THR’s Brutally Honest Oscar Ballot #1: The producer who hated ‘Trial of the Chicago 7’

The Trial of the Chicago 7

This awards season has been so dumb and neverending, I completely forgot about one of my favorite annual traditions: the Hollywood Reporter’s Brutally Honest Oscar Ballot series. THR interviews Oscar voters as they’re filling out their Oscar ballots and THR records all of the voters’ bitchy asides. The series is a great window into why the Academy ends up voting for sh-t like Green Book for Best Picture. Ballot #1 is from “a male member of the Academy’s producers branch.” You can read the full Brutally Honest Ballot here. Some highlights:

This year’s Oscars need an asterisk: “This Oscars deserves an asterisk — because of the nature of the past year, with many movies moving off of their dates, it feels like a competition of the best Sundance movies. The fact that The Trial of the Chicago 7 has a chance of winning, given how mediocre and “television” it is, is all the evidence you need for this, and that’s why I’m putting it in my last-place slot. Aaron Sorkin is maybe my favorite writer of all time, but he is not a good director.”

On Minari, PYW & Mank: “I liked Promising Young Woman quite a bit — it’s maybe the most entertaining of these, and I like what it has to say — but it doesn’t feel like a great achievement. I f–king love David Fincher as a filmmaker, but Mank is boring and indulgent and too clever for its own good. Minari is beautiful, and one of the best shot of these, but I found it excruciatingly slow.

On Sound of Metal & Nomadland: “Sound of Metal was also a bit slow, but it’s unbelievably important as an empathy machine, and the performances are great…And that brings us to Nomadland. They did not have a lot of money, but they made a movie that never apologizes or feels defensive in its scope, scale, pacing, deliberativeness or performances. It’s a fully realized movie that is compelling and emotional and cinematic, despite its naturalness. It tells these people’s story in a way that invites empathy without saying, “You should feel sh-tty about your gilded, privileged life.” And it is also reflective of the past year, showing how challenging life can be, and reminding us how much we have to be grateful for.

Voting for Riz Ahmed for Best Actor: “It’s an exceptionally strong category. Gary Oldman is an extraordinary actor, but he just won recently, and Mank isn’t great. Anthony Hopkins was fantastic in The Father, but performances like that lose a couple of points with me because they feel a little Oscar-grabby. [Minari’s] Steven Yeun feels like he is one of the major actors to watch — his face is so compelling, he’s so subtle, he has real power. He will win an Oscar, but not this year. [Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’s] Chadwick [Boseman] is going to win — every performance he ever gave was amazing, and he was, by all accounts, one of the most incredible, generous gentlemen our industry has seen. But I just didn’t connect to Ma Rainey’s. Riz Ahmed’s performance is naturalistic, romantic and heartbreaking. I have a bucket list of actors I want to work with in my life, and he has been on it for a long time.

Voting for Daniel Kaluuya for Supporting Actor: “Sacha [Baron Cohen of Chicago 7] wasn’t well served by his director and, like most of his co-stars, took me out of the movie. Leslie [Odom Jr.] is someone I love, but that movie [One Night in Miami] also felt too theatrical — it took me three times to get through it. [Sound of Metal’s] Paul Raci is incredibly natural. I hear why people are saying [Judas’] Daniel Kaluuya should be nominated for lead, but I’m not moved because category fraud is so embedded in the system at this point, and Daniel stood out more than LaKeith [Stanfield, his co-star], so I’m voting for him.

He voted for Maria Bakalova for Supporting Actress: “This was a really hard one. Amanda Seyfried was totally fine in Mank, but not winner-level. Yuh-Jung Youn in Minari was excellent, but kind of playing a familiar, slightly reductive, comic-relief/stern tiger grandma. [The Father’s] Olivia Colman is always brilliant, but give someone else a chance. Speaking of which, I think [Hillbilly Elegy’s] Glenn Close will win, but the role just felt like caricature. I voted for [Borat Subsequent Moviefilm’s Maria] Bakalova because this is her first time on camera in a significant movie; she kept up with Sacha; and she even did some impressive improv dealing with [Rudy] Giuliani. Comedies are underserved in the awards conversation. Let’s have a little fun.

[From THR]

This guy has weird taste. I’m not offended by him, but wow, he just had weird takes on so many films. He also voted for Vanessa Kirby for Best Actress for that dreadful little film with Shia LaBeouf. Gross. I don’t get his whole tirade against Chicago 7 – Aaron Sorkin turned a somewhat dry courtroom drama into something which felt very fun and watchable. The only things with which I agree wholeheartedly: Mank, Sound of Metal and Riz Ahmed. Mank was trash! And I seriously hope the Oscar season has gotten more people to watch Sound of Metal. Riz gave a career-defining performance. I agree that the Oscar will probably go to the late Chadwick Boseman (who was also a mensch), but by all accounts, Riz is a great guy professionally and personally too.

riz ahmed sound of metal

PIECES OF A WOMAN: Vanessa Kirby as Martha

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Photos courtesy of Amazon, IMDB, Netflix.

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53 Responses to “THR’s Brutally Honest Oscar Ballot #1: The producer who hated ‘Trial of the Chicago 7’”

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  1. Lady Luna says:

    I have not seen any of these movies, so I have no idea who should win.

    • smcollins says:

      Same. This is the first time, I think ever (well, at least in the last 25+ years), that I haven’t seen at least *one* of the nominated films going into the Oscars. I’ll probably still watch because it’s like a tradition at this point, especially for me and my bff to tune in together.

    • lucy2 says:

      Same here, I am woefully behind. I don’t seem to have much time for movies right now, and when I do watch something, I’m binging old comedies like comfort food.

    • TaraBest says:

      I whole heartedly recommend watching Sound of Metal. It was a phenomenal movie and I felt swept up with the characters. It’s an interesting story and I was never bored while watching.

  2. Astrid says:

    I haven’t seen any of these movies except Chicago 7 and I really enjoyed that movie.

    • Lizzie says:

      I really liked it and it deserves to be nominated. I didn’t see the rest so I don’t really know who should win but I wouldn’t be mad if Chicago 7 won.

    • Baela says:

      The problem with Chicago 7 is that it completely misrepresents the historical figures. It is probably the easiest movie to watch in the best movie category and I enjoyed watching it but if you know Abbie Hoffman or who these people actually are, it just feels like a cringefest especially towards the end. Once again class struggle is completely whitewashed so that middle class liberal can feel fluffy and cute inside.

      At least Judas and The Black Messiah was unflinching with Hampton’s views on socialism and class struggle. I hope that will become a trend and we won’t keep watching revolutionaries being, well not very revolutionary.

      • js says:

        Cant say he didn’t pull off a great performance though, script be damned. That press conference scene should be his Oscar clip.

  3. Darla says:

    I couldn’t get thru 20 minutes of Mank. I haven’t been able to watch Ma Rainey yet because I can’t yet face seeing Chadwick’s last film and I know he was sick while shooting. So the only one of these I have seen is Promising Young Woman which I loved, and in fact, watched twice.

    • MF1 says:

      Me too–I really wanna watch Ma Rainey but I feel like it’s gonna hurt too much, know it’s his last movie and he was suffering while they were making it.

    • Ann says:

      I watched the first half of Ma Rainey and found it pretty boring. I think it was based on a play and that showed, it was slow. But I do think Chadwick will win and I that’s a good thing, he was a fine actor and human being gone too soon. I really enjoyed Chicago 7 too, so I’m not sure why this guy is so down on it. Glenn Close’s performance WAS a caricature but it was pretty strong and people think she’s long overdue for a win, so I wouldn’t be surprised if she won. That said, I would have voted for MB too. I thought she was great in Borat 2 and fearless.

  4. Case says:

    I’ve seen 8/10 Best Picture nominees this year and I have to say it’s one of my least favorite Oscar years in recent memory. I loved Minari and Sound of Metal; wonderful stories and performances. Everything else ranged from “meh” (Chicago 7) to “seriously, how long is this movie???” (Mank).

    I loved the premise of Promising Young Woman, but the film itself didn’t totally work for me, even though Carey Mulligan was great. It just didn’t feel fully realized to me.

    • Lightpurple says:

      Everything except Minari and Nomadland felt claustrophobic and dark and even both of those took place in trailers

  5. Ctgirl says:

    This guy totally lost the thread in Nomadland regarding the protagonist’s choice in remaining a nomad.

  6. Becks1 says:

    I’ve only seen Trial of the Chicago 7, but I honestly don’t remember it, so it clearly didn’t leave an impression.

    I think Chadwick will definitely win, maybe he would have won otherwise but I think his unfortunate death seals it, as morbid as that is to say. And if Daniel Kaluuya wins for best supporting – would that be the first time two black actors (or even actresses) have won both acting categories?

    • Veronica says:

      In 2002, Halle won best actress, Denzel won best actor and Sidney received an honorary Oscar.

    • Elaine Stritch says:

      In 2005 Morgan Freeman won for Million Dollar Baby and Jamie Foxx won for Ray and in 2019 Mahershala Ali won for Green Book and Regina King won for If Beale Street Could Talk

      • Becks1 says:

        Thanks – the 2005 awards are what I was specifically wondering about, not competing actor/actress awards (like I was wondering if a black man had won for supporting actor and leading actor, not if a black man and woman had won in the same years, does that make sense?) so it seems that it did happen in 2005.

      • Elaine Stritch says:

        Totally makes sense! You’re welcome!

    • Nic919 says:

      I have seen all the films this year because I caught a bunch at TIFF and then got the rest later on. Nomadland and Minari are my top films by a long shot. Judas and the Black messiah and The Father are after that, mostly because Hopkins is absolutely excellent. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom feels more like a collection of individual performances instead of a coherent film, but Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman are excellent in the moments they have. It has a staged feel even more than The Father.

      Mank is Hollywood navel gazing and the Trial of the Chicago 7 isn’t even the best courtroom drama this year or Sorkin’s best involvement with a courtroom drama. It was boring to me and I fell asleep part way.

  7. Lightpurple says:

    Argh! If you did not see every film in a category, do NOT vote in that category. It isn’t fair! And how difficult is it for these voters to see all the films when they make them available to them in so many formats? I have barely left the house this past year and I have seen every single film in every category. And sorry, voter guy, the shorts categories do belong. For me, every single year, the best films are in the shorts. The stories people can tell in 20 minutes of time are amazing and compelling celebrations of creativity

  8. ib says:

    My favorite movie of the past year was SAINT FRANCES. I highly highly recommend celebitchies watch it, it’s a perfect movie for our tastes. Amazing dramedy about being young-ish (34) and very smart but also still struggling, lesbian and interracial relationships, abortion, but it never felt like it was “trying”. Absolutely hilarious and powerful and moving and doesn’t ask anything of the viewer.

    • TaraBest says:

      Thanks for the recommendation! I don’t recall hearing about this movie before but I’m adding it to my list.

  9. Esmom says:

    I may have said this here before but I had a similar issue with Chicago 7, I was just so hyperaware of almost all the actors giving performances, not sure why I felt that so strongly with this particular film. I was taken out of it, just as this guy describes.

    I know Glenn Close is a queen who is long past due for an Oscar but I really hate to see Hillbilly Elegy get any accolades.

    • Case says:

      Same here with Chicago 7. And the fact that Ma Rainey and One Night in Miami were both based on plays gave off a similar vibe for me. I felt like I was just…watching stage plays. The performances were good, but it was kinda odd.

    • LightPurple says:

      It’s a total joke that it got nominated for Hair & Makeup for those fright wigs.

    • Ann says:

      I thought Hillbilly Elegy was better than the reviews said it was. It was a decent enough movie, though Amy Adams’ performance was over the top (and I normally love her) and the pacing wasn’t great. JD Vance gets a lot of hate and I kind of understand why, but to be fair he wrote the book as a personal memoir, not a commentary on Trump voters. It just was turned into one by people after Trump won, which isn’t his fault. I hate the guy’s politics, don’t get me wrong, but I think a lot of the hate the movie got was based on reviewers’ feelings toward Vance which isn’t really fair.

      • Esmom says:

        I get that he wrote as a personal memoir, and I wasn’t interested in his commentary on Trump voters, but hoped that he would at the very least include a modicum of insight about the plight of his impoverished relatives. I found his lack of self reflection, empathy and acknowledgement of the factors that separate him from those less fortunate to be appalling. I was disappointed that such garbage was found worthy of being made into a film. I have no real objection with the film, just the source material that in no way merits any awards.

  10. Dee says:

    Please don’t give Hillbilly Elegy anything.

  11. Elaine Stritch says:

    Riz was great in Sound Of Metal but the movie had pacing problems and you could tell they had to go back in and do major edits. The performances are great but the movie fell flat for me.

  12. Tanguerita says:

    I agree with every word he said. Huh, first time for everything. And Kirby was absolutely brilliant in this “little weird” heartbreaking movie.

  13. smee says:

    I love that Riz Ahmed & Maria Bakalova got nominated. Hope they win and, if not, next time.

    • Becks1 says:

      I liked his point about how comedies are underserved. It is hard to be a good comedic actor. Let’s give them some awards once in a while.

    • Ann says:

      I am rooting for MB though I think it’s a very long shot.

  14. Amy Bee says:

    I agree. Mank was boring.

  15. I suffer from tinnitus. My brother, a guitar player, and I didn’t get through much more than 30 minutes of Sound of Metal. We are avid metal fans but this movie messed with my ears so bad. Anyone else deal with this? Was this supposed to be the point?

    • lucy2 says:

      Interesting. I’ve been wanting to watch it but haven’t yet.
      Lately I’ve noticed so many shows and movies have a high pitched sound in their audio, it’s really weird and uncomfortable. It’s noticeable to the point where I pause it, wondering if it’s something making noise in my house, and am reassured when it’s definitely the show.

    • LightPurple says:

      I think so. The character loses his hearing. We’re supposed to be feeling what he experiences.

    • Jenn says:

      I haven’t seen it, but I do have tinnitus as well as misophonia, and I’ve read that the two might go together…?

  16. Lizzie says:

    This guy described on movie as too ‘television’ and another as too ‘theatrical’.

  17. Mika says:

    I am here for his voting for Maria Bakalova. She did so much more work than the average actor has to do and she was brilliant and funny and moving. One of my main issues with the Oscars is that they don’t give comedy the respect it deserves. Bakalova actually really deserves this Oscar.

  18. Ohreally says:

    His takes weren’t blunt, but bland and expected. Movies are about how open you are, and his not wanting to feel guilty told me everything I needed to know. He wasn’t looking for a new experience, but the same one with new dialogue. Feeling guilty is not a terrible thing. It means you are questioning yourself. Sometimes you are innocent, and sometimes you are not. Other times maybe it is the nuance. This article definitely made me understand why the Oscars are nice to achieve, but ultimately mean nothing. He had the palate of watercress.

    • Brittany says:

      Agree!

      When he said Nomadland “tells these people’s story in a way that invites empathy without saying, ‘You should feel sh-tty about your gilded, privileged life.’” Uhhhh… maybe do some self-examination on your privilege? That was pretty gross.

  19. Sally says:

    Lolol, I’m laughing at what he had to say about the Best Song category. I like this guy and agree with a lot, the not actually watching the smaller categories aside.
    Sound of Metal was really great and I agree that Riz was fantastic in it, he generally is a great actor and I recommend everyone to check out his Edmund monologue from King Lear, but I don’t particularly like him in interviews. He’s a great artist, but also a little full of himself imho.

  20. Isabella says:

    A lot of these movies are slow and boring. I guess that’s a new trend. Reminds me of Roma.

  21. L4frimaire says:

    I love these bitchy behind them ballot articles. Prefer that to watching the Os are. I haven’t seen any of these films it’s but want to see Nomadland, Jesus had the Black Messiah, and Promising Young Woman.

  22. ElleE says:

    The Trial of the Chicago 7 suffers from Netflixmayalgia: stacked cast and just in-your-face , complete lack of nuance, nothing left to the imagination, storytelling with great cinematography.
    I am not a movie critic-these are the terms that cross my mind when I start to feel insulted, watching zero character development, like, trust us, there is a reason that everyone is acting this way and this is all happening. We are just in such a f-in hurry to get to the end, we don’t have the time to engage you and make you care about any of these characters. If you accidentally end up identifying with one of them , even if it isn’t the character we intended to be the protagonist (the writers fought over thats as we had a great cast) we’ll call that a win!

  23. WithTheAmerican says:

    He didn’t “feel” PYW. I’m sure.

    the stories I could tell about male Hollywood producers- when they aren’t Weinstein, and that’s a big stretch, they suffer from projecting their teenaged inadequacy onto every single project, which is why movies are so bad unless some incredible creative manages to squeak one out on a low budget. So glad I left that world behind. The magical rich white male! He knows everything.

    • Call_me_al says:

      Right? Exactly why we need more women in producing, directing, and writing films!
      I loved PYW, I thought it was an achievement for Emerald Fennel and Carey Mulligan. I came away from it feeling both deeply understood and validated and also somewhat scarred. I think there were some problems with it, but its message shone through. EF will only continue to grow as a film maker, no doubt, and I will be watching.