Honorary Oscars to Jackie Chan, Frederick Wiseman, Lynn Stalmaster, and Anne V Coates
Thursday, September 1, 2016 at 7:28PM The Board of Governors from AMPAS have finally announced their selections for this year's Honorary Oscars. This year they're not giving out the Thalberg (for Producing) or the Hersholt (for Huminatarian efforts) but just the regular ol' Honorary Oscars. If such a thing can be deemed "regular" since they're so hard to come by. Consider that James Ivory still doesn't have one despite being a masterful oft imitated but never duplicated director behind three major Best Picture contenders (and many other beautiful films) and never having won an an Oscar and being 88 years old. Nathaniel wept. Oscar remains remarkably stingy with the gays but at least they've noticed the need for diversity in other ways.
Congratulations to this year's esteemed recipients!
Jackie Chan's starmaking hit The Legend of Drunken Master (1978)
SUPERSTAR JACKIE CHAN
He's a famous actor, producer, and director and his filmography is just enormous with well over 100 films under his belt. What's more he's a major figure in Asian cinema which is about the last place Oscar ever looks to hand honors so good on them. He's only 62 which is young for an Honorary prize but Spike Lee got his while still in his late 50s recently so they appear to be loosening up with their age restrictions.
EDITOR ANNE V COATES
Though The Film Experience is against Oscar's strange practice of giving Honorary Statues to people who've already won (like Coates) there's no denying that she's one of the best editors the cinema has ever seen. And in truth they've been a bit stingy with her with only 5 nominations and a win (Out of Sight, In the Line of Fire, The Elephant Man, Becket, and her winning film Lawrence of Arabia when she was still in her 30s). I was personally horrified when she was not nominated for her vigorous artful editing on Erin Brockovich (2000). At 91 she doesn't work much anymore but she did edit Fifty Shades of Grey (2015) recently.
DOCUMENTARIAN FREDERICK WISEMAN
The Academy has been egregiously stingy with this 86 year old. He's never been nominated despite being considered one of the all time greatest documentarians. He has made nearly 40 documentaries including such well regarded titles as Titicut Follies (1967), High School (1968), Hospital (1970), Welfare (1975), Domestic Violence (2001), and At Berkeley (2013)
Lynn Stalmaster at the TCM FestivalCASTING DIRECTOR LYNN STALMASTER
Since AMPAS does not have a category for casting this is a great use of the Honorary award. Lynn Stalmaster is 88 years old and a legend in his field. Within his first three years as a casting director he already had a Best Actress winning film under his belt (I Want to Live!, 1958). Among his many films there are quite a few examples of situations where the perfect actors for that particular project where chosen including: In the Heat of the Night (1967), The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), They Shoot Horses Don't They (1969), Harold and Maude (1971), Deliverance (1972), Tootsie (1982), The Right Stuff (1983), Nine and a Half Weeks (1986) and many more. I adore that he had such a thing for Faye Dunaway though maybe she regrets how frequently he cast her since Mommie Dearest (1981) and Supergirl (1984) were towards the end of it.
The non-televised Governors Awards will be held on November 12th. As usual we'll be doing some posting on these four careers in the lead up to their honors so we have quite a range of films to choose from. Any requests?
Reader Comments (20)
Jackie Chan is an unexpected, but yet really inspired choice. Yeah, most of his Hollywood movies are pretty lame, but his work in Hong Kong in amazing. A rare Asian performer who became a global movie star, an absolute innovator in martial arts cinema, with a Buster Keaton-esque knack for physical comedy. I approve.
I have been hoping that Jackie Chan would be honored this way. Hooray!
Jackie Chan getting an Oscar is awesome. Plus, I'm happy Lyn Stalmaster is getting some recognition though I wish Marion Dougherty would get one.
I love these so much! I was (and, I guess, still am) against them not being presented at the Oscars, BUT I think that action has freed them to make some pretty creative choices over the last few years. And the five-minute segment where we see the snippets is something I look forward to, so there's that.
And FREDERICK WISEMAN YASS!
Jackie Chan is truly a surprising choice, but he deserves it for his work as a stuntman alone. Maybe the Academy is just looking for fresh ideas by checking what the MTV Movie Awards did 20 years ago already?
I'm not happy. No divas, no Ivory and Jackie Chan?!!
Stallmaster was also a fan of the Pfeiff... (Nat, did you know that he cast her as the bad girl in a 1981 TV remake of Splendor in the Grass, but with Melissa Gilbert in the Naralie Wood role?!?)
From his films, it would be nice to see The Right Stuff, The Rose and Superman (1978) discussed.
Happy for Stalmaster and Wiseman. I think I am kind of with you on winners not getting an Honorary (unless it's the Thalberg or Hersholt I suppose). There are so many deserving people who have never been nominated or even win.
Who has to die before Kathleen Kennedy gets her Thalberg?
A million YAS's to Wiseman. Exactly the type of truly legendary, never rewarded artist that this honour should be reserved for.
Stereotype Alert: I thought Lynn Stalmaster was female. But excellent for him, a name I've seen since I started watching entertainment.
Jackiie Chan over Doris Day, though... I don't know. But I really only know his Hollywood work in "Shanghai Noon" and "The Cannonball Run". Shrug. Good for him.
Anne was robbed for being unnominated for her wondrous editing of Murder On the Orient Express.
Clara Kappelhoff has refused the honorary and won't show up if they gave it to her anyways, so the Academy has moved on.
Choices with me were just OK... inclusion of Jackie Chan was a surprise... I think others more
deserving than he ...
brookesboy: Agreed! The opening sequence showing the kidnapping could alone have earned her a nomination. It's put together beautifully.
This strikes me as a fine group of honorary Oscar recipients.
I guess Chuck Norris was the runner-up.
Edward, so true--that sequence scared the poo outa me as a kid. And her editing keeps an essentially quite talky picture moving and suspenseful!
YAS JACKIE CHAN!!!!!! The oscars so white thing seems to really hit them hard with this and the array of diversely insignificant presenters last year. Shut up white people. He deserves the hell out of this Oscar.
brookesboy: Yes, great point. The tight editing of the spaces and conversations, and the way the flashbacks are cut in so briskly yet so powerfully - excellent stuff.
Jackie Chan is really a choice I'd never thought of like... ever.
But yeah, that's quite a nice choice. He's one of the hardest working actors out there-literally because he still does most of his stunts himself!
I'm just still dissapointed Thelma Ritter never got an Honory Oscar. She'll always remain a six time loser. *sigh*
Nice Collection!!! thanx for this great post
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