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Possible "Benjamin Button" Snub Proves Oscars Hate Science Fiction

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lawyergay
01/13/09

In reply to Possible "Benjamin Button" Snub Proves Oscars Hate Science Fiction
Interestingly, The Curious Case of Benjamin's Butthole swept the Grabbys this year.
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Pegritz
01/12/09

In reply to Possible "Benjamin Button" Snub Proves Oscars Hate Science Fiction
Benjamin Button isn't sci-fi. Not even remotely.
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Charlie Jane Anders
01/13/09

@Pegritz: What do you think it is then?
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Slatz_Grobnik
01/12/09

In reply to Possible "Benjamin Button" Snub Proves Oscars Hate Science Fiction
Next up: the Academy strikes all the movies from the list, because they use this acting-enhancer known as 'makeup.' Apparently, many stars are now using 'makeup' to alter qualities of their appearance as to better fit the role, as opposed to relying upon sheer force of talent.

Rumors of a "Best Makeup" category were quickly quashed. The Academy reports there has never been a Best Makeup category. It has always been Best Product Placement.
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Einstein-Intersection
01/12/09

In reply to Possible "Benjamin Button" Snub Proves Oscars Hate Science Fiction
Does anyone really think that the Oscars are still at all culturally relevant?
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Moff
01/12/09

@Einstein-Intersection: Since

(1) lots and lots of people still watch them, write about them, and talk about them; and

(2) your question is not a new one, but one that's been asked for as many years as I can remember, which suggests that it's not so much an incisive assessment of the current situation (no offense) as a common reaction,

yeah, I'd say they are, or at least they're still about as relevant as they've ever been.
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Moff
01/12/09

In reply to Possible "Benjamin Button" Snub Proves Oscars Hate Science Fiction
Dude, Oscar hates everything. It's kind of his forte.

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JennaW
01/12/09

In reply to Possible "Benjamin Button" Snub Proves Oscars Hate Science Fiction
So... something that hasn't happened yet is proof?

Charlie, have you been watching Minority Report again?
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Charlie Jane Anders
01/12/09

@JennaW: Hey, I said "possible" snub. :)
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B
01/13/09

@Charlie Jane Anders: But you didn't say possible proof. You said the possible snub was actual proof.
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Calraigh
01/12/09

In reply to Possible "Benjamin Button" Snub Proves Oscars Hate Science Fiction
...or just completely underwhelming performances? Could it be possible?
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Charlie Jane Anders
01/12/09

@Calraigh: the performances were underwhelming, sure,but that's true of many performances that get Oscar noms. :)
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Calraigh
01/13/09

@Charlie Jane Anders: That's certainly true, but I actually thought the performances in Ben Button didn't register at all. Pitt was essentially an avatar and Blanchett was made almost devoid of expression. The FX were the only remarkable thing about the film for me. I just thought it was an incredibly weak story and in no way elevated by the performers. But that's just me and I'm a grumpy ol' beeyotch.
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Mister Adequate
01/12/09

In reply to Possible "Benjamin Button" Snub Proves Oscars Hate Science Fiction
Er... no, it doesn't. There's a legit debate to be had over the role of FX, and how they intersect with what the actor/actress does, but that has NO bearing on sci-fi.

You guys keep getting worse with the sensational headlines.
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Charlie Jane Anders
01/12/09

@Mister Adequate: As long as they're sensational! You mean that as a synonym for awesome, right?
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KraZe
01/12/09

@Charlie Jane Anders: No, more like a synonym for bad enough to actually get people to log in for the first time in months.

Isn't this a SCIENCE fiction blog? Even so, were this not SPECULATIVE fiction whatever can be said about the wonderful effects, it means nothing in the face of a bad script, meandering plot and somehow mediocre direction and acting from a team that I expected a lot better from.
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Charlie Jane Anders
01/13/09

@KraZe: Huh? I'm not saying Benjamin Button is a great movie. I am saying that the use of special effects isn't a good reason to remove it from "best actor" consideration, and reveals an Oscar bias against narratives that rely on special effects.
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MinervaAlpaca
01/12/09

In reply to Possible "Benjamin Button" Snub Proves Oscars Hate Science Fiction
This doesn't strike me as a case of genre bias, just an understandable confusion where the acting ends and the sfx begin. It's a tricky issue, which is likely to arise again and again until they come up with a special award for Best Motion Capture Performance or something.

Lord knows the Academy has given sf films short shrift in the past, but I think you're reaching in this case.
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Charlie Jane Anders
01/12/09

@MinervaAlpaca: I certainly may be reaching... It's been known to happen on occasion... but at the same time, I think the idea that your acting is less valid, or less actorly, if special effects are involved is a weird one to me. It suggests that films that have fewer technical whizbangs are automatically truer or more artistic, which does seem to play into an anti-SF bias.
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Plague
01/12/09

In reply to Possible "Benjamin Button" Snub Proves Oscars Hate Science Fiction
After the craptastic nominations and winners of the Golden Globes, what the foreign press and the Academy does is beyond logic, let alone common sense.

However, whenever I see that photo, I just think "Man, that's bad photoshop".
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Garrison Dean: R.O.A.C.H.
01/12/09

@Plague: Strangely enough seeing it move it looks better. If there was any part of the film that impressed me the most it was the makeup effects.

Oh and if I didn't have to make dinner right now I'd totally show you some bad photoshop with that photo. Maybe later.
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cash907
01/12/09

In reply to Possible "Benjamin Button" Snub Proves Oscars Hate Science Fiction
Or, the Academy had a brief moment of sanity, and realized the movie was complete shit, and were bored to tears by Brad Pitt-as-reverse-aging-Siddhartha like the rest of us were.

Then again, this is the same group of monkeys that thought Shakespeare in Love deserved the Oscar for Best Picture more then Saving Private Ryan, so who knows... they could have been bought off by a jealous Jennifer Aniston.
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Charlie Jane Anders
01/13/09

@cash907: Just reiterating what I've said in other threads... there are *plenty* of reasons to deny Benjamin Button an Oscar nod for "best actor." But I don't think the fact that Pitt's acting involved special effects is a valid one. That's an argument for taking all movies where special effects intersect with actors' performances out of Oscar consideration, at least for acting awards. It reflects a bias that fantastical or other-worldly elements make an actor's performance less "actorly," which is silly.
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tollwaytroll
01/12/09

In reply to Possible "Benjamin Button" Snub Proves Oscars Hate Science Fiction
I don't object to Benjamin Button coverage on io9, but honestly calling it "science fiction" is going a little far. I don't see how it's anything but fantasy. That's not even a bad thing really. Saying that its snubbing proves the Academy hates scifi is really overstepping, even if it's just for the sake of a headline.
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Charlie Jane Anders
01/12/09

@tollwaytroll: I don't think his reverse aging is supposed to be due to magic... there's never a moment in the film where wizards or magical influences are invoked to explain it. If anything, he's a mutant of some sort. The closest the film comes to explaining it is the thing where the guy builds the clock which goes backwards. Which could be a magical influence, I suppose. Okay, so I should have said "genre" films instead of "science fiction" films, maybe. Fine. :)
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davidrapp
01/12/09

In reply to Possible "Benjamin Button" Snub Proves Oscars Hate Science Fiction
Word is that "Cloverfield," which was released in January 2008, will get snubbed for various technical and FX Oscars---just because it came out so early in the year, and everyone in the Academy has forgotten about it.
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Plague
01/12/09

@David Rapp:

That happens to a large percentage of movies in EVERY category.
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BullfightsOnAcid
01/12/09

In reply to Possible "Benjamin Button" Snub Proves Oscars Hate Science Fiction
So that's why 'Pluto Nash' never got nominated. It all makes sense now.
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92BuickLeSabre
01/12/09

In reply to Possible "Benjamin Button" Snub Proves Oscars Hate Science Fiction
My mom is convinced that this was one of the 10 greatest movies she's ever seen. (And that's what like 6 decades of movie-watching?)

She is not, however, a member of the Academy.
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BullfightsOnAcid
01/12/09

@92BuickLeSabre: If Brad Pitt takes off his clothes and is in a love scene then for women it automatically becomes a classic great movie. With men substitute explosions and robots for Brad Pitt and the same thing applies.
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hymntook
01/12/09

@BullfightsOnAcid: God, it's true. I love seeing an explosion take off its clothes.
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BullfightsOnAcid
01/12/09

@hymntook:
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Garrison Dean: R.O.A.C.H.
01/12/09

@BullfightsOnAcid: That drawing just won an oscar!!!
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