Comments on: 2008 Oscar Nominees: The Reaction

By: chewbaca69

chewbaca69 — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 01:51:09 +0000

im just psyched there will be blood got 8. thats all i need to know other than that i dont take the oscars to serisously.

By: BeautifulM

BeautifulM — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 20:42:11 +0000

bradbrevet said: Oh, and as for Juno, I think I already spent all of my outrage on that one. That's the article and then I get slammed over here. I cried myself to sleep after getting bashed around on that one. :)

I mean Waitress could've been nominated. Anyway, like I said I'm not accusing you guys of this , I just thought it would be good to ask around other blogs. Oh I know you hate Juno, I thought it was okay, but Ellen Page was good.

By: bradbrevet

bradbrevet — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 20:34:54 +0000

Oh, and as for Juno, I think I already spent all of my outrage on that one. That's the article and then I get slammed over here. I cried myself to sleep after getting bashed around on that one. :)

By: bradbrevet

bradbrevet — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 20:27:36 +0000

Hey BeautifulM, had to edit that for length reasons, but like I said, I can't speak for others. Personally Walk the Line was not worthy of a nom, even Ray (the film) had flaws such as length and you and I already discussed The Great Debaters, which I skipped.

I think people tend to hear what they want to hear and dismiss the other stuff. Some people may read upset folks saying Great Debaters got nominated and shouldn't have, but here is the thing about Across the Universe. The Globe category is Musical/Comedy… there aren't a lot of quality films in that category each year. I never saw Across the Universe, I can't speak to its quality, but I know there weren't a lot of films to fill that genre and there traditionally aren't.

You also have to understand that 99.9% of the population is ignorant and online forums are havens for these folks. They hide behind their online personas and can say whatever they like. Then you have the uptight film lovers that have their opinions and don't sway. It is a losing situation.

I understand your frustration, but I can't really explain why people act the way they do. :)

By: BeautifulM

BeautifulM — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 20:25:24 +0000

I think basically what they are saying is that whether or not you think they deserve it ( which is based on opinion) why wasn't there the same outrage when Hilary Swank ( I remember a lot of people not liking her performance) won. Or where is the outrage of Juno ( I mean a lot of people thought it was overrated) , but to me it seems like today everyone is talking about Ruby Dee.

For the record I didn't really like Dreamgirls either and I didn't think that AG was the best movie of this year. I'm not accusing you guys of this, but I just thought it would be good to discuss it on other boards. Yes there was huge outrage when Jamie Foxx won, people thought it was showboating.

By: BeautifulM

BeautifulM — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 20:15:48 +0000

Well maybe this thread from the filmexperience would help you understand what I'm trying to say. If it's not okay I'll quickly take them down.

Here is one highlight:

[QUOTE]What I did find racially suspect was the level of hatred and outrage online when The Great Debaters recieved a Golden Globe nomination. This was a film almost nobody had actually seen, but was recieving strong early reviews and had actually won a precusor or two. People had decided that Oprah had bought the film a nomination.

Yet Across The Universe, a film few people care about or particularly rate at all in terms of awards season, gets a Globe nomination for Best Picture, and it slides by without much comment or outrage.

One is a black film. The other isn't. I find the response to both films getting nominated to be highly questionable.

Nate

Here is the thread again, it's pretty long.

[url]https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8256060&postID=6888641754465964503[/url]

By: bradbrevet

bradbrevet — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 19:58:18 +0000

I am not outraged that Ruby Dee was nominated, however I don't agree with it. I don't think her performance was long enough or even powerful enough to be nominated. However, I don't know why anyone would think it has anything to do with race… People have been saying Ruby Dee had a chance all year long and Dre even mentioned her in his prediction piece. Dre chalked the nom up to age and I don't think he ever mentioned race.

As far as Ellen Page goes, I agree she didn't deserve a nom. However, I think the entire cast of Michael Clayton deserved one.

To your comment regarding Jennifer Hudson, she didn't deserve it and she didn't deserve a nomination. As far as Halle goes, she really didn't deserve it for Monster's Ball, but I would have cheered had she been nominated for Things We Lost in the Fire, in which her performance was light years ahead of that mess in Monster's Ball (a film I loathe).

Denzel was amazing in Training Day and he can be nominated any day and it's a win in my book. I thought Forrest Whitaker was really good in Last King of Scotland, however, I think James McAvoy was overlooked as the true lead in that film.

I am having a hard time following the Jamie Foxx comment, are you referring to Ray? If so I didn't know there was any controversy or shit storm there. Jamie deserved that win 100 times over.

If you want to be upset about black actors/actresses not getting their due I look first at Don Cheadle, both he and Jada Pinkett were amazing in Reign Over Me, a film that was dismissed for whatever reason. I wasn't a huge fan of Talk to Me, but Taraji was great in that one.

Personally I didn't think American Gangster was that great a film. I didn't mention it in my Honorable Mention for 2007 and I think if anyone deserved a supporting actress nomination for a minimal role it would have been Vanessa Redgrave from Atonement. I don't say that because she is white, but because the performance was plain and simply better and more memorable. Outside of slapping Denz and that scene from the trailer of her getting the house I hardly remember Ruby Dee in American Gangster, I certainly wasn't floored by her performance in any way. I can't speak for others, but that is why I don't think she deserved the nom.

I don't know what other boards you are mentioning, but I think Dre will agree with me and my assessment of at least Dee's nomination.

By: BeautifulM

BeautifulM — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 19:25:57 +0000

I'm sorry, I'm not trying to be mean or call you a racist or anything, but why is it whenever a Black person or a Black-themed movie gets nominated or win ( ohh the horror) there is always so much outrage? This was brought up on other boards as well. I mean people say it's not because Ruby Dee is Black, but the quality of her performace wasn't up to the standards as everyone else. Well, isn't everything subjective? That seems to be the case ALL the time when Black-themed movies are nominated or Black actors winning. Jennifer Hudson didn't deserve it or Halle or Denzel or Jamie Foxx, Forest Whitaker was the exception. Imagine the horror if American Gangster got nominated. No, I'm not trying to play the race card here, but there is an unconsiderable amount of backlash whenever they are nominated or let alone win. People say oh it's affirmative action or the AMPA members don't want to be seen as racist.Could they actually like her performance better than others is that even possible? Now I'm not saying you can't criticize her or dislike her performance, but on other boards people are outraged.WTF. When they consider films with White casts or White actors to be mediocre like "Juno" and "Michael Clayton" or Ellen Page ( I thought her performance was fine myself) there is not a whole lot of outrage. I hope you guys don't get all defensive ( like some others) and actually think about what I said. Now I know that there is outrage for a lot of performances and movies, but nothing imho compares to the outrage that Black actors or Black-Themed movies get. I can understand the outrage of Norbit, but Ruby Dee?