Official Oscars 2022 Nominations And Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

[Tino]

I thought I'd share a few lines from an article I read about the Oscars:

--The Academy should fold its tent and go back to making apple strudel or whatever they can do well. They're a disgrace.

--I wish there was an award you can believe in again. The Oscar has become a political gesture or a business gesture. It didn't used to be that way.

--It was an elephantine extravaganza, most of which would have closed in New Haven.

--It was one of the longest, dreariest Oscar presentations ever.

--How did such a lightweight picture win the top prize?

--Was the evening's shocking moment staged or a lame idea designed for attention?

--It was long. There was no theme, no pace, scant entertainment value, and a general lack of big name movie star presenters.

--Oscar proved he knows how to honor the movie makers, but still doesn't know how to stage an award show. Someday, hopefully, someone will turn up who knows how to put on a show worth watching.

Now for the revelation. The envelope please: That article was written in 1974 after the Oscars that year.

Yeah. None of that applies to this years telecast in my opinion.

 

[MartinP.]

Yeah. None of that applies to this years telecast in my opinion.

Seriously, Tino, NONE of that applies? I know you liked these awards this year, because you were happy, as many are, that CODA won Best Picture and you predicted all but two of the eventual winners in all the categories. The point of my post was that people have always written about the Oscar show not being something they think it should be no matter what year it was. I actually have fond memories of watching the 1974 Oscars and my memories were an antithesis to that article I read about them. A lot of people tend to write less flattering articles if they don't like the winners. I got that impression when I read that review.

But "none of that applies to this year" is objectively not true. For example, the part about "the shocking moment; was it staged or not?" You didn't hear people talking and wondering if it had been pre-planned?

Or "lack of big name movie star presenters"? These people are big name movie stars? -- Stephanie Beatriz, Ruth E. Carter, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Halle Bailey, Jacob Elordi, Tony Hawk, H.E.R., Lily James, DJ Khaled, Zoe Kravitz, Mila Kunis, John Leguizamo, Simu Liu, Tracee Ellis Ross, Naomi Scott India, Kelly Slater, Shaun White etc.

Apparently you haven't read any of the reviews, either...

--It was equal parts boring and terrifying, cringe-worthy and interminable. The things the producers, writers and hosts could control were sloppily managed and poorly paced, with bad comedy in all the wrong places and a nearly four-hour running time. (USA Today)

--More than any other televised Oscars ceremony in recent memory, this one was absolutely insistent on efficiency. Occasionally, it even was. In the process, however, the telecast cut corners, seriously pissed off several technical branches of the Academy, and mocked the very films it was honoring. In a desperate chase for ratings, it tried so hard to be as glamorous and slick as possible that it fell on its face well before the night could’ve been saved. (Variety)

--Grade: D -- As much as we may like to, we can’t forget the 2022 Oscar telecast was a catastrophe outside of its defining moment. Otherwise, the years to come will only follow suit. (IndieWire)

--One Oscar co-host referred to the Oscars as an evening “where movie lovers unite and watch TV.” The joke was a sobering reminder that the Academy Awards are, above all else, a TV show. The producer intended to create a spectacle but most of that effort was in vain. After a promising start, viewers were rewarded with one bad decision after another, resulting in a disappointing ceremony. (Gold Derby)

--The 94th Academy Awards Were Already Bad, characterized by unsuccessful innovations and upstaged emotional moments, but then they got worse. (Hollywood Reporter)

I could go on.

 

[Tino]

Seriously, Tino, NONE of that applies?

OK. Maybe some.

 

[MartinP.]

Does anyone think AMPAS should go back to having the Oscars on a Monday night? Maybe by the time the actual show is on people are worn out from all the other clutter being aired beforehand. Among other reasons. And people have a whole day to do something else besides "get home from work to turn on the Oscars." Yes, ratings can correspond to what films are nominated, but the highest rated Oscars ever was the last Oscars that were held on a Monday, when Titanic, As Good As It Gets, Good Will Hunting, The Full Monty and L.A. Confidential were up. Worth a try?

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Does anyone think AMPAS should go back to having the Oscars on a Monday night? Maybe by the time the actual show is on people are worn out from all the other clutter being aired beforehand. Among other reasons. And people have a whole day to do something else besides "get home from work to turn on the Oscars." Yes, ratings can correspond to what films are nominated, but the highest rated Oscars ever was the last Oscars that were held on a Monday, when Titanic, As Good As It Gets, Good Will Hunting, The Full Monty and L.A. Confidential were up. Worth a try?

Hey Martin!

I always wondered why it wasn't broadcast on a Saturday night.

Maybe I am just looking at this from the Sunday EST time zone airing when it runs past 11 pm and people have to get up for work the next day. Always thought it would be more beneficial to air this on a Saturday instead.

 

[Joe Wong]

Hey Martin!

I always wondered why it wasn't broadcast on a Saturday night.

Maybe I am just looking at this from the Sunday EST time zone airing when it runs past 11 pm and people have to get up for work the next day. Always thought it would be more beneficial to air this on a Saturday instead.

Agreed. When I worked in NYC and lived in central NJ (1 hr 45 min commute each way!) I would have loved knowing I didn't have to go into work the next day after watching the Oscars (even if it went over 4 hrs!).

 

[Tino]

Hey Martin!

I always wondered why it wasn't broadcast on a Saturday night.

Maybe I am just looking at this from the Sunday EST time zone airing when it runs past 11 pm and people have to get up for work the next day. Always thought it would be more beneficial to air this on a Saturday instead.

Friday and Saturday are the least watched nights of television. Sunday is the highest. Target demographics usually are out partying on those days

 

[MartinP.]

I remember when CBS's Saturday Night lineup was the most watched night of television!

Although generally agreed on that Sunday night is the most watched night of TV, I looked at the top ten rated shows each year since 2010 and except for Sunday Night Football, none of the top ten shows were on Sunday nights. (And football isn't on when the Oscars are.) Monday is the second most watched night. Also, when the Oscars are on, they are not usually counter-programmed with new movies, programs or episodes. Until the move to Sunday night, the Oscars traditionally were held on Mondays, because that was the least attended night in movie theaters.

Yes, ratings can correspond to what films are nominated...[...]

I saw this article: Originally in the Hollywood Reporter

How Much Does Box Office Really Impact Oscars TV Ratings?

While the pandemic didn’t help, viewership for the Oscars telecast, as well as the average box office returns of the films nominated for best picture, have been on a downward trend for years. Six of the past seven years of the telecasts on ABC saw a smaller audience than the year before. As for...

sports.yahoo.com

The article led me to posit the question: The original intent of having 10 nominees was to have the likelihood more audience friendly (or popular films) would get nominated for Best Picture, like a Marvel (Superhero) film or animated film. This doesn't happen regularly, if at all, so is having a large number of nominees actually backfiring with audiences? They just see more films nominated they haven't seen, instead of a couple they might have (out of 5) which would lead them to watch, instead of a preponderance of films they haven't?

Interesting charts:

 

[Malcolm R]

Fridays and Saturdays used to be big nights for television. That they're considered a dead zone these days is a fairly recent occurrence.

 

[derekbd]

They will never accomplish that goal until they look themselves in the mirror honestly and remove the portions of the show that make it run long. The excessive length is never the cumulative result of winners speaking an extra ten seconds. It is always, always, always the skits and montages that have little relation to the films being recognized. But they believe the skits and montages are the things people tune in for, so that is unlikely to change.

The banter between aptly-selected pairs (or multis) of presenters can be much more entertaining than the "comic bits". Of course, sometimes they get the pairings wrong and it's a wreck. But they usually do well.
I agree with what you say. Between the banter, the performances of nominated songs, the memorials and tributes, there's more than enough entertainment slotted into the minutes between award presentations to keep the audience alive.

What would be great is a commercial sponsor or two throwing in more money so that the programme would have fewer advert/commercial breaks.

 

[MartinP.]

Hour TV shows that used to run 52 minutes now run 42-43 minutes, so I'm assuming the networks allot that same amount of commercial time for award shows, which means they allot around 18 minutes of commercials an hour. So in three hours it's nearly an hour of commercials, and yet they (ABC) basically want the show to be two hours long. I watched an hour of the show on Hulu when it was on there and without commercials it's what everyone seems to want it to be. Not at all bothersome. A couple years in the 1950's the studios and movie theater companies and such sponsored the show without commercials. (The source for that info was a video I watched on AMPAS's youtube channel some time ago.)

 

[SamT]

Oscars: Date Set for March 2023 Ceremony and Other Key Events

The 95th Oscars will take place on Sunday, March 12, 2023, earlier than any other since 2020.

www.hollywoodreporter.com

 

[Wayne_j]

The fan votes for this year's oscars likely won by bots.

Zack Snyder’s Fan-Voted Oscar Wins May Have Been Rigged by Bots

Two reports reveal that “thousands of fake votes” were cast for zombie thriller Army of the Dead for #OscarsFanFavorite and Snyder’s cut of Justice League for #OscarsCheerMoment.

www.vanityfair.com

"At this year’s Oscars, Zack Snyder emerged with a pair of victories in the fan-voted categories. The filmmaker’s zombie thriller Army of the Dead was named #OscarsFanFavorite, while the Flash Speed Force scene from his cut of Justice League won the #OscarsCheerMoment vote. The validity of those wins, however, is now being called into question.

Two reports from Tweet Binder, a hashtag analytics tool, show that “the most active contributors” to the polls for #OscarsFanFavorite and #OscarsCheerMoment appear to have been automated bot accounts “that cast thousands of fake votes,” The Wrap reported on Thursday. University of Maryland professor David Kirsch, who has researched fanbots, similarly deduced that the questionable accounts “certainly do not look like they were generated by a human user.” But the outlet noted that Kirsch’s team could not “definitively declare them bots.”"

 

[SamT]

I'M SHOCKED, I'M SHOCKED, I TELL YOU!

 

[Wayne_j]

Snyder fans are refusing to believe it:

Are Zack Snyder fans right for refusing to believe bots rigged Oscars?

Some doubts have been raised about a recent report alleging bot rigging at the Oscars.

wegotthiscovered.com

 

[MartinP.]

The Oscars lately can't even pander correctly without controversy.

 

[bujaki]

They have a new member of the Board of Directors: COBI; that is, Chief of Bad Ideas.
This person is really working overtime and delivering!

 

[B-ROLL]

I'M SHOCKED, I'M SHOCKED, I TELL YOU!

Academy Awards, USA 1944 ​

Winner Oscar	Best Picture
Best Director Michael Curtiz
Best Writing, Screenplay Julius J. Epstein Philip G. Epstein Howard Koch
Nominee Oscar	Best Actor in a Leading Role Humphrey Bogart
Best Actor in a Supporting Role Claude Rains
Best Cinematography, Black-and-White Arthur Edeson
Best Film Editing Owen Marks
Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture Max Steiner

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Variety: Oscars 2023 Will Include All 23 Categories Presented Live on Air (EXCLUSIVE)​

 

[JoeStemme]

Time to start a stand-alone 2023 thread?