Does Martin Freeman deserve to be nominated for an acting Oscar?

[Dustin]

Well the Oscar nominations are out and unsurprisingly the Hobbit was nominated for nothing beyond the, what I call, the "how quaint" categories. That has a snobby and literary sound to it doesn't it?

Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, and Visual Effects. Hell, they didn't even get costumes this time.... not that he was in film two, but is Gollum considered an Actor, Prop, or a Costume do you think?

Yes, the acting in Lord of the Rings and Hobbit isn't something bards will sing of for centuries, but there have been some good actors and actresses. Is it really the quality that gets these actors ignored year after year or is it the same scorn professors of writing give fantasy and less often scifi and the fact that the movies are fantastical?

Sure, Return of the King had that huge sweep, yet it was nominated for everything except acting. Everything technical. Perhaps I sound like I'm whining but here are some of my points.

- Martin Freeman acting is top notch and one of the best things about the new films.

- Do you think they even consider Gollum an actor?

- If they squeezed an alien into Gravity, do you think it would have been nominated for half of what it got?

- Shouldn't the fact that most of the Hobbit is CGI, by which I mean, they're interacting with characters and settings that don't exist, which is a little harder than talking with another human, count for them instead of against them. There are some scenes, the White Council Meeting where the actors aren't even in the same room or country.

And its not about the acting. I bet money Gravity wins best visual effects. Sure, you have a lot of orcs, a really big dragon, entire backgrounds that are CGI and tons of flashes and fire blasts. But Gravity is sophisticated. My point is Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, get the same nominations Harry Potter and Star Wars IV and V got.

So is signing up for a series of fantasy movies, Oscar Murder.... Oscar Suicide...... for an actor? If so, is it unfair.

Oscars Harry Potter was nominated for:

Best Art Direction X4
Best Makeup
Best Visual Effects X2
Best Cinematography
Best Art Direction
Best Original Score X2

It won none of those however.

[Michele]

Well there was some talk about how Andy Serkis should have been considered for acting as Gollum in the LotR movies, but I think it was decided he didn't qualify - like a voice actor in an animated film, even though he ended up doing soooo much more. So Gollum is just another special effect I guess.

And I don't think any of the technical aspects of green screen acting or such are considered, it's the end performance on the screen that matters.

I haven't seen the Hobbit part 2 yet, so I can't comment on how good any of the performances are.

[Caitlin]

I understand your argument, although I think Martin Freeman was better in the first hobbit than this one. I was sorely disappointed at the decrease in his screen time, because I think his Bilbo *makes* the movies.

[Joe Informatico]

According to a 2012 study, "Oscar voters are nearly 94% Caucasian and 77% male...Oscar voters have a median age of 62, the study showed. People younger than 50 constitute just 14% of the membership."

Moreover, the majority of Academy voters are working or former actors--they far outnumber the directors, editors, writers, and other film vocations in their ranks. Thus, the Academy has a tendency to recognize films and individuals that make actors look good. And genre gobbledygook dialogue mixed with video game action sequences you find in most summer blockbusters generally doesn't appeal to a bunch of old white men who still remember the glory days of the New Hollywood era.

[Nancy]

I think Martin Freeman did a great job (same with Simon Pegg in The World's End), but even if you were to take away the obvious biases of the Academy, it's been too competitive a year, acting wise, to see him in the best acting category.

[Dharmakirti]

I loved the LoTR trilogy and I very much enjoyed the first Hobbit movie (haven't seen Desolation of Smaug, yet). However, I didn't particularly find any of the peromances to be Oscar caliber performances.

[Matthew]

Saying Martin Freeman deserves and Oscar for the Hobbit is like saying Ender's Game deserves an Oscar for Best Picture.

[Sean]

Matthew wrote: "Saying Martin Freeman deserves and Oscar for the Hobbit is like saying Ender's Game deserves an Oscar for Best Picture."

Or the people who think Star Wars should've won in '78 instead of Annie Hall.

[Michael]

Bilbo, and Martin Freeman, is the star of the Hobbit movies so far for me. The scenes of Smaug and Bilbo talking were the best part of Desolation of Smaug and it had my eyes glued to the screen, more so than any other scene I can recall from a film I watched last year - so on this basis yes, Martin Freeman would get my vote. Just a shame he didn't have more screen presence, to merit a justified best actor nomination.

[Dustin]

Alex wrote: "This.

In any other year, maybe, but even being a genre- and Fantasy-lover, I can't see myself putting Martin Freeman over any of the other nominees. ..."

What about last year then?

[Dharmakirti]

Heath Ledger's Oscar nom and win for his peformance as the Joker suggests to me that the Academy voters can recognize an outstanding performance regardless of genre.

[Dharmakirti]

Dustin wrote: " If they squeezed an alien into Gravity, do you think it would have been nominated for half of what it got?"

If they squeezed an alien into Gravity, it wouldn't be the same film. How would it makes sense for an alien to even be in that film?

[[deleted user]]

Even if Martin Freeman's performance was on par with the nominated actors (it wasn't, not that it was his fault) there's the question of whether he would be nominated as Leading Role or Supporting Role. The name of the movie would suggest leading, everything else...

[Dustin]

Dharmakirti wrote: "If they squeezed an alien into Gravity, it wouldn't be the same film. How would it makes sense for an alien to even be in that film?"

My point wasn't ruin the movie with an alien. My point was it seems that even if it was a movie of the same quality with aliens, it would lose credibility as a real piece of art. It would suddenly become a finger painting for award givers. Something they look at as "cute and childish".

Personally, I didn't care for Gravity and as I believe Dave Farland once said, "I don't really like that lady and I don't care if she dies alone". He wasn't talking about Gravity but it works for me.

Anyway, I see what the general opinion is.

[Kev]

I don't know about Oscar-worthy, but I adore Martin Freeman's acting in-general - especially his facial reactions. He's got great timing to make the scene, whether his reactions are for comedic or dramatic effect. At least he does in the two things I'm certain I've seen him in (Sherlock, and the Hobbit flicks.)

[J. David]

I love Martin Freeman and think he makes a terrific Bilbo Baggins, however I'm not sure his role is given to Best Actor nods. Bilbo after all, kind of represents us as the audience reacting to the adventure in which he finds himself embroiled.

Further, I agree with some others that he had better material in An Unexpected Journey to work with than he had in Desolation of Smaug. If he was going to be nominated, it should have been for AUJ.

[Daniel]

I believe that Martin Freeman deserves awards for his recent performance on this series (yes i still refuse to use the term season) of Sherlock, I don't think its been shown in the US yet, but believe me Freeman steals this series.