I've got a bunch of pesky trolls commenting on my previous Livejournal post saying that the Oscars are somehow infallible and sacred, and that the Academy gets the last word on Deathly Hallows. Also that critics and fans, who are merely uncultured popcorn-eaters and mindless rabble, don't really know what makes a good movie.

So here's a list I found of movies that never received a single Academy Award Nomination:
( Read the Snubbed Movies List Under the Cut )

And as for Alan Rickman's snub, below is the list of great actors who were either Never Nominated, or Nominated and then snubbed. Some of them won awards for other things, such as directing. But notice how many great actors were overlooked for their famous movies, but later given "Honorary Awards" by the Academy.
*cough* The "Academy Screwed Up" Awards *cough*

NOTE: Alan Rickman wasn't on the list, so I added him, and I'm going to contact that website and make sure he gets a place. He's in great company with the likes of Donald Sutherland (Ordinary People, yo!), Richard Burton (Nominated but never won - incredible), Edward G. Robinson (why didn't he win for Key Largo?), Vincent Price (only made a million movies), Peter Lorre (Casablanca anyone?), Alan Arkin (omg, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter!), Danny Kaye (The Court Jester is a masterpiece), James Mason (you've got to be kidding!!!), Steve McQueen (The Great Escape or the Magnificent Seven - what happened?), PETER O'TOOLE (Everything)!!!

No, my little trollettes, Oscar is not always right.

( See the Snubbed Actors List Under the Cut )

My husband made a joke yesterday about why DH2 didn't receive a Best Picture Oscar Nod:

"It was missing one important Hollywood ingredient: A Tediously Politically Correct Character played by Hollywood Royalty."

And I think he's got a point there! So at first I was thinking maybe the Oscar snub had something to do with the HP series not being "meaningful" enough to the acting community. Since it is considered a "fantasy action movie." then maybe it was a forgone conclusion it was going to be ignored. Or perhaps all these voters didn't bother to see it, in spite of all the billboards put up (too late) by WB. Did Hollywood resent the all-British location, cast, producers, and director? Probably not - Hollywood usually loves anything British. Judy Dench, Helen Mirren, Ben Kingsley, and Colin Firth never have the same problem as Alan Rickman in trying to get a nomination. And plenty of Hollywood types are also HP fans, and no company is more All-American than WB.

My new theory: there was nothing wrong with DH2, and actually it was too good and too much of a threat in a year when big name Hollywood actors and directors wanted to keep their pet projects in the running without comparisons to something better.
I think the problem lies in the movies "Hugo" and "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close." Both are connected to "Hollywood Royalty" - Martin Scorcese and Tom Hanks. Both films are considered "nostalgic favorites" for some reason, although frankly why people are nostalgic for 9-11 is a mystery, and Hugo basically looks like a rip-off of HP from start to finish, filmed in a train station with a British child actor who is a dead ringer for Albus Severus Potter!

Look Under the Cut( For More Snub Speculation Including Reviews and Pictures )

As disappointed as we Harry Potter fans are that DH2 was snubbed, perhaps it's all for the best. This way DH2 never has to lose to one of these sickly-sweet HP clones that only made the Oscar list because Hollywood Royalty was involved. It's better to just cut our losses and appreciate that all the HP movies will still have an audience (and some cinematic integrity) long after these movies are forgotten.

UPDATE: It's official ~ no Oscar Nom for Alan Rickman.
And HP was only nominated in the categories of Art Direction, Visual Effects, and Makeup.
No award for Soundtrack either, which is really sad, too. Desplat deserved more.
~~~~~~~~~
These are the last few hours when we can hope for Oscar consideration for the Harry Potter movies we know and love.  And it's the last day that Alan Rickman is in the running for the character of Snape, since he was shut out of the Golden Globes, Baftas, and Screen Actor Guild awards.

The last HP movie is still singular for the number of positive reviews it garnered, but did Hollywood care? I guess we will know soon.
Rotten Tomatoes: DH2 and the Amazing 96% Reviewer Rating

For me, this will "ALWAYS" be the year that Alan Rickman conquered hearts on Broadway and Tumblr, and won the spectacular MTV fan award based on 7.5 million - yes million - worldwide votes. It has been so much fun and a privilege to be a Snape fan at a time when an actor of AR's caliber is playing him in such a well-wrought movie, and I have loved reading all the glowing reviews of his touching performance as Severus Snape.

Whether he's nominated or not, he's still winner of all awards here on this blog.


Gif by Alan Rickman Daily on Tumblr

One of my Anonymous posters took umbrage with the fact that I wrote that I was tired of the catchphrase "Shades of Gray" in This Previous Post.

Anonymous: Honestly, I think your problem with the shades of gray concept comes from misunderstanding of the phrase. You say yourself in this very essay that Snape was "not always good, not always bad". Okay -- THAT'S WHAT THE REST OF US MEAN WHEN WE SAY SHADES OF GRAY. We mean that sometimes he did bad things. That sometimes the mean things he did and said to students were not done for good reasons or misunderstood because he really had good intentions for doing those mean things, but because he was a mean man who did mean things.

Let me explain: The phrase "shades of gray" originally came from something JKR said way back in 2000, but unfortunately she phrased it as "shades of evil."

JKR: You have a choice when you're going to introduce a very evil character. You can dress a guy up with loads of ammunition, put a black Stetson on him, and say, “Bad guy. Shoot him.” I'm writing about shades of evil. You have Voldemort, a raging psychopath, devoid of the normal human responses to other people's suffering, and there ARE people like that in the world. But then you have Wormtail, who out of cowardice will stand in the shadow of the strongest person. What's very important for me is when Dumbledore says that you have to choose between what is right and what is easy. This is the setup for the next three books. All of them are going to have to choose, because what is easy is often not right.
Entertainment Weekly, September 7, 2000 Via Accio Quote

Notice that Snape isn't mentioned at all, unless you believe that Snape with his black cape is the "very evil character" wearing the "Black Stetson" cowboy hat who is the "Bad Guy." But that's precisely what the author said she wouldn't do. ( Read more... )

I had forgotten to post the link to Dan Rad's skit on Saturday Night Live. It would have been funnier if Alan Rickman had played the portrait, but it's still quite funny.
Complete Hogwarts Scene from SNL Here

Gifs below by mione-weasley on Tumblr.

Mirrormere from Chamber of Secrets Forum has had an essay posted on Mugglenet.

The Flaw in the Plan

Her thesis is that Dumbledore had two plans: first, the "Active" horcrux-destroying plan in which Harry would die but remain alive thanks to the magical blood link with Voldemort; and second, the back-up or "Latent" plan in which Snape would become Master of the Elder Wand and kill Voldemort just in case Harry wasn't able to stay alive. The first plan worked great, the second plan, not so much, mainly due to Dumbledore's secrecy about the Elder Wand.

This is a complicated topic, but Mirrormere explains it in a clear and enjoyable way. And she makes the case that Harry's actions lead to Snape's death.

I won't go through every paragraph, but you can read more of my thoughts ( Here Under the Cut )

Well, the Bafta Award Nominations were announced and Alan Rickman was not on the short list for Best Supporting Actor.
*sigh*

Guardian UK: Bafta Nominees

Deathly Hallows Part Two was nominated for four awards:
Production Design
Make-Up and Hair
Visual Effects
Sound

I think there's only one answer:

"I am not a destroyer of companies. I am a liberator of them! The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind. And greed, you mark my words, will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA. Thank you very much."
~ Gordon Gecko, played by Michael Douglas in the 1987 movie Wall Street

"I like being able to fire people who provide services to me."
~ Mitt Romney, candidate in the Republican Presidential Primary

"When Rick Perry heard that, he said, 'Well that's nothing. I like to execute people.'"
~ David Letterman

( Read more... )

Good News for the Brits!!!
Rickman might take the play "Seminar" to London's West End Theatre.

Two-time Tony Award nominee, Emmy Award and Golden Globe winner Alan Rickman (Private Lives, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, the Harry Potter franchise) is currently making his eagerly-anticipated return to Broadway starring in the World Premiere of SEMINAR, a new comedy by Pulitzer Prize finalist and Peabody Award winner Theresa Rebeck (Mauritius, The Understudy, Omnium Gatherum, The Family of Mann, Spike Heels, NBC's upcoming "Smash").

Today, The Daily Mail's Baz Bamigboye reports that Rickman is in talks to take the show to the West End. Producer David Ian says that unless Rickman leads the show, a transfer won't be happening.

Source: Broadwayworld

Picture Via: Alan Rickman Fan

You don't have to like the character of Severus Snape to recognize that he was on the good side every minute in the books, every time we see him, in every situation. That's the canon, people. That is our given, the thing written in stone. He was not a Death Eater anymore as of 1980 or so when he met Dumbledore on the windy hill and vowed to do "Anything" to save the Potters - all of them. And then he spied on Voldemort and tried his best to no avail because of Peter and Voldemort. The Potters didn't die because of Snape. He was redeemed even then - he wasn't out to kill them, he was trying to save them. Therefore, in hindsight which should be 20-20, he was actually "redeemed Snape" in every scene in every book.

Was he struggling with his life? Sure. Did he say some nasty things now and then? Of course - he's a sinner like the rest of the characters, including Dumbledore. There's really not a single character who doesn't say or do something petty or nasty in the Harry Potter books. Anyone who has ever listened to one of JKR's interviews knows that she has a penchant for sarcasm that is almost unparalleled - the Weasley Twins came from her imagination, and so did Snape. In fact, he might be more like her than she cares to admit. But anyway - try to name one character who is without sarcasm and without flaws of one kind or another? Luna Lovegood comes close, and even Harry comes close. But JKR is a careful writer, and Harry is not an innocent child by the end of the series - he lies when he has to lie, he is brutally honest and sarcastic at times, he fights and kills when he has to, and he gets off on the Cruciatus Curse without ever showing any remorse. In effect, he's no better and no worse than Severus Snape.

Let he who is without snark and curses cast the first stone.

But what I want to talk about here is the way people critique Snape's character as if he is inconsistent and barely hanging on to the Good Side by white knuckles, when really he is the most predictable of characters, never wavering. Some want to play "Oh, Snap!" with his redemptive arc, as if the "player" in the discussion who stacks up a higher deck of negative cards will win the argument. But redemption doesn't work that way, in my opinion, and Snape wasn't a backslider, and he certainly wasn't "Damned." It's unfair to hold him to a higher standard than other characters when he had been through more than most of them and never took any credit for it. Yes it made him Cranky McCrankerson, but that certainly didn't "unredeem" him (and my spell check is telling me that isn't even a word). ( Read more... )