Apatow Thinks Comedy Should Have Its Own Oscars Category

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ksrymy
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Re: Apatow Thinks Comedy Should Have Its Own Oscars Category

Post by ksrymy »

Big Magilla wrote:I've long been of the opinion that the screenplay categories should be split between drama and comedy rather than original and adapted, but the rest of the cateories are fine as they are.
It is so much more difficult to adapt a screenplay from previous material than it is to write a comedy. You're free to do as you please with a comedy "haha insert joke here" type stuff. With an adaptation, you're under constant pressure to not deviate from the story but not keep it all too entirely the same. Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman even made a movie about how difficult it is.

It's also nice to keep it between adapted and original because usually the non-Best Picture-winning one can be considered the runner-up.

I cringe at thinking of movies like Bridesmaids and The Hangover getting nominations. I literally cringe.
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Re: Apatow Thinks Comedy Should Have Its Own Oscars Category

Post by Dien »

Greg wrote:
Dien wrote:It isn't very often one awes at the cinematography or editing of a comedy film.
There have been times when I have been at least somewhat awed by the editing of a comedy, mostly with the editing of slapstick scenes. Examples are the extended car chase in What's Up Doc? and the screwed-up dubbing in Singin' In The Rain.
Most modern comedies don't follow this technique. All mainstream comedy has been watered down since the 80s rolled around. I find Singing in the Rain to be a hilarious movie, but it's also very well made. Dr. Strangelove... also comes to mind.

Edgar Wright is one of the few comedy directors that I consider a good director in general. Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World all offer something different. Sure, they appeal to a younger generation, but they differ greatly from the mass of other comedies these days. 500 Days of Summer was also very good, but Marc Webb isn't a dedicated comedy director - working on a Spider-Man movie and all.
Big Magilla wrote:I've long been of the opinion that the screenplay categories should be split between drama and comedy rather than original and adapted
This would be a good alternative, especially when they seem to stretch to meet their quota for original and adapted screenplay.
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Re: Apatow Thinks Comedy Should Have Its Own Oscars Category

Post by Big Magilla »

I've long been of the opinion that the screenplay categories should be split between drama and comedy rather than original and adapted, but the rest of the cateories are fine as they are. There simply aren't as many award-worhty comedies as there are dramas in any given year as the Golden Globe nominations repeatedly bear out. The orginal screenplay nominees, on the other hand, generally come up short much even more so when compared to the adapted works.
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Re: Apatow Thinks Comedy Should Have Its Own Oscars Category

Post by Greg »

Dien wrote:It isn't very often one awes at the cinematography or editing of a comedy film.
There have been times when I have been at least somewhat awed by the editing of a comedy, mostly with the editing of slapstick scenes. Examples are the extended car chase in What's Up Doc? and the screwed-up dubbing in Singin' In The Rain.
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Re: Apatow Thinks Comedy Should Have Its Own Oscars Category

Post by Dien »

I think good comedies get their due where it counts - acting and screenwriting. It isn't very often one awes at the cinematography or editing of a comedy film. If a movie wins or even nominated for Best Picture, I expect it to work on multiple levels. If a film's entire point is to make you cry the entire time and it doesn't let up, then forgot about it. Likewise, if a film's entire point is to just make random jokes about nudity and recreational drug use, forget about that too.

Make the best film you can. Even if it is a comedy. Push the boundaries. That doesn't mean just push the boundaries of your humor, but see what a little bit of talented filmmaking can do. Why do comedies have to look like comedies. I'm speaking aesthetically. Is this a psychological marketing technique? Most likely. It's why cyberpunk films are blue and green, horror films are desaturated, Michael Bay pans his camera like a mofo, and Tarantino plays with feet - it tells you what movie you're watching.

Most comedies these days are point and shoot. I imagine the set sounds like this:

"3...2..."

Action

"[Read line to advance plot] ... [Improvise something funny]"

Repeat several times

"[Breaks out of character, probably laughs - save for blooper reel]"

Whole cast and crew keel over laughing

"Cut"



Basically, I want to see a comedy film handled like a good drama.
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Re: Apatow Thinks Comedy Should Have Its Own Oscars Category

Post by criddic3 »

The Academy's attempts to bring in a bigger audience I think just backfires. The people who like the Oscars like it for what it is: a chance for the industry to showcase its efforts and for the viewers to stargaze. No need to change so much. If the movies up for awards interest the audience they'll tune in. Someone recently made the point that the show's biggest ratings are when popular movies like Titanic are in the mix. Everyone knew the eventual outcome but they tuned in to root for their favorite movie. The only thing that will help the show's ratings is to make more movies that get solid marks from critics and audiences alike. Not simple, I guess, but too many movies are geared to teen sensibilities and what the studios think will make money. They should be trying to make the best movies possible. Increasingly these are the types of movies that are limited releases the studios have little confidence in for a wide audience. So it's their own fault that less people tune in to the Oscars.
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Re: Apatow Thinks Comedy Should Have Its Own Oscars Category

Post by ksrymy »

Don't let the Oscars stoop to Golden Globes level. Let the good comedies get nominated (such as The Kids are All Right was last year). The Oscars honor the best in film - no genre discrimination. Apatow is sore that his movies can't win because they're not quality. And I also think the buzz surrounding Bridesmaids is a bunch of hooey.
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Apatow Thinks Comedy Should Have Its Own Oscars Category

Post by The Original BJ »

It really is a crying shame that The Hangover and The 40-Year-Old Virgin didn't win Best Picture Oscars.

Judd Apatow thinks comedy should have its own Oscars category. Does he have a point?
by Kate Ward
EW.com

Bridesmaids producer Judd Apatow would like to see something new at the Oscars. Seems the Academy’s categorization system is making him somewhat blue (okay, I’ll stop with the wedding puns): At a Los Angeles Times forum, the funnyman complained that the Oscars have largely ignored comedies, and would be smart to create a separate category for the entire genre. After all, Apatow argued, animated features have been separated into their own category. “It doesn’t seem like it’s screwing up Schindler’s List for Hangover to have its own category,” he said. “Since comedies are rarely up for Oscars, it does make sense to have a comedy category. It would just add more fun categories.”

He has a point, from a creative and business perspective. One of the most common — and perhaps flawed — arguments for comedy getting its own Oscars category is that it’s simply more difficult to make a quality comedy. As a young, naive film lover, I used to argue this point almost daily. Why do we give all the accolades to films that predictably demand tears, rather than those that successfully elicit laughter? A comedy is so much more vulnerable and subject to ridicule and biases — shouldn’t we be in awe of one that wins praise from all sorts of critics? (Of course, laughs does not necessarily a good movie make. I’ve laughed harder at Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle than almost any film in the last ten years, but I would never argue it deserved any sort of award recognition.)

Indeed, the genre is long overdue when it comes to Oscars recognition. Robert Downey Jr. might nab the rare acting nomination for his comedic work in Tropic Thunder, but strongly reviewed features like The Hangover, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Borat, and Best In Show never even had a chance. And even though the Best Picture category expanded to 10 pictures in 2009, out of the 20 films nominated in the category thus far, only five could be possibly considered as “comedies,” insofar as they had a large number of scenes designed specifically to make people laugh: A Serious Man, Up in the Air, The Kids Are All Right, Up, and Toy Story 3, the last two of which already picked up an Oscar in the Best Animated Feature category. Would it hurt to give some of the more irreverent comedies a chance? Then again, it is a bit of a slippery slope. If comedy gets its own category, why shouldn’t action films their own categories as well? Pretty soon, we’re awarding Priest for being the Best Picture About Vampire-Hunting Clergy.

Perhaps the best argument for a comedy category, though, is the quality of the ceremony itself. The Academy opened up its Best Picture category to 10 nominees in part to attract a larger viewing audience. It’s likely a comedy category would attract even more viewers. There’s a reason the Golden Globes are more fun to watch (and not just because of Ricky Gervais). It’s because the Globes are the one awards show that does honor the goofy comedy, freely admitting that It’s Complicated and Hairspray were great, fun films, no matter how frivolous they may be. Viewers have had trouble connecting with the serious-minded Oscars, often viewing them as pretentious and inaccessible — could laughter be the best medicine when it comes to the Academy’s ratings ills?
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