The 'John Wick' Director Thinks There Should Be A "Best Stunts" Category At The Oscars And He's Absolutely Right

The Oscars have a big problem: They suck and nobody is watching them. To their credit, they've tried to figure out ways to get the common man involved. They constantly float different category ideas that are built to give blockbuster movies some more shine but always end up changing their mind or fucking it up. A few years ago they tried out "Most cheer worthy moment", which was decided by a fan vote. Like clockwork, the psycho Snyderverse fans spam voted "The Flash entering the speed force" into the winning slot. Yuck. 

On it's face, stunts might seem like something built for us. But honestly, stunts are the lifeblood of pretty much every blockbuster movie. And those blockbusters are what keep theaters open and what gives studios enough money to fund the movies that actually win oscars. There aren't many groups this critical to a movie's success that get ZERO representation on the big stage like this. 

Before directing the John Wick franchise, Chad Stahelski was a stuntman and choreographer in a ton of movies including 'The Matrix', 'The Crow', 'Spider-Man 2', '300', 'I Am Legend', 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier' and more. And even through we can think of so many different great fight sequences and stunts throughout these movies, none of the people actually planning/executing them are getting mainstream credit. The good thing is that Stahelski is apparently making good headway with the powers that be. The big question is this: Who is qualified to win the award? 

(CBM) "is it for best stunt? Is it best choreography? Best action sequence? Best stunt ensemble? Does the stunt coordinator get it? The guy doing the gag get it? The martial arts choreographer? The fight choreography? The stunt double? The second unit director? The editor? Who gets the award? All these are great questions that just need to be talked about by smart individuals on both sides of it, the stunt community and the Academy."

It's a great question. I think you give one for stunt/fight coordinator, and one to stunt/fight crew. This would be one of the most team oriented awards on the technical side of the Oscars, so it's only fair that the latter award would be split up among a crew.