Oscars

[jsglow]

I think Olivia just said she got her dress at Younkers in Green Bay.

[4everwarriors]

Don't ya know anythin' 'bout Stella McCartney, hey?

[4everwarriors]

Waitin' on Heidi Klum or Olivia Wilde to fall outta theirs, ai na?

[jesmu84]

Welp.. Chris Rock monologue joke subjects:

- lynching/"grandma hanging from a tree"
- cops shooting black people going to the movies
- burning crosses
- hollywood is racist
- liberals don't hire black people either

Needless to say, it was awesome. Hope everyone in the theater was squirming.

[Lennys Tap]

Welp.. Chris Rock monologue joke subjects:

- lynching/"grandma hanging from a tree"
- cops shooting black people going to the movies
- burning crosses
- hollywood is racist
- liberals don't hire black people either

Needless to say, it was awesome. Hope everyone in the theater was squirming.

He was hilarious.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Welp.. Chris Rock monologue joke subjects:

- lynching/"grandma hanging from a tree"
- cops shooting black people going to the movies
- burning crosses
- hollywood is racist
- liberals don't hire black people either

Needless to say, it was awesome. Hope everyone in the theater was squirming.

I was at the Ducks Kings hockey game.

I think Jamie Foxx said it best   #actbetter    http://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/feb/24/jamie-foxx-tells-african-american-stars-to-act-better-oscars-so-white-diversity-row

Got home from the game, my wife was watching the parties on TV and every person interviewed said they thought the monologue was funny. I doubt there was any squirming going on. 

[martyconlonontherun]

Welp.. Chris Rock monologue joke subjects:

- lynching/"grandma hanging from a tree"
- cops shooting black people going to the movies
- burning crosses
- hollywood is racist
- liberals don't hire black people either

Needless to say, it was awesome. Hope everyone in the theater was squirming.

Thought he did a great job of 1. Keeping it funny, 2. Recognizing there is a problem, 3. even though there is a problem the hatred seems misplaced

[Coleman]

Thought Chris Rock was great.

[mu03eng]

Love Chris Rock, thought he was funny and pointed without being over the top. Also thought it was great that he pointed out the hypocrisy of having male and female categories.

Not really sure what the Stacy Dash thing was but everything else was great. Only time I've ever watched the Oscars start to finish (though watch is a loose term, was reading a book unless Chris Rock or one of the Olivia's was on stage).

[ChicosBailBonds]

Not all agree, including Shaun King.  So sorry I missed it. I'm guessing the event tanked in the ratings as the event has for much of the last decade.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/oscars/king-chris-rock-oscar-opener-lynching-jokes-article-1.2547017

[WellsstreetWanderer]

Did something else again this year
If diversity is so important to some why have black awards? Jamie Fox wss right on to dis Will Smith. To win you have to have movies and roles with a broad appeal .

[Pakuni]

Did something else again this year
If diversity is so important to some why have black awards? Jamie Fox wss right on to dis Will Smith. To win you have to have movies and roles with a broad appeal .

Yeah, that's sort of the point. Black actors are rarely cast in roles and movies with a broad appeal.

[mu03eng]

Yeah, that's sort of the point. Black actors are rarely cast in roles and movies with a broad appeal.

Right, and this is what a lot of people miss. The academy may or may not be bigoted but they are only able to select from the movies that were made and the issue truly resides at the place where movies and casting is made.

What will be interesting to watch is that this is all subjective and not measurable in terms of casting actors into roles. How do you empirically say that Idiris Elba would be better in Revenant than Leo D or any other casting decision? Also, a lot of it is the types of movies Hollywood makes, are they making movies that people will watch or are they making movies that they think they will want but their perspective is off (aka. does Hollywood think America is a bunch of racist hicks so only make movies that racist hicks will like).

One of the things that will be fascinating is how Hollywood adapts source material and addresses race as part of that. Take the Martian for example. I don't recall anything in the book that explicitly stated that Mark Watney was white, so could they have cast a person of color into that role? However, the book clearly called Vincent Kapoor out as Indian, but was played by an African American actor in the movie...interesting casting. Or when they cast the role of Rich Purnell, they went African American which given the character was very much against stereotype but the casting was brilliant(admittedly my favorite character from the book) as the actor was fantastic.

It will be interesting to see how choices are made as things move forward within Hollywood.

[CTWarrior]

Did something else again this year
If diversity is so important to some why have black awards? Jamie Fox wss right on to dis Will Smith. To win you have to have movies and roles with a broad appeal .

I don't agree with this.  How much broad appeal did "Room" have?  Brie Larson won for that.  "Revenant" had broad appeal precisely because Leonardo DiCaprio starred in it.  It's about a fur trapper in the early/mid 1800s, for goodness sake.  It was also quite well done.  The two big movies last year, "Birdman" and "A Boy's Life" were unwatchable pompous nonsense that were largely ignored by audiences.  Movies have to have a prestige factor (or be about entertainment), and for whatever reason, most popular black actors/actresses like Jamie Foxx, Will Smith, Kevin Hart and even Denzel Washington tend to star in commercial vehicles rather than prestige pieces. For my money Foxx, Smith and Washington are very good actors, and Kevin Hart is ridiculously likable.

[StillAWarrior]

Right, and this is what a lot of people miss. The academy may or may not be bigoted but they are only able to select from the movies that were made and the issue truly resides at the place where movies and casting is made.

I haven't seen too many of the movies, so I'm curious about one example I heard people complaining about.  Some complained that Stallone had no business getting a nomination, but that Jordan certainly would have been a deserving nominee.  Is that true?  If so, that one is on the Academy, and not the filmmakers.

I'm not trying to disagree with your overall point, and I do agree.  It would be just one example.

[Coleman]

I haven't seen too many of the movies, so I'm curious about one example I heard people complaining about.  Some complained that Stallone had no business getting a nomination, but that Jordan certainly would have been a deserving nominee.  Is that true?  If so, that one is on the Academy, and not the filmmakers.

I'm not trying to disagree with your overall point, and I do agree.  It would be just one example.

I agree with that specific criticism. That one was on the Academy. That was one legitimate snub this year.

However I think the bigger problem is the systemic lack of lead minority roles, which is outside of the Academy's control (unless the members of the Academy are the same people making those decisions...I have no idea who is in the Academy).

EDIT: According to wikipedia the Academy is made up of people in the film industry, so it is really the same people. So I think you CAN legitimately blame the Academy, or Hollywood as a whole.

[CTWarrior]

I agree with that specific criticism. That one was on the Academy. That was one legitimate snub this year.

However I think the bigger problem is the systemic lack of lead minority roles, which is outside of the Academy's control (unless the members of the Academy are the same people making those decisions...I have no idea who is in the Academy).

EDIT: According to wikipedia the Academy is made up of people in the film industry, so it is really the same people. So I think you CAN legitimately blame the Academy, or Hollywood as a whole.

You really think that was a legitimate snub?  Did you see the movie?  I think Stallone gave the better of the two performances (very good vs. adequate) in that movie and he was in a supporting role, which is a little easier to get a nomination for than a lead role.  Who would you eliminate to give Jordan a lead actor nomination?  I would have given a nomination to Will Smith or Idris Elba before Jordan.  I think Ryan Gosling gave a better, more enjoyable performance in The Big Short than any of them, for example, and no one was complaining about him not getting nominated.

[Coleman]

You really think that was a legitimate snub?  Did you see the movie?  I think Stallone gave the better of the two performances (very good vs. adequate) in that movie and he was in a supporting role, which is a little easier to get a nomination for than a lead role.  Who would you eliminate to give Jordan a lead actor nomination?  I would have given a nomination to Will Smith or Idris Elba before Jordan.  I think Ryan Gosling gave a better, more enjoyable performance in The Big Short than any of them, for example, and no one was complaining about him not getting nominated.

I guess my point was that he was just as deserving as Stallone, who was not deserving at all. But to your question, he was more deserving of a nomination than Matt Damon.

[mu03eng]

I guess my point was that he was just as deserving as Stallone, who was not deserving at all. But to your question, he was more deserving of a nomination than Matt Damon.

See, this gets into the subjective part that makes it so tough to have a legitimate comparison. I think Michael B Jordan should have gotten a nomination, but I would in no way say he was better than Damon. What do you base your statement on?

[Benny B]

Chris Rock was tremendous.  He has to be the only person in the entire world who can talk about race in a balanced manner yet keep his audience at ease.

Or when they cast the role of Rich Purnell, they went African American which given the character was very much against stereotype but the casting was brilliant(admittedly my favorite character from the book) as the actor was fantastic.

Donald Glover (no relation to Danny Glover), better known as Troy, the on-screen BFF for six seasons (and a Movie?) to Abed Nadir, played by Danny Pudi, MU alum.

[Coleman]

See, this gets into the subjective part that makes it so tough to have a legitimate comparison. I think Michael B Jordan should have gotten a nomination, but I would in no way say he was better than Damon. What do you base your statement on?

I just don't think it was that great of a performance. I enjoyed the Martian, but I don't think it was Oscar nomination-worthy in any category, except maybe in some of the special effects categories. It was hard for me to take the movie seriously with Kristin Wiig being given a serious role. It was a fun movie. Like Star Wars. 

[Benny B]

I guess my point was that he was just as deserving as Stallone, who was not deserving at all. But to your question, he was more deserving of a nomination than Matt Damon.

Listen, I am just as happy as anyone else that we didn't wake up to moniker of "two-time Oscar winner Matt Damon," but he absolutely deserved a nomination for The Martian... 99.9% of people are incapable of even fathoming what would be going through their head in that setting and yet, Damon executed it beyond anyone's expectations.

Then again, maybe the expectations were set pretty low, and so his genius was merely a comparative illusion.  Nevertheless, I still think it will be impossible for him to top his performance in Team America: World Police.

[MU82]

I thoroughly enjoyed Chris Rock. He took shots at all the right people and concepts.

As others have said, one of the things minority actors have complained about is when whites (specifically Brits, it seems) have been cast in roles as Asians, Indians, Egyptians, etc. Hell, even as blacks.

There was pretty considerable uproar when word leaked that Elba was the next likely Bond. Many also were unhappy with the prominent black Storm Trooper in Star Wars.

I have seen many interviews in which producers and directors have admitted that whites were chosen for roles because of fear that the same movie with a black lead might have suffered at the box office.

I'm not pretending to have answers. I don't like quota systems, either.

[mu03eng]

I just don't think it was that great of a performance. I enjoyed the Martian, but I don't think it was Oscar nomination-worthy in any category, except maybe in some of the special effects categories. It was hard for me to take the movie seriously with Kristin Wiig being given a serious role. It was a fun movie. Like Star Wars.

Flip Damon for DiCarpio, is that even 50% as entertaining of a movie? And why can't fun movies be Oscar worthy? Why does an Oscar wining movie have to be "serious" and/or "angsty"?

[Coleman]

Flip Damon for DiCarpio, is that even 50% as entertaining of a movie? And why can't fun movies be Oscar worthy? Why does an Oscar wining movie have to be "serious" and/or "angsty"?

Its not just that it wasn't serious or angsty. It just wasn't a great film. I thought the video journal was a huge crutch, both from a screenwriting and acting perspective. Why do you have to tell me everything you're doing? Just act. Tom Hanks didn't leave a journal of every thought he had in Cast Away. I know he had Wilson, but it didn't feel like as big of a crutch, or at least as blatant of one.

It wasn't a terrible movie. I enjoyed it. I just wasn't that impressed.