SquirrelMeat said:

Both!

Harlepolis said:

Wow. I didn 't realised it was alive and kicking so well in America.

Uh oh,,,they're already SHUTTING a brotha up? lol damn that fast,,,

COMMENTARY
By Erik Lundegaard
MSNBC contributor
Updated: 12:39 p.m. ET Jan. 21, 2005

Apparently someone needs to teach comedian Chris Rock what it means to be a good host. One of the things it does not mean is insulting your guests before they even receive the invites.

Rock, who will host this year’s Academy Awards on February 27th, handed out his insults (with raised lettering) in a recent interview with Lola Ogunnaike in “The New York Times.”

“I am rooting for Jamie,” Rock told Ogunnaike, referring to Jamie Foxx who will most likely be nominated best actor for his uncanny performance as Ray Charles in “Ray.” “[A]nd if he doesn't win, I’m going to talk about it on the show.” He added, “I’ll take an Oscar from one of the sound or light people that win and give it to him… Jamie Foxx is not going to walk out of that place without an Oscar.”

Forget for the moment what an insult this is to the other, eventual best actor nominees (Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio and Don Cheadle are among the usual suspects). Forget for the moment what an insult this is to sound engineers and lighting people, who are apparently unimportant peons in Rock’s world. More than anything, Rock’s comments demonstrate a complete lack of understanding about how the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences actually votes. So: School’s in session.

Oscarless lip-synchers
Question: How many African-Americans have won the Oscar for best actor? Two. A measly two. Sidney Poitier in 1963 for “Lilies of the Field” and Denzel Washington in 2001 for “Training Day.” Now a more pertinent question: How many actors or actresses have won the Oscar for portraying a singer whose songs they lip-synched in the film? Answer? Zero.

Admittedly the overall field of winners in music biopics is small to begin with — James Cagney in “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” Sissy Spacek in “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” F. Murray Abraham in “Amadeus,” and Geoffrey Rush in “Shine” — and the last two aren’t even singers. But Cagney and Spacek did sing as Cohan and Lynn. They won. Angela Basset lip-synched as Tina Turner in “What’s Love Got to Do With It?” She lost. Jessica Lange lip-synched as Patsy Cline in “Sweet Dreams,” and Jennifer Lopez lip-synched as Selena in “Selena.” They weren’t even nominated.

Jamie Foxx? A lip-syncher. Still a great performance, and, prior to Rock’s comments, I might have been rooting for him to win. But Rock’s comments are so classless — for a host — and they left such a bad taste in my mouth, I don’t know who to root for now. Maybe Don Cheadle. Yeah, let’s see what Chris Rock does with that.

Because if Chris Rock is suggesting that a Foxx loss is yet another example of the Academy’s rampant racism (of which, I agree, there are many examples), then I’d suggest he consider the lip-synch issue.

However, if Chris Rock is suggesting that Foxx should win because he delivered the best male performance of the year in “Ray,” then Rock knows even less about the Academy than I thought. With the Academy, “best” is meaningless. In fact, overlooking the “best” is basically what the Academy does best.

Which brings me to my second, and sorer, point.

Affirmative action for Martin Scorsese
If Chris Rock had stopped there in the interview I doubt I would’ve cared enough to write this article. “Oh, okay, he’s rooting for Jamie Foxx. Not very classy for a host to mention that, but whatever. Now let’s get some coffee.” But the comedian doesn’t stop there. Instead he decides to play film critic for the day. His target? Martin Scorsese’s “The Aviator.”

“It's a weird movie,” he says. “It’s well made, but a story about a rich guy who gets things done doesn't excite me. Oooh, he overcame obstacles, like how much money to spend. And he washed his hands a lot.”

At the moment, “The Aviator” is the odds-on favorite to win best picture. Because it’s the “best” film of the year? Please. It’s an over-long historical biopic with epic sweep (and the Academy tends to favor those) directed by a guy who’s considered one of the greatest filmmakers of his generation and who has yet to win an Academy Award for best director.

Let’s talk for a minute about Affirmative Action. I assume Chris Rock is familiar with the concept. He jokes about it in his recent HBO concert film “Never Scared.” So what’s a good definition of Affirmative Action? Perhaps…an attempt to right a past injustice? Does that sound good enough?

If so, then here’s the news: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences invented the concept of Affirmative Action. Because they are constantly attempting to right past injustices they’ve committed against this or that actor, or this or that director. Whoops, we haven’t given anything to Al Pacino yet! Here you go, Al. (Whew.) Whoops, Henry Fonda’s one of the greatest American actors in film history and we haven’t given him anything, and he’s about to die! Here you go, Henry. (Whew.) At the moment? They’re eyeing Martin Scorsese.

His film, “Taxi Driver,” is number 47 on AFI’s list of the 100 greatest American films of all time; he didn’t even get nominated for it. His film “Raging Bull” is number 24 on that list. He lost to a pretty boy actor directing for the first time (Robert Redford). “Goodfellas”? Lost to another pretty boy actor directing for the first time (Kevin Costner). He’s 0-4 with the Academy. He’s been screwed worse than Andy Dufresne in “The Shawshank Redemption.”

This was supposed to be Marty’s year. Payback. Affirmative Action for Martin Scorsese. And what happens? Chris Rock goes and opens his big mouth. Plays movie critic. Yeah, Mr. “Head of State,” Mr. “Lethal Weapon 4,” Mr. “Bad Company," I'm sure you know what a good movie is. How about this, Chris? I don’t do any stand-up, and you don’t do any movie criticism. Everyone’s happy.

What’s heart-breaking about all this is that I love Chris Rock. In his stand-up he’s unloaded some of the most pointed, spot-on commentary about American culture in recent memory. But messing with Martin Scorsese is just plain stupid; and, as a comedian once observed, “There’s no rehab for stupidity.”

I so want Scrosese to win but I'm just not sure he deserves it for "The Aviator" no matter how many perfect Scroses touches it has. Marty should've straight-up won for "Raging Bull" and "Goodfellas".

Now they overlook what to me will be the only memorable female role of 2003/2004 in years to come, Uma's Bride. And totally ignored the best and most important film of the year, "911".

If Foxx doesn't poke fun at Jamie, he'll have sold out in my opinion.

VinnyM27 said:

Are you getting Foxx and Rock mixed up?

By Erik Lundegaard
MSNBC contributor
Updated: 12:39 p.m. ET Jan. 21, 2005

“I am rooting for Jamie,” Rock told Ogunnaike, referring to Jamie Foxx who will most likely be nominated best actor for his uncanny performance as Ray Charles in “Ray.” “[A]nd if he doesn't win, I’m going to talk about it on the show.” He added, “I’ll take an Oscar from one of the sound or light people that win and give it to him… Jamie Foxx is not going to walk out of that place without an Oscar.”

Forget for the moment what an insult this is to the other, eventual best actor nominees (Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio and Don Cheadle are among the usual suspects). Forget for the moment what an insult this is to sound engineers and lighting people, who are apparently unimportant peons in Rock’s world.

Affirmative action for Martin Scorsese
If Chris Rock had stopped there in the interview I doubt I would’ve cared enough to write this article. “Oh, okay, he’s rooting for Jamie Foxx. Not very classy for a host to mention that, but whatever. Now let’s get some coffee.” But the comedian doesn’t stop there. Instead he decides to play film critic for the day. His target? Martin Scorsese’s “The Aviator.”

“It's a weird movie,” he says. “It’s well made, but a story about a rich guy who gets things done doesn't excite me. Oooh, he overcame obstacles, like how much money to spend. And he washed his hands a lot.”

At the moment, “The Aviator” is the odds-on favorite to win best picture. Because it’s the “best” film of the year? Please. It’s an over-long historical biopic with epic sweep (and the Academy tends to favor those) directed by a guy who’s considered one of the greatest filmmakers of his generation and who has yet to win an Academy Award for best director.

Let’s talk for a minute about Affirmative Action. I assume Chris Rock is familiar with the concept. He jokes about it in his recent HBO concert film “Never Scared.” So what’s a good definition of Affirmative Action? Perhaps…an attempt to right a past injustice? Does that sound good enough?

If so, then here’s the news: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences invented the concept of Affirmative Action. Because they are constantly attempting to right past injustices they’ve committed against this or that actor, or this or that director. Whoops, we haven’t given anything to Al Pacino yet! Here you go, Al. (Whew.) Whoops, Henry Fonda’s one of the greatest American actors in film history and we haven’t given him anything, and he’s about to die! Here you go, Henry. (Whew.) At the moment? They’re eyeing Martin Scorsese.

Harlepolis said:

This guy is unbelievable. It was a joke. A funny one, too. My God, people, breathe. It's little gold awards for people who pretend to be other people for a living. To borrow a phrase, It ain't that crucial.





Now this shit, on the other hand, is not funny. Giving little gold statues to white men is "righting past injustices" on par with the injustices that Affirmative Action attempts to address?

This article gave me a stomachache.

Uh oh,,,they're already SHUTTING a brotha up? lol damn that fast,,,

COMMENTARY
By Erik Lundegaard
MSNBC contributor
Updated: 12:39 p.m. ET Jan. 21, 2005

Apparently someone needs to teach comedian Chris Rock what it means to be a good host. One of the things it does not mean is insulting your guests before they even receive the invites.

Rock, who will host this year’s Academy Awards on February 27th, handed out his insults (with raised lettering) in a recent interview with Lola Ogunnaike in “The New York Times.”

“I am rooting for Jamie,” Rock told Ogunnaike, referring to Jamie Foxx who will most likely be nominated best actor for his uncanny performance as Ray Charles in “Ray.” “[A]nd if he doesn't win, I’m going to talk about it on the show.” He added, “I’ll take an Oscar from one of the sound or light people that win and give it to him… Jamie Foxx is not going to walk out of that place without an Oscar.”

Forget for the moment what an insult this is to the other, eventual best actor nominees (Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio and Don Cheadle are among the usual suspects). Forget for the moment what an insult this is to sound engineers and lighting people, who are apparently unimportant peons in Rock’s world. More than anything, Rock’s comments demonstrate a complete lack of understanding about how the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences actually votes. So: School’s in session.

Oscarless lip-synchers
Question: How many African-Americans have won the Oscar for best actor? Two. A measly two. Sidney Poitier in 1963 for “Lilies of the Field” and Denzel Washington in 2001 for “Training Day.” Now a more pertinent question: How many actors or actresses have won the Oscar for portraying a singer whose songs they lip-synched in the film? Answer? Zero.

Admittedly the overall field of winners in music biopics is small to begin with — James Cagney in “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” Sissy Spacek in “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” F. Murray Abraham in “Amadeus,” and Geoffrey Rush in “Shine” — and the last two aren’t even singers. But Cagney and Spacek did sing as Cohan and Lynn. They won. Angela Basset lip-synched as Tina Turner in “What’s Love Got to Do With It?” She lost. Jessica Lange lip-synched as Patsy Cline in “Sweet Dreams,” and Jennifer Lopez lip-synched as Selena in “Selena.” They weren’t even nominated.

Jamie Foxx? A lip-syncher. Still a great performance, and, prior to Rock’s comments, I might have been rooting for him to win. But Rock’s comments are so classless — for a host — and they left such a bad taste in my mouth, I don’t know who to root for now. Maybe Don Cheadle. Yeah, let’s see what Chris Rock does with that.

Because if Chris Rock is suggesting that a Foxx loss is yet another example of the Academy’s rampant racism (of which, I agree, there are many examples), then I’d suggest he consider the lip-synch issue.

However, if Chris Rock is suggesting that Foxx should win because he delivered the best male performance of the year in “Ray,” then Rock knows even less about the Academy than I thought. With the Academy, “best” is meaningless. In fact, overlooking the “best” is basically what the Academy does best.

Which brings me to my second, and sorer, point.

Affirmative action for Martin Scorsese
If Chris Rock had stopped there in the interview I doubt I would’ve cared enough to write this article. “Oh, okay, he’s rooting for Jamie Foxx. Not very classy for a host to mention that, but whatever. Now let’s get some coffee.” But the comedian doesn’t stop there. Instead he decides to play film critic for the day. His target? Martin Scorsese’s “The Aviator.”

“It's a weird movie,” he says. “It’s well made, but a story about a rich guy who gets things done doesn't excite me. Oooh, he overcame obstacles, like how much money to spend. And he washed his hands a lot.”

At the moment, “The Aviator” is the odds-on favorite to win best picture. Because it’s the “best” film of the year? Please. It’s an over-long historical biopic with epic sweep (and the Academy tends to favor those) directed by a guy who’s considered one of the greatest filmmakers of his generation and who has yet to win an Academy Award for best director.

Let’s talk for a minute about Affirmative Action. I assume Chris Rock is familiar with the concept. He jokes about it in his recent HBO concert film “Never Scared.” So what’s a good definition of Affirmative Action? Perhaps…an attempt to right a past injustice? Does that sound good enough?

If so, then here’s the news: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences invented the concept of Affirmative Action. Because they are constantly attempting to right past injustices they’ve committed against this or that actor, or this or that director. Whoops, we haven’t given anything to Al Pacino yet! Here you go, Al. (Whew.) Whoops, Henry Fonda’s one of the greatest American actors in film history and we haven’t given him anything, and he’s about to die! Here you go, Henry. (Whew.) At the moment? They’re eyeing Martin Scorsese.

His film, “Taxi Driver,” is number 47 on AFI’s list of the 100 greatest American films of all time; he didn’t even get nominated for it. His film “Raging Bull” is number 24 on that list. He lost to a pretty boy actor directing for the first time (Robert Redford). “Goodfellas”? Lost to another pretty boy actor directing for the first time (Kevin Costner). He’s 0-4 with the Academy. He’s been screwed worse than Andy Dufresne in “The Shawshank Redemption.”

This was supposed to be Marty’s year. Payback. Affirmative Action for Martin Scorsese. And what happens? Chris Rock goes and opens his big mouth. Plays movie critic. Yeah, Mr. “Head of State,” Mr. “Lethal Weapon 4,” Mr. “Bad Company," I'm sure you know what a good movie is. How about this, Chris? I don’t do any stand-up, and you don’t do any movie criticism. Everyone’s happy.

What’s heart-breaking about all this is that I love Chris Rock. In his stand-up he’s unloaded some of the most pointed, spot-on commentary about American culture in recent memory. But messing with Martin Scorsese is just plain stupid; and, as a comedian once observed, “There’s no rehab for stupidity.”

I love that cat

Universaluv said:

Yeah, that and...sold out? To whom?

Harlepolis said:

Me three. Great article.

Ummmm.....are we forgetting one small detail?
































The fact that Chris Rock is a friggin' comedian!?!?!?!?
Y'all really don't have to take this so seriously.

Harlepolis said:

This guy is unbelievable. It was a joke. A funny one, too. My God, people, breathe. It's little gold awards for people who pretend to be other people for a living. To borrow a phrase, It ain't that crucial.

CHRIS ROCK MEETS THE PRESS: Oscar host talks about plans for the big night.



*Chris Rock faced a bunch of foreign journalists yesterday to talk about his upcoming gig as host of the Academy Awards on Feb. 27. The most pressing question? Is he worried about running foul of the FCC, as ABC has not yet decided whether there will be a delay on the broadcast to protect against language slip-ups?


"I'm never proper or careful, but I never curse in front of my mother, either," Rock told the writers.


The actor/comedian hired his own writing staff for the show’s all-important opening monologue, and expects contributions from his boys David Spade, Adam Sandler and Eddie Murphy.

"I've been kissing ass for years and now I'm going to reap the rewards," he said, cracking up. "I've been paying for a lot of dinners and now I want jokes, damn it!"


Rock went on to imitate his most-asked question: "Oh, a black comic, how are you going to make it whiter? I'm like, 'Dude, look around, can you get any whiter?'"


Rock also revealed that he had turned down requests to host the Oscarcast several times before, believing it was "an old man's gig." But the 39-year-old has since had a change of heart.

"I like the tradition of the Oscars,” he said. "I like that some of the greatest comedians ever have hosted the show."


As for Rock’s open support for best actor nominee Jamie Foxx: "If he doesn't win, I will steal the sound editing Oscar," Rock said. When Oscar director Gil Cates reminded him that the award usually has multiple winners, "They're all punks," Rock fired back.


When asked why he has chosen not to become a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the body that selects the Oscar winners, Rock said: "If you're darker than a paper bag, you can't get in."


And finally, how will Rock know if he's killing the Kodak Theatre audience on Oscar night?


"I'll probably pay more attention to the musicians in the pit than the stars because they're the closest you're going to get to normal people in the audience," he said. "If I can get them laughing, I know I got the whole world laughing."

***

I love that cat

When asked why he has chosen not to become a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the body that selects the Oscar winners, Rock said: "If you're darker than a paper bag, you can't get in."

Chris Rock is too quastic to host an awards show. What's the point of hosting something you have zero respect for? I say yes, the academy needs to be lambasted for their stupid, short-sighted decisions, but not on their own show. That's just rude. It creates wierd atmosphere. The same thing happened when he hosted the VMA's. Of course the VMA's should be taken to task, but on their own show, with the nominees right there in the audience?