The 88th Oscar Nominations

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Precious Doll
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Re: The 88th Oscar Nominations

Post by Precious Doll »

flipp525 wrote:Rooney Mara is officially the nominee with the highest screen-time in the supporting actress category ever. At 71 minutes on-screen, she beats Tatum O'Neal in Paper Moon who stands at 66 minutes. Blanchett clocks in at 65 minutes for Carol and is nominated in the lead category. (Source: CineMatthew).
What about Hailee Steinfield in True Grit? That was are very 'large' supporting role. Do you know her running time flipp?
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Re: The 88th Oscar Nominations

Post by The Original BJ »

Well, I have to say I found the morning's announcement mostly a disappointment. I'd lowered my expectations for Carol and Steve Jobs, but even then, there were some pretty major omissions -- not just Director but also Picture for Carol, and Screenplay for Aaron Sorkin (which I still cannot fathom the writers passing over, even given a very worthy field.) Carol's top category omissions were even surprising given the context of the morning, with Carol scoring those 6 prizes (twice as many as Brooklyn, which early on missed what seemed like a gimme Costume Design mention), yet still somehow falling short. It established a new record -- most nominations in the expanded era without a Best Picture slot.

But even beyond those misses, I thought that by and large, voters didn't show much evidence of thinking for themselves. The category fraud for Mara & Vikander, despite all of that protest, went off without a hitch -- at this point, it's clear voters just don't care about this, and will go along with whatever the studios want. And for as wildly all over-the-place as the year has been, there weren't a ton of wild cards -- many of us predicted the lead categories perfectly, Supporting Actress didn't yield any big surprises, and even Supporting Actor, which recognized some candidates without much precursor support, wasn't exactly the most exciting combo of possibilities. And the nomination leaders -- The Revenant and Mad Max -- are my bottom two on the Best Picture ballot.

There were, certainly, bright spots for me. Room not only in Picture but also in what almost certainly would have been the lone Director spot was terrific. And Charlotte Rampling was in a very weird position in that she seemed like an inevitability, but one with little precursor support, and it was great to see her finally get that first career nomination.

Even going in with the impression The Revenant would have a solid morning, I'm still shocked at how well it did, picking up nominations like Production & Costume Design, and Visual Effects (which is literally just for the bear, right?) that didn't seem in the cards at all. You can bet it would have been in Original Score as well, though oddly this was the 2nd Iñárritu film in a row to be ruled ineligible in that category. I think it has to be considered a solid contender for the Best Picture win, though both The Big Short and Spotlight seemed to get all the key nominations they needed to remain in play as well. The Martian, I think, by virtue of missing both Director and Film Editing, seems to have fallen a bit further back in the pack. Mad Max also got nominated virtually across the board, but it's still so tough for me to imagine that as any kind of Picture/Director winner with this group.

One thing that's interesting about the Supporting Actor category is that it resurrected two contenders -- Hardy and Ruffalo -- who had quite a bit of early buzz, but seemed to slip after the precursors brought Dano, Elba, Shannon, and Tremblay into the conversation. Whoever made the point that Oscar was more likely to go with guys from Best Picture candidates rather than the one-offs was proven right in a big way. I see many are clinging to Stallone as frontrunner, and that still strikes me as a good possibility. But it's also worth pointing out that he's a sole nominee competing against FOUR guys from multi-nominated Best Picture candidates. Even if you assume Bale is unlikely due to his past win, that's still a decent amount of competition from movies that are liked far more than Creed, from decently respected actors. (I wonder if Stallone, not DiCaprio, could be the Lauren Bacall of this year? If the Academy just isn't as desperate to reward him as the Internet assumes they will be, there are plenty of alternates from better-liked movies to which they can turn.)

Supporting Actress remains a wild card. Had Carol managed at least the Best Picture nomination, I might have leaned toward Mara as the token place to honor that movie. But do voters care about giving that movie something? Do they care any more about giving The Danish Girl anything? Or The Hateful Eight, which even missed a Tarantino Screenplay spot? Or Steve Jobs, given that Winslet already has one? And the one candidate attached to a Best Picture nominee seems like the one most along for the ride. It's weird that this category gives off a feeling of "well, SOMEBODY has to win" given that most of the performances are actually quite good.

I'd thought Inside Out was a likely Best Picture nominee when it opened -- I had it down for what would have been the 10th spot, and I thought in such a wide-open year, there would be more than eight Best Picture nominees -- but people just stopped talking about it, and its buzz just strangely dissipated. Glad it got the Screenplay nod, though.

I haven't seen either foreign animated effort, but was pleased to see both of them show up, along with Anomalisa, for what seems like a pretty solid category.

It seems like there are way less random one-off nominees this year -- perhaps a case of The Revenant, Mad Max, and The Martian taking up so much space in many of the tech categories.

The one exception to that, though, is Original Song, which is comprised of nothing BUT one-offs. And two of the films are documentaries (which are not among the Documentary nominees). What a weird category. I can't even begin to wager a guess at what would win.

It continues to amaze me that, year in and year out, the Sound Mixing and Sound Editing categories routinely match 4/5.

Really nice to see Ex Machina, which had some very inventive effects, in the Visual Effects category rather than less inspiring blockbuster fare.
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Re: The 88th Oscar Nominations

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Okri wrote:Well, Tee saw this coming last year

From the "What'll Happen Next" discussions....
"So…let’s settle on LA Critics’ winner Tom Hardy: he’s a far more interesting actor than he (at least to me) appeared at first; he’s had a string of roles where he’s shown an impressive range; and he seems to be attracting the interest of top directors (including Innaritu just ahead). He’s my bet to make the list before long."
Wow -- I didn't even remember that.
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Re: The 88th Oscar Nominations

Post by Mister Tee »

Greg wrote:
Mister Tee wrote:And I have no idea how to handicap supporting actress. The only best film representative is Rachel McAdams; could that help her to beat the field? Kim Basinger and Tilda Swinton both won with that advantage, over more highly-praised competitors from less-loved films.
Basinger was up against both Gloria Stuart and Minnie Driver.
But the winners of the serious critics awards (NY/LA/National) were the other two nominees -- Julianne Moore and Joan Cusack; they're the "highly-praised competitors from less-loved films" to which I was referring.
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Re: The 88th Oscar Nominations

Post by Okri »

Well, Tee saw this coming last year

From the "What'll Happen Next" discussions....
"So…let’s settle on LA Critics’ winner Tom Hardy: he’s a far more interesting actor than he (at least to me) appeared at first; he’s had a string of roles where he’s shown an impressive range; and he seems to be attracting the interest of top directors (including Innaritu just ahead). He’s my bet to make the list before long."
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Re: The 88th Oscar Nominations

Post by Sabin »

(accidentally hit submit too quickly)
No. The Revenant and Mad Max: Fury Road aren't the kinds of films that secure writing nominations. I was more non-plussed when The Martian and The Revenant both won at the Golden Globes without screenwriting nominations while Steve Jobs failed to get a Best Picture nominations. That's slightly troubling. I would be more non-plussed if these two films received writing nominations.
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Re: The 88th Oscar Nominations

Post by Greg »

Is this the first time that the two most-nominated films failed to get screenplay nominations, and, are my fellow-aspiring-screenwriters Sabin, anonymous, and BJ also a little nonplused by this?
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Re: The 88th Oscar Nominations

Post by Greg »

Mister Tee wrote:And I have no idea how to handicap supporting actress. The only best film representative is Rachel McAdams; could that help her to beat the field? Kim Basinger and Tilda Swinton both won with that advantage, over more highly-praised competitors from less-loved films.
Basinger was up against both Gloria Stuart and Minnie Driver.
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Re: The 88th Oscar Nominations

Post by jack »

mlrg wrote:
Mister Tee wrote: When was the last time a director of a popcorn movie won best director?
Alfonso Cuaron just two years ago
I'm predicting George Miller will win.
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Re: The 88th Oscar Nominations

Post by mlrg »

Mister Tee wrote: When was the last time a director of a popcorn movie won best director?
Alfonso Cuaron just two years ago
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Re: The 88th Oscar Nominations

Post by Mister Tee »

Thoughts, on reflection:

I've made it clear I think Mad Max is an action movie in Speed/Bourne Ultimatum mode miscast as a best picture contender. I've also expressed issues with The Revenant, and find Bridge of Spies second-tier Spielberg. Two of my very favorites on the year -- Carol & Steve Jobs -- are not on the top list. But...two of my favorite movies -- Room and The Big Short -- are there, along with two movies from my next-best batch, Brooklyn and Spotlight, and a lightweight movie, The Martian, that I thoroughly enjoyed. More to the point: there's not one film on this list that I whole-heartedly dislike. That sounds like a pretty low standard for celebration, but, since the expansion, pretty much evey year I've had to confront a film I actively hated contending for best picture: Blind Side, Extremely Loud, Les Miz, Philomena, Theory of Everything. I think 2010 is the only year of up-to-10 where I could make that assertion. So...mild huzzah.

I'm reading in a number of places (including Variety) that Ridley Scott's omission is shocking because he was expected to be the winner. Expected by who? -- all the people who (wrongly) predicted him at the Globes? When was the last time a director of a popcorn movie won best director?

That said, I don't have a clue who's going to win best director this year; I'll go into the DGA blind. And I'm even wondering if we might have one of those years where the two screenplay prizes and the best director trophy go to all different films, leaving best picture unresolved until the very end.
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Re: The 88th Oscar Nominations

Post by jack »

Academy Award nominee Lady Gaga? And they couldn't nominate Ridley Scott?
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Re: The 88th Oscar Nominations

Post by Franz Ferdinand »

ANOHNI (as she stylizes it) has been in the business for many years: she previously recorded under the band name Antony and the Johnsons. Their 2005 album "I Am a Bird Now" (with its striking Peter Hujar photo of a dying Candy Darling) won the Mercury Prize, and she was also the lead singer on Hercules and Love Affair's 2008 song "Blind". At first I had no idea what the nominated song was, but as soon as I saw who wrote it I was very pleased. It's a very pop-star-heavy list, with The Weeknd, Lady Gaga and Sam Smith also nominated.
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Re: The 88th Oscar Nominations

Post by OscarGuy »

Sabin wrote:Was history just made? Did the first transperson get an Oscar nomination?
Nope. That distinction goes to Angela Morley who was nominated twice for Oscars (1977 for Original Song Score for "The Slipper and the Rose" and 1975 for Original Song Score for "The Little Prince"). She went through Sex re-assignment surgery not long before her 1974 nomination. She was born Walter "Wally" Scott.
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Re: The 88th Oscar Nominations

Post by Uri »

I know it sounds sacrilegious, but the Oscar pattern of Stallone’s Rocky reminds me of that of Paul Newman and Eddie Felson – early on in their career they were nominated for playing a nobody who fancy himself to be a contender and lose only to be nominated again for playing an older version of the same character, now acting as a mentor to a young contender. Newman won.
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