I hadn’t checked in with T.L. Stanley’s ever-entertaining blog for a while, partly because she hasn’t been dealing with that much film-related content lately. But here she offers an amusing take on the breathless awards prognostications floating round the blogosphere for decidedly non-prestige titles:
Not sure what’s more off-the-wall these days: Web-fueled discussions that try to advance some non-Oscar performances for the major award, or blog chatter handicapping the race based on movies that no one has seen. It could be a draw.
Well, we’re all guilty of the latter – otherwise there’d be precious little to write about for half the year. But she has a point on the former, and it comes into focus when she addresses the Best Supporting Actor rumblings around Robert Downey Jr.’s performance in “Tropic Thunder.” Stanley, for one, ain’t buying:
The latest to catch our eye has been the meta-moment call for a best supporting actor nod for Robert Downey Jr. for his blackface actor/soldier in “Tropic Thunder.” Not that we didn’t love him — not that we don’t always love him — but we can come to no other conclusion than that the awards drive itself is satire, as in, you guys must be kidding … In no way is that an Oscar performance, zeitgeist-catching and guffaw-inducing though it was.
Not having had an opportunity to see the film myself, I can’t properly comment, though I must admit that, on paper, it seems about as likely as the Best Actor nomination for “Iron Man” that was mooted in some quarters. With Heath Ledger having pretty much locked one of the spots in that race, you have to question how much room the Academy is willing to give the summer-movie contingent. (Not to mention that “The Soloist” is in the wings, but speculating on that would be falling prey to Stanley’s other bugbear.)
However, it wouldn’t be the first broad comic performance in a less than high-minded picture to attract the Academy’s attention – dare I mention Marisa Tomei in “My Cousin Vinny,” a widely reviled choice that I continue to defend. Of course, Downey Jr.’s work in “Tropic Thunder” brings up issues of political incorrectness that the Academy may wish to avoid.
(One wonders, meanwhile, what Stanley makes of the Best Picture hysteria over “The Dark Knight.” Perhaps, like some dissenters, she hasn’t the energy to take on the masses.)
Comments
7 responses to “T.L. Stanley calls for a stop to the ‘Thunder’ madness”
Robert Downey Jr. is one of a handful of actors that I will see anything they are working in that I own all their films on DVD for my viewing pleasure of their craft. I love his work and he was great in Tropic Thunder but there is no way he gets nominated by the Academy for this character… in my opinion. Not saying it isn’t entirely worthy, although there is likely to be 4 other more powerful performances to surface this fall but more because of the Academy voters. The majority of the 6,000ish are over 50 and I can’t see them voting for a controversial role and/or film. The Academy takes themselves way to seriously.
Which leads me to the fact that there are 40+ comic films in production currently so if there was ever a film the Academy can use to pave the way for the inevitable future of films that are coming is TDK but that’s another thread that’s been done to death.
I can wait to see!!!
http://takea-break.blogspot.com
Finally, something has to guts to voice their opinions in Hollywood. It’s somewhat of a cliche now in Hollywood, to pat itself in the back because it has the courage to superficially mock itself.
No denying comic book adaptations are having a good run at the moment. But don’t you think calling them “the inevitable future of films” is a bit on the dramatic side?
After all, it’s not as if they didn’t exist before.
Guy: Agreed. That came out wrong. Poor wording on my part. I didn’t mean that the future of film making in general would be derived from comic book films and the visions in which they are made but rather that there are, in fact, 40+ comic films in production and the point being that we will be seeing many more installments in the years to come. So if there was to be a golden opportunity for the Academy to stay ahead of the game then TDK is that opportunity. Imagine in 5 years a comic film getting a nomination yet not being of the quality of TDK. Anyway, I’m sorry… this managed to drift off topic.
Robert Downey, Jr. is one of the best in the biz and I hope he gets rewarded for the tremendous year he’s having but it’s hard to “suspend disbelief” far enough to think he’ll get it for Tropic Thunder, which by the way I thought was a great time.
He was great in the movie. From the first moment he came on screen. really a great job.
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