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[Androidsleeps]

“The politics of what happens during this time of year is very interesting in Hollywood,” he said. “The movies they choose to say are amazing and great, you know — ‘Manchester by the Sea,’ oh my god, you must see it, it’s an amazing film!’ But, ehh, I guess it is — to somebody.”

“It’s not an inclusive film, you know what I mean?” Jackson continued. “And I’m sure that ‘Moonlight’ will be thought of the same way. They’ll say, ‘Well, that’s a black movie. Where are the white people?’ We’ll say the same thing about ‘Manchester by the Sea.'”


Jackson was also less than enthused with the schmaltziness of movies he sees as clearly intended to tug at the heartstrings of awards voters, singling out Will Smith’s “Collateral Beauty” as another one with an overly saccharine message.

There are all these ‘Oscar bait’ movies. I was looking at the trailer for this Will Smith movie the other day and I’m like, really? It’s another one of those, ‘Oh my God, life is so wonderful, take time to sniff the roses.'”

Jackson said those are fine for people who are into that kind of stuff — but don’t expect him to use his acting to further any agendas.

“My politics are my politics,” Jackson said. “I don’t use my politics onscreen. I use my voice as who I am.”

http://www.thewrap.com/samuel-l-jackson-throws-shade-at-manchester-by-the-sea-oscar-bait-movies/

Thoughts? I said this a million times before, yeah there are Oscar "bait" movies that come out every year and sometimes win awards, but that doesn't mean you can just label any film with critical acclaim during awards season as such. His remarks about Manchester strike me as stupid

 

[Chumley]

He's full of shit, doesn't sound like he's even seen it.

 

[Slayven]

He is right that some films are anointed before they are released

 

[border]

He is right -- Collateral Beauty looks to be one of the most shameless Oscarbait movies in a long time.

 

[Dominator]

There are clear Oscar bait movies (that Will Smith movie definitely looks like one), but Manchester is far from that. I also don't think Moonlight is gonna be treated differently, I've seen nothing but high praise for it.

 

[Seesaw15]

I thought he was gonna talk about how big of a Creep Casey Affleck is.

 

[-Plasma Reus-]

I thought Oscar Bait didn't exist.

 

[Puck Beaverton]

Collateral is absolutely dumb going by spoilers, but Manchester actually seems competent so I don't know what he's talking about.

 

[tuxfool]

Collateral is absolutely dumb going by spoilers, but Manchester actually seems competent so I don't know what he's talking about.

I don't think he is arguing against the competence of the films

 

[SCULLIBUNDO]

Collateral Beauty looks cringeworthy.

 

[jack_package_200]

I thought he was gonna talk about how big of a Creep Casey Affleck is.

That what I was expecting.

 

[Junior Asparagus]

I've seen them all. Manchester by the Sea is great. Moonlight is great. Collateral Beauty is garbage.

Just take movies for what they are, Sam. I'm not black or white, but I enjoyed both of those movies.

 

[lightskintwin]

I see he made those comments in Dubai. He probably didn't think they'd travel back to the states. LOL

 

[shintoki]

Well, I'm not really sure what he is getting at with the first part. Moonlight still barely has gone wide and was considered one of the best films of the year while it was on the festival circuit. This is typically what happens with many of the small Oscar films. Even before their release, they've been well reviewed with thousands of avid goers already seeing the films.

 

[old manatee]

The Oscars are absolute trash, and they make movies worse because everyone keeps trying to make movies that will win a trash award. Samuel Jackson would be better off if he didn't pay attention to them, but it's part of his job so he has my sympathy.

 

[BlazinSkatinAxel]

He is right -- Collateral Beauty looks to be one of the most shameless Oscarbait movies in a long time.

I agree. I just rewatched the trailer. The movie has 2-3 Academy winners and like 4 nominees.

 

[UberTag]

There are shameless Oscar bait vehicles that aren't any good.
There are great movies that get propped up AS Oscar bait and politicised as a result.
And then there are competent films that pander a little too egregiously.

 

[dave is ok]

Manchester by the Sea is a real town that is .1% black, so yeah there's that.

 

[lightskintwin]

I've seen them all. Manchester by the Sea is great. Moonlight is great. Collateral Beauty is garbage.

Just take movies for what they are, Sam. I'm not black or white, but I enjoyed both of those movies.

You already saw Collateral Beauty? By garbage, are you saying that it's a bad film? or in relation to the other films in artistic value? How do you think it will be received by critics and general audiences?

 

[platakul]

Collateral Beauty looks nothing like "oscar bait". Looks like This Is Us style saccharine garbage

 

[Instro]

Collateral Beauty lol. Cheeseball title alone, but the trailer is ridiculous. A character within the trailer even says the name of the film to really put it over the top. I don't see that as Oscar bait though. It's a cheesy movie with an ensemble cast coming around the holidays. Pretty much one of those kinds of films every year at this time.

 

[Bronx-Man]

I think Moonlight has the best chance of winning Best Picture tbh.

 

[ItIsOkBro]

I could probably throw Collateral Beauty in the ocean and catch hundreds of fish.

 

[shintoki]

I agree. I just rewatched the trailer. The movie has 2-3 Academy winners and like 4 nominees.

It ain't winning shit. It's this years.

It will join the likes of Extremely Close and Loud

 

[Puck Beaverton]

I remember reading somewhere dude got mad he didn't win for Pulp Fiction, so his opinion must have changed.

I'm sure it has considering it's been 20+ years

 

[torre_avenue]

I often find the quality of a film is inversely correlated with how many free screening emails I get for it. in the past 2 weeks, I've gotten 5-6 emails asking if I'd like to see a free screening of Collateral Beauty. The last movie that I got that many free screening emails for was Bad Santa 2.

 

[UberTag]

Collateral Beauty lol. Cheeseball title alone, but the trailer is ridiculous. A character within the trailer even says the name of the film to really put it over the top.

There's a film releasing this month with a more ridiculous trailer than Passengers? I didn't realize such a thing was possible.

I think Moonlight has the best chance of winning Best Picture tbh.

La La Land is still the front-runner. I would love it if momentum carried Moonlight to the top prize, however. It's a much better film.

 

[Linkura]

Collateral Beauty lol. Cheeseball title alone, but the trailer is ridiculous. A character within the trailer even says the name of the film to really put it over the top.

You know, Ellie, we really are the last of us.

 

[Androidsleeps]

In fairness though, I doubt that Will Smith movie will get a single Oscar nom

 

[Bronx-Man]

What was last year's big oscar bait movie? Concussion?

 

[FStop7]

I have no idea what Manchester by the Sea is about but I couldn't agree more about that corny af Collateral Dreams movie.

 

[dave is ok]

What was last year's big oscar bait movie? Concussion?

The Danish Girl was definitely up there

 

[Brakke]

He is right that some films are anointed before they are released

Like Birth of a Nation... until that got revoked.

 

[George Oscar Bluth II]

What was last year's big oscar bait movie? Concussion?

Did Tom Hooper have any movies last year?

The Danish Girl was definitely up there

Ah yeah, there it is.

 

[UberTag]

What was last year's big oscar bait movie? Concussion?

That and Joy. Unbroken was propped up for a number of months the previous year before it came out and people realized it was awful.

The Danish Girl was definitely up there

Alicia Vikander was genuinely great in this... AND she won the Oscar. The rest of the film could genuinely be argued as bait, though.

 

[Linkura]

What was last year's big oscar bait movie? Concussion?

Hey, that also starred Will Smith!

 

[Bronx-Man]

The Danish Girl was definitely up there

Oh yep, that's the one.

 

[dalin80]

Manchester by the Sea is a real town that is .1% black, so yeah there's that.

Yeah according to the consensus there are about 5 black people in the 5000+ town.

For curiosities sake about 10 native americans and about 5 Asians.

 

[jrush64]

So I guess I'm the only one that doesn't see anything wrong with Collateral Beauty. Just watched it and think it looks pretty great.

 

[Speevy]

Collateral Beauty looks like the dumbest movie in the previews. I can't stop laughing.

 

[TheAbsolution]

The Danish Girl was definitely up there

Yuppp.
And I liked that film too but yeahhhh, it was pretty boring.

 

[QuantumBro]

Eh, it's not like critics are ignoring Moonlight to praise Manchester. Both films are present on many critic's 'top films' lists. They were talking about Manchester on NPR this week, but they also talked about Jackson's own I'm Not Your Negro in the same segment. Haven't seen any of those films yet since I'm waiting to watch them at home.

If definitely feels like the Oscar field is more diverse this year compared to 2015.

He is right that some films are anointed before they are released

Republicans dream of creating a voting system like the Oscar's.

 

[JB1981]

Oh it's a white movie starring white people so it's non-inclusive? Ok dude

 

[Junior Asparagus]

You already saw Collateral Beauty? By garbage, are you saying that it's a bad film? or in relation to the other films in artistic value? How do you think it will be received by critics and general audiences?

Yes, preview screening. I thought it was a bad film and I was surprised at the caliber of the actors in it--they're not bad in it, but just the fact that they would all want to do a film like that. Of course I'm using "bad" as a relative term. It's just nowhere near Manchester by the Sea or Moonlight in quality.

I mean, it's not Oscar-worthy. It's just super saccharine holiday stuff. It tries to hard to be deep, when it's not. The person I was with liked it more than I did, but she also tends to like more cheesy holiday movies (which I'm not against, mind you).

Although I'm not even sure it's going for Oscar buzz--I think it's better to just market it toward the people who like sentimental stuff at the holidays. If that's its audience, it'll be ok. I think critics will agree with me, but I wouldn't be surprised if certain audiences go see it, given the names that are in it.

 

[WaffleTaco]

The Oscars are absolute trash, and they make movies worse because everyone keeps trying to make movies that will win a trash award. Samuel Jackson would be better off if he didn't pay attention to them, but it's part of his job so he has my sympathy.

Better than the Grammy's at least where it's more about sales than anything.


Honestly though Collateral Beauty doesn't look like an Oscar-movie at all, more like for Will Smith to cash a check. Moonlight does look like a movie made to go after Oscar's, but that doesn't mean it's a bad movie.

 

[Air Zombie Meat]

Real news here is that he's actually prepared to turn down roles.

 

[mreddie]

I am already dreading the La La Land wins over Moonlight headlines.

Moonlight is great and I'm sure La La Land will be too, not out in my city yet til Christmas but I can already feel the outrage.

As for Beauty, I swear Will Smith is doing this on purpose now.

 

[Montresor]

I haven't Manchester By The Sea or Moonlight.

But if you took the same thoughts Sam Jackson has right now and replaced Moonlight / Machester By The Sea with Hateful Eight?

You're god damn right the Academy ignored that movie and didn't give it the attention it deserved.

It should've gotten best supporting actor (Sam Jackson) and should've been much much much closer to Best Director / Best Picture than it actually was. That's a movie about racial tensions in a "Post-Racism America", aka an America that likes to pretend there aren't racial injustices and divides in the country (in the movie, "post-racism America" are the few years after the civil war, and in real life, should go without saying but "post-racism America" are the ongoing decades we've seen since the civil rights movement in the 60s).

The Hateful Eight overall ended up being a mystery movie about 8+ people snowed in at a small motel. But the first 30-45 minutes of the movie had some superb dialogue involving racist characters, giving a glimpse into white privilege and injustices against blacks.

 

[Nickle]

Manchester by the Sea isn't Oscar bait, but good lord it was boring. It's just people being sad for 135 minutes.

 

[HP_Wuvcraft]

He is right that some films are anointed before they are released

Yeah, but after him going to bat for Tim Burton's racist rant, this statement is kind of eye rolly.