Cannes Film Festival 2015

[Bog]

We could probably do this all day. For instance, titling a film Rebecca did nothing for the actress playing the title role. There wasn't one.

We are all now dumber...I award us no points and may God have mercy on our souls...

[Heksagon]

This discussion reminds me of the scene in Darling where Julie Christie’s character is cast in a film to play the title role... and then has her character killed before the opening credits roll while the whole film is about finding out who killed her.

[Big Magilla]

In addition to Mare Winningham, Roland Young, Claude Rains, Terence Stamp, Vanessa Redgrave, Kate Winslet and Philip Seymour Hoffman were all nominated in support for playing the title character in their films. Only Redgrave won.

Magilla are you saying Redgrave should have been nominated alongside Fonda just because she was playing the title character? It was clearly a supporting performance.

Where did you get that out of this?

I think she was nominated in the right category although at the time it was quite controversial as Redgrave had received equal over the title billing with Fonda.

[Reza]

That said, the fact that the movie is called Carol, and not Carol & Therese, should tell you everything you need to know about what's probably going to happen.

Well... Sorry to be this picky but do you remember Georgia (1995)?

Or more recently The Master and in retrospect, Topper, Mr. Skeffington, Billy Budd, Julia and Iris? In addition to Mare Winningham, Roland Young, Claude Rains, Terence Stamp, Vanessa Redgrave, Kate Winslet and Philip Seymour Hoffman were all nominated in support for playing the title character in their films. Only Redgrave won.

Magilla are you saying Redgrave should have been nominated alongside Fonda just because she was playing the title character? It was clearly a supporting performance.

[Big Magilla]

And of course, titling a movie Hilary & Jackie didn't do anything to deter category fraud in that case.

Titling a movie "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford didn't help the actor playing Robert Ford get a lead actor nomination either.

We could probably do this all day. For instance, titling a film Rebecca did nothing for the actress playing the title role. There wasn't one.

[The Original BJ]

Okay, first of all I was being facetious -- obviously I have no idea what's going to happen or who's going to be campaigned and/or nominated where.

And second, I wasn't remotely suggesting that a title character can't be nominated in support, clearly not in those cases (like Georgia or Julia), where the title character was an obvious supporting role.

But I do think -- with the movie sight unseen, of course -- that if someone's going to be gerrymandered, it seems way less likely that Blanchett, given her career status compared to Mara, would be the one.

And of course, titling a movie Hilary & Jackie didn't do anything to deter category fraud in that case.

[Big Magilla]

That said, the fact that the movie is called Carol, and not Carol & Therese, should tell you everything you need to know about what's probably going to happen.

Well... Sorry to be this picky but do you remember Georgia (1995)?

Or more recently The Master and in retrospect, Topper, Mr. Skeffington, Billy Budd, Julia and Iris? In addition to Mare Winningham, Roland Young, Claude Rains, Terence Stamp, Vanessa Redgrave, Kate Winslet and Philip Seymour Hoffman were all nominated in support for playing the title character in their films. Only Redgrave won.

[dws1982]

Final Jury Press Conference

There's some shouting that starts about 16:00 minutes in that's a hell of a distraction for several minutes. No major revelations, although Ethan Coen repeats several times--almost like he's feeling guilty--that it's just in the nature of the process that some films are going to get overlooked; Also a couple of journalists seem pretty grumpy about none of the Italian films getting any prizes.

[HarryGoldfarb]

That said, the fact that the movie is called Carol, and not Carol & Therese, should tell you everything you need to know about what's probably going to happen.

Well... Sorry to be this picky but do you remember Georgia (1995)?

[The Original BJ]

Both ladies are co-leads, but tough to imagine both of them getting nominated for most honors."

I know I'm a broken record on this subject, but...WHY is it tough to imagine this, particularly in Best Actress? In many years, we have to scrounge for leading women to nominate. Yes, Bening/Moore had trouble pulling off a Best Actress nomination pair in a year as fiercely competitive as 2010, but think about last year. Or 2012. Or 2009. If there had been two fully-qualified candidates from the same movie, and that movie had been a top-flight awards contender, I find it hard to believe that both women wouldn't have placed in the same category.

Plus, in a lot of years, Best Supporting Actress is the MORE competitive category, so I'm not sure why it's automatically considered an easier get to engage in slumming, at least with women. (Food for thought: I don't think Jessica Chastain was fraudulently campaigned last year, but she COULD have been promoted as a lead, and wouldn't she have had a much easier time cracking that list than the one she was likely just squeezed out of?)

That said, the fact that the movie is called Carol, and not Carol & Therese, should tell you everything you need to know about what's probably going to happen.

[Mister Tee]

And more evidence why category fraud is so easy to get away with thanks to the Oscar bloggers. Here's Gregory Ellwood at Tapley's site on the best actress award:

"This is a very nice and deserving win for Mara, but most would have picked her co-star Cate Blanchett instead. This makes me wonder whether The Weinstein Company may push Blanchett to supporting during awards season. Both ladies are co-leads, but tough to imagine both of them getting nominated for most honors."

[Big Magilla]

It's not just Awards Watch, whatever that is. Of the three of us at Cinemasight (http://www.cinemasight.com/2015-oscar-p ... beginning/) predicting an Oscar nomination for Rooney Mara in Carol, I am the only one at this point predicting a nod in the lead category. I suspect, though, that whatever way Harvey directs the campaign will depend on how things look in late Fall. If the best actress field looks weak he may want to go for the prestige of having two actresses in lead. If it looks tight, he may want to push Rooney for a nod in support where she might be a slam dunk a la Catherine Zeta-Jones in Chicago .

[Sonic Youth]

My theory: the brothers who inspired the "Barton Fink rule" wanted to demonstrate how ridiculous the "Barton Fink rule" was.

Mara is the sort of No-guts-no-glory "surprise" winner that people predicting a surprise would predict. I'm sorry I didn't get to post my predictions, and I expect no glory for it now. In any event, it - along with Best Actor - would've been my only correct prediction... plus, I'd have been only half right.

[Mister Tee]

So...you expected something helmed by the Coens to turn out expectedly?

Actually, except for Mountains May Depart, the films thought to be competing most heavily each won a prize...just not the prize anticipated. Dheepan was way down the list for the Palme (though he continues the tradition of those thought overdue for the prize winning it eventually, not necessarily for their most acclaimed work). If only one actress from Carol was to win, it would have seemed to be Blanchett. (The other half of best actress, and best actor, were the OK-we-'re-not-totally-off-consensus picks)

It's hilarious reading the reactions at Awards Watch, where they're proclaiming "worst jury ever!" about a set of films almost none of them have seen.

[Okri]

Palme D'or: "Dheepan" (Jacques Audiard, France)