Oscars 2014

http://variety.com/2013/film/awards/oscars-extend-voting-privileges-1200453506/

Voting in all 24 Oscar categories will be open for the first time in 2013-14 to the entire membership of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Academy prexy Hawk Koch announced at Saturday's tri-city membership summit.

Specifically, the Academy's Board of Governors approved a plan that will allow members to see the nominated documentary shorts and foreign language films either at a theatrical screening or on DVD. Prior to the final round of voting, the Academy will provide members with DVDs of the nominated films in five categories: foreign-language film, feature documentary, documentary short subject, animated short and live-action short.

In previous years, members had been required to see the nominated films in certain categories in a theater in order to vote.

"This change continues our efforts to expand our members' participation in all aspects of the Academy's activities including, of course, voting for the Oscars," said Koch. "Building on this past season's 90% record voter turnout, we want to give our members as many opportunities as possible to see these great films and vote in these categories next year."

Next year's Oscars will take place March 2. The nomination processes for all categories remain unchanged.

Foreign Lang Film could be even more of an abomination?

No more than the nominations typically allow, at least.

(Still shocked that something as good and not about the Holocaust as A Separation managed a win.)

Yeah, I don't think it can get much worse. It's mainly the nomination process that is broken, right?

Meh, some truly dece films have managed nominations in the last half-decade, even if the winners have remained spotty.

I don't think that is true... At least not compared to what could have been nominated. Uncle Boonmee not even beeing nominated is a blemish on everything, ever.

nonlinear WTF films not often nominated

(Last year at Marienbad only for script)

Yeah, I find it hard to get worked up about something as abstruse as Uncle Boonmee going unrecognized by the Academy.

No, you're right... And I was making a list of other films that should be nominated, but it is stuff like Mysteries of Lisbon, Police Adjective and Closed Curtain (which I'm going out on a limb and predicting won't be put forth by Iran...). None of it would ever have a chance of being nominated. I guess it's just that the academy has terrible taste, but since most English language cinema is crap anyway, it's hardly as noticeable as it is in this category.

Certified Copy not getting nominated is a blemish. Uncle Boonmee not getting nominated is a function of nature.

I guess it's just that the academy has terrible taste, but since most English language cinema is crap anyway, it's hardly as noticeable as it is in this category.

And so you clicked on this thread because ... ?

Oh come on. Does anyone here care about the Oscars because of the movies? It's all about the politicking and the headsmacking and the snarking. Whether Argo is a better movie than Life of Pi, who cares?

So then you agree that, within the narrow scope of Oscar eligibility, it's cool that as of late stuff like Revanche and Dogtooth and The Milk of Sorrow got nominations in place of, say, more crap like Tsotsi or Želary?

Are the foreign noms still limited to whatever is submitted by the country of origin?

Yeah, that's one rule that I think has to change, but then I'm sort of torn because it at least gives a lot of films that aren't otherwise expected to ever get distributed in the U.S. a shot at the promotional boost needed to make that happen.

So then you agree that, within the narrow scope of Oscar eligibility, it's cool that as of late stuff like Revanche and Dogtooth and The Milk of Sorrow got nominations in place of, say, more crap like Tsotsi or Želary?

― cacao nibs (Eric H.), 6. maj 2013 18:03 (51 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Well, I'm ashamed to say that I haven't seen anyone of those, but Tsotsi... But we were discussing whether nominations or winners are the worst, and are they that much better than winners like Amour or A Separation? I mean yeah, In a Better World is a blemish, and I say that as a Dane who has refused to watch anything by Susanne Bier since Den Eneste Ene. But that's just one year. Is it worse than The King's Speech?

So, not to be glib, but Fruitvale Station is gonna win it all now, right?

Indie Spirit maybe.

Probably right. And fittingly, the oldest, whitest guy around is on deck to win best actor.

Bruce Dern?

Redford.

2nd oldest whitest Sam Shepard for Best Supporting Actor, maybe.

Of course, it could also go to I. Elba for playing Mandela.

Ellen DeGeneres to host.

Better than at least one recent alternative.

The mix of camp and prestige-tedium these two reviews convey in juxtaposition means we have this year's Hitchcock.

Kate Muir - The Times:
"There are a number of lines you never, ever want to hear Diana, Princess of Wales say, and they include: 'I love feeling your hand there', and 'Yes, I've been a mad bitch'. Even when these lines are delivered by the fragrant Naomi Watts ["the fragrant Naomi Watts? What the fuck?], doing her level best with a squirmingly embarrassing script, this film is still atrocious and intrusive."

Christopher Tookey - Daily Mail
"The trouble is that in being so careful and eager not to offend, the film is a more than a little tedious, with a lightweight, romantic storyline that fails to surprise, let alone sustain a movie that lasts nearly two hours. It has the slightness of a Barbara Cartland novella, but the love affair is treated with ponderous solemnity, as though it were another Gone With The Wind. It's slow and terribly, terribly dull."

had no memory of Ellen hosting before btw.

as for Di, at least she's got a movie as unimportant as she was.

Governors Awards to actress Angela Lansbury, actor-writer-director Steve Martin, costume designer Piero Tosi, and actress-director-humanitarian Angelina Jolie.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/academys-governors-awards-selections-generate-622346

HR characteristically omits All of Me as one of Martin's "big" films.

Someone made the claim that Martin has more critics' awards than any other actor who has yet to receive even so much as a single Oscar nomination (with the obv caveat that we're talking about the pre-utter madness era when there were only really four major crix groups -- New York, LA, Nat'l Society and Nat'l Board of Review). Too lazy to see if the math checks out, but he did win two awards each for Roxanne and for All of Me.

yeah bashing Martin for getting a special Oscar is anti-comedy bias at its finest. Bill Murray shd be next.

(obv they are never giving Elaine May one for her 1.000 average of fighting with studios)

Cross-posted from 12 Years thread...

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9662243/is-12-years-slave-really-best-picture-lock
http://www.indiewire.com/article/toronto-film-festival-announcing-2013-award-winners

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9972335/the-best-screenplay-problem

Waiting for the newest Harris Oscar column has replaced waiting for the next round of Criterion announcements.

I don't get it, I had to wait til the 7th graf to read yet again how "gorgeous" hetero fight scenes based on the Hawke-Thurman marriage are.

http://www-deadline-com.vimg.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/450173107__131117100312.jpg

http://www.deadline.com/2013/11/oscars-governors-awards-honor-best-of-the-best-and-provides-lots-of-opportunity-for-schmoozing/

[requisite link to Grantland columnist redacted]

Also, since we're on the subject, I'm not sure I've seen such unwavering unanimity this early over what the five nominees are expected to be in the 2 lead categories. Virtually every outlet is pretty set in stone on these 10:

Dern
Ejiofor
Hanks
McConaughey
Redford

Blanchett
Bullock
Dench
Streep
Thompson

I mean, Amy Adams aside, there isn't one single potential spoiler in the distaff category that doesn't come from a film that was only seen by roughly (short term) 12 people.

you know what i'm most excited about this year? The show is March 2, and spring training games will already have begun.

I heard Judi Dench is a frontrunner there too.

she might be able to break inro the Twins' rotation.

Blanchett
Bullock
Dench
Streep
Thompson

It shows just how much my attention to current film has dropped off that I don't even know what films Blanchett, Dench and (Emma?) Thompson are in the running for.

like it matters! Blanchett's is the only one that's been out (for months)

Oh right, that Woody-does-Streetcar thing.

It is "interesting" that a feat that until last year had never been managed -- five previous winners in a single acting category -- will be repeated this year.

The next five in that category, so far as I can see it:

Amy Adams, American Hustle
Bérénice Bejo, The Past
Julie Delpy, Before Midnight
Adèle Exarchopoulos, Blue is the Warmest Color
Brie Larson, Short Term 12

she might be able to break inro the Twins' rotation

They're going to need a catcher.

I'm sure Bullock's knees are in better shape than Mauer's.

Her character in Gravity is also a better conversationalist.

so yeah, Harris is right, not having this on TV is idiocy.

http://www.grantland.com/blog/hollywood-prospectus/post/_/id/92883/angelina-jolie-steve-martin-and-how-the-academy-shot-itself-in-the-foot-again

I actually like the idea of having a separate telecast, though, a la the Kennedy Center Honors. Not that it would get remotely dece ratings, but at least it's there.

yeah, even tho it still smacks of "let's ghettoize anything that didn't happen this year."

If they cut out the tributes to Les Miz and get the ceremony down to less than 3 hours, I'll call it a win-win.

https://twitter.com/j_christley/status/402856304433438720

clearly there's going to be a comic montage where Bullock and Redford are in radio contact, right? and probably Ellen.

Wiseman snubbed on doc feature shortlist. Killing, Polley, Pussy Riot, Teller, orcas make it.

http://variety.com/2013/film/news/oscars-15-documentary-features-make-shortlist-1200913986/#

orcas make it

Orcas will also take it.

Just watched the Polley last night and, at the risk of getting offered a milkshake by Alfred, I didn't see the big appeal.

Slow curtain, the end.

unless by "big appeal" you meant "It won't attract a lot of Oscar ceremony types," sure.

SWT is not as adventurous -- except, you know, for her -- as Act of Killing, or even Let the Fire Burn (also ignored).

I think orcas may suffer from already being aired on CNN? Rooting for The Square.

at the risk of Morbs hurling a milkshake in MY face I thought "Frontline" would have done a hell of a job with Blackfish's material.

I mean, the big formal reveal did nothing for me and the observation that our stories make up the touch, the feel, the fabric of our lives is universal but also a little bit so-what. Actually agreed a little bit with her biological father that the equal-weight strategy would result in something more accurate but shallow, whereas honing in would've been deeper if more potentially incorrect.

The reveal as Big Revelation is waaaaayyy overrated. I said in my review that I almost missed it and it wouldn't have made a difference.

Yeah, she underplays it to the point of making one wonder why she bothered concealing it in the first place.

I think you guys are talking about two different "reveals." (man, I hate screenwriting AND sportstalk radio nouns entering the vernacular)

I have six documentaries ahead of Blackfish, if Room 237 counts, with Wiseman, Pussy Riot, Death and Teller yet to come. I like it best on a purely visceral level.

hey none of us have used "green light" as a verb, Rip.

http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~wmv23/riphappy.jpg

HELLOOOOO

Errol Morris didn't make the doc shortlist, either?

Nope, nor was Claude Lanzmann.

Or Leviathan ;_;

Can anyone who's seen both say if they shortlisted the "right" Gibney?

I'm very dubious about EM repeating his monstrous war criminal trick with Rumsfeld, after "humanizing" McNamara before that POS died.

Other high-profile snubees: One Direction, Rocky Braat, Call Me Kuchu (much superior, I'm told, to God Loves Uganda), After Tiller, The Missing Picture.

... oh, and (blessedly) Salinger.

Morgan Spurlock already has an Oscar for making a film about a greasy fast food product.

He lost to starving children of hookers with no artistic aptitude iirc.

Tho kudos to him for learning his lesson and responding with a movie about well-fed children of hookers with marginally more artistic aptitude.

Oh, right! Didn't fact check IMDb close enough.

Too bad he got shut out with his own film about the starving children...oh wait, never mind.

hey if it's a third straight year Best Pic is the movie that blows smoke up Hollywood's ass, here's your winner. Makes sense.

http://www.hollywood-elsewhere.com/2013/12/stab-me-with-a-pencil/

Almost clicked a link to Jeffrey Wells that was close

spoiler: Tom Hanks as Walt D

worst Oscar bait of the century

http://www.film.com/movies/the-most-embarrassing-oscar-bait-of-the-millennium

(un)fortuantely i've only seen #1.

I wish I could work up enthusiasm to defend any one of them, but no, all the ones I've seen were uniformly bad.

Officially no song nods for Llewyn Davis. No fewer than five contenders from Kamasutra 3D.

http://www.indiewire.com/article/oscars-narrow-song-race-to-75-u2-taylor-swift-lana-del-rey-jay-z-and-beyonce-all-in-the-mix-but-no-inside-llewyn-davis

What's the logic for exclusind IWD from the list? It would seem to meet the criteria (haven't actually seen it yet)

*excluding ILD

The songs just aren't as good as the ones in Turbo

How many original songs are in ILD besides the novelty pastiche? I thought zero.

(still, there was that song from A Mighty Wind that the Academy took at face value)

289 eligible for BP

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/best-picture-oscar-2014-eligible-films?page=2#blogPostHeaderPanel

They don't like to run foreign films in LA, huh

This'll probably get nominated. I hope they bring back Shirley Bassey to sing it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Te11UaHOHMQ

http://www.indiewire.com/article/academy-narrows-foreign-language-oscar-race-to-9-contenders-saudia-arabia-and-iran-surprise-snubs

M@rk & R.Krrt start making final predictions...

http://www.grantland.com/blog/hollywood-prospectus/post/_/id/97030/best-director-whos-in-whos-out-who-will-get-snubbed
http://www.slantmagazine.com/house/2014/09/oscar-2014-nomination-predictions-supporting-actor
http://www.slantmagazine.com/house/2014/08/oscar-2014-nomination-predictions-supporting-actress

had no idea this crap is tomorrow

http://thefilmexperience.net/blog/2014/1/14/final-oscar-nom-predictions-part-1.html

You don't say.

I'm surprised both Harris and Slant got Roberts in. Also: Adams isn't on the cusp, she's in.

Agreed, tho I think it's Thompson falling by the wayside, not Streep.

Not if she has a hand writing tomorrow's script.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/01/15/2014-oscar-predictions-who-will-and-who-should-be-nominated.html

it was a fantastic year in film, with David O. Russell dressing up all your favorite actors in delightfully garish ‘70s garb in American Hustle, Martin Scorsese getting in touch with his debaucherous wild side at age 71 with The Wolf of Wall Street, Steve McQueen offering up the most haunting film portrait yet of our country’s brutal slave history with 12 Years a Slave, and the likes of Cate Blanchett, Sandra Bullock, and even Oprah Winfrey delivering bonafide Movie Star performances.

*drools*

Assuming Cuaron, McQueen and Russell are locks in best director, that leaves the door open for a best-case scenario and a worst-case scenario, either of which could be torpedoed by Martin Scorsese.

Best:
Spike Jonze
Ethan & Joel Coen

Worst:
Paul Greengrass
Alexander Payne

Best Actor has had surprises in the last ten years, so I'm rooting for Oscar Isaac or Hua-keen.

Also, there has never been a "pure" best picture list (i.e. one without a film that, to paraphrase Gavin S's weirdo compliment of Philomena, is decidedly NOT aimed at those looking for innovations in filmmaking artistry) since the expansion, with one Blind Side or Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close or Les Mis always managing to slip into the slate. So this year, Dallas Buyers Club is definitely in.

Indiewire's predictions and winners: http://www.indiewire.com/article/for-your-consideration-final-2014-oscar-nomination-predictions

Kneght said fuck it and thinks Coop will win.

aaaaaand Nathaniel: http://thefilmexperience.net/blog/2014/1/14/final-oscar-nom-predictions-part-1.html

The August: Osage County sits untouched on my TV like a dead roach. Is Julia Roberts in supp actress category fraud?

Yes. And the movie is way more entertaining than so much other Oscar bait this year, if for all the wrong reasons.

I think Thompson is safe, Adams in, and Streep out.

Thompson reeks of wasted/reflex nomination, so yeah, it's probably gonna happen. I just want to see that terrible movie get scratched across the board.

Even considering Hanks in Supporting Actor reeks.

or uh Jonah Hill

the movie is way more entertaining than so much other Oscar bait this year, if for all the wrong reasons.

save it for the Razzies.

Highest potential for hot takes: Ejiofor left off Best Actor.

Yeah, that would be this year's capt-save-an-Affleck narrative if that happened.

I think passions might run a little deeper than that, as I find it hard to recall that any Argo-related outrage existed. (unrelated to it winning things)

No Oscar passion runs too deep.

I bet you weren't watching in a gay bar when crash beat Brokeback Mountain.

Worse: I was at a gay man's house surrounded by the fuckers.

Lucky they were fucking instead of watching.

they weren't!

What kind of lame Oscar party was that?!

One whose host was a teetotaler who required us to buy our own booze.

My reaction to Crash beating Brokeback wasn't "passionate," per se, but rather one of choking laughter. In retrospect, I'm glad Brokeback lost and I'm happy the Oscars once again restored my faith in their inability to serve as a barometer of quality (which hadn't exactly been flagging, but can always use a refresher).

the barometer wd've been fine in either case, as Munich lost.

(I mean fine in its reliable mediocrity)

Brokeback isn't mediocre.

neither is crash!

right, Crash is hot garbage

i've come to love it almost

I love that it's there, defining the baseline requirements for hot garbage.

i mean i'm pretty sure i'd be more entertained watching it again than watching the artist or argo

o god just remembered the voiceover at the beginning

I went to a gay bar (Morbs's beloved Big Chicks) *after* Brokeback lost to Crash. Thought I'd join a sorrow-drowning party, but the place was empty.

v unimpressed w/ Big Chicks last time. Everything gets worse, not just American films.

Crash : Best Picture Oscar :: "We Are The World" : Record Of The Year Grammy

"We Are the World" is way better than "Crash"

^^^^ yes

Three 6 Mafia >>> WATW though

Eating a hamburger someone dropped in the street is better than Crash.

It's a low bar, is what I'm saying here.

Forty minutes.

Thompson out! Streep in!

Also in: Sally Hawkins, Coop, Julia.

UGH and Jonah Hill

loooooool @ Dallas Buyers Club

Many UGHs to be had.

UGH UGH UGH.

DiCaprio and Bale in, Oprah and Hanks out.

So for the second consecutive year a David O. Russell movie scores nominees in every acting category.

Way to nominate Capt. Phillips everywhere EXCEPT in the only category where it belonged (Hanks for Actor).

I will allow that the doc choices were mostly solid.

WTF @ Blue Is The Warmest Colour snub.

it didn't qualify

Sound Mixing /

Inside Llewyn Davis

Skip Lievsay, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland

and that's all.

This pageant is shit, and I feel like an ass for following it as peripherally as I do.

ok, cinematography too

xxp Oh, I see. Could've sworn I read articles touting it as a contender.

Super-minor yay at Streep getting that fifth-wheel nod over Thompson.

Director category is a pretty big bummer, tho.

First ILXor Oscar nominee?

xxp Oh, I see. Could've sworn I read articles touting it as a contender.

It wasn't eligible for Best Foreign-Language Film because it hadn't opened in France before the qualifying deadline (Sept? Oct?). But it was eligible for other categories. Lots of people were rooting for Exarchopoulos (and, to a lesser extent, Seydoux) for a nomination, but it was always a long shot.

Just took a quick look at the list. I'll root for Nebraska people. The two silliest things I noticed were the absence of Llewyn for picture, Her for cinematography (less sure about that one, as I haven't seen all the other nominated films).

So ... can Amy Adams Adrian Brody her way past 4 previous winners to a surprise Oscar win this year?

First ILXor Oscar nominee?

Who's that?

in Original Score for Her

If there are nine or 10 best picture noms, and five noms in pretty much any other category, why is it still news when a movie gets nominated for best picture but its respective star and director get snubbed? It's just math, right?

Was Room 237 not even eligible for documentary? I suspect it wasn't.

No Stories We Tell either.

Haven't seen either of the two movies that presumably inched past the Polley (Cutie and the Boxer; Dirty Wars), but I'm cool with that particular snub.

well done to flamboyant goon tie! <3

that is amazing! thrilled for him.

It occurs to me I have no idea who that is, but congrats anyway!

come on Eric, he's fairly active on the gay threads.

Where I know him solely as flamboyant goon tie.

http://open.spotify.com/album/7eXii7fg0PKPsppUSekMpc

(Ówen P.), was his old display name but he went underground.

I'm sure I don't need to tell anyone I'm never in my right mind when posting on that thread.

"that thread" ;)

somehow tot missed that in the music nominations. And I'd much rather Jonze had been in the director field than there be any chance of that script winning.

All the Original Screenplay picks, and that open tenth BP spot, are a yahoo loogie in the eyes of the Coen bros.

2013's Oscar Nominees

That thread most prominently.

Agreed that Jonze the director exceeds Jonze the screenwriter. Classic Oscar miscue.

I remember saying I'd rather see Payne in the director lineup than Greengrass. Guess I should've thought that over more carefully and been more specific.

I hope Redford punches Dern in the nuts the next time he sees him.

Me too. I just want to hear how it sounds on balls that old.

Of the ten male acting nominees, the only one 45 or older is Dern. That can't have happened before.

Men are the new best supporting actress.

I realized who Owen Pallet was when he made that comment on the Her thread. That's fantastic--and I really liked the background ambience in Her. I'm guessing he maybe composed the one piece I thought was John Fahey.

It's Pallet and the Arcade Fire brother, no?

Truly, of all the nominations this morning, Her in score made me extremely happy even before I knew there was an ILX connection.

uh guys, maybe be a little more discreet in identifying him? cuz he changed his name?

how great would it be for O.P. and the Arcade Fire guy to beat Newman, Desplat and Williams?

Yeah, outside of Her and Gravity, the category seems extra fuddy-duddery this year.

am thinking the increasingly common BP/dir split will be either 12YaS/Cuaron or AH/McQueen.

AH/Cuaron will mean a quotable Spike Lee news cycle.

Was just thinling AH/McQueen.

Sorry--caught up in I-message-boarded-with-a-nominee excitement. Wasn't thinking.

second ilxor nomination, james franco was nominated for 127 hours

Cuaron has been much more successfully set up as the beneficiary of a split.

But barring actual snubs on the level of an Affleck, it's just not smart to bet on the split. Could totally see AH/Russell taking this one on the strength of the actor's branch ("two years in a row with four nods" as a potential narrative will not be ignored).

;_; spraaaaang breaaaaaak forevvvvverrrr?

First neo-fundie indie Oscar nomination ever?

http://thedissolve.com/news/1265-whats-alone-not-yet-alone-the-surprise-oscar-nomin/

When they've had a chance to do "first _________ to ever win ______" they've gone for it in recent years: Berry, Bigelow, am I missing any others?

"first Russell to ever win Best Picture. "

Never saw or wanted to see Gatsby, but I thought "Young and Beautiful" would be on the song list.

To think: it coulda been "first time we ignore prestige RoboStreep."

"First video game to ever win Best Director"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n0TORpISk8

LOL, awesome.

Exactly as many nominations as The New World got.

i remember watching that trailer months ago and going 'haha whaaat' and then when i saw it got a song nomination and inside llewyn davis didnt... its just perfect

So for the second consecutive year a David O. Russell movie scores nominees in every acting category.

Academy now defines great acting as running around a room yelling.

their hearing is going in a lot of cases

I don't think so! All those young men nominated means the membership is either getting younger, womanlier or gayer.

and LEON'S getting LARGER

http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/7735/airplaneleonslargermy6.jpg

Academy now defines great acting as running around a room yelling.

― eclectic husbandry (Dr Morbius), Thursday, January 16, 2014 12:33 PM (17 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

That would explain why they finally gave Jerry Lewis an Oscar a couple years ago.

(I kid, I kid! I love Jer)

I went WHOA-HEEEEEEE!

O'Hehir finally convinced me that Hustle is going to win... cuz in a year that no one made a contender about the movies, it came the closest.

http://www.salon.com/2014/01/16/oscars_no_hanks_no_coens_no_oprah_and_no_big_shockers/

I need a place to watch them through Best Original Score.

does Bale really have that much more screen time than Bradley Cooper in American Hustle?

Mark Haris:

Look for some fierce campaigning for Best Actor, which suddenly feels like an open race. Look for backlash against Dallas Buyers Club; McConaughey and Leto didn’t make great impressions with their Golden Globe speeches, and complaints about the movie’s departures from reality,3 which have been relatively quiet so far, are, I think, about to get a little noisier. Look for each of the three serious Best Picture contenders to make their case — 12 Years a Slave as the important movie, American Hustle as the great piece of popular entertainment, and Gravity as the brief for what only movies and money and Hollywood can do and TV will never be able to touch. Oh, and look for Pharrell Williams at the Oscars. He wrote “Happy,” the Best Song nominee from Despicable Me 2, and a win would take him halfway to an EGOT!

http://grantland.com/features/decoding-the-academy-award-nominations/

does Bale really have that much more screen time than Bradley Cooper

I think Streep has less than JuRo. Don't you know how these things work?

I mean, Judi Dench won an Oscar for what, two minutes of screen time?

yeah but she was a queen

It's almost like Pharrell's people had everyone vote for the Xtian song to knock any other front-runner off the ballot...

no i guess i don't! or i forgot at least.

they don't have a two-minute Oscar yet or Amiri Baraka wd've won for Bulworth.

Lead Oscars for 20-40 minutes of screen time: Marlon Brando, Anthony Hopkins, Frances McDormand.

It's almost like Pharrell's people had everyone vote for the Xtian song to knock any other front-runner off the ballot...

I'll be rooting for Pharrell, but I'd have thought U2 or the Frozen song were more likely to win.

xpost I've already thought about Hustle on ILX more than it deserves, but I'm pretty sure Bale is in, like, nearly every scene. I don't think he's the best thing in the movie, but it's really his story being told. He's like Liotta in GoodFellas.

hes not in a shitload of scenes, like for a big section of the movie it suddenly becomes about adams & cooper

Much love to flamboyant goon tie, but I am trying to figure out why he and W.B. are the listed nominees for HER. Most reviews and news items before today noted that the score was by Arcade Fire. The official credits on the Warner Bros. site say "Music by ARCADE FIRE. Additional Music by FLAMBOYANT GOON TIE." IMDB credits flamboyant goon tie and no one else. Just curious!

I know it's not worth pondering for more than a few seconds, but if there were a formula to measure such things, the Llewyn snub has to be one of the most baffling ever. It's a film that:

a) was one of three or four that dominated year-end lists and critics-circle awards;

b) only has to be one of 10 films, and;

c) (the really confusing part) was made by two guys who've been nominated and who have won before. It wouldn't be noteworthy if it were early in their careers, that sort of thing happens all the time, but, putting my own feelings about the film aside (good, but not quite among their best), they're basically at the peak of their fame and acclaim.

And yet they were bypassed for Philomena and Captain Phillips? And they didn't even use up all 10 nominations?! Are they being punished for some transgression in the last couple of years?

even A Serious Man got a Best Pic nod.

This morning I chuckled and thought Jennifer Lawrence was, like Sally Field and Hilary Swank, doomed if she won a second Oscar, but starring in a billion-dollar franchise can't hurt.

also: DOR is creeping into Woody Allen territory as far as number of acting nods for his pics.

EW repeated what I said earlier:

American Hustle is the 15th film to receive nods in every acting category. David O. Russell is the first director to helm two movies (back to back, no less) that have both achieved this feat. No movie has ever won all four acting awards, though A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) and Network (1976) got three wins apiece. Also worth noting: While quadfectas generally snag at least one acting award, only two (1942′s Mrs. Miniver and 1953′s From Here to Eternity) have ever managed a Best Picture win.

Next time someone wants a really awful title for their film, like Quantum of Solace or Greystoke: Lots and Lots of Words, Quadfecta is out there just waiting.

I'd be surprised about the Llewyn Davis snub, too, if it had received a modicum of guild support. No nominations from SAG, PGA, or DGA.

It's about an asshole, and guys on the money side of the business in it are even worse. Also, even compared to No Country, "nothing happens."

nod nod nod

Poster fun:

http://imgur.com/gallery/s9nNl

man! Dennis Perrin learned Photoshop!

you're the guy who liked In the House, right?

C+

you and I are the only ones who saw it

Expanded version of In The Bedroom?

I beg to differ, Letterboxd tells me at least 1400 people saw it

Isn't Scarface the "Scarface for Douchebags"?

yes, i actually prefer Scarface for Douchebags Who Aren't Hip-Hop Stars

Seaworld and their investors would like to thank the academy for ignoring Blackfish..

ugh Seaworld and i was happy it got snubbed

More Oscar movies should be nominated for Razzies.

btw someone who made the evangelical/fundie movie that got nominated for Best Song is related to a former Academy governor. Ta da!

That category has been a farce for a long time now.

Mark Harris:

For those of us who understand that the Academy Awards can’t be perfect but want them to continue to strive to be better, this is a deeply disappointing trend. In a good year for the Oscars, voters reach out toward a wide variety of deserving pictures, directors, performances, and scripts, choosing to herald outstanding work even when it’s in a movie that has little chance of becoming a Best Picture nominee. The greater the number of films that are embraced, the clearer it becomes that voters have done their homework. And those “outlier” nominations tend to withstand history’s verdict rather impressively: David Lynch for Blue Velvet. The scripts of Trainspotting and Election. A teenage Leonardo DiCaprio in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. Ryan Gosling in Half Nelson. Ellen Burstyn in Requiem for a Dream. Christopher Nolan himself, for his Memento screenplay. For movies, but also for the reputation of the Oscars, one major nomination truly is better than nothing.

And for at least a quarter-century before the rule change, that type of nomination was routine. In 1988, for instance, all five nominees for Best Supporting Actor came from movies that were not nominated for Best Picture. That kind of energetic, far-reaching voting was absent this year, when, for instance, James Gandolfini (Enough Said), Daniel Brühl (Rush), David Oyelowo (Lee Daniels’ The Butler), Paul Dano (Prisoners), and John Goodman (Inside Llewyn Davis) might all have credibly served to represent movies that were otherwise almost completely shut out. In their place, the five Supporting Actor nominations all went to actors who costarred in Best Picture nominees.

http://grantland.com/hollywood-prospectus/the-nolan-effect-why-the-larger-best-picture-pool-is-actually-shrinking-the-number-of-oscar-contenders/

sla4nt has begun prognosticating. "We've lost our shirts more than once betting on dead children" is Oscar blogging in a nutshell.

http://www.slantmagazine.com/house/tags/academy+awards

Oscar blogging gets me in touch with my vulgar lack of conscience.

More Oscar movies should be nominated for Razzies

When the Harvard Lampoon were (for many years) the only ones giving out Worst Movie/Worst Acting awards, their choices were much ballsier.

Picking two examples at random, of the five 1970 Best Picture noms, three of them also appeared on the Lampoon's 10 Worst list (Airport; Patton; Love Story). Worst actor/actress: Elliot Gould & Ali MacGraw

In 1979 Manhattan, Apocalypse Now and All That Jazz were among Lampoon's 10 Worst. Marlon Brando & Jane Fonda worst actor/actress.

I think they actually slated all 5 best picture nominees in 1982 (?)

mocking "Love Story" is now a Harvard rite of passage for incoming freshmen

did you guys know ali macgraw's character in love story is based on al gore?

Ali McGore

but I understand that post-Social Network they bow reverently in the direction of Whoozis' dorm room.

wait waht

that can't possibly be true, Harvard ppl only bow to mirrors

I think they actually slated all 5 best picture nominees in 1982 (?)

You nailed it: Gandhi, E.T., Missing, Tootsie, The Verdict

Btw, The Encyclopedia of Movie Awards by Michael Gebert (1996).. the most useful mass market paperback in my library

^^^ his comments are sardonic and perfect too

Going to watch the 10 nominated live action/animated short films this weekend. That's always a good time, I've found.

I have dogearred and tore up at least 3 copies of that book. His personal taste gets more and more irritating to me the older I get -- pro: Kurosawa, Lawrence, De Sica, Coppola; anti: Dreyer, Antonioni, Resnais; he's probably the only person who could look at 1961/1962's bounty and give his own "best foreign film" award to Divorce Italian Style. But his observations that kick off each year are always OTM.

Apparently he still drops comments here and there (dogging Nashville, another one from his overrated pile):

http://www.hollywood-elsewhere.com/2013/09/we-must-be-doin-something-right/

I'm interested to see it again because my general feeling from long ago showings is that it's smug and shallow, a coastal attack on the heartland that doesn't really know much about country music and its atmosphere. A friend of mine said she knew 5 minutes into Short Cuts that it would end with an earthquake, because how else would it ever end at all, and the assassination is the same kind of plot device posing as profound statement.

^ Perusing the timeline of his comments there - not just on movies but on everything - indicates Gebert's a right-winger. Adds a little context to his Nashville comments.

I like what he said about L'Avventura and David Niven.

His taste certainly represents the right wing of cinephilia.

Which makes it all the more amusing when he nails the academy for being politically liberal and aesthetically conservative.

Wow, I only know Gebert as a food writer -- had no idea he wrote about film, too.

His taste certainly represents the right wing of cinephilia.

― Alfre, Lord Woodard (Eric H.)

I missed this. I'm thinking of his condemnations of Cavalcade and Forrest Gump.

Aw man I was looking forward to this performance

http://insidemovies.ew.com/2014/01/29/oscars-kill-original-song-nomination-for-alone-yet-not-alone-breaking/

has a nomination been rescinded before?

Here are the others

http://insidemovies.ew.com/2014/01/29/alone-yet-not-alone-the-other-nominees-who-had-their-oscars-revoked/

I know the score to Godfather got revoked, and in that case, I think they promoted something else.

I guess this show really must go on

http://grantland.com/features/oscar-season-turns-ugly/

(didn't know about the Dallas Buyers Club charge)

Pretty sure I've only mentioned it about a million times.

that Woodroof was "a nonhomophobic bisexual"? Sorry, musta missed it.

Well, it'll get another fleeting mention in a couple days when I cover Original Screenplay.

Good cinematography thing last week, but Robert Surtees probably would've won in the '70s if he hadn't won three times in the '50s. Which is maybe why he lost for The Last Picture Show, to... Fiddler on the Roof.

(Bob Fosse wanted Surtees for Cabaret; he acknowledged that Geoffrey Unsworth "was great, but still my third choice.")

xp few would've had quarrel with that result, tho

My predictions for big 4: 12 Years, Cuaron, Chiwetel, Cate.

Chiwetel would be an interesting surprise at this point.

And a welcome one.

Can also imagine McConaughey winning, but haven't actually seen the film.

Hollywood loves a career renaissance, and he's had one of the most compelling ones of recent years.

They also love reckless, dangerous weight fluctuations.

They also like awarding actors the year after they should've won something.

So fgti COULD win, or is Ted Pigeon a cockeyed optimist?

http://www.slantmagazine.com/house/2014/11/oscar-2014-winner-predictions-original-score

I'm not sure I'd put Desplat out of contention quite as fast, but I definitely think it's possible. (And hope very much for it.)

They also love reckless, dangerous weight fluctuations.

― Eric H.,

in their performances too

he's kinda got an anti-norbit thing going w/ true detective

I forgot that Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross won score for "The Social Network" -- so possible plus sign for Her.

cya glenn

http://www.hollywood-elsewhere.com/2014/02/kenny-has-posted-his-last/

lol Glenn's belligerence v Wells' idiocy I can't believe it took this long

I guess I hadn't followed this fracas...? Kenny's never come off belligerent on his own blog.

He has on twitter from time to time but almost always in relation to Wellsy

I haven't checked Wells site in a loooong time but he's been baiting him (usually justifiably) in the comments for years

Ha. What exactly touched this round off?

Kenny accomplished exactly what he set out to do, I'm guessing.

Was it about the grantland piece Morbs linked on the oscars? (assuming because it's on the this thread and wellsy posted something about it)

Kenny felt compelled to razz every Wells idiocy (a daily occurrence). I think it had to do with Wells' putting 'Temple was a goddamn Republican' in the lede of his Shirley obit.

I've made Kenny mad at least once over Zero Dark Thirty (I know none of you can relate), but I always thought he was a little too smart to be doing podcasts with Wells.

I feel like one of the few on my twitter feed that hasn't had a knock-down drag-out fight with Kenny.

i don't get why this is on the Oscar thread. it's even less important.

Good q

I think it was Kenny who took major umbrage with my dismissal of R&H's Sound of Music tunes.

yes. (well c'mon it's the lyrics that really suck)

Kenny did podcasts with Wells? Weird -- all I know of their relationship is that Kenny constantly snipes at Wells on Twtr.

http://www.slantmagazine.com/house/2014/13/oscar-2014-winner-predictions-original-screenplay

Having "an obvious debt" to a preceding work doesn't remotely make something an adaptation, dawg.

That said, all five of these nominees range from mediocre to stinko, but at least Before Midnight was nominated in the unwinna ble category.

"All That Jazz, based on 8-1/2 by Ennio Flaiano, Tullio Pinelli, Federico Fellini & Brunello Rondi"

why do I get the sense that Lupita Nyong'o will disappear forever after winning?

so much buzz though

LOL at Indiewire's FB tease on this: "What are the Oscars going to do to bring in that ever-important gay men aged 45-65 demographic that they've always had so much trouble with?"

http://blogs.indiewire.com/bent/bette-midler-to-perform-at-the-oscars-for-the-first-time-20140219

i don't know a whole lotta Midler fans under 55. Or they just keep quiet about it.

"Under 55" is the new "not 70 yet."

I see those guys from a distance.

Oscar expertise has made you mean, E, esp to middle-aged men with full heads of hair.

Alfred would love me even if it turned out I didn't have any hair at all.

http://www.fandor.com/keyframe/siri-explains-why-her-deserves-the-best-picture-oscar

btw Judi Dench has macular degeneration and has lost half her sight? I'm counting on an acting upset; either her, Chiwetel Ejiofor, or the guy who played the Somali pirate.

My predictions for big 4: 12 Years, Cuaron, Chiwetel, Cate.

― I wish to incorporate disco into my small business (chap), Tuesday, February 11, 2014 1:36 PM (1 week ago)

Well I predicted the BAFTAs perfectly...

I was indifferent to a Cate win until I was reminded she's won for a Hepburn impression nowhere as good as Martin Short's.

This will be a much more satisfying Cate win than that one, no doubt.

hmmmm about the fourth-best performance in the film

Big Daddy: "Ignorance ... is a comfort."

besides if Cate loses we can all revisit the enlightening Ronan Farrow thread

Per betting odds sites, virtually all of the categories are downright locks, other than Supporting Actress

Best Picture is still technically a question mark.

but you're going gravity as u say don't bet against the BP/director split

bet on, i meant

There's certainly precedent (limited, but still precedent) for a director award pulling best picture in its wake among a weak-ish field. Not that Cuaron's as much a charity case as Scorsese was in 2006 ...

http://www.slantmagazine.com/house/2014/24/ranking-oscars-2014-nominees

Best Picture is still technically a question mark.

― Eric H.,

Best Director will be a technical achievement.

Can't deny that 12 Years' pattern of winning the top prize and not much else has to be taken as at least a faint warning alarm.

Her will prob win Original Screenplay, its least deserved award.

It'll win Supporting Actress too (also its least deserved award).

12 Years' pattern of winning the top prize and not much else has to be taken as at least a faint ray of hope.

Nathaniel's podcast. We all have our peccadilloes; his is for Cate Blanchett and Before Midnight.

You and Morbs have more peccadildos.

peckers yes

peckerdildos no

bring on the plastercasters

A whole smorg of very challenging opinions: http://blogs.indiewire.com/criticwire/criticwire-survey-oscar-fiats

listening to a podcast on the Oscars is a Rubicon I will not cross.

short of dropping all the original screenplay contenders, I'd drop Before Midlife from adapted. (and give best doc to The Square)

so many Her fans, you kids make this world etc

Not until your whole generation has lain down and died will the dead weight of you be off our backs.

not even then! you'll be drowning in dead weight w/ no one to blame.

I don't care to see a member of my own race getting above himself.

I mean maybe a question mark, but per betting odds 12 Years is at 1/4 and Gravity is at 4/1. Lock might be a bit of a stretch but 80% chance seems like at least a very strong favorite. They also have Original Screenplay as a dead heat.

those odds are a bit nuts i think (also betting math isn't quite that translatable)

Like many other Oscar bloggers that aren't S@sha St0n3, I've spent the better part of the last month trying to come up with any arguments in favor of 12 Years being a lock that don't boil down to "It has to win."

I see 12 Years/The Pianist parallels, which since McQueen likely aint getting director points to BP (and Actor?).

If you look at the last 15 years' worth of winners, how many of them won on the "it's socially important that this win" ticket? One, by my count (and one which I'd be more than happy to see 12 Years "absolve," fwiw).

You're talking about Chicago, right?

The Artist.

Oscar always picks inconvenient years to opt for the heavy contender. The only difference is that now movies like Gandhi and The English Patient have no hope of sweeping the tech awards, or even cracking a single award there.

they were "rides." Rides through colonialism!

how about 12 Years as the Academy's sentimental farewell gesture to Obama?

How about start making sense?

http://spectrumculture.com/files/import/1888-stopmaking2.jpg

http://thefilmexperience.net/blog/2014/2/24/ranking-the-oscar-presenter-lineup.html

Pointless Polling Time http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/23/us-oscars-poll-idUSBREA1M13R20140223

this year's Streisand "Way We Were" moment...

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/oscars-judy-garlands-kids-reunite-682672

cuz I know we've all been dying to see Joey Luft.

Oh man, first last year's big gushy tribute to Chicago and now this? Zadan & Meron really know how to court that demo.

Hold that udder and churn that butter

Does THR always do this ballot reveal thing?

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/oscar-voter-reveals-brutally-honest-682957

➻ BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM

I immediately rule out Palestine for Omar because I saw it, and it's a bunch of f---ing anti-Semitic swine.

I think I missed what he was referring to with the documentary one

that fella is really into 'ambition'

"BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
I have seen none of them. I have no interest whatsoever. That ended when I was 6. My son dragged me to a few when he was 6; I would seat him and go outside and make phone calls. "

also, father of the year over here

R. Brody really loved Wolf of Wall St huh

Before Midnight is a travesty of ineptitude and dreadful writing, like the other two in that horrible trilogy -- if I was sitting next to those people, I would run in the opposite direction.

p much the only sane thing this guy said

his first clause is correct

Feinberg final picks look likely to me, cept not convinced about J-Law; Gravity is not going to win every tech it's up for:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/feinberg-forecast-scotts-final-picks-683529

xp gays truly know nothing about marriage

Gravity is likely to miss production design and may also miss editing. Other than that, I expect it'll take all but Bullock. And maybe best picture.

Most marriages, gay or straight, are travesties marked by dreadful writing.

It's so beyond me why everyone thinks that dumb Mickey Mouse cartoon is going to win.

didn't see it, but a Mickey ain't ever won

it's Mickey's On Golden Pond

Also, predicting 12 Years to win best picture with only a single other award seems ridiculous ... no matter how many times that same scenario has already played out this season.

Nyong'o will win.

ok, can't see it losing adap script. I think The Godfather won 3 total? But records were made to be broken.

xp I agree. But if 12 Years wins, it would mark two 3-trophy best pictures in a row. I'd say odds for that are crazytown, but like I already said upthread, the days of seriousface drama best picture winners also sweeping the tech awards may be long gone.

i.e. best picture movies not winning the most awards (or even many at all) is the new norm

I think one thing I have in common with the average Academy voter is we don't remember what happened last year.

But you all do remember Franklin Pangborn's bust-waist-hip measurements.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Fup8Kr4Offs/Te0nM3XxURI/AAAAAAAABQc/EexCroiPfFc/s400/lady%2Beve.jpg

Another Oscar ballot: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/brutally-honest-oscar-voter-ballot-683954

I hope "Brutally Honest" is referring to the mindset of academy members who can't bother to learn the name of a film they've seen nor even attempt the name of the actress they're voting for.

Ah, people who use "impact" as a verb and think weight loss weight loss weight loss means everything – to the Academy, coke dealer, casting director, dietician.

➻ BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
I haven’t watched them.
MY PICK: I abstained.

Haven't seen 20 Feet from Stardom but it's feeling like a lock.

there it is

http://thefilmexperience.net/blog/2014/2/27/every-best-actress-dress.html

on the first Oscars concert, feat. Jill Scott, John Williams & fgti

http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/jill-scotts-happy-let-it-go-gravity-blow-the-roof-off-first-oscars-concert

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/movies/2014/02/oscars_trivia_game_guess_the_screenplay_from_just_five_words.html

(my tot was 704 pts)

again, the equivalent wd never, ever happen in an ILM poll, but y'know, MOOOVIES are just fun junk

^wrong thread

Ballot from executive branch: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/brutally-honest-oscar-voter-ballot-684186

I'm in Guatemala right now, hosting an Oscar night sunday. It's broadcast on TNT Latina, but I can't figure out if there's a risk it might be live-dubbed in spanish. Anyone has experience with this?

^wrong thread

― images of war violence and historical smoking (Dr Morbius),

suuuuuure

Also, to contribute to thread a bit, here's the best drinking rules I've been able to find so far, suggestions most welcome.

Red Carpet

Drink when…

- Someone says "fabulous."
- Someone says "they’re “so excited to be here.”
- A nominee says it’s “just an honor to be nominated.”
- An interviewer says, “You were brilliant in…”
- A celebrity brought a parent/family member as their date.
- A celebrity corrects an interviewer.

The Show

Drink when…

- Ellen wanders into the audience to interact with people during the show.
- Someone thanks their parents.
- Someone thanks God.
- Speech starts with "Wow..."
- The band tries to cut off someone’s speech.
- Someone cries.
- Reaction shot of Jack Nicholson
- Reaction shot of George Clooney

Also this is is the best printable pdf for making Oscar bets I've found http://o.aolcdn.com/os/movies/awards/2014-oscar-ballot-1
. In case any of you are like in Guatemala trying to host Oscar night at your language school or something.

the person from the PR wing of the academy is just... http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/oscars-brutally-honest-voter-ballot-684187

Just what? I agree with what most of s/he says, esp the ranking of the best film nominees!

I voted for Gravity and then 12 Years a Slave. Honestly, I really went back and forth thinking about it. The truth is I only watched about half of 12 Years a Slave; I couldn't take it. It made me sick to my stomach and I just thought, "OK, I know slavery was terrible, and this is an important movie and I get all that," but I was bored with how long it was taking.

Yeah, well I didn't really like 12 Years a Slave and if I was posting anonymously I might, if a bit drunk, be as tempted to be as flippant as that about it.

I've also had three or four people say to me they don't want to see it because they know slavery as terrible but they don't know what seeing a film about will add to that, and I didn't really have anything much to fire back at them.

here we go again then. any decent streams for non-SKY owning UK folk so far?

I hope you find one, because I need someone else to marvel at Emilia Fox's ridiculous fake tan on the pre-show thing on Sky Living.

Whilst I have huge reservations about the "too long to get there" and the "i know it was bad I don't know why I need to see this" as though it's a lecture and not art, my biggest peeve was the almost voting for a movie without having seen it.

here we go again then. any decent streams for non-SKY owning UK folk so far?

Sign up for free 30-day trial of Sky's streaming service, Now TV. Just remember to cancel!

Whilst I have huge reservations about the "too long to get there" and the "i know it was bad I don't know why I need to see this" as though it's a lecture and not art, my biggest peeve was the almost voting for a movie without having seen it.

Rockist.

Re: the Sky coverage. God, I hate Boyd Hilton so irrationally right now.

u mixing up all the threadz

my God, The Great Beauty is about as bad a nominee as I've seen, right down there with Before Minight and WoWSt.

They should have nominated the trailer.

Worse.

Boyd Hilton and Alex Zane in a room together with Emilia's weird tan were annoying me so much I've turned over to watch Ryan Seacrest.

God I love Amy Adams.

Oh God, this Sidney Poitier interview is so painful.

Yes, I'm cringing so hard for both the people involved in this.

I don't think Bruce Dern's character had Alzheimer's, Ben Miller.

where's jaymc's predictions

hey thanks Alba, i'll have a nosey.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIXxHC4B6c0

"To me it's like the 2001 of our times". Oh, boydhiltonpaws

lol Coogan http://i.imgur.com/8K8gt7b.gif

Is that him doing "I'm a tiger!"?

lol 90 mins of red carpet; people are animals.

fgti sighting! (secondhand)

decent stream for anyone who needs it

http://www.vipboxuk.co/usa-tv-shows/210719/1/the-86th-annual-academy-awards-live-stream-online.html

thought kevin spacey was bob newhart at first

get used to saying "Academy Award winner Jared Leto"

it's only been 20 minutes? i'm flailing over here.

phenomenally cool

xp otm

ty piscesx, pharrell endearingly offkey

i haven't watched the oscars in years, is it always this bad/weird/hilarious?

First enjoyable nominated song performance in.. 20 years?

man this guy should never sing lead, ever

fucking Debbie Allen routine

naw, a mighty wind killed it xxp

i feel embarrassed for everyone involved, not at all in a holier-than-thou way but more like an empathetic way in which i'm really cringing for everyone

I think this might be an appropriate moment to mention that I really quite liked The Great Gatsby.

reminder that baz luhrmann is straight

It's been way emo so far tonight.

channing tatum is such a weird looking slab of beef

i don't mean in the "beefcake" way

Tatum still on MM coke

reminder that baz luhrmann is straight

This wasn't a reminder to me – it was new information!

Kim Novak!

i shan't look up her plastic surgeon.

although i'd prefer hers to goldie hawn's.

a reminder of what Hollywood does to women: what Hitchcock wanted to do

Wow Sally Field looks amazing.

wait i missed it, what is hollywood honoring about itself in this montage exactly?

What is this montage?

xpost

people with causes

Someone tell us!

Heroes? As though Lawrence of Arabia isn't highly critical of the concept of heroes.

Theme is 'heroes' apparently

ellen is like this little elf that keeps popping up everywhere

xpost yeah but Peter O'Toole may have died too late for the memoriam roll

A-ha – thanks.

Good stuff from Karen O and Ezra there

it was supposed to be a based on real people thing

Ellen posing awkwardly with guitar was weird - reminds me of Dick Cavett earnestly introducing some folksinger in 1969 or something

No speeches played off by the music .. yet.

There was no way "Helium" wasn't going to win its category. But I HATED how calculatedly heart-wrenching it was.

i dunno i thought it very light

Woah Darlene Love!!

Bill Murray ecstatic to see Darlene Love.

that was unexpected!

the win? cos it really wasn't

I like to think if The Act of Killing had won, Joshua Oppenheimer would have brought Anwar on stage to sing too.

Anyone seen 20 Feet From Stardom? Hadn't even heard of it but it looks great.

reminder that baz luhrmann is straight

This wasn't a reminder to me – it was new information!

Martin's won three Oscars now

but Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet

http://i.imgur.com/FDztsGj.jpg

lol

If THR's "Brutally Honest Ballot" series has proved anything it's that 20 Feet From Stardom was ALWAYS going to win.

Ewan could play Fassbinder's bro

Fassbender too.

Jesus, foreign language intro spiel the worst yet.

that was unexpected!

― Clay, Sunday, March 2, 2014 6:41 PM (9 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

the win? cos it really wasn't

― Number None, Sunday, March 2, 2014 6:42 PM (7 minutes ago) Bookmark

no i meant darlene love just busting into song like that

Did he just thank Diego Maradona?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kG_Q10F2H_E#t=5027

Bono looks a bit pissed.

Oscar winner Jared Leto into it.

They speak directly to him, as a musician himself.

Leto regretting not submitting a 30 Seconds to Mars track to the "Mandela" movie.

all this performance needed was Jared Leto in Rayon costume mincing while Bono sings

Did he just thank Diego Maradona?

― Alba, Monday, March 3, 2014 2:52 AM (8 minutes ago) Bookmark

yeah Sorrentino's from Napoli

Man, Ellen seems to have absolutely no script!

Improv, man.

She's a professional comedian.

I love when non-American actors are allowed to use their native accents for once.

So momentum is in Gravity's favor, no?

It's surely a heavyweight

Robert Redford in ALL IS LOST deserves a Best Visual Effect award, no?

it was always going to dominate the tech awards

idk it's won a couple technical awards it was destined to win from conception, don't think that says much about best picture xxp

Have there been any big awards beyond best supporting actor yet? Did I miss a big win?

Ellen keeps flubbing the names.

xpost to me, Oh, here's one.

wooo lupita <3

I just saw her in that horrible Liam Neesons airplane movie. I'm not sure she has any lines.

oh this is nice, i'm very happy for lupita

Kevin spacey's face in that group photo!

Nice emotional speech there

that speech was really damn good

yeah that's what it's all about.

http://cdn1.bostonmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Untitled-41.jpg

xps haha i just saw that liam neeson movie tonight, didn't know it was her (i haven't seen '12 years' yet)

yea that was a good speech

Are these movie stars really going to dribble pizza grease on their $50,000 dresses?

This is just like an episode of my favorite tv show, Ellen.

so Letterman tried this shit 20 years ago and was vilified. Thinking Ellen the only one who can make Cabin Boy jokes work.

Is she going to get Travolta out to dance, or was that an Oprah thing?

Is Clooney in the house? Seems like he skipped.

Not watching (too much marking and reading to do tonight to justify the 3.whatever hours of a lot of stuff I don't care about) but I PVR'd it, so you guys are helping me know what to look out for when I fast forward though the show later. So far: Darlene Love, Lupita's speech, random fgti sightings. Anything else?

Way to go Bill Murray!

This guy has shot some great looking films.

yeah this guy is way past due

Good for him, but wait, Wolf of Wall Street wasn't nominated for editing?

Jesus, four time host and Oscar winner ...

yeah this guy is way past due

― call all destroyer, Sunday, March 2, 2014 10:28 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark

i didnt even realize chivo'd never won before

Wait, is this going to be a tribute to the Wizard of Oz? What the fuck is going on here?

It is!

omg "Grease II" star Lorna Luft!

What the hell is happening to my Oscars?

pink makes whoopi call her by her full name when they're hanging out?

i love how every year they try to keep the length of the ceremony in check and then they have shit like this

Is this Pink singing a tribute to the Wizard of Oz?! I'm not even sure what show this is. Were they worried it wouldn't be long enough?

my mom is probably excited tho

Ladies and gentlemen, Oscar-viewer, Pink!

Spurious anniversary celebration alert.

If you're in show biz and female and you don't want to show your boobs, do they just not invite you?

shit like this is why i don't bother watching most years

Also, this haircut has been a thing for a while now, right? Brad's got it, Bono's got it, Pink's got it.

Last surviving Munchkin just died a week or two ago xxpost

could be worse: fun guy isn't duet partner

is the Oz thing because it's been 75 years because there are some other movies from '39 people might've heard of

The Dolph Lundgren Rocky IV cut

I have been re-convinced of the greatness of the Wizard of Oz.

They should have had Darlene Love sing it.

Or Bill Murray.

why Pink

Great iPad ad.

still cry at Auntie Em's dismissal of Mrs Gulch

They invited Olivia de Havilland to do a Gone With The Wind tribute but she wouldn't show her boobs.

The Oscars is all about showing boobs.

Where's Clooney?

probably checking out some boobs

Am I on my own is cringing every time Bono shows his face?

pretty sure Adam Clayton does too

Leo's all, I was in that?

the cloon must be busy.

also where's jack?

Did they introduce him as "the talented Chris Evans?"

clooney's accepting his oscar for directing Monuments Men

Is this the montage of movies that never won Oscars?

It's a "hey guys most of our revenue comes from this b-movie superhero shit so let's throw some clips in"

what goes on during commercials, do they just make weird small talk i guess? seems like there's an awful lot of awkward down time.

I see dead people.

:(

she enunciates aLOT

And now ... Pink.

Again, what the fuck. There's no reason Bette should be here now unless she was dead. Get on with the show.

We're going to 1 am

I'm going to bed.

so much singing c'mon man

to rewrite Greil Marcus about Bryan Ferry: she sings as if karaoke backing track doesn't exist

this is disgusting

I really hope Phil Hoffman is incredulous from the afterlife right now. "So, my picture rolls off to the tune of... holy shit, man"

The hell, maybe Bette Midler is dead, and that's why everyone was emotional? What a twist.

Christ this is awful.

Goldie is in there somewhere.

Bette Midler, Kim Novak, Judy Garland -- this ceremony is an assault on older women.

now Goldie

They're actors. They should just act younger.

the way she said "12 Years a Slave" was pretty weird

I respect her for not pulling sad face as she said "slave".

12 Years... a Slave!

"i want goldie hawn to narrate my life" -- everyone i've ever known

what. who.

"Please welcome resiliently closeted actor John Travolta"

Is she nervous, terrible or both?

Travolta?

Resiliently hairpieced.

holy christ travolta's "hair"

UGH...the sad part, everyone who has died

yeah that rug was astonishing

hey nice, Owen P. :)

i had no idea an ilxor was an oscar nominee, amazing!

lol i had no idea owen worked on Her

So...did he win?

nope, gravity won.

aw dang I got no stake in this now, tuning out again

lol at Travolta's hair tho, dang

Aww. :-(

did the hair win?

f u bono

lol the frozen song makes so much sense now that i've seen these "people"

Aw, it was a nice speech.

these people have some energy huh

Bono's been nominated before, if memory serves.

exactly what my high school drama teacher would've done

Bono's been nominated before, if memory serves.

― Josh in Chicago,

for "Hands Across America" iirc

nope, gravity won.

:( :( :( >:(

Jared Leto was born in 1971??

yeah u2 were nominated for their crap gangs of ny song also. bono probably should've actually been nominated for cowriting 'you made me the thief of your heart' from in the name of the father.

Just like the old adage says: everyone grows up to be the Rupert Pupkin they hate.

nice speech

lol at steve mcqueen's insincere applause

did spike jonze win most shaggable man?

why was it insincere? xpost

he was doing that mock clapping thing

add robert lopez to the egot club w/ that frozen win

i can't believe how long this bullshit goes, it's fucking 10:30

f u bono

― i lost my shoes on acid (jed_), Sunday, March 2, 2014

can never, ever, be said enough.

what was mcqueen mock clapping for? cuaron winning director? i'm watching a stream and i'm like 10 mins behind but if it's that wtf r u talking abt o_0

the mock clap was for the screenplay guy that won for 12 years, i don't think it was mocking

i keep dipping in and out of this.

ellen degeneres is kind of bombing isn't she

yea she is terrible

All downhill after pizza arrival

sweating to the oldies reference '14

Feel like McQueens hands were tired from clapping for the last 6.5 hours

so the only real surprise left is how weird mcconaughey gets with his speech

lol these actress clips are calling in the question the script noms they were doing

Blue Jasmine year's worst movie and will keep saying so

that was fucking rat shit

What's morrissey doing here

"random and subjective" lol