Anonymous Oscar Ballots

[Greg]

The problem I have with CODA winning Best Picture is that it would be the biggest discrepancy between the nominations and the awards in Oscar history. How could things change so much between the nominations and the awards without a great deal of it being the result of campaigning during awards season? If campaigning matters that much for the Oscars, they are basically worthless.

[rolotomasi99]

Comparing me to Sam Elliot in this instance is so non-sensical, I’m not even going any further with you down this path. That’s ridiculous and seemed to be for effect only.

That’s nice that you learned ASL. Good for you.

Saying you want CODA to win (in part) because it will be upsetting to so many of us is both ridiculous and cruel. You are not celebrating a film you like but being a troll who takes delight in seeing unworthy winners ruin the night of Oscar fans. I honestly have no idea why you said your happiness is connected to our sadness, but I reject your feigned outrage for comparing you to someone who viciously attacked a celebrated filmmaker for absolutely nonsensical reasons. Sam Elliot was being a nasty troll and so are you. I think the comparison is apt whether you want to see it or not. You had to have known your vicious comment was going to get a reaction. Stop acting like the victim when you are the one who set off this bomb.

I studied ASL because I wanted to be bilingual but had trouble learning Spanish despite several years of taking classes in high school and college. I found I had a natural gift at picking up sign language quickly, most likely because I am more of a visual learner. Despite your facetious comments, learning multiple languages is actually good for people.

[Big Magilla]

Rolo, this really isn't a good place to talk about worst Oscar winners.

I started a thread in Other Oscar Discussions for you if you want to go there.

[Sabin]

flipp525 wrote
Quite frankly, I can’t wait for CODA to win Best Picture just so I can watch your collective heads explode. There have been some really ignorant and honestly dumb comments about the Deaf community posted over several threads in the past month or so. Some of you should be embarrassed about your lack of education about the subject matter.

I sort of agree with you. I'm not really a fan of CODA but it absolutely provides a service in de-stigmatizing the deaf community for the general audience. Also, between Sound of Metal and Audible, there's certainly a groundswell of support and awareness for the deaf community that's certainly more valuable than Crash's blanket statement of "racism is bad."

[flipp525]

Comparing me to Sam Elliot in this instance is so non-sensical, I’m not even going any further with you down this path. That’s ridiculous and seemed to be for effect only.

That’s nice that you learned ASL. Good for you.

[rolotomasi99]

Quite frankly, I can’t wait for CODA to win Best Picture just so I can watch your collective heads explode. There have been some really ignorant and honestly dumb comments about the Deaf community posted over several threads in the past month or so. Some of you should be embarrassed about your lack of education about the subject matter.

If CODA wins Best Picture, it will be just outside of my ten worst winners of all time:
The Broadway Melody (Worst)
Around the World in 80 Days
The Greatest Show on Earth
Green Book
Gigi
Cimarron
Cavalcade
The Great Ziegfeld
Rain Man
Crash

I am not comparing these movies to the other nominees of their respective years, only to all other Best Picture winners.

Curious what everyone else's ten worst would be.

That’s nice. But really has nothing to do with my comment at all.

You expressed glee at a bad film potentially winning Best Picture and the anguish it would cause those of us who love the Oscars and great cinema. I chose not to engage with you directly on that since it would be like trying to convince Sam Elliot gay cowboys do not ruin the Western genre.

I am genuinely curious about your bottom ten Best Picture winners. I think my choices explain why I am not impressed by CODA, and your choices would explain why you are.

I believe you mentioned having a connection to the Gallaudet community, and I previously wrote about learning ASL through a Gallaudet program at the DC library system. I have not seen any hateful comments toward the Deaf community on this board, but I do not usually read the review threads for specific movies. Is that where you saw the ignorant remarks?

I have discussed before how I was able to enjoy the film entirely on its own merits since I saw it back in August, before the Oscar train was really rolling. Marlee Matlin was lovely as always, Troy Kotsur was a revelation, and I was happy to see Daniel Durant make the leap from TV and theater to now film (and a SAG winner!). I really hope the success of this movie leads to more opportunities for these actors specifically and actors with disabilities in general.

However, from the point of view of a self-described cinema snob, I just wish CODA had been better. CHILDREN OF A LESSER GOD really is the gold standard, and I wonder if maybe Marlee Matlin would have done a better job as director. Perhaps Sian Heder will improve as a filmmaker (I have not seen TALLULAH, her only other film), but I hope she is ready for the tidal wave of shit coming her way if her film pulls a CRASH.

[flipp525]

Quite frankly, I can’t wait for CODA to win Best Picture just so I can watch your collective heads explode. There have been some really ignorant and honestly dumb comments about the Deaf community posted over several threads in the past month or so. Some of you should be embarrassed about your lack of education about the subject matter.

If CODA wins Best Picture, it will be just outside of my ten worst winners of all time:
The Broadway Melody (Worst)
Around the World in 80 Days
The Greatest Show on Earth
Green Book
Gigi
Cimarron
Cavalcade
The Great Ziegfeld
Rain Man
Crash

I am not comparing these movies to the other nominees of their respective years, only to all other Best Picture winners.

Curious what everyone else's ten worst would be.

That’s nice. But really has nothing to do with my comment at all.

[rolotomasi99]

Quite frankly, I can’t wait for CODA to win Best Picture just so I can watch your collective heads explode. There have been some really ignorant and honestly dumb comments about the Deaf community posted over several threads in the past month or so. Some of you should be embarrassed about your lack of education about the subject matter.

If CODA wins Best Picture, it will be just outside of my ten worst winners of all time:
The Broadway Melody (Worst)
Around the World in 80 Days
The Greatest Show on Earth
Green Book
Gigi
Cimarron
Cavalcade
The Great Ziegfeld
Rain Man
Crash

I am not comparing these movies to the other nominees of their respective years, only to all other Best Picture winners.

Curious what everyone else's ten worst would be.

[flipp525]

Quite frankly, I can’t wait for CODA to win Best Picture just so I can watch your collective heads explode. There have been some really ignorant and honestly dumb comments about the Deaf community posted over several threads in the past month or so. Some of you should be embarrassed about your lack of education about the subject matter.

[Big Magilla]

LOL. I saw the introduction before the article but completely forgot about it.

[rolotomasi99]

And where did he get the idea that there will be clips from superhero movies during the ceremony? When was the last time clips from non-nominated films were shown? Unless of course he Is talking about the movie trailers shown during commercial breaks, which makes his comment even more idiotic.

I assumed he meant there would be a whole "Salute To Super Hero Movies" like the Academy has done in the past for other genres:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OPCOa2mkN8

The above montage includes several non-nominees.

[taki15]

This could be either a man or a woman, but it seems to be a typical older female voter, possibly someone from the music branch.

If you're looking for possible upsets, I would pay attention to what she says.

I think I understand now what's going on with CODA from her statement that it "shows a slice of life that certain people live but most people are not exposed to." I think that's it. Most people who love this movie have never met a deaf person. They are surprised to find that they are just like everyone else except for their inability to hear. Duh!

Most hilarious comment: "I’m not sure why they called the kid 'Buddy' instead of 'Kenneth'”. Has she never been exposed to a kid with a nickname before?

Voting for Diane Warren because she's a friend is at least honest.

I don't think she was sneering at superhero movies. She did prefer Spider-Man for Visual Effects over Dune. She was sneering at the show's producers for cutting out live presentations of eight awards to make room for clips from more superhero movies and a Twitter award which are legitimate concerns.

The article introduces him as a member of the producers branch.

And where did he get the idea that there will be clips from superhero movies during the ceremony? When was the last time clips from non-nominated films were shown? Unless of course he Is talking about the movie trailers shown during commercial breaks, which makes his comment even more idiotic.

[rolotomasi99]

This could be either a man or a woman, but it seems to be a typical older female voter, possibly someone from the music branch.

The sub-headline of the article clearly states their gender and branch "A member of the Academy's producers branch, granted anonymity to speak freely, shares which films earned his precious vote (and why)."

I love these anonymous conversations with Academy voters. What they pick is not as interesting as why. Sometimes I understand the logic even if I disagree with the choice (his pick of TICK, TICK, BOOM for Editing), but sometimes the logic is ridiculous: he snubs Kodi Smit-McPhee because he wants to see more performances from him to be able to judge the one he is actually nominated for...but he picks Troy Kotsur despite not (I assume) having seen him in anything else. Given Smit-McPhee's much larger body of work compared to Kotsur, this seems particularly disingenuous.

Really it just comes to Academy voters not willing to recognize young actors despite having no problem giving awards to young actresses. Hell, he lavished praised on Kristen Stewart despite her being only six years older than McPhee. Both performers have been in big blockbuster franchises and small indie fare, but Stewart is ready for a Lead Acting Oscar while Smit-McPhee has to prove himself more before receiving a Supporting Acting Oscar.

It just shows what a feat it was for Timmothy Hutton to win at 20 years old.

[Big Magilla]

This could be either a man or a woman, but it seems to be a typical older female voter, possibly someone from the music branch.

If you're looking for possible upsets, I would pay attention to what she says.

I think I understand now what's going on with CODA from her statement that it "shows a slice of life that certain people live but most people are not exposed to." I think that's it. Most people who love this movie have never met a deaf person. They are surprised to find that they are just like everyone else except for their inability to hear. Duh!

Most hilarious comment: "I’m not sure why they called the kid 'Buddy' instead of 'Kenneth'”. Has she never been exposed to a kid with a nickname before?

Voting for Diane Warren because she's a friend is at least honest.

I don't think she was sneering at superhero movies. She did prefer Spider-Man for Visual Effects over Dune. She was sneering at the show's producers for cutting out live presentations of eight awards to make room for clips from more superhero movies and a Twitter award which are legitimate concerns.

[taki15]

Here's another one.

He's right about ABC and the Academy.

Oh my God, the stupidity of this person. It hurts.

1)Sneering about "superhero movies". I guess superhero movies are guilty of everything wrong in the movie industry for many of these old farts.

2)Rachel Zegler shouldn't have been cast because her name doesn't sound Latino enough.

3)Spielberg shouldn’t have been nominated because the film was made primarily by the art directors and the choreographers.

4)Javier Bardem shouldn't have been nominated because he doesn't look like Desi Arnaz.

5)Flee deserves to win Animation because it's unique, but at the same time not Documentary because it's gimmicky.