Althouse: I watched the Oscar nominations show so you don't have to.

January 23, 2018

I watched the Oscar nominations show so you don't have to.

I'll just say if the job consists of reading a Teleprompter, hire someone who can read a Teleprompter.

Here's the full list of nominations.

33 comments:

Darrell said...: #GoOutOfBusiness
#KissMyAss
#IPutOut; 1/23/18, 8:03 AM
Jersey Fled said...: Thank you, Ann. Someone has to do the dirty work.; 1/23/18, 8:03 AM
traditionalguy said...: They liked Darkest Hour, which has a refreshing level of truth in it.

Making Oscars Great Again.; 1/23/18, 8:05 AM
Bay Area Guy said...: I think they should give a long-overdue, lifetime achievement award to Mel Brooks, and then a belated Oscar to "Blazing Saddles" for best picture - and then permanently retire the award.; 1/23/18, 8:17 AM
Fernandinande said...: Some other beauty contests have standards:

A dozen beasts have been disqualified from this year’s Saudi “camel beauty contest” because their handlers used Botox to make them more handsome.
(D.Barry); 1/23/18, 8:18 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Just say NO to Hillarywoodland, Harvey Weinstein and Meryl Streep(D).
Your self-congratulatory golden rape statues are ready.

Darrell - LOL. Perfect.; 1/23/18, 8:27 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Meryl Streep(D)

#SHEKNEW; 1/23/18, 8:28 AM
Sydney said...: The only one I have seen is Dunkirk, which was very good and deserving of an award. I don't know if any actresses or actors were molested during its making, however.; 1/23/18, 8:33 AM
William said...: I saw Dunkirk. Definitely worth seeing. I'll probably see The Post and I, Tonya, and grind my teeth through the revisionism. The trouble with the past is that none of the people alive then were politically correct as we understand political correctness nowadays......."Dunkirk" went against the grain and didn't highlight the extraordinary efforts women made at Dunkirk. How you can tell the story of Dunkirk and not mention Mrs. Miniver's brave sacrifice is beyond me. Perhaps in Dunkirk II, Meryl Streep as Mrs. Miniver can be shown storming the beach at Dunkirk and picking up the wounded.; 1/23/18, 8:36 AM
Infinite Monkeys said...: Is the one from Lebanon under Foreign Films the only Asian one?; 1/23/18, 8:51 AM
wendybar said...: Once again...I have paint to watch dry that night.; 1/23/18, 8:55 AM
William said...: The real suspense is who will be outed at the end of the show. James Franco's big night ended badly. Same for Aziz. Even the honorary award given to Kirk Douglas served to revive some ugly rumors. I think a lot of Hollywood people would just as soon not win anything this season.; 1/23/18, 9:05 AM
Ann Althouse said...: I haven't seen any of the movies, but I have considered seeing "The Shape of Water," "I, Tonya," and "Ladybird."

As usual, I'm loath to being committed to sitting in one place for 2 hours and worried about being bored or finding the editing too flashy and the sound effects too loud. And I know these things will be on TV in a short time, and when they are, I'm likely to be free of the urge to see them.; 1/23/18, 9:16 AM
Ann Althouse said...: I put "La La Land" on my DVR months ago and have not once felt the urge even to start to watch it.

That was the movie everyone seemed to be talking about when the Oscar nominations were announced last year.; 1/23/18, 9:18 AM
Professional lady said...: Won't be watching the awards show. Saw "Dunkirk" - worth seeing. Want to see "Ladybird", "Darkest Hour" and "Three Billboards". "LaLa Land" was mediocre at best - I was looking at my watch during the movie. Just saw a British movie from 2016 called "Their Finest," it was about making a British propaganda film during WWII - very good movie. I get most of my movies from my local library although often I have to put our name on a list and wait. Costs $1.; 1/23/18, 9:31 AM
Anonymous said...: I am with Bay Area Guy all the way! Greatest takedown of Hollywood ever made.; 1/23/18, 9:34 AM
Thorley Winston said...: I saw Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 and Star Wars the Last Jedi. I plan to watch Dunkirk, The Darkest Hour, The Shape of Water and Blade Runner 2049 when they’re available on demad. I have no interest in any of the other films listed.; 1/23/18, 9:45 AM
JAORE said...: I had to scroll down to adapted screen play to find one I'd seen.

And yet I don't feel deprived at all.; 1/23/18, 10:52 AM
Andrew said...: It is sad that the Oscars don't mean what they used to. I grew up in the 80's. Here were the best picture winners (from 1980 thru '89): Ordinary People. Chariots of Fire. Gandhi. Terms of Endearment. Amadeus. Out of Africa. Platoon. The Last Emperor. Rain Man. Driving Miss Daisy.

I'm not sure all of those movies deserved to win, but they were all great movies, and were well-loved and respected by the public.

I have had no interest in any of the nominees or winners in a very long time. I know many people my age (in their 40's) who feel the same way. The Oscars are an insignificant event from a different, self-congratulatory planet.; 1/23/18, 11:20 AM
The Godfather said...: Darkest Hour is worth seeing, although a Churchill worshipper like me has to grit his teeth from time to time. Dunkirk was good, although it never quite convinced me. I don’t think I’ve seen any other of the nominees in the big categories, and I don’ t feel I’ve missed anything.

To whoever said he planned on seeing the new Blade Runner, I fear you’ll be disappointed — I was.; 1/23/18, 11:26 AM
exhelodrvr1 said...: Pres Obama can read a teleprompter!!; 1/23/18, 11:32 AM
rehajm said...: The Star Wars movie in the theater. Dunkirk at home. That was it for me. The Hailee Steinfeld/Woody Harrelson flick too if it was this year. Sad!; 1/23/18, 11:53 AM
bagoh20 said...: Wouldn't it be great if someone made an honest movie of Harvey Weinstein's career? It could be very compelling with lots of famous characters, many of whom could play themselves, so to speak.; 1/23/18, 12:00 PM
Big Mike said...: Overlooked: Apesanahkwat for best actor in a supporting role in “Wind River”; 1/23/18, 12:24 PM
eddie willers said...: I put "La La Land" on my DVR months ago and have not once felt the urge even to start to watch it.

I bought the 4K disc because it was getting rave reviews for color palette and it's Dolby Atmos soundtrack. (I had just bought a 4K player and wanted to see it do it's stuff. It was an X-Box unit and though I have not play a video game since the original NES, it came at a price below the only other 4K Blu Ray at the time)

Anyway, the opening dance scene on the highway was magnificent, but once the actual movie started, I found I couldn't stand either lead and have not (and will probably never) gotten around to actually watching the movie.; 1/23/18, 1:06 PM
tcrosse said...: Wouldn't it be great if someone made an honest movie of Harvey Weinstein's career?

They could do a remake of The Bad and The Beautiful (1952).; 1/23/18, 1:17 PM
Paul Snively said...: Got talked into watching "La La Land." Emma Stone is probably always going to play adorkable well—those of us old enough to remember early Goldie Hawn will recognize the beautiful-girl-who-doesn't-take-herself-seriously type immediately. Ryan Gosling, for me, doesn't come across quite as well. There just isn't enough "punch" to his passion for jazz tradition, and some superficiality in the script doesn't help him. The most believable scene, unfortunately, is a devastating knock-down-drag-out fight between the characters—the sort of thing that, if the relationship survives at all, is likely to result in it being considerably strengthened.

So the real disappointment is that when these characters both commit to pursuing their respective passions... it implies separating. There's literally no time or energy invested in even trying to figure out whether there's a way they can pursue them in the same place at the same time. This probably wouldn't bother me so much if, in the fantasy flashback sequence, the "adult, committed family relationships" weren't literally depicted in passing, as much by shadow and mist as by anything real and tangible. Those relationships are ancillary with respect to "career" gussied up as "art" and "passion."

So it's a feature-length paean to selfishly pursuing your dream at the cost of your primary personal relationships, even if it's your primary personal relationship that has led you to realize your dream. Toss in an unhealthy dose of "better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all." "Try it," K growls when J quotes this to him in "Men In Black." F___ that noise, is what I say.; 1/23/18, 1:55 PM
David said...: Did not go to a single movie in 2017. This is why. That plus the crappy theaters we have in our town.; 1/23/18, 2:10 PM
readering said...: The most fun nominee I saw was Get Out, but I didn't know anything about the plot, which was important to my enjoyment. Dunkirk benefited from being seen in 70mm, and I hope to catch Phantom Thread in the same format.

Can't see myself sitting through Darkest Hour. (But rent Their Finest, a 2016 Brit film released here in 2017.)

An powerful documentary nominee is Abacus.; 1/23/18, 2:53 PM
Robert said...: No Film School has put together a list of links to screen plays from some of the nominated films. Lady Bird, Get Out, The Shape of Water, Three Billboards ... are there.

https://nofilmschool.com/2018/01/download-x-10-screenplays-nominated-2018-oscars-right-now

I've never read a screen play before but I downloaded a couple of them to see my brain adjusts to this style of writing.; 1/23/18, 6:14 PM
Big Mike said...: Oops. Wrong native American. The overlooked performance in Wind River was by Gil Birmingham, a Comanche. Apesanahkwat is a Menominee.; 1/23/18, 6:17 PM
Spaceman said...: I would think "Call Me By Your Name" would be big hit in La-la Land. Who doesn't like a poignant MM love story. Deeply set back by the exclusion of Asians and Latinos, as well as the retention of to stereotypical gender-based award categories in this year's nominees.; 1/23/18, 9:46 PM
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