Carey Mulligan Suggests Oscar Voters Need to Prove They’ve Seen the Movies

[Dalek]

https://variety.com/2020/film/news/...an-hustlers-little-women-farewell-1203480280/

Carey Mulligan has made a conscious decision in recent years to collaborate with female directors, from Sarah Gavron ("Suffragette") to Dee Rees ("Mudbound"). On Saturday night at the Sundance Film Festival, she'll unveil "Promising Young Woman," a thriller written and directed by Emerald Fennell, about a heroine out for revenge after experiencing a traumatic abuse.

"I'd never read anything like it," Mulligan said during an interview at the Variety Studio at Sundance. "Reading it for the first time, sort of made me nervous in a really good way, in a way that makes me excited to be part of something."

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Mulligan was then asked about this year's Academy Awards, which once again nominated five men in the best director category despite a banner year for films made by women.

"I don't think you can watch those films and not think they deserve recognition," Mulligan said. "I think they need to be watched. I wonder if the system works in terms of getting sent 100 screeners. Maybe you shouldn't be allowed to vote unless you can prove you've seen every single one. There should be a test. The films that did get left out are indisputably brilliant."

Mulligan elaborated: "I'm talking about 'Hustlers,' 'Little Women' and 'The Farewell.' I feel like the fact that they are getting made is progress. But it's all baby steps."

"Little Women" received six Oscar nominations, but Greta Gerwig wasn't recognized in the best director category. "Hustlers," made by Lorene Scafaria, and "The Farewell," from Lulu Wang, were both completely shut out of the Academy Awards. Many pundits had thought that Jennifer Lopez (who stars in "Hustlers") and Awkwafina (who won a Golden Globe for best actress in a comedy for "The Farewell') were likely locks for acting nominations.

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[Sign My Guestbook!]

Was just talking about this a few days ago IRL. I remember when Big Hero 6 beat Song of the Sea and Princess Kaguya, two utter masterpieces from overseas. The people voting just... don't see everything, and they should if they're to vote in a category.

 

[Z-Beat]

Could've sworn they send SAG members DVD's of the films being nominated

 

[NinjaScooter]

Nobody would probably be allowed to vote. Realistically the Oscars are just a PR campaign. People vote for their friends, their peers, their coworkers, the people their friends tell them to vote for. It's always sort of been like this. Harvey Weinstein basically brute forced (no pun intended) "Shakespeare in Love" to an Oscar even though everyone knew it wasn't really the best movie. You'd have to blow it all up from the ground up to get this kind of reform.

 

[Shroki]

Could've sworn they send SAG members DVD's of the films being nominated

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They send screeners to all academy members, yeah. I don't know if it's still DVDs, I think they may be doing a lot of it digitally now.

Doesn't mean they actually watch all the nominees. There are multiple articles with anonymous members talking weird shit about movies they haven't seen or won't even watch. There were a few quotes from comic-book movie hating members on Joker a few months back.

 

[Sign My Guestbook!]

Nobody would probably be allowed to vote. Realistically the Oscars are just a PR campaign. People vote for their friends, their peers, their coworkers, the people their friends tell them to vote for. It's always sort of been like this. Harvey Weinstein basically brute forced (no pun intended) "Shakespeare in Love" to an Oscar even though everyone knew it wasn't really the best movie. You'd have to blow it all up from the ground up to get this kind of reform.

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Or start a new awards show that test people have seen the movies?

I suppose there's some kind of critics' awards that honors the idea (for the most part) without being enforced.

 

[Deleted member 25600]

Somewhat related. I don't think making sure voters have seen the movies will improve things.

 

[davepoobond]

Good luck ever having a winner for just about anything.

 

[Sign My Guestbook!]

Good luck ever having a winner for just about anything.

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Then I suppose it speaks to the system of it all...

 

[smurfx]

at the very least implement this with the animated oscar. anything popular basically wins no matter the quality.

 

[Deleted member 3542]

They should only vote if they've seen all the noms. It's not hard, especially just going off the shortlist finals. But it's a broken system and had been for decades, the Academy won't change the rules.

 

[bastardly]

I mean bohemian fucking rhapsody was nominated for best picture, everyone saw that, maybe the oscars are just fucking shit, so who fucking cares? green book pretty much tainted every Oscar that was ever won, and ever will ever be won, anyways

 

[Biske]

I mean bohemian fucking rhapsody was nominated for best picture, everyone saw that, maybe the oscars are just fucking shit, so who fucking cares? green book pretty much tainted every Oscar that was ever won, and ever will ever be won, anyways

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Yup this about says it all. If you love Freddie Mercury and want to give him an Oscar, hell yeah lets do this.

But that movie was fucking terrible. They took the magic and story of Queen and turned it into boring safe boring crap.

 

[patientzero]

So, just found out this week, the Tony's actually do require voters to see every nominee. Like, they literally require proof. It can be done.

 

[skeptem]

I mean bohemian fucking rhapsody was nominated for best picture, everyone saw that, maybe the oscars are just fucking shit, so who fucking cares? green book pretty much tainted every Oscar that was ever won, and ever will ever be won, anyways

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Lest we forget Crash, we are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past.

 

[Sign My Guestbook!]

So, just found out this week, the Tony's actually do require voters to see every nominee. Like, they literally require proof. It can be done.

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The Tony's are now super cool.

 

[patientzero]

The Tony's are now super cool.

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Admittedly, the Tony's have an advantage, multiple even - 1) plays and musicals are held at very pre-ordained times, 2) they are geographically limited to NYC, and 3) the combination allows easy verification, and beyond that 4) the Tony's voting body is more limited than the Oscar's.

That said, the Oscars could do largely the same. You get digital screeners and check them off.

 

[Speevy]

Somewhat related. I don't think making sure voters have seen the movies will improve things.

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I was with him until he said is anyone favorite film Brooklyn

 

[Jeffolation]

Tough but fair.

 

[Jarmel]

I agree. You shouldn't be allowed to vote in a category unless you've seen all the entries in that category.

 

[El Bombastico]

At the ABSOLUTE MINIMUM, the Best Film/Best Animated film catagories should require a full viewing of the nominees.

 

[Stinkles]

Could've sworn they send SAG members DVD's of the films being nominated

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Netflix has 20900 movies I have never seen but trust me I act like I've only seen citizen Kane, Lawrence of Arabia and Woman in the Dunes.

Mostly so people will take my feelings about Highlander seriously.

 

[Slayven]

Oscars should be a 9 memeber panel that changes every year. Oh and you can only serve on the panel once every 5 years

 

[SeanM]

Admittedly, the Tony's have an advantage, multiple even - 1) plays and musicals are held at very pre-ordained times, 2) they are geographically limited to NYC, and 3) the combination allows easy verification, and beyond that 4) the Tony's voting body is more limited than the Oscar's.

That said, the Oscars could do largely the same. You get digital screeners and check them off.

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There's no way to truly verify a digital screener was actually watched though. The voter could hit play and then go mow their lawn, or hit play and fall asleep, etc and that will count as watched.

I agree with the sentiment, but I just don't think you can force people to watch stuff they have no interest in.

 

[Elderly Parrot]

There's no way to truly verify a digital screener was actually watched though. The voter could hit play and then go mow their lawn, or hit play and fall asleep, etc and that will count as watched.

I agree with the sentiment, but I just don't think you can force people to watch stuff they have no interest in.

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Oh there are ways mwhahaha, where's that black mirror episode/ keep your eyes open patent.

 

[patientzero]

There's no way to truly verify a digital screener was actually watched though. The voter could hit play and then go mow their lawn, or hit play and fall asleep, etc and that will count as watched.

I agree with the sentiment, but I just don't think you can force people to watch stuff they have no interest in.

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I though of that, too. You can't do it digitally, for the same reasons you outline. I'd totally mow the lawn while Ford v Ferrari played (I'm gonna watch it soon, I swear).

I think the best idea is, if you want to enforce attendance, is set up screenings or screenings booths on studio sets. And viewing can only be verified from those limited quarters. And if someone from the 8-10k voting body objects, well...too bad.

 

[BarringGaffner]

They send screeners to all academy members, yeah. I don't know if it's still DVDs, I think they may be doing a lot of it digitally now.

Doesn't mean they actually watch all the nominees. There are multiple articles with anonymous members talking weird shit about movies they haven't seen or won't even watch. There were a few quotes from comic-book movie hating members on Joker a few months back.

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They are sent screeners and there is now a website where they can access everything digitally. source: my boss/deskmate has an Oscar.

 

[Terror-Billy]

They already tried this with the shorts and dic categories and it didn't help. This is a problem that is more systematic to Hollywood itself than just the Academy.

 

[Westbahnhof]

Time for my favourite quote from one of these voters, yet again.

I only watch the ones that my kid wants to see, so I didn't see [The] Boxtrolls but I saw Big Hero 6 and I saw [How to Train Your] Dragon [2]. We both connected to Big Hero 6 — I just found it to be more satisfying. The biggest snub for me was Chris Miller and Phil Lord not getting in for [The] Lego [Movie]. When a movie is that successful and culturally hits all the right chords and does that kind of box-office — for that movie not to be in over these two obscure freakin' Chinese fuckin' things that nobody ever freakin' saw [an apparent reference to the Japanese film The Tale of the Princess Kaguya,as well as the Irish film Song of the Sea]? That is my biggest bitch. Most people didn't even know what they were! How does that happen? That, to me, is the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen.
MY VOTE: Big Hero 6

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Proof That Oscar Voters Are Clueless About Animation

What if the animation Oscars were chosen by people who knew nothing about animation?

www.cartoonbrew.com

 

[Aadiboy]

It would definitely help the animation category if voters were forced to watch every choice.

 

[WascallyWabbit]

Stolen from a reddit comment

Alec Baldwin said on Howard Stern recently that he knew a producer who controlled a block of voters. Old timers who were in The Academy but hadn't been in the movie business for decades. Like some guy who was script supervisor on Psycho (1960) types. And they would call up the producer and say "I can't watch all these movies, which ones look good?". And the producer would tell them what to vote for.

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And this is why I can't muster any outrage at who gets nominated,

 

[BrickArts295]

Thats gonna be difficulty but they really should.

 

[Forsaken82]

It doesn't really matter if the voters actually watch every screener or not. Even if you could validate the integrity of the vote to take all screeners seriously, the problem with opinions is that you aren't the voters. They don't agree with your opinion. It won't matter who wins, who's nominated, there are always going to be groups of movie goers who disagree.

 

[fireflame]

I want votes to be serious so i would be in favor of that. I take such things very seriously and I think being a voter at such an event should require high professionalism.It would also be great if theycould write a paragraph or even a page justifying their votes.

 

[n00bs7ay3r]

Honestly they should just make a new category for best director, Female. I don't particularly like it as it raises questions about how non-binary directors would be nominated and creating the category seems to suggest that female directors can't compete with male directors which is blatantly untrue. But at least it would guarantee female directors to get the recognition they deserve every single year.

 

[Amiablepercy]

Time for my favourite quote from one of these voters, yet again.

Proof That Oscar Voters Are Clueless About Animation

What if the animation Oscars were chosen by people who knew nothing about animation?

www.cartoonbrew.com

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Box Trolls was better in my opinion and certainly more creative than Big Hero 6.

 

[M. Wallace]

The Oscars are like the JD Power awards for cars. Meaningless.

 

[Westbahnhof]

Box Trolls was better in my opinion and certainly more creative than Big Hero 6.

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I might agree, but the person's opinions on the unwatched "The Tale of the Princess Kaguya" and "Song of the Sea" are a much bigger issue for me, personally

 

[Tanuki-Go]

Time for my favourite quote from one of these voters, yet again.

Proof That Oscar Voters Are Clueless About Animation

What if the animation Oscars were chosen by people who knew nothing about animation?

www.cartoonbrew.com

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That shit still pisses me off and shows that animation gets little to no respect.

 

[Amiablepercy]

Honestly they should just make a new category for best director, Female. I don't particularly like it as it raises questions about how non-binary directors would be nominated and creating the category seems to suggest that female directors can't compete with male directors which is blatantly untrue. But at least it would guarantee female directors to get the recognition they deserve every single year.

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That is redicioulous

I might agree, but the person's opinions on the unwatched "The Tale of the Princess Kaguya" and "Song of the Sea" are a much bigger issue for me, personally

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That's fair.

 

[Banderdash]

Is it difficult, in this day and age?

Make it all electronic... single use.
If you've watched it, it deletes the license... and, once you've seen all the films in that category, makes you elegebile to vote.

 

[n00bs7ay3r]

That is redicioulous

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It is either that or increase the number of nominations in the best director category to be up to 10 like they do with best picture. Having only 5 nominations ensures that deserving directors will get snubbed every year. Obviously this would still be the case with 10 noms but the degree of it would be lessened.

 

[overcast]

Or start a new awards show that test people have seen the movies?

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Oscars name recognition is so far ahead of any other awards show, I also don't think the modern day is the ideal time to start a new awards show. As much as ratings drop the Oscars are still poplar.

 

[saladdays]

Oscars should only allow professionals in the field to vote for their categories, and they should require proof. IE: Only directors being able to vote for best director, only people in animation being able to vote for best animated picture. Anyone can vote for best picture. The problem with the Oscars is that most of their voters are actors, which means 90% of the oscar winners are films carried by their performances. Also, screeners should be blu-ray quality, at least. Looked at screenshots of some of the screeners that leaked this year and they're borderline unwatchable.

 

[Donos]

Is it difficult, in this day and age?

Make it all electronic... single use.
If you've watched it, it deletes the license... and, once you've seen all the films in that category, makes you elegebile to vote.

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People would send their friends /kids to hit play while they go to the beach....

Only way would be screenings with obligatory attendance but that would not be possible/enforceable.

 

[Teenage Fansub]

Film makers aren't innately super cinephiles any more than the normal movie fan. It's a tough ask for some people to watch up to a hundred movies even over an entire year.

I edit TV shows and you should see how little TV I watch.

 

[saladdays]

Film makers aren't innately super cinephiles any more than the normal movie fan. It's a tough ask for some people to watch up to a hundred movies over an entire year.

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That's what the categories you can vote for should be limited. That way everyone only has to watch like 10 or 15 movies to vote for all the categories they're eligible for. Or they can just... not vote. Not like they're saying they should be removed from the academy if they don't participate

 

[rhindle]

Eh ... in theory you could require voters to have seen the nominated pictures when voting for actual awards. I believe you have to attend screenings of all Foreign Picture nominees to vote in that category.

But she's complaining about things not getting *nominated*. You can't feasibly require academy members to see all films that could conceivably be nominated.

 

[Rendering...]

Madness, sheer madness. Outrageous.

Informed voters? What's next, directors who are ladies? *wheeze!*

 

[Teenage Fansub]

That's what the categories you can vote for should be limited. That way everyone only has to watch like 10 or 15 movies to vote for all the categories they're eligible for. Or they can just... not vote. Not like they're saying they should be removed from the academy if they don't participate

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Eh. There are SAG awards, Cinematography, Editing, everything. No problem with the Oscars voters being able to recognize their neighbouring crafts.