Oscars Keeps Scewing Up Best Supporting Actor

[Udaman]

So frustrating. In some years the best person isn't even nominated (Val Kilmer and Albert Brooks). But often the voters just swing and miss. No Samuel L Jackson for Pulp Fiction. No Tom Beringer for Platoon. No Ralph Fiennes for Schindlers List. No Burt Reynolds for Boogie Nights. No Haley Joel Osment for The Sixth Sense. No Alec Baldwin for The Cooler. No Jake Gyllenhaal for Brokeback Mountain. No Eddie Murphy for Dreamgirls. And now no Sylvester Stallone for Creed. Damn. I pick on the Golden Globes but they are voters who can be influenced. The Oscars is usually pretty accurate but boy do they tend to mess up this category.

[SoCalDukeFan]

I saw Creed a while ago and thought Stallone was excellent and when he was nominated then I thought he would win. Saw Bridge of Spies on PPV recently. I think the Academy got it right. Rylance did a great job.

SoCal

[JasonEvans]

If you ask me, the real screw up this year was that Jacob Tremblay didn't win for what was the greatest acting performance ever by a child under 10... he didn't even get nominated.

But, I largely agree that among the nominees it was a shame that Sly couldn't take home a statue.

-Jason "after sweeping every single technical award, I was bummed that George Miller didn't get Best Director for Mad Max" Evans

[budwom]

I saw Creed a while ago and thought Stallone was excellent and when he was nominated then I thought he would win. Saw Bridge of Spies on PPV recently. I think the Academy got it right. Rylance did a great job.

SoCal

Absolutely. Rylance was terrific. He's terrific in everything he does...and he doesn't have to play the same part over and over again....

[SoCalDukeFan]

If you ask me, the real screw up this year was that Jacob Tremblay didn't win for what was the greatest acting performance ever by a child under 10... he didn't even get nominated.


I thought he was great.

SoCal

[CDu]

I saw Creed a while ago and thought Stallone was excellent and when he was nominated then I thought he would win. Saw Bridge of Spies on PPV recently. I think the Academy got it right. Rylance did a great job.

SoCal

Yeah, it's hard for me to get too worked up about Stallone not winning, since he's basically playing himself (again). It would have been a nice feel-good story, but I'm not sure how much acting was required. So I guess it depends on one's definition of what the award should be based.

I've not seen Revenant, but it seemed like from what I've heard that DiCaprio's win was legit. I've never bought into the argument that he deserved a win as a lifetime achievement award, as (not unlike Stallone) a lot of his characters end up playing like him. He definitely differed in What's Eating Gilbert Grape and The Departed, but roles in Basketball Diaries, Romeo and Juliet, Titanic, The Great Gatsby, Wolf of Wall Street all seem very much typecast for DiCaprio. So if nothing else, at least Revenant seems a departure from his normal performance.

[Olympic Fan]

So frustrating. In some years the best person isn't even nominated (Val Kilmer and Albert Brooks). But often the voters just swing and miss. No Samuel L Jackson for Pulp Fiction. No Tom Beringer for Platoon. No Ralph Fiennes for Schindlers List. No Burt Reynolds for Boogie Nights. No Haley Joel Osment for The Sixth Sense. No Alec Baldwin for The Cooler. No Jake Gyllenhaal for Brokeback Mountain. No Eddie Murphy for Dreamgirls. And now no Sylvester Stallone for Creed. Damn. I pick on the Golden Globes but they are voters who can be influenced. The Oscars is usually pretty accurate but boy do they tend to mess up this category.

I would argue that the worst Oscar picks over the years has been in the documentary category -- many of the best documentaries of the last 30 years were never even nominated.

Pretty good article about the issue:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/10-great-documentaries-that-werent-oscar-nominated-20140218

[Tom B.]

I would argue that the worst Oscar picks over the years has been in the documentary category -- many of the best documentaries of the last 30 years were never even nominated.

Hoop Dreams says hi.

Speaking of documentaries, I loved Louis CK's intro to his presentation of the Oscar for Best Documentary Short.

"This award is going home in a Honda Civic." (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uR8a7mYn2Ow)

[Mal]

Yeah, it's hard for me to get too worked up about Stallone not winning, since he's basically playing himself (again). It would have been a nice feel-good story, but I'm not sure how much acting was required. So I guess it depends on one's definition of what the award should be based.

I've not seen Revenant, but it seemed like from what I've heard that DiCaprio's win was legit. I've never bought into the argument that he deserved a win as a lifetime achievement award, as (not unlike Stallone) a lot of his characters end up playing like him. He definitely differed in What's Eating Gilbert Grape and The Departed, but roles in Basketball Diaries, Romeo and Juliet, Titanic, The Great Gatsby, Wolf of Wall Street all seem very much typecast for DiCaprio. So if nothing else, at least Revenant seems a departure from his normal performance.

Completely agree re: Stallone. Also agree on the general thought re: Leo - he's been up and down throughout his career for me, but I differ from your thoughts on Gatsby. On paper, yes, J. Gatsby is Leonardo DiCaprio, movie star. But I think he kept the movie afloat; you could see the pain in the character through his portrayal. He was much better than Redford in the role, for me. I hate Baz Luhrmann's output as a general rule, but that one was different.

[bedeviled]

Yeah, it's hard for me to get too worked up about Stallone not winning, since he's basically playing himself (again). It would have been a nice feel-good story, but I'm not sure how much acting was required. So I guess it depends on one's definition of what the award should be based

Stallone got the Golden Raspberry (Razzie) Redeemer Award this year. I think that's a fine and fitting accolade for this year's work.
I, too, didn't think he did much acting. Then again, I didn't think DiCaprio did much acting either. Haha, I honestly wasn't going to post any more DiCaprio attacks, but you apparently missed all my previous memos :D I'm totally on board with your overall characterization of his portfolio.
I don't count myself in favor of the "deserves to win based on body of work" argument. If I was, though, I would have given Best Actor to Sir Ian McKellen. He's never won an Oscar, but had a solid performance in Mr. Holmes this year that probably didn't get nominated because it was a concise flick that didn't have much draw/appeal. Incidentally, his costar was Laura Linney, who also has never won an Oscar despite some great work.
Bonus comment: Aside from Ian McKellen, my other Oscar nominations snub was Angelina Jolie in By the Sea. Her performance (and the movie) were roundly panned, but I thought it was phenomenal (her acting, that is - NOT the movie). Ironically, I find that the critiques of her acting indicate exactly why it was superb. Alas, I won't say more since, rightfully, no one saw the movie

[cspan37421]

The Oscars is usually pretty accurate but boy do they tend to mess up this category.

Unless there's a problem with the vote counting, it's not about accuracy. It's just a matter of you not agreeing with the aggregate choice of Oscar voters. It's opinion, not fact. There is no point in fretting over it.

https://youtu.be/NqDbG9h-f7c?t=2m51s

"I don't quite know how you compare art ...."

[RPS]

So frustrating. In some years the best person isn't even nominated (Val Kilmer and Albert Brooks). But often the voters just swing and miss. No Samuel L Jackson for Pulp Fiction. No Tom Beringer for Platoon. No Ralph Fiennes for Schindlers List. No Burt Reynolds for Boogie Nights. No Haley Joel Osment for The Sixth Sense. No Alec Baldwin for The Cooler. No Jake Gyllenhaal for Brokeback Mountain. No Eddie Murphy for Dreamgirls. And now no Sylvester Stallone for Creed. Damn. I pick on the Golden Globes but they are voters who can be influenced. The Oscars is usually pretty accurate but boy do they tend to mess up this category.

I thought Rylance's performance was the best I saw in 2015, supporting or otherwise (he was great in Cromwell too). So I have no complaint on this score. I was also glad that The Revenant *didn't* win. I thought it was the weakest of the Best Picture nominees.