Honorary Oscars

[Reza]

I was thinking about Mel Brooks and the announcement of the Honorary award for him by the Academy.

At age 97.

Why would they decide to honour somebody at age 97? He might not even live to attend the ceremony in November. And if he is around can he even attend? Why couldn't they give it to Brooks when he was 80 or even 75?

Maureen O'Hara attended to get her Honorary Oscar.....but in a wheelchair. Most winners die a year or two after receiving their awards.

I wish the Academy would re-think their strategy. They should maybe start giving out the award to people who are 70 or 75 instead of waiting till they are close to a 100 or infirm. Let them at least bask in the glory of their win for some years before they pass.

Harrison Ford, at 80 plus, deserves it now instead of when he is 90. Ditto Leslie Caron who is already in her 90s.

[Reza]

Reading about Angela Bassett made me think of what happens when an Honorary Oscar is given to someone still active. For example, both Henry Fonda and Paul Newman won their Best Actor award the year after they received an Honorary Oscar.

Fonda, at 76, was certainly due. On Golden Pond in 1981 was kind of a fluke. His career had basically run out by 1980 by the looks of the parts he had been getting during the last decade - supporting roles or cameos.

Newman got his Honorary Oscar in 1985 at age 60. He was still appearing in leading roles but he had received 7 nominations by 1985 without winning - the most recent being in 1981 and 1982. He would not only win the Best Actor Oscar in 1986 but the Hersholt in 1993 followed by two further acting nods.

Both actors had distinguished careers with countless classics to their name.

Go through Angela Bassett's filmography and see how distinguished her career has been in comparison. Getting an Honorary Oscar for one or two so called memorable films is seriously absurd. Nobody is dissing Bassett but its clear why she was chosen and the Academy needs to stop doing that.

[Greg]

Reading about Angela Bassett made me think of what happens when an Honorary Oscar is given to someone still active. For example, both Henry Fonda and Paul Newman won their Best Actor award the year after they received an Honorary Oscar.

[OscarGuy]

Bassett is 64. In ten years, she would be very worthy of honoring. Right now, it smacks of apologia and that's never a positive sign.

[Okri]

I think it's dumb to give an Honorary Oscar to a man who has two Oscars (IMDb doesn't list it, but he has a Short Film Oscar from the 60's; he's talked about it in interviews) already and is an EGOT winner.

I'm mixed. For many of our greatest, the whole is truly more than the sum of their parts. I get why one would side with those less feted, but I'm fine with it. As Tee says, much of Brooks' memorable work came after his win[s]

[dws1982]

Maybe we shouldn't be so quick to shit on Black women being honored.

[mlrg]

the Academy twisted their rules for obvious reasons. Just as they have now done with Bassett and earlier with Euzhan Palcy. All "desperate" choices when more deserving individuals could have been recognised instead.

Absolutely. Palcy’s choice was appalling and Basset’s can even be considered as an insult to Jamie Lee Curtis.

[Reza]

Cicely Tyson was a legend in her 90s. She also had a long stage career - winning a Tony for The Trip to Bountiful in 2013. Her TV roles including The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, Roots, A Woman Called Moses, and The Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All were legendary. Her mixed media career was closer to Angela Lansbury's than Angela Bassett's.

I totally agree Tyson was a legend and a magnificent actor.....but on tv and on stage. Apart from Sounder name anything else that she did on the big screen that was memorable. The Honorary Oscar is for a distinguished career on the big screen. And while Tyson's career matched Lansbury on tv and on the stage there is absolutely no comparison with the latter's accomplishments on the big screen.

In hindsight its nice that Tyson has an Honorary Oscar but the Academy twisted their rules for obvious reasons. Just as they have now done with Bassett and earlier with Euzhan Palcy. All "desperate" choices when more deserving individuals could have been recognised instead.

[Big Magilla]

In what world is Angela Basset more deserving than Glenn Close, Harrison Ford, Catherine Deneuve, Claire Denis, Ridley Scott, Ed Harris, etc… etc… it really looks like an apology award

Variety's Clayton Davis is positively gushing over the choice. Says she has been a beloved star for over 40 years, a description that would better fit Glenn Close. Aside from What's Love Got to Do with It, and her recent success with the Black Panther films, her most notable work has been on TV.

One acclaimed film and most notable work on tv sounds awfully familiar.

Cicely Tyson!!

So who gets one next year? Jada Pinkett Smith?

Cicely Tyson was a legend in her 90s. She also had a long stage career - winning a Tony for The Trip to Bountiful in 2013. Her TV roles including The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, Roots, A Woman Called Moses, and The Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All were legendary. Her mixed media career was closer to Angela Lansbury's than Angela Bassett's.

I like Bassett. I liked her performance in What's Love Got to Do with It more than Holly Hunter's performance in The Piano, but when the press throws around phrases like "long overdue for an Oscar" they are being ridiculous. It's obvious that this is a consolation prize for not winning over Jamie Lee Curtis three months ago. It might have raised fewer eyebrows if it came a year or two down the road. I mean how many more times do they have to pass over Glenn Close for a competitive Oscar before they say enough is enough and give her the makeup Oscar we've been expecting for years?

[Reza]

In what world is Angela Basset more deserving than Glenn Close, Harrison Ford, Catherine Deneuve, Claire Denis, Ridley Scott, Ed Harris, etc… etc… it really looks like an apology award

Variety's Clayton Davis is positively gushing over the choice. Says she has been a beloved star for over 40 years, a description that would better fit Glenn Close. Aside from What's Love Got to Do with It, and her recent success with the Black Panther films, her most notable work has been on TV.

One acclaimed film and most notable work on tv sounds awfully familiar.

Cicely Tyson!!

So who gets one next year? Jada Pinkett Smith?

[mlrg]

I think it's dumb to give an Honorary Oscar to a man who has two Oscars (IMDb doesn't list it, but he has a Short Film Oscar from the 60's; he's talked about it in interviews) already and is an EGOT winner. I get it with Bassett, although it does feel a little bit like, "we're sorry about Supporting Actress this past year".

Only in recent years has a former Oscar win been a deterrent to an honorary award. It shouldn't be an obstacle. Brooks only has one Oscar. The Oscar for The Critic (1963) went to the director for Best Short Subject, not its writer and star.

Take it up with Brooks. Once again, Brooks himself has mentioned in interviews that he has a short film Oscar. It may not be credited to him on the Oscar website or the Academy archives, but in one interview (I think it was an EW Oscar preview) he mentioned where he kept both of his Oscars. (It was a drawer in his office or something.)

Considering that he is Anne Bancroft’s widower he actually might have three

[dws1982]

I think it's dumb to give an Honorary Oscar to a man who has two Oscars (IMDb doesn't list it, but he has a Short Film Oscar from the 60's; he's talked about it in interviews) already and is an EGOT winner. I get it with Bassett, although it does feel a little bit like, "we're sorry about Supporting Actress this past year".

Only in recent years has a former Oscar win been a deterrent to an honorary award. It shouldn't be an obstacle. Brooks only has one Oscar. The Oscar for The Critic (1963) went to the director for Best Short Subject, not its writer and star.

Take it up with Brooks. Once again, Brooks himself has mentioned in interviews that he has a short film Oscar. It may not be credited to him on the Oscar website or the Academy archives, but in one interview (I think it was an EW Oscar preview) he mentioned where he kept both of his Oscars. (It was a drawer in his office or something.)

[Big Magilla]

In what world is Angela Basset more deserving than Glenn Close, Harrison Ford, Catherine Deneuve, Claire Denis, Ridley Scott, Ed Harris, etc… etc… it really looks like an apology award

Variety's Clayton Davis is positively gushing over the choice. Says she has been a beloved star for over 40 years, a description that would better fit Glenn Close. Aside from What's Love Got to Do with It, and her recent success with the Black Panther films, her most notable work has been on TV.

[Big Magilla]

I think it's dumb to give an Honorary Oscar to a man who has two Oscars (IMDb doesn't list it, but he has a Short Film Oscar from the 60's; he's talked about it in interviews) already and is an EGOT winner. I get it with Bassett, although it does feel a little bit like, "we're sorry about Supporting Actress this past year".

Only in recent years has a former Oscar win been a deterrent to an honorary award. It shouldn't be an obstacle. Brooks only has one Oscar. The Oscar for The Critic (1963) went to the director for Best Short Subject, not its writer and star.

[Big Magilla]

Carol Littleton represents a branch not often considered for honoraries. Being female and having been responsible for ET are probably the main reasons she was chosen. But she had a pretty decent run of best picture nominees in the 80s. And she's 90 years old, so the time is now.

Good God, Tee! Carol Littleton is only 80, not 90. Don't rush it! A good choice, although being married to a former Academy president certainly helps. She has been married to John Bailey, also 80, since 1972.

E.T. may be her biggest claim to fame, but she also edited Body Heat, Places in the Heart, The Accidental Tourist, and White Palace and although she hasn't edited a theatrical film since 2015, she's edited several TV movies since.