The Will Smith slaps Chris Rock thread - plus Sam Jackson gets his Oscar

[Brett Banner]

So taking out his obvious Oscar-bait roles, what was the last actually *good* movie that Will Smith even starred in?

 

[Wor-Gar]

Has he starred in a good movie?

 

[amstel]

Blah blah blah blah… who cares?! Chris Rock’s joke was in a poor taste. Will Smith slapped Rock. Jada Pinkett Smith’s zero reaction. Rock declined to press charges. Smith apologized.

End of story. Move the frickin’ on!

Sadly this stupid, pointless, and utterly ridiculous altercation between Rock and Smith OVERSHADOWED one of the historical moments for the Oscars, the movie, CODA (Children Of Deaf Adults) winning the best picture and adapted screenplay then there’s Troy Kotsur, the second DEAF actor to win an Oscar for supporting actor since Marlee Matlin in 1987. Congratulations to the entire production, crew and cast!! #DeafPower

 

[karamazov80]

Has he starred in a good movie?

Six Degrees of Separation is supposed to be good, though I've never seen it. . .I thought those DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince music videos were pretty good!

 

[MGS_OldBoy57]

Blah blah blah blah… who cares?! Chris Rock’s joke was in a poor taste. Will Smith slapped Rock. Jada Pinkett Smith’s zero reaction. Rock declined to press charges. Smith apologized.

End of story. Move the frickin’ on!

Sadly this stupid, pointless, and utterly ridiculous altercation between Rock and Smith OVERSHADOWED one of the historical moments for the Oscars, the movie, CODA (Children Of Deaf Adults) winning the best picture and adapted screenplay then there’s Troy Kotsur, the second DEAF actor to win an Oscar for supporting actor since Marlee Matlin in 1987. Congratulations to the entire production, crew and cast!! #DeafPower

This will be talked about for months to come and will eventually be brought up from time to time, similar to Brando’s Littlefeather situation. It’ll forever overshadow all the great accomplishments that night. I’ve come to terms with it.

 

[Khev]

This will be talked about for months to come and will eventually be brought up from time to time, similar to Brando’s Littlefeather situation. It’ll forever overshadow all the great accomplishments that night. I’ve come to terms with it.

Yep and there's no sense blaming the people who are talking about it, this is all on Smith. And frankly someone assaulting someone on stage in front of millions of people over a joke and suffering no disciplinary action is a much more important issue than who won some silly award for a movie they made.

 

[Darth Snoopy]

Has he starred in a good movie?

​

 

[The Buffinator]

I'm still flabbergasted that Smith would go postal over Rock commenting on the fact that Jada is getting balled. Not a peep out of him while she was repeatedly getting balled by other men, but then a throwaway reference to it sets him off? Unbelievable.

What's that you say? BALD, not BALLED? Oh, well yeah that's A THOUSAND TIMES worse.

 

[amstel]

Yep and there's no sense blaming the people who are talking about it, this is all on Smith. And frankly someone assaulting someone on stage in front of millions of people over a joke and suffering no disciplinary action is a much more important issue than who won some silly award for a movie they made.

This will be talked about for months to come and will eventually be brought up from time to time, similar to Brando’s Littlefeather situation. It’ll forever overshadow all the great accomplishments that night. I’ve come to terms with it.

Not blaming people for talking about it and I agree this is all on Rock and Smith. Immaturity wins over accomplishments. And omg I do remember Brando’s situation. Who can forget?!

CODA is definitely not a silly movie. Then you have no idea about deaf people and their cultural challenges. Speaking of hardships and lack of opportunities that are made available to hearing people all around. Anyway I’ll stop. Obviously that doesn’t matter to the world. No worries. All good.

 

[MeatHookGekko]

Has he starred in a good movie?

Mediocre actor. Great movie star. Has real natural charisma. Can only play himself though. Which isn't the worst thing in the entire world.

I Am Legend is his best work. I think it's a great smaller horror/sci fi movie but not a great "I Am Legend" movie, in so much as Richard Matheson's short novel was far different in tone and theme. Francis Lawrence squeezed every last bit of juice out of Will Smith in that role.

One thing that never get discussed is it's a lot of energy to maintain a type of frenetic pace in any public style meant to overwhelm the audience. Someone like a Jamie Foxx, Jim Carrey or Walton Goggins, it's the same kind of burn the candle at both ends exhaustion routine that Will Smith does. That sort of keeps his persona trapped in a way that movie goers can't see him any differently.

Someone like Will Smith IMHO needs to be protected in a movie by the world building. It helps the audience move away from "It's Will Smith playing Ali or Will Smith playing a fighter pilot or Will Smith as a Special Agent for MIB" when the surroundings are very immersive. If it's for an Oscar, then you need world building like in Children Of Men.

If you replaced Clive Owen with Will Smith in Children Of Men, and just let Cuaron work his magic, Smith could have won an Oscar cleanly, without basically riding the wave of identity politics infiltrating the Academy.

 

[TaliBane]

Blah blah blah blah… who cares?! Chris Rock’s joke was in a poor taste. Will Smith slapped Rock. Jada Pinkett Smith’s zero reaction. Rock declined to press charges. Smith apologized.

End of story. Move the frickin’ on!

Sadly this stupid, pointless, and utterly ridiculous altercation between Rock and Smith OVERSHADOWED one of the historical moments for the Oscars, the movie, CODA (Children Of Deaf Adults) winning the best picture and adapted screenplay then there’s Troy Kotsur, the second DEAF actor to win an Oscar for supporting actor since Marlee Matlin in 1987. Congratulations to the entire production, crew and cast!! #DeafPower

Who cares... Jimmy Kimmel is calling this the worst moment not just in Oscars history, but perhaps the most significant moment in television history. And that it will be talked about for decades.

Among many other things, it marks the end of the Oscars as we knew it, the destruction of the legacy of one of Hollywood's biggest, most kid-friendly movie stars of the past 25 years, the final end of celebrity in the traditional sense (though yes, a fabricated concept long in decline due to social media) and the epitaph of "Hollywood."

Seeing Will Smith - genuine, admired/loved, a warm family-friendly guy - do this is far more damaging/triggering than the despicable actions of Weinstein, Gibson and Spacey combined.

The latest not-so-surprising twist (Oscars producer Will Packer in fact told Smith he could stay):

 

[Wor-Gar]

Mediocre actor. Great movie star.

I agree with that. Its why I lump him in with Arnold for the same reason.

 

[Sassafras]

You say that like it's a bad thing, lol.

For me for Independence Day, sure. Not 'coz of Will Smith playing himself.

But for Jeff Goldblum playing himself; and for President Whitmore, who I still wanna chance to vote for. Or maybe Jeff Goldblum for president.

Seeing Will Smith - genuine, admired/loved, a warm family-friendly guy - do this is far more damaging/triggering than the despicable actions of Weinstein, Gibson and Spacey combined.

Dunno, what little I paid attention to, Smith & his family seem more like the usual Hollywood nutcases who can't handle the money or attention with any kind of grace. Some famous people do, and live low key. Others need to be forced into a couple of low income jobs and riding the bus to work for a few years, to get slapped back into the real world.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Who cares... Jimmy Kimmel is calling this the worst moment not just in Oscars history, but perhaps the most significant moment in television history. And that it will be talked about for decades.

Among many other things, it marks the end of the Oscars as we knew it, the destruction of the legacy of one of Hollywood's biggest, most kid-friendly movie stars of the past 25 years, the final end of celebrity in the traditional sense (though yes, a fabricated concept long in decline due to social media) and the epitaph of "Hollywood."

Seeing Will Smith - genuine, admired/loved, a warm family-friendly guy - do this is far more damaging/triggering than the despicable actions of Weinstein, Gibson and Spacey combined.

The latest not-so-surprising twist (Oscars producer Will Packer in fact told Smith he could stay):

Whoa... this entire post just blew my mind...

 

[Khev]

 

[DeltaForceChung]

As usual, I'm late to the party.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Will Smith killed the Oscars, that's all I know.

 

[Darth Snoopy]

Will Smith killed the Oscars, that's all I know.

IMO the Oscars have done it to themselves. their ratings have been slumping for the last several years.

 

[Wor-Gar]

IMO the Oscars have done it to themselves. their ratings have been slumping for the last several years.

Decades, yeah its true. They never really were worth much other than to the insiders who congratulate themselves.

But if Disney can cancel the Loki cup yet can't cancel a man who actually slapped someone on live television, then the world is askew.

 

[R_R_X]

Mediocre actor. Great movie star. Has real natural charisma. Can only play himself though. Which isn't the worst thing in the entire world.

I Am Legend is his best work. I think it's a great smaller horror/sci fi movie but not a great "I Am Legend" movie, in so much as Richard Matheson's short novel was far different in tone and theme. Francis Lawrence squeezed every last bit of juice out of Will Smith in that role.

One thing that never get discussed is it's a lot of energy to maintain a type of frenetic pace in any public style meant to overwhelm the audience. Someone like a Jamie Foxx, Jim Carrey or Walton Goggins, it's the same kind of burn the candle at both ends exhaustion routine that Will Smith does. That sort of keeps his persona trapped in a way that movie goers can't see him any differently.

Someone like Will Smith IMHO needs to be protected in a movie by the world building. It helps the audience move away from "It's Will Smith playing Ali or Will Smith playing a fighter pilot or Will Smith as a Special Agent for MIB" when the surroundings are very immersive. If it's for an Oscar, then you need world building like in Children Of Men.

If you replaced Clive Owen with Will Smith in Children Of Men, and just let Cuaron work his magic, Smith could have won an Oscar cleanly, without basically riding the wave of identity politics infiltrating the Academy.

Smith has no place in Children of Men, the movie is fantastic as it is and I really liked Clive's performance, he wasn't phoning it to win an oscar, just doing his job in service of the story.