'Roma is just an expensive home movie' and 'it's about f**king time for Spike Lee' - Anonymous Academy member reveals the thinking behind how an Oscars ballot is really filled in
- Only 7,902 people get to select the winners who take home an Oscar at Sunday's 91st Annual Academy Awards, and one of those men has come forward
- An unnamed member of the director's branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has revealed how he arrived at his votes for winners
- He gave a candid look at how he decided to cast his votes in an anonymous essay
- In the writeup, he called 'Roma' what amounted to 'an expensive home movie'
- He also revealed he voted for Spike Lee's 'BlacKkKlansman' for Best Picture
- The awards show will begin airing live at 8pm Eastern (5pm Pacific) from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, broadcast on ABC
An anonymous director who is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has revealed his candid thinking behind the way he filled out his 2019 Oscars ballot.
The outspoken, unidentified man who shared his reasoning with The Hollywood Reporter is part of a club of only 7,902 voting members, further sub-divided into professional categories.
This particular fellow belongs to the director's branch, which is comprised of only 519 people out of the 7,902 total.
Behind the safe veil of namelessness, he let this year's top contenders across the many categories have it, calling 'Roma' what amount to 'an expensive home movie' and saying 'it's about f**king time for Spike Lee,' while revealing BlacKkKlansman had his vote for Best Picture, but that he won't be tuning in on Sunday.
An anonymous director who is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has revealed his candid thinking behind the way he filled out his 2019 Oscars ballot, including a win for Spike Lee's (pictured) 'BlacKkKlansman' for Best Picture
'I'm not going to watch the Oscars this year,' the man said of the 91st Academy Awards.
'I'm just anticipating a very boring show. One of the best things about the show is the opening monologue, which is usually pretty good — it's what happens after that that's not great.'
In ranking his choices for Best picture, the man shared how strategically he went about it, without sparing any unkind words for his predicted losers, including accused rapist Bryan Singer.
In ranking his choices for Best picture, the man shared how strategically he went about it, without sparing any unkind words for his predicted losers, including accused rapist Bryan Singer who brought Bohemian Rhapsody to studios last year. Gwilym Lee (left), Rami Malek (center) and Ben Hardy (right) are shown in a still from the film
'"Bohemian Rhapsody" is a standard-issue biopic with a really nice last 10 minutes; had it been a great film, I probably still wouldn't have voted for it, because I don't want to do anything to reward Bryan Singer, who is a pariah now and needs to stay that way,' the man said. Singer (pictured) is accused of raping a Seattle man named Cesar Sanchez-Guzman in 2003, when Sanchez-Guzman was 17 years old, according to a lawsuit filed against Singer
'"Bohemian Rhapsody" and "A Star Is Born" are films whose adulation I can't even begin to fathom — I found them to be ordinary,' he said.
'"Bohemian Rhapsody" is a standard-issue biopic with a really nice last 10 minutes; had it been a great film, I probably still wouldn't have voted for it, because I don't want to do anything to reward Bryan Singer, who is a pariah now and needs to stay that way.'
Singer is accused of raping a Seattle man named Cesar Sanchez-Guzman in 2003, when Sanchez-Guzman was 17 years old, according to a lawsuit filed against Singer.
The man didn't see anything great in Bradley Cooper's directorial debut, either.
'A Star Is Born is a fourth remake with nothing new to say — it was massively overhyped,' he said.
The man didn't see anything great in Bradley Cooper's directorial debut, either. Cooper (left) is pictured with Lady Gaga (right) in a still from 'A Star Is Born'
For his fifth overall selection for Best Picture, the man chose Vice.
'It would be higher on my list, but it stands no chance whatsoever, so if you're trying to vote strategically for what you'd like to see honored, you have to drop some of your darlings,' he said.
Coming it at fourth place for the man was Roma, which he said was greatly diminished by having to be watched on a television screen, as he criticized Netflix's direct-to-consumer distribution model.
'What is our job as Academy members?' he asked, before answering his own question.
Coming it at fourth place for Best Picture for the man was Roma, which he said was greatly diminished by having to be watched on a television screen, as he criticized Netflix's direct-to-consumer distribution model. Yalitza Aparicio is pictured in still from 'Roma'
'We are trying to promote great films for audiences to see, he said.
'When we gave our award to "The Hurt Locker" or "Moonlight, we were getting people to go to theaters to see them; "Roma" is this brilliant work, visually speaking, on a big screen, but it becomes greatly diminished when you watch it on television, which is what 95 percent of the people that want to watch it have to do. I've spoken to several of my peers who watched it at home, and they were out after 20 minutes.'
Beyond visually, he saw little value in the production, adding, 'It's beautifully crafted and looks fantastic, but ultimately, I was wondering where the entertainment or even intellectual value is in this movie. To me, it's a very slow and rather indulgent film — the most expensive home movie ever made.'
Oddly, the man said social impact wasn't an appropriate consideration to take into account when voting for a film for Best Picture, which knocked "Black Panther" down to third for him. Erik Killmonger (left) and Chadwick Boseman (right) are pictured in a still from 'Black Panther'
Oddly, the man said social impact wasn't an appropriate consideration to take into account when voting for a film for Best Picture, which knocked "Black Panther" down to third for him.
'Look, it's a Marvel comic book movie, and it's not much better than any of the others, but you have to applaud it for its massive social impact and the pride it has given to so many people,' he said.
'I know that's not a reason to vote for a movie, so that's why it's in third place rather than second or first.'
For the runner up spot for Best Picture, the man settled on The Favourite, despite being a bit torn over it. Emma Stone is pictured in a still from 'The Favourite'
For the runner up spot for Best Picture, the man settled on The Favourite, despite being a bit torn over it.
'The Favourite is an unbelievably delicious film, and I was completely entertained from beginning to end — its humor and sexuality turned me on,' he said.
'It's a better movie than BlacKkKlansman, but I have no idea what it was trying to say.'
And then he contradicted himself, in revealing his reasoning for voting for BlacKkKlansman for Best Picture winner, by noting the message it sent, which seems synonymous with 'social impact.'
'I prefer to reward a movie that is solid and has something of social importance to say, like BlacKkKlansman,' he said of the Spike Lee film.
'The Charlottesville footage at the end of it sealed the deal for me — it reminds us that things really haven't gotten better.'
He was referring to footage of the deadly riot in Virginia from 2017, where alt-right counter-protesters came out against the removal of Confederate statues and three people ended up dead, with 34 more injured.
He seemed to contradict himself, in revealing his reasoning for voting for 'BlacKkKlansman' for Best Picture winner, by noting the message it sent, which seems synonymous with 'social impact.' Adam Driver (left) and John David Washington (right) are pictured in a still from 'BlacKkKlansman'
The man also panned the Academy for initially suggesting it would hand out four of its awards during commercial breaks.
'It's an abomination,' he said. 'If ABC [the network which will air the awards], which I'm sure was pushing for this, thought that dumping cinematography and film editing was going to bring back any of the viewers the show has lost in recent years, they're idiotic. Cinematography and editing are so important.
'For f**k's sake, man, a movie director [Roma's Alfonso Cuarón] is going to win the cinematography award this year for the first time ever, and we weren't going to see it live? I don't f**king get it.'
No one else got it either. The organization later abandoned the plan, after virtually everyone said what a horrible idea it was.
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For the rest of the man's incredibly honest critique of nominees across the 24 categories to be honored on Sunday, and a look at how he arrived at his own list of votes for winners, read his personal essay, as told to THR's Scott Feinberg.
To see how the results pan out for those up for awards, catch the show beginning at 8pm Eastern (5pm Pacific, broadcast live from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on ABC.
To see how the results pan out for those up for awards, catch the show beginning at 8pm Eastern (5pm Pacific, broadcast live from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on ABC. A hand holding an Oscar statue in the press room during the 90th Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood & Highland Center on March 4 in Hollywood, California is shown
