2011 Oscar Nominations

For the films of 2011
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Re: 2011 Oscar Nominations

Post by FilmFan720 »

Some records:

Kristen Wiig is the first SNL-alum to get an Oscar nod while still on the show.
Since Animated Film category was created, Rio becomes first animated film to get another nomination while not getting an animated film nomination.
If Terrence Malick gets a Best Picture nod, then all 5 directors will also be nominated in another category.
Woody Allen adds to his record number of screenplay nods.

Multi-Nominees:
Woody Allen (Director, Original Screenplay)
George Clooney (Actor, Adapted Screenplay)
Michel Hazanavicius (Director, Original Screenplay, Editing)
Ren Klyce (Sound Editing, Sound Mixing)
Alexander Payne (Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay)
Brad Pitt (Picture, Actor)
Gary Rydstrom (Sound Editing, Sound Mixing)
Martin Scorsese (Picture, Director)
John Williams (Score x2)

Last year's returning nominees:
Kirk Baxter (Editing - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; Editing - The Social Network)
Tim Burke (Visual Effects - Harry Potter; Visual Effects - Harry Potter)
Stuart Craig (Art Direction - Harry Potter; Art Direction - Harry Potter)
Jeff Cronenworth (Cinematography - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; Cinematography - The Social Network)
Michael DeLuca (Picture - Moneyball; Picture - The Social Network)
Jeffrey J. Haboush (Sound Mixing - Transformers; Sound Mixing - Salt)
Ren Klyce (Sound Editing/Sound Mixing - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; Sound Mixing - The Social Network)
Stephanie McMillan (Art Direction - Harry Potter; Art Direction - Harry Potter)
John Midgley (Sound Mixing - Hugo; Sound Mixing - The King's Speech)
David Parker (Sound Mixing - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; Sound Mixing - The Social Network)
Sandy Powell (Costumes - Hugo; Costumes - The Tempest) - 3RD CONSECUTIVE NOMINATION
John Richardson (Visual Effects - Harry Potter; Visual Effects - Harry Potter)
Greg P. Russell (Sound Mixing - Transformers; Sound Mixing - Salt) - 3RD CONSECUTIVE NOMINATION
Scott Rudin (Picture - Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close; Picture - The Social Network/True Grit)
Michael Semanik (Sound Mixing - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; Sound Mixing - The Social Network)
Aaron Sorkin (Adapted Screenplay - Moneyball; Adapted Screenplay - The Social Network)
Lucy Walker (Doc Short - The Tsunami and the Cherry Orchard; Doc Feature - Waste Land)
Angus Wall (Editing - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; Editing - The Social Network)
Michelle Williams (Actress - My Week with Marilyn; Actress - Blue Valentine)

Going for Back to Back Wins:
Kirk Baxter (Editing - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; Editing - The Social Network)
Aaron Sorkin (Adapted Screenplay - Moneyball; Adapted Screenplay - The Social Network)
Angus Wall (Editing - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; Editing - The Social Network)
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Re: 2011 Oscar Nominations

Post by rolotomasi99 »

Sonic Youth wrote:I think this comes close to sealing the deal for Best Picture. It's The Artist's to lose. Hugo may have more nominations, maybe it could even win more Oscars. But ten nominations is a mighty total. Both films are about the love of movies and the pride of making them. Both films are magical in their own way. But watching The Artist actually feels like you've gone to the movies (even if it only felt like the first half of a double-bill). Watching Hugo, with its stolid pacing and metaphors-by-the-dozen, felt like going to the library.

When someone asked a week ago if Scorsese could win the Oscar in a Picture/Director split, I entertained horrifying thoughts of The Descendants winning Best Picture for such an eventuality to happen. And why not? It had a very respectable precursor run. It won the Globes, the NYFCC, etc. It's finding a bigger audience than Hugo or The Artist combined, etc. And now it has only five nominations, Woodley not among them (but Editing is, for god's sake). I suppose I should've expected as much. What else could it have reasonably been nominated for? But now that the nominations are out, the meagerness of The Descendants vs. the many of The Artist feels very great indeed. So, cross that option out. Maybe I could entertain the notion of an Artist/Scorsese split, but I'm not counting on it.
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I hold out hope for a repeat of the CHICAGO vs GANGS OF NEW YORK showdown where THE PIANIST was able to slip in and win Best Director. THE ARTIST is CHICAGO (the fun film which everyone knows will win Best Picture but is too light-weight to win Director) and GANGS OF NEW YORK is HUGO (the film with a ton of nominations which folks admire more than love) and of course THE PIANIST is THE TREE OF LIFE (the brilliant and beautiful film which all true cineastes know is a work of art that cannot be ignored).

I know THE TREE OF LIFE is not as loved by the Academy as THE PIANIST given the latter's 7 nominations vs the former's 3 noms. Still, if my prayers to the cinema gods can bring about a Best Picture and Director nomination for THE TREE OF LIFE, I am hoping my prayers can bring about a win for Malick in the Director category.
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Re: 2011 Oscar Nominations

Post by HarryGoldfarb »

Sonic Youth wrote:If Octavia Spencer is the favorite to win Best Supporting Actress, then Viola Davis has to win Best Actress this year. How could she not? Awarding Spencer without awarding Davis, who's the emotional center of the movie, just feels wrong. Feels... racist, in fact.
I don't think so. This kind of statement reminds me of the Walk The Line situation, but I guess it is very different here. While I do think The Help is far from being a great film, it was very easy to see why Spencer has become the front-runner in her category (showy role, performed with great charisma). I can not say the same about Viola, a mix of Oprah and Whoopi in The Color Purple with a very debatable on-screen time. I simply wasn't that impressed by her.

As for McCarthy, I really think people can easily confuse a memorable ("easy to remember" for any reason) character with a great performance deserving of an Oscar nod. For that matter, Zach Galifianakis deserved a nod for The Hangover!!
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Re: 2011 Oscar Nominations

Post by Dien »

Tree of Life is in the race for film, director, and cinematography. I am pleased. It's also great to see Scorsese still on his game and the incredible Roony Mara getting a nod. I have no major complaints for this year's list of contenders.
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Re: 2011 Oscar Nominations

Post by The Original BJ »

Well, congratulations to Magilla for having faith for so long in Extremely Loud. I'm still stunned it managed to A) gather enough support to make it onto a list that didn't HAVE to have this many movies and B) leapfrog over any number of seemingly stronger candidates (Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Tinker Tailor, Ides of March, even Bridesmaids.) As I said immediately after its nomination was announced, you know whoever decided which order to reveal the Best Picture nominees in saved it for last for ultimate surprise value -- in my decade-plus of Oscar-watching, I don't think I've ever been as floored by a Best Picture nomination.

It's worth discussing what exactly this year's rule change accomplished for the Academy -- it appeared as though the "between 5 & 10" change was an attempt to limit the number of embarrassing place-filler nominees (like Blind Side) in years when recognition for ten movies wasn't merited. And yet, here we are, in a year that I don't think anyone considers a banner year (at least for mainstream movies), only one film shy of a ten-wide slate, and with Best Picture nominations for Extremely Loud and War Horse, two movies for which general enthusiasm seems pretty lukewarm. Sure, I'm thrilled The Tree of Life managed to hang on for that Best Picture nomination, which it clearly wouldn't have received in a five-wide slate...but I don't know if the tradeoff is worth it.

I think any outside chance The Help might have had as a Best Picture spoiler ended today. It missed a lot of nominations -- Screenplay, Song, Costume -- I'd thought well within reach. I honestly wonder if Moneyball might have even booted it from top five contention.

Obviously, the omissions of Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan just crushed me. But it's important to remember that great performances are their own rewards.

Happy for Gary Oldman's first nomination; not so happy about Damién Bichir's mention for a tv-level movie that I don't even think deserves Emmys.

As I wrote in my predictions, I had a hunch Albert Brooks would be omitted, but I couldn't quite predict it because I just couldn't come up with any other option I thought was strong enough. But he seemed to fit the bill of the critics' winner who got as far as the Globes, but whose SAG omission ultimately forecast bad news down the road. Now that Max von Sydow's been nominated, I have to say I think he could pull out a victory -- what makes this race exciting is the fact that Plummer will almost certainly take the SAG, but we won't know how much strength von Sydow has until that Oscar envelope is opened.

I know a lot of people in my real life are thrilled for Melissa McCarthy as recognition for a comic performance -- and believe me, I think she's really funny in Bridesmaids -- but it's hard for me to work up much enthusiasm for enough of these supporting actresses when Mulligan and Vanessa Redgrave, who tower over all of them, barely got any traction.

Can we just get rid of Best Original Song? I mean...two nominees? And THESE two? (I'd have thought "Life's a Happy Song" would have been the Muppets nominee.)

Nice that the animators didn't just default to Pixar...but it's not like Kung Fu Panda 2 was anything more than a totally rote, if well-animated, sequel. Arthur Christmas and Tintin were vastly superior, though of course, the latter likely suffered from a mo-cap blackball.

Goddamn, I really don't want to have to watch another Transformers movie.
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Re: 2011 Oscar Nominations

Post by jack »

What a depressingly shit list of nominees this year.

Only three of the nominees raised a smile from me when reading through them and they were The Tree of Life for director and picture and Gary Oldman.

Some of these nominations were to be expected, but the exclusions are almost too much to bear. Gore Verbinski is an Oscar nominee yet Michael Fassbender is not? Gore Ver-fucking-binski is an Oscar nominee yet Lynne Ramsay is not? Transformers has three fucking nominations and Drive has but one? As oppose to us watching Spielberg win his fourth Oscar for Tintin we'll have the agony of witnessing Gore Verbinski (of Pirates of the Caribbean 3 fame, no less) winning. In the same year Terrence Malick loses, I should add.

As for The Artist... Why is it receiving so much praise? If it wasn't a silent film it wouldn't be anywhere near the Best Picture category. Mid-way through I was bored, and at the end I thought it was only okay. I haven't a problem with Jean Dujardin's nod (I thought he was excellent), but director? Original screenplay? Of the nine Best Picture nominees I've still to watch Hugo, Midnight in Paris and Incredibly Load, Very Load, or whatever it's called. The Descendants was exactly what I thought it would be coming from Payne. It was a good film, but nothing more. Likewise for Moneyball(I, for one, find it rather hilarious that Jonah Hill is an Academy Award nominee). The Help and War Horse I enjoyed, but found them both far too saccharine. So, sight un-seen, my hope is that Hugo win's. Well, actually, I hope The Tree of Life win's, but that ain't gonna happen.

As for the rest, I don't care. I think on Oscar night I'll defrost the fridge or something.
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Re: 2011 Oscar Nominations

Post by anonymous1980 »

I'm guessing the answer to the question: Will the new voting system benefit divisive artsy films with passionate bases like The Tree of Life or widely-liked mediocre consensus films like The Help?

The answer: Both.
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Re: 2011 Oscar Nominations

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I'd like to propose a separate possibility w/r/t Demian Bichir. Might it not have been a case that, having been the first screener out of the gate to SAG voters that Bichir managed to pick up the momentum there? And might he not be an Oscar nominee now because SAG nominated him first? I'm betting that's the case. After the SAG mention, Bichir suddenly became a talked about shocker name (the only real shocker from SAG, I'd say) and that talk lead him towards being this year's only Hispanic Oscar acting nominee.
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Re: 2011 Oscar Nominations

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I'm intrigued by what the rule change did to the best picture slate. In the past two years of ten best picture nominees, we had a very high correlation with the screenplay category -- 8 or 9 matches. This year, with 9 nominees, we only have 5. Is the "Must be #1 on your ballot" factor responsible? Would we have had a significantly different best picture slate of ten if we'd gone by last year's rules?

Also: the PwC guys said their re-canvas of earlier years yielded slates ranging mostly from 6-8. Did we get an ungainly 9 this year because support was widely split -- or did people change the way they would normally have voted because they thought their votes wouldn't have registered otherwise?

Because of wondering all this, I'll only give 1/2 a cheer to Magilla's sustained boosterism for Extremely Loud. As far as I can see, the movie is a vanity nominee for best picture -- unsupported by any of the categories normally reflecting a contender, solely a result of the 5% qualifier. (To be fair, that's the only reason Tree of Life made it as well, and I'm perfectly content with that film's slating) And really, Magilla: a movie touted all year long by the powers that be is an "underdog"? Would you have called The Green Mile the same? (I do, however, share your relief that Bridesmaids didn't make the cut)

As for the rest...a muddle. Initial disappointment over Fassbender/Swinton/Brooks/Mulligan not making the cut was offset by happiness over Oldman/Malick (and, I presume, A Separation, though I haven't seen that yet).

SAG is once again a big wnner -- 17 of 20 acting nominees carried over, and the three replacements were all December releases that might not have been widely screened for the nominators.

As BJ said on SAG day, Bichir would have been a knockout surprise if today was the first time his name had come up. Now I view him as a nice enough guy getting a pat on the back for a minor, sentimental movie. And I'll hold him responsible for denying Fassbender his first crack at an Oscar.

When Close's name led off actress, I'm sure many, like me, thought we were in for a SAG repeat. But when Mara's name was subsequently uttered, "Tilda's gone" was my quick reassessment. Who's have thought SHE was the Mila Kunis of this year?

The theme for the supporting actor category is apparently Veteran Geezers in Movies No One Bothered to See. I'm apparently the only one here who appreciates the Jonah Hill nomination -- especially in that context, but also as a general matter. Any small chance the numerous vets will divide the sentimental vote?

Oh, and Kenneth Branagh is to the Oscars what Tommy Tune is to the Tonys: nominated now in five different categories (actor, supporting actor, director, screenplay, short film). Tune has Tony nods for lead actor/supporting actor/director/choreographer. (Actually, Harvey Fierstein is almost more impressive there, having won for both acting and writing in both plays and musicals)

Supporting actress now has a film with double representation for the 8th time in 12 years. This year's case is somewhat fluky (I doubt Chastain would have been cited if The Help were her only credit). But can anyone figure why it keeps happening in this category and nowhere else? (I believe 1991 was the last such case in supporting actor)

Best director is the one category I think most people got on the nose. Great for Malick. The picture/director nods for Tree of Life make Lubezki a genuine possibility in cinematography. The War Horse best picture nod means we'll have to sweat all the way.

I can't say I'm wild about Ides of March getting any notice, but better it than The Help -- which I always thought was a long-shot for either writing or directing.

The animators really had to stretch to keep out TinTin. But congratulations to them on proving they're not entirely Pixar's bitch.

The below-the-line nomination are, for the most part, quite pleasing -- I love Tinker Tailor getting score, though I lament its omission for art direction. Hugo's near clean sweep through these branches might indicate it has sleeper potential.

And The Descendants, despite the miss in supporting actress, remains alive thank to its editing nomination. I'm not quite sure how people can simultaneously rant about a film like this not specifically deserving an editing mention, and then be ready to declare it out of the best picture race for not getting it.
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Re: 2011 Oscar Nominations

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There's one thing that Artist has that Hugo doesn't. It's acting nominations. Best Picture going to a film without them is a rarity indeed, though not as uncommon in the last few years.

It's interesting to note that The Artist and Hugo were nominated in the same respective categories for 8 of the nominations. The two that Artist got that Hugo didn't was Actor and Supporting Actress. The three that Hugo picked up were Sound Mixing, Sound Editing and Visual Effects. I'd say Artist still feels like it has one up on Hugo even being down one nomination.
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Re: 2011 Oscar Nominations

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Big Magilla wrote:
rolotomasi99 wrote:The Ugly

You guys! I held out for so long on my prediction of EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE being nominated for Best Picture and Max Von Sydow for Supporting Actor. You all kept telling me how stupid I was being, and I finally gave in to peer pressure. I know I only have myself to blame, but the intense ridicule just got to me. Now I missed out on my bragging rights because I removed those two from my predictions list in the final moments. Well, I guess all the glory goes to Big Magilla.
Nah, we can share. I took both out of my next to last predictions, but put von Sydow back in my final predictions. The Bst Picture nod surprised me after all the negativity, but I do believe teh film's popularity is on the upswing and von Sydow has a real shot.
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Re: 2011 Oscar Nominations

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I think this comes close to sealing the deal for Best Picture. It's The Artist's to lose. Hugo may have more nominations, maybe it could even win more Oscars. But ten nominations is a mighty total. Both films are about the love of movies and the pride of making them. Both films are magical in their own way. But watching The Artist actually feels like you've gone to the movies (even if it only felt like the first half of a double-bill). Watching Hugo, with its stolid pacing and metaphors-by-the-dozen, felt like going to the library.

When someone asked a week ago if Scorsese could win the Oscar in a Picture/Director split, I entertained horrifying thoughts of The Descendants winning Best Picture for such an eventuality to happen. And why not? It had a very respectable precursor run. It won the Globes, the NYFCC, etc. It's finding a bigger audience than Hugo or The Artist combined, etc. And now it has only five nominations, Woodley not among them (but Editing is, for god's sake). I suppose I should've expected as much. What else could it have reasonably been nominated for? But now that the nominations are out, the meagerness of The Descendants vs. the many of The Artist feels very great indeed. So, cross that option out. Maybe I could entertain the notion of an Artist/Scorsese split, but I'm not counting on it.

If Octavia Spencer is the favorite to win Best Supporting Actress, then Viola Davis has to win Best Actress this year. How could she not? Awarding Spencer without awarding Davis, who's the emotional center of the movie, just feels wrong. Feels... racist, in fact. Does the Academy really want to keep that white, liberal guilt pent up for another year?

Swinton and Fassbender were snubbed for the same reason... their movies.

And it just occured to me that there's one more snubbee that didn't make any impact in the Oscar noms or the precursors, and that's the new Mission Impossible. It was a huge hit, critics liked it... why should Transformers get sound and F/X noms but not this film?
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Re: 2011 Oscar Nominations

Post by Big Magilla »

rolotomasi99 wrote:The Ugly

You guys! I held out for so long on my prediction of EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE being nominated for Best Picture and Max Von Sydow for Supporting Actor. You all kept telling me how stupid I was being, and I finally gave in to peer pressure. I know I only have myself to blame, but the intense ridicule just got to me. Now I missed out on my bragging rights because I removed those two from my predictions list in the final moments. Well, I guess all the glory goes to Big Magilla.
Nah, we can share. I took both out of my next to last predictions, but put von Sydow back in my final predictions. The Bst Picture nod surprised me after all the negativity, but I do believe teh film's popularity is on the upswing and von Sydow has a real shot.
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Re: 2011 Oscar Nominations

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Sonic Youth wrote:Two of the biggest recent sensations in the publishing world - The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo and The Help - shut out of the Best Adapted Screenplay category.
Yet both yielded Lead Actress nominations.
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Re: 2011 Oscar Nominations

Post by rolotomasi99 »

The Good

All THE TREE OF LIFE nominations, particularly Best Picture and Director.

Gary Oldman is finally an Oscar nominee. I have always admired how Oldman has been able to completely transform himself in his roles and become unrecognizable, but I guess the Academy preferred him in one of the subtlest performances I have ever seen him give. I am just so happy he was nominated, as well as TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY for Adapted Screenplay and Score.

A SEPARATION being nominated both for Foreign Language film and Original Screenplay. I have not seen the film, but I am just happy when the Academy recognizes cinema from outside the English speaking world in other categories.

THE HELP not having as strong a presence as I feared. I am certainly happy Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer were nominated, but I truly feared the film would show up in categories like Director, Editing, Score, Costume, etc. I wish Jessica Chastain had been nominated for THE TREE OF LIFE instead, but I begrudgingly accept her nomination for this film instead. I am really surprised it was not nominated for Adapted Screenplay. Clearly only the actors branch was all that impressed with the film.

HUGO having the most nominations. I do not think it was the best film of the year, but I do think it was a wonderful film which deserves to be seen. Hopefully being the most nominated movie will encourage more people to check it out in theatres.

DRIVE not being completely snubbed, but only one nomination is an insult.

The Bad

Complete shut-out of SHAME and J. EDGAR. Two of the best lead actor performances and two very strong supporting performances were snubbed. Absolutely disgusting. I am going to resist making the charge that the Academy has issues with sexuality, but this is really disappointing. I do applaud them for their ALBERT NOBBS nominations, but it does not make up for excluding these four wonderful performances.

Tilda Swinton being replaced by Rooney Mara. I have not seen THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, but there is no way her performance is greater than what Swinton did in WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN. Who would have thought SAG voters would be more adventurous in their definition of great acting?

THE TREE OF LIFE not being nominated for Special Effects. Is the VFX branch telling us their category is just about largest budget rather than the artistry of visual effects? That is the only reason I can think of for choosing REAL STEEL and TRANSFORMERS 3 instead of THE TREE OF LIFE.

The Ugly

You guys! I held out for so long on my prediction of EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE being nominated for Best Picture and Max Von Sydow for Supporting Actor. You all kept telling me how stupid I was being, and I finally gave in to peer pressure. I know I only have myself to blame, but the intense ridicule just got to me. Now I missed out on my bragging rights because I removed those two from my predictions list in the final moments. Well, I guess all the glory goes to Big Magilla.

The Song category. What the hell? This is why I never include this category in my predictions. Were the other submitted songs that horrible? Were these two all that wonderful? Why do we even have this category? I used to think it was just about having famous musicians perform at the show, but as others pointed out they missed the opportunity to have several big stars perform by snubbing their songs. Very strange.

THE DESCENDANTS nominated for Editing. You know, if the editing branch does not take their category seriously, then we should just eliminate it. A film should be nominated here because it has the most artistic use of film editing, not too pad its nomination total and boost its Best Picture chances. DRIVE, THE TREE OF LIFE, TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY, WAR HORSE, HANNA, SOURCE CODE, THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, and several other films this year had far more interesting editing than THE DESCENDANTS. I do not believe slow and talky films should not be nominated for their editing, after all I am glad MONEYBALL was nominated and think TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY should have been nominated too; but THE DESCEDANTS actually had some of the laziest and odd editing choices of all the Best Picture nominees. I do not know what the hell is wrong with this branch but after last year’s INCEPTION snub and this year’s inclusion of THE DESCENDANTS I am thinking we should tell the members to shape up or there will be consequences. If I it was up to me, I would have the editing branch vote publicly, and anyone who voted for THE DESCENDANTS would be kicked out of the Academy. Yes, I am that angry about this ridiculous nomination.
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