very quickly, so I’ll cede to you. I trust your intellect
And I just realized that I capitalized every race except Black. Jesus, I suck at life sometimes.
@Justin : All in all, this is one of the most exciting races in recent years. As far as I can remember, in the past 10 years or so, they were always two front runners. Avatar vs The Hurt Locker, Social Network vs King’s Speech, Crash vs Brokeback Mountain, Million Dollar Baby vs The Aviator and even years with one very clear front runner (The Departed and Return of the King).
But this year, the race seems more open. But like you said, it will be interesting to see the guilds picks in the following weeks. From what we can gather from the GG tonight, this race is now between The Artist, The Descendants and Hugo. But I guess that can all easily change in the following weeks…
I didn’t mean to single you out, Jesse. (unless I say @Jesse, or call someone out by name, usually I’m just picking a sentence from the discussion as a launch pad for my own bottle rocket)
At any rate, I’m not arguing, not at all. Just offering another slant on the topic that we’re all turning over, looking for a handle.
Oh, my.
While I agree that The Artist is steamrolling ahead to a best picture win come February, I have…issues…with the rest of the article.
“It is unacceptable that only one black actress has won in that category. Anyone who can sleep at night with that stat, more power to you.”
Um, well, yes I can sleep with that fact…even though actresses like Viola Davis and Angela Bassett do not have their Oscars, they are still wealthy, employed, are able to do what they love for a living and can afford their mortgage payment, etc., unlike many, many Americans and people throughout the world who fail to do or have any of that during this horrible recession. Yes, they deserve better roles and a chance to prove themselves but the insipid, petty way this was put just really irked me.
Let’s just not put the Best Actress race in grandiose terms. I just pray that if Viola Davis does win the Oscar that her career will not follow the trajectory of Halle Berry…you can say that Berry’s race may have played a factor in her post-Oscar film choices, but in my opinion, it was poor management and extremely poor choices on her behalf. Her career was much more impressive pre-Oscar (Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, Jungle Fever, Bulworth, etc.,) than after. Davis is such a talented actress so I hope that she will make wise choices.
I’ve never had a single black friend and I’ve never had a personal discussion with a black person about race
That’s ok though. Jesse. I don’t think that’s important. (surprising, but it doesn’t disqualify you from having an opinion.)
For the record, I’ve never been in relationship that wasn’t interracial (though a white guy myself). I lived in Thailand for many years so I’ve experienced how it feels to be a racial minority. But that doesn’t give me any special insight beyond the sense of decency, equality and fairness that made me capable of feeling comfortable in the life I’ve chosen to inhabit and among the varied flavors of friends I keep.
there’s a sizable black youth market ready to spend money on movies
You know now that you mention it, I’d love to know the demographic breakdown of people who’ve seen ATTACK THE BLOCK as of today. I bet the prevailing category they’d fall into is genre nerd regardless of race. That cast is made up mostly of young black men.
This is shockingly fair for something from an awards blog, bravo. But to give an award not based on the performance alone but on the circumstances surrounding a performance just isn’t right. Does it happen? Yes. You make very valid points as to why Viola Davis should be showered with Oscar gold. However, if I were a voter and I was voting on the BEST performance of the year it would go to Rooney Mara. IF I were to take into consideration that it might be the only chance to award Viola, which I would not, then yes I would probably vote for her.
@Ryan: Oh yeah, your tone wasn’t argumentative at all. I’m just finishing up 4 years of literature classes in which white and Asian kids discussed how a novel should address blackness and the discussions have a tendency to get really convoluted. Your response was far more astute.
I lived in Thailand for many years
“and you know what you do in Thailand”
So pretty much everyone in this thread talking about race is white? lol
All due respect, but a win for Meryl at the Oscars would be historic. It’ll be a win for a terrific performance by an actress in her 60′s doing great work. And it will be a honor for a career that’s spectacular and that the Academy hasn’t given much attention to – nominations, yes! Wins – no. Sorry, but Meryl Streep won for performances that were absolutely brilliant. And if you say that Viola Davis’s win would be historic only because of her color, that’s something that’s a sad reality that it still comes up as an argument. Viola Davis isn’t overdue in no way. She has some good work, but she isn’t really somebody who delivered on a regular basis spectacular performances on film. And if you think she was better than the actress in Pariah, many don’t. But the actress in Pariah doesn’t even come up in the conversation. What I love Meryl for is her great work, her commitment to her craft and her respect for other actors. How many actresses would spend their acceptance speech time paying tribute to others?! Streep should finally win her third Oscar and it’ll be a historic moment and a very wonderful one. Viola Davis is good in The Help, but I wouldn’t call her Oscar-worthy. It was a good performance that was touching and real, but I wouldn’t go beyond that. Anyway, I think Davis’s is the bloggers’ favorite. So be it, but it doesn’t mean she has to be everybody’s favorite. Critics obviously didn’t care much. I’ll be happy with Streep finally winning that third! She has the critical attention, the Globe in drama and I hope the SAG Award and the BAFTA. She DESERVES it!
Heres the bottom line to the race:
The Descendants picked up some steam tonight but has no shot at winning Best Picture, its best bet is best actor! (Best pic nod, actor win, screenplay nod, supp. Actress nod).
The Artist will win Best Picture, no doubt about it! Theres nothing standing in its way and everyone seems to just love it.(best pic win, director win, screenplay win maybe, score win, actor nod, supp. Actress nod, and a few more nods).
War Horse is a forsure nominee for best pic but its chances of winning sadly sunk, I think this deserves BP.(best pic nod, cinematography nod, maybe best director nod, adapted screenplay nod, score nod, editing nod, maybe a couple other nods if they REALLY go for the film).
Hugo seems to be in third place in the BP race but it cant win. The film somehow has never pulled out in front of The Artist to take the lead, it seems stuck as just a worthy BP nominee. It pull off a BD win but
i doubt Marty will pull it off.(best pic nod, director nod, score nod,and the other tech. categories).
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo definately came into the race last minute but its here, and its here to stay. Its better than Moneyball and Midnight in Paris. I think the oscars will be suckers for David Fincher too and give the film the Best Pic nod because they like Fincher, and the film is very worthy.(best pic nod, actress nod, film editing and score nod, adapted screenplay nod, director nod)
The others include:
Midnight in Paris
The Help
And i think Moneyball could fall out of the race, I see it not getting enough number one votes because its not that great, its just good. But in a weak year like this, good could be good enough to get a BP nod sadly.
Sasha, superbly written article, and I agree with it all, and you shouldn’t be attacked on your own blog for your views. You’re entitled to speak your opinion. Anyway, Meryl is my gal. But, i’m rooting for Viola all the way. I was much more moved by her performance/character than Margaret Thatcher.
I have no idea what Clooney means by that.
I don’t know what you think he means by that, Antoinette, and I don’t know what you mean to imply by quoting it.
We can’t ask George to explain what he meant, but I can ask you. ok?
I know what I did in Thailand. I lived and worked a full-time job, paid taxes, learned the language, and did only keft Thailand for one week in a span of seven years (to make a Visa run to Malaysia, a technicality expats sometimes have to fulfill. I worked long hours, and partied long hours too. I was in a relationship with the same Thai guy who’s my partner today.
===
I know what Ryan Gosling is doing in Thailand too. Don’t most of us?
Gosling is in Bangkok filming his next movie with Nicolas Winding Refn, a crime thriller called Only God Forgives. Which means he’s working long hours and probably partying long hours too. That’s what everybody is encouraged to do in Bangkok, Thai and farang alike — sabai sabai
Clooney is being flippant and he’s being a bit of an asshole. He was being a flippant asshole to Fassbender last night too.
I understand he’s joking, and I understand you’re joking too. Until I have the joke explained to me, I’ll hold off laughing, ok?
yeah, lol. White is a race too. What are you trying to say now? That only black people can speak about black people and white people should stick to talking about white people?
What’s so funny about any of this? I’m ready for a giggle if you want to let me in on the joke, ok?
I adore you Sasha but we certainly disagree about Meryl vs. Viola. And I don’t think you’d be giving Harvey all the credit if he repped THE HELP and Viola won last night.
‘Davis’ performance is the best of her career.’
What career? She’s just beginning so of course it is!
And I think Meryl was proud to win but realizes the lunacy of it all. Meryl was gracious to mention Davis at the end–too gracious if you ask me since Swinton and Mara were far superior to Davis–but then Davis is her friend. A friend who should have STOOD for her friend, but chose not to. That is telling to me.
And if Meryl wins the Oscar it will be on MERIT. You may not think so but so many of us do. It’s a fascinating performance that gets better the second time. I know you’ve dismissed the film as bad (which it is not) so you probably have no desire to see it a second time.
Finally, isn’t it a GOOD year when one actress doesn’t sweep every bloody awards show?
I won’t even touch the race issue since I vehemently disagree with how you keep bringing it up. What about openly gay actors NEVER winning? Ian McKellen lost to Roberto Benigni for God’s sake (Harvey at work)… Actors who PLAY gay win all the time…but I digress…
I still think Davis will win the Oscar. But I am rooting for Swinton, Mara or Streep because they touched me on a deep level. Davis gave a good, solid performance but except for the scene where she was allowed to speak about her son–she left me cold.
I don’t think that it’s fair to claim that the only reason Viola Davis didn’t win is because of her race. She’s a great actress, but if The Help wasn’t as successful/Good movie would you think anyone will even notice her?
Since Halle Berry’s win in 2002 we only had Gabourey Sidibe nominated. Black filmmakers are focusing more on cheap comedies or male roles, and since we’re on the subject the Oscar eventually didn’t help Berry even though she’s insanely sexy, talented and not even 100% black. She ended up doing lousy films and I think she is considered a box office poison.
I love Viola Davis, I think her performance in Doubt was SPECTACULAR!, but this year we have Rooney Mara, Tild Swinton, Meryl Streep AND Michael Williams all gave a better performance in terms of memorability and impact, so suggesting that Davis should win as an affirmative action/whole body of work will ruin the whole point of “Best Performance”.
I enjoy these discussions,
Thank you Sasha and Ryan!
Let’s not forget, everyone, that The Iron Lady is a fucking horrible movie, and that Meryl Streep’s performance, no matter how lauded it is, is campy, ridiculous bullshit — a caricature with no inner life.
If supporting ‘The Help’ means Meryl doesn’t win this Oscar, I’m a big The Help supporter right now.
Streep and Williams should lose for no other reason than that awards WHORE Harvey Weinstein. Both of those movies were made and distributed for no other reason than to win awards. Both movies will be forgotten about completely in 3 months. Like all these other biopics that win it’s stars awards in recent years. Harvey cost Kristen Wiig a Golden Globe tonight with his category fraud placement of Williams. And of course all the horrible decisions he has helped fool voters into making (King’s Speech over Social Network, Hooper over Fincher, Roberto Beigni and countless other TRAVESTIES). Don’t care what anyone says, Weinstein is horrible for movies. And that will be shown again when he denies the 2nd African American woman to win Best Actress in a film audiences loved. And Sasha, who I have battled with back and forth at times is 100% right to bring up the racial overtones in the industry where someone liked Davis does not and will not have the same opportunities as a Streep.
A win tonight on a national stage could have done wonders for a Viola or Rooney introducing them to the national audience. And I think both were better than Streep. Sorry I’ve seen Streep do the accents and impersonations before. I AM NOT IMPRESSED. Viola and Rooney INHABITED their characters and audiences loved them. But no let’s give Streep her billionith award. Whatev. Just shows how to win an award you need to star in a crappy biopic that few people have seen.
That’s how award shows work. We already know it’s BS. The fact that Madonna’s song won when it was clearly the worst shows how messed up and meaningless these awards really are.
Ryan, what is the problem? I was referring to something Clooney joked about earlier. Joked. It’s a joke. What are you getting so mad about? I saw him say it earlier on video in the press area after he won on E! They asked him if he knew where Ryan Gosling was and he made a joke about it. I provided the link so you’d know it was just a joke.
Look there are a few of us as you can see who are sick of people making this about race. Sasha for whatever reason keeps bringing up race concerning Viola Davis. I don’t know why she wants to do that. But you, who aren’t doing that, keep jumping in to defend her. I’m sorry that you’re in that position, but I’m not putting you there.
And yes, it makes very little sense to me, someone who’s supposed to be biracial but hates that shit, that a bunch on non-minorities would be sitting around talking about what a bunch of other assumed non-minorities should be doing about minorities. So I decided to laugh about it instead of getting into a tizzy. I know personally through my own experiences in life that judging people based on race is stupid. And I’m tired of it. Even if people are doing it because they think they’re doing the right thing. People should be judged for who they are. Not who their grandparents were or where they came from. To me, the race discussion is old and tired.
I don’t believe for one second that whether Viola Davis or anyone else wins or loses an award this season will depend on their race, unless people start making it about that now. So far, it’s just been about the movies and performances.
This obsession with race is so tiresome. But, because Sasha and Ryan are so obsessed, it should be noted that in the past 10 years, 40 Oscars have been given for acting, of which 7 have gone to African Americans — Denzel Washington, Jamie Foxx, Forrest Whitaker, Morgan Freeman, Halle Berry, Jennifer Hudson and Mo’Nique. 7 of 40 is 17.5%. One could say that in the past decade there has been slight overrepresentation.
Antoinette,
I understand it’s supposed to be a joke. I said I suspected it was a joke about 5 times. All I’m asking is that somebody explain the joke to me.
I’m not jumping in to defend Sasha. I’m stating my own position. Sasha and I don’t agree completely about this but we agree enough that there is overlap in how we feel.
I agree with somebody named Kevin Landry in another topic tonight. I support what he said, I chimed in, and agree with him. I’m not “jumping to his defense” either.
I approached my first comment to you in a joking tone too. Notice the smiley face? He’s there for the same reason Sasha wrote the word “nearly” — to add nuance and try to refine a flat statement.
Here look: http://youtu.be/hPvNbk131M0 Be happy, okay?
Aren’t the Oscar noms already turned in? If so, I don’t know how anything that won at the Globes can have any impact. The decisions have already been made.
So Viola Davis SHOULD win because she’s black? I haven’t heard the more racist statement whole my life. If she’s the best then let her win, but if she isn’t (I haven’t seen Close’s and Streep’s roles yet) then she should lose. Obvious.
I will like to see The Artist and Meryl Streep walk away with their respective wins.
I’m actually pretty disappointed that the best actress race is coming down to two great actresses in lame films. Mery Streep and Viola Davis are both amazing actresses but they should win awards for better films!
This year was full of amazing performances by actresses at the top of their game in actually GOOD FILMS like Kirsten Dunst (Melancholia), Tilda Swinton (We need to talk…), Rooney Mara (The girl with the dragon tattoo) or Charlize Theron (Young Adult). They should be in the centre of awards contention!
Anyway, I don’t think Viola Davis should win because she is black, especially for a film that is so trite and patronising. Ageisms is much stronger at the Academy voting, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see her beaten by Michelle Williams in the end (a decision I would actually be OK with).
I’d be o.k. if either Davis or Streep win this year as long as it’s not Williams (her performance the year before in BV was so much better). After last night it’s safe to say Clooney is running away with best actor (still hated his tasteless penis joke about Fassbender-who was a million times better in Shame than Clooney). But I’m still not sure if The Descendants will overthrow the Artist in the end. It’s really sad Jessica Chastain and Michael Fassbender have no chance this year. Two super talented people forced to sit it out. Not fair.
The Iron Lady and The Help are better movies than that piece of CRAP We Need to Talk About Kevin. What a HORRIBLE movie. You couldn’t pay me to watch that again. Haven’t seen Melacholia but just the title reeks of self indulgence.
Wow, talk about controversy in this board, huh? I’m more than happy about Streep’s win last night (as I wasn’t expecting it) but I still don’t want to get ahead of myself. This year, I’ll simply “believe it when I see it”.
Streep won’t win for Best Actress because she did another “impersonation.” And nobody will see the movie Iron Lady, the subject matter is more to the British audience than Americans. Honestly, do you think Americans care about Thatcher?
It will be Michelle or Viola, although I think Viola gave the better performance. I thought Michelle was a knockout as Marilyn, you couldn’t take your eyes off her, but the movie was a snooze.
What your talking about is much deeper than AMPAS votes…and unfair to insinuate that the members are influenced one way or another. You’re frustrated and that is fine.
Talking about Meryl verses Viola and making it about race is unfair to both actors. Firstly neither IMO gave the best performance of the year and secondly, they have no say in how people vote. Why should both talented actors be squared off against each other in this article where wolves await to criticise both?
AMPAS has no problem watching and voting for black actors. In fact I would go as far as to say they’re chomping at the bit to award a performance and film that is worthy. They just not fucking around. I now that’s part of your point and I second you on that.
Viola Davis nomination is as good as a win for influencing black artists in perpetuity. A win might lead to a role in Tranformers 4.
u guys really love to play the race card don’t you. smh. anyone that feels someone that deserves to win isn’t viola , guess what, you are a racist.
Kill me but I think this is launching Oscar to:
Picture: Hugo
Director: Marty
reasoning… I think they won’t be splitting this year, and despite The Artist or The Descendants seem to be in the lead, given the Globes, I just don’t see any of those films being a BP winner this year. The Director punch of the Globes seems to me more a “BP” winner ’cause they don’t split in drama and comedy/musical that cathegory. Hugo looks way more than these other two as a plausible BP winner. If any other film had taken best director, Hugo would be doomed, but Marty’s victory actually fuels the chances of the film in the right direction.
Actor: Pitt
reasoning: Clooney ain’t winning a 2nd while his pal Brad is still waiting for the 1st, and more in a year that Brad can still be even double nominated. Of course they can avoid him but Clooney may end nom’d in several cathegories thanks to The Ides of March and The Descendants. We still have Jean, but he ain’t Marion Cotillard, and The Artist is a film that bound as it seems to be Oscar bound anywhere, AMPAS wouldn’t have a problem to leave unrewarded… “nom is enough”. I think it is totally plausible that “The Artist” can score zero wins. And of course, we still have Leo’s biopic role and his overdueness.
Actress: Meryl
Everybody keeps shouting Viola (she lost the Globe!), Williams… but Meryl is LA Thatcher. Beat that. And she hasn’t won in almost 3 decades. I mean… you know. Remember, these guys LOVE standing ovations
Supp. Actor: Plummer.
If he loses, it would be the biggest shocker of the night. Standing ovation.
Supp. Actress: the only really open race
If Davis ends supporting, she nails it. If not, there’s the chance they award Spencer, Chastain, Berejo (throwing The Artist a bone)… we need to remember in this cathegory they are completely unpredictable. Mercedes Ruehl won for The Fisher King, Marisa Tomei for My Cousin Vinny, Marcia Gay Harden for Pollock, Anna Paquin for The Piano… deserved or not, the supporting actress winners sometimes aren’t even the favorite but the typichal “glad to be nom’d” kind. This looks exactly as one of those years that anything can happen and people wouldn’t even be in the slightest shock.
Original Screenplay: Midnight in Paris
If this doesn’t happen, Hollywood would burn in hell. How many AGES without giving Woody himself one? The movie is Best Picture-calibre, so I find it extremely difficult that any other can take it home.
Adapted Screenplay: Hugo
even thought they will be tempted to award some other, I’m gonna stick with my feeling that in a such a wide open but not-that-much appealling year, they will want a BIG, unquestionable winner. Hugo doesn’t offer the chance of Award-winning performances, it seems, so, apart from some technicals (Art Direction, Film Editing, Visual Effects, maybe Costume and Sound cathegories), Adapted Screenplay would be a must.
These are not actual predictions, just how I feel it would be a logichal after-Globes behaviour.
If nothing else, the Globes did establish who, in pro wrestling speak is the #1 heel going I to the home stretch. A good nigt for Harvey Weinstein is a bad night for everyone else. He is a tyrant, a megalomaniac, who would gut his own firstborn if it meant getting another award. He makes films and acquires films for the sole purpose of cockblocking more worthy contenders out of their legit chances. Think of Vince McMahon and Dana White (UFC boss) times a billion in terms of ego. He is stone cold evil. And he’s gonna get away with more crap this year because there’s not a strong anti-Weinstein candidate out there. The Descendants? Please; that film would fit like a glove on the Lifetime Movie Network. So would The Help. Bridesmaids and Moneyball? Root for them, then.
Fuck Harvey Weinstein.
Oh, I don`t like all these whiners! Come on, get over it! And if you like it or not, Meryl Streep won the award!
on the race/performances/Oscar… it ain’t racist to point the obvious: anglosaxon get the better parts most of the times, ’cause those are the “model” our media world spins around, constantly. So, the best roles and the most important movies are writtend and conceived normally for anglosaxon performers. You look back to the exceptions to the rules and you find that Javier Bardem’s character race was not clear in No Country for Old Men but his name was anglosaxon, that Denzell Washington’s and Hale Berry’s characters could be perfectly WASP with minor changes to the screenplays, back in 2001.
Then you have Whoopi and The Color Purple, one of the Best film debuts of all time, playing with dignity and credibility and skills a huge range of emotions and losing the Oscar. And then having a “Supporting” in compensation in a Best Picture winner that she simply stole, with a role that was nicely but poorly written and full of stereotypes pretty close to racism. It’s not that AMPAS is racist, itself, but it’s full of politics and already limited in their point of view, from what they’re allowed by time and marketing to see. I don’t understand why “Do the Right Thing” didn’t sweep the Oscars. Nor The Color Purple (11-0) and Spielber not even nom’d… you look at asian, latinos, europeans (not anglosaxon) and yes, here and there you have some winners, but when you notice, there were some truly special factor around their performances (Benigni, Loren, Bardem, Cruz, Ngor…).
Davis is likely to lose the Oscar, in my opinion, and yes, to Meryl. In this case, it won’t have anything to do with politics, it’s just that Meryl is a goddess of acting and she’s been nom’d so many times in 40 years of career and it’s sooooo long since she last won, that it looks ridiculous. The shame is on Hollywood for not writting good enough roles for non-WASP actors. The last time I was happy with it, it was when they were color blind and changed Kingpin’s race in Daredevil so Michael Clarke Duncan could play the character (a minor change, if you know the comic-book). And then, the movie was so bad… (but not Duncan’s fault at all)
@PaulH 1) would’ve been good if it had nominees like Harry Potter, Transformers, Pirates of the Caribbean, Fast Five.
2) You gotta admit Vince McMahon’s company has been running for 60 years, took down 2 major competitors, has a show that’s been running for 19 years and aired over 970 episodes (close to making the 1,000th episode), and McMahon was put on trial in 1994, accused of distributing steroids to his wrestlers. One former wrestler, Nailz, was called by the prosecution to testify against McMahon, stating that Vince encouraged him to start using steroids. His wife Linda became CEO of the WWF during the trial. He was acquitted of all charges though he admitted to taking steroids himself in the 1980s. The prosecution made Hulk Hogan its star witness, however, when called to testify, Hogan stated that at no time did Vince McMahon ever sell steroids.
Here’s what Hogan said at the trial:
Government calls Terry Bollea, otherwise known as Hulk Hogan. There is about a two minute wait and Bollea enters. He is wearing a black suit with a red tie. His speaking manner is very serious. He is self employed as an entertainer. He has acted and wrestled. He is known as Hulk Hogan and he was promised not to be prosecuted.
Government: When did you first work in the WWF?
Terry B: Late 78. I worked for capital for a couple of years. I was gone for three years. I came back at the end of 83.
Government: Have you used steroids prior to the WWF?
Terry B: Yes.
Government: When did you start?
Terry B: The middle of 76.
Government: What sort?
Terry B: Injectables and orals. Anabol, decagabril, testosterone. I used deca the most.
Government: Describe steroid use in the WWF back then.
Terry B: It was common.
Government: Give a percentage.
Terry B: 75 to 80 percent.Maybe more.
Government: Did you see them in the locker room?
Terry B: Yes
Government: Did you use them there?
Terry B: Yes.
Government: Did you know Zahorian while you were in the WWF?
Terry B: Yes.
Government: Who was he?
Terry B: He was a commissioned doctor for the state of Pennsylvania that came to taping in Allentown and Hershey.
Government: What else was he known for?
Terry B: For wrestlers to get substances. Steroids.
Government: What else?
Terry B: Sleeping pills, diet pills, Tylenol 3 and 4.
Government: How did he distribute?
Terry B: People came to see him during tv tapings and asked for what they needed.
Government: Did he take blood tests?
Terry B: Yes.
Government: Did he follow up on the wrestlers?
Terry B: Asked if I was okay.
Government: Did he give you whatever you asked for?
Terry B: Yes.
Government: What did Zahorian have with him?
Terry B: A medical bag with instruments and two tackle boxes with drugs.
Government: Was Vince McMahon ever in the arena when Zahorian was there?
Terry B: Yes.
Government: Have you ever heard any slang for steroids?
Terry B: Juice, gas.
Government: Ever hear Vince McMahon use them.
Terry B: Not that I can remember.
Government: Did Vince McMahon ever order from Zahorian?
Terry B: Yes.
Government: Do you recall when?
Terry B: When we discussed steroids on the set of “No Holds Barred”.
Government: Did you learn if steroids were new to Vince McMahon?
Terry B: He knew what they were.
Government: Ever discuss steroids with Jay Strongbow?
Terry B: Yes. Talked about Zahorian and getting steroids for his son.
Government: Did you ever get steroids from Vince McMahon or Emily Feinberg?
Terry B: I called Emily Feinberg on the road and told her to place an order for me.
Government: How many times?
Terry B: 10 or less times.
Government: How would you get steroids through Emily Feinberg?
Terry B: Go by the office and pick them up.
Government: Who paid for the steroids from Emily Feinberg?
Terry B: Most of the time I wrote a check or used cash. There were times that I picked up steroids that were not paid for because I gave steroids to Vince McMahon, so they were pay back.
Government: How common was it for you to use steroids?
Terry B: Very common. Wrestlers used them. I had a prescription.
Government: Who did you learn through that Zahorian was in trouble?
Terry B: Pat Patterson said Zahorian was under investigation, don’t use or call him.
Government: Did Patterson tell you not to use steroids? Terry B: No.
Government: What did Vince McMahon say?
Terry B: Don’t use or call him.
Government: Do you see this document? Is this your signature?
Terry B: No.
A sidebar is called. After the side bar the judge tells us that juror who looks like Flip Wilson has to give his keys to a court officer because his wife locked herself out of the house. The whole courtroom starts laughing. I noticed Hulk Hogan never changed from his solemn expression.
Government: Did you carry steroids on the road?
Terry B: Yes
Government: Why did you use steroids?
Terry B: To heal injuries, to keep on going, the schedule was tough. It gave an edge. For bodybuilding. When I first started it was to get big and gain weight.
Government: Ever wrestle in Nassau Coliseum?
Terry B: Yes.
Government: The statements that you made to the press about steroids were truthful?
Terry B: No.
The female defense lawyer starts asking questions.
Defense: We’ve never met before Mr. Bollea?
Terry B: No.
Defense: Never spoken?
Terry B: No.
Defense: For a period of time while you were in the WWF you did not wrestle at the Meadowlands.
Terry B: Don’t know.
Defense: Does this refresh your memory?
Terry B: No.
Defense: You stopped steroids in 89?
Terry B: Around then, maybe a little bit after.
Defense: You and your wife have two children?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: July 27, 1990 is the date of birth of your last child?
Terry B: Yes
Defense: Did you and your wife, in 1989, decide you would not be on any drugs?
Terry B: I would wind down and come off.
Defense: Did you use steroids after October 1989?
Terry B: Yes. We had an argument about her getting pregnant while I’m on drugs.
Defense reads GJ testimony of Hulk Hogan.
Q: When was the last time you used steroids?
A: About 4 to 4 and a half years ago. It was 9 months before our daughter was born.
Defense: You had steroids delivered to the homes of other people in the names of other people?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Dave Brower?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Was it practice that after a WrestleMania there would be a hiatus?
Terry B: Sometimes.
Defense: You try spending as much time with your family when you are not on the road?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: You and your wife moved to Florida after July 1988?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: After WrestleMania 5, do you remember being in Florida for a period of time.
Terry B: No.
Defense: TCA would make travel arrangements for you by charter?
Terry B: Yes or I would call myself.
Defense: Always arranged by Titan?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Do you remember the issue of Titan paying for the charters?
Terry B: No.
Defense: Do you recall this letter April 11, 1989 where it talks about the issue of who would pay for a charter from Michigan to Tampa?
Terry B: I don’t recall it.
Defense: Did you live in Florida at this time at this address?
Terry B: Don’t know.
Defense: You owned it?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Was your mail forwarded from there to CT?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Do you recall picking up a package at Titan in April 89.
Terry B: No.
Defense: Do you remember Jim Stewart delivering steroids from Titan to you at an arena?
Terry B: No.
Defense: Any orders placed to Zahorian by you were for your personal use?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Would you distribute steroids?
Terry B: No.
Defense: Which you believed steroids were legal?
Terry B: Yes because I had a prescription.
Defense: Do you remember Dr. War from Canada, Dr. Pannovich from Denver, Dr. Liebowitz from NY?
Terry B: Yes, except for Dr. Pannovich.
Defense: Had other doctors dispensed steroids to you between 85 and 89?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: War?
Terry B: Yes
Defense: Liebowitz?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Pannovich?
Terry B: Don’t remember.
Defense reads Terry B’s Grand Jury statements which said that all four doctors including Zahorian wrote him prescriptions.
Defense: Did you get deca from Ponnavich?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Did you try and use steroids legally?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Did you get a doctor to see you beforehand?
Terry B: Not so much that, just made sure that I had a prescription.
Defense: Did you get steroids in gyms in the 70s?
Terry B: Yes, 70s and 80s.
Defense: Once you started wrestling for large organizations like the AWA and Japan you starting seeing doctors for steroids?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: It was better to get from a doctor because of the quality?
Terry B: Yes a concern in the gyms would be that they might be fake.
Defense: Today in 1994 you have more knowledge of steroids than in the 80s?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: If you had this info back then would you not have used them?
Terry B: That might have been the case.
Defense: Were steroids common for athletes in other professions?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Did Titan give you your own locker room?
Terry B: Yes
Defense: At Hershey?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: You preferred to be with the people you wanted other than the extras?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Before you performed, you liked to be in private?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Do you remember the photo of you, Vince McMahon, and Zahorian shown at Zahorian’s trial?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Do you remember when it was taken?
Terry B: No.
Defense: It was common to have photo taken with scores of people?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Do you have any knowledge of being in a room with Zahorian and Vince McMahon while discussing steroids?
Terry B: No.
Defense: Vince McMahon never directed you to take steroids?
Terry B: Never.
Defense: It was your choice and decision?
Terry B: Definitely.
Defense: Other wrestlers take steroids?
Terry B: To my knowledge, yes.
Defense: Ever hear Vince McMahon tell a wrestler he should take steroids?
Terry B: No.
Defense: Do you recall any conversations with Vince McMahon where he implied a wrestler should take steroids?
Terry B: Never.
Defense: Were advances for performances given out by agents at every performance?
Terry B: Yes. It was deducted from their payment.
Defense: Ever hear at any WWF event any agent say, “the Doctor’s here, anyone want an advance?”
Terry B: No. Just “does anyone want an advance”.
Defense: The other wrestlers, not you, had to pay for their hotel rooms and meals?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: It was one town to another, night after night?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: 30 days at a time or more?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: The reason for an advance was so wrestlers could pay for expenses?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Ever heard of riggs?
Terry B: Yes
Defense: Is riggs slang for hypodermic needles?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: It is not known commonly as steroids and needles?
Terry B: No.
Defense: So riggs are not steroids.
Terry B: No.
Defense: Ever heard of a roid rage?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: In your 12 or 13 years of use did you ever experience a roid rage?
Terry B: No.
Defense: Ever see Vince McMahon have a personality change known as roid rage?
Terry B: No.
Defense: Is it fair to say wrestlers are aggressive?
Terry B: When performing.
Defense: Being on the road, when the wrestlers were offstage were they boisterous?
Terry B: Not all.
Defense: Did some party?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Did they get into trouble?
Terry B: Sometimes.
Defense: Did you ever the make the connection of steroids usage and the wrestlers being boisterous at a hotel or bar?
Terry B: Never.
Defense: Vince McMahon wanted the wrestlers to be in good physical shape?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: He acts upon those words himself?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Have you worked out with Vince McMahon?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Did he try to work out as hard as you?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Ever heard the term bigger than life at WWF?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: What did you take it to mean?
Terry B: Reference about me and how success had taken us by surprise and it was larger than life.
Defense: Reference that the character was bigger than life?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Was it code word to take steroids?
Terry B: No.
Defense: To create public appeal you need a character?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: You view yourself with 2 identities, Hulk Hogan and Terry Bollea?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Is Hulk Hogan bigger than life?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Was it the goal of Vince McMahon to promote a character that was larger than life to go over with the public?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Go over means public will accept as popular?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Ever have any personal knowledge that Titan paid for any steroids for wrestlers?
Terry B: No.
Defense: As far as you know, in the locker rooms, they used their own money?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Ever see a road agent or any employee of Titan distribute steroids to a wrestler who wanted them?
Terry B: Never.
Defense: During 85-89, if you could not get steroids, you get from other physicians?
Terry B: If needed, yes.
Defense: Titan had nothing to do with Zahorian giving you steroids?
Terry B: Nothing.
Defense: Dave Brower was a friend of yours from High School who lived in Florida?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Did you renew your friendship with him in 88 before the filming of No Holds Barred?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Did you train with him then?
Terry B: Don’t recall.
Defense: Did you call Zahorian and have him deliver steroids to Brower?
Terry B: I don’t remember the dates. I put Dave Brower on the phone with Zahorian and introduced him because he was using steroids.
Defense reads Grand Jury statements.
Q: Zahorian sent you Federal Express in Tampa.
A: Yes.
Q: To Dave Brower who received them for you?
A: yes.
Defense: Did Dave Brower and you share steroids?
Terry B: Yes. Gave me my portion.
Defense: You paid for steroids that you used from Dave Brower?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: You made the order and for convenience you had it delivered to Dave Brower and you took some for your personal use?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Did you charge Dave Brower money?
Terry B: No. He gave me 10 vials, so I gave him ten vials. We were friends. It is similar to how smokers share cigarettes.
Defense: Between 85-91, you gave wrestlers steroids and the reverse was true. In your mind were you distributing steroids?
Terry B: No, these were my friends.
Defense: When they gave them to you, were they in your mind distributing steroids?
Terry B: No. they were my friends.
Defense: Did you believe as a lay person, that between 85 and 91, as long as a doctor prescribed them, they were legal?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Did you believe Zahorian was committing a crime?
Terry B: No.
Defense: You did not have knowledge that it was criminal?
Terry B: No, I did not.
Defense: Did the other doctors write you a prescription?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Did you believe that Titan was condoning an illegal practice?
Terry B: No.
Defense: When you were examined in Hershey, it was in private?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Did you talk to Zahorian about your physical condition?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Did you about problems apart from steroid usage?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Did you have personal and medical conversations with Zahorian?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Did you expect them to be confidential?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Did some concern your wife?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: You used Zahorian for reasons unassociated with steroids?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Were you satisfied with the advise of Zahorian?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: He helped you?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: You had close friends in the WWF?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Ed Leslie known as Beefcake?
Terry B: yes.
Defense: Brian Blair?
Terry B: yes.
Defense: John Minton, know as Big John Studd?
Terry B: Yes, but I don’t see him as often.
Defense: Do you recall Vince McMahon handing you steroids via Federal Express from Zahorian?
Terry B: Never.
Defense: In 1988 you received a Federal Express from Zahorian?
Terry B: Yes.
We get 15 minute recess. A spectator in front row comments to someone that only people in the wrestling business that are rooting for the destruction of Titan and Vince are the higher ups in rival organizations. Like Eric Bischoff in WCW. Reason being he can lower salaries if Titan was gone because there wouldn’t be the threat of a wrestler leaving WCW to go to Titan and get a higher salary.
Defense: The packages were picked up because you knew steroids were ordered for you?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Would you call from the road and ask Emily to order for you?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Did Vince McMahon ever direct her to order and supply you with steroids?
Terry B: No, I called myself.
Defense: Who would you pick up the package from?
Terry B: Emily.
Defense: Do you recall Vince McMahon ever dividing up steroids and handing you bottles and packages?
Terry B: No.
Defense: Did Jim Stewart ever deliver a package to you?
Terry B: I don’t remember him doing that.
Defense: Did you ever give Emily Feinberg instruction to give steroids to Jim Stewart?
Terry B: No.
Defense: The steroids were paid for by you?
Terry B: I would write a check for Zahorian.
Defense: When you got steroids from others, you would not pay money and instead just give them some of your vials in return later?
Terry B: Yes. No money.
Defense: Orders were placed jointly for you and Vince McMahon?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: You knew Vince McMahon used steroids?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: From 84 and on, Vince McMahon was your friend?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: You called him your brother?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: You had respect for him?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Did you in 1993 call him “my hero”?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Vince McMahon respected you?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Your ability and what you did for the WWF?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: The film “No Holds Barred” was produced by Shane productions which was owned by Vince McMahon correct?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: You were involved exclusively in the filming, there were no performances then?
Terry B: None that I can recall.
Defense: During June and July of the production, he was in your company and involved in the production of the film?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: You two stayed in the same hotel and trailer?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Do you know how old Vince McMahon is?
Terry B: No.
Defense: Is he in the present in his late 40′s?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Back then he was in his early 40′s?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: In your case you started using steroids when you were around 23-24?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Would it be unusual for an individual to start steroids in his early 40′s?
Sidebar called.
Defense: Vince McMahon started using steroids in 88 while filming “No Holds Barred”?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Did he use the steroids that you had?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Decadorabilin and oral pill called anabar?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Did you talk to Vince McMahon about cycling?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Did you show Vince McMahon how to inject himself with deca?
Terry B: I don’t remember that.
Defense: But you gave part of your supply to Vince McMahon for use and and bottles were then given back to you by Vince McMahon?
Terry B: It’s possible.
Defense: Did Zahorian tell which steroids were the best to take?
Terry B: Told me the safest. Anabar and deca were the safest?
Defense: Did he characterize deca as being as safe as sugar passing through your system?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: You talked to Vince McMahon about which were the safest?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Did you believe steroids helped you to heal from injuries that you sustained?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Did you feel steroids speeded the recovery from injury?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Did you talk to Vince McMahon about that?
Terry B: I can’t recall.
Defense: Were you surprised by the Zahorian investigation?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: You were told not to call or talk to Zahorian?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Did you try?
Terry B: Yes, at his office. He said he wouldn’t talk.
Defense: Did you have any intent to obstruct a government investigation?
Terry B: No.
Defense: You called him as a friend?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Did you intend to defraud the FDA?
Terry B: No.
Defense: Did Vince McMahon or Titan tell you to call Zahorian?
Terry B: No.
Defense: At the time of the Zahorian trial you were feeling a lot of pressure?
Terry B: Yes. I felt at the time of the investigation that I was being singled out. The public didn’t know much about steroids. I felt that it was unfair that out of the thousands I was being singled out.
Defense: Did you feel badgered?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: To this day does the question of steroids come up in every single interview?
Terry B: About 85%.
Defense: Before and after the Zahorian trial you gave untrue statements to the press?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: In particular the Arsenio Hall show?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Is it fair to say that you did not give the complete story on the Arsenio Hall show?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: What did Vince McMahon advise you about that?
Terry B: He didn’t think it would be a good idea to go on the show because it was not the right format.
Defense: What did he say about seeing the Grand Jury?
Terry B: Tell them the truth.
Defense: When you gave untrue statements to the media was it to defraud any agencies or obstruct any investigations?
Terry B: No.
Defense: You felt the use of steroids was personal?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Bad publicity for you?
Terry B: It turned out that way.
Defense: Did you receive immunity?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Do you feel you committed a crime in regards to steroids?
Terry B: No.
Defense: At the time of the Grand Jury, were you involved with a promotion for the film “Mr. Nanny”?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Was there talk of “Thunder in Paradise” occurring?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Did you talk to Vince McMahon about a comeback to wrestling?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: In order to get money and exposure for your TV show?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Fair to say that Vince McMahon helped you start a new career?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: You are currently under contract with the rival WCW?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: You signed a contract with Ted Turner?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Is he the owner?
Terry B: I don’t know who the owner is.
Defense: You signed a contract to wrestle with Ric Flair?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: You will be performing this Sunday on PPV.
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Still friends with Vince McMahon?
Terry B: Yes.
Government: In 89 you made your home in Stamford, CT?
Terry B: Yes.
Government: You lived there from time to time?
Terry B: Yes.
Government: Is it true that you do not recall all the days that you got steroids from Emily Feinberg?
Terry B: Yes.
Government: You met Dr. Liebowitz through Titan?
Terry B: Yes.
Government: You received steroids from Vince McMahon and Emily Feinberg who are not doctors?
Terry B: Yes.
Government: When you took the photo did you know them well?
Terry B: Yes.
Government: Is part of the appeal of Hulk Hogan his physical size?
Terry B: Yes.
Government: His 22 inch arms?
Terry B: Yes.
Government: In part Hulk Hogan got to be Hulk Hogan through steroids?
Terry B: In part.
Government: Every time Zahorian gave you steroids, he did not write a new prescription?
Terry B: No. He just gave a note and said keep it in your bag.
Judge: What were they?
Terry B: Different sheets of paper for each steroid. It said deca for TB for bodybuilding.
Government: He did not limit you?
Terry B: Correct.
Government: With your family doctor in Tampa do you tell him what drugs you want and he gets them for you?
Terry B: No.
Government: Does your family doc give you cash and carry treatment?
Terry B: No.
Government: Was Emily Feinberg Vince McMahon’s right hand man?
Terry B: Yes.
Government: You gave steroids to Vince McMahon?
Terry B: Yes.
Government: When he used them, did he have an injury that needed to be healed?
Terry B: No.
Government: He wanted to body build?
Terry B: Yes.
Government: When you called Zahorian did you tell him to call you back on a pay phone?
Terry B: No.
Government: Did you tell Zahorian to destroy any documents?
Terry B: No.
Government: Was Vince McMahon in the office when you received your steroids?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: These 2 pieces of paper are they similar to your prescriptions?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: One is for valium for muscle pain from Zahorian on July 1 85?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: You had one that said what?
Terry B: Said deca and how many grams and it was for bodybuilding.
Defense: Did you get a direction from Vince McMahon to carry that?
Terry B: No.
Defense: Neither Titan nor Vince McMahon provided you with the service of Liebowitz to get steroids?
Terry B: No.
Defense: You do not take steroids anymore?
Terry B: No.
Defense: Do you still refer to your arms as pythons when in character?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: As 22 inches?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Are they still 22 inches?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: Is one of your lines for the Ric Flair PPV (said in a Hulk Hogan voice) whats you gonna do Ric Flair when these pythons come after you?
Terry B: Yes.
Defense: And that’s without steroids?
Terry B: Yes.
Done with witness. It is now 12:30. Lunch recess is called.
Namely, Meryl is the Iron Lady. The reviews for her are raves. She has a killer year – Kennedy Center, 60 minutes, covers etc. She has momentum and if they deny her now, it will be way too much. She’s been robbed way too many times by the Academy. Now it’s time for Oscar # 3.
I forgot about Will Smith in I am Legend. Extraordinary performance, too, and pretty good film. Another race-change to african american that worked out for the best.
Hey guys, this is not the first time that it happens.
Remind me:
Shakespeare in love over Saving Private Ryan
Chicago over The Hours
The King’s Speech over The Social Network
The Artist over The Decendants
And all this past oscar season where so awesome, because everyone were angry with that results… the time passes and for me and for the most part of us the best picture are the ones after the “over” not before.
That’s what I remember, any other example!
So, what have we to do? it is simple…
we kidnap the weinstein brothers… just kidding!
we choose our own best pictures and don’t give a … to the oscar voters. I don’t care anymore. Best actress is Viola Davis, that’s all.
If you believe in this, say enough for the weinstein brother or start something like “Occupy Wall Street” or something on tweeter!
Sorry, just kidding again!
There are people here writing comments that spew hatred and abuse on film-work and performances that they didn’t support or appreciate, they really shouldn’t be in a blog that genuinely reflects a love for the art of film.
All films cited in the Globes tonight, whether nominated or won, are all praiseworthy for the time, energy and dedication invested by professionals.
Showing such negativity in commenting, rather than constructive criticism, is saying more of personal lack of maturity, than the film itself.
Why is The Artist unstoppable? The Descendants won a BP award (and, traditionally, the more prestigious of the two and the one that is more often an Oscar precursor), and it won Best Actor just like The Actor did. And neither film won Best Director. I think the Globes are pretty ambiguous about which film is the BP front runner.
If we want to discuss racism, let’s discuss how the clip from The Help, introduced by Queen Latifah, featured all the white actresses speaking and, I think, not one word spoken by Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer. I think there was one brief line spoken by one of the minor black actresses in the cast. When they cut from the clip to Davis and Spencer at their table, was it just me or did they look a little displeased?
As for my theory about Kristen Wiig taking the comedy actress award …. well, I’m SURE she came in second!!!
Hmmm….why is RACE an important factor this year? I think its not fair for any of the actresses consider for an Oscarnomination.
There were truly loads of highly acclaimed performances this year and my favs are Swinton, Dunst, Mara, Ronan and Wasikowska. NOt because they are white but because I connected the most with the characters.
Have not seen The Help yet and skipping the Iron Lady cause Phyllia darling, your camerawork makes me dizzzy
Makes me wonder if Finchergirl Sasha would have pulled the race card if Mara won last night. Ha! Streep FTW at the Oscars!
MERYL FOR THE WIN. SHE IS THE LEAD IN THE FILM. EMMA STONE IS THE “CO-LEAD” in THE HELP. THE HELP is like FRIED GREEN TOMATOES starring Mary Louise Parker and Kathy Bates–campy crap made for Saturdays on Lifetime.
MERYL HAS NOT WON AN OSCAR IN 30 YEARS. Jessica Lange, Hilary Swank, Sally Field, Jodie Foster, and Jane Fonda all have two Oscars–just like Meryl. How is that possible? Meryl WILL win this time and it will be for THE IRON LADY as well as her body of work. MERYL FOR THE WIN.
boring awards season. boring show. A parade of rich hams.
Weinstein gets/embodies the narcissism of the awards voters.
Ah, the age old race discussion. While I do think racism still exists and permeates many, many corners of our existence, no one could deny that things haven’t improved significantly within the past forty years or so. I’m not sure how citing the lack of black oscar winners bespeaks racial prejudice and malice within Hollywood; it could just be that more people thought Holly Hunter’s performance in “The Piano” was the best female performance 1993, while a few less people thought Angela Bassett’s performance in “What’s Love Got To Do With It?” was the best.
I also think a problem rises when someone calls for a black person to win an Academy Award just for the sake of more black people having them; Halle Berry winning her oscar (one of the group’s all time embarrassments in my eyes, more of a random fluke than a stab at racial equality) hasn’t really improved the career prospects for professional black actors everywhere, and citing Berry’s win as an argument for a Viola Davis win being a significant step in the right direction is not justifiable.
The real problem Hollywood has is it’s lack of meaty roles for black actors, and it’s an issue that no number of Academy Awards will fix. We should be celebrating actors for the work they have done rather than for what an Academy Award win will do for the social landscape, and it’s not particularly fair for Viola Davis to be championed on the race card when other actors can never so lucky to receive such a boost. If this type of self-righteous writing continues, instead of honest appraisal of a fine performance (which by all means it is), a win for Viola Davis will be nothing more than a cute moment where everyone in Hollywood can pat themselves on the back for being progressive. And no change will come from it.
Meryl: “You’re black.”
Viola: “You’re white.”
^that scene never happened.
I don’t think anyone should get extra points for being in a minority, in this case Viola for being black. Is that really a minority even?
But then again, I’ve never suffered from “white guilt”. Never given much thought to something Europeans did hundreds of years ago.
“When Weinstein Co. picked up The Artist in Cannes they knew they had something really special”
Isn’t that what an Oscar-winning best picture should be? Something special?
It sounds to me that Awards Daily is going to bash every best picture frontrunner every year from here on out- unless, of course, that frontrunner happens to be a film by David Fincher.
@Ryan: Woo hoo! A shout-out to Malaysia from you! *This Malaysian waves from New Jersey*
Enough with the black vs white bullshit argument. It’s pathetic and comes off as desperate.
First of all: Viola Davis is supporting in THE HELP (the only leading actress in this film is Emma Stone) so this is actually a category fraud and despite the fact that she was great (though Spencer and Chastain were better) she should not win this.
And we can’t forget that Spencer won. I’ve thought that she is Afroamerican. She is, isn’t she? Or maybe she is white but only used make-up (like Robert Downey Jr. in TROPIC THUNDER)? Yes, I’m joking but when I read that someone should win simply because she/he is black I can’t stop myself from being irritated. Maybe because I’m not from the USA and we don’t have “tradition” of racism and slavery, thank God!
I feel the need to apologize for OCO300′s ludicrous, offtopic posting of a steroid trial transcript from 15+ years ago. WTF does that have anything to do with the Golden Globes?????
And I hope that Mara won’t be nominated. Yeah, I know it’s different subject but REALLY! She was OK, but nothing special. Noomi Rapace in Swedish version was ten thousand times better. And if Mara will be nominated instead of Swinton or Close it would be travesty. I don’t even mention that “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” is weak movie (obviously Fincher’s worst if you forget for the moment about ALIEN 3) and I can’t understand how he could be nominated for DGA instead of Refn or Miller. I hope that Academy makes it right and won’t nominate him and Mara. We’ll see.
Assuming that Streep came up second in her previous two nominations, I am wondering whether a rather big block of voters just keep voting for her every year no matter what. If that’s the case, fine, give her a third Oscar and stop the damn game right here.
Interesting that this is the first time Streep has won the GG for Best Actress-Drama since her win for Sophie’s Choice in 1982. In ten previous nominations in that category, she has lost (though she has won for Comedy, and Supporting Actress-Drama, and for TV).
This stat bodes well for her Oscar chances and the theory that this is finally her year. The SAG awards will really tell the tale.
I think there is now a clear movement towards Streep winning the Oscar this year — the feeling that this is her year, and she must be given another lead acting Oscar, is becoming very strong. People will makr their ballots for Octavia Spencer in The Help, and then they will feel that it is not necessary to give a second acting award to that film, especially given that the wonderful Viola Davis had a less-than-lead role and the film, likable enough, was essentially a Women’s Home Journal movie.
FrankieJ:
Hats off to you who has the guts to sit through the Iron Lady twice. This is Unbearable Boringness of Film Making.
*lol*
I’m sure Meryl is shocked the most she won that night.
She was expecting Viola to win, be sure of that.
She adores Viola, has PRAISED her, so it’s not really her fault the HFPA picked her. Maybe the vote was close.
Only ONE vote could have made the difference. Think about that.
Viola WILL take the SAG anyway, her film will get a BP nod, so she’s still the favorite to win this year.
the only reason meryl won anything tonight is because michelle was in a different category. that won’t be the case on oscar night. i’d say the votes will go, in this order:
1. michelle williams
2. meryl streep
3. viola davis
4. tilda swinton
5. glenn close
fans of “the help” will have the opportunity to reward the film by giving supporting actress to spencer since she essentially has no real competition.
spencer’s only competition would be if davis actually lands a supporting nod….
The Iron Lady is a solid film, way better than the critics say. Streep’s performance is simply astounding and she deserves every single award she gets for this remarkable performance. Streep has done more for Hollywood and female performers than anybody in that room last night. She constantly praises other female performances and continues to give outstanding performances year after year after year. After 30 years of nominations it’s about time to reward Streep again. It’s time. And it’s as simple as that. Oscar can and should end this national embarrassment. They look foolish by nominating Streep just about every year and never actually awarding her. It’s time people!
I don’t see Viola winning. The Oscars are lilly white and they only vote for Black actors when there is a compelling campaign or a performance that totally outshone everybody else’s (like Ray) that you have to give the award to that actor or face the wrath of Satan.:) Nope, I think it’s Michelle Williams — another young white girl, and who is this generation’s best actress.
“AMPAS has no problem watching and voting for black actors.”
Not so sure about that but they sure have a problem voting for Asian American actors and actors of Asian descent. Helped by the fact that Asian Americans are rarely cast in roles at all and Asian films are often dismissed by the American public.
“A win tonight on a national stage could have done wonders for a Viola or Rooney introducing them to the national audience.
I don’t know what you’re talking about. The Help and Dragon Tattoo have gotten huge coverage in the media and are both doing well at the box office. People already know who both these actresses are. Viola Davis has been on the cover of EW. She’s also well known as a theater actress. She just won a Tony Award for lead actress last year on a nationally televised program.
SallyinChicago writes: “Streep won’t win for Best Actress because she did another ‘impersonation.’ And nobody will see the movie Iron Lady, the subject matter is more to the British audience than Americans.”
The movie is already doing well in its limited run. I don’t know how many people will go to see The Iron Lady in this country but they will go to see Streep. She’s had several box office successes lately–It’s Complicated, Mamma Mia, The Devil Wears Prada and Julie and Julia. She’s a box office draw particularly among women.
I hope Fincher and GWTDT pull an upset because we won`t have to go through that 2 more times (please, no ROTK-like “lets award the whole trilogy by awarding the last movie which was less deserving than the first one that was by far the best” cop out here!), because The Artist is a gimmick (they brought the dog on the stage to wow with cuteness, nuff said), and because Fincher did a better job and keeps doing a great job. Haznavicius could easily prove one-hit wonder so why not give him more time? I really hope the guilds turn the race around.
I really think it is a 3 woman race. If Davis had won last night, I’d think she would have been clear cut favorite. Streep makes sense, because it seems like every year there is a groundswell clamoring for her to get her (much deserved) third Oscar. I’m starting to feel Michelle Williams though. I think it’s the kind of movie that will play well to the voters. Williams plays another beloved actress, so there is that. And she has already gotten some love with previous nominations. Spencer is going to get The Help and award, so they’ve shown they like it. We all know they like to spread the wealth, so rewarding Williams is a way of rewarding My Week With Marilyn.
I say if it gets a Best Picture nomination, Williams becomes the favorite
I’ve already stated my position regarding Viola winning based on race. I think it would agregious [sp] if she were not nominated. However I have always believed she should have been in the supporting category. Of course then the “race” [verb] would have been between her and Octavia Spencer. The problem with Viola winning is that in the future her win will become suspect and although she will have become a statistic the credibility of that statistic will be questioned.
If we truly believe that Viola’s career will be hurt by her not winning the Oscar this year then I think we’re kind of deceiving ourselves. I do agree completely that there aren’t enough good roles for black actresses. Funny that you can’t really argue that position when it comes to black men in film as it would seem they have more opportunities than the women. But that’s not just true to black women in film that’s true to women in film in general.
Had Diana Ross had the backing of a Harvey Weinstein when she was nominated for Lady Sings the Blues she would have won. Yeah Liza was more flashy but hands down Ross’ performance was better. That’s my opinon on that. I’ve seen here where Halle Berry’s win has raised some discussion about her performance and honestly I was pulling for Halle that year and thought she did pretty good work.
You know we say over and over that there aren’t films that revolve around black characters offered to the general public and that’s really not the case. It’s the quality of those films that are offered. We’ve had The Nutty Professor, Medea goes Jail, Big Momma, and so on and so on. They’re box office and white people see them just like blacks. What confuses me is that with all the money those films make that there isn’t more poured into making films about the black experience, hell any black experience that can compete on the same level as most of white cinema. But keep something in mind. Films in foreign languages don’t resonate here either. Someone talked about how could Madonna know anythinhg about Italian Cinema. I was exposed to Vittorio De Sica at like fourteen and that drove me to want to experience more of what was coming out of Europe. So I think that if we want to see more exceptional black film making we need more blacks invest their money in good work.
Don’t get me wrong one of the funniest movies I saw last year was Death at a Funeral. I loved it and thought Chris Rock did some of the best work he’s done in a long time. The ensemble in that piece is great. And yes I own a copy of it. I personally preferred Queen Latifa in Chicago over Catherine Zeta Jones. But I happen to love the Queen and have seen almost everything she’s done.
Viola gives a good performance in The Help but it’s not, in my opinon, an Oscar winnning turn. I’d rather they found her a really good piece than some fluff to prop her up with. Doesn’t mean she shouldn’t be out there just don’t think she should win based on that performance.
And as for the “pecking order” in Hollywood. That Meryl gets offered parts no one else would be offered. That’s been standard practice in Hollywood and film since someone loaded film in a camera. Sophia Loren was offered parts in Italy that most Italian actresses probably didn’t know existed until the film was released. Simone Signoret and Catherine Denevue probably had the same experience in France. Bette Davis, Garbo, De Havilland and others were in the same position in old Hollywood. There was a time when the English revered Glenda Jackson and Vanessa. It’s the nature of the business.
Jesus Alonso wrote: Kill me but I think this is launching Oscar to:
Picture: Hugo
Director: Marty
*****
I wish you were write. If Marty wins the DGA and BAFTA he will at least get the Oscar.
Marty is nominated twice in the DGA this year and I doubt they will give it to him in the doc category. So maybe they will give it to for Hugo. Or maybe they will be mean and not give him anything.
BAFTA is giving him their highest award this year. So they may overlook him in the director category though that would be too bad. “Marty, you’re great enough to get our highest honor but not great enough to be best director of 2011.”
And some people think Marty is getting enough attention so he doesn’t need to win. Even though he only has one Oscar. The same number as Ron Howard, Tom Hooper, James Cameron, Kathryn Bigelow. The same number as Payne (though his is for writing. Spielberg already has two for direction. Eastwood has four for directing and producing.
“Haznavicius could easily prove one-hit wonder so why not give him more time?”
He’s already had hit films in France before The Artist.
SallyinChicago writes: “Streep won’t win for Best Actress because she did another ‘impersonation.’ And nobody will see the movie Iron Lady, the subject matter is more to the British audience than Americans.”
Delusional much? The Iron Lady has already cracked the top ten in a week, over $5 million grossed, in less than 800 theaters. Oh! did I forget to mention this is IN AMERICA??? A little research next time darling.
Boo hoo, Sasha. Once again we have to endure your milquetoast, hyper liberal weepy soliloquies about race. To argue Viola Davis’ performance is the best of the year by a leading female actress is a subjective opinion. To argue that she SHOULD get the award because it would be a shot of energy to the black community is just laughable. Also, your declaration that “Precious” is a better movie than “Up In The Air” is almost as insane as the critic that believes “The King’s Speech” is better than “The Social Network.” It is frankly getting quite annoying when you use your Web site’s platform to digress into liberal political rants. Keep the discussion to film, Sasha, because when you do, you come across as far more erudite. When you do not, you come across as part of the least “common denominator.”
It is frankly getting quite annoying when you use your Web site’s platform to digress into liberal political rants. Keep the discussion to film, Sasha, because when you do, you come across as far more erudite. When you do not, you come across as part of the least “common denominator.”
Well my friend, please exit stage right. No one is forcing you to endure me or my site — there are more Oscar sites out there than ever before. If anyone wants to discuss this stuff with me, great. If you don’t bye bye baby. I haven’t the desire, the energy or the time to give a fuck.
And ask me if I care how I come off to you? Go ahead, ask me. Because if I had two fucks to give, honey, I’d be shoveling them in your direction.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQrMGlIE79M
If you missed the monologue.
Viola Davis is supporting in THE HELP
Uh……nope. She narrates the film – it’s told from first person – it begins and ends with her. She is lead. But even if you want to take that argument – Marlon Brando in The Godfather, Nicole Kidman in The Hours. And I rest my case. Oh but they were white so maybe that doesn’t count?
What ever happened to that AD commenter of yesteryear, Give Meryl Oscar #3?
100 comments later, let me tell you what the Davis-Streep contest is about. It’s not about race or Harvey, though I guess you could say those are related. It’s about what Sasha said 3 months ago – if the Help gets a BP nod. If not, Meryl can clear her mantle. If so, then it’s close (not Close) but I give the edge to Davis. Everyone will actually watch her, and they may well skip Iron Lady.
What I saw last night was parity, parity, parity. How often has the globes given screenplay, director, and the two picture awards to FOUR different films? I think maybe never? If the oscars wind up resembling that (and god bless the descendants, it deserves whatever it gets), and if the Help is up for BP (as I expect) that, uh, Helps Davis because they will want the film to win something big and supporting actress is good but not enough.
While I do think racism still exists and permeates many, many corners of our existence, no one could deny that things haven’t improved significantly within the past forty years or so.
Uh….you’d think. But all evidence points to the contrary.
boring awards season. boring show. A parade of rich hams.
Weinstein gets/embodies the narcissism of the awards voters.
Best comment of the night.
“Haznavicius could easily prove one-hit wonder so why not give him more time?”
“He’s already had hit films in France before The Artist”.
Yes, he directed two french blockbusters, the OSS 117 comedies with Jean Dujardin, very cool parodies of James Bond.
Holy shit! What makes this Weinstein so special these last couple years? He simply have more money to put towards campaigning then Warner Bros. even?
Hmmm….why is RACE an important factor this year?
Because the awards race is mostly meaningless. A collection of dumb people making dumb choices that have no lasting effect or impact on anything except to drive the careers forward of those rewarded. Well, to drive the careers forward of those who win you have to at least make sure that not only white people keep getting all of the great scripts. The rarity of this situation with Ms. Davis is what I seek to illuminate. It NEVER FUCKING HAPPENS that a black woman is in the lead of a major Hollywood film that made over $100 mil. This is the reason studios won’t fund “black projects” unless they’re Tyler Perry or Eddie Murphy bullshit. They won’t fund them because they don’t make any money. Well, Sandra Bullock won last year because she brought green to Hollywood. Viola Davis did the same. Why won’t she win? You will say because Meryl Streep is better. Meryl Streep was better two years ago and she’ll be better again for the rest of her natural born life because she’s great and because she gets first choice of all of the great parts because they — wait for it — say it with me now — try to absorb this information — don’t make movies about black characters but every SO OFTEN.
“But even if you want to take that argument – Marlon Brando in The Godfather, Nicole Kidman in The Hours.”
Actually… well, through the years when I said that people look me with such anger in the eyes, but IMO, yes!, Brando and Kidman are not leads in those films, they have supportings roles, and they should have been nominated as supporting actor and supporting actress. The real lead in the “Godfather” is Pacino/Michael Corleone, and there is no real lead in “The Hours”, but if we had to name one, is Julianne Moore. PS: As I said before, no opinio about Viola Davis. Haven’t seen yet “The Help”.
“My Week With Marilyn.
I say if it gets a Best Picture nomination, Williams becomes the favorite.”
This means that Williams DOESN’T become the favourite at any time. Only Stephen Holt thinks that ‘Marilyn’ will be nominated for Best Picture. It would be one of the biggest surprises EVER if it happened.
So you’re essentially calling for affirmative action at the Oscars. Okaaay…
“As we learned from last year, it doesn’t matter how much we try to convince voters to vote for a film — in the end they’re still going to listen to Harvey Weinstein — er, I mean, vote with their hearts.”
That you even think you could convince voters to vote a certain way is funny.
Lol my my, a bit touchy, aren’t we, Sasha? Beautiful four-letter-word vernacular, too. I KNOW you have more intellect than you just displayed. At any rate, you can keep crying about race all you want, but the fact remains that simply meting out Oscars to African Americans that are not deserving of the BEST film or performance does the black community no favors. In fact, that type of awards affirmative action is downright insulting to them; and the mere fact that you advocate for such actions makes YOU more of a racist than you may be comfortable admitting, Sasha. Awards should be given to the most deserving nominee, yet that course of action rarely happens. You know this, Sasha. So to pout about it and infer some underlying racism is, quite frankly, pathetic to say the least.
Only Stephen Holt thinks that ‘Marilyn’ will be nominated for Best Picture. It would be one of the biggest surprises EVER if it happened.
I agree it would be a HUGE surprise, but it would also validate the buzz that the film has played well with voters.
I don’t care. I just want Streep to win again. If it’s this year, I’ll be happy.
People who give awards do not make films.
Movies about African American’s do not get made enough because
of White Studio heads, not the HFPA. Viola Davis should not beat Meryl Streep because she’s black. That’s insane, she shouldn’t beat Meryl Steep for any reason, and the reason that Meryl looked so shocked last night was because she hasn’t won Best Actress for a Drama in a long time. Her performance as Margaret Thatcher didn’t win because she was white….She’s the greatest actress on the planet, and she gave the best performance of the year. Male or female. Stop trying to shift views because of race…it’s tacky.
Reading the tea leaves, I see
The Descendants – UP
The Iron Lady – UP
Tin Tin – UP
The Artist – STABLE
Hugo – STABLE
Midnight – STABLE
The Help – DOWN
Moneyball – DOWN
Marty best director – absolutely
Madonna best song – absolutely
Meryl best actress -absolutely
The only surprises to me.
“People who give awards do not make films.”
This is true for some awards (like GG), but Oscars are voted by filmmakers, for example.
“…and the reason that Meryl looked so shocked last night was because she hasn’t won Best Actress for a Drama in a long time.”
True. Three decades is a pretty good reason. People just act as if Comedy and Drama awards are equal. They have never been, and never will be. Or why else would they award Michelle Williams thirty minutes into the show?
i’m not convinced by this theory that davis has the edge because she’ll be in a film nominated for best picture. hilary swank beat annette bening, the latter being in a best picture winner. halle berry beat sissy spacek, the latter being in a best picture nominee. marion cotillard beat ellen page (and julie christie), the latter being in a best picture nominee. other recent ones: forest whitaker, jeff bridges, denzel washington.
i say it’s michelle’s to lose. she’s proven herself over the last decade by taking on risky projects but still remains accessible to the public. her oscar will be hollywood telling her “great job so far” like they did to kidman a few years back.
Hmmmmm Marlon Brando should have been in the supporting category and The Hours was very confusing to me because I always believed that Julianne Moore and Meryl Streep had bigger and much more substantial parts than Nicole Kidman. Not that Kidman was bad but I agree she was in the wrong category. But to bring that down to they were white so it’s ok is really not a very credible argument and I really don’t get the illustration you’re trying to make. The real truth is that they were stars and someone decided they should be nominated in lead categories just as with what has happened this year with Viola. I don’t think that Marlon or Nicole should have won in the Best Acting categories and I’m white so I don’t get the argument there Sasha. And if you really want to see a true depiction of the black experience as a domestic go watch Ethel Waters in a film called The Member of the Wedding. I think that is probably the best portrayal in that vein and as I recall she was nominated in the Best Supporting Category and I don’t remember off hand who won that year but I never forgot Water’s performance in that film.
@PaulH. 1) you said “nothing else, the Globes did establish who, in pro wrestling speak is the #1 heel going I to the home stretch. A good nigt for Harvey Weinstein is a bad night for everyone else. He is a tyrant, a megalomaniac, who would gut his own firstborn if it meant getting another award. He makes films and acquires films for the sole purpose of cockblocking more worthy contenders out of their legit chances. Think of Vince McMahon and Dana White (UFC boss) times a billion in terms of ego. He is stone cold evil. And he’s gonna get away with more crap this year because there’s not a strong anti-Weinstein candidate out there. The Descendants? Please; that film would fit like a glove on the Lifetime Movie Network. So would The Help. Bridesmaids and Moneyball? Root for them, then.”
2) Maybe when u said bad night for everyone, he listed 3 sequels/or one sequel that could’ve been a good nomination for the BP race or good nominations that should’ve been added for Best Picture at the Golden Globes.
3) Maybe when you compairing Weinstein to Vince McMahon and Dana White, I suggest he was stating some good things he’s done and how some of his employees always or sometimes stuck up for them.
My favorite comment of the thread: ryan’s thing about gg making something a musical if someone is singing in the shower for five minutes. Lol
“Because the awards race is mostly meaningless. A collection of dumb people making dumb choices that have no lasting effect or impact on anything except to drive the careers forward of those rewarded. Well, to drive the careers forward of those who win you have to at least make sure that not only white people keep getting all of the great scripts. The rarity of this situation with Ms. Davis is what I seek to illuminate. It NEVER FUCKING HAPPENS that a black woman is in the lead of a major Hollywood film that made over $100 mil. This is the reason studios won’t fund “black projects” unless they’re Tyler Perry or Eddie Murphy bullshit. They won’t fund them because they don’t make any money. Well, Sandra Bullock won last year because she brought green to Hollywood. Viola Davis did the same. Why won’t she win? You will say because Meryl Streep is better. Meryl Streep was better two years ago and she’ll be better again for the rest of her natural born life because she’s great and because she gets first choice of all of the great parts because they — wait for it — say it with me now — try to absorb this information — don’t make movies about black characters but every SO OFTEN.”
You’re my heroine. Guess I never told you, before, but wow. 100% agreed.
How long wait Whoopi, Halle, Angela, Viola, Sophie Okonedo (a big shout in her favor) and so many talented black actresses get a good role? And I would extent that to other races and ethnics.
Also, The Help was a stereotype perpetuating medicore film that is being lauded by people becau of its subject matter, and not its merit.
I think Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer were very good in the film,
but they contribute in no way to the betterment of roles in Hollywood
for African American women. Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey did similar roles–better–over 25 years ago. It’s a movie, a very Hollywood friendly movie, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but we shouldn’t make it more than that.
Thing is Sasha, everything you’re saying about Meryl is the exact same thing you’d say if she’d already won 3 oscars. But she hasn’t, blanch, she hasn’t. She is overdue. So when you say “you will say Meryl is better” you’re minimizing the sentimental factor. It’s like you’re making a case for Davis against Emily Watson in breaking the waves – obviously the best performance of the year. But counselor, that’s not your case. Your case is also about the same overdue-osity that you used to harangue the academy about when the overdue person was named Martin Scorsese.
Playing the race card for a Viola win is getting so lame… I agree with your statements, anger, whatever, but it should be about THE PERFORMANCE.
If you like Viola’s better then fine, but defend her on those grounds.
You’re starting to sound a lot like the voters whom you sometimes criticize for getting biased by other things rather than the work itself.
“Oh but they were white so maybe that doesn’t count?”
It certainly does count – those wins in the lead category should have happened in the supporting category. You can add Kate Winslet and Louise Fletcher to that list, and there are several others. Yes, they all deserved their Oscars – in the supporting category.
AMPAS has to come up with a percentage of screen time to qualify for lead. If SAG is too numerically-dyslectic to do it, I’m sure someone at corporate level can assist. Until they do, social politics continue to be a major player in these awards.
Besides – who says that supporting is any lower in stature than lead? Some – no, make that MOST – of the greatest performances have been given by actors in supporting roles.
And I’m not going near the race thing. To me, a race is something we Canadians lose every four years at the Olympics.
Williams will win Bafta and Oscar the same way Cottilard did.
I would also agree with that sentiment that some of the best performances come from the supporting categories. I think the supporting categories are so limited by the five count than that of any other category. There have always been many who were not noticed with a nomination simply because there just wasn’t enough room for them.
Viola made her choice. If she REALLY wanted to win the Oscar, she would have gone supporting and would be locked up for a win just like M`onique. She probably knew she would have tough competition in the Lead and weak competition in supporting. Viola most definitely did this because going lead would give a bigger boost on her career. And she pretty much got it right… she is the cover of the EW Oscar issue.
In the end, with this decision, she could have given the Oscar to Octavia Spencer.
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@ Andrea
“Streep and Williams should lose for no other reason than that awards WHORE Harvey Weinstein. Both of those movies were made and distributed for no other reason than to win awards. Both movies will be forgotten about completely in 3 months. “
Poor The Help…. does anyone here thinks a self-help film like The Help didn`t smell Oscar-bait every single moment? I agree it had the potential to make money and it made a lot, but it`s one of the most Oscar-bait films of this year.
This time Harvey deserves to win for The Artist clearly the best picture of the year. Someone said the The Hours over Chicago The Hours and The Accidental Tourist are the 2 worst bp nominations in the last 30 years This the 30th anniversity of Chariots of wire wining bf . My candidate for The worst best picture winner The Greatest show on earth is the second worst.
Funny thing probably, but for me “The Help” is not a film about black characters in the first place. It´s a film about a white college girl helping some black housemaids. That´s a difference.
Meryl Streep is the best and her performance is better than Viola, Rooney and Glenn, and Michelle, only Tilda Swinton can fight with Meryl for the Oscar.
And The Help isn’t a great movie, the story is always the same and give an award to Viola is recognize the life of her character than award her performance, Meryl is the best Sasha Stone and you should know it.
You need to change Jean Dujardin’s status on the awards tracker. You didn’t indicate that he won a Golden Globe.
Category placement is always weird.
How The Descendants and Up in the Air are considered dramas but The Kids Are All Right a comedy?
Driving Miss Daisy is a comedy and The Help is a drama?
And My Week With Marilyn…?? I actually laughed a lot more in Inglorious Basterds than in any of those so-called comedies.
I accept Viola being the lead because she narrates the story, but it`s kind of weird to see she as lead and Berenice Bejo as supporting. I don`t think The Help is centered in her character in the way The Last King of Scotland or The Silence of the Lambs are in Idi Amin and Hannibal… they are the characters the film are all about although they don`t have a big screen time compared to James McAvoy and Jodie Foster.
What about Oscar in terms of history? Compared to other multiple best actress Oscar winners, Meryl Streep is under represented and as arguably our most respected living American actress, Oscar gold if it means anything should attest to that and this year it can. I don’t get it when people say oh she can win next year as though Oscar worthy roles for women over sixty are so plentiful. Her clock is ticking. When men like Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro no longer receive even nominations it’s a sign that future nights on the red carpet are not so assured. Fifty years from now Meryl Streep should be recognized as an extraordinary talent of her time and Oscar should reflect that.
Katharine Hepburn. Ingrid Bergman. Meryl Streep. It’s where she belongs.
Tell like it is, Sasha. As stated before, in no way shape or form should you be forced to have a different opinion than some of these posters, or attacked because you don’t. Anyone who doesn’t like your editorials about Viola or anyone else, just shouldn’t bother to read it, or post. It’s really as simple as that. Ultimately, not you, or me or anyone besides the voters have the ability to give Meryl her 3rd Oscar. If they see fit to give it to her this year, then they will, otherwise they won’t. It’s an award’s race, that’s all very subjective, anyway you look at it. How absurd is that simply because you aren’t rallying behind someone who already bestows 2 Oscars, you’re a bad woman/journalist now?! Wowwww sad.
and the mere fact that you advocate for such actions makes YOU more of a racist than you may be comfortable admitting
Daniel, That’s an ugly, distasteful thing to say.
It’s sometimes asked, Why is there no insult to throw at white people equivalent in nasty spite to the N-word? Cracker and Whitely are laughably tame in comparison.
I propose to you that calling a white person a racist when clearly their sensibilities and intentions are the polar opposite of the actual meaning of the word is as hateful as calling a black person the N-word. Because by unjustly applying that emotionally-charged label it seeks to demean a person’s genuine empathy and grossly distorts their honorable stance.
My idea of a racist jumps immediately to cross-burning KKK rednecks who have no respect for black people and Some of you crossed an invisible line today if you think it’s appropriate to tag me or Sasha with that label. So I need to make sure that line is plainly visible. .
You’re all on warning. Anyone who calls anyone else a racist from here on out will be banned. You should all be ashamed of yourselves.
Daniel, the other mike, Someone, Zooey, Sam A — I think all 5 of you owe Sasha an apology. You’re all 5 on my watch list. You’re all guilty of twisting Sasha’s true and honorable intentions inside-out and trying to distort her deeply felt conscientious beliefs into something ugly and disgusting. I’d ban you all right now, but you apparently don’t understand how seriously I take this shit.
So Let’s make clear: The word “racist” is off-limits in personal attacks from now on, ok?
At no point in Sasha’s article did she call any individual a racist. Nor has she said the Academy is racist.
What Sasha said is that RACISM HAS EXISTED IN THE USA AND IN HOLLYWOOD FOR DECADES. That’s an indisputable fact. Anyone who can’t see that is blind or in denial or both.
There’s a world of difference between pointing out that racism exists and discussing it as an issue — or doing what some of you have done today and turned RACIST into a personal attack, incorrectly distorting the conversation and trying to paint an admirable crusade as some sick sort of reverse racism.
That sort of pathetic misuse of the word racist is tantamount to abusive language. “Racist” is herewith disallowed and it will join “n*gger” and “fag” as words certain to get you banned around here.
Sorry to come on so strong, but when 5 people can use such an extreme term so freely I feel responsible for letting things get out of hand. I’m embarrassed on behalf of all of us. Your attitude today makes me sad.
That’s my knee-jerk decision, written while I’m feeling fuckin furious. Sasha of course might choose to overrule how I feel about the ban warning. We haven’t discussed it. This is my opinion, But it’s ultimately Sasha’s call. If you’re allowed to continue to get away with such grotesque personal attacks, it’ll be due to Sasha’s graciousness, not mine.
Rango should win Best Animated Film, just take a look at these great conetnes:
Studio Profile : Character Animation inside ILM
Maia Kayser , is a Lead Character Animator at ILM . In this, fxphd’s first video studio profile, we travel to the Presidio in San Fransisco to Industrial Light and Magic to see what it is like to be a woman doing digital character animation in films such as Rango:
http://www.fxphd.com/blog/studio-pr…ion-inside-ilm/
Video:
http://www.fxphd.com/wp-content/upl…Profile_ILM.mov
Female animators could pull off very subtle character animation.
Female’s sense on some level are more subtle than male. I think.
Maia Kayser, Great Job!
Rango should win Best Animated Film, just take a look at these great contents:
Studio Profile : Character Animation inside ILM
Maia Kayser , is a Lead Character Animator at ILM . In this, fxphd’s first video studio profile, we travel to the Presidio in San Fransisco to Industrial Light and Magic to see what it is like to be a woman doing digital character animation in films such as Rango:
http://www.fxphd.com/blog/studio-pr…ion-inside-ilm/
Video:
http://www.fxphd.com/wp-content/upl…Profile_ILM.mov
Female animators could pull off very subtle character animation.
Female’s sense on some level are more subtle than male. I think.
Maia Kayser, Great Job!
Very promising that Rango will bring home oscar
I’m not sure where the people calling Sasha a racist are from. I hope to Christ that it’s somewhere far from the United States, because then you could at least plead some sort of ignorance…
At least here in Los Angeles, OVERT racism is rare and never generally tolerated. But subtle racism and the recognition of non-white races as “others” is still very present. My high school largely involved the white kids hanging out with the white kids, the Hispanic kids hanging with the Hispanic kids, and the Asian kids hanging with the Asian kids. There were racial slurs and stereotypes thrown around, never maliciously, but certainly reductively. And this school (Notre Dame, for anyone who’s curious) was a middle-class Catholic school with a 99% college acceptance rate. It was generally liberal and extremely safe to attend. I’d imagine racial tensions are far worse in public schools.
Right now, I’m at UCLA, which it about 15 miles north of huge black populations in Carson, Watts, Inglewood, etc. You would expect a reasonably high percentage of black students, right? Maybe 10-15%? Nope. UCLA is currently 4% black and a huge number of those students are athletes. And it’t not because the admissions board is racist. It’s because California schools with black populations suck and offer so few opportunities for black students. The cycle of poverty continues when the education systems fail. I disagree with some of the points Sasha makes in the article but at least she gives a shit and clearly cares about improving the demographic imbalances in Hollywood. Calling her a racist is moronic and shows a complete lack of understanding in terms of blacks in Hollywood and the United States as a whole.
Thanks Jesse. I should let you rewrite this Supreme Court Decision of mine in more temperate terms. Should, but won’t.
You have a lot more patience with arrogant prissy word-twisting jerks than I do.
ryan just sealed his frontrunner status for best supporting actress.
^
like
+1
@Sasha
“When Weinstein Co. picked up The Artist in Cannes they knew they had something really special — it was the kind of movie you can sit almost anyone down in front of it and they will like it/get it/love it. It’s the only one, in fact, that doesn’t have any haters. The only haters the movie has are people who are bored by it winning everything.”
Oh Sasha, you sure know how to stir the pot, dontcha?
What about the contingency (myself included) that think it’s a fine enough film but in no way deserves the awards attention its gotten? I never have a problem with a film that sweeps, I don’t care about the boredom factor like some people do. I love a good race and it certainly makes it more fun when things are at least slightly unpredictable but it’s not my main concern. The Artist, to me, is a cute but very slight film. It never transcends the genre it’s copying (and really, it’s nothing more than a total copy) and that’s my problem with it.
“As expected, Meryl Streep’s 5th win for Actress at the Globes even made Streep feel uncomfortable. When she said, “Viola, you’re my girl,” it was obvious her own support was with Davis. “
Again, if Viola REALLY wanted to win this, she would have gone supporting. She opted for giving a boost for her career and I think she got pretty much right.
Regarding the racism issue, I unfortunately don`t think any black actress ever deserved to win a Lead Actress Oscar simply because Hollywood hardly ever gives the best roles to black actress. Halle Berry did a great job and I was pretty happy because of her win, but in terms of performances, I prefered Nicole Kidman to have won that year and then Julianne Moore in the next one for Far From Heaven.
I`m Brazilian and in our telenovelas it is pretty much the same. It took decades until we had a black actress taking the central role in a telenovela (the latin-kind of soap opera) from our main channel 8 years ago. For the same reasons in Hollywood that Sasha listed.
In Viola`s case, I have yet to see The Iron Lady, but I`m sure Meryl is great. She always is. And I think she is a better actress than Bergman, Hepburn and probably even Bette Davis. Everyone thinks nomination is her reward and every year she has a shot, the Academy think they could wait to award her next year to award someone they don`t know if is gonna be up for an Oscar again. She was the presumed runner-up for the last 4 times she was nominated.
I think it is only fair if some people are annoyed by the “white guilt” associations that come up every time Viola Davis vs. Meryl Streep is discussed. I don’t think that – per se – should keep Sasha from referring to her own opinions on the matter – BUT to tell users who are offended by the “white guilt” problematic to, basically, fuck off…? That’s harsh. And unnecessary.
Viola Davis is a very strong actress in my opinion, but I would much rather see her win for a better, bigger role in a much better movie. For the same reason I’m not thrilled about a Meryl or a Michelle win either, because, frankly, quality-wise, only Tilda can meet my criteria for being awarded this year.
Why is the Artist “unstoppable” after yesterday’s wins? It didn’t win best drama (obviously), comedies rarely win, and yet actually won less Golden Globes than it was expected to.
Not to mention these days winning the Golden Globe for best picture is the kiss of death…
Thanks Ryan.
“Well, Sandra Bullock won last year because she brought green to Hollywood. Viola Davis did the same.”
No, no, no, no. The only comparable things to The Blind Side and The Help are that they are two overly hyped, overtly sentimental films that made a lot of money. That’s it.
Viola Davis does not equal Sandra Bullock. The quality of Davis’s performance is infinitely more complex, and frankly, better than Bullock’s performance, but Bullock put butts in the seat, not Davis. Every woman 35+ who had read The Help flocked to see the movie because it was a massively popular, best-selling book that everyone loved. I didn’t hear a single person go, “Oh, I’m going to see that new Viola Davis movie.” NO. The financial success of the film does not rest on the lap of Davis–it’s due to Kathryn Stockett’s successful source material. I don’t see how this is debatable.
People went to see The Blind Side & The Proposal BECAUSE of Sandra Bullock. She’s a massive movie star who has been around for 20 years. The successes of both her films from 2009 are largely due to her and her star power. So yes, SHE did bring in the “green” for Hollywood.
I think, if anything, The Artist is a weaker frontrunner after GG last night than before…it lost two crucial awards, screenplay and director, which means that the competition isn’t that far behind…
I agree Ryan – except that Colin Firth is clearly racist. And he just punched another blind kitten.
Poor Asians. We are at the bottom of the Oscar food chain.
@ Julian the emperor
One thing it is absolutely certain in that The Artist is no Slumdog Millionare. It`s not dominant in this year`s season as Slumdog was. Just saying this because many people have made this comparison between both films in the past weeks. Slumdog was probably the biggest phenomenon in the history of awards season along with Schindler`s List. Swept everything, every guild, the Globes, a critics`fave…
What we don`t know if if The Artist is becoming The Aviator… which won the Globes but the director loss was a sign that things were starting to shake-up in the race. Or if it`s a No Country For Old Man, that won only Bardem and the screenplay but still swept the guilds and took the Oscars.
One thing that I think really could change things in this year`s race is the number of nominations If Hugo manages to get the most nominations, it can win Best Picture because The Artist is no unanimous choice as Slumdog and Hugo is a critics`darling, which Benjamin Button wasn`t.
I don`t see The Descendants beating those 2. As many said before in this space, it`s a too screenplay film. If it fails to get an editing nod (and I think It will), it`s over. It`s virtually impossible for a film to win BP without a single tech nod.
I wonder if the five people on Ryan’s “watch list” would argue that the six people left in the Republican race for the White House (ok five, Huntsman dropped out today) are, by definition (they’re still there, aren’t they?), the six best possible Republican presidential candidates? I mean, if I sat here and pointed out that the first two to drop out were a woman and a black man, leaving only six white guys, am I some kind of reverse racist? Or is it possible, just possible, that in a democracy where you’ve got lots of choices, the most money will gravitate to white men somehow? That even a marginal figure like Santorum may get more cash than, say, Bachmann, perhaps partly because the Fortune 500 is almost all white men and they would rather give to someone more like themselves? Or maybe I’m just the r-word for pointing that out.
And maybe I’m likewise crazy to compare that to the Oscar race. If I said that maybe Woody Allen and Martin Scorsese and Alexander Payne have had opportunities that Lee Daniels and Tyler Perry and Miranda July will never get, and maybe that has something to do with the boardroom makeup of the corporations that run Hollywood (or the 10-to-1 male-to-female ratio in any room of TV writers)…maybe I’m the one with the problem.
Here’s my question to the watch list: who is a cinematic genius? I mean, does anyone get that title? Spielberg, maybe? Clint Eastwood? Scorsese? Now, has any non-white-male ever earned that title? Is that purely because we’re judging purely on merit, in this same color-blind world of yours where only white men are left to get the GOP nomination? Or could it be that there were other geniuses (I dunno, Basquiat? Ida Lupino?) but somehow they didn’t quite get the chances of your geniuses?
Sasha is doing no more than recognizing that. Recognizing that Davis getting this far in our society is remarkable. Recognizing that Halle Berry wasn’t crazy when she spoke about a door opening that had been closed. Recognizing that pushing on that door a little more, right now, might SOME DAY get us to the color-blind society you think we’re already in.
We go through this every year and I just dont understand it. BFCA’s and Golden Globes are critics groups and have no real bearing on Oscars since the groups have no cross-over. One group is critics, one group is artists.
Whatever happened at Critics Choice and Golden Globes doesnt mean much…wait for the Guilds.
Meanwhile, it looks to me to that five films have a good shot at Best Picture: The Help, Hugo, The Descendants, The Artist and Midnight in Paris.
“From here, it’s hard to imagine any film having the momentum to beat The Artist. The only two films that are close are The Descendants and Hugo – Hugo has Scorsese winning for Director. The Descendants has George Clooney as the strong leading actor contender, with Alexander Payne, a beloved unrewarded American director.”
I pretty much agree here, Sasha. I suppose the Academy could go for The Artist for best pic and Payne for best director. It will be interesting to see how the DGA and PGA vote.
There isn’t really much more to say that hasn’t been said already, but I think Midnight in Paris is close to a lock to win the original screenplay award. Hopefully Woody will show up THEN.
I also watched Moneyball again a couple of days ago and I’m appalled that Bennett Miller isn’t gaining any traction for his amazing directing. Does anyone agree?
Best Actress is still Williams vs. Davis vs. Streep.
Best Actor will probably be Clooney.
Surprise contender will probably be the dog from The Artist.
I would like to address one comment made by Ryan Adams:
Bottom line: There are never 5 comedies or musicals worth nominating.
Come on, really? I can think of so many great comedies from each year that actually don’t get nominated and are completely overlooked. I agree that the Globes are, shall we say, confused in their category placements each year, but just because movies like The Trip, The Guard, Win Win and Cedar Rapids didn’t get recognized doesn’t mean that there weren’t 5 worth nominating. Add those in with Bridesmaids, Midnight In Paris, The Artist, 50/50 and Young Adult and you’ve got 9 from last year right there to choose from.
Go back to 2010, and you’ve got these:
The Kids Are All Right
Please Give
Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World
Four Lions
Cyrus
Get Low
Easy A
2009:
Adventureland
In The Loop
Black Dynamite
The Brothers Bloom
Funny People
(500) Days Of Summer
The Hangover
Julie & Julia
Whatever Works
Zombieland
Big Fan
2008:
In Bruges
Pineapple Express
Burn After Reading
Happy-Go-Lucky
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Tropic Thunder
Hamlet 2
The Foot Fist Way
Role Models
Step Brothers
The Wackness
And on and on and on.
Ugh as someone who didn’t like The Help and hated Iron Lady and much preferred Meek’s Cutoff to Marilyn, I rather agree with julian the emperor. Tilda Swinton is probably most deserving.
Though Viola Davis’s win shouldn’t be based on the fact that she’s black, it saddens me to think she isn’t not likely to have other Oscar chances any time soon (if not ever) as good as this year. I think it’s more at the industry level that this much-fewer-good-roles-go-to-black-actors/actresses situation should be solved than in the awards race.
As much as I don’t think Davis should win solely because she’s black, I call the Streep-is-overdue sentiment bullshit.
And to some of you Meryl fans who call Sasha a racist you guys really owe her an apology, even though I don’t entirely agree with her article.
Also, whoever said poor Asians, FTW. An Asian myself, god there’s almost no Asian presence in Hollywood. Speaking of which, please someone give Sandra Oh a great lead role.
Brandz,
Because I usually agree with you on “everything Streep” … you might want to see the latest blog I entered on the film experience blog… would like to know whether you agree or not.
“Viola Davis is supporting in THE HELP
Uh……nope. She narrates the film – it’s told from first person – it begins and ends with her. She is lead. But even if you want to take that argument – Marlon Brando in The Godfather, Nicole Kidman in The Hours. And I rest my case. Oh but they were white so maybe that doesn’t count?”
Bad examples. Brando was a title character so he was lead. Kidman was the inventor of the movie’s world (she wrote “Mrs. Dalloway” which was read by Moore [and made her change her live] and Streep lived the life of Dalloway [as we all who read THE HOURS and MRS DALLOWAY know) because she WAS Dalloway of her time). Davis is the narrator of the movie – that’s true – but that’s not important at all. She is not the participant of the parts of the movie that happens (for example) in Chastain’s mansion or in Emma Stone’s private life. It is not true that we watch the whole movie from Davis’ point of view. Differently is with THE HOURS – actually the whole movie is the invention of Woolf’s mind and may be watched as that. Davis is supporting – plain and simple.
The irony is that some of the most angry people here haven’t seen all the performances.
For the sake of harmony, cool down, take a quiet moment.
Then, when the films arrives at a cinema near you, watch all the nominated performances, savor their craft, savor the wealth of diversity. Find the positive in all of them. No matter who wins, celebrate.
That’s enjoying film, and enjoying film awards season.
Asians are certainly low on the food chain, but not at the bottom. Can someone please remember when an Aboriginal person (“American Indian”) was even close to being in contention for an Oscar, forget being nominated (maybe Q’orinka Kilcher for The New World. Maybe).
I think the Meryl vs. Viola thing comes down to this: we all KNOW there will be another opportunity to award Meryl. We all KNOW she gets the best scripts for women of her age and that she will continue to do award worthy work for probably the next 20 years.
Do we know this of Viola? Do we know when the next award worthy role in an award worthy movie is going to come for Viola Davis, a black actress in her 50′s?
I’m not a huge fan of The Help. It’s filled to the brim with superb performances but is at its essence a toothless and Disneyfied version of race relations in the 60′s south that misses every single opportunity to say anything that we haven’t heard before.
That said, Viola is magnificent. Magnificent. I wished the character had a bit more bite, but she was still superb. She may never get a chance like this again in her career so I damn sure want her to win on Oscar night.
As far as Meryl, we ALL know she is great, but Iron Lady seems reductive and after seeing Mamma Mia and reading some of the IL reviews I’m fairly certain that Phyllida Lloyd is the hackiest of hacks, and Meryl deserves to win her long overdue 3rd Oscar for a stronger film.
“Can someone please remember when an Aboriginal person (“American Indian”) was even close to being in contention for an Oscar”
Adam Beach came withi a whisker for Flags of our Fathers, and Chief Dan George (Little Big Man) was nominated, but inexplicably beaten by John Mills (Ryan’s Daughter) in 1970. And Graham Greene for Dances with Wolves had a nom, as well.
RLS, thats the same argument that has denied Streep her third Oscar time and after time. IMO, unlike her last few nominations, Streep actually gives the best performance of the year. She deserves the Oscar. This time.
Make no mistake, Harvey Weinstein is a juggernaut with power and influence that simply can not be ignored. I can acknowledge that.
I also understand that part of the role of an Oscar blogger is to identify trends and frame the race with a ‘narrative’ of sorts as things progress and unfold. Sasha, of course, does this better than anyone, which is largely the reason that AwardsDaily is one of my ‘most-visited’ sites!
Despite all of this…I think that 4 out of 6 of the awards won last evening by ‘Weinstein Co.’ were deserving…and would have (should have!) won regardless of which studio was backing them. Madonna and Streep DEFINITELY benefited from Harvey’s push….no doubt about it! Yes…I understand that if “The Artist” had a lesser studio behind it, we perhaps wouldn’t have heard as much about it. I can concede that, but “The Artist” has been huge since Cannes in May–not sure that the Golden Globe victories over films like “Midnight in Paris” (Picture) or “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” (score) had much to do with Weinstein.
If anything, I think the narrative that comes out of last night is that there still seem to be three films at the top (The Descendants, Hugo, The Artist) and even the critics group that drops their awards with the most pomp can not come to anything resembling a consensus regarding which is to be crowned ‘Best’! It’s a testament to the kind of year we’ve had in film…I think. There are many worthy winners.
It may be harder to win my Oscar pool so convincingly this year, but I’m enjoying the uncertainty.
I guess only time will tell if Weinstein weasels his way to another Best Pic Oscar.
It still baffles me how a small black and white silent movie from France can be the frontrunner. Its not just Weinstein’s marketing tho, he knows how to pick good films and give them a leg up. He did that with The Piano, for example, and that was most deserving. It may not have won what it did without him, and that would have been a travesty.
actually the whole movie is the invention of Woolf’s mind and may be watched as that.
whoa, let’s not get carried away.
Virginia Woolf, sci-fi author. She “invented” cell phones, TV, and somehow created AIDS?
(thanks a lot, Virginia Woolf. I’m officially afraid of you now.)
If it was up to me Ms. Swinton would take home the trophy… her performance in We Should Talk About Kevin is much, much better than Streep’s and Davis’ combined. But that’s just me.
Kidman took a lot of crap for being in the lead role when she was supporting. As did Hailee Steinfeld last year. Leave race out of it, Sasha. As a minority, I’m highly offended by your use of the race card to try to shame people into voting for someone based on their color.
“.
Here’s my question to the watch list: who is a cinematic genius? I mean, does anyone get that title? Spielberg, maybe? Clint Eastwood? Scorsese? Now, has any non-white-male ever earned that title?”
Huh…Akira Kurosawa, anyone? Yasujiro Ozu? Kenji Mizoguchi?
“She (Viola Davis) may never get a chance like this again in her career…”
Really? Whether she wins for this role or not, many directors will be coming to her and begging her to star in their films. As long as this happens, she might be considered overdue and COULD win for something later in her career. Hell, she end up winning for something that is legitimately a lead actress performance (w/o any of this category fraud nonsense) instead of for The Help.
Can someone please explain to me what overdue means? Streep gives the same performance every year but in different variations. I don’t think any actress in Hollywood is overdue if the academy thinks someone gave a better performance than you will so be it, this is why they have the nominations so they can honor the actors they think gave the best performances if that’s the case what’s the point of nominations when they can just announce the winners. I think Streep gave a great performance this year but I also think every actress this year gave a great performance. Some years I think she shouldn’t be nominated but her name alone gives her a nomination. Come Oscar time Davis will accept her Oscar and then will thank Streep
Sorry Sasha, i respect you and your site, but i do think that this article is a misfire.
“Was Precious better than Up in the Air? You’re damned right it was.”
Yikes. I don’t think so. (Not siding with Daniel, even though he thinks the same thing.)
Up in the Air was much better than Precious in my opinion, or, if it wasn’t, it was AT LEAST very close. I’m not sure where the “you’re damned right it was” is coming from.
Interesting question, perhaps? As this Viola Davis vs. Meryl Streep conversation turns more contentious in the weeks ahead, who benefits from the split vote?
Does every time an African- american actrees not win an award will say racism? That is not objective. Nicole Kidman deserved the Oscar more than Halle Berry, and Cate Blanchett o Rinko Kikuchi more than Jennifer Hudson, and Tom Wilkinson more than Denzel Washington, and Meryl Streep more than Viola Davis. Both are wonderful performers but an objective person might separate the life of character and how the actress develops and Streep does better than Davis, Mara, Williams, Close, Wiig, Theron, Olsen, Dunst. Just Tilda Swinton and Olivia Colman could be the best work of 2011…But who think about them? Surely because they don’t part of a minority, but think award just for debt is more racism still, and racism also for white people.
I admire Meryl Streep and her brilliant work and she has never disappointed. But I was annoyed by her speech at the Globes. It was apologetic and why should it have been? I understand the bigger question of race and opportunity and standing in Hollywood, but her performance is staggeringly good and deserves reward. Dulled by constant attention I can see she wants to shift or share the focus, but any performance is a sum of its parts – the director and the writer sit with their work for years before it gets anywhere near shooting for starters. She mentioned them, yes, but all too briefly and this “I felt it should have gone to Viola” guilt schtick undervalued her own work and the work of many other people on The Iron Lady. I know it wasn’t her intention, but it bordered on condescending to me. Viola Davis’s work stands on its own, win or lose. As does Meryl’s. Both are brilliant and the actresses should own it as such without apology.
“I was annoyed by her (Meryl’s) speech at the Globes.”
Ditto.
Another thing worthy of mention is that Davis will be nominated alongside several of her fellow cast members. Streep will probably be the only nominee for The Iron Lady. Because of this, Streep has a distinct advantage because she will not be overshadowed by other parts (i.e. actors) of her film.
The Dude: an abide-worthy point. However, you may not realize you’ve made my larger point for me. Japan’s film industry culture, much like many of its industries, is extremely master-apprentice-oriented. Young women have virtually zero chance to break through, and even young men are highly unlikely to get to apprentice status without the right social standing. Absolutely, Kurosawa, Mizoguchi, and Ozu are geniuses. Who knows how many more would have reached their heights without Japan’s highly patriarchal, class-stratified society.
Tom you might try reading the rest of the thread. You might try reading a textbook on how to read, actually. (If English isn’t your first language, I apologize.)
Ryan,
You are right: My comment went too far. I apologize to Sasha for conflating her with overt racism. Ryan, since you are her friend I can understand why you would find such an invective extremely offensive. My choice of words were inappropriate. Now, let me attenuate this backlash by articulating the following: What I meant when I expressed my disdain to Sasha’s commentary was simply that by people continuously bringing up racism, I feel we are only inadvertantly further encouraging and exacerbating such actions. I detest racism, and I get tired of liberals constantly bringing up the issue. While there is no question that people like Sasha are well intentioned, I just think there are more constructive ways to heal racial tensions. Talking about this issue too much only contributes to the problem, because it does not allow blacks to move on and be treated like equals. I am not saying we should ignore racism. Racism is a real problem, indeed. Rather, I feel that we only make it worse when we bring it up so often. But again, I want to formally apologize to Sasha. I was WAY out of line with what I articulated, and she deserves better. I have been a loyal reader of this Web site for five years, and I do respect her.
Daniel,
Thanks very much.
We don’t agree, but that’s ok.
It’s not your opinion that made me bristle, it was only that inflammatory word.
If I had been paying closer attention last night I could’ve made my feelings about that word clear sooner and saved you all that wrath. I came down pretty hard, I know, and tonight regret some of my own wording too.
I really appreciate that you took time to rephrase. I’ve gone back to rephrase some of the harsher parts of what I wrote earlier.
“What I saw last night was parity, parity, parity. How often has the globes given screenplay, director, and the two picture awards to FOUR different films? I think maybe never?”
Actually, this is not as uncommon as people think. Going back only as far as the 2000 movie year, it’s happened at least four other times.
2000: BP Drama: Gladiator. BP Comedy/Musical: Almost Famous. Best Director: Ang Lee, CTHD. Best Screenplay: Traffic.
2002: BP Drama: The Hours. BP Comedy/Musical: Chicago. Best Director: Martin Scorcese, Gangs of NY. Best Screenplay: About Schmidt.
2006: BP Drama: Babel. BP Comedy/Musical: Dreamgirls. Best Director: Martin Scorcese, The Departed. Best Screenplay: The Queen.
2007: BP Drama: Atonement. BP Comedy/Musical: Sweeney Todd. Best Director: Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Best Screenplay, No Country for Old Men.
All this brittleness of Meryl vs. Viola vs. Michelle just makes me hope for a Tilda Swinton upset, and in my dreamworld she runs onstage and tells everyone to suck it, losers.
And it wouldn’t be a bad win in the slightest since I consider her to give the most riveting screen performance of the year. We Need to Talk About Kevin has been sorely overlooked in other categories outside of Best Actress (picture, director, supporting actor, adapted screenplay, score, and editing, if I’m being honest). Maybe Tilda can win BAFTA?
“actually the whole movie is the invention of Woolf’s mind and may be watched as that.
whoa, let’s not get carried away.
Virginia Woolf, sci-fi author. She “invented” cell phones, TV, and somehow created AIDS?
(thanks a lot, Virginia Woolf. I’m officially afraid of you now.)”
Well, not literally “Woolf’s mind” but it’s quite obvious (isn’t it?) that “The Hours” of Cunningham is the re-writing (to use postmodern term) of “Mrs. Dalloway”.
But whatever. Still Davis in “The Help” is less “leading” than Kidman in “The Hours”.
@the Dude
Your list is appalling in its brevity but I do appreciate the retort.
Nothing gets fouler than people trying to mix oscar with the color agenda just to support his or her favor. When you are desperate for someone to win, you become the kind of person you hate to see. I’ll be happy to see either one of the two to win. The loser i guess is the one that is trapped in this frenzy (every year).
Am I the only one still hoping that somehow, Harry Potter gets a BP nod next Tuesday?
ur not the only one, and the includes OCO300
Really, Sasha? Your boo-hooing for Viola Davis is a bit much. It would be one thing to chastise Weinstein’s Globes puppeteering if Davis’s performance were out of this world. It’s not. It’s a very good supporting role for that film, in much the way Spencer’s and Chastain’s are. Williams and Streep without question give superior performances.
I’m about as left as one can get and am a proponent of affirmative action, but for movie awards? Movies awards? Certainly for educational and employment opportunities, but I’m not convinced of its need for implementation in Hollywood. Next you’ll want to start a charity to save the rich. I would LOVE if we saw more strong lead roles for African American women. But enough with the category fraud. Not this year. All this said, I’d be shocked if Davis doesn’t win the Oscar.
@Jeff, hard to take anyone seriously who runs the website wordonthestreep.com – nice try. But um, yeah.
[Sorry Tom, editing your post - no need to start with silly attacks]
I Think that always talk ’bout racism when an african-american actress not win an award is silly. Because the art is subjective and some ones liked Viola Davis performance but many others prefer Meryl Streep performance, so is better try only about art and critics from the performance than other things isn’t relevant for enjoy an acting…Must I feel as a racism to prefer Meryl Streep work?
Talking about racism right now is little right because predisposes to the public and the jury of Academy to vote for the character who generates less social questions.
Poor Streep, she shall lose again because it’s necessary pay one debt and not voting for which is the best performance or that people believes which is the best performance.
Unfortunately an obvious cop out, Sasha. Because Meryl Streep happens to be my favorite actress does not mean I’m witless and incapable of objectivity. If you deigned to read anything on my blog you’d realize that I don’t automatically think her work is always superior like so many sheep-like “Streepers.” I would’ve voted over Meryl for Oscar in 2009, 2007, 2000, 1999 for example. Doesn’t mean i can’t still thoroughly enjoy her body of work.
It’s disappointing that your comment was the best response you chose to offer. Me having a blog as a hobby about Streep doesn’t make what I wrote in my first post any less true. I have zero problem with someone disagreeing with me. I do take issue with opinions being dismissed. Such a response doesn’t make ME seem unwilling to be objective.
@Jeff, then let’s use your objectivity now. Is this Meryl Streep’s best performance? No. Is it even in the top five? No. Is it the best female performance of 2011? No. Tilda Swinton, Olivia Coleman and yes, Viola Davis are all better. Most of us don’t yet have the context to appreciate a performance like Davis’ because we are too stuck in the patterns of what defines great acting. Doing an impersonation, however complex and interesting, does not necessarily a great performance make. Streep’s Thatcher was all over the place. I felt nothing for her. I can admire the skill involved in pulling something like that off – but missing was the soul she brought to Julia Child, or hell, even the woman she played in It’s Complicated. What you and the Streep brigade don’t realize about me is that I have been a lifelong Meryl Streep FANATIC. When I wanted to be an actress, Streep was the reason why. Those years are long gone. I was genuinely more moved by Viola’s performance than Streep’s. Or Williams’. The only one who comes close for me is Swinton. So there.
Doesn’t it seem that you are making the same argument you fought against last year with The King’s Speech? You said it was the emotional vote that won people over. Isn’t that what you’re doing with Viola Davis? Maybe you underestimated the power of emotion? I agree that The Social Network was a better film, it was better on a technical level. However, I felt more during the King’s speech. Ask anyone who studies the craft of acting, what Meryl Streep did in The Iron Lady is light years away from impersonation, yet I felt more for Viola Davis too. I felt more for the dog in the Artist, does that mean it was a better performance? Just think you should think about the whole emotional voting thing.
Sasha,
By the way, my last comment was for you. I didn’t put your name on it. And I want to be clear that I am not picking on you, or saying you are wrong. I’m just curious how you can justify the whole emotional thing? I love Viola Davis in the help, too. I also love Meryl Streep in Iron Lady. It is possible to say that whoever wins it might be a personal preference and not a dig at someone else’s acting ability.
I’m sorry Patrick but I don’t agree. Sloppy and all over the place versus near perfect. No, performance-wise, Davis is more akin to Social Network. It’s hard not to be in awe of Meryl Streep. But this time through, perhaps because the movie nor the actress choose a political stance, it looked more like all skill and no soul. The same cannot be said of Social Network, though many tried to say that. Davis is anything but emotional only – if anything, it’s when she holds back, the slow burn, where her true power in this performance lies.She has two key scenes where the emotion bursts through but much of it is her rendering of a woman who must live two lives – one as herself and one as the shadowy maid figure. I don’t know how anyone would not choose Davis on both the performance and on the emotional truth there. It baffles me that anyone would write Davis off. And so many people are – it’s the most bizarre thing.
In my case, I do not want Davis to win because she is black and because she is not good. She is a great actress but this is not her best (she deserved it more for “Doubt” than for “The Help”). For me, Jamie Foxx was a deserving winner, and I yelled when Denzel Washington won and I had preferred to see Whoopie Goldberg winning for “The Color Purple”. It is just that, for me, this year there are other actresses much more convincing than her. I have to accept that although I would like to see Meryl Streep winning a second Oscar, her movie is not very good. This year is difficult in the best actress race but I rather see Swinton, Williams, Close or Rooney taking the Oscar.
I think it’s hard to give Margaret Thatcher much soul
. I think Viola Davis will probably win the Oscar, but not because of the reasons you mentioned. I think she will win because of the emotional vote. I guess it’s because I personally didnt think The Help was a very good movie, and it is getting so much love from all the Guilds and awards so far, that it’s kind of surprising to see Viola Davis reaping the reward. I thought Michelle would emerge the favorite this year. Maybe it’s just me. I think Meryl Streep is amazing in the Iron Lady, and Viola Davis is Amazing in The Help…But crazy me, I thought The Tree of Life was the best film of the year.
Thank you for the response, Sasha. A very respectable argument. I agree with you that it’s not Streep’s greatest performance. I think one could, however argue top five. Maybe top six or seven for me. But I don’ think it has to be Sophie’s Choice to be considered. I also agree that “impersonation” does not guarantee a great performance. But a great impersonation with emotion and complexity (as did Williams this year) certainly can be. Matching someone’s speech and mannerisms is difficult and it IS part of acting when playing someone who has lived. I could just as easily argue that it’s easier to play someone who has never really existed, because for all we know, that’s how the actor may truly be! At least with Iron Lady or My Week with Marilyn we have a reference. Is that the only way to give the best performance? Of course not. But this year, it may well be the case.
I’m not going to call anyone a racist in this thread, but I will say that white people defensively reacting to being called a racist and comparing it to any racial slur is stunningly tone-deaf to the reality of what racism is and how it plays out in America. Being called a racist is in no way comparable to being called a racial slur.
The experience of someone misinterpreting your words and calling you a racist and being targeted for vitriol and abuse because of the color of your skin are so completely different. It is frankly insulting to those people who have been the victims of racism to compare as such.
No racist has ever been dragged screaming down a city street by a truck because of their racism.
Also, racism is NOT simply Klan-members burning crosses. It’s a system of privilege that most white people in this country are blind to. The reduction that many in the white community have had that racist = Klan is so counterproductive to stopping racism in this country. Most white people have some racist attitudes or behaviors, even if they can’t see them themselves. As a white person myself, I am positive of this.
Also, sorry, white people — minorities are actually much better equipped to know when something racist is being said or done, just like women are better at being able to suss out sexism.
With that said, I’m not calling anyone a racist, so don’t fucking ban me or anything.
Meryl Streep is going to win SAG. Probability 76%.
brendon, point taken. however:
Unless you think Sasha and I have exhibited any such attitudes or behavior then you’re wanking around the point I’m making; namely: don’t call us racist.
then listen up. I’m telling you in no uncertain terms. I feel the same way being called a racist as I would feel being called a fag. It’s a word; it’s not a lynching. But it’s hateful, it’s hurtful and it’s Not Allowed by the very same standards, ok?
We were being “targeted for vitrol and abuse” — sneering verbal vitriol and abuse — which is absolutely consistent with how people feel if they’re called n*gger or fag. I’m telling you. I felt it.
Robert A.: nice, thanks.
Meryl Streep does a better performance than Viola, Rooney, Glenn, Michelle, Elizabeth Olsen and many others. Streep for me is the best more than sensibility but for the power, for the conviction, for her attitude, for everything because all Viola can to do Meryl does better.
Gotta say that I really do agree with Sasha’s POV on the Davis vs. Streep battle royale. For the record, I believe that ANY award that Meryl wins is highly deserved. She’s arguably our best living actress, and if Oscar voters deem now the time to reward her with Statuette #3, so be it. I’ll be happy
But I personally believe 2012 NOT to be Streep’s time. Her performance was perfect, yawn, brilliant, yawn, amazing. Yawn meaning “unsurprising.” TIL as a film, however? GOD-Awful. Almost War Horse bad 
If Meryl is truly serious about seizing another Oscar, she has to return to her cinematic career’s roots: working with the best directors around on creating the best films. Period. Meryl doing her thing in a stunning film, brilliantly directed by Aranofskyn/Ramsay/Bigelow/Spielberg/Campion/McQueen/Scorsese/insert-great-director-here? UN-MOTHER-EFFIN-STOPPABLE.
Davis doesn’t just make good on a rare stab at a fully-fleshed Black character this year. She resoundingly capitalizes on it. Her work in this film is as technically flawless as Streep. Yet Davis one-ups Meryl in the depth of vulnerability and window-to-the-soul transparency of heart with which she imbues Abilene. Sasha is correct, just as EVERY awards nominating committee has been this year, in locating Viola’s work in the LEAD category. It ain’t no fraud, people. It’s recognition of a personage’s power. They did it for Brando, and they can do it for Davis.
My take on the whole race thing? YES, it is a HUGELY IMPORTANT DEAL that Oscar has the opportunity this year to celebrate an amazingly talented actress who, because of Hollywood’s denigration of her race, will not likely offer her a Streep-sized bounty of opportunities to similarly delve into a role. 2011 was something of an Annus mirabilis for Blacks in film. Davis, Spencer, Oduye, McQueen and so forth. Many whites out there will not be able to understand just how brilliant this is for a minority community.
I am a member of this minority community. Let it be known that we do NOT view an Oscar for Viola as an unmerited charity handout. We would perceive it as an overdue recognition that awards-worthy artistic excellence takes place in every guise of humanity — not just white folk, but black folk too. Opportunities to reiterate and celebrate this human truth do come more frequently than Haley’s comet. Yet nevertheless, these opportunities, like that comet, are blazes of artful majesty that deserve a look skyward.
Many will disagree with this POV. Many will disagree with Sasha Stone. For the record: I don’t care. I’ll continue to pray for the event that will silence the haters and let it be known that, in a world of a Black president, the world’s stronghold for excellence in film (society’s most potent art form) — the Academy — excellence knows no color: Viola Davis scooping up that Oscar. Let it come to pass.
Correction: 2011 was actually the annus mirabilus for Blacks in film. 2012? Let’s cross our fingers
Last correction: Let me spell that highfalutin’ term correctly. “Annus mirabilis.”
Fixed, Jeff N.
and by the way:
BravoBravissimo.If u say meryl is overdue, that’s the same as saying a black actress is overdue
Thanks, Ryan! IMHO, I actually do recognize where you’re coming from on the unnecessary flinging around of “racist.” I do agree with other comments that “racist” doesn’t hold the same power or history as “n****r,” “f****t,” or other hateful words. However, people CAN attempt to barb another with that word INTENDING it to have the same power as infamous words of hate.
When it comes to issues like Bigelow winning for Best Director or non-whites winning Oscars in any category, it’s never about “race” or “discrimination” for me. It’s always about the amazing feat of a fickle, flippant voting community demonstrating why the Academy is indelible to history and so relevant to our present — the act of transcending human barriers to acknowledge and fete greatness in film.
n*gger ≠ f*ggot
f*ggot ≠ r*cist
r*cist ≠ n*gger
Never said these words were equivalent. Never said they have the same power and history.
I said to me one sounds as hateful and inflammatory as the other. Warned that anybody using those words to attack someone else in the comments is risking a ban.
House Rules about n*gger & f*ggot were clear.
I wanted to make our position on racist clear too.
Never did I say racists don’t exist. Only saying that anybody who calls me, Sasha or another reader a racist is outta here.
The cover photo of Meryl & Viola illustrates that Viola would be better suited to follow the footsteps of her Doubt co-star.
Meryl: nominated Supporting for The Deer Hunter, win/Supporting for Kramer vs. Kramer…nominated Lead for The French Lt’s Woman…win/Lead for watershead Spohie’s Choice—13 nominations around the corner.
Viola: nominated Supporting for Doubt…should be nominated for Supporting and should win Supporting for The Help…nominated lead for something…win/Lead for pinnacle role in something…
Is it the producers for The Help and/or Viola who jockey for Lead? I know that voting members have the brains to vote each performance in the catergory that they deem fit. I think Meryl’s career would’ve been different if the KvsK producers (or is it she herself) that would’ve optioned for a Lead nomination for her in this film. Knowing that there was no way that they’d topple the Sally Field/Norma Rae performance, Meryl’s Supporting win upped her for better roles.
So it is a lack of a clear winner in the Lead Actress field this year, the strategy to not divide votes for Viola/Octavia in Supporting or…’historical factors’ that jumps this performance into the lead?
I’d much happier seeing Ms. Davis win in the right category. Winning Lead so earlier will only place in her Meryl’s second career phase. She’ll continue to be nominated…for greater performances and roles…but the voters will think ‘Oh, she already has one for The Help…though she gives a powerhouse performance in ( )…she’s up against Glenn Close/Anette Bening/Julianne Moore/Joan Allen/Sigourey…fill in the blank who’s turn it is for recognition for a weaker role, but ‘it’s their turn and we’ll remember Viola 28 years from now for this displacement.’
I don’t understand how an movie awards website can say who is the best actress or who gave the best performance with so property. And the person doesn’t agree with them is accused about racism, that isn’t right and arbitrary. Really I don’t comprehend the editors of this page.
And always talk about racism when an African-American not win a prize is demagogic, reductionist, and not objective.
Meryl Streep is not racism and her fans either so, Why do keep always with the same? The personal prefer can not dominate an editor.