Dandy Cat

Always chasing that cozy feeling of being snuggled under a heap of warm blankets in a cold room. Trying to watch every movie ever. Also trying to find cats to pet. 😻

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    Oscars 2023 Will Include All 23 Categories Presented Live on Air ↗

    From Variety:

    Bill Kramer, CEO of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, announced the news exclusively to Variety Tuesday morning. “I can confirm that all categories will be included in the live telecast,” he said.

    This is welcome news after the utter nonsense from last year’s ceremony. It was clear from the outset that there had to be better ways of increasing interest in the Oscars show than stripping the winners and nominees of eight categories of their rightful time in the spotlight.

    Who knows if the Academy will ever be able to figure out how to win back their awards show viewers,1 but I do know that slighting hard-working artists of the filmmaking industry was not the way to do it.

    1. Although I’m betting that 2023’s broadcast will be well-watched by people hoping for another train wreck after the bullshit from 2022’s show. ↩︎

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    I’ve written enough criticisms about the Oscars recently.1 On to happier things!

    Congratulations to CODA for its momentous wins.

    Congrats to Greig Fraser on his overdue cinematography win for Dune.

    Congrats to Questlove, et al. for Summer of Soul (…or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised). They (and everyone else) deserved a moment that wasn’t overshadowed.

    Congrats to Japan and Ryusuke Hamaguchi for their win with the incredible Drive My Car.

    Some great films and talented artists were honored last night.

    1. All still very valid after seeing the broadcast last night. ↩︎

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    Oscars: American Cinema Editors Urges Academy to Not “Reduce” Telecast to “Variety Spectacle” ↗

    Add the editors to the towering mountain of people and collectives objecting to the Academy’s boneheaded decision to prerecord the awards presentation for eight categories.1

    From the letter signed and presented by the ACE board of directors:

    We believe that true fans of the Oscars don’t want to see an evening celebrating the highest honor in our industry reduced to a buzzy variety spectacle.

    That’s certainly how I feel. The artists have always been the highlights of the show for me. I’m immeasurably less enthusiastic about the too-long musical numbers and “comedy” sketches. Let me see the stars in their fancy clothes!

    What’s particularly galling to me about this course of action the Academy is taking is how careless it appears to be. The shine of the Oscars show has been wearing off for a long time, but their recent decisions have been tarnishing their reputation.

    Case in point, during the upcoming show, there will be a live performance of the song “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” from the Disney film, Encanto. This song has been something of a phenomenon and live song performances are nothing new during the show. However, the only Encanto song that was nominated for Best Original Song is “Dos Oruguitas.”

    Apparently, there’s not enough time to give recognition to the eight snubbed categories equal to all the others, but there’s more than enough time for a song that wasn’t even nominated.

    This all paints the picture of an organization that understands it’s floundering, but has absolutely no idea how to save itself.

    1. Animated short, documentary short, film editing, live-action short, makeup and hairstyling, original score, production design, and sound. ↩︎

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    A Tense Zoom Call. Then Shock and Anger as Industry Reacts to Oscar Category Cuts ↗

    A week ago, Oscar nominees from branches including editing, sound, and makeup and hair […] were informed that their categories would not air live on the telecast […]

    During a virtual town hall with the nominees from these categories, the Academy dropped that bombshell. I recall this being a potential action in 2019. Back then it was cinematography, film editing, live-action short, and makeup and hairstyling. That idea was quickly nixed due to the rightful outrage it inspired.

    Eight categories are set to be spurned come the night of this year’s show; the winners will be given their awards before the broadcast. They’ll be shown in edited clips sporadically throughout the night. Those slighted categories are:

    • Animated short
    • Documentary short
    • Film editing
    • Live-action short
    • Makeup and hairstyling
    • Original score
    • Production design
    • Sound

    Instead of featuring better presenters, fewer time-fillers,1 nominating more diverse artists, having fewer commercials, and taking the ego of the organization down several notches, they’ve decided that the real problem is giving air time to too many non-sexy categories.

    If the Academy, or ABC (or both for that matter), can’t understand how essential those categories are to the craft of filmmaking, then what are they even doing? Many of them are what made movies into the creative and financial force that they are today. How can the Oscars be considered the truest arbiter of quality in the industry when they keep trying to slight the artists that helped legitimize them in the first place?

    I appreciated this opinion made by tv writer Chris Schleicher the first time this nonsense came up:

    The Oscars get shit for being elitist but they are one of the only awards shows that televises winners in the craft categories. This decision is reprehensible. Shame on the Academy. Shame on ABC.

    Still rings true today.

    1. I’m looking at you, endless musical numbers and montages. The only thing that should be pre-recorded for the broadcast is the In Memoriam segment. Otherwise, just get to the next award winner! ↩︎

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    The 94th Academy Awards nominations were announced today. On the whole, it’s a fair collection of some great films. This awards ceremony could always use more diversity—they’re still struggling to recognize enough non-white cast and crew—but it’s not a bad year in this sense.

    As usual, I’m falling behind on the nominated films that I need to see before the ceremony; I’ve only seen 15% of them so far. I’ve been watching many older films lately and haven’t gotten a chance to see most of what’s on this list. My reluctance to go to the theater the last couple years hasn’t been helping remedy this situation either.

    What I need to see, and soon:

    I was delighted to see Drive My Car nominated in so many categories: Best Motion Picture of the Year, Best Directing, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best International Feature Film. I’ve heard nothing but good things about this film; I want to see it more than nearly anything else on the list. It’s unusual for an international feature film, and a Japanese one at that, to be recognized so broadly—this is the first to ever be nominated for Best Motion Picture.1 They tend to do well in the Best International Feature Film category.

    From what I can tell, I would expect Dune and The Power of the Dog to do well, the former especially with its technical nominations. Dune will have a tough time with any of the major categories; the Academy is never favorable toward science fiction. Perennial Oscar favorite, Steven Spielberg, could do it again. If there was ever a film with Oscar bait written all over it, West Side Story would be the one; the original did win big in 1961.

    There don’t appear to be any clear standouts among the acting categories. That should make for some exciting and surprising wins. I’m rooting hardest for Kristen Stewart for her work in Spencer. Who else did a better job this last year?

    I have a soft spot for cinematography. This category always gets my rapt attention, and this year will be no different. The artistry and originality on display are astonishing, and every single nominee could easily walk away with the statue. It’s such a tough category that I’ll have an impossible time choosing a favorite. I believe Bruno Delbonnel is one of the greatest of all time, though, so make of that what you will…

    I’m an unabashed fan of this awards ceremony. It has some salient issues that I believe they’re making an effort to address, albeit slowly. I’ll still be tuning in and celebrating every winner. It’s going to take place on March 27 in the lovely Dolby Theatre.2

    1. The last couple of years have been good to Korean cinema, though. Parasite and Minari have brought that country positive and well-deserved recognition. ↩︎

    2. How they’re going to deal with COVID is anyone’s guess at this point. I don’t think they’ll want to show any empty seats, so they’ll probably be cramming people into that large space. ↩︎

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    If the Oscars keep going the way they have been, then this might be my favorite broadcast ever. I love the intimacy of it, as well as the laidback atmosphere. Facing serious restrictions, they’ve found a way to make it fun. 🎥

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    The nominees for the 2021 Oscars have been announced, thus starting my anticipation for one of my favorite events of the year. I haven’t seen all of the nominees yet, but it looks like a good assortment of films, as well as a growing and welcome amount of non-white talent. 🎥

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    Here’s hoping for another Roger Deakins win at the Oscars later this evening. Admittedly, I haven’t seen all the other cinematography nominations, but come on. 1917 was a gorgeous technical marvel. 🎥🍿