The Oscar Week with Haddish in New York & Chastain in Palm Springs
Friday, January 5, 2018 at 4:00PM by Murtada
Welcome back to The Oscar Week, where we follow Oscar contender appearances and interviews and examine how they impact their chances. After a 2 week hiatus, all the contenders were back in full campaign mode on both coasts, cramming in as many events as they could before the Golden Globes. Even hitherto missing person, Sally Hawkins, made an appearance at the Palm Springs Film Festival and at the AFI Luncheon.
However the week, the moment, maybe even the year belonged to Tiffany Haddish. She took the New York Film Critics Circle awards dinner by storm, delivering an 18 minute epic speech. Here are a few excerpts:
First she poked fun at the critics honoring her:
I’m learning a lot about you guys. All the critics I’ve ever known before this was Siskel and Ebert. And then when they passed, I was like, Oh, well. Who’s the new movie critic TV show? Is there one? Get it together, y’all. You should have a TV show so we know who you guys are.
But also thanked them for seeing her:
You care enough to say something. If you didn’t say nothing, then you didn’t care. So if you said something, thank you. I don’t care if it’s positive or negative. I appreciate you. I’m glad you see me. Cause there were so many years nobody saw me.
She wants to pay it forward for the next generation:
There are so many people like me that you guys have no clue about. But they coming, ’cause I kicked the fucking door open.
And didn't forget to mention her improvised bit that was cut off from Girls’ Trip:
There’s a scene where I’m telling Regina [Hall] all of the things I’m gonna do for her. I’ve got her back. ‘And then when he asleep, we’re gonna burn your name in his dick. Then we’re gonna put mud and salt on it so it will keloid over. And then it will be ribbed for your pleasure. And then when he woke up, we’ll look him dead in his eyes. And we’ll tell him right to his face, to keep your name out of these bitches’ mouths.’ And they took that out of the movie, but I like to tell everybody about it, because these are the things I think about at night sometimes. Don’t hurt my feelings, Michael B. Jordan.
You can see the whole speech here. And that wasn’t all for Haddish. Paul Thomas Anderson dedicated his acceptance speech to her. While he didn’t make it to the event, his proxy and Phantom Thread star Lesley Manville publicly read out his phone number to Haddish, asking her to call him so that they can work together soon. Best Actor winner Timothee Chalamet started his acceptance with a joke aimed directly at Haddish:
Tiffany, you know grapefruits very well — I know peaches.
If speeches really get people nominated, as many claimed after Meryl Streep’s at the Globes last year, this should seal the deal for Haddish. Remember when Marion Cotillard (Two Days One Night), only won at NYFCC before her surprise Oscar nomination? And she didn’t even give as legendary a speech.
I want to acknowledge what a difficult year 2017 has been for all of us. Major change is coming. Change is good. Change is needed. Through a joint effort we will make things better. We must be better. And we will.
Reader Comments (27)
That Tiffany Haddish speech is awesome. I really hope she gets nominated for an Oscar and pull the mother of all upsets.
I think Chastain will clinch the fifth spot. The movie is uneven but she is bonafide movie star great in Molly's Game.
Hopefully this gives Tiffany Haddish some attention and affection right as members are voting!
Yeah-that speech by Haddish is amazing. I think it would get her nominated if it had been said at a televised event.
I can see the Academy rallying around Haddish.
My only issue with groundswell nominations is that the AMPAS often ditches a strong competitor to accommodate the new person. So it'll be a mixed blessing if Haddish gets in but Hunter is out, etc. Last-minute entries usually come at a cost.
I remain truly befuddled by acting recognition for her for this movie. I'm not hating, she's funny, but acting awards?
Molly's Game to me was the surprise of the year. Chastain owned that film the way Julia Roberts did in Erin Brockovich. Would love to see her in the lineup instead of Dench who can do royalty in her sleep
That speech is both hilarious and touching, but I would be shocked if Haddish makes it. Even McCarthy got a SAG nom and Downey, Jr. got Globe/SAG noms (for Tropic Thunder). Last minute surprise nominations usually come from movies with best picture heat (like Jacki Weaver in Silver Linings Playbook) or from actors they really like (think Laura Linney in The Savages or Tommy Lee Jones for In the Valley of Elah).
I think Jessica Chastain comes in sixth this year because who on earth does she replace out of the seemingly impenetrable group of Hawkins/McDormand/Robbie/Ronan/Streep? Even Dench is going to still be a huge threat because she's going to get that BAFTA nomination.
ericb totally agree she shoul not be anywere near an Oscar what a crass performance in a reductive film that to me and the woman I saw it with did nothing to further women's voices but instead had them as man mad drinkers and the much lauded funniest scene of the yr came off as fake unfunny and just plain poor depiction of a strong female black woman in 2017.
I was actually extremely annoyed just watching Tiffany in Girls Trip. She was so over the top that I am surprised people are pushing for her nomination. It isn’t Oscar worthy. Let’s be real. If she is the real deal, hopefully she’ll be nominated for the right performance.
I disagree. Black women should not have to play respectability politics in films to get awards. All characters do not need to be Octavia Spencer lite.
While I was watching "Molly's Game" this week, I thought that despite the critical approval Jessica Chastain has received, she is still way way under appreciated. What an amazing actress.
I've always loved Chastain and she's overdue for an Oscar win.
She should've won Best Actress in 2012. I haven't stopped defending that. The movie was awesome as was the performance.
I'm game if she takes either Robbie, McDormand, or Streep's slot.
Dench is definitely out.
But I'll hate it if Chastain takes Hawkins or Ronan's place.
Watch neither woman receive an Oscar nomination.
A Haddish snub on Oscar morning would be entirely Universal's fault for their careless indifference to push a supporting actress campaign for her in the first place.
I am glad they didn't.
<Black women should not have to play respectability politics in films to get awards. All characters do not need to be Octavia Spencer lite.>
Thank you, Marsha. Which is why there is so much heat behind Mary J. Blige: long suffering, downtrodden, silent but strong, in service to white people. When a Black female character is outspoken, sexually liberated, and not depicted through a white gaze, she is dismissed.
These are my favorites for the acting nominations:
Actor
Oldman
Chalamet
Day-Lewis
Hanks
Washingotn
Actress
Ronan
McDormand
Robbie
Streep
Hawkins
Supporting Actor
Dafoe
Rockwell
Jenkins
Stuhlbarg
Harrelson
Supporting Actress
Metclaf
Janney
Hunter
Blige
Hong or Manville
It's nothing to do with being liberated,she simply played an awful character badly.
markgordonuk - You seem to be a bit... obsessed.
I think her speech might have hurt her because suddenly people realize that her performance was not actually a performance but just who she is in real life. Funny the first time around, but then suddenly one-note. Same goes for her SNL appearance, which wasn't funny because it wasn't new anymore.
My question to you markgoronuk is why her character is "awful"? There are women like that in the world; should they not be shown in films?
In addition many people have little issue with the character of LaVona in I, Tonya even though she is at minimum verbally abusive. No one is saying Janney should not be playing her or winning awards.
This distaste seems to from a combination of the type "sexual, anti-authority" and who is performing it (Black female).
Yes, Chastain should have won Best Actress in 2012.
If not her, then Riva.
If not them, Wallis or Watts.
If not them, Cotillard for Rust and Bone.
Heck, I'd even take Mirren in Hitchcock!
And this Haddish thing is ridiculous. She wasn't even the best thing in the movie (clearly Regina Hall is the MVP).
Nice to see a photo of Betty Gabriel (Get Out) at the event, looking beautiful.
If she had been more familiar to audiences and critics, they might have appreciated how different she looked in her Get Out role (de-glammed !), and been more aware of the acting skill she brought to it.
it was gross full stop.
If Tiffany gives in, I suspect that Mary J. Blige will be out. (Not Allison, Laurie, Octavia or Holly).
I pray she gets nominated. Preferably in place of Mary J. Blige.