Academy Awards 2017

I'm betting direction of the show will be much better than last year. Last year's directing was noticeably weak.

I'm rooting for my former colleagues for Best Sound Mixing and Best Sound Editing Arrival and Rogue One.
 
Liam Hall said:
My bet; lots of politics.
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How depressing. I wish there were some areas where politics simply were not mentioned - regardless of where you find yourself on the political spectrum. You could still have political films and whatnot, but please, no preaching from the podium - a dvxuser rule of "no politics or religion" at the Awards :)...
 
From a purely business perspective - "politics" will probably help the show's ratings since some new folks will tune in while those who don't agree with what is likely to be expressed will now just have another reason to ignore it.

But, from the same business perspective, "politics" is going to kill Hollywood in the long run. This opinion comes from my first steps in retail many years ago - don't insult your customers. They're the reason you're making a living and there are a lot of potential and long-time customers out there who happen to really, really, really dislike Hollywood these days.

Ari Emanuel (head of WMA/IMG, Rahm's brother, ex-Trump agent) is trying to establish an industry PAC but that will only play in DC. Not in Peoria.

http://variety.com/2017/biz/news/ari-emanuel-wme-trump-political-action-committee-1201981545/
 
Well I don't think anyone could have predicted that ending!!! The year of shocking upsets continues...I saw Moonlight a couple days ago. It was good, beautifully shot for the most part, and some great performances, but it was a film I admired more than enjoyed. I didn't really connect with it emotionally, and I should have as it's a deeply emotional film. It's a film that has a story but no plot, so if you aren't caught up in it emotionally there isn't much to keep you engaged, other than the craftsmanship.
 
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You can't talk about the show without talking about politics. Politics related to why mediocre films get nominated and thus what Oscars really reflect - the will of the masses, or to be precises what a small sliver of people (thinking themselves to be smart - and yet far from it) think what the masses think. Or politics related to the fact that this same group of people not knowing much about the world leaves in a fear of being discovers as an ignorant bunch thus year after year picks documentaries that are far from the best but simply reflect what people talk about on the morning show. As such the Oscars have become so irrelevant to some of us who can see through their BS (not that i wouldn't want to be nominated for purely business reasons as this would let fund raise much more easily and push my rates through the roof).
 
It helps a lot when you realize that the people who vote for the awards don't even have to have seen the films or performances they're voting for. So then it becomes about two things -- marketing (what have they heard the most 'buzz' about) and politics (both national and industry-internal). It's no longer about talent. For that reason, I won't watch it anymore.
 
DLD said:
But, from the same business perspective, "politics" is going to kill Hollywood in the long run. This opinion comes from my first steps in retail many years ago - don't insult your customers. They're the reason you're making a living and there are a lot of potential and long-time customers out there who happen to really, really, really dislike Hollywood these days.
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Wise words.
 
David Jimerson said:
Same is true of "Manchester By The Sea."
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True, although I got more caught up in that film. I just chalk it up to relatability. I am not gay, from a broken home, or from a disadvantaged background. I am a father, so I was more drawn in by the tragedy in that film. The episodic nature of Moonlight also hurt it in this respect. Manchester also has a mystery to it in the way it unfolds.
 
Batutta said:
True, although I got more caught up in that film. I just chalk it up to relatability. I am not gay, from a broken home, or from a disadvantaged background. I am a father, so I was more drawn in by the tragedy in that film. The episodic nature of Moonlight also hurt it in this respect. Manchester also has a mystery to it in the way it unfolds.
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Yeah, my wife cried a few times, so she connected with it. For me, I had seen everything it had to show me about halfway through.
 
Got to say, that was genius to screw-up the Best Picture winner. What a way to make sure news media talk about the movies rather than the politics. That's a PR director earning their coin right there. I doff my cap.
 
I saw all nine entries for Best Picture as several of the local theaters had 'marathons' of showings.

I was totally unimpressed with the selections, but since I didn't see many Oscar potential movies in the year, I have no idea what the herd looked like that yield the nominations.

All of them from a technical point of view were 'professionally' executed, so on that account perhaps some of the technical awards were warranted. But for the more 'emotion' laden choices... such as Best Actor/Actress... Best Picture... etc.. I have no idea why these were selected.

As for "Manchester by the Sea"(2016)... I thought it was a flat film, with a flat protagonist, and zero character arc, with supporting cast of equally paste flat presentations. I do not look to movies to be 'reality shows', where one may expect such lackluster behavior... The film is dreary from beginning to end... If I want to see that... I can write my own life script... and then why bother making a film as I've seen it before...

For me "Fences"(2016) was a stage play with minimal 'adaptation' to film... something I've absolutely hated about "Boys in the Band"(1970) or "The Boy Friend"(1971)... where the realization that Twiggy grew tits was the most exciting development in the film.

The Best Picture winner... after the snafu of the Bunny and Clod... was to me a 'meh' film... there was almost no drama at all...
 
j1clark@ucsd.edu said:
The Best Picture winner... after the snafu of the Bunny and Clod... was to me a 'meh' film... there was almost no drama at all...
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Moonlight was one of few films I really really connected with this year. Loved everything about it. It was nice to see non traditional hollywood story be told on the big screen. I find it is much like Boyhood where some people really connected with it and others just couldn't care less about it.
 
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