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| Mark Duplass in Blue Jay |
Every Oscar season, there are a handful of actors who get tagged with the "snubbed" moniker. While it is always unfortunate to see our favorites not honored with at very least a nomination, there's another trend that goes largely unnoticed: those who never even got that far. The Runner-Ups is a column meant to honor the greats in cinema who put in phenomenal work without getting the credit that they deserved from The Academy. Join me every other Saturday as I honor those who never received any love. This list will hopefully come to cover both the acting community, and the many crew members who put the production together.
The Runner-Up: Mark Duplass
Film: Blue Jay (2016)
Oscar Nominees in the Best Original Screenplay category (2016):
-Manchester by the Sea *WINNER
-Hell or High Water
-La La Land
-The Lobster
-20th Century Women
-Hell or High Water
-La La Land
-The Lobster
-20th Century Women
*NOTE: I apologize for taking two months off from the promised column of The Runner-Ups. While I will be looking to start Failed Oscar Campaigns in September, I hope to right some wrongs and, for this year only, make the column weekly while trying to highlight filmmakers who deserved Oscars but didn't get them. Thank you for your understanding and I hope to be more professional in the future.
This marks the end of the line for The Runner-Ups' Summer 2017 season. While it had a few hiccups, I am happy that it managed to get back on track towards the end. Failed Oscar Campaigns is coming pretty soon here in September, and I hope that it continues to produce top notch work. So the question turns to something a bit more difficult. How do you end a column that's dedicated to recognizing anyone who has NOT gotten an Oscar nomination in the past 90 years? Well, it was a bit difficult and I have largely been trying to pick relevant names dedicated to current events. However, August has been notoriously bad for top picks. That's why I decided to pick an obscure film from 2016 that I feel is representative of what this column generally tries to achieve. It's a movie that more people should probably be aware of, but aren't because its marketer (Netflix) kinda dropped the ball on it while focusing on bigger Oscar bait movies like Beasts of No Nation or (most likely) Okja get all of the attention. No wonder Amazon has gotten more Oscars than them.
I feel that Blue Jay is a prime example of what Netflix has gotten wrong about marketing its movies. One of the key issues is that it releases so much content that certain things are inevitably buried underneath others. It's generally why I've felt less and less compelled to watch their new series and have lost faith in thinking that their movies (such as this weekend's Death Note) will actually be good. Still, I randomly found this movie and discovered just exactly what this model is supposed to be achieving. It's supposed to make audiences want to watch random movies, which is Netflix's motto. The only issue is that there's so much that's unexceptional that you cannot help but think that all of it is kinda bland. I like Mark Duplass' work in general and feel that Sarah Paulson is finally getting her due with Emmy wins. However, this movie still escaped the radar so swiftly that I doubt anyone who isn't already a fan is going to check it out.
Yet this is generally the type of movie that Netflix should be pushing if it wants to take its Oscar season seriously. I'm sure that there's a campaign budget that has to go to the best, but Duplass' screenplay is something beautiful. It's a seemingly innocent ode to a nostalgic romance, of which is so layered with personal details that it will connect with a certain generation almost too closely. It's a film so full of heart and passion that you'll forget how unassuming and lacking in grander action it actually has. This is a story of two people discovering what has changed in their lives, and the catalysts are all so subtle that they become overwhelming when they're realized. It may have the trapping of a typical indie drama, but it's the type of writing that could be recognized if given the chance. I admit that 2016's actual nominees are difficult to surpass and put Blue Jay on, but that's only part of the reason that this column exists.
Part of the charm is that Mark and Jay Duplass have generally been some of the finest auteurs of the indie world, having produced continually interesting work. Some of it was for themselves while others helped to launch other's careers, including Colin Trevorrow's Safety Not Guaranteed. Still, I have noticed that they have used their talent for good and even tried to get Tangerine into Oscar conversations. They're the type of people that should be stumping for indie movies within The Academy. I admit that Blue Jay's biggest fault is that it is unassuming, but it manages to also feature a great performance from Paulson, who is long overdue for an Oscar nomination. Still, it's the writing that is most compelling and what reflects their gifted abilities to make simple prose memorable and sweet.
All things considered, I don't know how Netflix is going to fare in Oscar contention down the road, especially with a haphazard business model that creates more controversy around "should a nominated film be shown in theaters?" They have gotten a great run in the documentary categories, but their push for fields everyone cares about is more difficult and obviously a failure. Blue Jay is probably a film that wouldn't sell well in any considerable way and comes across as more of a movie dumped onto the streaming service just because. I would love to see smaller movies like this get their due in more professional ways. Then again, that's difficult because of how much content they release. Complaining won't do anything. However, it would still be nice to see films like Blue Jay get the respect that they deserve from their key audiences instead of expecting them to thrive on their own. The film is so much greater than its vague place on a queue would suggest. On one hand, it's great because it is the type of movie that's worthy of rewatching. However, one would first have to know it exists to get there. That's going to be hard if all you're pushing is Okja and Adam Sandler movies.
This marks the end of the line for The Runner-Ups' Summer 2017 season. While it had a few hiccups, I am happy that it managed to get back on track towards the end. Failed Oscar Campaigns is coming pretty soon here in September, and I hope that it continues to produce top notch work. So the question turns to something a bit more difficult. How do you end a column that's dedicated to recognizing anyone who has NOT gotten an Oscar nomination in the past 90 years? Well, it was a bit difficult and I have largely been trying to pick relevant names dedicated to current events. However, August has been notoriously bad for top picks. That's why I decided to pick an obscure film from 2016 that I feel is representative of what this column generally tries to achieve. It's a movie that more people should probably be aware of, but aren't because its marketer (Netflix) kinda dropped the ball on it while focusing on bigger Oscar bait movies like Beasts of No Nation or (most likely) Okja get all of the attention. No wonder Amazon has gotten more Oscars than them.
I feel that Blue Jay is a prime example of what Netflix has gotten wrong about marketing its movies. One of the key issues is that it releases so much content that certain things are inevitably buried underneath others. It's generally why I've felt less and less compelled to watch their new series and have lost faith in thinking that their movies (such as this weekend's Death Note) will actually be good. Still, I randomly found this movie and discovered just exactly what this model is supposed to be achieving. It's supposed to make audiences want to watch random movies, which is Netflix's motto. The only issue is that there's so much that's unexceptional that you cannot help but think that all of it is kinda bland. I like Mark Duplass' work in general and feel that Sarah Paulson is finally getting her due with Emmy wins. However, this movie still escaped the radar so swiftly that I doubt anyone who isn't already a fan is going to check it out.
Yet this is generally the type of movie that Netflix should be pushing if it wants to take its Oscar season seriously. I'm sure that there's a campaign budget that has to go to the best, but Duplass' screenplay is something beautiful. It's a seemingly innocent ode to a nostalgic romance, of which is so layered with personal details that it will connect with a certain generation almost too closely. It's a film so full of heart and passion that you'll forget how unassuming and lacking in grander action it actually has. This is a story of two people discovering what has changed in their lives, and the catalysts are all so subtle that they become overwhelming when they're realized. It may have the trapping of a typical indie drama, but it's the type of writing that could be recognized if given the chance. I admit that 2016's actual nominees are difficult to surpass and put Blue Jay on, but that's only part of the reason that this column exists.
Part of the charm is that Mark and Jay Duplass have generally been some of the finest auteurs of the indie world, having produced continually interesting work. Some of it was for themselves while others helped to launch other's careers, including Colin Trevorrow's Safety Not Guaranteed. Still, I have noticed that they have used their talent for good and even tried to get Tangerine into Oscar conversations. They're the type of people that should be stumping for indie movies within The Academy. I admit that Blue Jay's biggest fault is that it is unassuming, but it manages to also feature a great performance from Paulson, who is long overdue for an Oscar nomination. Still, it's the writing that is most compelling and what reflects their gifted abilities to make simple prose memorable and sweet.
All things considered, I don't know how Netflix is going to fare in Oscar contention down the road, especially with a haphazard business model that creates more controversy around "should a nominated film be shown in theaters?" They have gotten a great run in the documentary categories, but their push for fields everyone cares about is more difficult and obviously a failure. Blue Jay is probably a film that wouldn't sell well in any considerable way and comes across as more of a movie dumped onto the streaming service just because. I would love to see smaller movies like this get their due in more professional ways. Then again, that's difficult because of how much content they release. Complaining won't do anything. However, it would still be nice to see films like Blue Jay get the respect that they deserve from their key audiences instead of expecting them to thrive on their own. The film is so much greater than its vague place on a queue would suggest. On one hand, it's great because it is the type of movie that's worthy of rewatching. However, one would first have to know it exists to get there. That's going to be hard if all you're pushing is Okja and Adam Sandler movies.
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