Not invited to the Oscar party: Adam, Abby, Rinko . . .
Hmmm . . . a few more musings on the news of who's just been invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. Below are year-by-year lists of who's been invited to join since 2004. Back in the ole days, everybody who got nominated was welcome, but no longer. No invite was extended this year, for example, to Abigail Breslin ("Little Miss Sunshine"). You might think: Oh, come on! — she's not old enough to vote for U.S. president! Why should she be empowered to vote for something far more important like who'll win Hollywood's fave fake gold statuette? But then, think again. Dakota Fanning was invited to join last year.
Also excluded this year was Rinko Kikuchi, even though her "Babel" costar and fellow nominee for best supporting actress Adrianna Barraza made the list. Barraza, after all, is a veteran actress, Kikuchi a newbie.
Christopher Plummer is truly a trusty ole showbiz veteran who even starred in two best-picture champs — "The Sound of Music" (1965) and "A Beautiful Mind" (2001) — as well as nominated pic "The Insider" (1999).
But at least Plummer was never nommed in the past. Things were worse for Gustavo Santaolalla , who didn't get his invite to join until AFTER WINNING TWO OSCARS for composing the music to best-pic nominees "Brokeback Mountain" and "Babel."
Many Oscarwatchers say that comedy doesn't get taken seriously, but Will Ferrell was invited to join the actors' branch a few years ago. I don't believe Adam Sandler has managed to get in yet despite heavy lobbying. Hmmmmm.
The 2007 invitees are:
Actors
Jennifer Aniston
Adriana Barraza
Steve Carell
Daniel Craig
Aaron Eckhart
Chiwetel Ejiofor
William Fichtner
Ryan Gosling
Jackie Earle Haley
Jennifer Hudson
Danny Huston
Eddie Murphy
Christopher Plummer
James Rebhorn
Michael Sheen
Maribel Verdu
Animators
Sharon Calahan
George Griffin
John Kahrs
Torill Kove
Marcy Page
Troy Saliba
Art Directors
Hugh Bateup
At-Large
Sam Mercer
Lia Vollack
Casting Directors
Lisa Beach
Leslee Feldman
Cinematographers
Javier Aguirresarobe
Steve Gainer
Michael Goi
Michael Grady
Adam Kimmel
Alar Kivilo
M. David Mullen
Xavier Perez Grobet
Music
Carter Burwell
Alexandre Desplat
Javier Navarrete
Gustavo Santaolalla
Producers
Agustin Almodovar
Bonnie Arnold
Julia Chasman
Jonathan Glickman
Daniel Goldberg
Jack Rapke
Jane Rosenthal
Production Designers
Eugenio Caballero
Nathan Crowley
Nigel Phelps
Public Relations
Kevin Campbell
Jason Cassidy
Frank J. Chiocchi
Sarah Greenberg
Ileen Reich
Jeff Smith
Valerie Van Galder
Costume Designers
Consolata Boyle
Nancy Steiner
Directors
Peter Berg
D.J. Caruso
Antoine Fuqua
Paul Greengrass
Monte Hellman
Simon West
Documentary
Steve James
Nathaniel Kahn
James Longley
Brett Morgen
Laura Poitras
Eric Simonson
Executives
Greg Foster
Judd Funk
Adam Goodman
Andrew W. Gumpert
Michael J. Lambert
Yair Landau
David Weil
Film Editors
Sandra Adair
Virginia Katz
Saar Klein
Richard Pearson
Alex Rodriguez
Christopher Rouse
Live Action Short Films
Borja Cobeaga
Javier Fesser
Ari Sandel
Makeup
John E. Jackson
David Marti
Montse Ribe
Kazuhiro Tsuji
Sound
Michael J. Benavente
Linda Folk
Jessica Gallavan
Tim Gomillion
Howard London
Steven D. Williams
Jim Wright
Visual Effects
John Andrew Berton Jr.
Al DiSarro
Bryan Hirota
Alan E. Lorimer
Christopher Nibley
Douglas H. Smith
Ben Snow
Eric Swenson
Jon Thum
Writers
J.J. Abrams
Michael Arndt
Guillermo Arriaga
Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
Patrick Marber
William Monahan
Peter Morgan
Billy Ray
Erin Cressida Wilson
*****************
AMPAS MEMBER INVITATIONS FOR 2006
Actors
Amy Adams
Eric Bana
Maria Bello
Dakota Fanning
Jake Gyllenhaal
Terrence Howard
Felicity Huffman
Keira Knightley
Heath Ledger
Hayley Mills
Barry Pepper
Joaquin Phoenix
Jon Polito
Ving Rhames
Liev Schreiber
David Strathairn
Rachel Weisz
Directors
Werner Herzog
Nicole Holofcener
Gavin Hood
Bennett Miller
Mark Waters
Writers
Noah Baumbach
Jeffrey Caine
Jean-Claude Carrière
Dan Futterman
Tony Kushner
Bobby Moresco
Josh Olson
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AMPAS MEMBER INVITATIONS FOR 2005
Actors
Gael Garcia Bernal
Thomas Haden Church
Jennifer Coolidge
Will Ferrell
Jamie Foxx
Paul Giamatti
Catalina Sandino Moreno
Sophie Okonedo
Clive Owen
Charlotte Rampling
Jean Reno
Stellan Skarsgard
Imelda Staunton
Mykelti Williamson
Ziyi Zhang
Directors
Alejandro Amenabar
Marc Forster
Oliver Hirschbiegel
Andy Tennant
Joel Zwick
Writers
Paul Haggis
David Magee
Keir Pearson
Jose Rivera
David N. Weiss
Mike White
**************************
AMPAS MEMBER INVITATIONS FOR 2004
Actors
Shohreh Aghdashloo
Paul Bettany
Keisha Castle-Hughes
Patricia Clarkson
Keith David
Hope Davis
Maggie Gyllenhaal
Scarlett Johansson
Viggo Mortensen
Bill Nighy
Sean Penn
Audrey Tautou
Ken Watanabe
Treat Williams
Directors
Miguel Arteta
Gurinder Chadha
Peter Chelsom
Sofia Coppola
Michael Corrente
Ashutosh Gowariker
Shawn Adam Levy
Gillies MacKinnon
Fernando Meirelles
Bruce Robinson
Writers
Shari Springer Berman
L.M. Kit Carson
Sofia Coppola
D.V. DeVincentis
Steven Knight
Braulio Mantovani
Robert Pulcini
does anyone else take issue that jennifer hudson was invited? the woman has been in only one film. ONE FILM, PEOPLE. and while she won for it, gustavo santaolalla, for example, had to win two oscars before he was invited. so clearly, winning an oscar is not a definite invitation getter. i'm all for a diverse academy, but at least give it to people who have proven superior artistry through a BODY OF WORK. jesus. everything academy-related continues to be a popularity contest.
Posted by: richard | June 19, 2007 at 11:58 PM
Again...this rule is just downright stupid, elitist, unnecessary...all who are involved in film-making should automatically be able to join the Academy....no wonder the Academy has ended up with some bad choices winning the Oscar....
Posted by: Frankie R. | June 19, 2007 at 03:38 PM