When Did You Realize The Oscars Were A Pile Of Shit?

1979

When Cher won for Moonstruck I changed the channel in disgust and haven't watched a single Oscar broadcast since then.

Cher's cool, but when you compare a performance like Vivien Leigh's in Streetcar, which was genuinely Oscar worthy, to what Cher did in Moonstruck, well fuck. It's a wonder I didn't just throw the fucking television right in the dumpster.

Crash winning BP.

The 60th Academy Award was a contest between Cher and Vivien Leigh. Who knew?

It is young people like you, OP, that are ruining the industry.

R2 Oscar nominations and wins only consider the current year. It's absurd to compare performances with those of the entire film history. I thought Cher to be the best female performance for 1987. In 1998 there is no way Gwyneth Paltrow was the best lead actress, and no way Shakespeare in Love was better than Saving Private Ryan. And for 2005 Crash may have been the least deserving winner in decades, which won against Brokeback Mountain.

When Mary Tyler Moore lost for her performance in Ordinary People to Sissy Spacek in Coal Miner's Daughter.

Sissy did an imitation; Mary created a character.

I was pissed off when Mickey Rourke lost Best Actor to Sean Penn. Rourke had deservedly won every pre-Oscar award going for The Wrestler, and should have got the Oscar. Penn is a fine actor, but no. The Academy have made some great choices for relatively "small" films: Adrien Brody winning for The Pianist, Casey Affleck last year for MBTS. But far too much Streep and Day Lewis.

When Rocky beat taxi Driver.

When Harry Met Sally.

If Buck had been the one to survive, his mother would have won.

When they started nominating black people just because of the color of their skin.

Oscar nominations and wins only consider the current year. Gosh, really?

It's absurd to compare performances with those of the entire film history. Why? Oscar-worthy performances resonate down the years. Maybe not for you.

I thought Cher to be the best female performance for 1987. I rest my case.

When "It's Hard out Here for a Pimp" won for the best original song in 2005. I know it was a weak category, and perhaps the Academy wanted to be more "inclusive" that year (perhaps a dearth of minority nominees), but it pretty much killed any respect I had for the Academy.

I am a black woman btw, and when the winner was announced I felt a bit insulted. All those years of black people struggling to get a foothold in the industry; people with talent, intelligence and beauty; people who studied and trained and paid dues... and this "song" is getting the award and the recognition. And these idiots jumping around on stage ...

[quote]no way Shakespeare in Love was better than Saving Private Ryan.

I loved "Shakespeare in Love," and one past the stunning opening, I got bored quickly with Saving Private Ryan, so I was fine with that. They were both well-made movies.

The year that Crash, a piece of shit, won over Brokeback, I would actually have voted for "Munich" if I'd been in the Academy. I thought it was a brilliant film, much better than "Brokeback."

It’s an awards show based upon the subjective taste of a select group of voters, not a holy edict handed down by Jesus. Why would you expect to agree with every selection. This thread needs to be re-titled to: The First Time You Disagreed With an Oscar Win.

R11 = white supremacist moron

Kind of redundant. Are there white supremacist geniuses?

Serious question: why is Jimmy Kimmel hosting the Oscars again?

r17 Because they're on ABC.

The closest the Oscars gets to an edict handed down by Jesus is when Mother Dolores Hart, the movie star who became a nun, fills out her ballot.

When Brokeback lost.

R19 She's gonna have a fucking stroke over Lady Bird eating those wafers. Jesus!

R20, what did you think was so good about Brokeback Mountain? All those sheep? The tire iron? Michelle Williams' longsufferingness?

Let's see....amazing acting by all four leads, check...a literate script, check...beautifully photographed,check...powerful music, check...star crossed lovers, check...homosexuals, check. What's not love?

[quote]What's not to love?

The ending. And they weren't "star-crossed" so much as "author-manipulated." The ending ruined the whole thing for me. The only winner in that movie was the tire iron. I wanted any movie but it to win.

I feel we finally got some vindication this year with Moonlight winning best pic. Even though it chickened out at the end with the two black gay characters. If the preferential voting system was in place in 2006 BM might’ve pulled off the win.

I think the older contingent of the Academy (Ernest Borgnine for one) voted for Crash or pics other than BM and kept it from winning.

The problem with Brokeback Mountain is that it didn't have a fabulous, gay friend who made wisecracks.

When Judy lost.

The year Crash won.

When the Oscars stopped being about anything the passes for merit and became a bludgeon of the entitled.

When it became all about Harvey Weinstein’s campaigns and manipulation.

Terms of Endearment winning Best Picture & Director

When Ellen Burstyn lost for "Requiem For A Dream" to Julia Roberts for "Erin Brokovitch". A complete travesty.

When all the nominated movies were ones that I'd never heard of, let alone seen.

I looked back at the lists of Best Picture nominees from the 80s and 90s, and I watched probably 80% of them either in the theater or rented later from the video store. Nowadays, I'll have seen maybe one or two of the movies that are at the top of the nominations list. Maybe that says more about me and my tastes than the Academy, I don't know. But it's made it very hard for me to care.

When the Best Picture nominees went beyond five nominees.

When they made them a Pisces instead of an Aries.

I resent that, R35.

“....amazing acting by all four leads”

Nope, AnnE was awful in BM...and I do not detest her as others do.

Maybe I'd have liked BM more if they hadn't cast Heath Ledger.

When I realized it was political with people schmoozing and pimping themselves out as part of a “campaign”.

When they award someone in an unworthy role because they are “due”. I love Denzel, but he has had far better roles than Training Day.

When they started arguing about who should be included in the "In Memoriam" section.

Shakespeare in Love winning anything. Insipid, sentimental pap.

It had to be before Rob Lowe and his Snow White number. That was the Oscar show I loved for what it is and was no longer angry for what it was not.

Last year’s Moonlight stunt. That was so set up and contrived. Just doing stupid shit like that to gay people just irritates me and makes me not tune in ever again.

When they let actors ramble on about stupid shit and their pet causes.

One word. Braveheart.

When Al Pacino won for “Scent of a Woman,” but lost for The Godfather movies.

ALL of these award shows are just politics. I hate that the actors put so much stock into winning one when most of the time it is based on who does the best schmoozing . When I read an article about how some of the actors had to buy gifts etc. for the people voting I realized it was all just a sham. It is just another way to bring attention and money to different companies. you can only judge someone if they doing exactly what another is doing like playing the same exact part. If you have several great shows with several great actors it is impossible to judge them against each other.

R45 agreed

R30 the voting is anonymous. I never get why people say votes are bought, paid for or the voters get their arms twisted. You can vote for whoever you like and no one will know anyway.

[quote] Since then, I only watch with friends to make fun of everything. When we can be bothered.

Mary! You'll show them!

When Bjork was snubbed for Dancer in the Dark.

[quote]When Bjork was snubbed for Dancer in the Dark.

I shut that movie off after 30 minutes. It was boring as hell.

[quote]When they award someone in an unworthy role because they are “due”. I love Denzel, but he has had far better roles than Training Day.

Agreed, R39, and the irony of your example is that Denzel was only given the Oscar for "Training Day" because he'd been screwed out of the Oscar he deserved for "Malcolm X" when the Academy instead awarded Al Pacino for "Scent of a Woman" just because it was felt Al was due. It's really a crazy kind of whirlwind that never ends.

[quote]When Mary Tyler Moore lost for her performance in Ordinary People to Sissy Spacek in Coal Miner's Daughter. Sissy did an imitation; Mary created a character.

R7, I'm stealing this from you but want to replace MTM with Heath Ledger and Sissy Spacek with PSH. The voters found it so much easier to reward the imitation than the creation of an original character.

I thought it was ridiculous that Viola was in supporting for Fences. That was a lead. I guess they just wanted Emma to undeservedly win. What a joke.

1935: Bette Davis given the award for a performance that was bad, and not given the award the year before for a performance that was good.

I submit when Jennifer Lawrence won for Best Actress for "Silver Linings Playbook." There was no there there; her entire "performance" was wearing a scowl on her face for two hours.

Spacek won EVERYTHING in sight for CMD. The critics and industry got this right. She had to age from teen to middle aged woman, sing and become Loretta Lynn and be believable. This went way beyond imitation.

I love MTM but the role was supporting and all she has to do was play a cold heart steely bitch of a mother and wife who showed some vulnerability in the end. Any number of middle aged actresses could’ve pulled it off. Redford was interested in Lee Remick for a time before MTM.

When Carson stopped hosting them....his last Oscar show was hilarious

Also when I found out how old and out of touch some of the Academy voters are. It made all of the Oscar winners make perfect sense. They need to start clearing out more of the deadwood.

R57 I agree Carson was great. Love Whoopi too.

When the same old guys-Streep and Nicholson- were always front and center and for the first time it seemed,,,, OLD

R24 I wanted to slap Jack and Ennis senseless through much of the movie . I could understand their situation in the beginning but they don't live in a vacuum . Ennis is a hopeless cause but Jack had the means to leave his life for a city with a developing gay culture and I could never understand why a person like Jack would pine after Ennis . Eventually it just felt forced .

[quote]I love MTM but the role was supporting and all she has to do was play a cold heart steely bitch of a mother and wife who showed some vulnerability in the end. Any number of middle aged actresses could’ve pulled it off. Redford was interested in Lee Remick for a time before MTM.

Many of us only knew MTM as perky and upbeat. All I had ever seen her in was "Dick Van Dyke Show" and "MTM Show". To be honest, I was shocked that she could play such a cold and distant character. Up until that time, I only thought she was a sitcom actress.

And yes, Sissy Spacek was good in her role. But she already had a pattern for the character, she got to "color inside the lines". And Spacek has done far better work since, such as In The Bedroom. MTM had to build her character from the bottom up.

The mid-90s beginnings of the poison well Weinstein era was marked by a definite dive in the quality of the Oscars. It showed us how ugly and destructive confident Jews can be

[quote] Last year’s Moonlight stunt. That was so set up and contrived. Just doing stupid shit like that to gay people just irritates me and makes me not tune in ever again.

I wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt, but they copped out by saying GNC instead of gay in their acceptance speech.

R63 is proof of why gentile bigotry needs to be rooted out with violence.

I've said it before and I'll say it again...and again...and again...and if you didn't get it the first 100 times, I'll make it a joke in my tv sitcom.

When the Academy Award ejaculated the Oscar on Miss Sally Field for that cornpone role she did and completely overlooked my brilliant performance in The Rose.

And you gaze better come see me when I do Dolly in LA.

No matter how one feels about "Brokeback Mountain" (and I know as many hated it as loved it), "Crash" was nothing but a glorified Lifetime TV-movie. Even for the voters like Borgnine who obviously (and publicly) couldn't get past their disgust over BM's subject matter, either one of the other BP nominees would have been a better choice. It's like they wanted to send the message "We'd sooner give it to the shittiest piece of shit out there than give it to the f-g movie."

I was just about to ask what Borgnine's opinion on Moonlight was but I see the cunt died back in 2012.

Agreed, R67. It was an overrated movie but still better than what beat it. The Cult of L. Ron Hubbard pulled some strings on that one. Even Paul Haggis got out after he got what he wanted from them.

The best thing about Crash was that it put Matt Dillon, Ryan Phillippe, and Loretta Devine in scenes together. Not likely to see that again in my lifetime.

1990, the year the Academy decided to tone everything down after the Rob Lowe/Snow White travesty the previous year. There is no point on watching it if there is nothing to talk about the next day. With all the controversy this year I hope nobody holds back. I wanna see blood.

R71 I also said I wanted to see blood this year in another thread and people told me I was unpleasant and that we should all be hugging instead in the age of Trump. On DL, of all places. Fuck them!

[quote] When "It's Hard out Here for a Pimp" won for the best original song in 2005. I know it was a weak category, and perhaps the Academy wanted to be more "inclusive" that year (perhaps a dearth of minority nominees), but it pretty much killed any respect I had for the Academy.

They already crossed that line with giving that award to Eminem over a song from [italic]Chicago[/italic]: once again, thugs over gays.

[quote]When they started arguing about who should be included in the "In Memoriam" section.

Agreed, R40. It's always so classless and insulting to those involved when those discussions make their way into the public.

^ Ryan O’Neal is not known for his class.

No, he's known for his ass.

The BB Mountain/Crash controversy showed us how Jews really feel about gays and goes far to explain all the ground we lost from Clinton and on.

^ Can the Jew-hater please make an immediate transfer to a alt-right board?

R65 = Matthew Anscher

When the red carpet shows became a regular staple.

R79 = Adolf Hitler

For me, it was 1981 when there were two surprise winning upsets, and I felt both were poor choices:

Chariots of Fire for Best Picture over Atlantic City and Reds. I absolutely adored Atlantic City and though it an amazing achievement! I was mostly bored with Reds, but I appreciated the artistry. It was the most favored to win, so I was ready to accept it's victory.

Actress was supposedly a draw between Meryl Streep for French Lieutenant's Woman, (her first lead nomination), and Diane Keaton for Reds. The two actresses split the majority of the Critic's Awards. I was actually rooting for Susan Sarandon/Atlantic City, a surprise nominee that year, but would have been happy with one of the expected two. Then they called Katherine Hepburn's name for on Golden Piss Pond. Shocking! Ugh! "The loons! The loons!". Well, she was right!

I should see Atlantic City. I didn't hate Sarandon then.

The year that they gave the lifetime achievement award to Robert Redford instead of Richard Widmark. (There was a big movement to get the award for Widmark that year.) To give it to Redford was a travesty. Redford is still working and Widmark had a long and distinguished career.

To make it even more appalling, that was the same year they gave a Lifetime Award to Sidney Poitier.

Widmark starred in Poitier's first movie and they became friends. It would have been a great moment to have both of those men receive the award on the same night.

But noooo, we have to see that aging surfer boy Robert Redford who is still working.

Disgusting.

Marisa Tomei for "My Cousin Vinny". The fuck?

R71 I hope Will and Jada get invited just so they can get up and walk out during the ceremony.

For me, it was when a friend and I filled out her father's Oscar ballot.

Atlantic City is a great film.

I used to watch it on HBO when I was in middle school!

Sarandon is very good, but it’s Burt Lancaster and especially Kate Reid who I remember best.

Sarandon has a scene where she washes her breasts with lemons, which got most the attention in the movie, but my little gay self was more absorbed by the down-and-out old folks who’d aged hard along with Atlantic City.

When G didn't win for Dangerous Liaisons.

When "Wings" won Best Picture.

For those complaining about Lose Yourself and It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp winning Best Song, I think you have to really look at what the award is SUPPOSED to be for as opposed to what it's become. The song that wins should really be part of the film or comment on the film or work within the film as opposed to being just some pretty melody that's tossed in for an award. Both of the aforementioned songs were so well integrated into their films and commented on their characters and, I think, deserved to win over substandard songs that were clearly included just to get nominations. The Chicago song was awful and thrown in over the credits. What did it bring to the film? How did it enhance the movie, the characters or the viewing experience? Same thing with Travelin' Thru?

When you look at the award this way, both Lose Yourself and It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp are two of the few songs where the Academy actually got it right. (And I'm someone who is not a rap and hip hop fan).

I would also like to say that the Academy has passed over some really good songs, one of which- I Don't Want to Say Goodbye from Brokeback Mountain- should have been included in the year where they only chose three songs. Also, the entire song score from About a Boy was like watching that character musicalized. However, I still would have chosen both the songs that won that year.

[quote]When G didn't win for Dangerous Liaisons.

She'll finally get her revenge next year.

[quote] She'll finally get her revenge next year.

Yeah, sure. That film will probably go the way that both her 2017 releases which were supposed to be award worthy went- straight to DVD or day and date.

In 1995, when "Forrest Gump" won over "Pulp Fiction" for Best Picture.

When "New York, New York" by Kander and Ebb wasn't even [bold]nominated[/bold] for Best Song!

When The Ten Commandments won Best Picture!

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

Its all schmoozing, hype and studio money that secures Oscars now. Who cares? Its still the best show in town even though Joan Rivers' departure has left a void in terms of acknowledging the absurd.

[quote] When The Ten Commandments won Best Picture!

I beg your pardon, kind sir.

It’s really not that entertaining a show, though last year’s Best Picture debacle brought unadulterated joy to many of us.

Last year was a wake-up call that as far as we've come, we've still got a LONG way to go.

For me, it was Crash over BBM. The only scene in Crash that was good was the actual crash scene (when Matt Dillon pulls Thandie Newton out of the car).

As for Shakespeare in Love versus Saving Private Ryan, I love both films. If I am in the mood for a war drama, guess which movie I'll watch; if I am in the mood for a romance, guess which movie I watch.

And I am sorry, if the end of SiL doesn't get to you, you need your oil checked.

I don't recall when I stopped watching the Oscars and reading about the awards season, but it must be at least ten years (I also mute all awards related threads on DL). Then last year I was invited to an Oscar party only to witness Isabelle Huppert lose for what was the best performance by an actress in a major film last year (in my humble opinion). It'll be a long time before I watch the Oscars again.

I am lucky that I have friends who are in the Academy, so I get to see a lot of foreign film submissions with them - films that I'd normally miss when/if they're released. But then I see what gets picked in the final round I have to roll my eyes.

I loved Shakespeare in Love. It deserved its Best Picture win over Shaving Ryan's Privates.

Although I don't think Paltrow should have won Best Actress over Blanchett, she hadn't become Goop yet and no one really knew what a pretentious, awful person she was. The movie is wonderfully entertaining, unlike that steaming pile of dog shit directed by Spielberg. The way he chose to bookend the movie with those present day scenes at the beginning and end.....especially the ending scene where once again Spielberg feels he has to spoon feed the message of the movie to his dumbed down audience. It deserved to lose the Best Picture award, and Spielberg should not have won Best Director for it.

It's easier to just list the 2 times I actually agreed with the Academy: when Unforgiven won and when No Country for Old Men won.

Emma Stone winning over Isabelle Huppert last year for her wan performance in La La Land was pretty ridiculous. If they gave Stone an Oscar for LLL they should’ve given her a Nobel Prize for Acting for Easy A.

I checked out from about 1986 - 1998. Didn’t miss much.

"More than a Woman" or "How Deep is Your Love" from Saturday Night Fever should have been nominated for Best Song.

The red carpet SUCKS ASS and has for quite some time. It used to be a parade of celebrities wearing what they wanted to wear. All of the fun went out of it once designers and stylists became more prominent.

Night Fever or Stayin' Alive even more so.

Erm, If I Can’t Have You.

R91 Great point! I also thought it was shocking when Bruce Springsteen's song for The Wrestler wasn't nominated. It completely exemplified everything you wrote. And it won Best Song at the Golden Globes, (not that the GGs have any credibility).

I've seen more Oscar bait movies this year than in any in recent memory. Never cared for the stodgy period dramas or generic indies produced by any of the Weinstein clan. It became apparent that those movies were only recognized for their casting and nothing else.

Perhaps now that Harvey and his campaigning are gone, more popular movies will be recognized more often.

Also, less dominance in the categories by old British people.

What are the rules for the movies made by Netflix?

How long are they supposed to be in theaters and on how many screens?

[quote] I've seen more Oscar bait movies this year than in any in recent memory. Never cared for the stodgy period dramas or generic indies produced by any of the Weinstein clan. It became apparent that those movies were only recognized for their casting and nothing else.

That sort of tediously nouveau riche middlebrow str8 white people crap is never characteristic of the best movie of any given year, it just plays on tired tropes the mis-educated, the uneducated, and the under-educated believe to be Great Art. I'm not saying we should give Oscars to comic book movies, I'm saying there must be some acceptable middle ground. Where are the mainstream movies made by and aimed at adults that deal with real-world adult problems in a believable way anymore? Did indie film kill them all?

I miss Joan Rivers. She made the tedious Red Carpet real and exciting.

Since 1956, OP.........since 1956.

[quote]she hadn't become Goop yet and no one really knew what a pretentious, awful person she was.

She's not pretending anything. She really is that awful a person.

Since I started following awards season as a 15-year-old.

Judi Dench is widely considered the robbed one from the 1997 Best Actress lineup, but I thought LAFCA/NBR/BFCA winner Helena Bonham Carter was the most deserving of the Oscar for 'Wings of the Dove.' Where is her makeup award?

Chloë Sevigny's affecting, understated work in 'Boys Don't Cry' was far superior to Angelina Jolie's histrionics in 'Girl, Interrupted.'

Jennifer Lawrence's Best Actress victory for 'Silver Linings Playbook' had little to do with the quality of her acting. Emmanuelle Riva should have won.

And, just last year, Rebecca Hall's brilliant performance in 'Christine' was overlooked by nearly all awards bodies. That was a disgrace and a reminder that unless your distributor has the money to mount a big campaign, you aren't getting anything come awards season, no matter how wonderful your performance was.

R120, I totally agree with you that Rebecca Hall was robbed last year. Hopefully, the era of the Weinstein-ization of Oscar campaigns has come to an end (but I wouldn’t bet on it).

Of course, people forget that in the days of the big studios, studio people tended to vote to support films coming from their studios.

That could explain why actors such as Barbara Stanwyck and Cary Grant who were always independents, never received Best Actress or Best Actor awards.

All awards shows are a pile of shit. Always have been, always will be.

Sadly not that long ago and I'm 52.. how fucked up is that to finally see phony in a world I already saw as bullshit.. SHAME ding ding ding..SHAME!

Do you think they'll let Melania present any awards via satellite?

[quote]Around the World in 80 Days

I beg your pardon, r99

- The Greatest Show on Earth

R!25 In honor of MOSES I say, 'praise be to GOD yes!" That would seal the phoniness.

R125 In honor of MOSES I say, 'praise be to GOD yes!" That would seal the phoniness.

When Norma Shearer won for The Divorcee, and Ann Harding was even nominated that year.

When DDL got an Oscar for Lincoln and Sally Field didn't.

R24 The sad ending is much better than happy Hollywood fairytale ending .I cry every time I watch it because it is so emotional and sad.

r131 = the tire iron

When that Horse-face dyke won Best actress in 1999 and again in 2004

When I realized that actors/actresses literally have to suck ass, suck dick, and promote the crap out of their movies to the Oscar panel judges so to even be nominated.

What about GOT? A great show that will never see the light of day or night an OSCAR. Just because it's on the tele. Exceptions should be made for brilliant work category.

That's what EMMYS are for, R135.

R136 Fuck the EMMY= them there awards are for anyone with a pulse-

[quote]When I realized that actors/actresses literally have to suck ass, suck dick, and promote the crap out of their movies to the Oscar panel judges so to even be nominated.

the only way no-talent white Kentucky trash can get to Hollywood A-List status

What R134 said. I wonder if the ratings will decline this year now that everyone has had a good look at how the bacon is made.

[quote]he 60th Academy Award was a contest between Cher and Vivien Leigh. Who knew?

Well, R4—Vivien Leigh was so extraordinary she came out of death, 20 years later, to do a film and receive a 1987 Oscar nomination for best actress.

OP,

Two words: [italic]Harvey Weinstein[/italic].

It's all my fault, really.

Ratings are going down everywhere so they should stop giving us the Nielsen figures and just tell us how many people streamed the ceremony.

[quote]When that Horse-face dyke won Best actress in 1999 and again in 2004.

1999

[quote]When that Horse-face dyke won Best actress in 1999 and again in 2004.

2004

When that shitty Melissa Etheridge tune won Best Song.

R11, were you equally pissed off when black people weren't nominated because of the colour of their skin?

When Bette Midler didn't win shit for The Rose.

None of the Miramax Oscar bait movies were worthy. None of them.

R148 she won two globes for it. Plus a Grammy. That’s more than she deserved.

Remember how THE ARTIST won Best Picture?

Calm down and take your meds, dear.

R150 - That's not enough. NOT ENOUGH!

When I lost to Someone else.

When Citizen Kane lost.

When Faye Dunaway wasn't nominated for Barfly, but Sally Kirkland was for Anna and Streep was for Ironweed that year.

when "SHE KNEW" was plastered across Hollywood

When they gave Uncle Remus a special honorary Oscar instead of the real one he deserved.

R134 - not all of us.

When they didn't give Madonna shit for Shanghai Surprise.

There was a small group of us kids watching Star Wars lose to Annie Hall and we lost it like those “David” fangirls...

Thank you Allan Carr and Rob Lowe -

During Halle Berry's acceptance speech.

When Crash beat Brokeback Mountain. WTF?!

When I learned that The English Patient won because few members actually watched the whole boring film, and instead fast forwarded through the gorgeous but tiresome parts, which I, in the theater, had to endure

R85 That was due to America First. I remember vividly the resentment about there being only ONE American out of five nominees.

When they started letting Debbie Allen choreograph.

1) When Bjork lost to Julia Roberts' breasts and horrible fake accent.

2) When Nicole Kidman won for a prosthetic nose.

R161, my 12-year old self squeed with glee when Artoo and Threepio came out onto the stage on the 1978 Oscars!

I was devastated that 'Star Wars' lost to that dreadfully boring looking 'Annie Hall.'

R160---

YOU ARE WHY I LIVE

[quote]When "It's Hard out Here for a Pimp" won for the best original song in 2005. I know it was a weak category, and perhaps the Academy wanted to be more "inclusive" that year (perhaps a dearth of minority nominees), but it pretty much killed any respect I had for the Academy. I am a black woman btw, and when the winner was announced I felt a bit insulted. All those years of black people struggling to get a foothold in the industry; people with talent, intelligence and beauty; people who studied and trained and paid dues... and this "song" is getting the award and the recognition. And these idiots jumping around on stage ...

I picture r13 seething at her television set like "They let these niggas in the BIG house?!"

#OscarsSoWhite didn't lift a finger for my black ass when [italic]Good Burger[/italic] got shut out for a movie about a black boat that sinks because of a white iceberg.

The Academy Awards were always an exercise in cynicism. They were created in 1929 by the studios after a series of scandals damaged Hollywood's reputation. The studio bosses thought that if they gave themselves awards, the public would respect them -- and it worked. There have have always been unspoken "traditions" about Oscar wins. In the past few decades, for example, Best Picture has usually been tasteful, "serious," utterly middle-brow, and frequently unwatchable ("Dances With Wolves," "Driving Miss Daisy," "Chariots of Fire," "Gandhi," "Out of Africa," and "Titanic," for example, are all banal at best and probably known to be such at the time that they won.) That's just the way it's done. There's no point in taking the Oscars seriously.

^ Those movies are all so awful!

You make your point with perfect examples.

Thanks for that, R169. I never knew that "Star Wars" and "Close Encounters" shared a sound effects award.

When Sweet Smell of Success didn't even get a nomination.

[quote]When I realized that actors/actresses literally have to suck ass, suck dick, and promote the crap out of their movies to the Oscar panel judges so to even be nominated.

Though she is without question a fine actress, I was a little annoyed the year Melissa Leo won for Best Supporting Actress for "The Fighter." She was just so obnoxious in the way she campaigned for it, I was just hoping that that kind of behavior wouldn't be rewarded by the voters, but whatever.

[quote]That was due to America First. I remember vividly the resentment about there being only ONE American out of five nominees.

Being the only American didn't just work in Tomei's favor; it reportedly factored into Helen Hunt's win as well.

I lost interest when I realized that if I, a 15-year-old from suburban Amsterdam, the Netherlands with zero ties to, and otherwise clueless about, "the industry" could accurately predict the winners most years. All the talk of "the precursors" and their significance is also annoying.

R170 - You complete me, goddamn it.

R33, you no longer see the majority of the nominees because the studios don't make movies for adults anymore. If it's not Marvel or "Star Wars," it doesn't turn a profit.

Hell, even middlebrow fare like "The Circle," an adaptation of a novel by Dave freakin' Eggers, has to be co-financed by several different foreign studios because it's not teenage-boy superhero/science-fiction junk.

Do you go see independent movies when they come to your town or seek them out in the city closest to you? If not, you're part of the problem. I'm not trying to defend the Academy, but the fact that the best films of the year tend to be on the obscure side is not their fault.

One thing I will say in favor of the Oscars -- and I realize I'm very much in the minority on this -- I disagree with the same talk every year that they should cut several categories out of the TV broadcast in order to shorten it for time. I resist this idea because (a) the Oscars are and should be about the industry as a whole, not just the stars in front of the camera, (b) as each category is presented (e.g., sound effects editing), they often attempt to explain exactly what it is and how it contributed to the film, and (c) if they really want to shorten the broadcast, drop all those often lame "comedy" bits from the stars when they come out to present the awards, not to mention a lot of the unnecessary clip packages sprinkled throughout the show (e.g., "A tribute to romance in the movies!") that do nothing but eat up time. All of that kind of stuff coming out would probably help keep the show within its normal 3.5 hour time period.

Probably when Mel Gibson and "Braveheart" won. I hate that Academy continues to be awed by big, dopey epics and throws awards at them like flowers. I also hate that no one seems to know the difference between "leading" and "supporting" roles and nominate actors based on the Hollywood status rather than actual position in the movie.

On the other hand, I, for one, love the montages. I'd rather watch three hours of those than see below-the-line people rattle of names of people no one else cares about for their 15 minutes of fame.

When that cunt Frances McDormand won over Brenda Blethyn.

Category fraud

Close, R129, but it started even earlier, once people understood these obscure awards had their impact, after the first time they were handed out.

When Mary Pickford won (for entertaining the voters at Pickfair) over Jeanne Eagels while Lillian Gish wasn't even nominated for The Wind.

[quote] When that cunt Frances McDormand won over Brenda Blethyn.

I have never ever EVER heard anyone say a bad thing about McDormand. Must every woman be called a cunt on DL... Yikes!

When Annette Bening didn't win for American Beauty. She lost to Hillary Swank in Boys Don't Cry, who was very good, but Annette was better.

[quote]I have never ever EVER heard anyone say a bad thing about McDormand. Must every woman be called a cunt on DL... Yikes!

When they ARE a cunt they are called a cunt!!!

I lost interest in my teen years when I realised that the Awards were NOT a true judge of quality.

They love me at Trivial Pursuit because I can recite all the winners from 1930 to 1970.

Probably in the 80s, for me. A lot of the wins seemed unmerited.

[quote]When Cher won for Moonstruck I changed the channel in disgust and haven't watched a single Oscar broadcast since then.

I disliked Cher for the longest time after she won that Oscar. She shamelessly campaigned for it though; it was basically a consolation prize for the Academy ignoring her fine work in MASK.

And I hated it when they gave the Oscar to Halle Berry for MONSTERS BALL because they felt it was time to give the Best Actress award to a black actress rather than because she deserved it. Truth be told, Angela Bassett should have gotten on for her performance as Tina Turner. They did the same thing when Sidney Poitier won for LILIES OF THE FIELD. He should have won for THE DEFIANT ONES, or even gotten a nod for TO SIR WITH LOVE. LILIES was a piece of fluff. The Academy just wanted to pat themselves on the back and give that pompous ass George Clooney a reason to make smug acceptance speeches about how Hollywood was ahead of the curve when, actually, they weren't. And still aren't.

[quote]I have never ever EVER heard anyone say a bad thing about McDormand. Must every woman be called a cunt on DL... Yikes!

[quote]When they ARE a cunt they are called a cunt!!!

You really hate your mother, don'tcha?

Shut up, Cunt!

[quote]When that cunt Frances McDormand won over Brenda Blethyn.

[quote]When they ARE a cunt they are called a cunt!!!

[quote]Shut up, Cunt!

Wow, your mother really messed you up. Pity comes to mind.

then R179,l ets ditch this fuckin thread and get the hell outta here

When Bradley Cooper became a multiple nominee .

[quote]When Bradley Cooper became a multiple nominee

Agreed. His nomination for "Silver Linings Playbook" was an insult to every serious actor that year who was not nominated.

Add to this the reality that Peter O'Toole and Barbara Stanwyck never won Oscars and yet McBongo and JLaw each have one.

When did I realize the Oscars were a pile of shit?

Some cunt named Pierce.

Posters at R179: get a room!

I always knew the Oscars were a pile of shit, but when Crash won over Munich or Brokeback Mountain, I knew it jumped the shark and I would never look at them the same again. Just utter bullshit.

When that dopey Italian won for his concentration camp fantasy movie. What's he done since?

when sean penn won.

When I realized that they have no impact on my life in any way and never will.

Grace Kelly over Judy Garland in 1954! I mean, come ON!

R194 You are brilliant. I will be using this in the future

I bet the poster is British, there are tons of them on the DL

Jonah Hill's two nominations and the Best Actress nominations of 2012 without Tilda Swinton and Kirsten Dunst.

Somewhere around 2003 or 2004...

Also when Geoffrey Rush won for Shine. He basically did nothing in the movie while the actor who played the younger version of the character did all the heavy lifting. I don't think Rush even thanked the kid in his acceptance speech.

R194 sounds like her mother damaged her. So ridiculously sensitive over a word.

R206 what should Dunst have been nominated for?

When Streep won her third Oscar.

I realized the Oscars were shit 20 minutes ago. And in about 5 minutes I'll realize the Grammys are just as bogus.

When, after Faye Dunaway mistakenly called out La La Land, they went ahead and gave the award to Moonlight. YOU DO NOT CONTRADICT THE GODDESS!

When Daniel Day-Lewis won for My Left Foot. He played a good retard but I thought Tom Cruise should have won for Born On The Fourth Of July.

This afternoon at 3:48.

Somewhere around mid-90s, when Miramax/Weinstein stranglehold on Oscars started. That coincides with the time when Hollywood started passing middlebrow period pieces and humdrum biopics as "art."

[quote]That coincides with the time when Hollywood started passing middlebrow period pieces and humdrum biopics as "art."

That time started when the Oscars started, R216.

I think the oscars are fab. They are a good blend of highbrow and the frothy fun stuff of life.

When the Golden Globes start. Who the fuck thinks JAMES FRANCO deserves an award for that LAUGHABLE/CRINGEWORTHY role in his new movie???

True, but after Cassavetes, Altman, Scorsese (when he was still good), and their ilk, we started seeing hacks like Lasse Hallstrom and David Fincher hailed as great directors. Compare the American cinema from the mid-60s to the early 90s to what followed it and tell me that there's much reason to be excited over Oscars in the past 20 years or so. It's certainly gotten more glamorous and buzzy but it cannot hide the fact that the proverbial emperor has no clothes.

[quote]It's certainly gotten more glamorous and buzzy but it cannot hide the fact that the proverbial emperor has no clothes.

You don't say.

[quote]When they award someone in an unworthy role because they are “due”.

This (my #1 Oscars pet peeve).

And: category fraud; the lack of a category for juvenile (or whatever AMPAS would name it) performers; seeing the same undeserving usual suspects repeatedly; the lack of overall general noms imagination.

[quote]For me, it was when a friend and I filled out her father's Oscar ballot.

And the entire voting process (e.g., members allowing non-members to complete their ballots; voters not even watching the films or performances; seemingly, no critical thought going into it, etc.).

[quote]All of the fun went out of it once designers and stylists became more prominent.

Such blasphemy! This has been attributed to your (and others’) Sainted Joan.

[quote]Being the only American didn't just work in Tomei's favor; it reportedly factored into Helen Hunt's win as well.

Was Dump MAGAing back then as well?

I have never once watched the show. Not even a few minutes of it. The whole celebrity worship crap is annoying and a complete waste of time.

Knock knock! Who's there? Merceds Ruehl. Mercedes Ruehl who? EXACTLY.

R224 She just been appearing in a revival of Harvey Fierstein's "Torch Song" in NY (used to be known as "Torch Song Trilogy". I don't know if it's still running though.

These actor dipshits already earn heaps more than the rest of us, plus they get heaps of free shit and attention...why do they need awards all the time? How many people get awards for doing awful jobs like wiping someone's stinky butt or cleaning up vomit? But actor cunts get awards ALL THE FUCKING TIME.

When Crash won. That was the receipt I needed to confirm the bullshit and politics of the Oscars.

After working at ABC. They wanted a younger skewing show, got it with Seth McFarland, then complained and publicly bad-mouthed his performance.

All of MacFarlane's Walt-bashing is going to come back to bite him in the ass if and when the Disney-Fox deal goes through.

bump

In 1974 when Glenda Jackson won Oscar #2 for an okay performance in an average comedy called A Touch of Class.

Jackson won over Ellen Burtsyn in The Exorcist, Barbra Streisand in The Way We Were, Joanne Woodward in Summer Wishes Winter Dreams and Marsha Mason in Cinderella Liberty. It was SHOCKING. The outraged look on Joanne's face (she and Newman had traveled all the way from CT) is permanently etched on my brain.

I guess Woodward, Burstyn and Streisand split the vote, but this is when I realized what a sham the Oscars were. I was 19.

Barbra should have won for The Way We Were. That was an incredible performance. And her scene at the very end is heartbreaking.

R94 agreed on that, but just a few years before when "Dances With Wolves" beat "Goodfellas" was my first gut punch. Your example was the second, and confirmed Hollywood really is full of uneducated dummies who can't make up their own minds

Shocking that Goodfellas lost to that POS Dances With Wolves.

When Gable lost to Donat I realized what a joke the Oscars were. And I thought Donat was very good as Chips he was just no Rhett Butler.

Last night.

When Kristin Scott-Thomas lost the best actress Oscar to Frances McDormand. I have nothing against the latter actress. Happily, Ms. Scott-Thomas got over it. I never did.

When Harvey figured out how to game the system

When Liza beat Diana for BA in ‘73 for “Cabaret”.

True, R232. BUT Streisand was too chickenshit to get her fat ass in a seat and sweat it out like everyone else, so she stood backstage even though she wasn't a presenter.

Add my name to the list who stopped watching after Crash won over Brokeback. I’ve never watched it since. They mean nothing anymore.

The performances are OK, except for occasional "generous" awards to POC. Halle Berry? Well the Academy makes mistakes with crackers, too.

But the Oscars turned into a STEAMING PILE OF SHIT when Rob Lowe danced with Snow White.

Bruce Vilanch will explain it.

I can't believe the Oscars still exist.

It's something that should have died out years ago like the Ice Capades.

The last straw for me was Viola Davis being nominated for Best Supporting Actress so that she wouldn't go head to head with Emma Stone for Best Actress.

The Best Actress race is mostly a joke now. For every one they get right (Blanchett, Cotillard, Mirren) the voters cock things up in spectacular fashion (Stone, Bullock, and especially Streep’s third). For the record I also loved J Law in Silver Linings.

I’ll also never get over Kirsten Dunst not even getting nominated for “Melancholia.” That performance trumps every other acting nominee that year by a huge margin.