JeffTheAlpaca

Scorsese and his team went out of their way to get the history right and consulted with the people that went through that ordeal.

JeffTheAlpaca

I saw that Angela Bassett got a honorary Oscar.

What is the criteria for that?

The Academy could right some wrongs if they gave honorary Oscars to Willem Dafoe, Glen Close, Paul Giamatti, Amy Adams, Michelle Williams, Annette Benning, Steve Buscemi, Ian McKellen, and others that got screwed over the years.

Runaway

Have they really been screwed or did they lose against better or equally deserving competition?

Count Dooku

In all candor, the answer to your question is that she is Black.

Angela Bassett is an outstanding and respected actor with a long career, but no Oscar wins, which is a description that can be applied to many actors, including some you listed. But more so, Bassett is an ICONIC Black actress, who has starred in some of the most important and beloved Black-centric movies of the last 35 years. Last year, she was in strong contention to win a competitive Oscar, but lost to the EEAAO wave. Thus, the honorary Oscar. She deserves the recognition and the Academy needs the positive PR.

Of the people you listed, I'd imagine only Glenn Close is in line for an honorary Oscar soon.

BTW, did you know that Bob Hope was awarded FOUR honorary Oscars. Bob Hope has twice as many Oscars as Billie Eilish, who has twice as many Oscars as Scorsese!

Decker

Among the non-black recipients of honorary Oscars in the past decade :
Steve Martin
David Lynch
Jackie Chan
Elaine May
Liv Ullman
Gena Rowlands
Donald Sutherland
Diane Warren

bchbdaddy

Um, Steve Martin was born a poor black child.

Decker

Oh yeah, I forgot.

Count Dooku

It's understand the point you think you are making with your reply, but it is pure nonsense.

I obviously did not state or imply that they ONLY give honorary Oscars to Black actors.

My answer to Jeff's question is the truth. Why award an honorary Oscar to Angela Bassett, who has been acting for 40 years and has two past Oscar nominations versus honoring Glenn Close, who has been acting a little longer and has eight past nominations (with no wins)?

The answer is Bassett's status as an iconic Black actress. I'm not saying she does not deserve the honor, but the question was (essentially) why her and why this year?

Is it racist? Yes. Racism is real, and it is the reason things happen. That cop murdered George Floyd in public and thought he was going to get away with it because racism is real. The Academy wants to make a show of honoring non-whites because racism is real, and it wants to demonstrate its commitment to diversity and inclusivity.

Again, not saying her talent and work did not deserved to be honored, but why her and why this year?



They pretty much spell it out in this interview.

Decker

I do wonder if Glenn Close has requested that she not receive an Honorary Oscar while still making films like Peter O'Toole did until he retired, preferring to win a real one for their work instead.
Annette Bening is also past due, Academy!

Abob Teff

Playing the other side of the card, all the actors listed in the original post were white.

I would also challenge that list, as I did in another thread, and say there are some great entertainers on Jeff's list. They are not all great actors.

Count Dooku

When they finally get around to making the film version of the musical Sunset Boulevard starring Close, she will either win the Oscar or get an honorary one the next year.

GoldenJCJ

For some reason I thought the rule used to be that honorary Oscars were only given to retired actors. Did they change the rules sometime in the last 20 years or so or was I always mistaken?

To me it’s seems odd to give an honorary Oscar to an actor who is still working.

Count Dooku

Paul Newman received an honorary Oscar after seven nominations and no wins, and then won the best actor award the next year, and continued acting and receiving nominations for twenty more years.

Sam Jackson has an honorary Oscar and is still working.

And I'll just tack on that I still think they should have given Bruce Willis an honorary Oscar last year.

etching

Wonder if Barbie would have gotten three song nominations
if the limit wasn't just two per film?

etching

Perhaps the impetus to doing so before they are retired is the following rule?

RULE TWENTY-FIVE: D. No Governors Award shall be voted posthumously.

Decker

No, there is no limit
Beauty and the Beast was nominated for three in 1992.
"Beauty and the Beast"
"Be Our Guest"
"Belle"

Count Dooku

They have made the rule of no more than two songs per movie since then.

Decker

By the exact same writers. Doesn't apply to Barbie where each song had different songwriters. Interesting though.

JeffTheAlpaca

I know he has fans but come on no way

Maybe it is more bad luck in some cases like Giamatti was facing Cillian Murphy but would have been a lock to win in 2023 or some other year.

Count Dooku

Read the rule again.

Decker

Ah, then okay. I guess it isn't that baffling that Dua Lipa wasn't nominated and the song from Flaming Hot was. Still like her song better than the Billie Eilish dirge.

Count Dooku

Why?

An honorary Oscar can be awarded just for contributing significantly to the film industry, like by being a huge star that makes movies people love.

Maybe you missed the previous post noting that Bob Hope has FOUR honorary Oscars. What has Samuel Jackson done to deserve an honorary Oscar that Bruce Willis hasn't? It would have been a great way to acknowledge him when he was still able to appear on the show and appreciate the reception he would have received.

AaronHernandez

Samuel L. Jackson won his Honorary Oscar weeks before Willis health issues were known to the public,and Willis was still appearing in films regularly. SLJ is 8 years older,unlike Willis a previous Oscar nom and is arguably viewed of as a better actor by people in the industry,not to mention Willis had been making shitty Direct to DVD movies the last decade or so,so that probably didn't help anyone want to hand him an Oscar . It's easy to see why they prioritized SLJ based on the circumstances at the time,like I am sure no one was predicting Willis as dead or having dementia 3 years ago.

Count Dooku

My point was not that Bruce Willis deserved the honor more than Jackson. My point was that they give them out to acknowledge a lifetime achievement in the industry. I don't view Willis and Jackson as that different. Neither one has pursued their acting careers as Artistes. Tom Cruise doesn't have an acting Oscar or a bunch of nominations, but he surely deserves to be honored by the Academy for his career. Because of his tragic circumstances forcing him to retire, I think it would have been great if Willis was so honored, and it would have meant a lot to people to see it.

To your other point, Jackson received his Oscar TWO years ago in 2022. The 2022 Oscars were held on March 27. Willis announced retirement on March 30, 2022. So the possibility was there to give Willis an Oscar last year in 2023. IDK if he was in a place where he could appeared to accept the award, but if he was, it would have been a great moment. Everybody keeps saying that the Oscars don't have any must-see moments anymore. So there it is.

JeffTheAlpaca

Willem Dafoe is like the 49ers of the Oscars where he did all this great work over the decades but has no hardware or trophies to show for it.