Unofficial Academy Awards Discussion Board

criddic3 wrote:

Much as I'd love to think this wounds The Butler deeply, it may be simply that it's very American subject didn't resonate with foreign correspondents.

Please, this is the same group that nominated that Emilio Estevez masterpiece Bobby!

They're also the same group that gave five nominations and two awards to The Help. The problem with The Butler is not that it's too American, but that it is a fictionalized account of a real-life African-American butler with a different name and a less dramatic life both in and out of the White House that was fraudulently marketed as a biography of an actual person which may have ruffled a few feathers. Also, the casting of famous faces as other famous faces they look nothing like is sometimes more off-putting to highly educated non-Americans who often know more about American history and current events than many Americans including the voting bloc of SAG-AFTRA.

This is the best list of nominations from the Globes I've seen in some time. The acting nominations, in particular, avoid the snickering assumptions we've come to expect from this group. Cheers to a well rounded group of nominees.

The American subject of The Butler is just as much Oprah's Book Club self-regard as black civil rights.

Mister Tee wrote:Much as I'd love to think this wounds The Butler deeply, it may be simply that it's very American subject didn't resonate with foreign correspondents.

I guess the problem they had was not the too American subject of this piece of, ahm, Art, but its too American, ahm, sensibility.

Mister Tee wrote:
Much as I'd love to think this wounds The Butler deeply, it may be simply that it's very American subject didn't resonate with foreign correspondents. And, not to rain too hard on Magilla's parade, the obverse (Euro-centricity) may have overhyped Philomena

I agree on The Butler. I haven't seen the movie yet , and I hope I won't have to - I hope that, if not Euro-centricity, at least self-respect will prevent the Academy from giving it those three major nominations which still seem possible (though I'm afraid that at least one will happen - and Oprah Winfrey is, of course, an American thing, we seem to be immune to her charms. And she in turn doesn't really like us, so it's ok).

But no, Philomena is different. I will see it next week, but from what I've read, really, it's obviously not Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont. It could get at the Oscars the same three nominations it got here, or at least two of them.

Unusually good Best Foreign Film selection by the way (but then maybe in this category the Globes have been better than the Oscars - not that it would be too difficult...).

Much as I'd love to think this wounds The Butler deeply, it may be simply that it's very American subject didn't resonate with foreign correspondents.

Please, this is the same group that nominated that Emilio Estevez masterpiece Bobby!

Even though I'll bet money that the majority of prognosticators could have predicted that 12 Years a Slave would be up for exactly 4 SAG nominations and 7 Golden Globes, that "Man, is 12 Years a Slave still the front-runner?" talk seems like a while ago.

I'll put a lot of stock in whoever brought up the SAG/AFRTRA merger yesterday. It's going to take a few years to determine if this makes the nominations more or less reliable, which I kinda like.

The real big winners this year were liars. I haven't seen The Wolf of Wall Street but calling it a comedy would seem to be a stretch, the same with American Hustle and Nebraska. So, Alexander Payne's track record is About Schmidt is a Drama, Sideways is a Comedy, The Descendants is a Drama, Nebraska is a comedy. His next movie, presumably entitled Stupid People, will be, once again, a comedy. Likewise had the makers of American Hustle pushed it for Drama, would Christian Bale have pushed out Idris Elba or would Amy Adams have pushed out Emma Thompson?

The biggest loser wasn't Lee Daniels' The Butler (who would've guessed that SAG would like it so much more than the HFP) but Saving Mr. Banks. I haven't seen it but I find it incredibly hard to be believe it is so much more dramatic in tone than anything in Comedy or Musical.

The Horse Whisperer Award for Special Achievement in Being a Movie* goes to Ron Howard's Rush.

* Do I have to see this?

Per Kris Tapley:

Meanwhile, on the Weinstein side, it will be interesting to see how Harvey's massive slate continues to take shape in the season. It's been a roller-coaster in just these last two days, and truly, "Philomena" is a film that goes down much better for a great many voters than "August" or "The Butler." So it could be "the one" at the end of the day. (No surprise "Fruitvale Station" came up empty-handed today, either; HFPA no likey.)

Mister Tee wrote:Who was it who said he still believed in Sally Hawkins? Oh, right: me! Of course, this could be another European thing. But it's nice to see yesterdays' SAG slate not fully replicated.

Not that much of a shock considering they've already awarded her a Golden Globe.

Items of note:

Thanks to (for once) classifying anything vaguely comedic as Comedy/Musical, the HFPA has put up a roster of films and performers that match dramas any day. Gerwig & Delpy are a long way from Jolie in The Tourist.

Three of the films nominated for Best Cast yesterday at SAG failed to rate any of the ten nominations for best film. Yeah...this year is far from settled.

Thanks to the Drama/Comedy split, every conceivable candidate for lead actor or actress at the Oscars is on the scene.

Much as I'd love to think this wounds The Butler deeply, it may be simply that it's very American subject didn't resonate with foreign correspondents. And, not to rain too hard on Magilla's parade, the obverse (Euro-centricity) may have overhyped Philomena, as well as Rush. (The Globes, however, could be one spot where Dench might defeat Blanchett. It'll depend whether their British bias overrides a desire to do the Oscar-obvious)

Saving Mr. Banks, though -- was it ever anything but a gleam in Tom O'Neil's eyes?

This belongs somehwere else, but something I found amusing at Wells' site yesterday: August: Osage County anagrams to "SAG: Cate outguns you"

Who was it who said he still believed in Sally Hawkins? Oh, right: me! Of course, this could be another European thing. But it's nice to see yesterdays' SAG slate not fully replicated.

Bradley Cooper is no longer just blogger-imagination. Abdi now has to be considered one of the real possibilities to make the Oscar list. As for Gandolfini -- did everyone hear the alleged quote from an HFPA voter a while back: "Well, he won't be coming to the party, will he?"

So, the films nominated for film/director/screenplay are American Hustle, 12 Years a Slave and Eric's favorite. Best director may be the evening's key award.

Word is the voters didn't much like Blue is the Warmest, so, while they felt obligated to nominate it, they'll probably go for something else in the end.

Sonic Youth wrote
I had forgotten the movie Labor Day even existed.

But they haven't forgotten that Kate Winslet existed.

I had forgotten the movie Labor Day even existed.

For once (speaking as someone who has seen only three of the ten films), the Best Picture, Musical or Comedy slate looks infinitely more interesting than the Best Picture, Drama slate. Maybe even more interesting than the Best Director slate.

I was going to write yesterday that U2's song for the Mandela movie was my "no guts no glory" prediction".

I love U2 but the song is pretty lame. But it's U2 and Mandela. It will win here and they will win the overdue oscar they got robbed 10 years ago.

Heksagon wrote:So, The Wind Rises gets a Foreign Lingo nomination, but no Animation?

per Golden Globe rules, foreign language films can't be nominated in any other categories.

So, The Wind Rises gets a Foreign Lingo nomination, but no Animation?