Star Wars: The Force Awakens at the Academy Awards.

The-Oscars

Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens has a substantial presence at the 86th Academy Awards, with 5 nominations and the presence of both Daisy Ridley and J. J. Abrams. We’ll keep you covered as winners are announced.

 

The awards that The Force Awakens is up for are:

  • Film Editing – Maryann Brandon and Mary Jo Markey
  • Original Score – John Williams
  • Visual Effects – Roger Guyett, Patrick Tubach, Neal Scanlan, and Chris Corbould
  • Sound Editing – Matthew Wood and David Acord
  • Sound Mixing – Andy Nelson, Christopher Scarabosio, and Stuart Wilson

The primary competition in the majority of these categories is George Miller’s equally-great hit Mad Max: Fury Road. I’d be just as happy to see it win as I would to see SWTFA excel.

 

Onto the event coverage:

  • 7:30 PM CST: The ceremony begins. The Force Awakens is featured heavily in the opening montage.
  • 8:40 PM CST: The “Film Editing” award goes to Mad Max: Fury Road.
  • 8:49 PM CST: The “Sound Editing” award goes to Mad Max: Fury Road.
  • 8:52 PM CST: The “Sound Mixing” award goes to Mad Max: Fury Road.
  • 8:55 PM CST: The “Visual Effects” award goes to Ex Machina.
  • 9:00 PM CST: R2-D2, C-3PO, and BB-8 appear onstage to present a brief tribute to John Williams.
  • 10:20 PM CST: The “Original Score” award goes to The Hateful Eight. Ennio Morricone dedicated his award to John Williams.

So Star Wars didn’t win any Oscars this year, but at least had a fair amount of representation at the ceremony.
 

+ posts

Grant has been a fan of Star Wars for as long as he can remember, having seen every movie on the big screen. When he’s not hard at work with his college studies, he keeps himself busy by reporting on all kinds of Star Wars news for SWNN and general movie news on the sister site, Movie News Net. He served as a frequent commentator on SWNN’s The Resistance Broadcast.

Grant Davis (Pomojema)

Grant has been a fan of Star Wars for as long as he can remember, having seen every movie on the big screen. When he’s not hard at work with his college studies, he keeps himself busy by reporting on all kinds of Star Wars news for SWNN and general movie news on the sister site, Movie News Net. He served as a frequent commentator on SWNN’s The Resistance Broadcast.

123 thoughts on “Star Wars: The Force Awakens at the Academy Awards.

  • February 29, 2016 at 3:29 am
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    From the predictions I’ve read, it doesn’t look like Star Wars will win anything tonight (and I’m still salty about them passing it up for Best Picture). If it wins even one award, I’ll be happy, and I hope that it’s at LEAST for the beautiful score by John Williams.

    • February 29, 2016 at 5:03 am
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      That score really is Oscar worthy, but The Revenant is probably gonna win (sadly).

  • February 29, 2016 at 3:49 am
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    No screener leaked = not submitted to the academy properly = no major awards. It’s a sacrifice – more money in the pocket but less awards/recognition. More and more films are not submitting screeners to the judges, and getting snubbed at the awards.

    • February 29, 2016 at 6:35 pm
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      Good point!

  • February 29, 2016 at 4:17 am
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    I hope it wins one. It deserves it.

  • February 29, 2016 at 5:21 am
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    Star Wars has never been about winning oscars, and I’m okay with that.

    • March 1, 2016 at 1:18 am
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      …Unless you’re counting the original film.

  • February 29, 2016 at 6:23 am
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    So close! Such a shame. It deserved at least one!

    • February 29, 2016 at 7:12 am
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      I loved the appearance of Threepio, Artoo and BB-8, and the Wookiee noise after the credits was a nice touch. 😀

  • February 29, 2016 at 6:23 am
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    The only Oscar I thought The Force Awakens would win went too Ennio Morricone for The Hateful Eight.

  • February 29, 2016 at 6:28 am
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    And the post-OT Star Wars Oscar drought continues…

  • February 29, 2016 at 6:28 am
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    Nothing…

  • February 29, 2016 at 6:56 am
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    I knew Leo would win best actor.

  • February 29, 2016 at 7:01 am
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    star wars gets hosed again. rian, we’re all counting on you.

  • February 29, 2016 at 7:02 am
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    I don’t think Star Wars needs any Oscars personally, except for Isaac. 😉

  • February 29, 2016 at 7:05 am
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    And my sister called Best Score (though she wanted John Williams to win, of course).

  • February 29, 2016 at 7:13 am
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    Seeing all the clips they played on my tv made me really amped for the blu Ray release. Can’t wait

  • February 29, 2016 at 7:51 am
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    Yup, I knew they will give it Morricone, even though almost all of previous works were a lot better. This is all about poilitics, not art. Shouldn’t really think too much into the oscars.

  • February 29, 2016 at 7:56 am
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    Williams deserves a lifetime achievement Oscar for the Star Wars musical compendium alone, not to mention all the other work he’s done.

    • February 29, 2016 at 6:34 pm
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      I’m sure he will eventually. He deserves it

  • February 29, 2016 at 8:21 am
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    What I really don’t understand is: what’s that special about that spotlight film that made it win over revenant?

    • February 29, 2016 at 9:38 am
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      Haven’t seen it yet but I did see the Revenant which was a good film but no Best Picture winner. Great scenery, solid score and nice performances but not a whole lot else going on there.

      • February 29, 2016 at 6:07 pm
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        Haven’t seen neither of the two, but just by what I know about both films spotlight was a film I essentially wouldn’t care (and won’t care) about while revenant has a lot of interesting things that would make me see it (too bad they already finished screening it in my country :/)

        • March 1, 2016 at 10:01 am
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          It had good direction and I think it won for best director but it’s really more of a revenge film than anything and diverted a bit from the novel in that regard.

    • February 29, 2016 at 6:34 pm
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      Revenant is essentially a revenge film. A very very well made revenge film, but it’s a story that’s not difficult to tell. The academy likes to award dramas, because those stories are inherently more difficult to tell. The motivations, character interactions etc are much more complicated than “you wronged me, i’ll get justice”, and usually less entertaining, too. Revenge stories have worked since ancient times.

      • February 29, 2016 at 8:25 pm
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        Uh, in that case what is so much better about a movie narrating the story of a group of journalists uncovering pedophilia among priests? I think that a movie for wich they literally went in Alaska, got frozen, and worked so hard and old fashion way they should’ve praised their effort by giving them the prize.

        • March 1, 2016 at 8:06 pm
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          I agree, but remember, the academy are also a bunch of left wing loons and they love dumping on christianity. (And I say this as an atheist)

          • March 1, 2016 at 9:10 pm
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            Ooooooooooh right. George Lucas might’ve been wrong about a lot of things, but he sure was right about the oscars.

  • February 29, 2016 at 8:51 am
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    As much as I like The Force Awakens, I think it’s fair it didn’t win anything tonight. Within the world of the Star Wars saga, filmmakers are squared in the way these films work, plus The Force Awakens is a flick designed to please the fans. I’ve felt like a kid everytime I’ve seen it, and it’s one of the best Star Wars films without a doubt. But when you put it aside the big ones, there’s nothing to do.

    The Force Awakens is a film to celebrate, but it’s not for competition.

    • February 29, 2016 at 9:16 am
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      Wise words, and I agree. It is a fun film, but perhaps not an Oscar-nominee – although if there had been an Oscar for “most entertaining” I’d argue TFA should have won 🙂 Boy that movie flies fast, even the bits I’m not a fan of.

      • February 29, 2016 at 9:22 am
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        Agree it was very entertaining 😀 and that’s why I’m going to watch it over and over again. But the pace is one of the signs these film was done for the fans. It’s like they were afraid to slow down the pace when needed, like “maybe fans won’t like this but doesn’t matter because right after we have this other event!”. The first half works really well but the third act is particularly dense (it worked better in ROTJ IMO, as they kinda share the same third act structure). I’m glad they nailed it with the ending, anyway!

    • February 29, 2016 at 3:37 pm
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      Imo it deserved the best original soundtrack award a lot more than Hateful Eight.

      • February 29, 2016 at 6:30 pm
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        Not even close. The Hateful Eight soundtrack was incredibly complex. Not exactly a joy to listen to, but from a musician’s point of view, it’s quite the achievement.

        • February 29, 2016 at 7:08 pm
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          With all due respect I disagree very much. The Hateful Eight is probably the worst soundtrack of Morricone, they only gave it him to him because he had no oscar. All of his previous works were much better.

          • March 1, 2016 at 8:07 pm
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            Yes, in all fairness he should have gotten his awards back then for his dollar trilogy or once upon a time in the west scores. But the new one wasn’t bad at all. It worked very well in the film.

          • March 1, 2016 at 9:50 pm
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            Morrione should have at least 3-4 oscars. I think the fact that he didnt have an one till last saturday only proves that the Academy is just a joke. The soundtack of The Good, Bad, and the Ugly is probably the most perfect fusion of audio and picture. The guy made fantastic music. But not the Hateful eight. It was just a revision of his old soundtracks. Imo TFA’s soundtrack was better.
            But im glad Morricone has an oscar at least (aside from that honorary one).

          • March 2, 2016 at 12:29 am
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            By the way, do you know his scores for “The Big Gundown” and “The Great Silence” ? Those two are fantastic as well.
            Yes, the academy has a terrible track record when it comes to music. Then again, America is not really known for great music ^^ Maybe they should let Germans, Russians and Italians decide in that category.

  • February 29, 2016 at 9:00 am
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    ROFL , I told you so!!!!!

  • February 29, 2016 at 9:06 am
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    The segment with the droids was awkward and too long.

  • February 29, 2016 at 9:35 am
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    Snubbed just as I predicted. Can’t really blame it on anti-Lucas bias this year as you can on anti-sequel bias. Mad Max hasn’t been seen on screen in over 30 years while SW is on it’s 7th sequel and no seventh entry has won jack shit far as Academy Awards go.

    • February 29, 2016 at 10:07 am
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      Bond just won an Oscar for best original song (the 24th movie of the series). TFA wasn’t snubbed, it was just pipped by other movies.

      • February 29, 2016 at 10:15 am
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        Bond gets rebooted with every new actor, There’s no ongoing storyline like with SW. I’d be very surprised if any of the future films win anything either let alone get nominated for an Oscar.

        • February 29, 2016 at 6:29 pm
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          Not if they are as crappy as this one.

          • March 1, 2016 at 10:04 am
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            Bond or SW? Either way I agree.

          • March 1, 2016 at 7:43 pm
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            Sadly, it really could apply to both

          • March 2, 2016 at 4:03 am
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            True, In light of Ghostbusters and Ocean’s 11 I can easily see the next Bond being a woman.

          • March 2, 2016 at 4:10 am
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            He’ll be black

          • March 2, 2016 at 5:31 am
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            I heard Elba dropped out?

    • February 29, 2016 at 10:33 am
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      Hmm, as much as I love Star Wars, I preferred Fury Road, Ex Machina and The Hateful Eight to The Force Awakens, and I believed they deserved the awards over TFA. So I think the results were pretty fair. Star Wars to me is like Marvel Cinematic Universe, amazing fun, but not award winning quality type of movies.

      • February 29, 2016 at 10:43 am
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        No arguements from me though I haven’t seen Hateful Eight yet and I don’t think the OT/PT felt very much like the MCU but the ST definitely is influenced by it or at least so far.

      • February 29, 2016 at 1:57 pm
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        Star Wars has won plenty of Oscars so this statement is just wrong.

      • February 29, 2016 at 3:35 pm
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        The original Star Wars won 7 oscars, just saying. And was also nominated for best picture, best original screenplay and best director. Star Wars was always way above the marvel level.

        • February 29, 2016 at 4:23 pm
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          ANH broke the mold

  • February 29, 2016 at 11:22 am
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    The film’s editing was awkward, so I’m completely fine with it not receiving that. I would have liked to have seen it with Best Visual Effects, but I guess this was the year of Mad Max.

  • February 29, 2016 at 12:55 pm
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    Really surprised about Ex Machina taking Best Visual Effects, i was pretty sure that either TFA or Mad Max were going to get it.

  • February 29, 2016 at 1:03 pm
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    Am I the only one who thinks Fury Road is an overrated action film? I don’t get the praise. Yes the stunts were impressive but as a film, the story was flimsy and uninteresting and Tom Hardy was a boring one dimensional character. I wasn’t entertained by it much at all.

    • February 29, 2016 at 1:20 pm
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      Nope, I thought it was total meh!

    • February 29, 2016 at 2:06 pm
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      it was great,but now i agree it is kinda overrated

    • February 29, 2016 at 3:27 pm
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      Honestly, I was completly blown away the first time. I think it had a fantastic visual style and packed with quality action scenes (not fast and furious or transformers like crap). But the second time I started to see the lack of substance and the lack of real plot.
      But I still think its a good movie. Not oscar worthy, but good.

    • February 29, 2016 at 3:29 pm
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      I was about to see it, but a friend of mine who just saw it told me that it´s one hour ride there and one hour ride back, no story at all, and extremelly boring. I´m sure if I´m 15 this would be great action movie to me, but now there´s so many interesting movies and so little time…..

      • February 29, 2016 at 6:27 pm
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        Your friend is a moron then

        • March 1, 2016 at 11:19 am
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          actually he is a film critic who sees 2-3 movies EVERY SINGLE DAY, not only the good, but the very bad as well, so I trust him and I will not throw away 2 hours of my life by watching Mad Max….

          • March 1, 2016 at 7:43 pm
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            Oh, a “critic”. That just increases the likelyhood of him being an idiot.

    • February 29, 2016 at 4:22 pm
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      I enjoyed the concept and it was fun in IMAX 3D. But…overall I did not find it exciting or interesting. Also…I thought the bad guy mask looked stupid…really stupid; took me out of the movie. But I had fun in the theater…good to see once.

    • February 29, 2016 at 5:59 pm
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      Fury Road is a great movie. Better than TFA.

  • February 29, 2016 at 1:04 pm
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    So much I am into defending black people here in the Czech Republic against racist and now I´m here to tell that this was the most bored and annoying Oscars I´ve ever seen, it was so much political correct when they told us 50 times how important is that black people deserves oscars too (I expect since now quotes for how much black actors should be nominee or should get an oscar) and it had the feeling that this night was not about the movies in the first place. I am almost sure that in the next years latino and asian actors will rise to protest against the unjust divide of the Oscars 🙂 just hilarious….

    • February 29, 2016 at 2:52 pm
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      The Oscars aren’t about movies anymore. If you want an awards show, watch BAFTA. Unfortunately as an American, this is something I’ve come to realize. Also, I don’t watch any of our own news programs. It’s sad to say that when I want to view news about my own country, I have to turn to the BBC.

      • February 29, 2016 at 3:27 pm
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        You may be right. SOme years ago a friend from the US came to visit us and she was surprised what she saw in daily news on TV. She said that a lot of things they don´t say in the US news…

      • February 29, 2016 at 4:43 pm
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        BAFTA awards suck. Those don’t really count as I see those as not having much merit (one big reason is that they favor UK-based movies and UK-raised actors; the other reason is, well, I just just have a dislike towards anything from the UK, and I’m glad that the US gained its independence from them, Also, British comedy suck!).

    • March 2, 2016 at 12:41 am
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      They should just have an Oscar show for every race. People want segregation, fine. Let them have it

  • February 29, 2016 at 2:15 pm
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    I never cared for the Oscars that much anyways. This one was especially annoying when they went on and on about black people not getting nominated.

    • February 29, 2016 at 2:43 pm
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      Stupid argument because 12 years a slave swept a couple of years ago.

  • February 29, 2016 at 2:31 pm
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    It won where it really matters: At the box office. Fark those Academy circle jerkers. That is all and please carry on sharply ladies and gents.

    • February 29, 2016 at 5:11 pm
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      Exactly! Awards don’t mean shit. A fan base, box office, and DVD sales matter. Star Wars is its own mega franchise entity. Puny one hit wonder movies don’t last. How many people are gonna remember the wining movie “spotlight” (still don’t know what that is) over the force awakens. Harrison ford should have at least gotten some kind of award

    • February 29, 2016 at 7:03 pm
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      Transformers techinically won at the box office, and those movies USDA prime poop ass

  • February 29, 2016 at 2:49 pm
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    That, kids, is what happens when the founder of your franchise publicly disses the oscars… let J.J. cry in shame while rolling in money to the world’s smallest violin.

    • February 29, 2016 at 4:52 pm
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      No…

      Star Trek, Star Wars… etc. They always get snubbed. There is not enough appreciation for SciFi.

  • February 29, 2016 at 4:35 pm
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    I don’t get why Mad Max won 6. Yes it was a good movie with stunning visuals but it has almost 0 story, just action. How could it be even nominated for best picture? What was so good in sound editing and sound mixing ? Explosions and loud cars. Why is it better than Star wars? The revenant was way better and it only won 3. Unfortunately I haven’t seen Ex machina, but star wars not winning in Visual effects is…….strange (don’t count the prequels)

    • February 29, 2016 at 5:04 pm
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      I agree about the story, but that’s not why it won. I’m not sure what should’ve won as far as sound goes, but probably not Max or TFA. As far as visual effects, the blend of CGI/practical effects was perfect (and was also very good in TFA).

      Definitely see Ex Machina. One of the best films last year.

      • February 29, 2016 at 5:38 pm
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        Yep. Wonderful film. Not to shabby for Shaky.

    • February 29, 2016 at 6:26 pm
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      Mad Max had a TON of story. It just had very little plot. Don’t confuse the two. Mad Max’s story was told in many of the countless little details. Especially when you look at the villain’s base, there is an incredible density of details that tell a story of how the world got there. From praying to the V8 motor (they tattoo it on their skin, even their greeting symbolizes the 8 cylinders) to the the way the villain hides his girls behind a bank vault and has them taught in literature and arts, there is so much to see and explore. It’s a film that rewards multiple viewings.
      Also, all of the side characters have their story arcs with individual motivations, unlike in Star Wars, where they essentially just show up as one note characters (like Maz, General Hux, Snoke, Leia and even Poe). Compare that to Mad Max where everyone has a backstory and character development:
      -Nux (the War Boy) starts a brainwashed boy who seeks to die for glory and ends up revealing a softer side (drawing smileys on the tumors that will kill him) and ends up a hero.
      -The villain is incredibly rich, it is shown that he wants nothing more than a worthy heir and is unhappy with his current sons, some of which are deformed or healthy but dimwitted.
      -All the girls have their character arcs, from the introverted one opening up to the old ladies, the villain’s favorite shielding the others with her pregnant body, the cowardly one finding courage and tricking the bad guy during the final confrontation.
      -Even the smallest roles have their arcs like Nux’s partner trying to upstage him at every opportunity (“I got his boot”)

      Mad Max is an incredibly rich film, a true work of art and probably the best film released in almost a decade (The Prestige or There will be Blood are the last I can think of that give it a run for its money).

      • February 29, 2016 at 7:04 pm
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        How are story and plot different? Please explain. Are you trying to make the claim that they’re both mutually exclusive?

        • March 1, 2016 at 8:13 pm
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          The story is everything from plot to themes to backstory and scenario to anything that gives you information about a character, item or location. Most of a film’s story is told passively, whereas the plot is told actively. The plot is “character a meets and character b, they go to location x and have a conflict with character c”. The story is more than that. For example in the first Terminator movie, judgement day and the fall of mankind are part of the story, but not part of the plot. It gives gravitas to the plot, making the chase scenes, shootouts and protecting a simple waitress so much more important.

      • February 29, 2016 at 9:01 pm
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        You talk about these little details, character arcs, I see why these are important, they create good backstories to the characters, and make good characters as well. And yes, the backstory and the characters were good, well written, but after then almost nothing happens to them. They fight, chase each other with cars. Only one character develops (Nux) The world they created is interesting but the main story (plot) is simple and not very exciting there are no plot twists at all.(wich is not predictable)

        I don’t say that TFA is soo good in story, but it’s purpose was to take us back to the galaxy far far away, introduce the new characters and set up a new conflict. And it did it well. TFA was very nostalgia driven and had some emotional moments especially for the old fans. In this point it’s clearly stronger than MM. Unfortunately they played very safe (too safe) with the story but it is only the prequel of the sequel trilogy, and has much potencial for episode VIII and IX.

        I don’t know why people complains about the characters of TFA. Snoke clearly will get his backsory and explanation later (if not that would be a Huge dissapointment), Hux was all right, his conflict with Kylo and their fight for positin is well made. I admit that Maz is not so strong character but the main characters are Kylo and Rey and they are good enough, I think we will se more character developments in ep. VIII

        • March 1, 2016 at 8:01 pm
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          But isn’t that the good thing about Mad Max? Mad Max proved that you can have an incredibly rich story without tons
          of expositionary dialogue or plot twists, which lose their impact after
          the first viewing.
          Take “The 6th Sense”, which arguably has fantastic plot twist and Mad Max. Once you know the twist in The 6th Sense, the movie no longer rewards multiple viewings. Whereas Mad Max really opens up when you watch it a second or third time, since you begin to notice all the little details that flesh out the world and the story.
          It’s brilliantly done and in my view it makes Mad Max one of the most important movies in a generation.

          TFA fulfilled its purpose in terms of all you wrote. It introduced new characters and a new conflict. But it did so without imagination or inspiration. And the new conflict sucks (and it isn’t even explained). Even the conflict in the prequels was more interesting.

          TFA was little more than one chase scene after another. The first half hour seemed fantastic, especially with Rey’s slower moments on Tattooine and showing the struggle for food and every day life in the galaxy far away. It’s not as interesting as Luke’s farm life in EPIV, but it was well told. But after that the movie just loses it’s plot. It doesn’t even have much.
          Rey and Finn meet, bad guys show up, chace scene. Meet Han Solo, bad guys show up, chase scene. They meet Maz who tells us nothing we as viewers didn’t already know, bad guys show up, chase scene. Rey gets captured, good guys show up, win the day.

          That’s less plot even than The Revenant or Mad Max. Where the prequels were people meeting and sitting on couches, walking, TFA was people meeting and then running and shouting. Not great cinema.

          I hope EP VIII will redeem the new trilogy. Maybe Luke and Rey can have some interesting new insights into the force, maybe Kylo Ren will actually have a good character arc and maybe Finn will end up being a useful character. With Disney in charge, I have my doubts, but I remain hopeful.

          • March 1, 2016 at 9:17 pm
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            Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t want to say that Mad max is a bad movie, I liked it. Maybe I didn’t explain myself well, I just don’t understand the best picture nomination and the six awards. Only very few film got 6 or more and there are a lot in my opinion that got less but was better than MM, for example Interstellar, The prestige or The Revenant. Okay maybe they are not soo good in filmmaking terms, just I liked them more but the difference between the number of their oscars is way to much I think (Intersetellar 1, The prestige 0) And yes TFA got none and 0 to 6 seems a bit too much difference for me, I think MM wasn’t better that much. Maybe it was better but not that much. And I really want to know what counts when they deside the best sound mixing and sound editing.

            I agree with you that the story of TFA is not the best. I think its starts really good, somehow they should left starkiller base out. I really want to know it’s just because the writers didn’t wanted to take risk at the first film or just didn’t have any better ideas. I guess we will find it out in ep VIII. It can still be a very good one. Kylo is an interesting character, I wonder how strong he wil be if his training will be complete, and I really want ot see him leading the Knights of Ren. And Snoke’s backstory and Rey’s should be told and they have very much potential.

          • March 2, 2016 at 12:39 am
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            Yes, Interstellar and The Prestige were both robbed at the Oscars. For some reason, they don’t seem to like Nolan very much. I’m guessing it’s because he’s not a bleeding heart leftist.
            But in the end, what really matters is the test of time. Films like “A Clockwork Orange” or “The Good, The Bad, The Ugly” didn’t receive Oscars, but they are still loved today. No one cares about “The King’s Speech”, “The Artist” and no one will care about “Spotlight”.

            I would like to see them make something of Kylo Ren. I could see him going rogue and there being a 3 way conflict with Snoke and the first order on one side, the good guys on the other and Kylo and his fanatics as a third party. I would love to see a complex scenario like “Dune”. Now THAT was good story telling 🙂

          • March 2, 2016 at 12:29 am
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            “Even the conflict in the prequels was more interesting.”

            You lost me.

          • March 2, 2016 at 4:21 am
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            Seriously? The prequels had a pretty complex storyline. Young boy who grew up without a father, taken away from his mother and made a monk engages in a forbidden love affair which causes him to feel guilt and fear. He is manipulated by a Faustian villain into feeling fear of loss after the death of his mother and is crazed by lust for power. Meanwhile, said villain orchestrates a galactic war, playing two houses against each other while having a vast army of loyal clones created to do his bidding.

            Honestly, that’s a pretty damn good storyline. The problem was the execution. We see nothing of the destructiveness of war, the story is told through people leisurly strolling through cgi halls or sitting on a couch and eating crackers. And the two sides fighting are clones and robots and bugs. And effing Gungans. But imagine you had seen young men in corsucant drafted into service, parents fearing for their children, giving support to the creation of palpatine’s clone army. Imagine the seperatists were humans fighting for a lost cause because Dooku sees the truth behind Palpatine’s actions and tries to prevent the sith takeover, only to be ignored by the jedi for breaking their code, making him a tragic character.

            Now THAT would have been an amazing story. That’s what’s so frustrating about the prequels. TFA is a dumb remake of ANH on crack and without depth or originality. It’s not much of a loss. But the prequels wasted a fantastic story.

          • March 2, 2016 at 5:31 am
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            The prequels were 3 different movies. TFA was one. Come back and make this argument when the sequel trilogy is over.

          • March 3, 2016 at 10:26 pm
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            Fair point. I really hope they take things into a new exciting direction for 8 and 9.

          • March 3, 2016 at 11:59 pm
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            I agree.

  • February 29, 2016 at 5:15 pm
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    When was the last time Star Wars won an Oscar?

    • February 29, 2016 at 5:22 pm
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      Back when Return of the Jedi won a Special Achievement Award for Visual Effects.

      • February 29, 2016 at 5:47 pm
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        This was back in the times of when the OT movies were practically the only effects-heavy movies in existence compared to what we see in recent years (1990’s onwards). Since it was the only show in town that had a lot of impressive VFX for it’s time, well, who else to award them to than to the movies that were pioneering that technology.

  • February 29, 2016 at 5:47 pm
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    no surprise here.

  • February 29, 2016 at 6:11 pm
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    my really huge disappointment is: how on earth can a movie that uses some vfx for a few robots win an oscar over two different movies using vfx for basically 75% of the film? that’s nonsense! I haven’t seen ex machina but I seriously doubt that there’s so much more VFX than the female robot and a few other robots

    • February 29, 2016 at 6:15 pm
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      You didn’t see it, but feel enough authority to say it didn’t deserve the win? Well, I guess that’s the internet for you in a nutshell. What they actually accomplished is more than “a female robot”. Using your logic, Each of the prequels deserved the win because nearly 100% of the shots in those films featured a VFX of some type.

      • February 29, 2016 at 6:23 pm
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        No, you don’t get the point. I didn’t see ex machina, but it’s really for what I know through the numerous trailers that it’s set in that isolated mountain house, and the vfx consists in a succesful practical-cg trasposition. The point is, that I feel it quite something limited to win an oscar over a movie with a succesful achevement of a spaceship, zero G and Mars (The Martian), two movies heavily relying on a lot of practical effects such as Mad Max and revenant, and ultimately The Force Awakens; all of these films featured a lot of great VFX that worked pretty well, and for things slightly bigger than… ex machina. My logic doesn’t say that a film deserves oscars because it used a lot of VFX, but because it used a lot of succesfully achieved VFX

    • February 29, 2016 at 6:37 pm
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      It’s not about quanitity, it’s about quality. And inventiveness. Star Wars did very little that hadn’t been done before. Ex Machina used some very creative effects and not just for explosions and “money shots”, but to actually tell the story.

      • February 29, 2016 at 8:26 pm
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        Let’s all go to the new article, and you see what my point (and apparently many others’) is

      • February 29, 2016 at 8:34 pm
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        Because VFX tells stories? The fact that they CGI-sed succesfully a robot in a movie featuring one robot (I think so) is pretty irrilevant next. to huge-sized VFX works. And I hardly believe they use that criteria to choose films

        • March 1, 2016 at 8:04 pm
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          That’s the criteria they use. Same as with Forrest Gump, where they used VFX to make him run faster or add him in historical footage. That’s what the academy wants. They don’t care about explosions or huge spaceships.

  • February 29, 2016 at 6:12 pm
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    Didn’t watch because, let’s be honest, who cares about the industry’s self-congratulatory masturbation. Mad Max was a bore, and an ugly looking movie. Morricone’s score for Hateful 8 was…meh, kind of like the rest of the film. Very classy however that he gave a nod to Williams. Ex Machina deserved the VFX win – for a film which had a significantly lower budget than those it was up against, they achieved something startling and very special there.

    • February 29, 2016 at 6:45 pm
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      Are you really that toxic on Mad Max and Morricone?

      • February 29, 2016 at 7:55 pm
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        No, not on Morricone in general – I do like his work, I just found Hateful 8 okay, but a bit bland overall, score included – this was a lifetime achievment award, not a win for that score. I don’t think I would have given it to Williams this year either though. Mad Max however? Yeah, I found it to be somehow both pointlessly, stupidly noisy and a complete snooze at the same time. Really, really didn’t care for it.

    • February 29, 2016 at 6:58 pm
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      wow your name really suits you

  • February 29, 2016 at 6:48 pm
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    I’m a bit disappointed with the results, but at least Mad Max got the deserved awards. Not to mention the awards given to best supporting actor and best original song…
    Yeah, I’ll get flack for saying that, right?

  • February 29, 2016 at 7:43 pm
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    Morricone was one of those, “This guy’s going to be dead soon, so let’s give it to him.” awards

    • February 29, 2016 at 7:56 pm
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      Which made it a toss-up between him and Williams. Both produced serviceable, if forgettable scores for their respective films this year.

      • February 29, 2016 at 8:00 pm
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        Nothing forgettable about the TFA score. It was a brilliant addition to the SW musical canon.

        • February 29, 2016 at 8:23 pm
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          It really really wasn’t, but whatever.

          • February 29, 2016 at 9:32 pm
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            Yeah it was. I got a lot more enjoyment out of it than the scores for 2-3. How much have you actually listened to it?

          • March 1, 2016 at 1:09 am
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            Probably once, but I don’t actually know.

    • February 29, 2016 at 10:45 pm
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      I was really pulling for Williams, but at the last moment, seeing Morricone accepting the award so beautifully and humbly, I decided they got it right. His scores have been so influential and iconic, he deserves that statue on the shelf. And while H8teful isn’t as complicated a score as TFA, the central theme is a knockout. So good for him. And frankly, I don’t think John was all that broken up by it. We are lucky to still have two such grand masters still at work.

    • March 1, 2016 at 12:42 am
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      Ennio Morricone is 87 years old. John Williams is 84. They’re both going to be dead soon.

  • February 29, 2016 at 8:17 pm
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    I can tell you why TFA didn’t win the Oscar for Visual Effects (at least what my personal prediction – one based on rational supposition based on observational evidence – as to why it didn’t win it):

    Before the movie came out, people involved in the making of it kept raving on and on about practical effects; hell, every other interview with someone involved, the practical effects talk came about. Now, after TFA was released, we come to see that based on all those VFX videos released, there were more digital shots and CGI than what was thought there would be. Yes, I’m aware that there was a “perfect marriage” of practical and VFX and the CGI look realistic and that it wasn’t much noticeable – and for the most part TFA looked nice – but that’s not the point of this post (also, yes, I’m aware that there wasn’t anyone saying that there wouldn’t be any VFX/CGI/digital effects at all in TFA, but again, that’s not the point here. And no, don’t turn this into a discussion on comparing TFA’s VFX with other SW movies or any other effects-heavy movie out there, that’s also not the point here and I’m not getting into an argument with anyone on that here). My argument is that it was almost deceptive on how this “practical effects” marketing was being done before the movie’s release. We come to find out that it has quite a bit of non-practical effects (which I have no problems with) after the release and I believe that the Academy most likely saw through this and probably felt that yeah, it was a bit deceptive as to how those involved in the movie were selling it as where they could’ve been more upfront on the moviemaking process and talk about all the types of effects in a manner in which their effects conversation was more balanced (if those involved wanted to talk effects when the subject of TFA came about). Being that the Academy probably doesn’t take too kindly to being deceived (or at least, having the perception that they were deceived), they decided to give this award to another movie that was more upfront on its process and didn’t up-play nor downplay any movie-making technique they used.(especially when it came to marketing and promoting the movie from a particular angle)

    Like I stated earlier, I have no problem with the VFX in TFA, from the type to the amount to the placement; I’m ok with it all and all the effects used were great, practical or not. What I do have a problem with is the way that those involved would talk up TFA from this “practical effects” angle as a way to market/promote the movie when after all, there are quite a bit of non-practical effects used which was – besides knowing that Snoke and Max were going to be mo-cap characters – significantly downplayed before the movie came out (and it wasn’t until the movie was released, especially when the awards circuit started happening, when we started seeing videos on TFA’s VFX). In my opinion, in regards to this particular award (and perhaps some of the other Oscars that TFA was nominated for such as editing (maybe even for other non-Oscar awards)), the filmmakers did themselves no favors and perhaps did themselves in the moment that they decided to talk up the practical effects aspect in the manner in which they did before TFA’s release for the purposes of promoting it to the fans and to the general public (and severely downplay the other effects utilized when talking TFA in conversations where the discussion of TFA came about).

    All this being said, TFA not winning this Oscar (or any of the other ones in general) doesn’t matter to me as far as what my opinions on TFA are nor does it do anything to take away from me enjoying the movie. But still, ply point remains as to what I think is the reason why TFA did not come out a winner last night, particularly in this category.

  • March 1, 2016 at 12:37 am
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    Found this in my Facebook feed.

  • March 1, 2016 at 7:33 am
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    did Daisey ridley present? would love to see video

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