I forwarded my previous post ‘The Oscars has lost all ounce of respectability as a serious contest‘ to all the relevant movie discussion boards on Internet Movie Database. I was curious to know what the opinions of others were about my views and the ‘The Oscar Nominations’ . The post has received at least 2 pages of opinions on each board and still growing. Below are some excerpts from some replies received on the threads. I have tried to provide a good snapshot encapsulating the broad spectrum of opinions about my post :
‘I agree – Oscars were sometimes awarded to the wrong people or film. This goes way back and here are some more examples yet I keep watching the overlong awards show just about every year. If Cate Blanchett doesn’t win the Oscar for Blue Jasmine, I’ll probably stop watching it myself.
Citizen Kane lost to How Green Was My Valley
Some Like it Hot lost to Ben-Hur
Bonnie & Clyde and The Graduate both lost out to In the Heat of the Night
Saving Private Ryan lost to Shakespeare in Love
Brokeback Mountain lost to Crash
Goodfellas lost to Dances with Wolves
Richard Burton, Montgomery Clift, Cary Grant, Peter O’Toole, and Orson Welles (besides screenplay) never won an Oscar.
Greta Garbo, Gena Rowlands, Deborah Kerr, Barbara Stanwyck, and Glenn Close never won an Oscar.
Alfred Hitchcock was nominated as Best Director five times by the Academy – total wins – zero! ‘ – Rubymar1
‘I believe anyone who is seriously into film should also know that the mere mention of the Coen Bros should turn just as many heads as an Oscar nom would do. The Coen Bros are a better staple for quality than most Oscar wins, I think.’ – anova_standard
‘…and I haven’t bothered to watch them for that long. I’d rather watch paint dry than watch that self-congratulatory, back-patting, overhyped, meaningless bullsh*t. I always find something better to do. Like sleep.’ – FeloniousMunk
‘Both of those two first mentioned films were absolute rubbish. Thank Christ the Academy agreed.’ – equalthree
‘The only sane response to this is to ask “what ounce of respectability?” The Oscars are publicity intended to promote whatever films the film industry sees fit to promote during “Oscar season”. The illusion of “quality” has always been more important than actual quality; and in the end, it is always about selling tickets. ‘ – nystulc
‘….please don’t crap on Wolf of Wall Street. That was a fantastic movie and I definitely am excited for it’s Best Picture nomination. It shows that there are still some voters that like to have fun at the movies and don’t think that movies need to be dark, brooding, and pretentious for them to be considered “art.” ‘ – magicman205
‘That’s 15 very strong films (16 including Lleweyn Davis). This is the strongest year in recent memory, so to say they “lost all respect” because they left this out is a really dramatic overstatement.’ – TimViper1
“The Wolf of Wall Street” isn’t a patch on “Goodfellas”, “Raging Bull”, or “Taxi Driver” true. But did any of those films ever win an Oscar? “Taxi Driver” lost out to “Rocky”, a film by an actor turned first-time screenwriter Sly Stallone. “Raging Bull” lost to “Ordinary People”, a film by actor turned first-time director Robert Redford…..” – lazarillo
“EVERY year someone posts the exact same thread title. It’s now your year to bitch and moan, but others have been saying that Oscars have lost respectability for years.” – MuchToBeGratefulFor
‘That said, the Oscars are indeed what the late historian Daniel J. Boorstin labeled a “pseudo-event.” (Boorstin wasn’t referring to the Oscars, but they meet his definition, as do such pseudo-events as presidential debates, which he referred to specifically. See Boorstin’s 1962 book The Image: Or What Happened to the American Dream.)
But, hey, they’re something to talk about, which is kind of the point …’ – joekiddlouischama
‘There’s no shame in David O. Russell paying homage to Scorsese for American Hustle. That wasn’t what made the film weak in my mind at all — hell, dozens of filmmakers ranging from the truly great like Paul Thomas Anderson do it all the time. And Scorsese himself learned much of his now “trademark” film techniques from other guys like Cassavettes, Kenneth Anger, and Jean-Luc Godard………
……The statement you made “As usual, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are a bit late giving Scorsese all the Oscar nods he should have got in the past” is mis-leading, because Scorsese has ALWAYS got Oscar nods. Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas…I mean, these were nominated for the top awards all the time, so it’s no different today than it was in the 70’s. If he was winning all the time (like, with not just Departed, but also Wolf (which doesn’t stand a chance), Aviator, Hugo, etc), then your argument would have some merit. – gilbert_gumphrey
‘Like it or not, Academy members are industry professionals, and their (collective and individual) opinions remain very valid.
And people who claim it’s ‘all political’ need to wake up. The AMPAS is made up of individual members who vote based on their own opinion. When Meryl Streep or Vilmos Zsigmond or Robert Towne or whoever sit down to consider their opinions on what to vote for, I can assure you the predominant thought running through their mind is much more likely to be ‘which of these do I feel is the most deserving’, as opposed to ‘which of these best fits in with the Academy’s political agenda for this year?’
Since the beginning of time, people have used the old ‘political’ excuse to justify why their own personal favourites fail to receive recognition they feel it deserves. The Dark Knight misses out? Well, the Academy is just too political these days. What was the Academy’s specific ‘political’ objection to the Dark Knight? They don’t like action films. Well maybe that’s because the Academy isn’t made up of 20-something comic book fans’ – Robbmonster
‘….if Hollywood was a high school the Oscars would be the student counsel elections. oh who to nominate this year? hmmmm lets nomimate the most popular kids in school: George Clooney, brad pitt, Julia roberts and hot flavors of the month like Bradley cooper, Jennifer Laurence, and the always repugnant Jonah hill.’ – movieman82
“Unfortunately, the critical worth, artistic vision, cultural influence, and innovative qualities of many films are not given the same voting weight. Especially since the 1980s, moneymaking “formula-made” blockbusters with glossy production values have often been crowd-pleasing titans (and Best Picture winners), but they haven’t necessarily been great films with depth or critical acclaim by any measure.”
– Tim Dirks, editor of AMC’s filmsite.org – nefron_aveline
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
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