The Academy Of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has announced the winners of the quick-we'd-better-give-them-something-before-they-die awards, also known as the Honorary Oscars. Up until now, the winners of the likes of the Irving J. Thalberg Award have been given their Oscar at the main Academy Awards ceremony in February, but as part of their shake-up of the way things work, AMPAS has now spun them off into their own ceremony, to be known as the Governor's Awards, and they'll now be handed out in November.
The official reason for the change is to allow more time for each award, so that the winners can be properly lauded, rather than being squeezed in amongst the various competitive Oscar categories. However it's really about ensuring the main Oscars are more TV-friendly and easy to watch, and that they don't have to stop every 10 minutes for some old person you've never heard of to pick up an award for something you don't really care about.
Whatever the reason for the change, the winners have been announced, with film veteran John Calley, who's worked on everything from The Remains of the Day to Angels & Demons, picking up the Irving J Thalberg Award, which is for producers whose work reflects a consistently high quality of motion picture production. The other honorary Oscar winners are screen legend Lauren Bacall, who bizarrely has never won a competitive Oscar and has only been nominated once, as well as b-movie producer Roger Corman, who gave early breaks to everyone from Martin Scorsese and James Cameron to Ron Howard and Jonathan Demme, and cinematographer Gordon Willis, who worked on The Godfather, Annie Hall and many more.
It's an illustrious list, but don't expect to see much more of the November ceremony, than a brief bit of video during the main Academy Awards next Fenruary.