It's that time of year again when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (aka AMPAS aka The Oscars) invites more Hollywood peeps to join them. In Contention shares the list and rather than repeat the whole thing for you or reiterate last year's first time nominees who are mostly invited (you remember them), I'd just like to pinpoint a few random names I'm especially happy / surprised to see so recognized. They are...- Emily Blunt who should've been nominated for The Devil Wears Prada.
- James Franco ... was it the Milk snub?
- Hugh Jackman did such a fine job as host. Now that he's a member so there's one more vote for the next time Nicole Kidman gives a brilliant performance. Woot!
- Jane Lynch is always a comic highlight. Her inclusion delights me
- Jeffrey Wright still needs a movie role as good as his part in Angels in America
- Howard A Rodman the screenwriter of Savage Grace. I liked that movie a lot but invitations such as this always remind me that one can't truly know the inner workings of the Academy unless you're working its inners. Who knew that anyone in Hollywood would watch that movie? Ah, he's currently a nominee for the WGA's Board of Directors.
- Mandy Walker who lensed Australia and got the snub
- Brendan Gleeson who is always solid. Go In Bruges
- Clint Mansell is one of the best composers working with two classic film scores already under his belt and his latest Moon currently in theaters (review). But they'll have to invite a lot more composers like him to get the music branch to open up their minds a bit. They're so averse to new composers, so strange in their rulings, and so "default nominee" oriented.
Clint Mansell makes beautiful music*
Posts
37 comments:
In the span of a week, the Academy has stupidly done away with the honorary Oscar presentation, inflated the best picture list to ten and invited Tyler Perry to join their ranks. How long until they announce that the Lady Gaga and Megan Fox will be hosting the telecast?
well... in their defense Tyler Perry is a smarter invitation than many they've made. I mean, at least he makes movies and is allowed to see R rated films.
I hate when they invite child stars (which they do) because HELLO... how can they judge movies for adults (the primary focus of the Oscars) when they're not allowed to even see them without parental supervision?
They invite Michael "plays George-Michael Bluth in everything" Cera and not Ellen Page? No Sally Hawkins? No Richard Jenkins? No Mickey Rourke? But Seth Rogen? Paul Rudd? This is the cap to a brilliant month for yourselves, AMPAS.
I do like that Paul Rudd and Thomas McCarthy can also call themselves Academy members now as well. I can't help but wonder if all this new blood is whats decreasing the Academy's overall confidence.
Wow Nathaniel, you so spoke from my heart what you said about Hugh Jackman (especially the Nicole part lol).
Delighted for Rudd, Jackman, and Lynch. And second your thoughts about a vote for Kidman!
I'm particularly happy with the Jeffrey Wright invite. And check out, if you haven't, BOYCOTT, in which he plays Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during the Montgomery bus boycott. And plays him better than anyone will ever play him.
EA...there's always a chance that Rourke and Jenkins are already members.
And look, they finally righted their Michelle Williams slight!
Jane Lynch steals every scene she's in. Congratulations to her!
Perry's invite doesn't bother me. A nomination for Michael "I hate good cinema" Bay's Transformers would.
O/T but any chance you'll review or at least comment on the re-release of Hal Ashby's "Lookin' To Get Out"? This is a request from an Ashby fan, not a Jolie fan BTW.
The ones I'm most happy about probably are James McAvoy (!), Eddie Marsan, Michelle Williams and Dustin Lance Black.
Is it just me though or does it seem like there are fewer non-native English speakers than in the last couple of years or so?
Come on Oscars, you invite Eddie Marsan as a "we are sorry we didn't nominate you for Happy-Go-Lucky" thing and don't do the same for Sally Hawkins??? Shame on you AMPAS!!
They should have invited Sally Hawkins. You know, to ever so slightly compensate for snubbing the most brilliant, critically-acclaimed performance of the year.
Yeah, I'm still bitter over that...
Nathaniel,
My favorite movie when I was 9 was Reform School Girls ( It was my Dad's movie). I loved that movie so much I knew every line. So, I was allowed to watch R rated movies at a young age (along with just about everyone else I knew). Now, of course I think it's a pretty cheesy movie. So I don't really have any problems with young actors being invited to the Academy.
i'm happy for Clint Mansell! i have all his score even Doom!
I am so pissed off! (capital exclamation mark) how could they invite michael cera, Seth rogan, Paul rudd(they have never been nominated or anything), emily blunt, James Franco(I like them but.....), hugh jackman(ever nominated?), and jane lynch but ellen page isn't. She was even nominated for gods sake. For what reason would they avoid putting her on the list. Michael cera? Is that even true. What does it take to be invited? Obviously being nominated for an oscar isn't enough. Sally Hawkins not being nominated even after being invited to the oscar roundtable was an insult and a travesty. Eddie marsen is on the list yet not her, after being in the same movie and her getting more praise.he deserves it but so does she. I think I hate the oscars, Yet I still have hope in it. I'm ready to go to shutter island.
like others, my first thought when I saw Michael Cera and Seth Rogan was "they are going to let them in and NOT Ellen Page?!"
I had to double check to make sure I hadn't just imagined the fact she was shut out last time around...sadly I wasn't just imagining things.
oh, and to the poster above...I'm 99% sure Michael Bay is actually a member already.
Jeffrey Wright in Angels in America is one of the reasons I wish some television shows/movies could be included. Some shows deserve something more prestigious than an Emmy (ew).
Emily Blunt and Jane Lynch! Woot!
Michael bay a member? In the academy? Now I know why people make hit lists. There's no justice in the world.
They invite Michael "plays George-Michael Bluth in everything" Cera and not Ellen Page?
Thanks EA for having the same thought as me. I know it's not necessarily about quality with some of the people that they've invited over the years just as long as a person knows the right person or persons, but Cera just annoys me after not joining the rest of the cast right away in doing the AD movie. I was like, "you only know how to play George-Michael, and just because you're a hot commodity now, don't try to play it off like you're suddenly too good to do an Arrested Development movie. It filled my heart with such great schadenfreude when Year One did so poorly. They better not invite Jonah Hill though next year because he's an even more one note actor than Cera.
Other than that, I think it's a pretty good list. It's missing some people that have already been mentioned like Sally Hawkins for one, but I'm sure she'll get in soon as long as she continues to do film work just like Michelle Williams finally got in now.
EA...there's always a chance that Rourke and Jenkins are already members.
I wouldn't be surprised. Jenkins because he's been around so long, and Rourke because he was so hot back in the 80's that I'm sure he was invited back then.
I'm also pretty sure that Mike is correct, and Michael Bay is already a member.
Yes, Michael Bay is an Academy Member, from the Director's Branch.
Can you imagine his ballot for Best Picture?
Just becuase you make bad movies doesn't mean you will vote for them...
And I'm surprised to see Eddie Marsan in the mix...But NO Sally Hawkins?
Yeah for Hathaway as well but a big nay for Cera.
I'm so happy hear about Jane Lynch. She makes me laugh 'til i pee my pants.
Hooray for Paul Rudd! He's been plugging away for so long it must be really gratifying to now be invited onto the A-List. And I re-watched Clueless the other day. Still so good.
I bow to no one in my love and admiration for Sally Hawkins, but Eddie Marsan deserves this invitation in his own right -- he's one of the hardest-working character actors out there, and works on both sides of the Atlantic.
Obviously, the acclaim for "Happy-Go-Lucky" raised his visibility and prompted this move, but I'm pretty sure it's the fact that he balances work like that with huge Hollywood projects like "Hancock" that got him the invitation.
And I don't understand why people are so indignant about the inclusion of Tyler Perry or Seth Rogen -- I don't like Rogen much either, and I confess I've never seen a Perry film, but the level of influence they wield in the industry is undeniable. Fair play.
EA, Richard Jenkins and Mickey Rourke are already members of the academy.
IT's also worth mentioning that if you don't get nominated, you yourself have to apply for membership and have two AMPAS people (don't know who) have to vouch for you. Sally Hawkins didn't get nominated so it's likely she just didn't bother. Some people just wait until they're nominated (George Clooney is an example). So if Ellen Page didn't apply, then by their own rules, they couldn't invite her.
anna, you're correct in your assumptions (fewer foreign filmmakers/directors). Blame that on their lack of nominations in 08.
You might complain about Cera playing the same note over and over again, but it's worth mentioning he's had far more success on the big screen than Page, outside the oscar nomination (and yes, I realize, that's a big caveat). Nick and Norah's, Juno, Superbad, and of course - Arrested Development - all have their fans. If it were say Dev Patel getting an invite, I'd understand the ire.
It seemed like so many people were worked up over the 10 best picture nominees thing and how the win would be diluted now, but for me, they could have expanded it to 20 for all I care. Your award is only as good as the people giving it. That's what makes your award not be prestigious -- picking just anyone to decide who's the best of a given year when they've done nothing remotely Oscar-worthy in their careers to date (or banking that "the one" is coming right around the corner). Michael Cera? Paul Rudd? Seth Rogen? Will Ferrell? Is this an attempt on the Academy's part to be "hip" and "with it"? Dakota Fanning's been a member for how many years now, and they're just getting around to Michelle Williams? Sally Hawkins delivered the best performance of the year last year male or female, and she's nowhere to be found? Yeah, I'm done tripping over this mess.
And you know that Mickey Rourke and Richard Jenkins are members how exactly arkaan? Have they stated such, b/c I could easily see Rourke not being a member (being underappreciated in the eighties, falling off the map in his fall from grace, and not getting invited now until he proves that "The Wrestler" wasn't a fluke). I'd give you Jenkins maybe just for being such a long-standing character actor.
Also, I'd take Dev Patel over Michael Cera as a member choice any day of the week. I've seen more range and future potential with Patel in "Slumdog Millionaire" and "Skins" than anything I've seen Cera in in all of his blockbusters and variations of playing one charater.
Richard Jenkins stated he was on David Letterman. I'll try and find where I read that Rourke was invited.
I haven't seen SKINS, so that Patel comment might have been shortsighted. I really like him, though.
EA,
I agree with you 1000%!!! How could the academy let Michael Cera in but not Ellen Page??? This is awful. I'm losing a lot of faith in the academy after all of their scatterbrain moves they've been making lately. I bet next year Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart will be in,ugh :(
It's about darn time to welcome Michelle Williams. What was the delay about?
James McAvoy...sigh...
I can't even begin to tell you how much I love Jane Lynch.
@Arkaan: "IT's also worth mentioning that if you don't get nominated, you yourself have to apply for membership... So if Ellen Page didn't apply, then by their own rules, they couldn't invite her."
But hasn't Ellen Page been nominated before?
she has been nominated.
i've never understood the Academy standards here. Sometimes the person is invited the year they're nominated even if they have no history whatsoever in film (Jennifer Hudson) and sometimes they are a working actor with several features and some awards behind them and they aren't (Ellen Page)
it make no sense
Winning trumps everything else though. They would have had serious egg on their face if they didn't invite Jennifer Hudson after she won. They basically extend the invite to all of the acting winners. The only really stingy branch is the music one. Winning doesn't matter to them unless you're established. They just got around to inviting Peter Gabriel, and Dolly Parton was just in a few years ago. I don't think that they invited Gustavo Santaolalla until after he won for "Babel." It took two freakin' Oscars for them to notice him properly. I don't get why they didn't invite Ellen Page after "Juno." She carried a best picture nominee on her shoulders quite well (which is more than most do), and she had "Hard Candy" under her belt too. She should have been invited then. I think that they held her age and being in a comedy against her.
Yeah, but they didn't invite in in 07/08. So if she didn't apply this year, they couldn't invite her. Michael Cera probably did apply, and it made sense to have him. One-note he may be, but there's no denying the kid's done well for himself.
I don't know why it's either/or, though. Both should be members.
Post a Comment