OT: (At least) 2 Wolverines win Oscars Tonight

Submitted by WichitanWolverine on

This came across my FB feed: the best original song award tonight was won by "City of Stars" from La La Land. It was written by UM grads Justin Paul and Benj Pasek. Congrats, Gentlemen.

Go Blue!

Gucci Mane

February 27th, 2017 at 12:52 AM ^

What a lame publicity stunt the oscars pulled tonight. Does anyone believe that was organic ? The answer I'm looking for is no. No they don't.

ST3

February 27th, 2017 at 1:06 AM ^

he explained that he read the envelope and it said "best actress, Emma Stone," so he showed it to Faye to let her read the wrong award. I'm sorry, he's a dumbass.

ijohnb

February 27th, 2017 at 9:25 AM ^

The Oscars are losing credibility by the minute.  The expansion to 10 best pictures nominees has been disasterous and this presentation has been filled with blunders for years.  They need the exact opposite of this to happen.  I don't see this as a publicity stunt, unless the point of such a stunt would be to further destroy the legitimacy of the entire program.  My interest has waned for years and all this did was convince me that there is really, really no reason to watch it or care.

HimJarbaugh

February 27th, 2017 at 12:36 PM ^

Movies are kind of anachronistic in that they were originally limited by distribution, film costs, and a concentration of production power. None of those are limitations anymore. Kids growing up will have no concept of a movie being different from something on youtube or on Netflix. 

Lately the content being produced is longer form, like TV shows and miniseries and movie studios have their tentpoles and then the stuff they buy from film festivals. Comic book franchises that cost $500mm+ sell around the world and get the attention of studios and producers. Films are still being made that have adult themes and will attract critical acclaim, but so are shows where creators aren't constrained by time or having to edit to meet some rating or content standard.

When you think about it, areguably the two biggest entertainment phenomoena of the last decade - Game of Thrones and Hamilton - are not films and probably would not work as films. Contrast that with movies that broke billion dollar barriers but nobody was talking about them (Avatar, Star Wars, Marvel stuff) for very long and their grip on being the most innovative medium has slipped away.

ijohnb

February 27th, 2017 at 2:24 PM ^

I agree with his overall point that movies are losing relevance, but not quite sure his explanation really gets to the heart of it.  Essentially, you have two kinds of movies right now, you have Oscar bait movies (they look a lot like Indies but they are from big studios) and you have big budget action.  There is not much in the middle right now.  Either you have movies that are crushed by the weight of their own subject matter or movies that are so empty with the exception of special effects that you forget about them almost immediately when you leave the theatre.

I don't feel like there is all that much old fashion story telling anymore. Good actors, actresses, and a good script, and just tell a story.  This is what is happening with Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, Game of Thrones, Rectify, The Leftovers, Bloodline etc.  These really good shows.  These are the stories the movies used to tell. 

Right now every time you go to a movie you feel like you have to leave with your life perspective altered in some way or you can't hear for a week because of all the explosions you have just witnessed.

HimJarbaugh

February 27th, 2017 at 2:58 PM ^

They may have, but The Godfather, Fargo, and Pulp Fiction had adults talking for weeks and months. I imagine some people did talk about Star Wars but I heard far more discussion about Game of Thrones, Mad Men, and Breaking Bad among adults. The Star Wars discussion I heard was about people thought it was any good whereas the other shows/content I was referring to was about plot, characters, what may happen, and what was unfolding.

Even the best documentary winner was over seven hours long and did not have a theatrical run. People just consume entertainment differently (more at home and on phones and computers) than they did before and there is so much more content out there. The studios know that comic book/sci fi movies put butts in the seats of parents and kids and they have broad appeal worldwide, so that is what they make.

gmoney41

February 27th, 2017 at 10:37 AM ^

I also have no intrest in hollywood fellating themselves, but to see 2 of our own getting awards is a pretty big deal and I have no problem congratulating them.  Did I watch the show, Hell no, but heard about all of the gaffs by the production staff.  They put a live womans picture in place of a dead woman in their in memory segment.  

ijohnb

February 27th, 2017 at 11:27 AM ^

don't get why so many people are so anti-"Hollywood" right now.  There is a lot of good work being done both in cinema and on television right now.  The Oscars have always been pretentious.  I don't get why they are coming in for all of this scorn now, aside from the ridiculous envelope mistake.

In reply to by ijohnb

gmoney41

February 27th, 2017 at 12:06 PM ^

Holywood in general is pretentious, and I think that most people are sick of the political garbage coming from the actors.  But you are right, there is a lot of good work coming from "hollywood", even thought the best work is in television in my opinion.  I never said I was anti hollywood, but the oscars, golden globes, or any award show is nothing but a gigantic circle jerk.  I am sorry, but I wouldn't waste time watching an award show, because they are in general, a huge waste of time.   I was fortunate to get a Nintendo Switch and the new Legend of Zelda game a week early, so my son and I played that last night, and playing 2 hours of that game was better than watching any type of award show, ever.  BTW, if anyone is a Zelda fan, they will absolutely love this game!!

ijohnb

February 27th, 2017 at 12:17 PM ^

award shows have always been a medium for political speech, from Vietnam to Dolphin poaching.  Nothing new there. 

I think the biggest issue is that they can't get a good host.  The Academy Awards used to be genuinely fun to watch when Billy Crystal was the host.  They also need to go back to 5 best picture nominees and shave about 1.5 hours off the show.  It is just too long.

gmoney41

February 27th, 2017 at 12:57 PM ^

I agree with that.  Jimmy Kimmel is just not funny.  Billy Crystal hosted events were always fun to watch.  Way too long, but then again, I haven't watched one of these awards shows since the 90's and they were overly long then too.  

BoFan

February 27th, 2017 at 1:36 PM ^

I suspect you no longer like Hollywood and award shows because you disagree with their politics.



I don't like the "star" attitude either and like any group they are not all great people, but I cannot dislike a group of people who want to embrace the virtues of being gracious, inclusive, multi cultural, honest, kind to others...



gmoney41

February 27th, 2017 at 2:44 PM ^

I honestly couldn't care less about their politics.  They are actors who are very good at what they do, but that is where the admiration ends.   I don't care what or who my mechanic supports or what party they belong to, I just care about getting my car fixed.  Like I clearly stated in my previous post, I have no problem with Hollywood, and the reason I haven't watched an awards show since the 90's is due to it being a giant boring unfunny circle jerk that takes 4 hours.  Maybe you should read my previous posts instead of suspecting and assuming.  

You Only Live Twice

February 27th, 2017 at 1:47 PM ^

Was pulling for La La Land, enjoyed the entire Oscars production.  I love movies even more than I love Michigan football.

I thought Kimmel did a fine job hosting.

Cool tidbit that two of the La La Land songwriters are Michigan grads - I don't recall that being mentioned, only that Hurwitz attended Harvard with Chazelle, the director.