Was this the event that the French dude was invited to but decided not to attend?
Ben M.
Yeah, Godard declined to attend because he thought the award would be handed out during the oscars. I know a lot of people complain about the new honorary awards format but personally I like it. The winners get the whole night to themselves (and the academy post their speeches online) while still getting a moment of recognition on the main show, and by moving it to a different night they get to hand out more awards to people like Gordon Willis and Kevin Brownlow who I doubt would get one otherwise.
Besides, the old honorary award segment frequently took up a ton of time on an oscar show that is still too long, though I wish they would go back to clips rather than actor salutes in order to save time in the acting categories.
Lazarus
“…and by moving it to a different night they get to hand out more awards to people like Gordon Willis and Kevin Brownlow who I doubt would get one otherwise.”
Ben, in the last 10-15 years they managed to find time on the regular telecast for non-stars like Jack Cardiff, Robert Boyle, Ernest Lehman, Andrzej Wajda, Michael Kidd, Stanley Donen, etc. So I don’t think this move suddenly opens the doors for different people. Also, Wallach, Coppola, Godard, Bacall, and Corman aren’t exactly obscure names.
In the past, I often found the honorary awards to be the highlights of their respective nights. They’re certainly more vital in terms of recognizing contributions to the art form than showcasing performances of the original song nominees each year, which take up a percentage of the show so out-of-proportion to their importance to the films it’s ridiculous.
Maxim
Lazarus, I cannot agree more with everything you’ve said. Honorary Awards was always a hight point for me too, not only because they’ve kept the proceedings grounded by reminding us of how just how much was achievable by just a single person but also because it, more often than not, allowed us a chance to back in the glory of one such legend. And seeing a legend get his or her due is always a very rewarding experience for a true movie fan.
Andrew F
One of my favourite moments ever from an Oscar telecast was watching Ennio Morricone receive his honorary award. I had no idea what he was saying — but he was so humble, so grateful, and so adorable, it made my night.
Patryk
Would live to see Liv Ullmann and Max Von Sydow finally receiving their honorary Oscars soon.
Ligaya
I do not like to see the grand legacy of our greats and the grand history of our cinema shunted aside. It’s not only dishonoring their work, it’s losing an opportunity to educate viewers that there’s more than remakes, adptations of comics/videogames, big explosions & tepid rom-coms.
There has to be a balance, yes, and a way to find attracting younger viewers (maybe a cool sexy internet ad campaign with Ryan Gosling & young female/male actors on the social network/celebrity sites.) But pretending movies started yesterday is the way to oblivion, IMO. How many remakes etc. can U.S. audiences continually support?
There are other reasons for the dwindling ratings – somewhere you have to draw the line between content and spectacle, as in real news/journalism vs. gotcha circuses.
Comments
7 responses to “Getting the family back together”
Was this the event that the French dude was invited to but decided not to attend?
Yeah, Godard declined to attend because he thought the award would be handed out during the oscars. I know a lot of people complain about the new honorary awards format but personally I like it. The winners get the whole night to themselves (and the academy post their speeches online) while still getting a moment of recognition on the main show, and by moving it to a different night they get to hand out more awards to people like Gordon Willis and Kevin Brownlow who I doubt would get one otherwise.
Besides, the old honorary award segment frequently took up a ton of time on an oscar show that is still too long, though I wish they would go back to clips rather than actor salutes in order to save time in the acting categories.
“…and by moving it to a different night they get to hand out more awards to people like Gordon Willis and Kevin Brownlow who I doubt would get one otherwise.”
Ben, in the last 10-15 years they managed to find time on the regular telecast for non-stars like Jack Cardiff, Robert Boyle, Ernest Lehman, Andrzej Wajda, Michael Kidd, Stanley Donen, etc. So I don’t think this move suddenly opens the doors for different people. Also, Wallach, Coppola, Godard, Bacall, and Corman aren’t exactly obscure names.
In the past, I often found the honorary awards to be the highlights of their respective nights. They’re certainly more vital in terms of recognizing contributions to the art form than showcasing performances of the original song nominees each year, which take up a percentage of the show so out-of-proportion to their importance to the films it’s ridiculous.
Lazarus, I cannot agree more with everything you’ve said. Honorary Awards was always a hight point for me too, not only because they’ve kept the proceedings grounded by reminding us of how just how much was achievable by just a single person but also because it, more often than not, allowed us a chance to back in the glory of one such legend. And seeing a legend get his or her due is always a very rewarding experience for a true movie fan.
One of my favourite moments ever from an Oscar telecast was watching Ennio Morricone receive his honorary award. I had no idea what he was saying — but he was so humble, so grateful, and so adorable, it made my night.
Would live to see Liv Ullmann and Max Von Sydow finally receiving their honorary Oscars soon.
I do not like to see the grand legacy of our greats and the grand history of our cinema shunted aside. It’s not only dishonoring their work, it’s losing an opportunity to educate viewers that there’s more than remakes, adptations of comics/videogames, big explosions & tepid rom-coms.
There has to be a balance, yes, and a way to find attracting younger viewers (maybe a cool sexy internet ad campaign with Ryan Gosling & young female/male actors on the social network/celebrity sites.) But pretending movies started yesterday is the way to oblivion, IMO. How many remakes etc. can U.S. audiences continually support?
There are other reasons for the dwindling ratings – somewhere you have to draw the line between content and spectacle, as in real news/journalism vs. gotcha circuses.