What if the Oscars actually paid attention to comedies?

[HolyGhost]

I thought this was a fun little idea for an article and discussion starter:
30 Years of Comedic Performances That Deserved Oscar Nominations

One of my annual beefs with the Academy Awards (aside form the sickening love of cruddy biopics) is the utter lack of love/respect it gives for comedies and comedic performances.

I'm not on board with all of the suggested nominees in that article (Macauley Culkin? Amy Poehler?) but some are inspired (Matt Damon, Reese Witherspoon).

What comedy or comedic performance do you feel was short shrifted by stodgy, old fogey Academy voters?

I'm a huge defender of James Franco in Pineapple Express which may be my favorite stoned/drunk acting work ever.

comes down to comedies. Hi-brow vs Low-Brow, Comedy is very subjective and with so many different types of comedies out there it could be hard to actually agree what is a good comedy. Also. This is why there is the Golden Globes. They got it covered

 

[Nalens Oga]

Except comedies generally suck now. And I say this as someone who only watches sitcoms and no dramas. The best Hollywood comedies of the past few years....Spy, Game Night, 21 Jump Street....these aren't exactly good movies. The closest they get is with something like The Big Short or Ladybird and these are more indie drama than comedy.

 

[Tasty Biscuits]

Was reading The Ringer's oral history of Office Space, as a bunch of places are talking about it now since it came out 20 years ago (this has some good info, recommend checking out anyway -- Follow the Path of Least Resistance: An Oral History of ‘Office Space’), and that reminded of the two borderline iconic supporting performances given in it by Gary Cole and Stephen Root especially. Good stuff.

 

[Shareefruck]

There are obviously exceptions that come out once in a while, but for the most part, comedies do not deserve Oscar consideration on a regular basis, IMO.

 

[Tkachuk4MVP]

Was reading The Ringer's Oral history of Office Space, as a bunch of places are talking about it now since it came out 20 years ago (this has some good info, recommend checking out anyway -- Follow the Path of Least Resistance: An Oral History of ‘Office Space’), and that reminded of the two borderline iconic supporting performances given in it by Gary Cole and Stephen Root especially. Good stuff.

Good read, thanks for sharing. The entire cast is sublime, but I agree that those two are the standouts.

 

[glovesave_35]

Do I have to be the dick that asks that the title be fixed to not have a glaring spelling error?

 

[glovesave_35]

There are obviously exceptions that come out once in a while, but for the most part, comedies do not deserve Oscar consideration on a regular basis, IMO.

I agree. It's one of those things where, if it's just a really quality film that happens to be funny it can work. Wes Anderson films come to mind. We aren't going to live in a world where Pineapple Express is feted for being hilarious. I just don't see it. Same reason why, by and large, films based on comics aren't racking up Oscars. Infinity War killed it at the box office. It gets best visual effects type of Academy and BAFTA recognition. This is the way it should be IMO.

 

[NyQuil]

This thread is really more about honouring those comedies that have made a cultural impact as opposed to seriously considering including them in the Oscars.

 

[discostu]

This thread is really more about honouring those comedies that have made a cultural impact as opposed to seriously considering including them in the Oscars.

Especially since there isn't any awards recognition for comedic films. There's the Golden Globes but they seem to go out of their way to not recognize comedies in that category. Meanwhile, the television industry has a whole separate set of categories for comedies.

Someone brought up Office Space in this thread, and I think it becomes a great example. I recall that year reading an opinion somewhere at the time that Office Space told the same themes of the drudgery of mid-life middle class better than the eventual Oscar winner American Beauty.

American Beauty was taken more seriously as a film, but 20 years later, there's not much question which film has had a greater impact.

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

This thread is really more about honouring those comedies that have made a cultural impact as opposed to seriously considering including them in the Oscars.

The actual films are a tougher bar to clear. I love comedies but I'm not sure how often I'd throw one in among the best picture nominees.

I do believe Oscar voters always could stand to recognize more comedic acting though. It's far tougher to make people laugh than it is to don a bunch of makeup and a do an accent.

 

[NyQuil]

The actual films are a tougher bar to clear. I love comedies but I'm not sure how often I'd throw one in among the best picture nominees.

I do believe Oscar voters always could stand to recognize more comedic acting though. It's far tougher to make people laugh than it is to don a bunch of makeup and a do an accent.

The last two comedic roles I can think of that won are Marisa Tomei for My Cousin Vinny and Kevin Kline for "A Fish Called Wanda."

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

The last two comedic roles I can think of that won are Marisa Tomei for My Cousin Vinny and Kevin Kline for "A Fish Called Wanda."

I think you're right. I love that Kevin Klein performance.

 

[Tkachuk4MVP]

The last two comedic roles I can think of that won are Marisa Tomei for My Cousin Vinny and Kevin Kline for "A Fish Called Wanda."

And I can't even recall a straight comedic performance being nominated in recent times aside from RDJ in Tropic Thunder (well-deserved IMO).

Edit: Johnny Depp for Pirates and Melissa McCarthy for Bridesmaids.

 

[kook10]

Even if the Oscars covered the category, it would surely be too stuffy to be relevant. A third party with some credibility (eg The Friars Club) should do awards that cover comedies. I am surprised nobody has seized the moneymaking aspect of it, considering that is what the Oscars is for anyway.

 

[NyQuil]

Edit: Johnny Depp for Pirates and Melissa McCarthy for Bridesmaids.

Those were both excellent performances.

Unfortunately, Depp beat that proverbial horse to death with all of the sequels.

I'd argue that RDJ almost deserves a nod for Tony Stark. ALMOST. He fits that role like an absolute glove.

 

[NyQuil]

Even if the Oscars covered the category, it would surely be too stuffy to be relevant. A third party with some credibility (eg The Friars Club) should do awards that cover comedies. I am surprised nobody has seized the moneymaking aspect of it, considering that is what the Oscars is for anyway.

This is an excellent point.

Although, there haven't been too many good comedies of late - I'd have to defer to the popular opinion on this trend.

I wonder if there would be an unwillingness on the part of "serious" directors like Wes Anderson or Spike Lee to win these awards to avoid being boxed into a niche category.

 

[discostu]

This is an excellent point.

Although, there haven't been too many good comedies of late - I'd have to defer to the popular opinion on this trend.

I wonder if there would be an unwillingness on the part of "serious" directors like Wes Anderson or Spike Lee to win these awards to avoid being boxed into a niche category.

There was the following:

American Comedy Awards - Wikipedia

It seemed to run until 2001 and then revived in 2014 for a year. I've never seen it air or anything but noticed it referenced in various people's awards history.

The idea is good, but it's actually hard to create an awards ceremony from scratch if it doesn't have any sort of legacy behind it. Also, looking through the nomonees in some years you see some very mediocre performances nominated. I guess when you're trying to make a full category you get past the odd gem of a performance and into the very ordinary blockbuster comedy roles and it dilutes the prestige. There also seemed to be a tendency to nominate people from dramatic roles if it had the odd comedic part (much like the Golden Globes).

Maybe there's no ideal way to honor comedic films, other than talking about it every once in a while and reflecting on the ones that go above and beyond.

 

[NyQuil]

There was the following:

American Comedy Awards - Wikipedia

It seemed to run until 2001 and then revived in 2014 for a year. I've never seen it air or anything but noticed it referenced in various people's awards history.

The idea is good, but it's actually hard to create an awards ceremony from scratch if it doesn't have any sort of legacy behind it. Also, looking through the nomonees in some years you see some very mediocre performances nominated. I guess when you're trying to make a full category you get past the odd gem of a performance and into the very ordinary blockbuster comedy roles and it dilutes the prestige. There also seemed to be a tendency to nominate people from dramatic roles if it had the odd comedic part (much like the Golden Globes).

Maybe there's no ideal way to honor comedic films, other than talking about it every once in a while and reflecting on the ones that go above and beyond.

Can't believe I never heard of these.

Looking at the nominees, I can't but feel that there's a significant drop-off in quality for the 2014 version of the awards.