It was the only time a film from the silent era won best picture, with the award going to World War I romance “Wings”.
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Just as with the Golden Globes and Bafta’s, the #MeToo movement will dominate the biggest film awards show of the year because nestled among the usual luxury items given away to Oscar nominees in goodie bags, will be a canister of pepper spray and other personal safety products. All of them were at least good enough to sway Oscar voters at the time. The Chilean film “A Fantastic Woman”, is on the Oscar ballot for Best Foreign Language Film and star Daniela Vega will be onstage as a presenter.
Despite being the most glamorous night of the year, the Oscars can often feel predictable. The entire thing takes place in a tent.
On comedians speaking out: “A lot of people are going with this line of reasoning where they say, people in show business shouldn’t speak out about politics”.
And, unlike the lowest-common-denominator humor of the Academy Awards, the Spirit Awards can often be amusing.
The mood of the show is only part of the equation: there’s also the Spirit Awards’ unique qualifying process.
ABC, which airs Sunday’s ceremony, sold out of commercial time during the telecast by February 15, the fastest take-up in recent history, putting it way ahead of last year’s schedule and chalking up record ad revenue. Looking back on the past year of film, there’s quite a lineup of nominees who don’t fit within the Academy’s typical white, hetero-normative male focus: Get Out, Lady Bird, Call Me By Your Name, The Shape of Water, et al.
The historical drama based on “Schindler’s Ark” by author Thomas Keneally, won seven out of twelve nominations including best picture, best director, best adapted screenplay, and best art direction. You see, actors comprise the Academy’s largest branch, and they vote for films that showcase actors in both performances and the director’s chair (Warren Beatty, Kevin Costner, Woody Allen, Robert Redford). This process repeats until one film gains a clear majority. This blend of theatrical and festival eligibility may offer a cure to the end-of-year push for Oscar eligibility that drives so many lackluster distribution strategies.
‘It’s a phenomenal achievement for the leaders of the Academy, not only because the brand has been highly discredited and distrusted over the past few years but also because of the politically charged environment in Hollywood, ‘ he said.
If you didn’t watch previous year, let us catch you up on “envelopegate”. At age 82, he was nominated (and won) for the movie Beginners.
And this is where the award show shines. It is the third film ever to win 11 awards, tying with Titanic in 1997 and Ben-Hur in 1959. To put it more accurately, he shot that concern out of the sky.
The biggest night in film is right around the corner. If I see that, I’ll know I’ve failed. Ivory, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter and co-producer of the bittersweet love story Call Me by Your Name, would become the oldest victor if he wins and Varda does not. Some critics, however, argue having more nominees simply makes the category more “bloated” and less significant.
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Ford, whose Strong Island has been nominated in the Best Documentary category, could become the first trans director to win an Oscar. In a groundbreaking move, a mainstream movie that actually stars a transgender woman playing a transgender woman is nominated for an Oscar.
