Long Day's Journey Into Link
Thursday, February 19, 2015 at 5:00PM All Oscars All The Time
Big Group they've taken that 'Oscar Dresses infographic' that was so successful a year ago and updated and expanded it with interactivity
AV Club wants the Oscars to add these 11 categories. I say Nay! to most of these. The Academy nixed two of these very recently (Best Casting and Title Design) when they were proposed again
David Poland thinks "preferential balloting" makes virtually anything possible in this tight Best Picture race and seems to expect a true spread the wealth night (as do I)
Gurus of Gold the full charts in all categories
The Atlantic Joe Reid on the lack of connection between Best Picture & Best Actress
Vox tries to explain all the confusing Oscar categories - not who will win but the category definitions themselves
THR Mo'Nique believes she was blackballed after her Oscar win for Precious for not playing the game and being "difficult". Hollywood is so frustrating. Who cares if she's difficult. That's one of the best performances of all time. Doesn't anyone wanna try bottling lightning again?
The Wrap, truly jumping the gun, proposed 20 actors of color and 5 directors for all 25 of the major Oscar nominations for next year's race from films like Creed, Silence, Nina, Lila & Eve, and Crimson Peak
More Movies
Keith Gow reviews The Last Five Years and he's much more satisfied with it than I am. One of my friends who is much more critical of modern movie musicals than I also loved it. I am definitely ready for a second look.
GMA Jeremy Jordan and Jason Robert Brown perform a Last Five Years number on morning TV
Empire 8 secrets from the set of Nightcrawler
Dissolve on Neil Blomkamp's plans to direct another Aliens sequel. Sigourney Weaver is planning to return as Ripley. So exciting if we really do get a sixtysomething action heroine but I'm not holding my breath since Ridley Scott is working on a Prometheus sequel, too
Interview amazing new photoshoot of Kristen Stewart who really turned it out as an actress this past year. More please
First Showing yes it's true Pirates of the Caribbean 5 has started production (Noooooooo) with Javier Bardem wasting more of his time and YA stars Kaya Scoledario and Brenton Thwaites joining the cast
The Film Stage Xavier Dolan in the new trailer for Elephant Song - he's just acting this time
Details Calum Marsh looks at The Breakfast Club 30 years on
In Contention looks at some of the tougher to call races
THR Brutally Honest Ballot of an Oscar voter from the PR branch - these things are always a mix of cringeworthy and/or interesting revealing quotes
THR Brutally Honest Ballot #2 - this one loves Theory of Everything and admires Boyhood
New Mad Men Trailer! "The Final Episodes"
Because of this people are speculating that the final episodes take place in 1976. People are silly. It's not like that show to jump 7 years. And Matthew Weiner said he always wanted to make a show about the decade of the 1960s and he's always been willing to be anachronistic about music. The movies on the other hand, they're usually right on schedule so I wish I knew what year the final episodes took place in so as to study that year's movies. I want to see Don Draper in a movie theater one last time. Pretty please!
Monty waiting for more cakeOff Cinema
Wisdom Nation screw motivation, seek discipline
Billboard Madonna speaks, makes journo drink shots
BuzzFeed Trans model recreates Adam Levine's famous never-nude shot
Towleroad Lady Gaga is engaged to her actor boyfriend Taylor Kinney (The Other Women / Chicago Fire)
Playbill the great Victoria Clark (The Light in the Piazza) is doing a diary of her out of town tryouts of Gigi, a reworking of the Oscar winning musical
AutoStraddle "50 Shades of Grey Cats". Monty made me include that one. He's breathing very loudly right behind my chair as I type this, surely plotting my murder for the recent vet visit. FTR he is also upset that Jennifer Aniston didn't get nominated for Cake because he was hoping for more edible swag.
Reader Comments (35)
Disco Diana Ross, Mad Men? Sold!
THR #1 seems to think there's no problem with a movie that gives a conscience to Chris Kyle or figuratively castrates Alan Turing. No wonder she thinks the cast of Selma and others are rocking the boat.
What I think is most frustrating about the Mo'Nique situation is that it doesn't sound like she was difficult on set, but it all seems based on what happened during awards season. She made it very clear where her priorities were, her money and securing what was available at that point in her career. She figured she would and should win the Oscar only if people thought she deserved it. She even went as far as to have former nominees Taraji P. Henson and Terrance Howard on her (now defunct) talk show to talk about what those nominations and a potential win meant for the "bottom line". Take issue with if you will, but there's no denying that 1. The award's season is unreasonably long. I understand it's part of the Oscar game, and your film's promotion, but should actors be punished should the choose not to drop everything to answer the same series of questions and compete against the same people (with the same outcomes), at the risk of other work? I can think of more appearances than absences on her behalf during the season. 2. Sadly, as much as a recognition as that Oscar was for indeed one of best performances EVER, was it ever really going to take an actress like Mo'Nique to another level in her career?
It really is a shame because I thought she never came across as anything but gracious during her appearances, and thought that her being there to announce the nominees that next year was basically a way for the Academy (and industry) to dismiss all the previous issues as pure nonsense. Lee Daniels released a statement that all but confirms her claims. Just s shame. At least she can honestly say, she won that award purely on merit. How many others can claim that?
Well I know the ceremony is long enough, but some of the extra categories listed by the article at the AV club make a lot of sense to me. I'm not in favour of all of them but I do like the suggestion for: Best Casting & Best ensemble.
We discuss best ensemble all the time on this blog because of the SAG awards. I know SAG has that weird rule about eligibility. But say the Oscar eligibility rules could be made rational, what's wrong with this addition?
I think casting is worthy and far more visible to the average film goer than sound editing.
Anyone else ?
Guilherme del Toro has blue eyes, you guys.
I had read that Monique's husband managed her and wasn't super well-liked, and it sounds like he is torpedoing her deals. Anyway, I hope she acts again. She's beyond talented and WOW, Lee really was willing to give her a lot of work.
I wouldn't mind an Oscar for Best Title Design and that's it.
I love Mo'Nique and I'm glad she is back.
Joe's article breaks my heart.
I'm fascinated with those brutally honest ballots. I want more. Can someone please explain to me 86, 89, 01 and so on? Thanks! Now I'm going to look at the Oscar dresses for hours.
MoNique's career makes me so sad, considering her Oscar win was one of the most deserved ever. We'll never really know what goes on behind the scenes, but isn't it telling that actors such as Sean Penn and Russell Crowe have been known to be difficult to work with throughout their careers, but they are never wanting for work...and not just any work they still get top-dollar, prestige parts. Mo'Nique doesn't "play the game" and yet she's punished and hasn't appeared in a film since 2009. Wtf?
Mo'Nique's was indeed a performance for the ages. She will be remembered even if she doesn't act ever again. So there.
I finally watched Nightcrawler, and now I understand why everyone was so bummed when Jake didn't get an Oscar nomination. That piece on the "secrets" of the film's shoot really emphasize what a dedicated, creative collaborator he was with Dan Gilroy. I love hearing about that. Seems like a lot of actors show up for the day, say their lines and then hunker down in their trailers.
Hate that Mo'Nique story. It's sad that as soon as she's proven to be a more than capable talent, she's intentionally put on the back-burner. Thanks for the wealth of reading material. I'll be here clicking away.
The only additional Oscar category I could possibly consider is Title Design. Otherwise, the Oscars become Grammy 2 and become meaningless.
I read the Mo'Nique piece and Lee Daniels basically tells her to lower her price and stop being so demanding because no one wants to even consider her anymore. Difficult isn't just what you do on set, it is also all the perks/salary/special treatments you demand and this sounds like she wants (or the husband wants) someone to blow her nose and wipe her ass while being paid like the coffers are bottomless. She says she is getting offers which are then being pulled. That means people want to work with her, but they can't come to an agreement on terms. It sounds like they wanted her for Cookie on Empire (and she would have been great), but a new series (and an expensive series to produce, which won't make money until it has at least 3 seasons under it's belt and needs to hit the magic syndication number to really pull in the dough) can't afford to pay movie star prices at the beginning. And there are just too many black character actresses in Hollywood who can bring the goods so you better be prepared to compromise or one of them will snatch the role out from under you.
Can someone please explain "people of color" as a definition. I"m not being snide. I do not understand this. If Javier Bardem,. who is whiter than I am (and I am mayonnaise boy), is considered a person of color why would I not be except that my surname isn't of Spanish origin. If Bardem, a white European who is ESL, is a person of color, why isn't Marion Cottiliard?
Nat--All cats are planning their human's murder. If they ever figure out how to operate the can opener, we are buffet.
Henry -- Yup, my first thought was thst she probably lost out on Cookie, which has to be a kick in the stomach. Ratings are off the charts and Taraji has become a superstar overnight after years of hustling.
Joe's article is so great and so important. I think one way to increase the number of female-led movies in the running is to stop early handicapping "Oscar Buzz" films which only reinforce these male/historical/biopic patterns that end up getting way more attention than they necessarily deserve. Film writers, especially for magazines and prominent websites, should capitalize their reach and promote nontypical films right from the start and devote less time to talking about meh films that may fit the mold of what Best Picture usually looks like.
That being said, doesn't Carol look like a Best Picture frontrunner?
Henry -- Bardem does not count since he is European. From my understanding talking to Hispanics in America is that Latin America considers themselves "people of color" but Europeans are considered white. i dont' make the rules. I just used to work in HR and you have to fill out all those EEO forms and this is usually how it breaks down.
Nathaniel: That would make sense except that Barden is one of the choices The Wrap piece uses to populate all the nominations with "people of color."
Javier Bardem looks out of place next to the black actors in the collage. At the same time nobody in Hollywood sees him as a European white guy. He's an ethnic European who'll be asked to play Latinos whenever his character's ethnicity is specified.
@Henry -- keep in mind that unfortunately, when race is discussed, the US tends to expect the world to know their definitions and operate by them, which understandably causes a lot of confusion. Sofia Vergara, Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem are all Caucasian, but since they have Mexican sounding names and look vaguely Mexican, they're put under the general umbrella of Latino/Latina. Vergara has spoken of how she had to basically change her appearance to look like what the US would consider a Latina before she could get hired, because in what is no doubt shocking news, casting directors were confounded by a natural blonde with a strong Colombian accent -- she was basically advised to become more Latina by US standards. Margaret Cho, a Korean stand up comedian, has a heartbreaking yet funny routine about being advised on how to be Asian by white people, and how she took that advice because they made it seem like they knew better and held her success as well as the future success of other Asian Americans in the balance. So "people of color" is a nebulous term that is also literal -- it means anyone who doesn't look like a white Midwestern American as defined by traditional (old, white, male, straight, likely Christian) power structures.
I don't mind Mo'Nique losing out on Cookie because Taraji is killing it to PIECES and she also has a delightful chemistry with Terrence Howard. Does Empire make the cut for this year's Emmy submission? Anyways, i *need* her and Lisa Kudrow (The Comeback) to get noms.
Back to Mo'Nique. I honestly don't blame her for not doing all the Oscar poledancing because it not only seems exhausting but ultimately deplorable. I mean, as an actor, getting an Oscar is a great privilege that can lead to a salary bump, star rise and (possibly) more roles. But it does terribly disingenuous to have to campaign for your performance because you think you deserve to be awarded for it. I mean, i would **love** to have an Oscar but i would like to at least think it is because the Academy thought it was for the merit of my work rather than the result of a great strategy. I wouldn't want to play the game either. You're not running for office. I mean, her win alone shows that it can be possible. A HUGE risk, yes, but possible. It reminds me of Melissa Leo's CONSIDER which was some of the same bullshit that Mo'Nique rightly didn't want to have to deal with. CONSIDER what? She pretty much had it in the bag at that point.
CONSIDER me when you vote so I can end up with the award. Ugh. Fuck that noise.
When she won, I cheered like CRAZY and pretty much loved her forever for that heavily gracious tribute to Hattie McDaniel with her Oscar dress and speech. She deserves more. Especially since she came out of nowhere with that performance.
Henry -- i didn't write the Wrap piece! i dont know what they're thinking. He's European so even by US "standards" -- which change all the time -- he's caucasian
F -- plenty of young people describe themselves as "people of color" so don't be all "old white men caused that!" from my understanding that term came up through ethnic minorities. White people tend to defer to what people want to be called these days.
@Nathaniel - that's part of my point though, and I'll admit I didn't phrase that well, in that 'person of color' is for the most part, an American term for describing someone who's not white, used mainly as a reaction because the other terms that previous power structures used had negative connotations. You're writing in your country with Americans as your main audience so terms you're familiar with are expected, but the term 'person of color' is a strange term to use to identify themselves for a lot of people outside of the US, particularly for people who don't know the specifics of US history. Due to the power and reach of US entertainment, many of us are aware of it nonetheless, even if a term like 'person of color' is a term we'd be loath to use on ourselves, even if it applies to us. So Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz and Sofia Vergara likely never thought of themselves of 'persons of color' until they got to the US, and they probably got a crash course in a hurry because they soon found themselves being treated like 'persons of color.'
Hollywood's done Mo'Nique so dirty. Oh well, fuck 'em. She has her Oscar for one of the best performances I've ever seen captured on film. Posterity will take care of the rest. I just hate seeing creative people not being able to be creative b/c of institutionalized racism/sexism/homophobia. It has to stop already. It's 2015 for christsakes!
That Atlantic article is another reminder of just how misogynist the voting habits of the "Academy" tend to be. And not like, boys club disregard either. Gone Girl and Wild got really strong reviews, as the article points out, far better than The Imitation Game or The Theory of Everything. But they suffered the sin of having a strong female lead, and so Pike was Gone Girl's sole nomination, and Wild missed out on Adapted Screenplay.
I thought Mo'Nique was perfectly fine during her Oscar campaigning. Given that she won, Hollywood by and large wasn't bothered either. I am sure she would have done more campaigning if it were even a remotely close race.
Was the mogul diss aimed at Oprah?
To be pulled out of three Lee Daniels projects is not fair. Daniels must think highly of her talent to initially offer her those parts. She must have offended a particular group of people associated with Daniels' projects.
I'm happy Mo'Nique will be back in the HBO biopic Bessie, but this is really upsetting news... and not that surprising. In a way it relieves me because I was sitting here thinking Mo'Nique didn't care or she wasn't getting offered anything.
I can see that she is probably a bit difficult. And you have to learn to lower your expectations and demands in general in life when you want to do things. BUT, for almost any Oscar winner, those demands and expectations are usually allowed after they win. I remember Halle Berry won the Oscar and they went and rewrote her role in X-Men so she had a bigger part. And salary increase for an Oscar winner is a given.
Like someone else said, these white men in Hollywood are notorious for being difficult and yet they work. They get great roles. Not only did Mo'Nique win an Oscar, she won for one of the best performances ever and people are very anxious to see her return to the screen. It's silly to keep her away.
I think Cookie is definitely Taraji's part, especially with Terrence (but if Wesley Snipes had gotten it like they were going to, Mo'Nique would be fab), but I am obviously trying to picture what Mo'Nique would've done in Oprah's part in The Butler now...
On those 11 suggestions, I'd actually say YES! to all but mo-cap acting. Really, until there's dozens of laudatory mo-cap performances a year, they should be special awards.
I could also, almost go for a stunt award, but then there are only 19 stunt people in the academy which begs the question, Why? Stunts are used in at least 75% of films, not just the action pieces. They should be better represented. I was happy when SAG added the stunt award but then all stunt people have to be members of the Union so we have a large representation.
Those brutally honest Oscar ballots are horrifying.
Imitation Game is going to be a movie we talk about in 50 years? I'd be surprised if anyone is talking about it in 50 days.
Sometimes it's the people who no one expects anything of who confirm your expectations that they are stupid and crazy.
We also have to remember that THR is picking who to publish and crazy drives more traffic than sane. I also think most of these people must be retired or rarely work.
Imitation Game is going to have a longer shelf life than you think. It is still in the top 10, 12 weeks after release. Longer than any other film in the top 15.
Henry: 50 days is a SLIGHT exaggeration, but I buy we'll still be talking about The Social Network, The Dark Knight and The Fighter in 30-50 years and The Imitation Game, Doubt and Frost/Nixon will wither into footnotes in that time.
Mo'Nique didn't lose roles when there's nothing to lose. Quality roles for black women in Hollywood are just not that common. She, no doubt, gave one of the most outstanding, most Oscar deserving performances of all time, but the very few roles that are available will be offered to the Meryl Streep of Black Hollywood- Viola Davis.
Nat, tks for the text on discipline and motivation. I really needed reading that.
Mike - She literally referenced roles she lost though, lol... and none of them went to Viola Davis.
The first few years she wasn't getting roles I thought either she didn't care or there were no good roles to get, because as you're saying, roles for black women are scarce. But still, it's odd that an actress that just won and Oscar, especially for a performance of that caliber, couldn't even nab one project. So this explains some things.
At least she's going to be the upcoming Bessie biopic for HBO. Hopefully she starts working again. I was really eager to see more work from her.
If lack of campaigning or "playing the game" has hurt Mo'nique, I think it's mostly an excuse, though, for those who are actually eschewing casting her because of the inherent racism, sexism, and weightism in the movies.
Henry: Its only blatantly disappointing WINNERS (like Gandhi, The King's Speech and Around the World in 80 Days (note: I've seen three adaptations of Around the World in 80 Days and, in spite of ALSO, like a lot of people, hating Tweety, I have to concede that Tweety's High-Flying Adventure is the best one if only because it's only 70 minutes. Don't want to see the almost four hour Pierce Brosnan adaptation (DAVID NIVEN couldn't make Fogg interesting for just under THREE hours, what made anyone think 80s Brosnan could make him interesting for close to an hour more?), but maybe Palin doing the same thing could be cool.)) that endure in pop culture history.