nodeerforamonth

Yeah, comedies are supposed to be funny. Make you laugh. Forrest Gump was horribly depressing.

mijorico

You know, now that you mention it I think you're right. I think it is the other way around.

Which proves your earlier point about it being up to the actors to nominate comedic performances, etc. But you have to remember that the Academy is comprised of past winners and nominees, which for the most part are dramatic actors and filmmakers. So you end up with this vicious circle where dramatic films are favored because that's the membership's background. You need more comedic performers and filmmakers as part of the Academy in order to recognize achievement in those types of films, but not many of those people are invited to join the Academy. It's a bit of a catch-22.

theflicker

It's funny because I've felt a similar way about many dramatic nominations. When I saw The Pursuit of Happyness, I just knew that Will Smith was going to get nominated and, to me, it seemed that this nomination would be predicated on nothing more than the fact that OMG it's Will Smith in a drama where he doesn't fight robots or aliens. I mean, I would describe his performance in that film as perfectly competent, but nothing more than that.

This may skew things because of Will Smith's background though.

Nevertheless, I find it sort of silly that some would say that Will Ferrell could be nominated for Stranger Than Fiction in which, I thought, he was totally blah and just blindly disregard a more entertaining performance of his on the grounds that the film has been labeled a comedy.

DarthMarino

I'm certainly not saying that I agree with every nomination. I'm also not saying that some of the dramatic performances that get nominated are anything but pedestrian and run of the mill. But this thread is about the comedy genre as a whole. Generally speaking, most of the comedies that come out now offer nothing more than cheap laughs. The overwhelming majority are star vehicles and gross-out sex comedies. Despite containing elements of a gross-out sex comedy, perhaps the 40 Year Old Virgin is the exception to the rule. I'm not a huge fan of it but I'll give you that its one of the more respectable films from the genre. So that's one. Someone suggested Stranger than Fiction, so that's two. But what are the other comedies that people here honestly feel were snubbed by the Oscars? I need more evidence especially when there are nominations from time to time. It's one thing to argue about one or two particular movies that people felt should have been recognized more, but you can't complain about an entire genre because those two got snubbed.

It's also important to seperate your favorite movies with movies that deserve to be artistically praised. I loved the Star Wars prequels but recognize that they aren't exactly high art. They recieved a handful of technical nominations, won none and I couldn't possibly care less. I enjoy the movies. They are immensely entertaining to me but I can't cry that American Beauty, a movie I loathed, was the best picture for that year and Phantom Menace wasn't (save the jokes, it's just an example).

theflicker

My main gripe would be exactly that then. Why do nominations go to pedestrian, run-of-the-mill dramatic performances? It's bad practice to class an entire genre beneath another.

I don't think that comedy has completely gotten the shaft over the years, but I don't think that a nomination for Sascha Baron Cohen last year would've been entirely absurd. Between Borat and Talladega Nights, I think he showed a rather nice amount of versatility and range. The same I don't think can be said about the aforementioned Will Smith or Johnny Depp for Finding Neverland or Clint Eastwood for Million Dollar Baby. I haven't put much thought into it so I couldn't say who/what, if any, comedic snubs were that year, but I do find such drab dramatic nominations to be a case of 'filling out the ballot'.

One snub I recall is Bill Murray for Rushmore and I think that Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is one of the greatest films of all time, never mind being funny as hell.

Sort of off the topic, but with regards to an earlier sentiment about blockbuster popcorn films being unlikely to garner any serious noms, I consider Uma Thurman for either of the Kill Bills a snub.

Jack Straw

Annie Hall comes to mind as an example of just such a movie.

mijorico

To me, it's not even so much about individual films or performances I felt may have been snubbed. It's about the fact that the Academy can only throw comedies a nomination, in any category, (as you said) from time to time.

They nominate good performances in bad dramatic films, why can't they ever nominate a good comedic performance in a less than stellar comedy? Or give comedic directors or screenwriters some credit by nominating them once in a while? ( *I know Borat was nominated for screenplay this year, but that's one of those from time to times.)

I'm not advocating special treatment, just equal.

story

Good thing Kevin Kline didn't win for his character in A Fish Called Wanda. Oh, wait...

MovieExchange

God help us then, because comedy is doomed.

Ferrell is not a leading man. He was great on SNL and he's good in supporting roles, but he can not carry a movie on his own. Why? Because every character he plays is the same. He does not have the ability to bring life to a character. When you're watching one of his movies, you are always accutely aware that this is just the Will Ferrell character in a different costume. He can't make one character distinctly different from another.

As I've been fond of saying in the past...

Harrison Ford IS Han Solo
Harrison Ford IS Indiana Jones
Harrison Ford IS Jack Ryan

Will Ferrell IS.... Will Ferrell

Same thing with Jim Carrey when he does a comedy, and Owen Wilson in every damned movie he appears in. They're always the same character.

Shannon Nutt

Actually, that's a bad example, since Han, Indy and Jack are pretty much the same character in different times/outfits. Harrison is pretty much a one-note actor - although he chooses to be so.

You'd been better off using Russell Crowe as an example - who immediately morphs into whomever he is playing.

MovieExchange

Actually it's a great example, I think... because despite those characters being the same archetype, you don't watch Star Wars and think that you're seeing Indiana Jones or Harrison Ford - you see Han Solo. Despite the character basis being the same, Ford brings them to life in a different way.

Doughboy

How about Bill Murray in Groundhog Day? How about that entire movie being snubbed?

What about Paul Giamatti for Private Parts? Who cares if Hollywood hates Howard Stern? He was brilliant as Pig Vomit.

I'm sure if I rack my brain, I could come up with a huge list of snubbed comedic performances in well received films(not schlock like your run-of-the-mill Will Ferrell comedy). Come to think of it, this is a pretty good idea for a thread. Most overlooked comedic performances of all-time.

jdpatri

We're back to the supporting argument here. Anybody can get a supporting nomination. But to be nominated for a lead, you need to be involved in a series drama.

Unless, of course, you're starring in a Woody Allen movie circa 1977 and nobody's made one of those for... oh... 30 years.

Michael Corvin

I agree. I will never understand how Robin Williams didn't win for Dead Poet's Society but did for Good Will Hunting. Don't get me wrong, he was good in GWH, but he was on another level in DPS.

I was with you until you said "Anchorman," by contrast is incredibly good. Anchorman is just as ignorant as the other comedies you list. Maybe if you subbed in, say, "Swingers" for example I'd be with you all the way.

I have to agree. Forrest Gump and American Beauty comedies? I'd have to say, not the section I would check first at the video store for those films.