Moviefone Editorial

Tag: oscars 2017

  • 12 Critically-Despised Movies You (Probably) Didn’t Know Were Nominated for Oscars

    12 Critically-Despised Movies You (Probably) Didn’t Know Were Nominated for Oscars

  • Steve Harvey Was Thrilled About Last Year’s Oscars Mix-Up: ‘I Was Free!’

    One year ago today, the Academy Awards ceremony descended into chaos after the wrong movie was incorrectly named Best Picture, and producers, presenters, and nominees had to sort out exactly what happened — all on live TV. It’s a moment that will forever live in Hollywood infamy, and while there’s still plenty of blame and embarrassment to go around, there was one person who was thrilled about the epic snafu.

    In an Oscars telecast, and its unfortunate, error-ridden ending. You’ll recall that back in 2015, Harvey himself was behind a similarly high-profile mix-up when he accidentally declared Miss Colombia the winner of the Miss Universe pageant; he had to sheepishly return to the stage to admit his mistake, take away the crown, and give it to the true victor, Miss Philippines.

    At the 2017 Oscars, as mayhem unfolded on stage, host Jimmy Kimmel quipped that he “blame[d] Steve Harvey” for the mix-up, a nod to Harvey’s previous goof-up. But Harvey said that as he was watching at home, he immediately knew his mistake was officially overshadowed.

    Here’s how the comedian explained it to THR:

    ” … I probably knew what had happened before anybody else — ’cause I saw the panic-stricken look on the producer’s face. When he walked out there and snatched that card out of Warren’s hand, that’s when I knew redemption was mine. I was finally off the hook. Yeah, OK, I had to live that down: “Oh, how could he,” “That’s a bonehead,” “Nobody’s ever done that in the history of Miss Universe.” But the Oscars is the biggest night in Hollywood, and when they did it, I lit a cigar and drank a glass of scotch and celebrated. I was free! Thank you, God!”

    THR’s story takes a deep-dive into the event, looking into the small mistakes that led up to the night’s big disaster, as well as how the Academy handled the fallout. PwC accountant Brian Cullinan, allegedly distracted by Twitter, was eventually identified as the person who goofed up and handed presenters Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty the wrong envelope — causing Dunaway to incorrectly declare “La La Land” the winner over true victor “Moonlight” — and according to THR, he received threats and had to be assigned a security detail.

    But Harvey told the trade that that was nothing compared to the wrath he faced from his own error.

    “Oh nah, the dude at Pricewaterhouse — he ain’t endured nothing,” the comedian said. “See, the mistake I made was against a country named Colombia. They have some people down there — they are in a different business — so when you get threats, you gotta take it a little bit differently.”

    At least Harvey appears to be breathing easy now.

    Meanwhile, the 90th Oscars are set for this coming Sunday, March 4, on ABC, and the Academy has a bunch of new rules in place to prevent another disaster like last year’s. We’ll be eagerly tuning in to see if everything works out.

    [via: The Hollywood Reporter, h/t Vulture]

  • Oscars 2018: Academy Reveals New Rules to Avoid Another Best Picture Mix-Up

    It will be years before anyone forgets the epic snafu that ended last year’s Oscars telecast, in which “La La Land” was accidentally declared the Best Picture winner over true victor “Moonlight,” before producers realized that the presenters had been given the wrong envelope. The Academy certainly hasn’t forgotten, and has introduced a detailed new set of rules about how those envelopes are handled, in an effort to stave off any future mix-ups.

    In an interview with The Associated Press, PwC chairman and senior partner Tim Ryan revealed the safeguards that the accounting firm and the Academy will now follow at this year’s ceremony. It all comes down to having more checks and balances in place, Ryan explained.

    The changes include having a third person from PwC — who has an extra set of envelopes, and has also memorized the winners — sitting in the show’s production control room, so they can monitor the proceedings and immediately notify someone if something is amiss. Two other PwC employees will remain on either side of the stage (though not the same ones from last year, obviously), and each will have a set of envelopes, as well as memorize the winners.

    To prevent last year’s exact mix-up (a PwC employee, allegedly distracted by Twitter, gave presenters Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty the Best Actress envelope instead of the Best Picture envelope), the PwC rep will now check with the presenter and a stage manager to make sure the presenter has the correct envelope before stepping out on stage. All three PwC reps will attend rehearsals for the ceremony, and practice protocol for what to do if an error occurs (something that definitely wasn’t done before, based on last year’s chaos). And they are banned from using their phones or social media during the telecast.

    “Our singular focus will be on the show and delivering the correct envelopes,” Ryan told the AP.

    Academy president Dawn Hudson said that she was satisfied with the new rules, and confident that this year’s ceremony would run smoothly.

    “Let me tell you, I don’t think this error will ever happen again or would happen again,” Hudson told the AP. “We put in a lot of protocols to make sure it won’t, but I don’t think it will anyway. I think everyone will be very focused on getting that right.”

    We’ll keep our fingers crossed that she’s correct. (Though honestly, we wouldn’t be totally disappointed if she’s wrong. We’re already anticipating the memes.)

    [via: The Associated Press]

  • Two Accountants in Best Picture Mistake Won’t Work For Oscars Again

    89th Annual Academy Awards - Red CarpetThe two accountants responsible for the Best Picture mistake at Sunday night’s Oscars will not be working with the awards show again, according to The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

    PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Brian Cullinan, who gave the wrong envelope to presenter Warren Beatty, and colleague Martha Ruiz will no longer be involved with the Oscars, said Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs. The decision does not affect their employment at PWC.

    More details have come to light about the mistake, which led to Beatty’s co-presenter Faye Dunaway declaring “La La Land” the winner, when in actuality, “Moonlight” won Best Picture. Cullinan was named as the accountant who gave the wrong envelope — Best Actress instead of Best Picture — to Beatty.

    The two accountants carry identical sets of envelopes and stand on opposite sides of the stage, and Ruiz had given Leonardo DiCaprio her Best Actress envelope. Photos show him holding two envelopes as Beatty waited to go on stage, and moments later, tweeting a picture of Emma Stone (since deleted).

    PWC released statements both Sunday evening and Monday taking full responsibility for the flub. Boone said the Academy’s relationship with PWC remains under review.

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  • 34 Funniest Twitter Reactions to Oscars 2017

    34 Funniest Twitter Reactions to Oscars 2017

  • Oscars 2017 Voter Knocks Emma Stone’s Singing and Dancing, Mel Gibson ‘Not Worthy’ of Nomination

    La La LandWith the Oscars set to hand out awards this Sunday, anonymous voters are coming out of the woodwork to say what they really thought of this year’s nominees.

    Earlier, one voter called Meryl Streep’s “Florence Foster Jenkins” performance “like a clown.” Now, a second voter has come forward to The Hollywood Reporter with his or her ballot choices.

    For Best Picture, the voter “just loved ‘Moonlight,’” and said director Barry Jenkins “is really a poet.” And unlike the first voter, this one thought “Arrival” was “terrific.”

    In the acting categories, Voter No. 2 didn’t think much of “La La Land” stars Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, calling the former’s performance not Oscar-worthy and criticizing the latter’s singing and dancing. “She’s not Cyd Charisse or Debbie Reynolds, you know?”

    The voter also did not believe Mel Gibson deserving of a nomination for directing “Hacksaw Ridge.” “IHe’s a talented director, but he wasn’t worthy of a nomination for this movie,” he or she said, adding, “And I say that totally apart from my personal feelings about him, which aren’t supposed to factor in here — although he certainly harbors some prejudices that I don’t like and I wouldn’t want to have him over for dinner or to marry my daughter.”

    The Oscars air this Sunday, Feb. 26 on ABC. Here’s the full list of nominations.

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  • Jimmy Kimmel Also Wanted a ‘Deadpool’ Best Picture Nomination

    Ryan Reynolds isn’t the only one who was bummed that “Deadpool” didn’t earn any Oscar nominations. In addition to Jake Gyllenhaal, who recently made the case for why Reynolds should have earned a Best Actor nod, none other than Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel himself has also declared that the flick deserved some love from the Academy.

    In an interview with Variety timed to his big hosting gig this coming weekend (not that Kimmel is putting any sort of pressure on himself or anything), the emcee said he thought “Deadpool” should have been among the nominees for the night’s biggest honor.

    “I would have liked to have seen ‘Deadpool’ get nominated,” Kimmel told Variety. “I do think there’s a certain type of movie that’s not considered for awards. It’s a shame, because there’s nothing serious about the movies; they’re an escape.”

    The host added that he thought the omission came down to two main issues: A certain type of film being perennially ignored, and voters taking their jobs a little bit too seriously.

    “I think comedies are also underappreciated,” Kimmel told the trade. “There’s maybe too much gravity applied to the nomination process.”

    It’s nothing new to see genre films go unrecognized by the Academy; after all, the inspiration to expand the Best Picture category from five to up to 10 features was directly inspired by the 2009 snub of “The Dark Knight.” And the fact that films that earn accolades from audiences — but not necessarily critics — have been repeatedly underrepresented has many pundits annually proclaiming that the Oscars are irrelevant and out of touch.

    This issue won’t be resolved overnight, but when the host of the show is voicing similar opinions, perhaps the Academy will finally start to listen.

    [via: Variety]

  • 7 Reasons You Should Watch the 2017 Oscars

    7 Reasons You Should Watch the 2017 Oscars

  • Morgan Freeman Psyches Out Jimmy Kimmel in Oscars 2017 Promo

    jimmy kimmel, morgan freeman, oscars, oscars 2017, promoThe Oscars are one of the most-watched events on television every year, reaching millions of viewers across the globe, and with all of that attention comes a lot of pressure, both to please the folks watching at home, as well as the A-listers attending the show. And this year’s host of the telecast, Jimmy Kimmel, is certainly feeling the heat in a new promo for the awards show.

    In the clip, shared by the Academy on its official Twitter account, Kimmel is getting ready for his big gig as Oscar winner Morgan Freeman narrates what’s meant to be an empowering pep talk. But things quickly go off the rails, as Freeman predicts that the host has “an opportunity to be the toast of the town — or a chance to bomb so fantastically, everywhere he goes, people will say, ‘Look at Sucky Sucko.’”

    There have been plenty of examples of emcees failing to connect with audiences over the years, though based on Kimmel’s well-reviewed Emmys hosting stint last fall (which reportedly snagged him the Oscars job), we have a feeling he’ll do just fine come Oscar Sunday. And even if he doesn’t, at least he got to hear Morgan Freeman call him “Sucky Sucko,” which must have been a delightful (if slightly demoralizing) experience.

    The Oscars are set for February 26 on ABC.

    [via: The Academy/Twitter]

  • Oscars 2017: Justin Timberlake, John Legend Singing, But Not ‘La La Land’ Stars

    Trolls Australian Premiere - ArrivalsThe performers who gave voice to the year’s Best Original Song Academy Award nominees are set to appear at the ceremony — except for the two leads of Oscars frontrunner “La La Land.”

    Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling will not perform “City of Stars” and “Audition (The Fools Who Dream).” Instead, fellow cast member John Legend will step in to sing both songs.

    Stone and Gosling are nominated for Best Actress and Best Actor, so it’s not a huge surprise that they won’t bring their respective ballads to life. Meanwhile, Justin Timberlake will sing “Can’t Stop the Feeling!,” the feel-good pop number from the animated movie “Trolls.” Sting will croon “The Empty Chair” from documentary “Jim: The James Foley Story.” And Auli’i Cravalho will perform “How Far I’ll Go” from “Moana,” joined by Lin-Manuel Miranda, who penned the tune.

    “We’re thrilled to welcome these world-class artists to the Oscars,” producers Michael De Luca and Jennifer Todd said in a statement. “These performances will not only celebrate the five extraordinary nominated original songs, but also the integral part music plays in movies.”

    The Oscars ceremony airs Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. on ABC.

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