Oscars

[TommyRude]

I haven't seen any of the movies that were nominated, but I was able to predict the winners with a lot of accuracy 😂. 

 

 

On a related note, I was reading about the "enhanced security" they had in place, reacting to last year's slap.  I guess they had security guys planted near the front row to try and intercept someone if they made a move towards the stage.

[CyberGene]

That slap was as true as professional wrestling is real fight. As to Oscars, it's become really easy to predict nominations and winners even without watching them but I won't disclose my methodology because... you know why 😉

[Docbop]

I was happy with the Oscar winners overall, only one I thought was tough I liked Angela Bassett as much as Jamie Lee Curtis.    I liked "Everything Everywhere All at Once" I even bought the BluRay disc so really glad it won so much.   

[drawback]

Outstanding live band and MD. I’d like to thank the Academy for not having a DJ.

[o0Ampy0o]

Didn't see it. Didn't see any of the films. Security at the front of the stage sounds like a typical country, rock, pop and rap concert. Do they already have that at the music awards shows?

 

Regarding predictions and trends: Presenters and sometimes winners used to use the Oscar podium to make political statements. Nowadays the academy uses the awards themselves to make political statements.

[o0Ampy0o]

3 hours ago, CyberGene said:

That slap was as true as professional wrestling is real fight. As to Oscars, it's become really easy to predict nominations and winners even without watching them but I won't disclose my methodology because... you know why 😉

 

Maybe, maybe not. Will Smith could have taken Rock's head off. He held back. He trained for that Ali film. He is familiar with punching as well as faking a punch. Maybe that is what you are seeing in his punch?

 

It unfolded as real, it sounded real and either real or fake it is no reason to use fake security and it was the most costly move in Will Smith's career and the most profitable to Chris Rock's career.

[ABECK]

I used to be way more interested when I would at least see a handful of new movies in the theater every year and I relied on Siskel and Ebert to keep me up to date on what was worth checking out.  Their Saturday show was actually pretty important in making those decisions.  Now there is sooo much content competition, full length theatrical releases make up a fraction of the attention than what they used to.  Now when I look at the Oscars, it's really more of a fashion show* and an opportunity for celebs to stay relevant.  Frankly, I can't stand watching a select few break their arms patting themselves on the back for the work of others (when's the last time a key grip was invited on stage to get his award?)  I'm all for deserved recognition in the workplace, but c'mon -it's enough already.  Stay off my lawn.

 

*I personally know a lot of people who are only into the red carpet part of the Oscars.  Which is fine, but let's call it what it is.  A fashion show with some movie awards thrown in.

[o0Ampy0o]

They hold a separate presentation ceremony for less flashy categories but I don't think there is an award for best key grip. Personally I don't think there should be an award for every position in the industry. If you want award level work you should aspire to be at least the catering coordinator or manage the coffee gophers.

[Tusker]

I was very happy to see keyboardist /composer Hauschka (Volker Bertelmann) win the Oscar for best music, because his is a hybrid score, using orchestral, acoustic and electronic elements.
 

We are still not at peak expressiveness but electronic instruments are well on their way!! 
 

 

 

[Bill H.]

1 hour ago, Docbop said:

I was happy with the Oscar winners overall, only one I thought was tough I liked Angela Bassett as much as Jamie Lee Curtis.    I liked "Everything Everywhere All at Once" I even bought the BluRay disc so really glad it won so much.   

I thought Angela Basset should have won too, and was rather surprised when she didn't. 

[Baldwin Funster]

Foghat deserves to be in.

Oops wrong thread.

[MathOfInsects]

Movies suck right now. It's all Marvel rehashes and the same spy-action movie over and over. Plus a dog movie here and there. TV has it all over them in terms of quality and innovation. I think Wandavision had some of the best-composed/produced songs in recent years.

EEAAO was great--definitely my favorite movie of last year. People griping about Jamie Lee Curtis may not have seen her in this movie. She stole it. Angela Bassett certainly deserves a trophy at this point, but I think the one-two of Marvel and a rehash probably made it less compelling to grant it for this one. 

 

I didn't see the Brendan Fraser movie, but that role had "Give me an Oscar for this" written all over it. I'm sort of surprised they agreed. But what other options were there? They don't give Oscars for comedic acting (which is dumb), so I guess they sort of had to go with this year's Rainman.

I didn't watch the show and never do. The only couple of minutes I've seen of an Oscar broadcast was the reply of "The Slap" over and over that night last year. The slap wasn't fake; it's Hollywood, you don't think they would have had Chris Rock be thrown halfway across the room by it if they wanted to fake a hit? 

There are only about 10,000 people who vote for the Oscars. All the subterranean hints at some kind of agenda or fix would have to account for 10,000 people all keeping the same secret. Good luck there. Lighten up, folks, it's just movies...

[CyberGene]

13 minutes ago, MathOfInsects said:

There are only about 10,000 people who vote for the Oscars. All the subterranean hints at some kind of agenda or fix would have to account for 10,000 people all keeping the same secret. Good luck there. Lighten up, folks, it's just movies...

You don't have to buy them, it's not a conspiracy. Think how easy it is to find millions of woke people in a certain state. And then we're speaking about a subset of only 10k of them.

 

Other than that I agree with everything else you said, so I'm not arguing with you.

[MathOfInsects]

Just now, CyberGene said:

You don't have to buy them, it's not a conspiracy. Think how easy it is to find millions of woke people in a certain state. And then we're speaking about a subset of only 10k of them.

 

Other than that I agree with everything else you said, so I'm not arguing with you.

I say this sincerely: it must be lonely seeing the world through this kind of lens. People who think there is a monolith aligned against them must find it very hard to connect, or be amazed, or be surprised. Or even just "be." 

Let's just say that any argument that the Oscars are skewed toward "wokeness" in its selection of winners, would take about a half a second of Google searching to dispel. Good luck finding nominees, let alone winners, that would solidify that argument for you.

It's a big world out there. Enjoy it. The bigness is what's great.

[HammondDave]

I really dislike all award shows. But the Oscars make this free thinking liberal just cringe. I just can’t watch it. 

[CyberGene]

8 minutes ago, MathOfInsects said:

I say this sincerely: it must be lonely seeing the world through this kind of lens. People who think there is a monolith aligned against them must find it very hard to connect, or be amazed, or be surprised. Or even just "be." 

Let's just say that any argument that the Oscars are skewed toward "wokeness" in its selection of winners, would take about a half a second of Google searching to dispel. Good luck finding nominees, let alone winners, that would solidify that argument for you.

It's a big world out there. Enjoy it. The bigness is what's great.

 

I don't need Google to prove/disprove for me that winners are chosen for wokeness, when I can decide it for myself by just watching the movies. For at least the last 10 years. And why do you have to make it personal? So, I'm lonely and you're not and that's your argument 😀

[ProfD]

These award shows give entertainers a reason to dress up in expensive clothes, shows and accessories to congratulate themselves.😁

 

Admittedly, I do not watch these shows.  But, I cannot begrudge folks who are trying to earn a living through the arts either. 😎

 

 

[TommyRude]

"Security security, red alert.  Possible slapping imminent, Gene is moving towards MOI, intercept now!"

[Stokely]

I'd watch the oscars over the grammy awards, but that's not saying a ton...

Pleasantly surprised if a live band at one of these awards was actually live (assuming you could tell in the first place).

Ah, "woke"...the latest word to mean different things to different sides and be either a great step forward or the end of civilization depending on point of view   Can't wait to see what next year's will be.   

[o0Ampy0o]

Marginalizing opposing views is an effective tactic at weakening them.

 

But it's cheating rather than making a valid point illustrating a weakness.

 

Many times it is sneaky and deceptive and housed in a lie.

 

 

 

[TommyRude]

34 minutes ago, Stokely said:

Pleasantly surprised if a live band at one of these awards was actually live (assuming you could tell in the first place).

I believe Rhianna was actually singing live at the Oscars.  Not sure if her band was live.  Pretty sure Gaga was singing live earlier.

 

That's the silly place I find myself watching these performances.  Don't really care about the content, just trying to see if they're doing it live or not.

[o0Ampy0o]

They have had full orchestras backing singers. I guess if the PA is loud enough and there are no live mics you can look like you are playing a violin or cello without any collateral noise giving it away even to the people seated in the front rows. 

[o0Ampy0o]

When Lady Gaga and the Hangover guy sang at the Oscars that sure looked like actual live singing.

[Polychrest]

From an admittedly small sample pool, Navalny was the best film I saw last year.  It was the only one I felt compelled to hype to others.  It was a great story, both in the literary and journalistic sense of the word.  The characters were compelling, the subject material fascinating on both a human and geopolitical level, the plot Bond-film implausible yet incontrovertibly true.  No suspension of disbelief was necessary to get caught up in in the wild, sometimes comic twists of Navalny’s attempted murder by Putin’s minions.  In this season’s cinematic field, truth was stronger than fiction.

[Tusker]

1 hour ago, Stokely said:

Pleasantly surprised if a live band at one of these awards was actually live (assuming you could tell in the first place).

 

Rickey Minor was the music director again this year. He started out as a bass player, then music directed the Tonight Show and American Idol. A couple of decades of that sort of experience and you know how to put together a musical team which can hit the the broadcast goals no matter what the night throws at you.
 

I’m sure he’d be thrilled to hear that his fellow musicians think it sounds too good to be live. 😅 

 

Here’s a rehearsal peek …

 

 

[Docbop]

You spend the money for the Rickey Minor and the LA studio A team you can pull anything off.     

 

I remember the early days of Ricky Minor from my time working in my buddies rehearsal studio.  Ricky was friends with the owner and would rehearse projects there, heard a lot of good musicians.   But being I worked nights at the studio Ricky could be a pain in my behind like a handful of others who because they knew the owner thought they could act like the studio was their place and come behind the counter and use the phone and take up the counter while I'm trying to help all the others in the studios.   

[Leroy C]

CyberGene, the way you express yourself here is the primary reason why I don't visit PianoClack.  I'm not saying that to be mean or rude.  I'm simply offering it as a solitary data point for you to consider, if you're interested in growing activity at PC.

[Stokely]

Just to clarify, I didn't think the Oscars music was canned--I didn't see it so no opinion on it.

These days it's kind of my default position though unfortunately    I just assume it's memorex before I think its live,  to steal from their old ad slogan.  Even at my band's small club level, which is probably why I feel that way (when ma and pa joe's cover band can and do pull off tracks, I figure a pro outfit can do it without you even knowing it!)

 

[CyberGene]

51 minutes ago, TheophilusCarter said:

CyberGene, the way you express yourself here is the primary reason why I don't visit PianoClack.  I'm not saying that to be mean or rude.  I'm simply offering it as a solitary data point for you to consider, if you're interested in growing activity at PC.

Thank you for the feedback. I understand you’re overly sensitive to people whom you don’t agree with. I appreciate that we’re all different and have varying degree of sensitivity and tolerance for people whose opinion we don’t like but if you mean that I have to change, so that sensitive people start liking me, I’m afraid that’s not the way I see world going forward. I haven’t created PianoClack to be a representation of myself. It’s not a personal website, I don’t need to be liked. It’s just a forum for pianos, nothing special. It’s not for profit, there’s no advertising and I pay the hosting myself. I created it to allow people to say anything they want and I’m proud I didn’t have to ban anybody so far, nor even warn anybody, and many would agree it’s a friendly place. People are not afraid of punishment and my only hard rule there is an absolute freedom of speech. I’m technically its owner but other than that I’m just another user on the forum. If you leave a forum full of people because of one member, that’s OK, but please understand I’m really not seeking any exposure or growth, so I don’t care who stays and who goes and why. Apologies if I may have offended you with what I think. It’s been certainly not a personal attitude towards you. 

[AnotherScott]

On the topic of wokeness relative to the Oscars and movies in general...