Guardian Feels Three Strikes Rule Should Apply to Actors
Filed under: Awards, DIY/Filmmaking, Newsstand, Politics, Oscar Watch
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Leave it to those folks at The Guardian to put a smile on my face at the end of a very long day. (Don't even get me started on how long it took to find Hot Fuzz director Edgar Wright for our interview this afternoon. Long story short -- we wound up chatting in front of -- I kid you not -- at least 100 different guns. But more on that when it comes time to unload our delicious interview ... ) Back to The Guardian, and an article written by the always-enjoyable David Patterson. In it, he spits out a devilish rant calling for the three strike rule to apply to Oscar-winning actors (and actresses) who, after winning their golden statue, go on to star in back-to-back-to-back stinkers.
The two ladies immediately called out for their role choices are Halle Berry and Hilary Swank. After somehow finding a way to win the best actress Oscar for Monster's Ball, Berry went on to star in Gothika, Catwoman and the upcoming Perfect Stranger (which, apparently, is being referred to as "Color of Night-bad"). As Patterson puts it, "Sounds like she's had her three endings already, and just because she has a feline role in her recent past doesn't mean we have to give her the full nine lives." And then there's Swank; with two recent Oscar wins under her belt, you'd think she'd be itching for some quality material. However, Patterson (who must have been injecting snark straight into his ass as he wrote this) points out that films like The Core, The Black Dahlia, The Reaping, The Space Between and Insomnia weren't exactly considered top notch entertainment.
So, what do you do about this? Patterson feels the Academy should take back the awards of those who follow up their Oscar win with three duds. Three strikes and you're out, right? In fact, they could dedicate an entire ceremony to it, and have Patterson host. "I can just see the Academy Awards' head honcho or The Man from Price-Waterhouse snapping Sylvester Stallone's best screenplay Oscar in front of him, and really enjoying the sight of a tiny man crying in shame. I'd pay good money to see that - who wouldn't?" I'd rather pay good money to see these folks in a, well, good film -- but hey, I guess beggars can't be choosers.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-09-2007 @ 8:19PM
dnusair said...
Pardon my French, but... WTF? Insomnia? That flick kicks ass!
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4-09-2007 @ 8:27PM
Gilbert Davis said...
Pretty vicious, nasty and immature article by John Patterson. His comment about Sylvester Stallone as a 'tiny man crying in shame' after having his well deserved Oscar taken from him (in the fantasy petty world of John Patterson) was the work of a bully with no concern or care for other people. When you can't articulate a reason why you don't like someone it's always fun to go to the ad hominen attacks. What's your favorite type of ad hominen attack there? Size? Weight? Ethnicity? Race? Hair Color?
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4-09-2007 @ 8:36PM
Christopher Campbell said...
I understand Patterson's point, but at the same time I have to argue: what else are these people going to get? After all, it isn't like people are making Oscar-caliber material enough to accomodate every Oscar-winner. They may not need the money, but they probably want to work. Of course, I also agree that most of the named offenders shouldn't have been awarded in the first place. And I also think that they have no business encouraging the making of crap like The Reaping. So, I guess I'm divided a bit here.
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4-09-2007 @ 9:28PM
Mel said...
When will people start to realise that The Black Dahlia is a near masterpiece?
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4-09-2007 @ 9:32PM
Ray said...
I might have agreed, at least in theory. But he lost me when he dissed Insomnia.
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4-09-2007 @ 10:41PM
Panther said...
so when they take Swank's oscar can they please give it to Annette Bening (being julia, or america beauty either way).
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4-09-2007 @ 11:29PM
Kate, Imelda, Catalina & Annette said...
what hath god wrought?
11. Swank in The Reaping
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4-09-2007 @ 11:33PM
John said...
Insomnia was a great movie but not thanks to Swank. Any actress from TV could have handled that role.
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4-10-2007 @ 7:09AM
Steven said...
Sylvester Stallone never won an Oscar. Perhaps, he should also do some research before writing something like this.
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4-10-2007 @ 8:41AM
Ray Arbour said...
Replace "Insomnia" with "Freedom Writers" and you've got me -
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4-10-2007 @ 9:23AM
Gilbert Davis said...
Rocky - 1976 Best Picture, Best Director and Best Film Editing. It had ten nominations. Yup, research should always be in order when you have something to say.
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4-10-2007 @ 9:31AM
Gilbert Davis said...
And no he didn't win personally. For Rocky he was nominated for best writing and best actor and the film won for best director, best film editing and Best Picture. He wrote it, he starred in it and folks assume it's his work that won the Best Picture. imdb.com also tells me that it won 15 more awards and 19 nominations.
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4-10-2007 @ 2:00PM
Joe said...
I feel J. Patterson's pain but I have to disagree. The Oscar is won for a particular work, a particular merit, that doesn't have anything to do with previous or following merits.
Now, I believe that movies are the result of a collective effort, so why should actors be the ones to pay the price of a crappy movie? how about directors, writers and producers? I think they should be the first to get a Razzie nomination for a bad movie.
Maybe the Razzies should become an industry event, as important and publicized as the Oscars to really influence the audience or something.
Anyway, these are my humble thoughts. Whatever.
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4-10-2007 @ 3:10PM
Brody said...
Ummm... Insomnia received a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes, that's incredible. Are they just bashing any movie that didn't get any awards nominations?
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