Oscars 2018 - Nominations

[AndyDursin]

Pretty flat show. And I've seen several people say this, but it really sounds like there's a heavily amped laugh/applause track going because it sounds canned.

[AndyDursin]

OMG the Hans Zimmer Walmart commercial.

[Eric Paddon]

Pretty flat show. And I've seen several people say this, but it really sounds like there's a heavily amped laugh/applause track going because it sounds canned.

Naturally. Because there isn't a single legitimately funny thing in any of their "jokes."

[Monterey Jack]

About GODDAMN TIME Roger Deakins took home an Oscar. Also thrilled to see Sam Rockwell win.

[Eric Paddon]

"Oscar is the most beloved, respected man in Hollywood. Keeps his hands where you can see them. Never says a rude word, and most importantly, no penis at all.”

Now we know that Kimmel considered William Atherton the hero in "Ghostbusters."

[KevinEK]

Pretty good show overall. The song performances weren't much - particularly the Coco song, which came off quite badly.
Some of the intros were fun. Some of the acceptance speeches were interesting.
I didn't catch any recap of the Technical Night/Thalberg event they usually have. (For awards they once gave out in this telecast.)
I'm not surprised that the jokes would not go over well here.
Kimmel's a good host - not at the level of Billy Crystal on his best nights or anywhere near the old days with Carson or Hope, but still a solid host. His only gaffe that I saw was that he was so intent on bringing back the Jet Ski gag for the ending that he ran straight over a producer who was trying to say a Thank You.

Regarding the wins, they stayed more or less within the lanes I'd been thinking. James Ivory surprised me in getting a Career Achievement Oscar that was more about Merchant/Ivory than the current film, and Jordan Peele got the also-ran award I had thought would go to Dee Rees for Mudbound. Dunkirk picked up Editing where I'd thought it would go elsewhere, and also pocketed the two Sound nods. (I'm always bemused at how many people do not understand what the Sound Mixing award is for - it's not for the sound effects at all, but for the actual on-set recording of dialogue and atmosphere.)

Happy to see Deakins finally win, and to see Blade Runner 2049 also get the expected VFX nod. For some reason, Oscar handicappers kept insisting that this would go to the Apes movie, when there was no momentum in that direction.

Very happy to see del Toro get his Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director, along with the score and production design nods. I believe Shape of Water got the most statues tonight with 4. Dunkirk got 3. Darkest Hour, Coco and Three Billboards all got 2 each.

I don't know if people on this board have seen the films, but I do recommend Shape of Water and I, Tonya. Three Billboards is also good, but very much a small indie movie - it was actually shot a couple of years ago and only found a release the past fall. And Darkest Hour does have that great Oldman performance to power it.

[AndyDursin]

I'm not surprised that the jokes would not go over well here.

Nor am I surprised you would find it funny (though I am, sort of, because most people I've read seem to think he was dismal tonight).

Look, Kimmel's entire lefty-crusader shtick is tailor-made for west coast liberals -- the difference is unlike other comedians who hosted the show in the past, who undoubtedly were liberal but weren't stridently political, Kimmel actually isn't funny. Nor is he trying to be most of the time. I don't recall Carson, Letterman, Billy Crystal or whoever talking about the need to March on Washington during their Oscar monologues. Kimmel seems to feel that he needs to impart an "important message" more than the need to deliver laughs -- but that's how most, pretentious late night "comedians" view themselves in 2018. Kimmel, Colbert, Meyers, even Fallon and modern day SNL -- all operate off the same level and preach to the same, young liberal demo. Monologues are almost 90-95% political, lefty-leaning talking points meant to score audience applause and preach to their base. Very little content -- much less comedy -- there for anyone who didn't vote for Barack and Hillary.

Beyond that, though, I find Kimmel increasingly unfunny. Has nothing to do with his politics. Colbert I do find funny at times even if I don't agree with him, but Kimmel's just grating. The "gag" with the "stars" walking across the street to "meet the moviegoers" (conveniently showing a sneak preview of the latest Disney release) was completely painful.

As for Common's spiteful rap portraying anyone outside the room as bigoted, awful, gun-toting nazis -- it is ironic that an industry that has done so much to glorify violence AND guns are the ones now lecturing America on the evils of the NRA and taking shots at Hitler clones like Mike Pence. But the good news is Kobe Bryant, who once settled a high profile rape allegation, walked home with his first Oscar tonight!

I also still don't understand why the show is conceived the way it is: opening up with a couple of awards, then a gap of literally 75-90 minutes where they hand out awards in fields nobody outside the industry cares about (the Animated shorts, the Documentaries), not to mention performing songs that nobody has ever heard. This isn't 1980 anymore -- there are few pop stars coming out to perform major songs from movies in 2018...because there aren't any major songs. Songs seldom have the same impact in film, and soundtracks don't sell the way they used to -- so why not just cut out the Original Song performances completely? I mean, that song from COCO? Really? Those two hack songwriters are going to keep getting work off FROZEN for the rest of our lives (and Oscars apparently along with them!).

Overall it was not surprising, it was not a great year for movies (again) and the field was pretty weak. No big winner, a group of films split up the awards, and few people are going to recall much of anything about the movies of 2017 in a few years (or months). Hopefully there's something out there ahead...

[KevinEK]

Andy, I think it best if we try to agree where we can.

We'll have to disagree on your premise regarding whether all the jokes and whether the current state of Late Night TV is barren for anyone who didn't vote for Barack Obama.
I do agree that a bunch of the jokes tonight were clearly intended as jabs at the Right. That's why I noted that I didn't think people on this board would find them funny.
And I did note the jab that came from Bryant tonight.

The trip across the street was plain silly. As was the bit where they brought in the tour group last year. Great idea for a ten second gag - not as successful when extended out to a long, loud mess.

But I don't think the evening was a bust-out.
And I do think we had some good movies this year - certainly better than last year.
I do hope you will get a chance to see The Shape of Water and I, Tonya. They, and several others that were nominated, genuinely are good films.
Guillermo del Toro is a good filmmaker and I was glad to see him get some recognition.
Glad to see Gary Oldman win an Oscar and give what I thought was quite a humble speech.
Glad to see the way James Ivory acknowledged his lost partners and the fact that his award really came from his association with them.
Glad to see Allison Janney acknowledge her fellow nominees and many others.

[Paul MacLean]

I didn't bother to watch any of it.

Who won Best Score? (Not Williams I assume?)

[KevinEK]

Alexander Desplat, for The Shape of Water. And it’s actually quite a good score, as I was reminded last week at the Philharmonic performance.

Williams’ score for the Rian Johnson attempt frankly wasn’t that interesting.

You can find a list of the winners pretty much anywhere if you’re curious. Dunkirk got three technical awards - editing and the two sound nods, and that was it. Shape of Water got picture, director, score and prod design. Three Billboards got two acting nods. Darkest Hour got two - for Gary Oldman and for his makeup team. Coco won animated film and song. Blade Runner got two - for Roger Deakins’ camerawork and for the VFX. The rest was a potpourri of single nods for this and that.

[Eric Paddon]

"Variety reports that the “8 p.m.-11 p.m. portion of ABC’s telecast averaged an 18.9 household rating and 32 share in Nielsen’s metered market overnight ratings … That’s down about 16% from the 22.5/37 rating generated by the 2017 Oscars.”
According to Deadline, the “18.9 appears to be an all-time low for the Oscars, below the previous low ratings point for the Oscars, logged with the 2008 telecast (21.9).”

Not surprising when half the country is told to f-off by those who put on the show.

[KevinEK]

I’m sure there are people who would like to think that. Could also be that, like many posters here, most of the audience hasn’t seen nearly any of these movies and simply didn’t care whether they won or not. I agree there were certainly jabs at the Right at various times, as I noted above, but I don’t think the Trumper part of the audience was being told to “f-off”. (I frankly wouldn’t expect that group to have watched anyway). And there’s a factor that the younger generation is not that invested in the Oscars.

We are in a time when the movies are either mindless giants with $250 million budgets and lots of CGI and stunts or they are $2 million budget indie arthouse movies that most people have never cared to see. There are exceptions in the top Oscar tiers this year - Dunkirk had a $100 million budget and made $500 million, and Shape of Water had a $20 million budget and has made $120 million. Get Out, which I didn’t find particularly great, was a tiny budget Blumhouse horror movie that made $250 million. Three Billboards was a $12 million budget that pulled in $130 million. So it’s not all gloom and doom.

[AndyDursin]

On a personal note I was hoping Richard Jenkins would win, as I was in school with his daughter Sarah from 8th grade right through to HS graduation. At his age you don't get a lot of chances but he's had a terrific run as a character actor, particularly for someone who's lived here in RI since the early 70s.

[Eric Paddon]

I’m sure there are people who would like to think that. Could also be that, like many posters here, most of the audience hasn’t seen nearly any of these movies and simply didn’t care whether they won or not. I agree there were certainly jabs at the Right at various times, as I noted above, but I don’t think the Trumper part of the audience was being told to “f-off”. (I frankly wouldn’t expect that group to have watched anyway).

The very fact that we're not expected to watch is *because* we've been told to f-off for decades now. Gone are the days when Paddy Chayefsky could make a rather elementary point when he ripped Vanessa Redgrave. (or when Frank Sinatra apologized for the pro-Viet Cong comments of Peter Davis and Bert Schneider in 1975 who celebrated the impending Communist takeover of South Vietnam)

[KevinEK]

Eric, you're proceeding from a false premise. I didn't expect you to watch (and was in fact surprised that you did watch) is because you have repeatedly stated how much you dislike current Hollywood productions and the people who make them. You have repeatedly stated that you prefer to watch classic television programming or movies from decades ago. I honestly don't know why you would want to watch the Oscars - not because anyone has told anyone to "f-off" but because you've made it fairly clear that you don't like anything about Hollywood today. And my point about the Trumpers in the audience has to do with their repeated stated disgust for the people in Hollywood. Case in point: Last night, Wes Studi introduced a tribute to the military in a series of great clips - and yet the Right Wing has a problem with it.

To Andy, I really have enjoyed the work of Richard Jenkins over the past 35 years. He's a solid, solid actor, and he's made a lot of great choices in the material he does. He was terrific in The Shape of Water. I would love to have seen him win, but this was Sam Rockwell's moment. Kind of the same thing that happened when Ben Kingsley won Best Actor in 1982 and people were openly unhappy that Paul Newman and Peter O'Toole had been passed over yet again. Or when Jennifer Lawrence won Best Actress in 2012 and Emmanuelle Riva didn't.