Rezultatele sau castigatorii premiilor Oscar sunt bine cunoscuti. Ce ma intereseaza pe mine este rolul spam-ului in rezultate. Si-asta fiindca-i 8 Martie, ziua femeii.

Sincer sa fiu, n-am fost surprins ca Hurt Locker a castigat – sau, mai precis, ca n-a castigat Avatar, favoritul meu. Ma asteptam la asta. Am remarcat ca putini din prietenii mei l-au apreciat la fel de mult ca mine. Intr-o coincidenta unde cauza si efectul sunt dificil de separat, cei care l-au apreciat mai mult l-au vazut in IMAX.

Mai mult, Hurt Locker a castigat o gramada de premii si-n alte competitii (BAFTA, NSFC, BFC, Producers Guild etc). O buna parte din motivatie este ca Avatar ameninta existenta actorilor, iar Academia e dominata numeric de actori. Avatar este similar cu Star Wars ca moment-cheie, si nici Star Wars n-a luat un Oscar: Annie Hall a lui Woody Allen l-a luat la vremea respectiva.

Iata si lista castigatorilor:

• Motion Picture: "The Hurt Locker."

• Actor: Jeff Bridges, "Crazy Heart."

• Actress: Sandra Bullock, "The Blind Side."

• Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, "Inglourious Basterds."

• Supporting Actress: Mo'Nique, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire."

• Director: Kathryn Bigelow, "The Hurt Locker."

• Foreign Film: "El Secreto de Sus Ojos," Argentina.

• Adapted Screenplay: Geoffrey Fletcher, "Precious: Based on the Novel `Push' by Sapphire."

• Original Screenplay: Mark Boal, "The Hurt Locker."

• Animated Feature Film: "Up."

• Art Direction: "Avatar."

• Cinematography: "Avatar."

• Sound Mixing: "The Hurt Locker."

• Sound Editing: "The Hurt Locker."

• Original Score: "Up," Michael Giacchino.

• Original Song: "The Weary Kind (Theme From Crazy Heart)" from "Crazy Heart," Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett.

• Costume: "The Young Victoria."

• Documentary Feature: "The Cove."

• Documentary (short subject): "Music by Prudence."

• Film Editing: "The Hurt Locker."

• Makeup: "Star Trek."

• Animated Short Film: "Logorama."

• Live Action Short Film: "The New Tenants."

• Visual Effects: "Avatar."

Partea care ma intereseaza pe mine este modul in care Hurt Locker a fost promovat. Este mai putin stiut ca unuia dintre producatorii acestui film i-a fost interzis accesul la Oscars dupa ce a incalcat flagrant regulile competitiei, spamand membrii votanti ai Academiei. Iata emailulrile sale:

I hope all is well with you. I just wanted to write you and say I hope you liked Hurt Locker and if you did and want us to win, please tell (name deleted) and your friends who vote for the Oscars, tell actors, directors, crew members, art directors, special effects people, if everyone tells one or two of their friends, we will win and not a $500M film, we need independent movies to win like the movies you and I do, so if you believe The Hurt Locker is the best movie of 2010 [sic], help us!

I’m sure you know plenty of people you’ve worked with who are academy members whethere [sic] a publicist, a writer, a sound engineer, please take 5 minutes and contact them. Please call one or two persons, everything will help!

best regards,

Nicolas Chartier Voltage Pictures

Si-a cerut apoi scuze printr-un alt email:

Last week  I emailed  you regarding the Oscars next week, generally, and "The Hurt Locker," in particular.

My email to you was out of line and not in the spirit of the celebration of cinema that this acknowledgement is. I was even more wrong, both personally and professionally, to ask for your help in encouraging others to vote for the film and to comment on another movie. As  passionate as I am about the film  we made, this was an extremely inappropriate email to send, and something that the Academy strongly disapproves of in the rules.

My naivete, ignorance of the rules and plain stupidity as a first time nominee  is not an excuse for this behavior and I strongly regret it. Being nominated for an Academy Award is the ultimate honor and I should have taken the time to read the rules.

I am emailing  each person this very same statement asking  to retract my previous email and requesting that you please disregard it.

I truly apologize to anyone I have offended.

Sincerely yours,

best regards, Nicolas Chartier Voltage Pictures, LLC

Si astea nu-s singurele. Un soldat cu acelasi nume ca unul din film a decis sa dea in judecata producatorii. Acelasi producator a trimis un email ca raspuns avocatilor acestora:

From: Nicolas Chartier
Sent: Tuesday, December 22, 2009 8:07 PM
To: Todd Weglarz
Subject: RE: Sgt Sarver / The Hurt Locker

Hi I’m sorry I’ve never heard of sergeant sarver/will james. I don’t understand is he an actor named will james or jeffrey sarver, I just looked on internet movie database and neither are in the film. I can google but maybe you can tell me who is he and why he’s not happy? Everyone says it’s one of the best movies of the year, did he just not like the popcorn when he watched the movie? I haven’t taken any grossly unfair action against him, I’ve never heard of him. what negative impact, who’s that man? Did I steal his girlfriend? Never heard of him.

best regards,
Nicolas Chartier
Voltage Pictures, LLC

In fine, regula care se desprinde este ca intotdeauna merita sa incalci regulile, intrucat pedeapsa este aproape intotdeauna mult mai mica decat beneficiile. Nici nu-l mai pomenesc pe dl Senator Urban sau firma Canter & Siegel, care sunt avocatii ce au deschis drumul spam-ului profesionist (C&S mondial, S U in Romania).

In aceste conditii, intrebarea nu este de ce se face spam ci de ce nu face toata lumea?

Nu in ultimul rand, urez tuturor doamnelor din bolgroll (br.zamo.ca) La Multi Ani de 8 Martie, chit ca-i o sarbatoare socialista!

Sources / More info: wiki-oscars, oscar-winners, hurt1, hurt2, reuters, canter-siegel, krossfire-discutie, yt-oscars