Well, it’s Oscar season again, and after another year of outstanding films and stellar performances, we are all set for another bout of chronic disappointment as the dinosaurs that populate the academy pander to political and personal agendas and furnish their mate’s mantelpieces with the most treasured item in the movie industry.
While it is obvious not every great film or actor can win an Oscar, due to sheer volume of quality nominees, there have been and undoubtedly will continue to be some very dubious decisions made when handing out the prized statuettes. It seems some actors are destined to never be recognized for their work while others seem to be automatic selections regardless of how good or bad the movie or performance was.
The Academy is notorious for playing favourites, and then on the odd occasion giving out the “fix-up” Oscar, most recently seen in 2001 when Denzel Washington won Best Actor for Training Day having been overlooked for his far more deserving turn in The Hurricane, and again in 2004 when the Academy awarded Cate Blanchett the Best Supporting Actress Award for her role in The Aviator over the thoroughly-deserving Sophie Okonedo (Hotel Rwanda) and Laura Linney (Kinsey), having been stupid enough to snub Cate (in Elizabeth) in favour of sappy, pallid Gwyneth Paltrow (Shakespeare In Love, which was voted the Worst Best Picture Winner EVER) in 1998. Cate Blanchett, however, is one actress who appears to nominate herself purely by her choice of movie, collecting five nominations since 1998. Others who fall into this category are Meryl Streep (who in all fairness has had a long and distinguished career) who has picked up 14 Oscar nominations, and Jack Nicholson who has garnered 12 nominations for three wins. On the flipside of this, there are a few who have picked up several nominations for NO wins, Peter O’Toole (8 Nominations, 0 Wins), Richard Burton (7 Nominations, 0 Wins) and Deborah Kerr (6 Nominations, 0 Wins), while others can’t even pick up a nomination.
Some of the most notable actors snubbed by the Academy are: Jim Carrey, who turned in remarkable performances in The Truman Show, then the next year in Man On The Moon, then again in 2004 in Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, only to be ignored completely while several of his co-stars picked up nominations; and Paul Giamatti, a hugely talented actor, who continually fails to get recognition for his work. His lead role in American Splendour was easily among the best of 2003, but we had to watch drippy Englishman Jude Law and perennial favourite Johnny Depp pick up nominations instead of him (although both lost to Sean Penn for Mystic River). Then it happened to Giamatti again the next year for Sideways when Johnny Depp picked up another nomination (for the bland Finding Neverland) along with Leo DiCaprio, Don Cheadle, Jamie Foxx and Clint Eastwood. And it’s widely accepted that Eddie Murphy’s unexpectedly nuanced and poignant turn in Dreamgirls was overlooked almost entirely because the Academy was loath to acknowledge the man responsible for Norbit the same year, despite his performance as James “Thunder” Early being 2006’s standout by a supporting actor.
It seems an actor’s history, credibility, reputation and even their looks seem to play a role in their inclusion in the honour roll. Will Ace Ventura haunt Jim Carrey forever? Will Johnny Depp ever get the Oscar the Academy are obviously dying to give him? And why did it take so long for Martin Scorsese to get one?
Will this year’s event continue the trend of being politically topical? Will Heath Ledger get the Oscar just because he didn’t get it for Brokeback Mountain and now that he’s dead they’ll feel compelled to give the fix-up? I’ll probably get abused for my opinion, but although Ledger’s turn as The Joker was excellent, it was NOT an acting performance of great depth or (to quote Kirk Lazarus) emotionality. Much like Javier Bardem in No Country For Old Men the performance was menacing and nasty, but not outstanding, which is what the award is supposedly for. So, the big question is…..can the Academy let go of all preconception and judge every film and every performance purely on it’s merits, or will they continue to take history into account and continue to exclude Tom Cruise, who may well be a total dick off the screen, but is a truly talented actor on it; and the aforementioned Jim Carrey; will Jack Black and Will Ferrell ever even be considered for a nomination (should they put in the requisite performance) or has history doomed them to eternal exclusion. John C. Reilly seems to be the only one to have crossed the line between slapstick comedy and serious drama and managed to be suitable rewarded. Those three teamed up to express my thoughts (how kind of them) in a song performed at the Oscars a few years back. Enjoy!
Sadly, some scumbag has disabled the embed option for this clip, but here is a link - Very funny!!
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=o5JAPkvnyso
6 January 2009
Oscar Prediction - It Will Disappoint!!
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2 comments:
Firstly, Jim Carrey and Paul Giamatti were definitely snubbed! Eternal Sunshine and Sideways deserved some Oscar love in the Best Actor categories big time.
Secondly, although Javier Bardem didn't show much 'emotionality' in NCFOM, he DEFINITELY deserved the Oscar. I know, I know, Casey Affleck was probably equally deserving for Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford - but Anton Chigurh was a force on screen.
Anyway, those are just my thoughts - friendo.
You're right on the money about playing favourites it happenned to the brilliant Bette Davis who missed out on a statuette for Of Human Bondage and received one later for one of her more forgettable films.
It is a shame but reputation and playing the game are what often gets the oscar. Although there can often be some exceptions.
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