Sean Penn would like to thank the Academy…for nothing. Despite two Best Actor Oscars — putting him in the company of Marlon Brando and Gary Cooper — Sean Penn is calling out AMPAS for their lack of risk taking.

It’s been more than 15 years since Sean Penn won his last Oscar (for Milk; he won his first for Mystic River), but he keeps himself in the loop enough to have some thoughts on how simple the Academy can be in their choices. “The Academy have exercised really extraordinary cowardice when it comes to being part of the bigger world of expression, and in fact, have largely been part of limiting the imagination and very limiting of different cultural expressions.”

So what does Sean Penn hope to see at this year’s Oscars? Surprisingly, he has some high expectations with what is currently projected to score some major nominations. “I don’t I get very excited about what we’ll call the Academy Awards [except for] when a film like ‘The Florida Project,’ or ‘I’m Still Here,’ or, you know,  ‘Emilia Pérez,’ of the things that are likely to happen this year.” Right now, Emilia Pérez is poised to land a slew of nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director (Jacques Audiard) and Best Actress (Karla Sofía Gascón), with Zoe Saldana possibly even looking at a Best Supporting Actress win (yeah, there’s a little bit of category controversy there…). Speaking of The Florida Project, Sean Baker’s latest film, Anora, is also shaping up to capitalize on its Palme d’Or win. You can read our 9/10 review here.

Sean Penn also took the stance that the Oscars should be seen as a “television show first”, suggesting winning a statue doesn’t have the prestige that most think it does. Penn might have a point overall, as a lot of people tend to think that there is still so much campaigning and “buying” of votes that it complicates the whole scene, while there’s also the argument of how you can compare one performance to another. But it’s hard to deny that the Academy Award is still — and always will be — seen as the highest accolade in cinema.

Nomination for the 97th Academy Awards will be announced on January 17th, while the ceremony itself takes place on March 2nd, with Conan O’Brien as host. Just like Sean Penn said: television show first!

What do you make of Sean Penn’s comments about the Oscars?

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