# The 2016 Road to the Oscars thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 1, 2016, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-road-to-the-oscars-thread/773560 "2016-12-01T21:49:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![tenacious\_j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/439d5e/32.png) [@tenacious\_j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tenacious_j)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-road-to-the-oscars-thread/773560/41 "2017-01-25T04:14:36Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > [Moderating] > Merged threads > > [Not moderating] > Huh, Hidden Figures was released in 2016? I thought it wasn’t due up until next year. It was released in a very limited (24) number of screens on Christmas, and went wide in January. I was disappointed because I had looked forward to seeing this or La La Land as our Christmas Eve afternoon movie, and neither was here yet. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-road-to-the-oscars-thread/773560/42 "2017-01-25T09:23:20Z")
I can’t beat Equipoise, of course, but I’ve seen all the films nominated for all categories (other than the nominees for the best foreign language film, the best documentary feature, and the three shorts categories) except for the following films: _Lion_ _Hacksaw Ridge_ _Captain Fantastic_ _Florence Foster Jenkins_ _Nocturnal Animals_ _Moana_ _My Life as a Zucchini_ _The Red Turtle_ _Passengers_ _Allied_ _Suicide Squad_ _Star Trek Beyond_ _Trolls_ _Jim: The James Foley Story_ _13 Hours_ _Deepwater Horizon_ _Sully_ _The Jungle Book_ _A Man Called Ove_ I will see all the shorts at a local theater that plays them all together for a couple of weeks. I will try to see many of the movies that I missed before the Oscars, including those in the best foreign language and best documentary feature categories. Do I agree with the nominations that the Academy made? Of course not. Every year I disagree with every list of the best films for that year, including lists of the top box office films or the lists of every film critic or of every movie-going friend. So what? The appreciation of any art form (books, paintings, music, etc.) is ultimately about individual taste. It sort of agrees among different people and different groups but sort of doesn’t. If everyone’s taste was the same, it wouldn’t be art, it would be some kind of science. If everyone’s tastes were completely different with nothing but random agreement between them, it wouldn’t be art either but just arbitrary psychological reaction of people to every stimulus. I want to learn new things, and the way to do that is to listen to other people’s choices in things like what movies they like. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-road-to-the-oscars-thread/773560/43 "2017-01-25T13:48:47Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > So you’re saying that they Academy shouldn’t be choosing the movies they think are the best of the year? They should pick a bad movie because it’s unexpected? > > There’s no perfect way to choose nominees for _any_ award (something I learned years ago in one of the Nebula Award brouhahas). But if the goal is to pick the best, why shouldn’t people pick what they think is the best. > > Or would a nomination for _Zoolander 2_ make things more interesting? I mean, Cumberbatch as the sexless “him” (or whatever it was called) WAS a pretty good performance… On a serious note, yes, I understand that there is no perfect way for picking the nominees for any award. And, no, I’m not expecting them to pick something just because it’s there. But it still doesn’t change the fact that the movies are all boring nominees. > [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](#): > > So you’ve seen all the nominated films, right? I mean if you’re able to make such a statement I have to assume that you’ve seen every single film. > Right? > > IMO, they’re FAR from boring. > _Manchester by the Sea_ is a gut wrenching drama with excellent performances > _Arrival_ a intelligent science fiction film > _Hell or High Water_ a sharp crime/action film > _Hidden Figures_ an enjoyable historical film, behind the scenes of the early days of the space program > _La La Land_ a colorful song and dance film > _Fences_ as powerful as it was on stage, it is on the big screen > and those are just the ones I’ve seen so far. > Boring? > Far from it. > > And as for the telecast ratings… Unless you or anyone here has financial risks tied in with the telecast, who really cares about the ratings? I sure don’t. Two things here: 1. I never said the movies themselves were boring, I said the fact that they were nominated is boring. 2 (and more to my point). It’s not really the movies themselves that annoys me, it’s the genres and how they’re put together. Every year the winners fall into 3 categories: Black movie (historic or not), movie based on a real person, movie about hollywood/movies. They’re all dramas, and they’re all gut-wrenching sad stories. Are they well acted/directed/written and the like? Absolutely. But that doesn’t change the fact that they’re all the same movie. It doesn’t happen like this every single year (last year had The Martian for example), but I don’t think it would hurt for the academy to look beyond these same kinds of movies for well-made cinemas more than just once every 5 years. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-road-to-the-oscars-thread/773560/44 "2017-01-25T14:02:31Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > It doesn’t happen like this every single year (last year had The Martian for example), but I don’t think it would hurt for the academy to look beyond these same kinds of movies for well-made cinemas more than just once every 5 years. But there aren’t any other kinds of movies. Hollywood today produces only five kinds of films (and before you say that movies are also made outside of Hollywood - you’re right, but the Oscars are a company town gig): 1. Big-budget potential blockbusters. 2. Dumb comedies. 3. Cartoons. 4. Audacious indie flicks. 5. Oscar hopefuls. There are no more mid-budget films or romantic comedies made any more.[Nobody makes them anymore](http://flavorwire.com/492985/how-the-death-of-mid-budget-cinema-left-a-generation-of-iconic-filmmakers-mia). Any Oscar contenders have to come from those five groups, and unless there are a some exemplars from Group 1 or 4 - and there weren’t this year - all of the contenders will come from Group 5. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-road-to-the-oscars-thread/773560/45 "2017-01-25T14:56:19Z")
> [@GovernmentMan](#): > > You really thought Moana and Zootopia were better than Kubo and The Two Strings? This is the only category in which I consistently see most or all of the films and yes, I’d pick _Zootopia_ (or _Zootropolis_ as it was called here) over _Kubo_ easily. The animation in _Kubo_ was certainly more artful and interesting than anything else but, honestly, it was a pretty dull film and the big emotional moments fell flat. _Zootopia_ not only developed a rich, complex world but managed to weave some decent social commentary and an engaging plot (and a lot of comedy) into it. I mean, if we’re going purely by unique animation style then _The Book of Life_ should have been a shoo-in as well. Didn’t happen. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-road-to-the-oscars-thread/773560/46 "2017-01-25T17:29:04Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > But there aren’t any other kinds of movies. > > Hollywood today produces only five kinds of films (and before you say that movies are also made outside of Hollywood - you’re right, but the Oscars are a company town gig): > > 1. Big-budget potential blockbusters. > > 2. Dumb comedies. > > 3. Cartoons. > > 4. Audacious indie flicks. > > 5. Oscar hopefuls. > > There are no more mid-budget films or romantic comedies made any more.[Nobody makes them anymore](http://flavorwire.com/492985/how-the-death-of-mid-budget-cinema-left-a-generation-of-iconic-filmmakers-mia). Any Oscar contenders have to come from those five groups, and unless there are a some exemplars from Group 1 or 4 - and there weren’t this year - all of the contenders will come from Group 5. All of this is a great point and 100% true. Just unfortunate from my standing. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-road-to-the-oscars-thread/773560/47 "2017-01-25T19:17:32Z")
Here’s how I would rank the Picture nominees _Moonlight Manchester by the Sea Hidden Figures Hell or High Water Arrival Fences Hacksaw Ridge Lion La La Land_ These are the titles nominated in any of the fiction narrative categories that I haven’t seen (\*indicates they haven’t been released in my market yet): _Deepwater Horizon_ (Sound Editing, Visual Effects) _Florence Foster Jenkins_ (Actress, Costumes) _Jim: The James Foley Story_ (Song) _My Life as a Zucchini_ (Animated Feature)\* _Passengers_ (Production Design, Score) _The Red Turtle_ (Animated Feature)\* _The Salesman_ (Foreign Language)\* _13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi_ (Sound Mixing) _Toni Erdmann_ (Foreign Language)\* ---
**Author:** ![GovernmentMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e9c0ed/32.png) [@GovernmentMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GovernmentMan)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-road-to-the-oscars-thread/773560/48 "2017-01-25T20:38:30Z")
> [@MovieMogul](#): > > Here’s how I would rank the Picture nominees > > _Moonlight > Manchester by the Sea > Hidden Figures > Hell or High Water > Arrival > Fences > Hacksaw Ridge > Lion > La La Land_ > > These are the titles nominated in any of the fiction narrative categories that I haven’t seen (\*indicates they haven’t been released in my market yet): Reverse order? La La Land is the best movie there, maybe Manchester by the Sea. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-road-to-the-oscars-thread/773560/49 "2017-01-25T21:57:19Z")
> [@GovernmentMan](#): > > Reverse order? La La Land is the best movie there, maybe Manchester by the Sea. LLL is definitely at the bottom, as [elaborated on in another thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=19905334&postcount=38). YMOV. ---
**Author:** ![Paxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/50afbb/32.png) [@Paxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paxx)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-road-to-the-oscars-thread/773560/50 "2017-01-26T12:09:15Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > There are no more mid-budget films or romantic comedies made any more. Well, if by “no more” you mean “not many” and by “any more” you mean “rarely”, then you’re right. Isn’t _La La Land_ “mid-budget”? And maybe _Deadpool_. (They even make fun of the low budget within the movie itself.) As for romantic comedies, 2016 had _Bridget Jones Baby_, _Café Society_, _My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2_, and _How to be Single_. Anyway, here’s an interesting article: [The quiet return of the mid-budget movie](http://www.denofgeek.com/uk/movies/mid-budget-movies/45644/the-quiet-return-of-the-mid-budget-movie): > [@](#): > > It’s become an invariably accepted fact, then, that movie studios have edged away from what traditionally were the mid-budget productions, those $40-50m-ish films that used to sit on the divide between smaller films with more creative control, and bigger ventures that come saddled with the need to appeal to the broadest possible audience. > … > However, while nobody has been looking, it seems that mid-budget movies have quietly come back into fashion. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-road-to-the-oscars-thread/773560/51 "2017-01-26T14:13:52Z")
> [@MovieMogul](#): > > LLL is definitely at the bottom, as [elaborated on in another thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=19905334&postcount=38). YMOV. I’m not sure I would agree it’s the worst movie, or one of the worst movies, of the year, but I have to agree with this; > [@](#): > > …the simple truth is that while they’re usually terrific actors, neither Emma Stone nor Ryan Gosling can sing or dance. In the heyday of movie musicals - well, movie musicals have had a couple of different heydays, really - the people who sang and danced in them were song and dance experts. Fred Astaire was a DANCER, and could sing, too. Debbie Reynolds, Gene Kelly, Julie Andrews, Danny Kaye, these were folks who were trained dancers and singers. Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone are talented, skilled actors for sure, but neither would make the cut on a competitive reality singing show. The spectacle of watching already famous actors try to do a musical is, well, interesting; I liked “Moulin Rouge!” but you could tell Nicole Kidman and Ewan MacGregor were at their absolute best they could be and were still the worst singers on screen. I’m not exactly sure _why_ “La La Land” had to star Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, except for name recognition. The movie would, beyond any doubt or question, have been a better film if they’d put out a casting call for two people who were actually highly skilled song-and-dance professionals. (I am aware, incidentally, that Gosling has a little rock band. I assure you there’s a good reason they’ve had no Billboard Top 40 hits.) ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-road-to-the-oscars-thread/773560/52 "2017-01-26T14:24:53Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I’m not sure I would agree it’s the worst movie, or one of the worst movies, of the year, but I have to agree with this; > In the heyday of movie musicals - well, movie musicals have had a couple of different heydays, really - the people who sang and danced in them were song and dance experts. Fred Astaire was a DANCER, and could sing, too. **Debbie Reynolds** , Gene Kelly, Julie Andrews, Danny Kaye, these were folks who were trained dancers and singers. Not disputing your overall point, but you picked a bad example. As was mentioned in her obituary, Debbie Reynolds couldn’t dance a lick when she showed up on the set of Singing in the Rain. She just rehearsed the hell out of her big number (“Good Morning”) until she got it. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-road-to-the-oscars-thread/773560/53 "2017-01-26T14:55:56Z")
Honest to God, I assumed she knew how to dance going in. How about that? ---
**Author:** ![Paxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/50afbb/32.png) [@Paxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paxx)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-road-to-the-oscars-thread/773560/54 "2017-01-26T15:15:46Z")
FWIW, Emma Stone was on Broadway as Sally Bowles in Cabaret: [http://www.playbill.com/person/emma-stone-vault-0000125413](http://www.playbill.com/person/emma-stone-vault-0000125413) ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-road-to-the-oscars-thread/773560/55 "2017-01-26T16:27:38Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Honest to God, I assumed she knew how to dance going in. How about that? You might want to brace yourself - I’ve also got some bad news about turkeys and their capability for flight. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-road-to-the-oscars-thread/773560/56 "2017-01-26T16:28:44Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Honest to God, I assumed she knew how to dance going in. How about that? Ignorance fought! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2017, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-road-to-the-oscars-thread/773560/57 "2017-01-30T18:18:21Z")
Well, the SAG awards were last night, and the winners were: Denzel Washington Emma Stone Mahershala Ali Viola Davis And for best ensemble, the cast from **Hidden Figures**. It should be noted that Denzel had never won a SAG before (despite owning 2 Oscars) so they may have thought he was overdue. Certainly, it’s an excellent performance on its merits, but that factoid may have helped to blunt the strong momentum Casey Affleck had built up (though the resurfacing of allegations against Affleck’s sexual harassment behavior may have also made an impression on some). _La La Land_ was not up for the SAG ensemble, though four of its Best Picture competition were. The last film to win Oscar’s Best Picture without having a SAG nod was _Braveheart_ (which was also the last time Mel Gibson was Oscar-nominated until this year). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-road-to-the-oscars-thread/773560.md?page=2)