Vulture has done a rundown for things to say at parties to help fake your way through Oscar season. We already know that the early season has effectively taken the public out of the loop. After all, can the public really be trusted anymore? Just look at what God hath wrought at the multiplex this weekend. Sure, Gravity and Frozen are doing gangbuster business but …
Either way, Vulture has your cheat sheet ready to go. I think he lines of dialogue are very funny but I thought we could play along, know-it-alls that we are here at AwardsDaily. I’ll start and I’m looking for you chiming in.
Here is what to say at parties if you haven’t seen any of the nominees but don’t want to sound dumb (seriously, though, you should see them all – the Academy has picked nine good ones. Time to stop fucking around with Snapchat, and get thee to an arthouse – or do what all millennials do now, download – just kidding, don’t. I’m serious. I didn’t say that).
Best Picture
Sound smart: “It’s probably going to be a split year, something that hasn’t happened since they expanded the Best Picture race.”
“If 12 Years a Slave wins, it will be the fourth film to win in Oscar history with 9 nominations, following The Hurt Locker, An American in Paris and A Man for All Seasons.”
“I’m predicting a clean sweep for 12 Years a Slave. They did it with Return of the King and by God, they can do it with 12 Years.”
Dumb: Dude, they’re going to give it to August: Osage County
Best Director
Smart: “Everyone is predicting Alfonso Cuaron, and he’ll very likely win. He would be the first Mexican filmmaker to do so. But watch out for Steve McQueen to make even bigger history becoming the first black director to win – if so, expect a standing ovation, maybe tears. A long time coming, that.”
Dumb: “Steven Spielberg is going to win. He always wins. He has like ten Oscars.”
Best Actress
Smart: “Cate Blanchett is unbeatable at this point but watch out for Amy Adams. With four nominations for Hustle, someone is going to win – which of the four will it be?”
Dumb: They always give it to Meryl Streep. She’s won, like, ten Oscars.
Best Actor
Smart: “The momentum is with Matthew McConaughey but watch out for veteran Bruce Dern, who’s yet to win an Oscar and Chiwetel Ejiofor who carries the Best Picture frontrunner, 12 Years a Slave, and if it sweeps it could take Ejiofor with it, or even Leo.”
Dumb: Christian Bale gained a bunch of weight. He’s going to win.
Best Supporting Actress
Smart: “If Lupita Nyong’o wins that could signal an early sweep for 12 Years.”
Dumb: “They always give it to Jennifer Lawrence. She’s won like five Oscars already.”
Documentary Feature
Smart: “Nothing can beat The Act of Killing.”
Dumb: “Blackfish is going to win this one.”
The money shot
Smart: “The shorts, documentary and foreign are so hard to predict because voters can only vote if they’ve seen all of the nominees.”
Dumb: “Those shorts – you know people just pick whatever sounds serious.”
“I can’t read subtitles.”
Your turn!
Fantastic site heaps of fabulous steam shower information
here
Smart: I think all the nominees are just wonderful this year, don’t you?
Dumb: I think al the nominees are just wonderful this year, don’t you?
I was having some problems only with the main page. if I loaded the article pages, things ran normally. The problems stopped a couple days ago and now everything is running smoothly over here..
and I appreciate the compliments, Akumax!
Ryan, the ruse is that Tony is a made man. Remember Goodfellas? Couldn’t resist, Tony 😛
Smart:
“Frozen might be the frontrunner, but there’s The Wind Rises to look out for — it’s Hayao Miyazaki’s final film, they may want to honor him one last time. Ernest & Celestine also pulled some surprising Annie nods, and as of late, GKIDS’ been a staple at this race, so that’s a possibility, too”.
Dumb:
“It’s gonna be Monsters University. Pixar ALWAYS wins. Trust me”.
Thanks André,
didn’t want to bother you but…
I was just wondering if it were from a movie… a movie I should have definitely gone to see. 😉
Cate Blanchett is unbeatable and I hope she remains unbeatable until March… I’m terrified with the prospect of her losing to someone playing the overdue card… Besides, other movies had 4 acting nominations and lost all of them before. It can and probably will happen again. I hope.
hahahahahah very funny Mattoc!
yes, Akumax, it is me. =]
Tony, you shall find a way, sir. I mainly use my iPhone for this site.
Buford…err Benny Tarleton, what the hell are you talking about? You really have to be the biggest troll that has come to this site.
It’s not like this will cause a river of tears or anything, but I’m gonna be pretty scarce ’round these parts in the future. I don’t use the web much on my iPhone or iPad, and I just can’t continue dealing with the periodic woes that get inflicted on my PC here. Je regrette, mes amis.
Tony, Sasha has been working on various ideas to implement a streamlined site layout that will be easier to navigate, speedier to load, and plug up all the vulnerabilities. We are not letting you leave. Forget it. You’re a made man.
It’s not like this will cause a river of tears or anything, but I’m gonna be pretty scarce ’round these parts in the future. I don’t use the web much on my iPhone or iPad, and I just can’t continue dealing with the periodic woes that get inflicted on my PC here. Je regrette, mes amis.
What problems are you having? Is the site too much to load?
Aragorn,
I completely agree with Kane’s comment: “Aragorn, although your wording was completely off, I think I understand what you mean. If you’re talking in the present tense like, “Right now ‘slavery’ isn’t the most important thing to me, my rent payment is or my job is.” Or someone in war torn a war torn town thinking, “Slavery isn’t the most important thing to me, surviving this day is.” If this is what you were going for than you have to clarify big time because that statement you made could be easily misunderstood. It a very broad, vague thing to say.”
————————————–
I can’t argue with your friend because I don’t know your friend and your friend is entitled to his opinion. My problem – with what you said and how you said it – is that it made oppression (I’ll use that as shorthand for extremely complex historical socio-political-economic-gender inter-weaving events) each/all equal, each oppressed group concerned only about their own particular group, and opinions static vs. dynamic (e.g., as a Filipino American I should have been, am now & will always think/feel that how I’ve been oppressed always is the most important, forever & ever, to the exclusion of how others have been treated at different times). Oppression is fluid, according to the times, country & area of the country (e.g., lynchings were mostly a phenomenon in the American South, Japanese internment on the West Coast during WWII, etc.).
Maybe it’s because I came of age in the 1970s. We generally did not rank suffering/oppression nor think each was the same/equal – that was a losing strategy. Instead, we tried to find what was common & allied ourselves with each other to achieve our goals, while retaining our own particular history/struggles/goals. Also, each person is often a member of several oppressed groups. I’m a Filipino-American immigrant woman. As Filipinos, we had our own struggles as farm-workers (like the Latinos & Portuguese), national origin discrimination, racial discrimination. As an Asian American, I care about how Chinese miners were violently forced out of the gold mines & the subsequent discrimination, Japanese American internment and all previous & current anti-Asian/Southeast Asian/Pacific Islander discrimination. I care about the Holocaust and past/current discrimination against Jews. I care about past/current discrimination against Latinos, Arab-Americans, LGBTQ & the disabled. I care about discrimination against all immigrants – Irish, Italians, Chinese, Filipinos, LatinosI’m very concerned in everything that affected/affects me as a woman, incl. trafficking & decriminalization, I’m concerned about discrimination & oppression – period.
For me, the best picture of the year depends on the pictures out that year, what was happening in our country & the world and my personal preferences. Without remembering what else was in competition, just off the top of my head the movies that I thought were the best of their years include: Philadelphia, Boys Don’t Cry, Battle of Algiers, Quemada, Z, State of Siege, Fourth of July, Norma Rae, Silkwood, Dr. Strangelove, The Leopard, 1900…
The current movies most talked about – 12 Years, Gravity, Dallas Buyers Club, American Hustle – are very different in content, form & tone. IMO, notwithstanding nor belittling Alfonso Cuaron’s achievement, it wouldn’t be such a BIG movie in consideration if it didn’t dominate the box office from its opening weekend – which surprised most of us. American Hustle is a temporary enjoyment, a bagatelle, dessert instead of lobster. For Oscar, I’m looking for a film for the ages. DBC & 12 Years both have heft & serious subjects, but in choosing just one in terms of being for the ages, story, storytelling, acting, direction, cinematography, music – I choose 12 Years a Slave.
All that said – my caring about all forms of oppression & choosing 12 Years on its merits as a film – I believe there’s something very important that all of us who live in the U.S. need to understand & acknowledge about slavery. The Native Americans/First Nations have been almost totally eliminated by genocide through disease, war & starvation. The thing is – they were never enslaved in the way Africans & their descendants were, there were no systematic generations of rape & torture & executions as a means of war, and slave-work that built the wealth of America (cotton, the Triangular Trade), unpaid architects/landscapers/laborers who built our nation’s capital, the cobblestone streets of Boston & other northern cities, served as enslaved, unpaid servants, etc. Not even to speak about the soul-killing treatment as not being human.
The above exploitation is an inseparable part of American history in which all of us have benefitted in one way or other, is why – even being a Filipina immigrant woman – slavery has a particular/peculiar significance for me, and why I feel slavery is the most severe of all the oppressions.
I’m writing this extremely late at night, so I hope I’m making sense.
No need to fix my typos Ryan. I like my posts the way they are.
” is that you in the little picture?”
Oh, fuck. Here we go
For dumb, Amy Poehler said it best: “after 12 Years a Slave, I will never look at slavery the same way again”
That’s sweet that you correct typos Ryan. I had no idea. Sometimes I’m shocked by the blunders in my typing and this is after proofreading. Shocked.
Yeah , atmospheric alright ; Bullock prancing around in her underwear acting like the damsel in distress ” should i press this button or turn this dial …ooooooh what’s a girl to do ”…meanwhile poor clueless Cloony had already had enough sense to cut himself free from her and drift off into space and out of the movie , but who could blame him ?
As I’ve said before I’ve tried manfully to watch this movie but had to close my eyes as a defense mechanism to be able to suffer through it …and it truly did sound like rough sex with all of her screams , sighs and moans and then the background music made me feel like I was watching a 21st century remake of the Clockwork Orange …I just couldn’t endure it to the end and had to flee the building but on the way out couldn’t resist taking a sniggering look at the audience who reminded me of a group of converted in a state of rapture at a religious revival …sadly , I just couldn’t connect , mores the pity
Buford is right: it was atmospheric
Sandra Bullock gave the most atmospheric , sublime , haunting oscar worthy performance of the year that will be forever seared and enshrined in my memory ; it was a gift from the present, a moment sealed in cinematic amber and then bequeathed to posterity as 2014’s magnum opus
All I tried to say (and apparently I failed) was for a Chinese American or Cuban American or Indian American, or Polish American, slavery may not be the most important part of the history! It doesnt mean that they dont care about it..Or they think it is not important! But it may not make to the top of their list of historically important things….
==============================================
I agree ; however 12 YAS is not competing against a Holocaust movie , a movie about the Chairman Mao , or even about the Ukrainian Famine of 1933; it’s competing against a somewhat frivolous con caper called American Hustle and a blockbuster movie about the trial and tribulations of a woman lost in space ; a latter day movie version of David Bowie’s Space Oddity that is , unfortunately , a quasi fantasy , that should not , in my opinion , be considered a serious alternative
André,
is that you in the little picture?
Dumb: I think Jennifer Lawrence should win because she’s like hot!
&
Dumber: I think that Amy Adams should win because she doesn’t wear a bra.
Dumb: I think the cat in Inside Llewyn Davis should have been nominated for Best animal in a movie.
Dumb: Gravity shouldn’t win cinematography because so much of it is CGI.
Dumb: Philomania should get Best Picture because Di Caprio deserves to win an Oscar.
Dumbest:
They’ll vote for Chiwetel Ejiofor as a prank on the engraver, and to watch the always funny Jennifer Lawrence try to pronounce it when she presents.
OT: where can I post my list of the year’s best so I can get some feedback from everyone?!!
Kane,
All I tried to say (and apparently I failed) was for a Chinese American or Cuban American or Indian American, or Polish American, slavery may not be the most important part of the history! It doesnt mean that they dont care about it..Or they think it is not important! But it may not make to the top of their list of historically important things….
Having his or her country completely destroyed during the WW1 or WW2, someone may think that any movie that depicts those wars are more important than slavery. Again it is all about the ranking and relative importance…It doesnt mean he or she does not care about slavery but just not as much as some other events….
I know not the same thing, but a friend of mine who is gay, lived in Dallas for 15 years and knew people/friends who died of AIDS thinks that Dallas Buyers Club is the most important movie of the year…Now how can you argue with that person??? oh yes, that friend of mine is a black guy by the way!
Ryan,
I think it should be point out how Hollywood and the Oscars have been able to give a contribution to the discussion about slavery and/or racial issues in US history with very good films in the last 3 awards seasons: The Help, Lincoln, Django Unchained, 12 Years a Slave.
Smart: The Act of Killing, widely regarded as a lock, will NOT win Best Documentary. The Academy rarely goes for the hard edged, depressing story of foreign politics: just look at the winners over the past 20 years. It’s three hours long, and it is about Indonesian atrocities 40 years ago. None of the Academy members wanna sit through that, and, honestly, none of them give a shit about Indonesia.
Dumb: The Act of Killing will win Best Doc because Sight & Sound named it the best film of the year.
Dumb: The Wolf of Wall Street shouldn’t win, because it was about stupid people doing stupid things.
Smart: The Wolf of Wall Street should win, because it was an all-time best from the Great Martin Scorsese, and he directed it in a way, where we the audience gets to decide if we like these people or not.
Aragorn, although your wording was completely off, I think I understand what you mean. If you’re talking in the present tense like, “Right now ‘slavery’ isn’t the most important thing to me, my rent payment is or my job is.” Or someone in war torn a war torn town thinking, “Slavery isn’t the most important thing to me, surviving this day is.” If this is what you were going for than you have to clarify big time because that statement you made could be easily misunderstood. It a very broad, vague thing to say.
Hope everything is well, Ryan!
Dumb: Nebraska shouldn’t win, it was in black and white!
Smart: Nebraska should win, because it was a well-crafted, well written film, and an homage to Alexander Payne’s home state.
Dumb: I think Gravity should win because it was all about space and stuff.
BTW, that was hilarious when you guys on the latest Oscar Podcast said about how George Clooney was photobombing in Gravity. 🙂
Dumb…the Academy will give best picture to “12 Years A Slave” because they don’t want to be considered racists.
Hey, Ryan. Slavery is an important issue to discuss. The film “12 Years A Slave” not so much so, the slavery issue aside.
Hey, Ryan. Slavery is an important issue to discuss. The film “12 Years A Slave” not so much…
How many discussions about slavery do people have when there’s not a movie about slavery for people to disagree about?
Did you you have lots of discussions about slavery in 2011?
Ah, gotcha Ryan. ‘Nuff said right there, and you’re welcome. 🙂
(Really) dumb: Steve McQueen should win since it’ll be like restitution for slavery.
Dumb: Leo should win since he played such a good bad guy.
Dumb: Leo should win since he didn’t win for Titanic.
Dumb: Leo was the best bad guy since his last movie when he played the bad guy.
Nevermind,
If you were the patient, they probably wouldn’t have let you use your cell phone.
Ryan,
Were you at the hospital for you or of someone else?
Just my routine weekly attitude adjustment. intensive care unit 😕
nope, seriously, I’m helping care for a family member, Al. I’m fine. We’ll all be ok. Thank you for asking.
Didn’t Gigi get 9 nominations?
Great post btw
Ryan,
I did not say or mean that people do not/should not care about the importance of slavery and all that horrible part of the history…I really want to believe that there would be noone to say slavery was/is not important. All I tried to say (sometimes hard on Ipad with no editing) was that it is all about level of importance.
““I only care about my own cocoon of troubles and to hell with everyone else’s history.” ” I did not say this, did I? I didnt mean people do not recognize slavery or say hell with it…All I tried to say was that its importance changes from person to person…Not at the same level for everyone…
Again ““Some people may not agree that slavery was important!”” i did not say that, did I???
.For example, someone who is not black may still recognize the horrible slavery but may not think that it is the most important thing in the world. Go and talk to someone from Bosnia/Rwanda/Pakistan/ etc…and ask them if they think that slavery was the most important thing in history? Or just go and talk to someone from Chinese origin and ask him what he thinks about the slavery! Again, I cannot imagine anyone would say Slavery is not important. But it is very possible that he may not think it was the most important thing in the history! People have their own history, their own share of tragedies…and how they rank tragedies in the history depends on many factors. You care about slavery becaus it is part of your country’s history….Can you say that you care about the genocide in Bosnia as much? or do you care about human rights victims in China as much as a Chinese??? Probably not…It doesnt mean that you dont care at all or ignore them,..it is all about the level!
Therefore, just saying 12 Years a Slave is a very very important movie may not resonate with some people..They may think it is a good movie, but may not see it as an important movie as some other people do….
Again ““Some people may not agree that slavery was important!”” i did not say that, did I???
no, you did not say it in such direct terms. But this that you said came very close:
This looks like fun…
Dumb #1:
I think Scorsese will finally win for American Hustle. I mean if not now when?
Dumb #2:
I don’t think he directed that.
Dumb #1:
You’re right, but he was a producer on it. That his only chance of ever winning an oscar.
Dumb #2:
I think he won for The Aviator.
Dumb #1:
You’re right. They only give it to him when he makes oscar bait.
Dumb:
Gravity for best cinematography? It was all done on a green screen. They should give it to Rush.
Dumb:
Lupita Nyonga doesn’t have a chance in hell. They never reward foreign language performances.
Dumb:
I just saw Saving Mr. Banks. It’s the first movie I have seen in 5 years and I can say with the utmost confidence that it will sweep the oscars.
Dumb:
I can’t believe they snubbed Ashton Kutcher.
Dumb:
This is such bullshit. The Invisible Woman up for costumes, but not visual effects?? Do you have any idea how difficult that is?
For those who live in another world: Slavery exists today in a lot of forms they are all unbearable and horrible, slavery is not only a painful disgusting chapter in US history.
Do I admire a film like 12 Years a Slave? yes I do. It’s important that more people and more people see that story told in such a compelling intelligent way.
Am I still able when I talk about cinema (with people that I suppose love and study and follow closely the art of filmmaking, or just follow the awards season) to divide and conquer, point out things that were perfect and things that in my opinion didn’t work that well in the making of that piece of cinema? Yes I am.
That’s why I don’t feel intimidated by the themes of 12 Years a Slave. As important as this film is, I think the best film of 2013 is Gravity.
What I don’t understand, oscar-wise, is to give a film 100 more points for its subject and theme alone and 100 more for who made the film (it’s a black director or an Italian director, or a Mexican, or a British, or a Japanese…).
All that matters in my opinion is WHAT the filmmakers wanted to tell in relation to HOW they managed to tell that, and the subjective impact the film had on me.
Dumb:
“I bet Ali MacGraw is accepting on Steve McQueen’s behalf since that dude died , like , AGES ago.”
Smart and/or Dumb (depends . . . the phrase could fit either category):
“Didn’t Jennifer Lawrence already win the Oscar this year?”
Best Picture
Smart: It’s a square-off between a 12-year scare, space repair, and 70s hair.
Dumb: Who’s got Philomania? Me!
Best Director
Smart: Someone is going to get the filmmaker’s equivalent of a Nobel Prize – winning in a category that includes Marty Scorsese.
Dumb: David L. Russell is long overdue. They should have given it to him for Blue Velvet.
Best Actress
Smart: Adams is the only non-former winner and this is her 5th nomination. Her moon is in the 7th house, her Jupiter aligned with Mars.
Dumb: Meryl took away Emma’s nomination when she called Disney racist, after Meryl complained that Viola Davis needed more jobs. Thanks old white lady, keep telling us what’s racist and what isn’t. Please explain Richard Sherman to us.
Best Actor
Smart: Is McConaughey winning an award for acting, weight loss, or career revival?
Dumb: Bruce Dern just shot away this award by letting Quentin’s script go Dang Unprotected.
Money shot:
Smart: Is U2 going to get the “thanks for being our baby boomer comfort food” award as received by the likes of Bruce Springsteen and Annie Lennox?
Dumb: I think they hate Tom Hanks these days. Now he’ll *have* to make Forrest Gump 2: Stupid Is as Stupid Does.
I’m not asking you to, Ryan. Shit, no one is even expecting you to, there are simply too many of them. So wouldn’t it be easier if everyone would be responsible for tidying up in their own yard? Look on the up side, you won’t have to read the minds of 500 commenters and focus on other things.
“So wouldn’t it be easier if everyone would be responsible for tidying up in their own yard?”
It would be so much easier. I wish we could find a good stream-lined plug-in for comment editing. But all the editing add-on options seem to demand a lot of bandwidth. So they noticeably slow down the site — especially during peak FYC season.
The convenience of reader editing isn’t worth the trade-off of laggy page loads. But you’re right, Koleś. A good editing button would be great. We’ll find one that works smoothly one of these day.
Meanwhile, if anyone makes a gaffe or typo, please don’t hesitate to ask me to fix it with a follow-up comment. I’ll patch it for you and delete the patch request — like it never happened.
you won’t have to read the minds of 500 commenters
it’s fun to try 🙂
If I sounded blunt and impatient earlier it’s because I was trying to handle things on the phone, and I was at the hospital. Not a relaxed situation. Sorry.
DUMB: It’s Liza all over again. They’ll give it to McQueen because they owed his father.
SMART: The only reason Llewyn Davis isn’t here is because they don’t like that he neglected pussy.
About the typo thing. With all due respect, as good as you might be in homing in on those typos, are you sure you’re getting all of them? And thanks for doing that for free by the way, not that I asked for it, but thanks. I’d just like to be able to edit post in case I make a typo. You know, like on most sites out there (and also AD wayyyyyyyyyy back in the day).
Koleś, I try to catch as many as possible. But I’m not great at reading the minds of 500 commenters. So yes, I’m sure that I’m unable to tidy up every single mistake.
Dumb:
Everything Koles and Ryan just said.
I’m not gonna get dragged into this. Let’s talk DGA.
Koleś, we’re not in conflict. You just misunderstood me, that’s all. No problem, ok?
I have no idea what might bug you Ryan and I’m sorry you have no idea what I meant, I really am. I won’t explain, because sometimes it’s just not worth it. I only find it a bit weird when a person writes “to hell with everyone else’s history”, and then calls other people ignorant. P.S. – It’s cool that you’re correcting typos in your posts. How about giving everyone else. a chance.
You completelt misunderstand me Koleś. I am only asking: what kind of ignorant insensitive person would think, “I have my own problems. To hell with these stories about slavery. Slavery doesn’t concern me. So why should I think it’s important?” Because that is the type of hypothetical person Aragon was describing. Is my response to such ignorance more clear now?
I correct dozens of typos in other people’s posts every day. Free of charge. If you want a typo corrected you could try asking me ?
@Aragon: Most of the issues you sum up have been central to previous oscar-nominated and winning films.
Smart: “DiCaprio has been nominated four times over a period of 20 years. He’s never won. This is a sublime performance – it’s his time.”
Dumb: “McConaughey heroically stopped acting in romcoms a couple of years ago. Now he is really good in good films – it’s his time.”
“I would hope most normal human beings would not be so self-centered that they only care about their own cocoon of troubles and to hell with everyone else’s history.” Funny how that bends both ways, don’t it?:)
Koleś, I honestly have no idea what you mean. But please don’t explain it if you think the explanation will bug me.
And here’s one for everyone, no matter if you’re a “Citizen Kane” or “Jack & Jill” fan – “The problem with the Academy is that they vote for the movies THEY like.”
Trying to sound smart, Best Actor: “Matthew McConaughey is going to win. Look how far he’s come from last year when he played Surfer Dude! Plus, statistically speaking, when you win the Las Vegas critics award and…Los…Angeles–no the Dallas Fort-Worth critics that usually translates to Oscar. I mean if the Oscars want to make a political statement about the–the thing with pharmaceuticals and how AIDS is still–it’s still an issue down in Texas and McConaughey went through such a transformation. I read he lives with AIDS inflicted Texans to prepare himself for the movie. If the academy doesn’t give the Oscar to McConaughey than that means they don’t care about healthcare.”
Dumb comment, Best Actor: “DiCaprio is winning because he was snubbed for Inception, which was so baller. And that guy he works with made The Departed and that was pretty cool. His competition is an old guy, a guy who’s name I can’t pronounce and Surfer Dude so DiCaprio has to win. But Christian Bale could too but Wolf of Wall Street looks wayyyy cooler and me and my friends quote it. They threw a midget so DiCaprio has to win otherwise the Oscars are stupid.”
Really, really dumb comment: “If Chiwitel Ejiofor doesn’t win, the Oscars are racist. If Lupita Nyong’o doesn’t win, they are SUPER DUPER RACIST.”
smart : please hell noooo Amy Adams. maybe next year but this year she doesn’t deserve.
dumb : Amy Adams deserves her first Oscar. 🙂
Smart and dumb: Have you seen the dresses Lupita Nyong’o’s been wearing? She just HAS to win.
“The Academy is going to miss an opportunity to make history and make Dennis Dugan the first person born in Wheaton, Illinois to get an Oscar, but I’m not expecting anything anymore from this bunch of biased assholes.”
I know slavery and a movie about slavery are big deal, and have some kind of historical importance but is it the most important thing? NO!
Just look around… unless you are in some small town in the middle of nowhere, you see more and more ethnic diversity, people from every race, origin etc. Hispanics and asians are the fastest growing minorities in this country now…While possible everyone would agree that slavery was bad/horrible etc, not everyone would consider it as the worst thing or the most important thing in history.., Not everyone would have the same feelings about the importance of slavery or a movie about slavery. Those people, hispanics, asians, all have their own history, their own tragedies…Look around the world…People have their own share of big tragedies…Dont even go to Holocoust…just less than two decades ago, Rwanda happened…genocide in Bosnia happened…Sudan happened…in this same country, Native Americans got slaughtered. Again, do not expect everyone to come to favor 12 years a Slave because it is an important movie…Some may not agree with that!
Aragon I would hope most normal human beings would not be so blindly self-centered that they could think: “I only care about my own cocoon of troubles and to hell with everyone else’s history.” …For example, none of my ancestors were slaves but somehow I still manage to give a damn about the tragedy inflicted on the millions who were.
“Some people may not agree that slavery was important!”
I have to go puke now in case I accidentally inhaled any molecules exhaled by anyone who’s that ignorant.
Paddy beat me to the obligatory Oprah prediction DUMB comment.
How about Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence because the Academy loves its ingenues? I’ve heard that crap before when someone else was clearly winning.
Also: Redford may win because he’s overdue. No, and wrong. Yet people were saying it till the SAG snub.
Finally, it’s really stupid to hear anyone presume that Bullock will win again this year. Just really stupid.
Pretty sure the “bigger history” part is about the fact that it’s a movie about a national tragedy (slavery) directed by a Black filmmaker. In other words, it has historical implications not only having to do with Academy history but the more diseased and unexamined corners of the nation’s history.
I suppose he’d start out by grabbing the mic from David O. Russell and starting by saying to him, “Mr. Russell, I’m a let you finish….”
Brian Susbielles,
Oh I don’t know, I could see Kanye West storming the stage again (like he did at the grammy’s) and saying something like, “I know American Hustle was good, but The Butler was one of the BEST movies of ALL-TIME!!”
Now THAT would be dumb!! 🙂
I’m a millenial who has written and spoken about the Oscars at length. And really, I would just say this:
“This is bullshit. Spring Breakers was robbed.”
I’ve heard some dumb comments already from some people. Talking about Tom Hanks and The Butler going to win when they are not even nominated.
Dumbest of all: I can’t wait until next year when we can have all this race stuff behind us…
I think until we change, It’ll be hard for the Academy to change.
bryce,
not only dumb but also kind of racist…
From my experience people who are that dumb, don’t watch the Oscars.
Everyone is predicting Alfonso Cuaron, and he’ll very likely win. He would be the first Mexican filmmaker to do so. But watch out for Steve McQueen to make even bigger history becoming the first black director to win
I’ll say that’s pretty dumb
Smart – 12 Years will win best pic as a way to honor the overall project but other awards will be spread out.
Dumb – Gravity will win best pic as a way to honor the overall project but other awards will be spread out.
SMART: A 12 Years a Slave sweep would be a landmark for the Academy, after years of trying to appear like they were making progress, especially if they hand the directing Oscar to McQueen.
DUMB: I hope Steve McQueen wins. I loved Bullitt.
SMART: “Alfonso will probably win Director, but remember when everyone thought David Fincher was going to win for The Social Network? And then all of a sudden The King’s Speech gained momentum and the Oscar went to Tom Hooper for it? This could mean Steve McQueen will win.”
DUMB: “Yeah, Steve McQueen was once nominated before, for Best Actor in The Sand Pebbles. Man, he must be real old now!”
Is it just me or is the “smart thing” supposed to have a hint of being uninformed because you’re trying to SOUND smart? I feel like the “smart things” Sasha is writing has gone over peoples’ heads…or just mine 😛
Sasha, very funny read! I wish you were more playful like this because I had a great time reading them and I did it in voices I thought they’d sound like.
Dumb (duh):
“Still can’t believe they snubbed Behind the Candelabra.”
“I’ve been saying it since April, it’s Oprah’s year.”
“They really liked Philomania, didn’t they?!”
Also, AN AMERICAN IN PARIS and A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS were each nominated for eight Oscars. So yeah, you’ll still sound dumb saying they were nominated for nine…
I’m not sure saying a 9 for 9 12 Years a Slave sweep is a smart thing. Although Fassy might get a BAFTA boost I doubt it will be enough to overtake Leto. Aside from all his wins it’s also the one guaranteed win for DBC. And all the guild and Academy love for the film would trump the need to vote Slave across the board esp. considering the film slightly underperformed with nominations.
I’m lost at anyone thinking millenials care or have seen any documentary features…
Lead Actress
Smart: Cate Blanchett has this in the bag. Emma Thompson was her biggest competition but she asked her bff Meryl Streep to destroy her Oscar campaign by badmouthing the greatest man in Hollywood history.
Dumb: Amy Adams totally deserved her nomination. Those who say she’s a living proof of the babe factor are just haters!
Smart – They should give Best Actor to Leonardo DiCaprio, because he has never won, and he’s one of the best actors of his generation, and he’s a legitimate movie star.
Dumb – Doesn’t Leonardo DiCaprio already have a bunch of Oscars, c’mon, the guy’s in everything!
“If 12 Years a Slave wins, it will be the fourth film to win in Oscar history with 9 nominations, following The Hurt Locker, An American in Paris and A Man for All Seasons.”
Gigi (1958), One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975), The Deer Hunter (1978), Kramer versus Kramer (1979), The Last Emperor (1987), Driving Miss Daisy (1989), Unforgiven (1992)??
The dumb comments for lead actress and supp actress aren’t that dumb… watch out!
I do it for the same person/category
Smart – They should give Best Director to Steve McQueen since no black director has ever been given the Oscar.
Dumb – Dude, they should give Best Director to the black guy.
Best supp actress:
Smart: “it’s between Jennifer Lawrence and Lupita N’Yongo. But will they really give JLaw two oscars in a row?”
Dumb: “julia Roberts will win because she did that thing to her nose. Also because she beat the crap out of Meryl Streep”
“It’s probably going to be a split year, something that hasn’t happened since they expanded the Best Picture race.”
Argo/Ang Lee????
Smart: “The shorts, documentary and foreign are so hard to predict because voters can only vote if they’ve seen all of the nominees.”
Are you sure? I think they’ve changed the rules.
They haven’t changed the rules. What they changed: voters can now get screeners.