With all the attention drawn to Nicolas Chartier’s email to friends asking them to vote for his war movie The Hurt Locker over the “$500 million film,” it’s little wonder that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has denied the producer entry to the show. The Academy ruled late last night that Chartier’s email violated the Academy’s strict campaigning rules. As a result, he will not be allowed admittance to the show this Sunday.
The Academy took greatest issue with Chartier disparaging Avatar with his flippant “$500 million” comment. According to the press release, “Academy rules prohibit casting a negative or derogatory light on a competing film.” The executive committee stopped short of rescinding Chartier’s nomination. If The Hurt Locker wins Best Picture, the French producer will still receive his Oscar following the ceremonies.
Chartier apologized for his e-mail in a statement last week: “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.” Nonetheless, should Hurt Locker win on Sunday night, only screenwriter Mark Boal, director Kathryn Bigelow, and producer Greg Shapiro will be onstage to collect their award.
I feel so bad for this guy. I think The Hurt Locker was a truly magnificent film and worthy of winning best picture, but because of his rash decision to write an email he can’t partake in them winning if they (hopefully) do. I really wish his email didn’t sway voters away from the film but definitely think it may have.
It’s not like they cut the movie itself out of things. The guy broke the rules, he deserves to have to watch from home.
Harvey Weinstein broke the rules in 2003 when he had someone take an ad in the trades telling people to vote for Scorsese. AMPAS admonished him, and he apologized… but he still got to go to the Oscars. And sorry, but Chartier wasn’t the only one who broke rules this year. Both Cameron and Weistein have been telling people to vote for Bigelow for director, and their film for best picture. It’s the same bloody thing. So making a huge stink about Chartier’s email and taking his ticket away reeks of hypocrisy from AMPAS and slimy, desperate moves from the publicists of the competing films.
Laura:
“Academy rules prohibit casting a negative or derogatory light on a competing film.”
So, the acts of both Cameron and Weistein, respectively telling people to vote for Bigelow for Best Director (and their respective films for Best Picture) didn’t violate the rules. There was no mudslinging, perhaps some backhanded support through some sort of campaign for congeniality, but no violations.
He’s a novice, and he didn’t mean to do harm or cause embarassment to the movie. I hope it doesn’t harm the HL chances of winning.
It’s way too late in the game for it to have affected many of the votes, if any at all. All it will really affect at this point is popular opinion about the movie among people who pay attention to this kind of thing. I also want to say that I don’t think being a novice is any excuse that it happened in the first place. Even if there weren’t rules in place prohibiting such behavior (whether or not those rules are evenly enforced), trying to move yourself up in any competition by making obvious and easy insults about the competition is never a good idea.
Regardless of his behavior, I still think it should win.
Yes I agree. We were tense and mesmerized throughout the entire film. Ignorance of the law is no excuse and I guess ignorance of the rules is no excuse either. There really is no need to disparage “Avatar” to build up his magnificent movie. Sure “Avatar” has the special effects and “some” heart, but “Hurt Locker” has that once a year type of greatness. It was thrilling and mercifully un-political.
Funny
It would be pretty funny if Hurt Locker lost because of this, I’d rather see Basterds take it anyway, better film.
Hurt Locker is a good movie and I don’t mind it winning. Anything but Avatard, which could be the only movie nominated and it STILL shouldn’t win!
So you’re saying you’d be okay with The Blind Side winning?
I shudder at the thought!!!
Touché.
with all the verbal crap that goes on at the oscars every year- they decide they are going to enforce policy on some lowly first time foreign producer- wow that showing the world whos boss- not! Steven Spielberg could crap on the stage and they wouldn’t do a thing- a spinless move
totally agree- there has been lowlife negative campaigning practically since the oscars’ inception. what a joke that they are doing something about it now
I fully disagree. Kanye West said that Taylor Swift should not have won her VMA and the entire world condemned him. Same thing here. If you’re gonna get your award, you gonna get it. If you beg for it, it’s up to you and your dignity, but slamming another contender? I don’t care if it’s his first time that was stupid!
In his defense, he’s French, they have no respect for their own Cesar Academy over there, i’m not surprised at all.
Big difference here. Kanye went up ON STAGE and started spouting negative stuff AFTER she already had won the award. The award has not been awarded to Avatar, nor did he stand up in front of crowd and humiliate the person receiving the award. Also, I think this punishment is a little severe…afterall…Avatar IS a 500million dollar movie!
ITA agree with the Academy’s decision here. That producer was totally in the wrong. At the same time, I can’t help but wonder if they’d impose the same punishment if, say, Harvey Weinstein had sent this e-mail. I would hope so, but I fear they wouldn’t.
no way-they would never stand up to harvey. they’re too scared of him. how else do you explain shakespeare in love beating saving private ryan?
Harvey’s “power” in the community has significantly waned since he caused “Shakespeare” to beat the far more deserving “Saving Private Ryan” all those years ago. The Academy are hypocrites for penalizing Chartier when they didn’t even give Weinstein a slap on the wrist for a decade or more of his tactics.
Right. you know Harvey would have skated. This guy is new to the game.
Yeah. The problem isn’t that they were wrong to take action against him, it’s that this kind of garbage has been going on so blatantly for so long that it’s just ridiculous to single this incident out for discipline. I think maybe the Academy voters were just offended that he sent them a zero-cost email to do it rather than spending thousands upon thousands of dollars to make a real campaign about it.
the irony is that chartier’s stating a film cost $500 million to produce is seen as “disparaging” to a body that might reward the film with a best picture oscar for the very same reason.
“My naivete, ignorance of the rules and plain stupidity as a first-time nominee”, that sounds like an excuse
I don’t like the French either. I love ‘The Hurt Locker’.
Please keep your slimy prejudices off these message boards, Rahul. Him being French has nothing to do with this particular situation.
Avatar or D9. Best Picture.
I don’t think there is much doubt that Avatar is going to absolutely crush the field Sunday and collect Oscars in just about every category in which it is nominated.
That’s funny seeing as most consider The Hurt Locker to be the favorite. On what are you basing this?
Fanboy blinders, obviously.
“Avatar” might win in the effects and some technical categories, but it’s still a tight race for the big prizes of Picture and Director.
The after parties are where it’s at anyways
Personally, it seems ridiculous that they are barring him because of that to me. The whole thing is ridiculous and if Avatar wins over the Hurt Locker, I will assume it is at least in part due to this stupidity and I am pretty certain I won’t be watching the awards anymore, because it will prove that hype is more important than content. The Hurt Locker is a better film, period. It deserves to win best picture, but even if it doesn’t almost any of the other nominated films (with the exception of A Serious Man and Blind Side) would be better choices for best picture than Avatar.
It serves him right!
They should disqualify the movie either, that’s what I call lobbying, imagine how many people had voted for the movie already because of his mass emails, at this point I wish Avatar could take home the best picture Oscar – the first sci-fi film in to win
Are you serious? If Star Wars couldn’t win, Avatar certainly doesn’t deserve to win. Ppl do lobbying all the time behind the scenes at the OScars, they’re just not penalized for it. hello, Harvey Weinstein?!
Yes, I am serious. You wanna bet?Alright,if Avatar won the Best Picture Oscar, you owe me a popsicle
I’d much rather have a better sci-fi movie win than “Avatar.” Perhaps one with much better script.