2016 Academy Awards Thread

[Cyclopssss]

What I'm curious about is how much of 'Fight the power' by Public Enemy they aired at the end credits.
Was this part of the lyrics included:

Elvis was a hero to most
But he never meant shit to me you see
Straight up racist that sucker was
Simple and plain
Mother fuck him and John Wayne?

[kaos2900]

Wow.

The show this year was complete joke from start to finish. Didn't 12 Years a Slave win best picture not that long ago? Also, the hypocrisy of Chris Rock to be racist towards Asians is beyond funny. I've lost all respect for the show and Chris Rock.

[ariich]

Also, the hypocrisy of Chris Rock to be racist towards Asians is beyond funny. I've lost all respect for the show and Chris Rock.

Was that not surely the whole point of the joke?

[Accelerando]

hypocrisy?!? Kaos what are you talking about?!? 

[Genowyn]

Some latino/a people online have commented that despite the talk of racism and white folk only at this years awards, they actually had a pretty strong showing.

Or do they count as white in this circumstance but not in others?

[hefdaddy42]

The "whiteout" is in reference to the acting nominations - 5 nominees each for Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress.

Those 20 nominees were white as snow.  Not a Latino in sight.

[Prog Snob]

I wouldn't say white as snow. Stallone is darker than most of the Hispanics and Latinos there.      

[Calvin6s]

It is always smart to fight perceived racism with actual racism.

[The Trooper]

He should have left it after the opening and then left it at that. His opening was brilliant. After that it was beating a dead horse..

[Kotowboy]

" Welcome to the 2016 Academy Awards "

* mic drop *

* leaves stage *

[Prog Snob]

" Welcome to the 2016 Academy Awards "

* mic drop *

* leaves stage *

That would have been more satisfying.

[Sacul]

I haven't read any complaints about lack of nominated Asian actors for instance

What if... A crazy thought but what if... No black actor/actress did well enough to deserve a nomination?

[Cool Chris]

The "whiteout" is in reference to the acting nominations - 5 nominees each for Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress.

Perhaps, the best acting performances were all done by white people?

The parallel argument, which I think is a more valid one and one that I believe Spike Lee was trying to make, is that it is near impossible for minorities to get involved in the business side of making films. I think he was the one who said it is easier for a black person to be president of the USA than of a movie studio. If that is the case, and it probably is, I think this is a valid argument to pursue. Not who gets silly little gold statues.

[Kotowboy]

What if... A crazy thought but what if... No black actor/actress did well enough to deserve a nomination?

Well quite

[ariich]

I haven't read any complaints about lack of nominated Asian actors for instance

What if... A crazy thought but what if... No black actor/actress did well enough to deserve a nomination?

What, almost every single year? That seems unlikely given the number of top quality non-white actors there are.

[Kotowboy]

12 Years A Slave got best picture which was directed by a Black Director , best screen play for a black guy and they gave Lupita Nyong'o best actress in 2013.

[ariich]

12 Years A Slave got best picture which was directed by a Black Director , best screen play for a black guy and they gave Lupita Nyong'o best actress in 2013.

The "whiteout" is in reference to the acting nominations - 5 nominees each for Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress.

[Calvin6s]

Kanye West should host.  He could correct all the *wrong* winners on the spot.

#OscarsSoBeyonce

[Zantera]

While I think other actors than white actors should get recognition, I always thought the whole "OscarSoWhite" discussion was flawed to begin with. If a black actor WAS nominated, wouldn't you want him to be nominated because he actually was one of the best actors that year, and not just because of some rule that stated "we have to have at least 1 black dude"? There's plenty of talented actors in other minorities, but at least to me, there wasn't one big standout that was robbed of a nomination this year in favour of a white person getting it instead. The actors they did have all put in great performances. I don't care if it's 5 black guys, 5 white guys or 5 asians, the best actors are the best actors and they should be nominated on their performances and nothing else.

I guess someone would make a case for Idris Elba, but the problem with his case was not that he was a black actor, but the fact that they made that film a Netflix exclusive thing. As much as the general public might be open to that concept, I think it's gonna be years before the academy warms up to the idea of the "straight to video" approach in the modern society with films going out straight on Netflix, Amazon Prime and the likes. Had that movie been widely released, I think the chances of him getting nominated would have been much higher.

[Prog Snob]

I haven't read any complaints about lack of nominated Asian actors for instance

What if... A crazy thought but what if... No black actor/actress did well enough to deserve a nomination?

Now why would we want to be logical about it when we can call it racism and give Al Sharpton another excuse to inundate the news with his oversized head? 

[DragonAttack]

^
from wiki as to 'Beasts':
"Netflix bought the worldwide distribution rights for around $12 million. The film was simultaneously released theatrically and online through its subscription video on demand service on October 16, 2015, with Bleecker Street handling the theatrical release. Considering the online release a violation of the traditional 90-day release window of exclusivity to theatres, AMC Cinemas, Carmike Cinemas, Cinemark, and Regal Entertainment Group—four of the largest theater chains in the United States—announced that they would boycott Beasts of No Nation, effectively downgrading it to a limited release at smaller and independent theatres. The film was also theatrically released in the UK on October 16, 2015, in Curzon Cinemas."

I remembered hearing of this.  That's what irritated some, because I guess it does mean it fit the guidelines to be nominated.
 

Perhaps, the best acting performances were all done by white people?

The parallel argument, which I think is a more valid one and one that I believe Spike Lee was trying to make, is that it is near impossible for minorities to get involved in the business side of making films. I think he was the one who said it is easier for a black person to be president of the USA than of a movie studio. If that is the case, and it probably is, I think this is a valid argument to pursue. Not who gets silly little gold statues.

^
This. Also, the big money is foreign markets, and foreign markets are, oh, shall we say 'choosy' in who and what they watch.

And sorry Will Smith, you were OK in the slightly disappointing 'Concussion'.

[Adami]

I think the absence of nominations for Straight Outta Compton (minus the script, written by white people) or Creed was a big part of it.

[KevShmev]

Seems hard to believe that Samuel Jackson has only received one Academy Award nomination over the years (for Pulp Fiction).  How he didn't get a nomination for Best Supporting Actor for Django Unchained is unbelievable to me.

[ariich]

While I think other actors than white actors should get recognition, I always thought the whole "OscarSoWhite" discussion was flawed to begin with. If a black actor WAS nominated, wouldn't you want him to be nominated because he actually was one of the best actors that year, and not just because of some rule that stated "we have to have at least 1 black dude"? There's plenty of talented actors in other minorities, but at least to me, there wasn't one big standout that was robbed of a nomination this year in favour of a white person getting it instead. The actors they did have all put in great performances. I don't care if it's 5 black guys, 5 white guys or 5 asians, the best actors are the best actors and they should be nominated on their performances and nothing else.

I guess someone would make a case for Idris Elba, but the problem with his case was not that he was a black actor, but the fact that they made that film a Netflix exclusive thing. As much as the general public might be open to that concept, I think it's gonna be years before the academy warms up to the idea of the "straight to video" approach in the modern society with films going out straight on Netflix, Amazon Prime and the likes. Had that movie been widely released, I think the chances of him getting nominated would have been much higher.

I'm fairly sure nobody is suggesting there should be a quota. And you personally may not have felt that any black actors deserved a nomination, though the argument can be made that most of the best roles that lend themselves towards Oscar nominations go to black actors. And besides that, many people would disagree with you. You mentioned Idris Elba, and Adami gave some other examples.

Of course there shouldn't be a quota. It's bad enough that they have to have separate men's and women's categories for acting, they obviously can't do the same for ethnic minorities. But with the number of excellent actors and performances among ethnic minorities, they are definitely under-represented in the acting nominations year after year.

And that doesn't mean anyone (or at least most people) is suggesting that this is deliberate, that the Academy voters are deliberately excluding black people. Bias is normally an unconscious thing.

[hefdaddy42]

What if... A crazy thought but what if... No black actor/actress did well enough to deserve a nomination?

But how do you define "well enough"?

It's touchy, because not only is picking a winner mostly subjective, but even picking the nominees is also mostly subjective.  Most years, there are other deserving candidates who don't get nominated in whatever category we are talking about (snubs), whether this awards show or others.  It happens.

The weird thing is that, in this error of inclusion and diversity, we have had two years in a row that no people of color had "good enough" performances to warrant a nomination in any of those categories. 

The other touchy thing is that, if you say "Idris Elba was deserving of a nomination" (which I think is a reasonable opinion), then given that there are only 5 spots for nominees, which of the 5 that made it is there undeservingly?  That seems like a very difficult question to me, and one that makes me nervous about how to rectify the situation.

At any rate, it is clear that the problem isn't with the other actors, but rather with the members of the Academy, and how different people can become members.  And racial issues are not the only issues they are facing.  A group of stuntmen held a rally right around Oscar time, protesting that there isn't an award for them, even though they often literally risk life and limb for the movies.  Turns out there are only a handful of stunt people that are members of the Academy.

*shrugs*

[BlackInk]

Seems hard to believe that Samuel Jackson has only received one Academy Award nomination over the years (for Pulp Fiction).  How he didn't get a nomination for Best Supporting Actor for Django Unchained is unbelievable to me.

I think there are three Oscar-worthy supporting roles in that movie, I guess they just couldn't go with all three.

[Genowyn]

I think Leo deserved the Oscar over Waltz for Django... Don't get me wrong, both great performances, but Leo slicing his hand open and just carrying on with the scene in a way that made Candy just that much more disturbing... Great stuff.

[BlackInk]

I think Leo deserved the Oscar over Waltz for Django

I agree.

[FlyingBIZKIT]

While he did a great job in The Revenant, I'm surprised he didn't win it for some of his other movies. He was great in Django, and I always heard he was spectacular in The Aviator.

[Zantera]

He was great in The Aviator, but you also gotta put in context which years those films came out and what the other nominees were. With the case of Aviator, he was nominated, but Jamie Foxx won for Ray, which was arguably the stronger performance. Often it's easy to say that someone should have won for their role in a certain movie while completely disregarding what actually did win, and with the case of Leo, I think he has put out a list of great performances, but he has never had that one performance which was the best in any given year.. until now. Personally I thought this year looked weaker in that category, and had there been tougher rivals, he might have been snubbed again. But he did put in an excellent performance and deserved the award IMO.

[Kotowboy]

I thought he was amazing in "...Gilbert Grape. " and " This Boy's Life. "

It seems that post - Titanic - he's been more or less playing the same character in different outfits.

[Adami]

I thought he was amazing in "...Gilbert Grape. " and " This Boy's Life. "

It seems that post - Titanic - he's been more or less playing the same character in different outfits.

Have you....seen any of his movies? I'll admit they're not all radically different from each other,  but how can you possibly compare his roles in Django, aviator, catch me if you can, revolutionary road and wolf of Wall Street (just to name a few) and say they're all the same?

[Prog Snob]

I thought he was amazing in "...Gilbert Grape. " and " This Boy's Life. "

It seems that post - Titanic - he's been more or less playing the same character in different outfits.

Have you....seen any of his movies? I'll admit they're not all radically different from each other,  but how can you possibly compare his roles in Django, aviator, catch me if you can, revolutionary road and wolf of Wall Street (just to name a few) and say they're all the same?

I was going to let it go but I was wondering the same thing. I have seen Catch Me If You Can numerous times and Aviator once or twice. Using just those two movies alone, the characters have different personalities.

[MirrorMask]

I agree that it's an exageration to call Di Caprio roles the same thing over and over, but to be fair... if I tell you that Di Caprio is in a movie playing a troubled man who has issues knowing reality from fantasy and can't let go of his dead wife, am I talking about Inception or Shutter Island?

[Adami]

I agree that it's an exageration to call Di Caprio roles the same thing over and over, but to be fair... if I tell you that Di Caprio is in a movie playing a troubled man who has issues knowing reality from fantasy and can't let go of his dead wife, am I talking about Inception or Shutter Island?

If I tell you that there's a movie where Michael Keaton plays a weird, possibly deranged dude that uses theatrical means of ridding his place of residency of trouble makers, am I talking about Batman or Beetlejuice? Even though those roles aren't similar.

And even if they were, does it mean all of his other movies are the same?

Sure, you can find similarities between a role here, a role there, sure. But that doesn't have any barring on the statement that all post-titanic roles are the same.

What they have in common, generally, is that they are intense roles. However, I could also understand if Leo the celebrity has become so big as an image, that it's hard to see the character instead of the actor. That happens to me these days with people like Sam Jackson. I love Sam Jackson, and I think he's an absurdly underrated actor of incredible talent, but no matter who he's playing, no matter how different they are, I always see Sam Jackson.