Almost all critics and bloggers are guilty of it at some time or another — when one is suitably impressed by a particular film or performance, they often express their approval in Oscar-related terms. “So-and-so is Oscar-worthy,” “Start the Oscar buzz now for such-and-such,” and so on. It’s a lazy and fate-tempting practice, and I confess I fall into the trap occasionally myself.
Now over at eFilmCritic, Erik Childress has posted an interesting and rather cheeky piece on the subject, in which he rounds up the worst offenders, and can’t resist taking the odd gleeful dig at certain misguided endorsements. This one particularly amused me:
(2003) Angelina Jolie is brilliant. She gives another Oscar-worthy performance. (“Beyond Borders”) – Paul Clinton
When you’ve stopped laughing, try these for size:
(2006) Another powerful Penn performance. Oscar-worthy in every way. (“All the King’s Men”) – Clay Smith
(2003) This film has more heart than any 100 films released this year. Earns its place in film history within the first hour. A masterpiece of nuance filmmaking. The first Oscar contender of the season. (“Matchstick Men”) – Mike Sargent
(2004) One of the first serious Oscar contenders of the year. (“The Village”) – Jim O’Brien
And so on and so forth. To be fair, Childress also includes a number of such endorsements that did pan out (“Oscar-worthy” sentiments for Julie Christie and Forest Whitaker, for example), as well as a couple that should have. I, for one, wish Academy voters had taken heed of Joel Siegel’s advice here:
Save room for Jim Carrey’s name at the top of next year’s Oscar Best Actor list. He’s incredible. You won’t forget this one. (“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”)
Finally, Childress rounds up some of the critics’ predictions from this year’s race, and aims this zinger at Pete Hammond’s statement that a certain title is “the stuff Oscar nominations are made of”:
I don’t know how many nominations hype-whore supreme, Pete Hammond, was hoping to get out of Oliver Stone’s “W.” but outside of Josh Brolin’s titular performance, it seems more and more likely that his plural is a bit excessive.
Childress’ point essentially comes down to one oft-quoted adage, and it’s an important one: nobody knows anything. It may seem obvious, but it’s easy for people to lose sight of that when certain films remain widely unseen and all we have to go on is the personal enthusiasm (or lack thereof) of a select group of writers, many of whom aren’t known for their discernment. Childress puts it best in his conclusion:
Studios and their advertisers are never going to ignore such buzz when selling their films, but maybe its time they start backing up that praise. Less than half of the above films were sent out to critics groups for consideration at the end of the year; a sign of no faith in their ability to garner awards attention. Even though its becoming increasingly more clear that critic organizations are steering the ship towards Oscar and not just the bloggers and prognosticators that Patrick Goldstein recently demeaned … As one of those prognosticators myself, a word of advice beyond calling out Ben Lyons as no more of an expert than Stephanie Meyer: remember, just because Larry King says you’ve already won, doesn’t make it so.
Well said. Read the rest here.
Comments
16 responses to “Calling out the Oscar quote whores”
I remember CNN having an article about an early 2000’s season with such (mis)quotes. There were many crazy things said in there. Let me see if I can find it.
Matchstick Men was indeed brilliant and should’ve been nommed for screenplay, actor (Cage), supporting actor (Rockwell), supporting actress (Lohman), and, arguably, picture and director. What a fabulous movie.
I agree wholeheartedly, nick.
I also think that Angelina was brilliant…
… in “Beyond Borders”? Really?
Each to their own.
Oh and yes, Matchstick Men is indeed a brilliant film. A Ridley Scott gem with great performances and a fascinating screenplay.
Yep…”Matchstick Men” was dynamite — great Cage performance.
I really thought highly of Matchstick Men also.
Another fan of Matchstick Men here. The only nomination I’d give it is supporting actress for Lohman, who would actually be my win but its great all around.
Well, I’m totally agree with these two:
(2004) One of the first serious Oscar contenders of the year. (“The Villageâ€) – Jim O’Brien
Save room for Jim Carrey’s name at the top of next year’s Oscar Best Actor list. He’s incredible. You won’t forget this one. (“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mindâ€)
I love the Village too. Go on ridicule me for it, but it’s a film that works for me an a lot of levels and a drop-dead gorgeous love story to heighten the impact.
I loved “The Village” as well. I don’t know if I would call it Oscar-worthy, but the spooky stuff was great, and the love story was one of the best ones in recent memory. The scene between Ivy and Lucius on the porch at night knocked me out.
“(2004) One of the first serious Oscar contenders of the year. (“The Villageâ€) – Jim O’Brien”
Loved the quote.
It should’ve been that way, as it is one of the most important American movies of the decade.
I loved “Matchstick Men” and Jim Carrey was definitely great in “Eternal Sunshine…”!
The Village was a terrible film…one of the worst films of the decade. But it’s a masterpiece compared with Lady in the Water, and The Happening.
I don’t know, lady in the water was not good, but that last scene, with the giant bird picking up the lady in the water, that was such a beautiful moment. and i really liked the village too (the music, the love story, the feel of it). Except for the ending, the ending sucked serious ass, serious hemorrhoid ridden wrinkly old ass. i was particularly annoyed that M night put himself in there, it took me out of the film completely. (small note: liked Adrien brody’s performance).