# 2013 Oscars - the nominees are... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 16, 2014, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2013-oscars-the-nominees-are/678965 "2014-01-16T14:56:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2013-oscars-the-nominees-are/678965/41 "2014-01-22T08:01:48Z")
Oh, and much as I loved _Before Midnight_ I hate that they allow a film to be submitted for the Adapted Screenplay category simply because it is a sequel. _Before Midnight_ was not an adapted screenplay, it was an original screenplay. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2013-oscars-the-nominees-are/678965/42 "2014-01-22T21:34:52Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > _Nebraska_ pretty much had two male leads: Bruce Dern and Will Forte. Their roles were weighted pretty evenly. So, they just as legitimately could have submitted Bruce Dern in the Supporting Actor category- and I think they were fools not to do so. I absolutely disagree. He’s clearly the lead. Demoting him to “supporting” would be nothing but a transparent effort at improving his Oscar chances. It’s bullshit, and I give a lot of credit to Dern who clearly stuck to his guns on the matter (since there was early buzz questioning which direction the campaign would go, and the safe money would’ve been to take the route you suggest). Julia Roberts is a co-lead in _August: Osage County_, which makes her nomination absurd. When the Tony’s had their nominations, both the Streep and Roberts characters were recognized as leads, and the Margo Martindale character was up for supporting (and won). Run time shouldn’t always be a deciding factor; the weight of the narrative should play some part of it. But the studios are paralyzed by the thought of having co-leads, out of concern of vote-splitting, despite the fact that statistically, your chances aren’t any worse (ask Timothy Hutton, F. Murray Abraham, Shirley MacLaine, Jack Nicholson, and Jessica Lange, all “vote-split” winners from the 80s) ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2013-oscars-the-nominees-are/678965/43 "2014-01-22T21:38:38Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > Oh, and much as I loved _Before Midnight_ I hate that they allow a film to be submitted for the Adapted Screenplay category simply because it is a sequel. _Before Midnight_ was not an adapted screenplay, it was an original screenplay. It has nothing to do with “allow”–the writer’s branch specifically stipulates that works using characters from previously published material are automatically considered adaptations. Now, I’m not going to argue that the Academy is exactly consistent on the matter (the screenplay for _The Barbarian Invasions_ was nominated as Original), but it’s not really the filmmakers’ call. It’s the Academy’s. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2013-oscars-the-nominees-are/678965/44 "2014-01-22T21:40:26Z")
Oh, and they announced the nominees for Best Picture for _The Wolf of Wall Street_ (they were TBD at the original announcement), and it includes both Marty & Leo, so the latter is up for another Oscar this year besides acting. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2013-oscars-the-nominees-are/678965/45 "2014-01-22T23:32:30Z")
> [@MovieMogul](#): > > Oh, and they announced the nominees for Best Picture for _The Wolf of Wall Street_ (they were TBD at the original announcement), and it includes both Marty & Leo, so the latter is up for another Oscar this year besides acting. I found that whole thing very confusing, specifically that they split away from the Peoducers’ Guild and dropped the other guy, Aziz. It smells like politics but I really don’t know anything about it. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2014, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2013-oscars-the-nominees-are/678965/46 "2014-01-23T01:59:45Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > I found that whole thing very confusing, specifically that they split away from the Peoducers’ Guild and dropped the other guy, Aziz. It smells like politics but I really don’t know anything about it. After the everyone-and-the-kitchen-sink collection of producers on stage for _Shakespeare in Love_, the Academy has been much more stringent about arbitrating who was performing in an actual producing capacity vs. someone who is getting honorary credit (perhaps because they first bought the property or got the ball rolling in its infancy). Internally, I’m sure it can get quite ugly with so much on the line, but each film is different. Note that Brad Pitt didn’t get cited for _Slave_, but he’s been getting plenty of awards speech shout outs because of how instrumental he was in making the film a reality. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2014, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2013-oscars-the-nominees-are/678965/47 "2014-01-23T02:10:39Z")
> [@MovieMogul](#): > > After the everyone-and-the-kitchen-sink collection of producers on stage for _Shakespeare in Love_, the Academy has been much more stringent about arbitrating who was performing in an actual producing capacity vs. someone who is getting honorary credit (perhaps because they first bought the property or got the ball rolling in its infancy). Internally, I’m sure it can get quite ugly with so much on the line, but each film is different. Note that Brad Pitt didn’t get cited for _Slave_, but he’s been getting plenty of awards speech shout outs because of how instrumental he was in making the film a reality. I didn’t realize the Academy hadn’t listed him; there’s another where the PGA did. ---
**Author:** ![Rollo\_Tomasi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/58956e/32.png) [@Rollo\_Tomasi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rollo_Tomasi)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2014, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2013-oscars-the-nominees-are/678965/48 "2014-01-23T02:36:51Z")
> [@MovieMogul](#): > > Note that Brad Pitt didn’t get cited for _Slave_ Yes he did, along with Steve McQueen and three other producers. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2014, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2013-oscars-the-nominees-are/678965/49 "2014-01-23T08:30:12Z")
> [@MovieMogul](#): > > I absolutely disagree. He’s clearly the lead. Demoting him to “supporting” would be nothing but a transparent effort at improving his Oscar chances. It’s bullshit, and I give a lot of credit to Dern who clearly stuck to his guns on the matter (since there was early buzz questioning which direction the campaign would go, and the safe money would’ve been to take the route you suggest). I hadn’t heard about Dern specifically wanting the lead nomination instead of the supporting nomination, so I can get behind that. If he so adamantly wants to go for a win in the lead category then I say he has more than earned that prerogative given his distinguished career. I disagree that he was clearly the lead. I definitely see it as a co-leads kind of a story with a slight leaning towards the son. The son has the real dramatic arc. His “stuck in a rut” life is disrupted by his father’s obsession. For him it’s a journey of self discovery and a re-evaluation of what’s truly important in life. He’s the one who most significantly grows as a character by the end of the story. His character is the reason there _is_ a story- the father was in no position to advance his own adventure. But I only _slightly_ tilt it in the son’s favor as the lead character. Really I see it as co-leads. So, I’m fine with Bruce Dern being nominated in the Lead Actor category- especially hearing that that is what he wanted. Still, it would have been perfectly legitimate to submit him for the Supporting Actor category- improving his chances would just have been a benefit. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2014, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2013-oscars-the-nominees-are/678965/50 "2014-01-23T15:33:45Z")
Now that it’s available on video, I saw _Captain Phillips_ last night. I thought it was excellent and I completely buy Barkhad Abdi’s nomination. I was surprised to see Catherine Keener in such a small role; really just a cameo appearance. _Phillips_ wouldn’t be my top movie for the year, but I liked it as well as _Slave_ or _Gravity_. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2014, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2013-oscars-the-nominees-are/678965/51 "2014-01-23T19:05:28Z")
> [@Rollo\_Tomasi](#): > > Yes he did, along with Steve McQueen and three other producers. You’re right, which means that the nominee list may have been revised, because I didn’t remember hearing his name when they did the original announcement last week. 5 names is a sketchy amount for AMPAS (they usually go for 3 max), so any additional ones usually involves some type of request for review or appeal by the film itself. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2013-oscars-the-nominees-are/678965/52 "2014-01-30T18:17:20Z")
[One of the song nominees was removed from the ballot](http://grantland.com/hollywood-prospectus/why-the-academy-took-back-the-nomination-for-that-best-song-nominee-no-one-had-heard-of/), with no replacement. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2013-oscars-the-nominees-are/678965/53 "2014-01-30T20:02:38Z")
I heard about that this morning. Very interesting. I think there was even a short sidebar in EW magazine last week about what a surprise that nomination was, and chalked it up to the fact that the creator was an industry big-wig who sent our personal recommendations of it. Obviously the details didn’t stick in my memory. Kind of sucks for whoever’s song got the sixth-most votes for nomination. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2013-oscars-the-nominees-are/678965/54 "2014-01-30T20:21:31Z")
Bizarre how you can lose a nomination for sending some emails, but not for essentially bribing the voters with gifts (right, Harvey Weinstein?) ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2013-oscars-the-nominees-are/678965/55 "2014-01-30T22:34:33Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > _Nebraska_ pretty much had two male leads: Bruce Dern and Will Forte. Their roles were weighted pretty evenly. So, they just as legitimately could have submitted Bruce Dern in the Supporting Actor category- and I think they were fools not to do so. > > If Bruce Dern had been submitted in the Supporting Actor category it would have been an almost guaranteed win. Jared Leto would have been his only real competition. And if you look at the winners in the SUpporting Actor category (James Coburn, Alan Arkin, Don Ameche, Morgan Freeman, Sean Connery, Jack Palance, George Burns, Christopher Plummer, Martin Landau…) you see that it’s an Oscar Hollywood LOVES to give to older, veteran actors as a kind of lifetime achievement award. I think Dern was the star of the movie, and was RIGHT to demand a nomination in that categopry. But he was almost a lock to win as SUpporting Actor. As Best ACtor, he definitely has a chance, but he’s no sure thing. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2013-oscars-the-nominees-are/678965/56 "2014-01-31T00:26:22Z")
Even aside from that, I’d consider Best Supporting to be more prestigious, anyway. It’s a lot easier to shine when the spotlight is on you-- Doing a good job when you’re not the star, though, is harder, and thus more worthy of note when you do it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2013-oscars-the-nominees-are/678965.md?page=2)