A funny thing is happening in the Oscar race. A film that most people haven’t seen, that hasn’t been reviewed by critics – major or otherwise – is being touted as this year’s Best Picture winner. At first it seemed business as usual. Then the film premiered in Australia with a strict embargo of December 1. The film is currently being screened with that embargo in place. I Many of us will see on November 30. But the weird thing is, everyone is acting like it’s a go, like it doesn’t really even matter if the film is seen or not. She’s really that big of a star, that beloved by fans and the industry that it will get into the Best Director and Best Picture race anyway.
If Universal pulls this off it will be unlike anything I’ve ever seen in 16 years. We’ve had actors in the director race many times – big ones, like George Clooney and Ben Affleck. But their movies were seen first and the accepted or rejected by the awards voters. In fact, Clooney’s Ides of March seemed like it was going to get very close to the Best Picture race but did not. Ditto for Affleck’s The Town. I’ve never seen a movie star lead the hype as the film’s director. They always do it when actors are involved. This film is being rolled out as though Angelina Jolie were the star. And maybe, in the end, that will prove true.
The surprising thing about movie stars and Best Director is that they really can be like a supernova descending. Ben Affleck’s star power during Argo was a major force for the film’s success. If you’ve ever stood in a room with an actor-turned-director you can feel their charisma from all the way across the room and it’s nearly impossible to resist it. Affleck’s charm offensive was notorious. No one was safe from it. Everyone fell immediately in love with him upon sight – men, women, forget it. But Affleck had a movie a lot of people thought was really good. They saw the movie and then they celebrated him. With this, they’re celebrating Angelina long before they even see the movie – and I’m wondering if anyone cares.
Jolie is as big a star as Affleck and already has one major blockbuster behind her this year with Maleficent, to name just a tip of the Jolie iceberg. She was also given an Oscar last year for her humanitarian efforts. She even flew off to make another movie with husband Brad Pitt while Unbroken was still in post – all the while raising six kids.
You have to wonder if, indeed, it doesn’t matter if Unbroken is good or not. The story is already so big perhaps it will devour the need for the film to be good. After all, they vote for whom they like anyway, right? This past week I’ve been told by Oscar pundits from experts to amateurs that Unbroken will win, including Entertainment Weekly and Oscar blogging veteran, Dave Karger.
I find myself conflicted over this. On the one hand, I’ve long championed women filmmakers and if Jolie and Ava DuVernay (whose film has been seen and highly praised already, which put her in the race – no star power needed) manage to get in the same year that would be a record breaking year for women and something to celebrate. Worse case scenario the movie is bad and she gets in on her star power. That’s still a woman in the race and lord knows they’ve nominated enough men who didn’t deserve to get included either.
On the other hand, if she does get in and she doesn’t deserve it that could be more devastating for women in the long run because people will say all you have to do is be pretty and popular and you can get nominated for Best Director with a sub par film. We already have one woman in the race whose movie is being praised with standing ovations at press screenings, which hardly ever happens. And yet, all I hear from my Oscar pundit pals is all about Angelina Jolie. I’m perplexed, Oscar watchers.
Then again, maybe the movie really is that good and her star power and popularity only enhances her position in the race, one she would get anyway even if she weren’t Angelina Jolie. Maybe it’s really that good – as good as Selma, as good as Gone Girl and Boyhood and Birdman. That would be the most awesome thing to happen to the Oscars since Halle Berry and Denzel Washington won on the same night.
Though stars can’t lose if they have a reasonably good movie, they are often looked upon negatively in the years to come, especially if they beat a much better film. Robert Redford beating Martin Scorsese, Kevin Costner beating Martin Scorsese. Clint Eastwood beating Martin Scorsese.
What I sense with Unbroken and Angelina Jolie is a tsunami of good cheer and encouragement towards her. I do not know if those accolades are well deserved or not. Yet. I will find out on November 30. Either way, I’m fascinated by the way Universal is controlling the conversation with that embargo, while also taking full advantage of who Angelina Jolie is in American culture. That’s some really hot shit publicity at work, folks.
May the best woman win!
^ 1985 maybe; judging by the earlier ‘comment’! For every douchey dumb cluck, there is a movie lover and would be cinephile who loves what you guys have always done, are currently doing and will do into the future. Happy New Year, Ryan. 🙂
Fuok you Sasha Stone and Fuck you Faggot Ryan, both of you are cowerdly
^
is it 2015 yet?
I want to kiss your feet and suck your toes, Sasha Stone. I would kill myself without Awards Daily! Happy New Year!!!
i think this is not an issue about the film unbroken itself – it is more an anti angelina jolie mood going on. If someone earlier had said that aj’s films have been flops or average please do look up imbd or bom – all her films have been very successful esp worldwide mostly – lara croft wanted salt the tourist the changeling and a mighty heart may have been unsucessful financially but she got oscar noms regardless and to compare her with affleck of all people – his last hit was gone girl where the main showstealer was not even him but pike and fincher – maleficient also came out this year – that was better because it was aj with a new cast and a first time director and made big bucks so that shouldnt even be in the same orbit. the only pple who made unbroken a favourite was the press
A lot of Jolie fans are in denial that its pretty obvious she is running the most desperate Oscar campaign of the year. Say what you want, but she really has her eye on that Best Director Oscat. Its a slap on the face to real directors who haven’t even been nominated, and she will probably pay off critics to give Unbroken great reviews. its wont be the first that that a non-director has done this.
Also, what reviews of Unbroken are there? None! There is an embargo for god sakes, That shows it can’t be that great.
I CAN’T BELIEVE
If a lot of you pretend to ignore the fact that movie critics all around the world have already seen the movie
************************
I think you mean Unbroken’s 8 minutes featurette shown to HFPA in July ?
I read it on a Japanese HFPA member’s site.
According to Desplat’s recent interview with David Poland, he started scoring in September and needed 2 months to complete.
From what he said about this movie and Jolie , I expect only good one.
correction: strategy
Hi Sasha
As an after thought to UNBROKEN again, what will you say if the movie after 30. November turns out to be brilliant and heartbreaking with fantastic sceenes and with a lot of amazing wonderful pictures ??
Again, in my opionion UNIVERSAL STUDIOS and Angelina Jolie want to keep the film fresh and nothing else is in their mind. Dear Sasha you are continually saying what is wrong with this picture and that you have never seen such a screening embargo for 16 years in your business. But Sasha you should very well know it, it’s pure stragedy of UNIVERSAL STUDIOS. Everything is exactly on schedule for them and that for 15 Categories for the very next coming major AWARD SEASON as you can see on the list and the link below. But you are right, all of us want the same, only the BEST FILM OF 2014 should win it!
UNBROKEN – UNIVERSAL PICTURES
WE ARE PLEASED TO PRESENT THIS FILM FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION FOR 15 CATEGORIES AND INVITE YOU TO ATTEND THE FOLLOWING SCREENINGS
http://www.universalpicturesawards.com/main/screenings
LOS ANGELES
Tuesday-12/2 Beverly Hills 7:00 pm-
Thursday-12/4 Los Angeles 7:30 pm-
Saturday-12/6 Beverly Hills 11:00 am-
Saturday-12/6 Los Angeles 3:00 pm-
Monday-12/8 Universal City 7:00 pm-
Friday-12/12 Beverly Hills 7:00 pm-
Friday-12/12 Universal City 7:00 pm-
Saturday-12/13 Los Angeles 9:00 pm-
Tuesday-12/16 Beverly Hills 6:30 pm-
Wednesday-12/17 Los Angeles 7:30 pm-
Friday-12/19 Universal City 7:00 pm
Monday-12/22 Beverly Hills 6:30 pm-
Monday-12/22 Universal City 7:00 pm-
Tuesday-12/23 Los Angeles 7:30 pm-
Friday-12/26 Beverly Hills 7:00 pm-
Monday-12/29 Universal City 7:00 pm-
Monday-12/29 Los Angeles 7:30 pm-
Saturday-1/3 Beverly Hills 11:00 am-
Sunday-1/4 Los Angeles 3:00 pm-
Wednesday-1/7 Los Angeles 6:30 pm-
Wednesday-1/7 Beverly Hills 7:00 pm-
Thursday-1/8 Universal City 7:00 pm-
SAN FRANCISCO
Saturday-12/6 San Francisco 1:00 pm-
Sunday-12/14 San Francisco 2:00 pm
Sunday-12/14 San Francisco 7:00 pm-
Tuesday-12/16 San Francisco 7:00 pm-
Sunday-12/28 San Francisco 7:00 pm-
Tuesday-1/6 San Francisco 7:00 pm-
NEW YORK
Tuesday-12/2 New York 6:00 pm-
Friday-12/5 New York 6:00 pm-Universal
Tuesday-12/9 New York 6:00 pm-Universal
Thursday-12/11 New York 6:00 pm-Universal
Tuesday-12/16 New York 6:00 pm-UniversalFriday-12/19
New York 6:00 pm-Universal
Tuesday-12/23 New York 6:00 pm-Universal
Monday-12/29 New York 6:00 pm-Universal
Friday-1/2 New York 6:00 pm-Universal
Wednesday-1/7 New York 6:00 pm-Universal
LONDON
Friday-12/5 London 7:00 pm-
Monday-12/8 London 7:00 pm-
Wednesday-12/10 London 7:00 pm-
Monday-12/15 London 7:00 pm-
Monday-12/22 London 7:00 pm-
Tuesday-1/6 London 7:00 pm-
I CAN’T BELIEVE, you’re probably right, but the journalist does say “judging from the scenes” which means they haven’t seen the whole film yet. “Some” would argue they’re hiding it out of shame, while I believe they’re simply working on it, trying to make everything as perfect as could be, like Scorsese did last year with WoWS.
So we must keep calm and be brave in the face of adversity, until we finally get to see the film in its entirety, and then and only then, we will hopefully have the pleasure to declare it a true masterpiece of epic proportions!
La vita è bella!
^^^Nobody is denying critics haven’t seen Unbroken! Seriously! We know, we know, we know! We are saying that there is an embargo on the reviews until early December. That means they cannot publish the reviews. Maybe they can outside of America but as far as I know we can’t see anything for a few more weeks. This is not a typical gossip site. Nobody is ignoring critics.
If a lot of you pretend to ignore the fact that movie critics all around the world have already seen the movie, as I try to demonstrate with my link, isn’t that tipical of a gossip site?
@RYAN ADAMS
My first message here was the 44° message of the discussion…so you, in all onesty, are saying that nobody here used a language tipical of a gossip site?
Steven, I agree.. Plan B is making exceptional films
About the embargo thing I don’t think it is because is a bad film.. I mean, we are ONE MONTH away there are tons of films with december premiere dates that don’t have early reviews.. I think there’s too much anxiety because there is no oscar frontrunner (I personally like to think because all movies are equally good) and people don’t have anything to write/cheer/complain about
And I believed that in this article you were speaking about director Angelina, sorry…
And I believed that in this article you were speaking about director Angelina, sorry…
This article is about Angelina Jolie. This site is not.
I’m saying: You come here waving the Jolie flag and that’s fine, but we have a community here whose interests go far beyond your narrow focus. I’m saying: Maybe stop trying to scold and browbeat everybody into seeing things your way and you’ll feel less frustrated when you find out different people have different opinions.
Nobody’s calling you a jerk for your admiration for Angelina Jolie. Nobody is calling you stupid for liking In the Land of Blood and Honey. Some people like that movie. Some people can’t stand it. Wrap your head around that and see if you still feel that everyone who disagrees with you is nothing but a gossip-monger.
Because THAT’s how you decided to introduce yourself: The very first sentence you ever wrote here, you said this looked like a gossip site to you. I don’t know how pretty that sounds in Italian but in English it comes across as something a jerk would say.
I believed “Jerks” was a sort of insult in your slang, sorry…
Naomi,
Every year it’s the same drama, there are a couple films I’m looking forward to, and it has to be those very films that become the butt of negative speculation. Most films in the Oscar race generate some sort of anticipation long before they’re seen, but the few I’m anticipating are always the ones raising suspicions. Feeling cursed 🙁
Really, I can’t believe I’m reading, in a site like this, which I thought was a blog for people who love movies and have good taste for good cinema, something as stupid and superficial as some messages left above…
“which I thought was a blog for people who love movies and have good taste for good cinema, something as stupid and superficial as some messages left above…”
try talking about something besides your Angelina fetish and you might find some conversations here where you don’t have to call smart people stupid if they dare to have opinions different from yours.
@ Christopher, Studios Companies like Universal or Warner Brothers only does embargo in huge films like franchises or mega-blockbusters. . Or a reason an embargo is done is because the movie is not that good. 2 mains reasons for that. I think there is a fear of the movie not being liked by people so that’s why she is doing this. And even though Universal is supporting Unbroken, I would not call it a huge film so I don’t know what she is hiding from and why she dodged all the film festivals, yet created a false hype for Unbroken being a mutli-Oscar winning Picture at the same time. I don’t buy that only the media is responsible for this hype but she and her team have a hand in it too.
Steven,
It was not that important. All I can say now is I sure hope this empty and negative speculation about Unbroken’s peculiar release plan is nothing but a clever way to downplay inflated expectations, so it can still make a splash.
Or else, if it is, as I suggested earlier, a snide strategy to hurt its awards cred, then I would be sorely disappointed…
I will not go with the program. I will not go gentle into that good night.
Christophe, maybe give me the bullet points until it pops back up?
On another note this is the time of year when we see some outsiders coming in and being jerks. The Oscar season get so heated this time of year…but…wait another month in December. Oh baby…there will be blood.
Yeah far too much inevitability talk about a movie nobody has seen. I wish I wasn’t, but I am bored of Unbroken already. It is true though, Angelina the movie star, and a cover of Variety means it is not going away. It better be good, because the way it is going that might not really matter. Happy Oscar Watching everyone! 😀
Hey! Where has my response to Steven Kane gone? It was a perfectly fine and reasoned comment into which I had put much thought. Is that why it became so threathening to “some”? I understand “some” might not like having their bs uncovered, but it’s the essence of democracy and constructive debate to allow the express….[CENSORED]
it is a kind of reverse bias i think – because she is a star a celeb etc etc – globe trotting un humanitarian etc that naturally she cannot possibly get and make a film on its own merits? is it her fault that she didnt struggle for years to produce her films etc – was she meant to work for it like ava who directed selma. the only time she and brad appear in public is when they are promoting their movies – and doing the necessary press which every other actor or actress also does and has done. so double standards perhaps i really dont know. instead of being proud that possibility 2 women directors could be considered for an oscar nom it is once again aj who is ‘ slammed’ for something that it not her ‘fault’ in the first place. She has been doing her job just as much as everyone else – if the press decide to praise unbroken that is not her fault. and of course everyone wants to win – pretending that they dont is not hw.
it is a kind of reverse bias i think – because she is a star a celeb etc etc – globe trotting un humanitarian etc that naturally she cannot possibly get and make a film on its own merits?
Um. No. I’m trying to be nice about this because the publicists are nice people and I admire Angelina’s efforts greatly. I have always been her biggest champion. BUT if you guys are going to continue to act like jerks and accuse me of things I don’t deserve I have no choice but to say: you don’t hold back reviews on a movie for that long if you have the goods. We’re talking about a film people are predicting to WIN BEST PICTURE, not just a good movie people will love. Will it be a good movie people will love? Well look at y’all. You don’t even care if the movie is good or not. You are so swept up in your fandom she could literally spit on a plate and you’d call it a masterpiece. Before even seeing it! So give me a break, okay? Don’t make me have to continually say what is wrong with this picture. I have been doing this for 16 years and the publicists on this movie are the most legendary and famous of all Oscar publicists. They KNOW what they have an how people will react. They are not going to hold back a movie like this unless there’s a reason. I’m seeing it on November 30 – I hope it’s as great as you all have declared it to be before even seeing it. But please – the fandom thing is getting really tired. We’re in the business of finding Best Picture winners. May the MOST DESERVED film win, whether it was directed by a famous beautiful movie star or not.
“And if that movie was that good, it would have premiered at film festivals and there would be no embargo until Dec. 2.”
But Naomi, it doesn’t need to premiere at film festivals, because Universal knows people will watch it anyway, good or bad. Let’s keep film festivals for up and coming indie directors, shall we? I would be mad at Angelina for taking such a precious spot away from talented but little known filmmakers. And thay way she has the freedom to work on her film and make adjustments until the very last minute, like all the greats do.
ps: I’m no Angelina fanboy. I have absolutely 0 interest in watching ITLOBAH, but I’m psyched about Unbroken because of the subject matter.
“Ditegli sempre di sì!” (Always Tell Them Yes!) is the title of a wonderful comedy, written by one of the best italian playwrights…
it is unfortunate that her movie has already been prejudged not on the basis of the movie itself but rather the fact that she is the director.
we dont really know what the critics will say except the usual spiel to be honest – if anyone gives unbroken a favourable review I will be very surprised
– and here i thought that critics should wait and see till a movie is actually shown to them first.
Angelina fans are getting their knickers in a knot lo. Funny, did the brangelina fans from Justjared and Celebitchy make their way here to come and defend their idols honor? Her charity work has nothing to do with how she is ad a director, where did that all come from?. Sasha is just calling out the BS buzz over Unbroken, a film hardly anyone has seen or reviewed. And if that movie was that good, it would have premiered at film festivals and there would be no embargo until Dec. 2.
And Funny, I recall some of these fans calling Gone Girl ( 88% on RT) and Intestersteller(74% RT) flops? No, a movie like ITLOBAH with a 55% RT is a flop. A movie that got mostly negative reviews and heavily criticized, and did extremely poorly financial wise is a flop. Say what you want, believe what you want, but AJ desperately wants that Best Director Oscar. More then actual directors. I have never seen her do so many unnecessary magazines covers, interviews, talk so much other then when she wants an Oscar.
^^^^What most of us have seen is the trailer. That is meant to be judged but only a small amount. Sadly I don’t think much of Unbroken based on what I saw but I am still looking forward to seeing it. What is going on here at AD is we are determining the movie’s chances with the Oscars, hence the name “Awards Daily”. Nobody said the movie hadn’t been seen. Maybe not seen by the public or the critical community AT LARGE.
“A funny thing is happening in the Oscar race. A film that most people haven’t seen, that hasn’t been reviewed by critics – major or otherwise – is being touted as this year’s Best Picture winner”: “this is the first phrase of the article!!”
Right. It is. Sasha DID NOT say, “Nobody has seen it”. What she said was, “A film that MOST people HAVEN’T seen.” You typed it yourself. MOST PEOPLE HAVEN’T SEEN IT. Critics have not reviewed it. There is an embargo until early December. Therefore it hasn’t technically been reviewed.
@Steven Kane
“Critics are meant to judge a film as WHAT THEY SEE ON SCREEN.”
Right! And because a lot of international critics have already seen the film, you can’t say, as it was written here, exactly the contrary!
“A funny thing is happening in the Oscar race. A film that most people haven’t seen, that hasn’t been reviewed by critics – major or otherwise – is being touted as this year’s Best Picture winner”: this is the first phrase of the article!!
“…and the really diabolical thing is how Sasha is threatening to murder any critic who doesn’t give Selma a perfect score of 100”
Well…that’s still on the table. I kid 😉 But I agree with you. Everybody, or the small handful of people visiting this site for what seems like the first time, need to go back and read the article. Sasha is saying there is a chance Jolie could get nominated for best director and maybe her looks would factor in. That’s her criticism against the academy. I don’t agree with it, I don’t think looks have anything to do with a director getting nominated. If Jolie doesn’t get nominated it’ll probably be because there were 5 other directors more worthy of the nomination. But good Lord, people need to chill the hell out. I don’t always agree with Sasha and I let my opinions be known, but I don’t make mountains out of molehills.
“People who whine about that movie being not well researched and far fetched are full of conceit and envy.”
I don’t know who the hell is envious of not having made In the Land of Blood and Honey. Fuck it, I don’t know anybody who has “whined” about the movie. I could barely name a few that even saw the film. What we do know is that it wasn’t particularly loved here in the states. Maybe it was in Italy, that’s grand. Wonderful. Some of our classics aren’t well-loved internationally and that’s okay. Love the movie for yourself. Yes Jolie has been a humanitarian and “has access to data”. But there’s a difference between “having access to data” and writing a good screenplay. There’s a difference between knowing the history and being able to make a good movie. I doubt anybody is saying, “Jolie’s movie was bad therefore she doesn’t know the history.”
“…in contrast to those critics who experience life only through the films they see.”
And with that you made your own argument complete. Critics are meant to judge a film as WHAT THEY SEE ON SCREEN. They’re not given a pamphlet on the Bosnian War that says, “Read while you’re watching the movie so you’ll know this is all true.” Critics are reviewers. They are food critics for the cinema. If a food critic walks into a German restaurant and gets a plate with bratwurst, sauerkraut and marzipan but it wasn’t cooked right the critic would probably say, “Well they have the traditional ingredients for a German dish but it’s a shame it wasn’t well cooked.” Maybe that was the case with many critics who were less than enthused with In the Land of Blood and Honey. Nobody is saying Jolie should give back her humanitarian award.
Jolie is known for saving 1/3, spending 1/3 and donating 1/3 of her salary
Has been a UNHCR amb since early 2000, member of CFR since 2007, UNHCR special envoy since 2012
Built The 1st ever millenium village in Asia by demining a huge piece of land, now a wildlife conservation and sanctuary for thousands of victims of khmer rouge, with the Cambodian king/pres/pm making her an honorary citizen.
Built numerous schools, hospitals, villages in the mid east, africa and asia
She shed light to the most vulnerable population, went to field missions risking her own life paying for her own expenses, living like every other field worker (she once went to a refugee camp, a week later that same camp was bombed by rebels)
Established numerous agencies/institutions, supporting numerous advocacies (MJP, ZMF, KIND, DWB, UNICEF etc)
Heard by leaders of states, foreign ministers, monarchs
Single handedly increased awareness for prevention of breast and ovarian CA, with numerous medical journals providing evidence of her influence
Recently, directed a film which inspired for the creation of the first ever protocol to end rape in places of conflict
Now tell me that Jolie receiving JHA is absurd
Sorry, Ryan, I didn’y know about that problem with international link…I hope you can read this articole, written the 30 of July and published in one of the most important italian newspaper…The journalist, who WAS at the Los Angeles movie screening for the press, writes: “E a giudicare dalle scene che abbiamo visto sarà un serio concorrente a Golden Globe e Oscar”, in English “And judging from the scenes we have seen, the movie will be a serious concurrent at Golden Globe and Oscar”.
http://www.repubblica.it/spettacoli/cinema/2014/07/30/news/angelina_jolie_unbroken-92765982/
Jolie’s ITLOBAH is a great movie, with great direction. People who whine about that movie being not well researched and far fetched are full of conceit and envy. Jolie has been a part of the UN for more than a decade, with access to data, connection to people in the know and actual field experience; in contrast to those critics who experience life only through the films they see. If it’s a question of reliability, then Jolie wins hands down, heck even the journalists who witnessed the bosnian war proclaim of the film’s adherence to accuracy. As of the moment, ITLOBAH will never be judged based on its merits but rather, on the pretentious critics’ perception of the director as a woman, as a movie star.
Oh well, RT rating is a better gauge than the Berlin Film Festival
[link removed because it’s not available for viewing outside italy and we don’t normally leave live links to unseen untrusted clips] If you know of a similar clip on youtube or vimeo, please link to that instead, ok? – Ryan
[link removed because it’s not available for viewing outside italy and we don’t normally leave live links to unseen untrusted clips] If you know of a similar clip on youtube or vimeo, please link to that instead, ok? – Ryan
Why do you say that nobody have seen this movie, but only a trailer? Why this FALSE report? In July journalists from all over the world have seen 30 minutes of this movie and THAN they start talking about it as a potential Oscar winner.
People are vicious these days. I miss the old days of quaint little Afrika.
Also remember that Affleck had two EXCELLENT pictures under his belt before Argo, and he was still snubbed in the BD category.
“Brad Pitt did produce Selma. Now think of the crapstorm that will break out if his wife’s film gets the BD nomination based on the potential belief that her celebrity status put her there while DuVernay gets snubbed. How will a Selma BP campaign try to argue for the top prize while dancing around why their director wasn’t nominated in a way that won’t offend Pitt/Jolie. Will be a huge distraction for both films.”
Those reverse wormholes you call “crapstorms” only occur down here in the pits with the likes of us. The sound doesn’t carry to the upper levels where all the real maneuvering is going on.
Say AJ and AD both get in, or one does/one doesn’t; maybe neither one make it – it’s very possible. It’s all happened before in every combination for every reason imaginable and will continue to happen. Everybody up there will, like always, remain gracious and controlled, no distractions, no arguing. They’ll get together on Oscar night and applaud the winner, then Brad will make more films. Anjie will make more films and so will Ava, because that’s what the best professionals do.
Meanwhile, down here in the crapstorm, we fret and plot and slobber like Gollum over where the “precious” will end up and why, which is an odd worry for just an observer. So let’s just hold our excitement and see what they present us with as nominees because these other scenarios are exhausting.
Sometime ago, Sasha already said that she would prefer Ava over Angelina even if their movies are both good…all that stupid “history making” nonsense…and surprise surprise..She LOVED Selma so now it will be all about Ava being better than Angelina…There will be articles for that…all that history making importance of Ava getting nomination and/or win….and if she fails to get nomination it will be all about racism/sexism….I have been around long enough to know all those tricks…sometimes directly, sometimes indirectly…Angelina surrounded by men??? What about Ava? Does she work exclusively with women??? .I have a feeling that she will not even like Unbroken…there is something called Confirmatory Reasoning..and she has proven here many times that she is a good example of that!
and some people read too much into standing ovation..audiences in some cultures dont get up as easily as American audience…go to see any Broadway show, even mediocre ones, there is almost always standing ovation at the end.!..So I wouldnt read too much into standing ovation thing!
I know, right?!!! and the really diabolical thing is how Sasha is threatening to murder any critic who doesn’t give Selma a perfect score of 100 so all the major critics on Metacritic have already made a bargain with Sasha to go along with her evil scheme.**
I’m getting a new Corvette from Sasha just for typing this comment.
TRUE. thank you for explaining why everybody stayed seated at the end of Unbroken. It all makes sense now.
**(Selma has a score of 98 on Metacritic in case you’re wondering why two critics got their legs broken in freak “accidents” last week.)
seriously, you guys, please take a step back and look at the crazy noises some of you are making:
“Wait Till You See the Movie Before You Tell Us What You Think, Sasha Stone!”
“Sure, Sasha Stone Sees a Movie and Says She Likes it. How Can We Believe Her!?”
Sasha if you are getting pissed off, how do you think we the public that look at you oscar professionals feel. The truth is that the echo chamber that you and your ilk has created have made you oscar bloggers as much of a caricature as the the political talking heads.
My gripe with you is that you are shitting on Jolie and proclaiming she will be nominated because she is beautiful and not the quality of the movie when you have not seen the movie. If you had seen the movie and came up with your synopsis, I will not have a problem with you. I did not say anything about her getting rewarded for her humanitarian work, a way to confuse issues. My point is that she had the guts to go after a project that has been hard to do for fifty years, she got it done. She went out and got no name actors because she wanted be true to the story, if the story took fifty years to get done, surely you can wait for 2 weeks to see it and then shit on it if it doesn’t deliver.
If the movie is not good, I will say so. The examples you gave about standing ovation after a movie is irrelevant, some movies leave you speechless and you just sit there to let it wash over you, that was the experience I had with 12 years a slave.
The sad thing is that there is a good chance that two women could be nominated but what do you do, start discrediting one just in case, as if there should only always be room for one woman. As an African American woman, I would love nothing better than to see Selma and Ava nominated but that doesn’t mean I should over look the difficult shoot Jolie undertook, a movie the Coen brothers said they were happy they were not directing.
Talking about Jolie being surrounded by famous men, you conveniently forget that Selma is a plan B project, isn’t that owned by Brad Pitt? Is paramount not a big studio? Are they not the studio behind Selma? Sasha do better. I had so much respect for you but right now you are talking out of both sides of your mouth and it is not a good look.
you are shitting on Jolie and proclaiming she will be nominated because she is beautiful and not the quality of the movie…
FALSE. It’s strange that you can write in English without being able to read it.
But just to be sure you don’t get misread this comment too, FALSE means what you’re saying is a lie.
Gosh, you really zinged me. I know how the nominations work chief. Was mostly commenting on the academy voter’s habit of groupthink and herd behavior. Someone tell Ryan what groupthink is.
Jolie’s honorary award was absurd.
I agree that the Affleck comparison is useful insofar as it tells us that Jolie is anything but a lock for a Direction nomination because the Academy’s directing branch has the final say.
Leo,
It is debatable that team Unbroken really had “fresh” in their minds when they maneuvered an Oscar campaign reel disguised as a human interest story during the freaking Winter Olympics. That was 10 months ago, yet they’ve skipped all festivals and screened out of the country with an embargo?
Brad Pitt did produce Selma. Now think of the crapstorm that will break out if his wife’s film gets the BD nomination based on the potential belief that her celebrity status put her there while DuVernay gets snubbed. How will a Selma BP campaign try to argue for the top prize while dancing around why their director wasn’t nominated in a way that won’t offend Pitt/Jolie. Will be a huge distraction for both films.
Of course, the fact that Jolie got that utterly absurd lifetime Oscar last year while her husband’s film was up for BP should have been a tip off big time that 12 Years’ win was etched in stone the minute the honorary awards were announced.
Of course, the fact that Jolie got that utterly absurd lifetime Oscar last year while her husband’s film was up for BP should have been a tip off big time that 12 Years’ win was etched in stone the minute the honorary awards were announced.
Somebody please explain to Pete about how the honorary Oscars are chosen by a dozen people on the Board of Governors, and Best Picture is chosen by secret ballots filled out by 6000 individuals who have their own brains and hardly any of those 6000 voters are wearing electric-shock collars that zap them back into line if they wander off and vote for whomever the fuck they want to to vote for in the privacy of their own mansions.
I’m afraid if I try to explain it, I’ll sound impatient and all eye-rolly.
while you’re at it, tell Pete that the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award is not a lifetime Oscar prize. Tell him to look up Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award on wiki and educate himself. or hey, just ask him point blank if he knows the meaning of the word “humanitarian.”
Let’s see if the movie is any good, first. Second, let’s not let the fact that it is a biopic cloud our judgment.
Alem, I’m sure there’s a good chance he’ll win a 2nd Oscar. Plan B has been associated with some great movies. The Departed, Moneyball, Tree of Life, 12 Years a Slave, Assassination of Jesse James, The Normal Heart and now Selma. Granted all of them, except Selma, either had Pitt acting or he was slated to act in them. So that also tells me that not only has his acting choices in the last decade been amazing but the projects he chooses to take on behind the camera have been just as good.
really off topic but Brad Pitt produced Selma, wonder if he will get another Oscar..
Why are so many people( probably hardcore brangelina fans who have scurried their way into here) bashing Sasha Stone? Sasha is not saying Angelina will do badly with her movie . She Is just calling out all this nonsensical hype over Unbroken, which nobody has seen so far and not only that, but no reviews out either. I heard there was an embargo on the reviews, which makes me suspicious of how it will turn out. I don’t understand how this movie can be considered a Oscar front runner when we know nothing about it so far. All we have are some trailers, but that’s not enough to judge the entire movie. Angelina Jolie is a very beautiful woman, and a good actress But directing wise? She is meh so far and I would not really call her an acclaimed director. Blood and Honey movie was a flop, and Unbroken is being hyped up as the greatest movie of this year, without any reviews. I mean, it was predicted to be a Oscar winner before they even started filming the movie. That’s how much nonsensical hype there is over this movie. Even directors like Steven Speilberg, David Fincher, Christopher Nolan, Riddly Scott, Peter Jackson,etc don’t put an embargo on their films this long and they are all highly acclaimed directors. If Jolie wants to taken seriously as a director, then maybe she shouldn’t be banning critics and reviewers for this long and stop with the hype.
that which followed…
The silence reminds me of that followed the initial, tastemaker-studded private premier of “J. Edgar” up in Carmel – polite yet deafening. We all know how that turned out…
Yup, in further support of Sasha – she’s been incredibly consistent with this film. She’s always listed it as an “unknown” or a wild card in the race (along with others like Into the Woods, American Sniper, Selma, etc. etc. – they get checked off as they are actually seen, of course).
Wow…this post really brought out the crazies, didn’t it?
I don’t think at any point Sasha was creating a “smear campaign” with this article. If anything, she’s been very consistent throughout the season saying she doesn’t feel comfortable predicting nominations let alone wins for films that have yet to be see widely.
Many of you probably wondered in here while googling Angelina Jolie so that really know that Sasha is a strong advocate for women film makers (sometimes to a fault). If anything, Sasha is still being cautiously optimistic about the film. I know that Sasha would love nothing more than to hear two female directors names announced on nominations morning. The fact that people are proclaiming Unbroken the defacto winner without be tested doesn’t bode well for the film or Jolie. If you don’t understand that, you haven’t been Oscar Watching for too long.
For all the nubes, buckle up; it’s gonna be a bumpy road to Oscar.
How famous do you think Jolie would be if she’d never gotten together with Brad Pitt? Famous, but nowhere NEAR what she is now. The tabloid attention is what launched her into that stratosphere, not her movies. Unfortunately.
phew! I’m glad you will cease to address me — obviously, I would like to feel safe and comfortable when coming to AD without the menace of deranged types like you who make it a point to lose their shit over people having a different opinion. k, bye.
Ryan, hehe. Needless to say that I love that movie and I love Deakins.
DANNY –
I don’t think all critics are “out to get” all movies. That’s not what I said. What I think is that these critics who specialize in Oscar predicting spend the entire year OBSESSING over the movies they feel are most likely to be nominated. Therefore when they finally see them it’s inevetible that they’re going to fall short in some way. It’s like when you were a kid and you couldn’t wait for your birthday because you were imaging all the great toys your parents were going to give you – and then you start opening gifts. Your mom got you socks, t-shirts and underwear. It’s a total let down. Sometimes you’ll open a gift and get exactly what you wanted, but most times you’re all “meh” about it. It’s a fine line they’re walking. On the one hand they’re excited about the possibilities, but on the other hand, reality is a generally a great big beeyotch. When reality butts in it’s ugly head, it’s the film makers who are suffering for their disappointment. They’re not admitting they put the cart before the horse and got excited for no reason other than that on paper something sounded like it would be great.
Also, on the Jolie\Affleck “star” thing. Take a poll of the general public – who’s the bigger star. It’ll be “Who were my choices again? Angelina Jolie and who?” Better yet – go to Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, South America, etc…and take that poll. My point is that Jolie is an international star known for her humanitarian work (and let’s face it, being Mrs. Brad Pitt and their family) almost as much as for her acting. Ben Affleck isn’t that huge internationally. Call me when the Queen makes him an honorary OBE.
If a male poster tells another one to calm down that means he’s a misogynist?
Sweet Jesus. If you are having a temper tantrum because someone dares to question your beloved celebrity, you need to calm the fuck down, whether you’re male or female. It’s common sense, not misogyny. You’re not untouchable just because you’re a woman.
This victimized mentality can’t possibly help you achieve anything. much less empathy or empowerment.
“Then again, maybe the movie really is that good and her star power and popularity only enhances her position in the race, one she would get anyway even if she weren’t Angelina Jolie. Maybe it’s really that good – as good as Selma, as good as Gone Girl and Boyhood and Birdman. That would be the most awesome thing to happen to the Oscars since Halle Berry and Denzel Washington won on the same night.”
How can anyone who actually READS this article take away from it that Sasha is ‘hating’ on Jolie or her film. She is simply musing about BOTH sides of the coin, never stating either one as a fact of how this is. If I had a major take-away from the piece, it’s that Sasha is truly hopeful, albeit rightfully weary, at the prospect that Jolies film could be amazing and we’ll have have two legitimitely WORTHY female director nominees. She was in no way putting Jolie down. Quit looking for a reason to bash for the sake of bashing. Sasha still reigns supreme, now get over yourselves.
Again Bryce – you are the one who is sounding irrational and actually shouting. You are the one who attacks me as a person by claiming I am lunatic – maybe it’s time you get some help.
This is a comment section were people are allowed to comment without being personally attacked by you. If you dont agree with people then that’s your prerogative. There are better way to disgree instead of writing hateful and bulling replies like yours.
Btw – I can compare whom ever I want. You don’t need to tell me what I can do and cannot do. I won’t reply to you anymore because frankly I don’t give a damn.
@corvo
Do you really think at Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic as the Bible for cinefilos? Really??! AH AH AH!!!
I think you’re being wildly irrational and illogical — and please, you don’t need to raise your voice. I thought it was diazepam that you needed, but I never realize you were way past beyond that point. Get yourself into rehab, will you?. Stop shouting, this is a civil forum.
Only an unhinged loony would compare Bradford Young to Mr. Roger Get-Oscar-Nominated-For-Shooting-Two-Squirrels-Having-a-Disagreement Deakins.
Get over your Jolie fanaticism.
Mr. Roger Get-Oscar-Nominated-For-Shooting-Two-Squirrels-Having-a-Disagreement Deakins.
wow, did we even see the same movie? #ExplainAFilmPlotBadly
@Bryce Forestieri
“Are your reading comprehension skills seriously that deficient? Read again. The “famous men” are being mentioned in regard to how they help the movie’s chances to enter the best picture race. They are NOT being cited as the reason why the movie might ultimately be good (or bad). You seem distressed. Get some diazepam.”
If she really meant those men as regards to the movie’s chances to enter the best picture then she would have no hesitation to mention it for Selma as well. That movies has Plan B, Oprah and other famous people as well to help it’s chances. But as I mentioned – Sasha is too much focused on the beauty and popularity of Angelina to keep an open mind when she sees this movie. If she has seen this movie then I would have no problem her critizing it but to actually never have seen and critize it – well that just bs.
As for me being distressed – typical male comment when a woman is writing some rational and logical and the only thing a man can reply is by claiming we are distressed. I am prefectly fine and composed unlike you who seems too much invested in my mental state.
Hi Sasha
As an after thought to UNBROKEN, what will you say if the movie after 30. November turns out to be brilliant and heartbreaking with fantastic sceenes and with a lot of amazing wonderful shot pictures ??
Again, IN my opionion UNIVERSAL studios and Angelina Jolie want to keep the film fresh and nothing else is in their mind. The critics and The reviews will definitely come soon enough, but for that very reason we should not talk of a deliberate and planned embargo screening of Universal Studio neither of Angelina.!
No it’s not !
All I wanted to say, I can’t wait to see the film in a big theater without any effects and criticisms from the outside before!
La donna è mobile!
You say: “Angelina IS a proven director, and you seem to ignore that at all…Have you seen “In The Land of Blood and Honey”? Yes or not?
LMAO
A little movie virtually NO ONE saw and had zero impact anywhere makes her a proven director? Jeez, those fanboys are hard pill to swallow…”
If you only knew how ridiculous you sound here in Europe if you talk about this movie as you talk, you should be ashemed of yourself, ah ah… This movie win at Berlin Film Festival!! And you think of yourself as one with taste in movies? Ma fammi il piacere, ah ah ah…
backing so its not really her directing the movie. You are in a passive aggresive way putting Angelina down as a female and claiming that this movie if good will be because of the men.
Are your reading comprehension skills seriously that deficient? Read again. The “famous men” are being mentioned in regard to how they help the movie’s chances to enter the best picture race. They are NOT being cited as the reason why the movie might ultimately be good (or bad). You seem distressed. Get some diazepam.
@I Can’t believe
“In The Land of Blood and Honey” is 55% on RottenTomatoes, 56 on Metacritic. That means it’s BAD!
Give us a break. And given that you’re italian… te lo dico in italiano: dacci tregua!
Angelina IS a proven director, and you seem to ignore that at all…Have you seen “In The Land of Blood and Honey”? Yes or not?
LMAO
A little movie virtually NO ONE saw and had zero impact anywhere makes her a proven director? Jeez, those fanboys are hard pill to swallow…
“There seem to be a lot of haters today.”
Hate begets hate, Steven. Irrational or, more plausibly, calculated acrimony, toward a film that hasn’t been seen yet, will necessarily incite anger in those who are actually looking forward to seeing that film, and would prefer it not being thrashed and dragged through the mud before it’s even been seen.
Wow the mob is out in force today. And for the record, In the Land of Blood and Honey was not the most well-reviewed movie of the year. Look it up. Having the movie as a personal favorite is one thing. But it wasn’t loved by the people or the industry at large. Therefore that movie is being used as a jumping off point for how Unbroken will be seen. Is it fair? Maybe not. Alien 3 is far different from Se7en. But that’s how it is. This site is reporting the facts. And there seem to be a lot of haters today.
I will never ever believe you again when you talk about women’s rights in Hollywood. You actually dare to write that Angelina has men (Deakins & Coen Brothers) and has Universal’s backing so its not really her directing the movie. You are in a passive aggresive way putting Angelina down as a female and claiming that this movie if good will be because of the men. You are actually insulting these people because you are so biased and wants someone else to get nominated. Its fine you support Ava but you dont have to attack another potential female contender to do that.
Ava has men like Bradford Young & Paul Webb and also Plan B & Oprah behind here – those people are pretty powerful as well. Arent you going to say that they are the ones who made the movie and not Ava? No? I thought so.
You focus so much on Angelina’s beauty & popularity that you arent even willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. I am not saying that Unbroken is going to be brilliant because like you I havent seen the movie. But unlike you – I will enter the cinema and watch it with an open mind.
As for the embargo – several movies have had that for their movies to keep the suspense alive. That has nothing to do with the quality of the movie – nor does a standing ovation anything to do with it. So what if Selma had two standing ovations and Unbroken didnt get one? At TIFF all the movies gets standing ovations – does that mean that all of them are good? As someone who have been in the industry for years – I would have thought that you knew your craft.
Last but not least – this is my last time ever reading your website because frankly I will never support a woman who attacks another woman instead of supporting the fact that more and more female directors are entering the boys club.
Ok, time to go…If “In The Land of Blood and Honey” is an horrendous, embarrassing movie, I understand now with kind of people are you and what kind of site is this…pure gossip site…
Popcorn moments!
Go Unbroken! 😀
Still not buying the hype for this, the stans and the fanboys can get mad all they want Sasha is right, Jolie will get in because shes a big f×cking star and nothing else.
Her first film wasn’t’ good what makes yall think this one will be the best picture of the year
Embargos have nothing to do with the quality of the movie. The studios want to keep the reviews from being published, because they want the reviews to be fresh on people’s minds when the movie comes out.
“Have you seen “In The Land of Blood and Honey”? Yes or not?”
Pssh. Yes. It’s fucking horrendous, embarrassing.
Should a track record be that important. Why do we need to justify an award on a body of work. It shouldn’t matter if Angelina documentary was good or not. Fincher started off with Alien 3. It shouldn’t matter if Jolie is a woman, married to Brad Pitt and a wonderful human being (which is positive btw). It shouldn´t matter if the Coens Bros and Roger Deakins are behind it. What should matter is the quality of the picture. Is is good enough to deserve a spot among tested greats (i.e. Boyhood and Birdman). We should focus are thoughts on the movies themselves. All the rest is gossip, guess if you can rhetoric that spoils everything. Come November 30th, as Beetlegeuse would put it tilting his head: It’s Showtime! The will we see what Unbroken is made of.
Am I misremembering or wasn’t Girl with a Dragon Tattoo also embargoed?
You say: “It is just about who Angelina is and has nothing to do with her efforts as a director”
Angelina IS a proven director, and you seem to ignore that at all…Have you seen “In The Land of Blood and Honey”? Yes or not?
Poo-pooing a film before it’s been seen is even worse deontology than hyping it…
I just think you’re pissed that an actress might beat your precious David Fincher.
“You have to wonder if, indeed, it doesn’t matter if Unbroken is good or not.”
It doesn’t. This is why it’s perfectly fine to predict movies that have not been seen. Did being bad stop Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close from getting a Picture nomination?
Did being bad stop Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close from getting a Picture nomination?
Is that the fate we want for Unbroken or any other film? Or the fate of the Oscars? I don’t. I’d like to see the good movies rewarded. We don’t know if Unbroken is good – I hope it is.
But what is this? Is this a gossip site or what? You’are kidding, right? Sorry for my poor English, I’m italian, but I can’t believe, if you are some sort of movie critics, that you didn’t say anything about “In The Land of Blood and Honey”, the first movie Angelina directed, one of the best movie I’ve ever seen…
Boyhood will win in ny. la often suprises us .Brazil and Little Dorritt both won Bp.
Am I the only person here whose eyes glaze over at every mention of Brangelina? Honestly, they are so overexposed, I know way more about them than I ever wanted to know. I sometimes wonder if they live in my guest bedroom…. terrified they’ll show up for Thanksgiving dinner. This used to worry me about Madonna too. There has to be a limit to how much one person can be flogged over the head by attention-seeking celebrities.
If Jolie pulls this off, it will be a miracle. And I don’t believe in miracles.
In any case, it’s all a moot point. Boyhood and Linklater should win. No competition at all.
The gender card is the Ace in the deck. If you play it you can’t lose.
The gender card is the Ace in the deck. If you play it you can’t lose.
Really untrue. If that were true, hundreds of women who have come up for Best Picture in the past would have been recognized. The only difference between Jolie and them is that she is surrounded by famous men (Deakins, Coens), a major studio (Universal) and her celebrity. I would like this to be about the movie, not about anything else. Why is that so hard to grasp?
Guys, when Sasha made the comment about Jolie “being as big a star as Affleck” I don’t think she meant an acting star. I took that as “Jolie is as popular and can work a room as great as Affleck can” and that’s an important trait to have when trying to sell your film.
Sasha, I’m sorry you’re between a rock and a hard place on this one. I, however, would not want Jolie to get nominated for a mediocre movie just because men have gotten nominated for mediocre movies. Past mistakes don’t justify present ones. I only want the best directors nominated, not ones that would balance out the status quo and teach those old white men a lesson (I kid, that’s not what you’re saying). I’ve always had reservations about Unbroken due to the trailer I saw. Yes it’s got Jolie, an unproven director who may very well be incredibly proven after this movie. A rising star. One of the most celebrated cinematographers of all time. 4 amazing screenwriters. An amazingly true story. So where does my reservation come from? Jolie’s previous movie, a story that appears to be Oscar bait and 4 amazing writers. Separately those 4 writers are amazing, but what do they say about too many cooks in the kitchen?
Alice, the industry, or bloggers, may have shifted the bullseye to Unbroken because it’s one of the last few movies that has still yet to be seen. That bulleyes was on Interstellar, Gone Girl, Birdman (to a point) and now this. It’ll shift again to Into the Woods. It’ll shift again to Selma and American Sniper when they are exposed a bit more. It’s the nature of the business.
Indie, Sasha is not attacking Jolie. You must be new around here.
Bryce, I don’t know which score I’d go with for that. OT, sorta, but I’ll predict Unbroken’s MC score. To reiterate something I predicted many months ago I see Unbroken sitting at a 68 overall. I’ve only ever tried predicting (like a true, hard prediction) one MC score for a movie before because I was so convinced I knew how it’d do. That movie was Great Gatsby, I predicted a 55 overall a good deal before it opened because I gathered from the trailer that it would fall squarely in the middle with critics (still haven’t seen it). I don’t want to predict MC scores to be a know it all or that I think MC scores are the end all be all. I think it’s fun when you pick a number and stick to it 🙂
Indie, Sasha is not attacking Jolie. You must be new around here.
I pucker in vulnerable spots on my body when hard core fans of any celebrity protect them as if they’re victims. Jolie is one of the most blessed human beings in the world. She is wealthy beyond belief. Named one of the beautiful people in the world. She is lucky and she is using that luck and good fortune to make the world a better place. She should be rewarded for that and she has been. Her humanitarian efforts are beyond reproach. But we’re talking about something different now. We’re talking about a movie and whether it is good enough to take the place in the Oscar race or not. Everyone defending Jolie as though I am stomping on a puppy is proving my point: it doesn’t matter to them, and maybe won’t matter to the industry, whether the film is good or not. It is just about who Angelina is and has nothing to do with her efforts as a director.
I find it ironic that Sasha has spent most of the year berating sexism in Hollywood and how women are not given opportunity by men and yet when there is a chance of two women being nominated, she is the first person to attack one woman in order to prop the other woman, it would be so laughable if it wasn’t sickening.
This is a project that has been kicking around for 57 years and this woman comes in, fought to get it done, gets it fast tracked and actually finishes it with a budget that most seasoned directors would not have, but why don’t we ignore all that and just reduce her achievement to her beauty. Sasha you have done more harm to your cause with this post than you will realize. Next time you go on about sexism, I will not take you seriously because I think you only want it for the women you approve of.
You are seriously going to throw shade at Jolie for being busy directing a movie she wrote instead of promoting a movie that is not even due for another month and half? You and your ilk are throwing tantrums because you can’t have it now so that you can bullshit it. You can support Selma and Ava, you don’t have to shit on Jolie to do it. Whatever the outcome of the movie, I am proud of her that she took on a project that nobody was willing to take and made a go of it.
As an after thought, what will you say if the movie turns out to be brilliant? Will you say she made a brilliant movie because she is beautiful? Tone down your shill for Selma, you are ruining your credibility.
As an after thought, what will you say if the movie turns out to be brilliant?
I will say what I said when I saw Selma. Let me ask you this question. And be honest in your response – did you ever see me talking about Selma the way the media is talking about Unbroken? Ever? Didn’t I always say “we don’t know whether it will be good or not.” I said exactly the same thing about that film and that director. But guess what happened? I saw the MOVIE. I SAW IT and it received not one but two standing ovations so far. Unbroken premiered in Australia and got no standing ovation even though she and Brad Pitt were present. Not only that but they have a strict embargo against the film until December 1. Did the filmmakers of Selma do that? No, they did the opposite. Instead of just showing footage, as the Unbroken people have done, they showed the WHOLE FUCKING MOVIE and guess what? The movie was great. And I said so. If Unbroken is great I will say so. I am not in the business of fawning over celebrities. I never have been. It’s about whether the film is good or not. And let me ask you another question, because now you’re pissing me off – if the movie is bad what will you say then? Will you be an apologist about it? Will you come to this site and say “we should have been more cautious” in our fake and imagined admiration for a film we haven’t seen and one that is being embargoed by the studio?? Something tells me you’re in the tank and it has nothing whatsoever to do with with whether or not Angelina Jolie is a good director and has everything to do with your fan worship of her celebrity.
Either UNBROKEN or THE IMITATION GAME will win and if it’s unbroken then I suspect they will give best actor Oscar to Benedict Cumberpatch
I’ve been reading about WW2 for over thirty years and I’ve watched a great many movies on the subject , but after looking closely at the trailer I must concede that I’m sceptical about this movie ; it just doesn’t look authentic and seems rather contrived like one of those hollow ”made for TV ”movies that never seems to convince the audience about the subject matter
The Imitation Game seems like the winner to me …a Masterpiece Theatre -like production , a historical drama with a British cast , a moral crusade against evil , an Oscar winning performance by it’s lead actor , anti hero and martyred Homosexual …….. It is my contention that when viewers leave a movie theatre with a frustrated sense of moral outrage and injustice , a la” Patsy ”in 12 YRS a slave , it translates into votes …..TIG , like 12 Yrs a slave is a very political movie , and let’s face It ,the Academy is a Left leaning political crowd …it’s sure to chime and strike a chord ! ! …. Gay rights , like Feminism and anti racism are the political Left’s secular ”sacred causes ” !…indeed , in a broader philosophical sense it’s the age old religious impulse shoe horned into secular belief that will never be short of crusaders searching for meaning and purpose
Hi to Sasha Stone
Thread # Unbroken & Angelina Jolie & Oscar TSUNAMI
Sasha, I hope you’re right with your statement!
Starting from 30 November or 01 December
we really should then expect a real big “Unbroken” TSUNAMI.
And maybe the film it’s really that good as all your Oscar pundit pals predict, so then
the popularity of Angelina Jolie only enhances UNBROKEN position in the Best Motion Picture Oscar race for 2014-2015.
So then we have to wait and see, IF an UNBROKEN TSUNAMI will hit all the theaters.
As an after thought, what will you say if the movie turns out to be brilliant?
Yeah but I would think if it was THAT good they wouldn’t need an embargo.
I know the critics here loved it, and they are notoriously hard to please. The audience will respond well to it, I think. Jolie’s direction was top notch. You can tell that this project was very personal for her and it shows in every single scene of the film. It was her ode to Louis.
“I know the critics here loved it”
Interesting. Something tangible. Links?
Niko I forgot one more thing some are saying because it only received a warm applause and not standing ovation at the screening that means the audience didn’t really like it that much. Since you were in the building, was that the case
@niko sorry a couple more questions
1)how do you think critics and the audience will respond to it.
2) how was Jolie’s direction?
Thanks so much. Also curious why no one else has commented on the movie. I know there’s an embargo but that’s only for media. Can’t regular people discuss the movie.
The movie is so empowering. It tugs at the heart strings. What that man went through. The screenplay was amazing, The actors were amazing, especially Jack O’Connell. He’s come a long way since Skins. That Japanese Actor who played “The Bird” was excellent. The new frontrunner for Supporting Actor. Move over JK Simmons! The movie would have been nothing without the musical score. It will be a travesty if this film loses Best Picture. I’ve seen Boyhood and I believe the academy will reward that film with a screenplay Oscar as well as Supporting Actress. Unbroken will sweep the rest. 8 Oscars. Picture, Director, Screenplay, Actor, Supporting Actor, Cinematography, Editing, Score.
@nicko please tell us more about the movie. How were the actors? Direction? Etc
Just out of curiosity, from y’all who are very optimistically awaiting this motion picture. What would it take for you not think that critics were predisposed against the picture? 90%+ on RT? 90+ on Metacritic? That your particularly favorite handful of critics unreservedly embrace it? Or should every critic who doesn’t like it, and who also happens to be aware that they normally don’t like this type of movies, recuse themselves from reviewing the picture, like that brave hero Kenny Turan did with BOYHOOD? That last one was excruciating to type. I am, after all, a slacker when it comes to writing — but what’s it going to take to satisfy you?!
Full disclaimer: I am the son and the heir (from How Soon Is Now) who was wholly satisfied by Dargis’ review of THE COUNSELOR or Hoberman’s of TRON: LEGACY, so I might be The Conformist when it comes to what I expect from critics*. You go on living as you please. I have One Direction.
*Be warned I expect NYFCC and LAFCA to unanimously go for BOYHOOD or I’m raising hell.
“You have to wonder if, indeed, it doesn’t matter if Unbroken is good or not. The story is already so big perhaps it will devour the need for the film to be good.”
Further evidence we might not make it as a country? You have to wonder.
I was fortunate to be one of the lucky ones to be at the world premiere of the movie in Sydney and all I can say is that Best Picture is signed, sealed and delivered for this year. I am a biased Aussie though!!
A very, very honest piece of writing, Sasha. 🙂
Hit the ‘submit’ button too soon, but the point I was trying to make with my previous post was that Jolie and Affleck have had shockingly similar careers, so it’s rather hard to say that one is a notably bigger star than another. Perhaps Unbroken is Jolie’s Argo.
The Jolie/Affleck stardom comparison is closer than you’d think. Gawker’s Tom Scocca wrote an article about this in August, essentially wondering why Jolie was considered a movie star (http://defamer.gawker.com/why-is-angelina-jolie-a-movie-star-1628023239) when virtually all of her movies are either forgettable or non-hits. “Maleficent” is literally her only bona-fide smash hit where she’s been the featured star, and that just came out this year. I’d argue that her fame is in large part simply because of the Jolie/Pitt/Aniston love triangle, which was such a major celebrity gossip scandal and it’s still fueling magazine covers to this very day.
Let’s break down the Jolie/Affleck comparison….
* both won an Oscar for their first nomination, and both had a compelling ‘narrative.’ Ben and Matt were the local Boston boys who made good on their screenplay; Angelina was the new century’s new It girl as a sex symbol and talented actress, plus she was Jon Voight’s daughter (back when that was still a notable part of her bio…I had literally completely forgotten that until reading her Wikipedia article just now.)
* both became tabloid superstars due to a “weird relationship” created by media hype, followed by a celeb marriage. Affleck had the gay rumours about he and Damon, then he was married to J-Lo. Jolie was mocked for her close relationship with her brother, then she was married to Billy Bob.
* both hit a low in the mid-2000’s in the aftermath of these marriages. Affleck’s career was in the crapper, while half of the country hated Jolie for being ‘the other woman’ against America’s Sweetheart, Jennifer Aniston. (n.b. you’ll notice that the typically sexist tabloid debates were always Angelina vs. Jen, whereas Pitt basically got off scott-free for cheating on his wife.)
* both got into seemingly stable relationships, with Garner and Pitt respectively.
* both gained respect in their careers, Affleck with his directing and Jolie for her charity work. To add to Scocca’s point, however, it’s interesting that Jolie raised her star profile even more for things that had nothing to actually do with making movies.
If you look at their filmographies, I have to agree with Scocca that Jolie’s movies are pretty consistently average-to-mediocre, yet I’d argue that few are outright bad. Affleck has appeared in way more total stinkers yet he has also appeared in way more legitimately excellent films — Argo, Gone Girl, Shakespeare In Love, Good Will Hunting, Dazed and Confused and a couple of Kevin Smith’s early movies are all hands-down far better than anything Jolie has ever appeared in. Affleck is only the star of a few of these, of course, yet I think almost anyone would prefer to watch a Ben Affleck Film Festival over an Angelina Jolie Film Festival.
I just googled Miyavi’s name since I’d never heard of him before, and darned if this guy doesn’t have a very interesting backstory. Unbroken is his first movie, and he’s one of Japan’s biggest music stars. Maybe a dark horse candidate for Best Supporting Actor?
Though stars can’t lose if they have a reasonably good movie, they are often looked upon negatively in the years to come, especially if they beat a much better film. Robert Redford beating Martin Scorsese, Kevin Costner beating Martin Scorsese. Clint Eastwood beating Martin Scorsese.
Hmm, then I don’t like Angelina’s chances for winning Best Director, since Scorsese won’t be nominated. 🙂
I’m not so sure star power alone will be enough. Sure, it’s been twenty to thirty and more years since Prince of Tides and Yentl debuted, but at the time there was no bigger female movie star than Barbra Streisand. And both of those films were respected, garnering several nominations each and yet no BD nom. For POT it even garnered probably the most memorable Oscar Joke of all time when Billy Crystal sang “With seven nominations on the shelf. what? Did this film direct itself?”
Didn’t Crystal originally use that joke in reference to Driving Miss Daisy and Beresford getting snubbed? It’s possible he reused it a couple of times in the future.
I take issue with the notion that hype alone can carry a film to BP/BD noms, let alone a win. Jolie also has only been nominated in competitive terms for 2 Oscars in her career, one of which was supporting, so there is no track record with her like say a Daldry or Spielberg. Like with an Argo, or Ordinary People, or Braveheart, or Dances with Wolves, the film will need to win over the public and/or receive critical appreciation, the film will come first, not Jolie. And some of the more mainstream commentators on the Oscars will of course talk about the prospect of a big star grabbing a big Oscar. We have seen that sort of commentary happy before and come to no avail.
Good luck to her and the film, hope it turns out well. But it will need to be good to make a dent in the Oscar race, it wont be doing damage on Jolie hype alone.
Hi Sasha Stone
thread # Unbroken & Angelina Jolie:
In my opinion we all should have seen the movie first, only then we can start with reviews and discussions. It makes little sense now to talk about the advantages or disadvantages of the very late screening and release dates so far, they will start on 01. december and resp. on 25. december. But, one thing I am sure there is no official announcement from Universal Pictures announcing that there is any Screening Embargo till then. It is a pure strategy of Universal Pictures to pause the movie for us moviegoers and keeping it fresh. From my part, this is a very good thing, because I would like to see this stunning story in a big movie theater without any effects and criticisms from the outside. And if the movie is good and exciting enough, with or without the greatly from my side respected ANGELINA JOLIE, why should UNBROKEN not be awarded from Academy for BEST MOTION PICTURE OF THE YEAR 2015 with an oscar? So all I want to say, I can’ wait to see it…………….
Typical relentless smearing campaign from Sasha… It’s pretty clear you’ve already made up your mind which contenders you will champion this year, so you feel the need to shoot down whatever comes next before it even takes off, because you’re worried it might take a precious spot away from your own favorites. The target was easy to find: a film about a straight white male WW2 hero, everything you hate, suspicions of studio-commissioned Oscar bait… Oh, if only it wasn’t made by a woman, but by another SWM, preferably Tom Hooper, you could go full fury against it, instead of restraining yourself out of female solidarity. Please stop your little tricks and just let it be!
Julian,
Methinks keeping the film away actually helps it stay in the conversation because of the mystery and anticipation it creates. Also, the reason there’s an embargo might be that they’re still working on it, tweaking here and there until the very last minute. The version they’ve shown in Australia was probably Unfinished..
I agree with various commenters here that Jolie is a bigger star than Affleck, but I think Affleck is rated higher within the industry (?), so maybe it all amounts to the same thing.
The perception that Unbroken is the sight unseen frontrunner has been slightly altered the last month or two, simply because nowadays it’s not such a good idea to keep your film away from public scrutiny of some form. Since the internet started ruling the day getting your movie out there (preferably via the fall festivals) has been the way to achieve Oscar glory (Sasha has reiterated this time and again: Million Dollar Baby was the last winner who did it ‘the old way’). So the mounting skepticism of Jolie’s movie has to do with a backlash-on-the-heels-of-a-premature-momentum kind of feeling. It’s just hard to sustain a positive narrative about a movie for so long, when no one is actually allowed to see your movie.
At the end of the day, none of this matters much: When and if the movie is appreciated, Unbroken will do business (Oscar-wise) unrelated to how it’s perceived right now. I’m in the camp with those, who believe that there is no free pass for anyone in the BD line up (this branch is quite able to go its own way, they are not being dictated anything, hence the inclusion of Zeitlin, Haneke and the perceived snubs of Bigelow, Affleck). Jolie will have to deliver a good-to-great movie to be in contention. What works slightly against her is the mounting skepticism on some subconscious level that some critics and AMPAS members might go with on a gut level. What works for her is the sense that this is a real oscar movie (whatever that is) including the good efforts of a good many Hollywood aristocrats within their field (Deakins, Coens, Desplat etc.)
Hi Sasha,
I also found it jarring how you said that “Jolie is as big a star as Ben Affleck”. Angelina Jolie is a movie star and cultural icon, whilst Affleck has a successful directing career and does alright as an actor, he’s certainly not on the ‘global superstar’ level that Jolie is.
I just can’t see this film not getting nominated for Best Pic and Screenplay. The hype behind it was already so much even before the trailer was released. I hope that we’ll have two female directors in the lineup this year but for some reason I can’t imagine Jolie getting a directing nomination. It’s kind of off-topic but I watched Interstellar and it’s truly amazing! I’m definitely going to see it again. Also, I can’t wait a single minute to see Inherent Vice in January . The anticipation is killing me
Joseph and Sasha, I just came here to talk about the similarities of Unbroken and War Horse. I’m pretty sure the movie won’t have to be great to be nominated, it will get in the Best Picture just by being there, because the story and the crew are undeniable.
I actually think it will be more of a challenge for Jolie that we think, Unbroken doesn’t seem to be the critical darling type, so the early buzz of critics might shift the winds elsewhere and she’ll have to campaign hard (which I’m sure won’t be a problem) so the guilds can start rewarding it. Films like Birdman and Boyhood will lead the race in the beginning just as Unbroken is starting to be reviewed and then we’ll see. I sincerely hope that the movie delivers, just because the story is so powerful that it deserves to be well told and also the race is in need of a little shake.
PS: Campaigning at its best is when there’s a video with a quote from Louis Zamperini praising Jolie’s efforts as a director and she gets extremely emotional while listening to it. Who would not love this woman?
I want Angelina Jolie to win 🙂
Alice, you seem to have this belief that critics are naturally OUT TO GET all these movies, like their aim in life is to knock down the contenders. While sometimes it feels that way when people pick on something you like (the “do you just hate everything?!” feeling), I think critics deserve much more credit than that. I think they would love for every movie to be wonderful. I think they would have loved for Nolan to have tightened up his script a bit more, for Fincher to have been a little less cold all these years, for The Theory of Everything to have been a little more challenging… They are perfectionists, but that is their job. When a movie comes along that meets or surpasses everybody’s expectations – Boyhood – you don’t see them knocking it just to knock it. You see them praise it for the outright masterpiece that it is. It’s just that those movies come around seldomly. But that’s no surprise. Art is hard enough and rare enough as it is. When that art is collaborative and intermingled with commerce it becomes even harder.
Bless you, Alice. I’m imagining the finger-wagging and one fist on the hip while I read it – and loving every minute of it.
And the starter pistol even be fired for almost 2 weeks from now.
I know that this whole thing is about best achievement in film, as it should be, but all I can, and will, wish for her is the best of luck. No matter her baggage. I think Selma will probably be more my cup of tea than Unbroken, but as a woman, I cannot say that I am sad with the thought of, maybe, two women on that oh so desired list. I think it would be crazy to not feel excited about the possibility.
I will never forget Barbra Streisand calling Kathryn Bigelow on stage for Best Director: “Well, the time has come.” For me is one of the best moments in Oscar history. Sue me.
@BIRDIENEST81
I understood what she was saying. My point was that interstaller wasn’t all that and a bag of chips, which given Nolan’s propensity for excessive verbosity, vagueness, an inability to be succinct and is unacquainted with brevity should have been expected, so now the critics have moved their bullseye to Jolie and Unbroken. I’m not saying they’re wrong to question whether the movie is any good or not. What I do think is that they’re talking themselves in circles and its their own fault and the people who suffer for it are the filmmakers who’ve had these unreal expectations thrust upon them for a full year by the critics. Oscar pundits have made a full-time job out of spending the entire year analyzing and predicting the Oscar contenders’ POTENTIAL. They set these movies up for failure because inevitably they’re flawed. They’re never the works of genius that critics are envisioning and then they act like it’s someone else’s fault when the expectations they themselves falsely created aren’t met. Interstellar was just an example of that.
There was nothing in Jolie’s prior film making experience as a director (1 movie) that would have indicated that Unbroken should be an Oscar contender. Yet the critics immediately put it on the list. On what basis was this decided other than Jolie’s star power and the script re-write by the Coens? And now the movies about to come out and Sasha’s saying the movie’s only highly anticipated because Jolie is “beautiful” and a “star”. And whose fault is that if not Sasha’s and her follow Oscar watchers? Jolie certainly never said anything to indicate she was intending to go after a Best Picture Oscar. The studio never released a statement saying, “Unbroken will be our entrant into the 2015 Best Picture race.” So who was it that decided it was going to be one of the front runners? Bear in mind this is a movie that Universal has been trying to make in some form or fashion for the last 57 years, so why was it put at the top of the list if not based solely on Jolie’s involvement? I’m just saying – Sasha and her peers set the film up to fail and now they’re sitting around getting pissy because Universal won’t show it to them NOW… because they want to see it NOW so they can say it’s not everything they thought it would be and won’t win the BP Oscar. It’s disingenuous. It just seems to me that there’s a whole lot of people living in glass houses throwing some awfully big boulders at Jolie when they’re the ones who made her a front runner in the first place.
Diatribe over now…
Sasha, it’s just that the source material is so good. And the script is by the Coens. It’s really, really, really hard to fuck up when you have a great script.
I think so, too, Joseph. I just think it’s strange that people in the race aren’t even wanting to question whether the film is good or not. I guess it is like War Horse in that regard – it was being called the winner before it had been seen and when people finally saw it a lot of them loved it but many didn’t. I wish I knew something about the movie to go off of. I think that they were rushing to get it finished and for Jolie to be finish her other movie and come to the US to promote it. That’s pretty hectic time frame. Also, another editor was brought in to recut it or tighten it up. Not sure what that means exactly but probably Angelina had to approve those cuts, which probably took additional time, not to mention when you are dealing with any celebrity you have to operate on their schedule – you can’t rush them.
Love your closing paragraph, Sasha. Yes, I think we all have a lot of well wishes for Angelina.
I think Unbroken will be nominated period. Kind of reminds me of War Horse.
It was only so-so. The hype for the film still got it in but Spielberg did not get nominated.
If the result is the same here, Jolie won’t be nominated either but the picture will be.
I think all the hype could actually work AGAINST her — directors could resent the presumption and advance coronation, show they can’t be swayed by it.
if Deakins finally wins we can quit.
I don’t think the director’s branch can be bullied into nominating her just because she’s a movie star. They pretty much refused to do it for Barbra Streisand, even when her movie got in for BP. They wouldn’t do it for Ben Affleck and he had a good movie too. If Unbroken’s not even that good I’d be shocked if that elitist director’s branch nominated her anyway, especially if they already have a woman they can nominate who directed an actual good movie.
It ain’t just Jolie, Sasha. This movie has pedigree, pedigree, pedigree. The bestselling novel, adapted by the COENS, lensed by DEAKINS… We will see. I’ll be there on the 30th.
In other news, I watched Inherent Vice for the second time today, and loved it even more. It’s what you would call, “a grower.”
@Alice
I don’t think Sasha was trying to conjure that she wants Unbroken to fail because of Interstellar. What she was saying is that she is concerned that her star power may be a distraction to Oscar voters in regards to if the films turns out to be bad. Star power does talk after all.
Nevertheless, I’m crossing my fingers for Unbroken, Boyhood, Selma, or Birdman.
I’m not so sure star power alone will be enough. Sure, it’s been twenty to thirty and more years since Prince of Tides and Yentl debuted, but at the time there was no bigger female movie star than Barbra Streisand. And both of those films were respected, garnering several nominations each and yet no BD nom. For POT it even garnered probably the most memorable Oscar Joke of all time when Billy Crystal sang “With seven nominations on the shelf. what? Did this film direct itself?”
Yes, the glass ceiling has broken for women director’s in the Oscar race, but it’s still very tough for them to get knocked out (don’t be surprised if Duverney is the recipient of this year’s snuib) and Jolie is the sex symbol extraordinaire that Streisand never quite was, but I’m still extremely doubtful she can get in if her film is anything other than far above middling.
I do understand your feelings Sasha about Universal PR machine regarding Jolie and the film. I am too worried that the studio may use that charm offensive that they forget about the film itself. That being said, I do have some cautious optimism about the film. It does have the usual suspects such as the Coen, Deakins, and Desplat. Of course well have to wait and see in order to determine if it is worthy or not. I just do not like the people making stupid or hateful conjectures that Jolie has no talent.
Did you really just say, “Jolie is as big a star as Ben Affleck?” In Ben’s dreams he’s as big a star as Angelina Jolie. Name the last Ben Affleck movie with mediocre reviews that did $757 million worldwide? Yeah, I came up with nothing, too. Ben Affleck is strictly a B-List American actor. He’s not an international star. Maybe playing Batman will make him that, but he’s certainly not in Jolie’s league right now.
As far as the hype surrounding Jolie being annointed to the Best Director nomination before her movie’s been seen – aren’t you critics to blame for that? You’re the one that started hyping Unbroken’s potential almost as soon as it was announced. And now you’re all doing backflips trying to take it down before you’ve even seen simply because Universal won’t show it to you on your schedules. Or so it seems to us lay people who Oscar watch for fun. So far the critics have shot down every one of their pre-announced favorites as soon they were made available. It’s not Jolie’s fault Interstellar was a dud when critics thought it was going to be ET Meets 2001: A Space Odyssey Meets Gravity. It’s Nolan. You should have known it would be an over-blown, bombastic, jumble of ideas thrown at the wall that only he could decipher and then he pretends it’s so intellectual that us regular schmoes just aren’t smart enough to “get it”. So now you’re gunning for Unbroken to be a dud because Interstellar was. I don’t see how any film could possibly live up to the ridiculous standards the critics are setting for it. Since when has the Academy solely voted based on what the critics have liked?
Also, so what if Jolie does get into the Best Director race and you don’t think she deserves it? Big deal. It happens with men all the time. So they voted for her because she’s stunningly beautiful or they like her or they wanted her to act in their next movie or thought she could get Brad Pitt to be in their movie. There are worse travesties the Academy has perpetrated. The old boys network is always going to find an excuse to exclude women and minorities, so it really doesn’t matter if Jolie “deserves” it or not. The last time I checked the Academy isn’t about fairness. It’s about who’s buying the last round. And the answer is usually Harvey Weinstein.
“Clint Eastwood over Martin Scorsese”
I have to disagree with you on that. Million Dollar Baby, while not in my personal favorites list, was well acted and the story was solid if not tearjerking. Also, Hugo is much better than The Aviator or Gangs of New York.