Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Oscars 2018: Do We Live in the World’s Greatest Age of Performing Talent?

 

 

By Nicholas Stix

Yesterday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences released the names of all 2018 Oscar nominees.

Surprisingly, The Hollywood Reporter, which published the nominees’ names, permitted readers to comment, and as yet does not use Facebook censorware, which is programmed to block untold numbers of dissidents, including yours truly.

(Don't get me wrong. I'm not talking high-tech "algorithms," which I never believed. As I learned in 2000, during my travails with the Amazon Politburo, the apparatchiki simply punch in each name in turn, and sabotage or completely block his inputs, upvotes, etc. There is no algorithm, except for censored words. "Algorithms" was just a cover story invented, I believe by Google, to make its censorship seem impersonal.)

As a result, numerous people posted politically unacceptable comments, while other commenters denounced them as racist.
 

David • 16 hours ago
Someone like Octavia Spencer has more nominations than Gary Oldman. Good Lord.
 

HoneyPot to David • 15 hours ago
3 Negative comments all about people of color. Got it.
 

Marci Kelemen to David • 14 hours ago

“Shut the hell up. Octavia Spencer is perfectly deserving of all of her nominations & awards. :)”
 

N.S. to Marci Kelemen

No, you shut the hell up. [Postscript, 4:29 a.m.: Did I miss sarcasm in her comment?]
 

N.S. to HoneyPot

“3 Negative comments all about people of color. Got it.”

I think it is so righteous of you to show zero tolerance towards a colorless person for speaking less than slavishly about any person of color. You’re my role model!
 

Some of the greatest performers in movie history never got so much as a nomination, while other greats were nominated but never won.

Joseph Cotten (Citizen Kane, Shadow of a Doubt, Portrait of Jennie and The Third Man): No nominations.

Ward Bond (Three Godfathers, The Searchers, etc.): No nominations.

Joel McCrea: (Ride the High Country, Sullivan’s Travels, etc.): No nominations.

Fred MacMurray (Double Indemnity, The Caine Mutiny, The Apartment): No nominations.

Dana Andrews (Laura, The Best Years of Our Lives): No nominations.

Myrna Loy: (The Thin Man, The Best Years of Our Lives, etc.): No nominations. (Had to settle for an honorary Oscar.)

Maureen O'Hara: (How Green was My Valley, Miracle on 34th Street, The Quiet Man): No nominations. (Had to settle for an honorary Oscar.)

Mickey Rooney: Two Best Actor nominations, and two Best Supporting Actor nominations; no Oscars. (Had to settle for an honorary Oscar.)

Irene Dunne: Five Best Actress nominations; no Oscars. (No even an honorary Oscar!)

Montgomery Clift: Three Best Actor nominations, and one Best Supporting Actor nomination; no Oscars.

Barbara Stanwyck: Four Best Actress nominations; no Oscars. (Had to settle for an honorary Oscar.)

Cary Grant: Two Best Actor nominations; no Oscars. (Had to settle for an honorary Oscar.)

Jean Arthur: (Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, etc.): One Best Actress nomination; no Oscars. (No honorary Oscar, either!)

Judy Garland: (The Wizard of Oz, Meet Me in St. Louis, etc.): One Best Actress and one Best Supporting Actress nomination; no Oscars. (The Academy gave he a special “Juvenile Award” for The Wizard of Oz.)

Marlene Dietrich: (Witness for the Prosecution, Judgment at Nuremberg): One Best Actress nomination; no Oscars.

Peter O’Toole: Eight Best Actor nominations; no Oscars. (Had to settle for an honorary Oscar.)

Max von Sydow: (The Seventh Seal, Hour of the Wolf, Hannah and Her Sisters, etc.): One Best Actor nomination; no Oscars.

Gunnar Björnstrand: (Smiles of a Summer Night, The Seventh Seal, etc.): No nominations.

Richard Burton: Six Best Actor nominations, and one Best Supporting Actor nomination; no Oscars.

Deborah Kerr: Six Best Actress nominations; no Oscars. (Had to settle for an honorary Oscar.)

Doris Day: One Best Actress nomination; no Oscars. (She’s still alive. Why hasn’t the Academy given her an honorary Oscar? Rhetorical question—she’s hideously white! Besides, feminists have waged war on her for years, even though the sort of roles she played—career women, even when they had a husband and kids—should have made her a feminist heroine.)

Roger Livesey: (The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, The Entertainer): No nominations.

Peter Lorre: (M, The Man Who Knew too Much, The Maltese Falcon): No nominations.

Leslie Banks: (The Man Who Knew too Much, The Most Dangerous Game): No nominations.

Van Johnson: (Battleground, The Caine Mutiny): No nominations.(No honorary Oscar, either.)

Gene Kelly: (An American in Paris, Singin’ in the Rain): No nominations. (Had to settle for an honorary Oscar.)

Bruno Kirby (When Harry Met Sally, City Slickers): No nominations.

Orson Welles (The Third Man, The Stranger, and Touch of Evil): one nomination for Best Actor; no acting Oscars. (Welles won an undeserved Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for Citizen Kane, to which he contributed nix. Herman Mankiewicz wrote the script without any help from Welles.)
 

The inescapable conclusion is that Octavia Spencer is a greater performer than all of the people I cited. We may presently live in a Golden Age to put the ancient Greeks to shame. After all, there are over 320 million residents in America. The numbers can’t possibly lie. Viva diversity! Viva people of black!




8 comments:

  1. GRA:I nominate the blacks of Grand Rapids for "best murderers of January".Another one last night near my residence, makes 6 (including suburb city Wyoming's).Though no ID yet,the odds are high of his race.
    GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A deadly shooting on Grand Rapids’ West Side Tuesday marks the city’s fifth homicide of the year.

    The homicides span over two weeks, with most of the cases still being unsolved. Police have not released information to indicate any of the cases are connected.

    Related Coverage
    GRPD: Man killed in shooting; no arrests
    Death of man in GR deemed homicide; victim ID’d
    GRPD pleads for tips after woman, 2-year-old fatally shot
    The most recent homicide of 2018 happened on Tuesday, Jan. 23 outside a home in the 1100 block of Second Street NW near Garfield Avenue. Police found a man, who has not yet been identified, with multiple gunshot. He was taken to the hospital where he later died. Investigators have not yet released a suspect description.
    --GR Anonymous

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  2. Did you do a write up about Van Johnson following his death that discussed his part in the Caine Mutiny? If so can you republish it?

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  3. Btw,WOODTV,in its idiocy,dares ask the question,"Why all the murders?"
    Simple math:More blacks=more murders
    More Mex=more murders
    More blacks and Mex=more drugs and more OD's and murders.
    Class dismissed.
    Unfortunately,no blog site on WOOD anymore,to educate them.
    --GRA

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  4. Futther details on last nights murder near my house in Grand Rapids

    The Grand Rapids Police Department said officers were called to that area after getting a 911 call reporting a shooting. Once on scene, they found a man with multiple gunshot wounds. He was rushed to the hospital, where he died around 11 p.m.

    GRPD has not yet identified the victim.

    The shooter took off on foot headed north(toward my area) police said. A K-9 was not able to find that person. A suspect description was not immediately available as investigators interviewed neighbors and possible witnesses.

    GRPD said the shooting doesn’t appear to have been random; it looks like the victim was targeted. Due to the number of gunshot wounds, police said they are treating the investigation as a homicide. At this time, investigators don’t believe the death is connected to any previous homicide investigations. The general public is not believed to be at risk.
    GRA:This city is the black thugs oyster.They meander and shuffle where ever they want,complain about racism,traffic stops being overdone against blacks,police abuse of minorities,yet nothing is said by black groups,such as the NAACP,during crime sprees like this,to suggest that black citizens help the process of finding the murderous black thugs.But we hear nothing.And that's why the blacks deserve what they get.
    --GR Anonymous

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  5. who in their right mind would nominat octavia?

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  6. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  7. MEX ARRESTED FOR SHOOTING BLACK
    GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A suspect has been arrested for the Tuesday shooting death of a teen on Grand Rapids’ West Side, police say.

    Vicente Rodriguez-Ortiz faces charges of open murder, felony firearm, felonious assault, and domestic assault and battery, according to the Grand Rapids Police Department.


    The shooting happened around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday along Second Street NW near Garfield Avenue. The victim, identified Wednesday as 17-year-old Andre Hawkins of Grand Rapids, was shot multiple times.

    Rodriguez-Ortiz, 22, was arrested Wednesday afternoon in the 1000 block of Bridge Street NW, less than four blocks from the scene of the homicide. GRPD says he tried to flee officers and they used a K-9 to stop him. He was hospitalized for treatment of a K-9 bite, after which he’ll be jailed.

    The homicide was the city’s fifth of the year.GRA:(Six,counting the one b a r e l y out of the GR city limits.Wonder how they get domestic assault charges on this crime?Was someone else(a female) injured?No word of that yet.Anyways,a Mex off the street for killing a black(I'm assuming,no pic yet of the deceased).
    --GR Anonymous

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  8. This is the Age of Octavia. It's her world; we just live here. And we are obliged to give her continuous standing ovations, or be accused of being "white supremacists."

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