Anonymous Oscar Ballots

[Big Magilla]

Here's another one, this from an immigrant living in NYC. Must be a comedienne. What she says about Meryl Streep made my day!

Best Picture

I loved The Duke — and even nominated Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren in their categories — and I hoped it would make it in here, but it didn’t. I thought this was one of the weaker years for best picture. I always ask myself, “Which movie would I want to see again?” You know, like the classic movies of the past? And this year, the answer was none. I didn’t even rank six of them. I hated the [The Power of the] Dog movie, except for its cinematography. It was so predictable and not subtle — you knew right away that Benedict Cumberbatch was a latent homosexual, the brother was a wimp, and the son was a little demented — unlike Brokeback Mountain, where the characters were so finely developed and interesting. In a way, I understood what Sam Elliott meant.

I didn’t like West Side Story, which I call “Woke Side Story.” Individual pieces of the puzzle worked — I don’t think there was a bad performance — but the puzzle pieces don’t connect together. I think he made a big mistake by focusing on the places that were going to be destroyed instead of on the people — and, as an immigrant myself who came to New York, I can tell you that new immigrants don’t have beautiful three-bedroom apartments like they have in the movie, and I’ve also never seen a store like Rita Moreno’s. And why did they take “There’s a Place for Us” away from the young people? It’s unbelievable. I was thinking, “Yeah, there’s a place for you — in the cemetery up the hill.”

Aside from Bradley Cooper, who was pretty amazing and who I nominated, Licorice Pizza was a mess. The kid stays 15 forever, and he’s a fantastic entrepreneur? What was the movie about?

Don’t Look Up was just a parade of a whole bunch of celebrities; Mark Rylance, one of my favorite actors, looked bored as hell. The best part of the movie, for me, was at the end, when the raptor eats Meryl Streep.

I admit I’m not a Dune-ie — I never read the book — but I went and saw it at an IMAX, and to me, it was just boring except for when Javier Bardem came in, and I didn’t care about anybody at all. Fabulous special effects, though.

After Nightmare Alley, I just wanted to go out and have a drink — it’s beautifully shot, but, I mean, that’s the most depressing movie, and I didn’t care about anybody in that movie, either.

Drive My Car was wonderful — it could have been a lot shorter, but I still liked it enough to nominate it. Nobody is going to go see it, but the writer/director was very clever about how he wove together the three stories, and I was deeply touched by it.

CODA is like an old Hallmark Movie — it’s a lovely story, and it makes you feel good.

Belfast was such a human story — wonderfully told, with great acting, so touching — and I almost voted for it. But King Richard was the story that stayed in my mind. Really inspiring. It was a real surprise for me.

Full article here:
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movie ... 235117325/

[Big Magilla]

The diversity of opinion was interesting, but they do sound like outliers.

The whole article is smarmy. There was no point in asking questions about Lady Gaga and Jared Leto. Who cares that they weren't nominated, other than the few remaining people who still read Entertainment Weekly? None of the people who were interviewed did.

[taki15]

Entertainment Weekly’s Anonymous Oscar Ballots article.

I have to say: Penelope Cruz and The Worst Person in the World’s screenplay are both doing very well in these anonymous Oscar ballots. Could they both shock?

"The gay kid from Power of the Dog"
Jesus effing Christ, do these people actively try to sound like a bunch of entitled jerks?

[anonymous1980]

Entertainment Weekly’s Anonymous Oscar Ballots article.

I have to say: Penelope Cruz and The Worst Person in the World’s screenplay are both doing very well in these anonymous Oscar ballots. Could they both shock?

[Sabin]

Here's a list of those anonymous Oscar ballots.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lj0 ... 0RaFc/edit

[Reza]

I liked CODA. It's like a heartfelt gooey Hallmark tv film. And Emilia Jones was the film's real find. But yes, amongst the competition Campion's film has more meat.

[Big Magilla]

I wouldn't object to it wining Fan Favorite, but not Best Picture.

[flipp525]

rolotomasi99 wrote
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.

That's not what he's saying. First of all, context is important. He's pretty much the only person on this board who likes if not loves the film. He's also one of the only people who think that it provides a valuable service in its portrait of the deaf community. He's tried to communicate its virtues but nobody agrees. We've all been in situations like that where you're the only person who believes something. Second, he's right. There have been some boneheaded takes on CODA as of late, even going so far to suggest that there aren't any stigmas against the deaf community that this film is trying to tackle when virtually every deaf character I've seen in a movie in my life has been limited to one descriptive: "deaf."

Thanks, Sabin. You totally nailed it.

Also, I’m rooting for The Power of the Dog to win, for what it’s worth. But I will be (the only one here apparently?) happy if CODA ends up taking it.

[OscarGuy]

I want it to be known that my argument wasn't meant to diminish the relevance of CODA in cinema today. Representation is crucial and important. I just didn't see it as the same kind of blind reactionary film that bigots could rally around. Crash was superficial and obvious. It was also about race written by a white guy. It's the same reason I have a problem with Green Book. If I remember correctly, Sian Heder is a child of deaf adults. That in itself elevates the material above either of those two execrable films. It's clearly told with passion and love for the subject matter, which is not the same as can be said about a lot of other films.

I'm just disheartened that a great film like The Power of the Dog is being railroaded by people like Sam Elliott who seem to feel threatened when their toxic masculinity is called into question.

[Sabin]

rolotomasi99 wrote
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.

That's not what he's saying. First of all, context is important. He's pretty much the only person on this board who likes if not loves the film. He's also one of the only people who think that it provides a valuable service in its portrait of the deaf community. He's tried to communicate its virtues but nobody agrees. We've all been in situations like that where you're the only person who believes something. Second, he's right. There have been some boneheaded takes on CODA as of late, even going so far to suggest that there aren't any stigmas against the deaf community that this film is trying to tackle when virtually every deaf character I've seen in a movie in my life has been limited to one descriptive: "deaf."

Again, saying this as not the biggest fan of CODA but someone who absolutely think it serves a valuable purpose. (In no way shape or form am I atoning for once referring to Marlee Matlin as "A hottie with a body who doesn't hear a lottie.")

rolotomasi99 wrote
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.

Can I be frank? I get understand the surface similarities between the two films, both their dynamics and the fact that one of them is a gay western, but I remember the 2005 race. In the year after George W. Bush was reelected for (in part) crusading against gay marriage, it felt essential that Brokeback Mountain won Best Picture. We can argue about its virtues and flaws, but the vast consensus was that it felt like a watershed film. Does anybody remotely feel the same about The Power of the Dog in 2022? It's currently my favorite of the nominees (I'm revisiting Drive My Car) but I don't think it carries nearly the same contemporary importance aside from "It's one of the better in a wave of films about toxic masculinity."

[Big Magilla]

That wasn't the half of it.

The man never went around the back or sides of the house. He wasn't aware of the damage the company that cut the grass did to the air conditioning unit. He paid for an annual maintenance for heat and air but never called them. When I renewed it, they came and found that I was only getting half the a/c pressure because the pipe leading from the attic to the unit had been kinked and needed to be replaced. Because the pipes had been installed before the attic was finished, they couldn't get into the space needed to make the connection to the replacement part, so they had to move the unit and the electrical box it connected to, a $1,600 cost. Then I had to put in landscaping so that the lawn people couldn't cause any more damage in the front or back - $3,000.

Shortly after that, my neighbor and I went shopping at the Home Depot for another repair item for a connection to the sump pump. Because my neighbor didn't like a/c on in the car, I had the windows open. When he got out of the car, I closed the windows before exiting. There was a string that the former owner had run from the garage door mechanism in case of emergencies because he was too short to reach the pullcord. That got caught in the window and caused the garage door to slam down. If my neighbor or anyone else had been walking under the opening, they would have been killed. Turns out the reason for the slamming instead of the jamming that is supposed to happen in these instances is that the builder ten years earlier had used a single door mechanism instead of a double door mechanism to make the door go up and down. It failed under the pressure. I had to replace the whole door. Another $1,600.

[taki15]

On the other hand, I purchased my present home eleven years ago from the estate of a deaf man who lived to be 94 or 95. He lost his hearing due to a childhood disease. He was quite a character, and not all good. An old Italian man, he kept mostly to himself. His only living relative was a son in the U.S. Army who lived in another state. When the son would visit, which wasn't often, he was allowed in the house, but his African American wife wasn't. She would have to stay at the hotel or sit in the car while he checked on his father. Very sad and very stupid. But he did get around. He was known to buy a new car every two years. Where he went in his car, tough, no one could say. Most of the time he just sat in the house and stared out the window according to the next-door neighbor who would take care of his needs such as changing the batteries in the smoke alarms that he couldn't hear when they would go off.

That sounds like a great story for a movie.

[OscarGuy]

Greg, it reeks of Harvey Weinstein level chicanery, IMO.

[Big Magilla]

I love the way the mute actress' passion for the role of Sonya in Uncle Vanya is played out in Drive My Car. It's probably my favorite part of the film. My favorite mute character, though, is the bewildered mountain boy played by Marc Lawrence in the 1941 version of The Shepherd of the Hills, a revelation for anyone who knows him only for his legion of gangster roles.

The most realistic film about deafness for me, however, is 2020's Sound of Metal. I know a woman, a former neighbor, who like Riz Ahmed's character at the end of the film refuses to use her Cochlear implant. She'd rather read lips to have a conversation with people who don't sign and use text messaging to communicate with people sitting next to her if that doesn't work. She gets along just fine.

On the other hand, I purchased my present home eleven years ago from the estate of a deaf man who lived to be 94 or 95. He lost his hearing due to a childhood disease. He was quite a character, and not all good. An old Italian man, he kept mostly to himself. His only living relative was a son in the U.S. Army who lived in another state. When the son would visit, which wasn't often, he was allowed in the house, but his African American wife wasn't. She would have to stay at the hotel or sit in the car while he checked on his father. Very sad and very stupid. But he did get around. He was known to buy a new car every two years. Where he went in his car, tough, no one could say. Most of the time he just sat in the house and stared out the window according to the next-door neighbor who would take care of his needs such as changing the batteries in the smoke alarms that he couldn't hear when they would go off.

[Eric]

All this controversy and hand wringing when DRIVE MY CAR is both clearly a better film and also boasts sign language.