Patterico's Pontifications

8/8/2018

Hollywood Leftists Throw a Bone to the Yokels in Flyover Country

Filed under: General — JVW @ 7:37 pm



[guest post by JVW]

The Motion Picture Academy of America, the folks who bring you the cringeworthy orgy of self-congratulation known as the Academy Awards Ceremony, have announced plans to institute a new “Best Popular Picture” Oscar at some as-of-yet undetermined time down the road. This would of course allow Star Wars: Revenge of the Merchandising Division and Avengers 6: Everybody Gets Rich to win awards that otherwise go to arthouse films with arch titles such as The Nothingness of Everything or Snails: an Unexpected Pansexual Love Story. The creation of a popular picture category is a pretty obvious ploy to address the awards show’s declining television ratings while ignoring the two larger reasons for the decline, namely the penchant of the Hollywood elite to nominate movies that appeal to whatever social justice diktat is in vogue and their obnoxious insistence on hectoring us with their putrid politics from the awards podium. Somehow I still don’t envision the average American movie viewer being willing to sit through three hours of televised drek just for that moment when The Fantastic Four Versus the Justice League: This Time Shit’s for Real collects its statue.

This move has already elicited howls of derision from just about everyone with special scorn coming from the progressive gentry and the artsy-fartsy left in particular. This decision is already evoking memories of the move nearly a decade ago to expand the number of best picture nominees from five to a more robust ten, which ostensibly was about getting some of the box office smashes into the mix. But given the plunging ratings for the show, one can’t help but see this new category as a typically ham-fisted measure from the entertainment elite to try to broaden their appeal to people for whom they largely hold a non-unsubstantial measure of contempt. Under the theory that no one in Tucumcari or Cedar Rapids or Allentown wants to see if the tender coming-of-age story of a schoolboy being seduced by a young adult wins out over a Cold War allegory pertaining to our present-day treatment of immigrants or the timely and inspiring story of plucky newspaper people vexing a Republican administration, the Academy will now throw a bone to the unwashed rubes by letting some special effects bonanza — you know, the kind of movie that you actually pay to see in the movie theater rather than waiting until it is available on Netflix — have a moment of glory. That is of course after the show host, likely chosen because he or she fully represents an iron-clad commitment to the trendy progressive politics of wealthy airheads, has finished a hearty round of woke virtue signaling from deep within the entertainment bubble.

One last interesting tidbit: the article announcing the new categories also mentions that starting in 2020 the Oscars will be moved up a couple of weeks on the calendar to February 9. That is exactly one week after the NFL’s giant trademarked game, so on consecutive February Sundays we will have the most overhyped and ridiculous sports spectacle followed by the most overhyped and ridiculous showbiz spectacle. I guess I will be free to make other plans both of those evenings if anybody would like to go bowling or sing barbershop quartet.

– JVW

81 Responses to “Hollywood Leftists Throw a Bone to the Yokels in Flyover Country”

  1. Left unsaid is how they will determine what constitutes a “Popular Picture.”

    JVW (42615e)

  2. That’s actually about 6 weeks in a row of gaudy spectacle, seeing as the Golden Globes, SAG, Grammys and NBA all-star game are usually slotted between MLK and Presidents Day as well.

    urbanleftbehind (07ab46)

  3. That’s actually about 6 weeks in a row of gaudy spectacle, seeing as the Golden Globes, SAG, Grammys and NBA all-star game are usually slotted between MLK and Presidents Day as well.

    Ugh. I’m going to start wintering in Bora Bora.

    JVW (42615e)

  4. The solution is simple: don’t watch.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  5. One last interesting tidbit: the article announcing the new categories also mentions that starting in 2020 the Oscars will be moved up a couple of weeks on the calendar to February 9. That is exactly one week after the NFL’s giant trademarked game, so on consecutive February Sundays we will have the most overhyped and ridiculous sports spectacle followed by the most overhyped and ridiculous showbiz spectacle.

    Actually, that’s an ‘inside baseball’ play; the trade organizations pressure for more calendar time to ‘campaign’ for nominees in their respective categories.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  6. I can’t think of anything to say that’s not mean or at best grumpy. I think you need the kind of people who have Facebook pages to “do justice” to this kind of post, JVW.

    nk (dbc370)

  7. No coincidence whatsoever that Black Panther qualifies for this coming year and the new “popular” category is created now.

    This is alllll about ensuring a “best picture” nomination for that film. No way could AMPAS survive the backlash if this movie were to somehow not have been nominated.

    Dumbing down? It’s the American way.

    I happen to think Panther is a phenomenal movie and well merits a traditional Oscar for Best Picture. Now, whether it wins one or both Oscars, the achievement will be cheapened.

    Ed from SFV (6d42fa)

  8. I can’t think of anything to say that’s not mean or at best grumpy.

    We encourage mean and grumpy on these sorts of posts, nk.

    JVW (42615e)

  9. Actually, I agree with Ed from SFV. I also think it’s about Black Panther. They just had a Black Panther (the movie not the group) convention in Chicago that made the news. I’d like to see a survey of how many people think that Wakanda is a real place. Or that Vibranium is a real element.

    Personally, my favorite Black Panther scene is from a Deadpool comic. The Black Panther tries to bully Deadpool in the Avengers building and Deadpool says: “Bad kitty!” And that’s when the fight starts.

    nk (dbc370)

  10. Well wade had great healing powers, but t challa has extraordinary abilities, Steve Rogers seems to beat then pcild in the films

    narciso (d1f714)

  11. They are flailing, the ratings continue to drop and they see that if people only leave the house to see action-mega movies, they better take advantage of the marketing opportunity.

    They are also shunting the minor awards off the telecast, it’s no longer about all the people who make the movies and the specialities they represent but the people who represent the movies in the public eye.

    Haven’t watched for more than a few minutes in years. Would not surprise me at all if they were gone in the next 20 years.

    harkin (096d35)

  12. I hope that all producers affiliated with artsy, tedious, didactic and otherwise unsuccessful movies boycott this shameful award.

    Kevin M (5d3e49)

  13. Or that Vibranium is a real element

    It’s right before Unobtanium on the periodic table. Just past element 120.

    Kevin M (5d3e49)

  14. Here’s a strategy that might work: An MC that made jokes at the expense of Academy members and Hollywood tropes, who cheered America and who thought that the movie going public was generally right.

    Kevin M (5d3e49)

  15. Adamantium is,supposed to be of alien origin as well, then again that they killed off ligan

    Narciso (ea5941)

  16. “And, for the award for most tedious documentary, we have Al Gore and Michael Moore. Now, many of you have seen the Ferrari out in the lobby. The star who most closely guesses the combined weight of our two presenters, without going over, will win that car for the homeless person of their choice!”

    Kevin M (5d3e49)

  17. Yes, because elements are different in space.

    Kevin M (5d3e49)

  18. Bet you Logan comes back. Fifty bucks.

    Kevin M (5d3e49)

  19. Probably, now that thanos I mean feige has taken it back from fox,

    Narciso (ea5941)

  20. I can’t think of anything to say that’s not mean or at best grumpy.

    What else is new, nk?

    Tillman (d34303)

  21. Well it’s either that or magic.

    Narciso (ea5941)

  22. Probably, now that thanos I mean feige has taken it back from fox,

    They’ve just (today) relaunched the Fantastic Four comic, which they cancelled shortly before the last Fox fiasco. I expect a movie soon.

    Kevin M (5d3e49)

  23. The Big Island, JVW.

    mg (9e54f8)

  24. teenage bondage cheerleaders now has a chance to win an oscar!

    wendell (e63133)

  25. Nobody’s meaner than yo mama, Tillman. She gave birth to you.

    nk (dbc370)

  26. I don’t run the Hollywood numbers, so I have no idea about the utility of more awards for the movies themselves. I am puzzled, though, why the ratings of the Oscars matter so darn much to the Academy and its membership. There’s no way that show can be anything but boring and too long. And the point of the awards is winning the awards — not to put on a really swell variety show (a format that is some 40-50 years out of date).

    Appalled (96665e)

  27. Black Panther might be pulling a Don Newcombe. The Cy Young Award was created to give pitchers an award considered peer to the MVP (they had been getting short dheift) for the 1956 season- Brooklyn P Newcombe won both the MVP and the Cy Young.

    urbanleftbehind (07ab46)

  28. Wesley Snipes (Blade the vampire hunter is also from Marvel) wanted to do a Black Panther movie about twenty years ago, but he could not get the Hollywood fat cats to understand that he was not talking about the domestic terrorist group.

    nk (dbc370)

  29. Mario van peebles had done a film based on his fathers script, where the panthers were the innocent victims of the bureau and the mob, a few years before that

    narciso (d1f714)

  30. And, on that point, the intellect of Hollywood, the mean and grumpy comment I did not leave last night was that this is not necessarily “a bone to the yokels in flyover country”. It’s so that the members of AMPAS can finally vote on a movie that they, themselves, have seen.

    nk (dbc370)

  31. Yes, because elements are different in space.

    We need a big, beautiful wall in space around the entire earth, to keep out “alien elements”.

    And the Martians will pay for it, believe me.

    Dave (445e97)

  32. The theory is elements formed in a red or blue star would be different than those from a yellow one.

    Narciso (033b89)

  33. I don’t run the Hollywood numbers, so I have no idea about the utility of more awards for the movies themselves. I am puzzled, though, why the ratings of the Oscars matter so darn much to the Academy and its membership. There’s no way that show can be anything but boring and too long. And the point of the awards is winning the awards — not to put on a really swell variety show (a format that is some 40-50 years out of date).

    Good points.

    The real purpose of the awards is adding revenue potential to the nominated and winning films, I would think. Maintaining an aura of glitzy hype around the awards ceremony, so that people care about who wins, probably contributes to the effectiveness of that.

    Rather than “Best Popular Picture,” I would have suggested something like “Most Entertaining Picture”. I think this is a reasonable distinction from “Best Picture” for films which aim to be more creative or artistic. Blockbuster films like “Titanic” or “The Return of the King” might still be nominated for (and win) both.

    Dave (445e97)

  34. I can’t think of anything to say that’s not mean or at best grumpy.

    When has that ever stopped you before? 🙂

    Dave (445e97)

  35. Tillman beat you to it. And now I owe Haiku an apology.

    nk (dbc370)

  36. I am puzzled, though, why the ratings of the Oscars matter so darn much to the Academy and its membership.

    I think ABC pays a pretty penny to televise this trashy spectacle, and that money probably helps keep dues low and allows them to have lavish parties and to build their little museum. This article suggests that ABC reaps about $120 million in ad revenue for an Oscar telecast, so the Academy is probably getting a significant chunk of that dough.

    JVW (42615e)

  37. if their ratings are increasingly more selective, how can that help, cover one eye and pretend?

    narciso (d1f714)

  38. This article suggests that ABC reaps about $120 million in ad revenue for an Oscar telecast, so the Academy is probably getting a significant chunk of that dough.

    That’s interesting, although the rates quoted are only about double what they might earn from “regular” prime-time advertising.

    According to this article the studios spend $100-150M on “campaign” ads every year. If so, there must be a substantially bigger pile of money in play than just the $120M in ad revenue from the ceremony telecast.

    Dave (445e97)

  39. The Black Panther movie had a fair piece of bobbles and holes in it that kept it down from ‘great’ to just ‘good’ – specifically a lackluster non-dynamic final fight. Man-Ape rescued the film.

    But we got to see T’Challa on Black Jeopardy, and that was well worth it.

    Ingot9455 (7ff01c)

  40. Bet you Logan comes back. Fifty bucks.

    Logan is back in the comics, as Old Man Logan, trying to change the dystopic future he was sent to when he “died”, and already paired with Deadpool in four released digital issues and a fifth out in print but still in digital embargo.

    nk (dbc370)

  41. The daily mail, worked out a timeliness between two alternate universes the time when Logan doesn’t go back that ends in future past, with x men and when he does which ends with Logan

    narciso (d1f714)

  42. Watching an umpire extract a Star Trek-sized bug out of his ear during the game… if that’s not Hollywood, I don’t know what is…

    Colonel Haiku (b5bc8f)

  43. Actually it was the express, so in one time line it’s days booked ended, with x men in the middle, in another this never happened so the story ends with logan, preceded by dark Phoenix and new mutants

    Narciso (b3c80a)

  44. once you really understand that all these actresses were raped at one time or another it really changes the viewing experience

    happyfeet (12e381)

  45. Tell me if this link works. https://i.annihil.us/u/prod/marvel/i/mg/4/50/589a44b869b73/clean.jpg Don’t be afraid to click it, it’s even nicer than it says.

    nk (dbc370)

  46. The UNambiguously Gay Duo!!!

    Colonel Haiku (b5bc8f)

  47. I think it’s adorable!

    nk (dbc370)

  48. I am puzzled, though, why the ratings of the Oscars matter so darn much to the Academy and its membership.

    The broadcast rights brings in a nice chunk of change to AMPAS and the ad revenue is sweet for the carrier even w/audience decline in the U.S., but it is a worldwide telecast and w/new media platforms, that reach continues to expand. The boxoffice revenue from overseas for American films is huge so a sluggish film stateside can be a big moneymaker elsewhere. Industry insiders attending/preparing for the telecast will tell you it’s a genuine PITA to prep for- especially for women- and Oscar’s only real claim to fame is it’s the oldest of the awards venues. Can relate from profession experience that AMPAS is astonishingly anal about their image, too. OTOH, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS) is more free-wheeling about Emmy. Years ago had a chance to buy an old production Oscar from the mid-30s at a flea market overseas. Seller only wanted $150 for it but didn’t have the cash on hand at the time. We figured it was hot.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  49. I think it’s adorable!
    nk (dbc370) — 8/10/2018 @ 10:17 am

    Does your grandfather know that you are on his computer?

    felipe (023cc9)

  50. i watched Rampage with rocky rock in it this weekend

    it was terrible but he looked fabulous and i loved how it had Chicago all up in it but they kept bouncing around downtown in nonsensical ways

    he should be on his knees begging for a marvel universe role

    … just to be a part of history (let’s be real his oeuvre is suck ass lame and ephemeral)

    hello

    vin diesel’s made a more significant cinematic mark

    i’m thinking rocky rock would be an awesome namor, him being a pacific islander and all, but that would mean they’d need to finally get the fantastic four right

    which is possible now that disney owns fox

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  51. Better than Jason momoa and aquaman, you can see the train wreck from herem

    narciso (d1f714)

  52. jason has never had any actual talent, and he’s married to a pothead so his physique is gonna go by the wayside faster than people who don’t marry trash

    he’s played his cards very well

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  53. Same sex zoophilia. Hollywood is getting weirder and weirder.

    Or maybe not. Did you know that just about all the famous animal actors were trannies? Lassie was a boy; Mr. Ed, Benji and Cheetah were girls.

    nk (dbc370)

  54. trannies make people uncomfortable

    it’s their thing what they do (self-mutilators)

    but speaking of trannies

    here’s an interesting clip about omarosa

    it rings true

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  55. Well stargate atlantis on one side( notice a theme) Conan on the other, he was also in some Hawaii series with Michael biehn?

    narciso (d1f714)

  56. his only claim to fame is GOT

    and he got killed off faster than the shaved-head guy in walkingdead

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  57. REPORT: Poisonous dust from 9/11 attack has given almost 10,000 New Yorkers cancer…

    jesus effing catholic christ am i the only pika what took statistics

    (senorita mas fina)

    (so blind i can’t see)

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  58. Anyone who got politically offended by The Shape of Water needs therapy. Lighten up, Frances(‘)

    Leviticus (6c983c)

  59. Mr. Ed, Benji and Cheetah were girls.

    Bamboo Harvester, the horse who “played” Mr. Ed, was a gelding. He was born a colt.

    Chuck Bartowski (211c17)

  60. Francis(‘)(?)

    Leviticus (6c983c)

  61. water should be shaped inoffensively

    and you know what if you think it should be shaped offensively that’s fine

    (freedom of thought)

    but we’re gonna have to cancel your twitter

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  62. I liked crimson peak, del toros attempt at Victorian gothic, he’s an inventive sort.

    Narciso (d1f714)

  63. The creature is a variation on one of Hellboy associates from bphd

    Narciso (d1f714)

  64. The toxic aqualinity of “teh Shape of Water” was off-putting…

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  65. That’s very cromulent coronello,

    Narciso (d1f714)

  66. Momoa’s like 50 yrs old anyway, seeing as he was in one of the latter Baywatch iterations. Bonet is just plain overrated, but her tribe is numerous (Black w Russian New, among them her ex Kravitz, Jasmine Guy and Drake).

    urbanleftbehind (847a06)

  67. Well he’s only 39, maybe time machine.

    Narciso (d1f714)

  68. bobby mule-mule is decades older but so so much more trashy

    he’s fbi trashy (std trashy)

    and his cougar-trash wife omg

    look at all her diseases

    her diseases all up in it

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  69. I don’t joke about Mueller, he’s like a season story arc on the blacklist, Boston back ruby ridge anthrax alpac, he carries bad juju

    Narciso (d1f714)

  70. yeah but fbi slicked-up-anal-passage robert mueller and his overheated slicked-up cougar wife have to live with themselves over shuffleboard and ruby tuesday lettuce wraps for the rest of their trashy-assed perverted fbi violated-hole lives

    (trashy dumpster-c-words)

    (violated all up in it)

    (oh god so violated please make it stop it hurts it hurts)

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  71. Bamboo Harvester, the horse who “played” Mr. Ed, was a gelding.

    Thank you, Chuck. That’s what I get for getting my information from Deadpool.

    nk (dbc370)

  72. lol tranny-ass marine slut-boy robert mueller exemplifies his almost mccain-like lack of integrity and cowardice

    Defense Secretary James Mattis on Sunday offered his support for the Trump administration’s proposed “Space Force,” and defended his stance after having urged lawmakers to oppose it a year ago.

    lol yeah i wanna put on a uniform and serve under this slut

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  73. ffs

    what side is this opposed to button on

    help me

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  74. You wouldn’t measure up pikachu.

    Narciso (d1f714)

  75. n-word please

    all the us military trash has on me is a surfeit of tattoos (neck and face included) and a documented relationship with a “step-mom”

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  76. lol cousin j i love you

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  77. The June 2016 Trump Tower meeting between high-ranking members of the Republican presidential campaign staff and a Russian lawyer with Kremlin ties remains the cornerstone of claims that Donald Trump colluded with Russia to steal the election.

    A growing body of evidence, however, indicates that the meeting may have been a setup — part of a broad effort to tarnish the Trump campaign involving Hillary Clinton operatives employed by Kremlin-linked figures and Department of Justice officials. This view, that the real collusion may have taken place among those who arranged the meeting rather than the Trump officials who agreed to attend it, is supported by two disparate lines of evidence pulled together for the first time here: newly released records and a pattern of efforts to connect the Trump campaign to Russia.

    and dirty fbi knob-jobber bobby mueller is part of the cover-up

    not a good look bobby

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  78. Well besides miss veseltniakaya getting a special visa, then there’s the matter of akhmetshins wife being a,Ukrainian Intel officer, in contact with miss chalupa.

    Narciso (9b1133)

  79. FBI fires Strzok after anti-Trump texts

    pretty embarrassing for the dirty dirty FBI huh

    happyfeet (28a91b)


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