the oscars – The Comedy Bureau

Don’t Miss Chris Rock Hosting The Oscars Tonight as Everyone Is Curious as To How Unapologetic His Jokes Will Be

February 28, 2016

5:30PM PST/8:30PM EST on ABC.

While there was a bit of buzz drummed up when Chris Rock was announced as the host of this year’s Oscars, the #OscarsSoWhite controversy, born out of all the nominees for this year being white, put Rock in a critical position to potentially deliver one of the most hotly anticipated awards hosting performances ever.

In fact, his monologue and bits throughout may showcase the value of these awards telecasts over it being Hollywood patting itself on the back as well as how powerful some jokes can be.

Again, tune in at 5:30PM PST/8:30PM EST on ABC.

“Birdman” and “The Grand Budapest Hotel” Also Win Big at The Oscars

February 24, 2015

Uncategorized

birdman, grand budapest hotel, the oscars

If you were to imagine the perfect Oscar bait movie, it would probably involve some sort historical tragedy played by the best thespians of our time from all over the world, directed by the most revered helmers in this generation, and based on either a true story or a book that was based in a true story.

The two big winners at this year’s Oscars couldn’t be further from that stereotype. Birdman of (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) and The Grand Budapest Hotel, together, took home 8 Oscars, and are both comedies that are shot from original screenplays set in fictional worlds both satirical and exquisitely delightful. Both do have fantastic writer/directors in Wes Anderson and Alejandro González iñárritu as well as fantastic casts led by Ralph Fiennes and Michael Keaton.

So, it’s an atypical year for comedy at The Oscars in that the genre was actually shown some appreciation rather than being relegated to the Best Writing sometimes.

In the end:

Birdman won Best Picture, Best Directing, Best Cinematography, and Best Writing-Original Screenplay.

The Grand Budapest Hotel won Best Costume Design, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Music-Original Score, and Best Production Design

See the rest of the Oscars winners here.

Last year saw a big win for diversity and this year was for genre and hopefully the two will continue make headway at The Academy in the years to come.

“Birdman” and “Grand Budapest Hotel” Continue To Get Nominated For Almost Everything

January 15, 2015

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alejandro gonzález iñárritu, birdman, dga awards, grand budapest hotel, nominations, the oscars, wes anderson

The nominations for both The Oscars and The DGA Awards were just recently released and while it isn’t coming as much of a surprise, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) and The Grand Budapest Hotel have kept on sweeping up honors left and right this awards season.

Already, both films have scored wins at The Golden Globes and have garnered nominations at The SAG Awards.

For The Oscars, Birdman is nominated for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Best Cinematography, Best Directing, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, Best Original Screenplay.

The Grand Budapest Hotel racked up Best Picture, Best Score, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Production Design, Best Cinematography, Best Directing, and Best Original Screenplay.

On top of that, Wes Anderson and Alejandro González Iñáritu both were nominated by The DGA Awards for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film.

That’s 9 Oscar nominations each for the pair, which, above all else, should be noteworthy because they both are comedies, especially in contrast to the rest of the nominated fare. Traditionally, comedy goes generally overlooked during awards season unless it’s in its own category, especially at The Oscars.

Maybe this genre glass ceiling has been broken with two comedy powerhouse frontrunners? We certainly hope so.