I think it was one of those moves that was necessary after last year - where there were two extremely legitimate "popular movies" that got rejected YET AGAIN. The Dark Knight and WALL-E deserved to be nominated. There was a pretty big public outcry, so the Academy scrambled to make it right this year. [A similar thing will happen with the idiotic NFL overtime rules as soon as some team loses a Super Bowl without ever touching the ball in overtime. It will help if that team has a player named "Manning" on it.] So, this year the Oscars have ten pictures up. But the stupid thing is that everyone knows which movies would have been the top five, if there had only been five. And the other ones don't have a shot in Hollywood of winning. If it had been five films, then Avatar, Up in the Air, Hurt Locker, Precious, and A Serious Man would have been the nominees. One popular film, one pretty well watched film, three whiffs. But, since they added five more slots, then Blind Side, Up, District 9, Inglorious Offsprings-of-Unmarried-Parents, and An Eduction also got up for the big golden nude guy.
The last five films are just happy to be there. It is really just a three movie race - it has been for months. It is between Avatar, Up in the Air, and Hurt Locker. So, the other seven get to dress up pretty and go hear Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin make jokes. But, there is one interesting side story I have thought about from this. Up scored a Best Pictures nod - the first Pixar movie to do so. They have been nominated for, and regularly won, the Best Animated Film. They also have been nominated for Best Screenplay a few times - a big jump for an animated film. But they couldn't shake that animated Best Picture curse. Up is only the second animated movie EVER to be up for Best Picture (1991 Beauty and the Beast was the other). That made me wonder - if there had been ten nomination slots for the whole of Pixar's run, how many Best Picture nominations would they have? It is an interesting question. That made me think through Pixar's library, rank them from bottom to top, and see which would have had a chance for Oscar's highest award. Because that is how I roll.
Nominated for: Best Animated Feature, Best Song
Won: Nothing
Ten Picture Best Picture Field Deserving? No
Breakdown: Don't get me wrong. Being the worst Pixar movie is like being the third best Lord of the Rings movie. It is like being the worst starter in an All Star Game. Even the tenth place Pixar movie is better than 98% of all animated movies and 90% of all regular movies. Cars was a great movie. It was so fun. My son and I had a blast at it and we had a whole garage full of cars from the movie. It made tons of money, had the most merchandising opportunities, and is spawning a sequel. It was fun and sweet and funny. But it wasn't that original - the story was very similar to Doc Hollywood (something I pointed out, and that numerous others did as well). It lost best Animated Feature to Happy Feet (?). And there were about seven legitimate films that could have filled an expanded Best Picture category.
Nominated for: Best Music (no animated feature award that year)
Won: Nothing
Ten Picture Best Picture Field
Deserving? No
Breakdown: I think Bug's Life gets lost in the shuffle. It was sandwiched between the two Toy Story films. It is the lowest grossing Pixar movie (only a lousy $163 million). But it is very entertaining. Only, it is a lightweight film compared to the heftier Pixar fare. It didn't get nominated for anything but score. And there were too many other good movies that year. Plus, that was the year that everyone in the Academy went absolutely insane and voted for Shakespeare in Love over Saving Private Ryan. I'm getting angry just thinking about it. Let's move on.
Nominated for: Best Animated Feature, Best Song, Best Music, Best Sound Editing
Won: Best Song
Ten Picture Best Picture Field
Deserving? No
Breakdown: It was a very beloved film and another raging box office success for Pixar, raking in $255 million. And it was a very original, fun film that poked fun at decades of monster movies. Brilliantly done and acted. But it didn't even win Best Animated Feature in the first year of that award - being topped by a superior and even more creative Shrek. So how could Monsters, Inc be up for Best Picture - even in a ten film field. Shrek would have nabbed that spot, though.
Nominated for: Best Song (no animated feature award that year)
Won: Nothing
Ten Picture Best Picture Field Deserving? No
Breakdown: It was one of the best sequels of all time. It firmly put Pixar on the map as a consistent force. But, it wasn't the earthshaking event of the first Toy Story. And it hadn't moved into the powerful film realm of the later Pixar offerings. On the other hand, it was a very weak year for movies. American Beauty won. There weren't a lot of movies to make up a ten movie Best Picture roster. It wasn't a great year for movies - so Toy Story 2 did stand out. Plus it was the first Pixar movie to top $200 million. But it didn't get the Screenplay nod - which is always my Oscar code for "Pixar should be up for Best Picture." So, I don't think that I can say it would be nominated - but it would be close.
Nominated for: Best Animated Feature, Best Screenplay, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing
Won: Best Animated Feature, Best Sound Editing
Ten Picture Best Picture Field
Deserving? Yes
Breakdown: One of the best superhero movies ever was doubly cursed in its attempt at a Best Picture nod. It got slammed for being animated and slammed for being a superhero movie. It was the same curse that hurt Iron Man and The Dark Knight as well. But the Incredibles was a phenomenal movie. It made big money ($261 million), appealed to adults BIG TIME, and showed a very different side of Pixar. It got the Screenplay nomination - which is what the Oscars always give to Pixar movies instead of Best Picture nominations. But this year was a great chance for Pixar to sneak in with the film. Only twelve movies were represented in the big categories (Picture, Director, Actor/Actress, Supporting Actor/Actress). Usually there are about sixteen films. That means that there were not a bunch of deserving movies floating around. Incredibles made just about every top ten list there was. And there wasn't a clear frontrunner for Best Picture. In a ten picture field, it would have been hard to overlook these heroes.
Nominated for: Best Music, Best Song, Best Screenplay
(no animated feature award that year)
Won: Special Achievement Award for New Technology
Ten Picture Best Picture Field
Deserving? Yes
Breakdown: Toy Story shocked the movie industry. It was such a departure from anything before - and it basically marked the death of traditional animation. It was such a big deal that John Lassiter received a special achievement award - something to acknowledge how huge a movie is to the industry. And, this also started a precedent that the Academy used on five Pixar movies. In lieu of a deserved Best Picture slot, they get a Best Screenplay nomination. Toy Story was an amazing movie. It was touching and funny and gorgeous. If the roster was expanded to ten movies, it would be easy to see Toy Story snagging a slot. Remember, this is the year that Il Postino and Babe both RECEIVED nominations. The Usual Suspects, Twelve Monkeys, Se7en, Dead Man Walking, and Leaving Las Vegas all got left out. I think that the 10 spots would have actually gotten those five, plus Toy Story, in - while knocking out one of the two dumb nominations. Braveheart still would have won.
Nominated for: Best Animated Feature, Best Music, Best Sound, Best Sound Editing, Best Screenplay
Won: Best Animated Feature
Ten Picture Best Picture Field
Deserving? Yes
Breakdown: Ratatouille should have been a disaster. It was the third lowest grossing Pixar film (a pathetic $206 million). They couldn't merchandise it to death, because it was a bunch of rats. But, when you stripped down the product tie-ins, the inevitable theme park attraction, you had a very special movie that was so moving and tender. It began what has actually been the glory days of Pixar - three movies in three years that all legitimately deserved a Best Picture nominations. But they actually all deserved that nomination in a field of five - not just a field of ten. All three got Best Screenplay nominations, Top ten rankings, raving reviews. I remember thinking that Ratatouille was easily one of the best movies out there. And it was a pretty weak year for movies. It easily could have taken Juno's spot in the five picture field. And there is no doubt it would have been in with a ten film field. And, I am still not convinced that it wasn't the best film of the year.
Nominated for: Best Animated Feature, Best Music, Best Sound Editing, Best Screenplay
Won: Best Animated Feature
Ten Picture Best Picture Field
Deserving? Yes
Breakdown: Nemo took Pixar to the next level. It still is the highest grossing Pixar film - over $330 million. The film itself was touching and heartbreaking and hilarious and very special. This was the first Pixar film that really stirred debate over whether an animated film could make it into the big show. (There is that Screenplay code nomination.) I remember that 2003 was a pretty weak year for movies because the third Lord of the Rings movie was coming out. The first two had been nominated and passed over. And it was pretty well understood that the third one was going to win everything - which it certainly did. So a lot of studios pulled their movies out of that year. Aside from the five nominated, only Cold Mountain and House of Sand and Fog were close to getting nominations. There was no way Nemo was going to win, but then again neither were the other four movies that made it. Nemo definitely would have been in the top ten - and realistically should have bumped Seabiscuit out of the top five.
Nominated for: Best Animated Feature, Best Music, Best Sound Editing, Best Picture, Best Screenplay
Won: Nothing
Ten Picture Best Picture Field
Deserving? Yes
Breakdown: Pixar finally lucked out with the expansion to a ten film field. Did it deserve its spot? Oh, yes it did. When you compare it to the other films, it easily deserves to be there. I honestly think it was good enough to be in a field of five. The first ten minutes of the movie was as good as most movies I have seen. I could have walked out after the opening scenes and felt like I had seen a great and touching film. The rest of the movie was even better - exciting, emotional, funny, thoughtful. And I'm glad it got the nomination. Would it have gotten a spot in a field of five? Nope. It would have gotten its Screenplay nomination and gone on its way. And this year it has no chance of winning Best Picture. But at least it finally broke its way into the club.
Nominated for: Best Animated Feature, Best Song, Best Music, Best Sound, Best Sound Editing, Best Screenplay
Won: Best Animated Feature
Ten Picture Best Picture Field
Deserving? Yes
Breakdown: For the first half of WALL-E, there was hardly any dialogue. It was mostly just electronic noises as means of communication between two robots. But there has hardly been a movie that communicated more. It was a touching movie about love and loyalty and responsibility. It was a warning to us to be careful with our planet. The movie was beautiful and touching and glorious. And it got robbed. It didn't just deserve to be in a ten movie field. It deserved to be in a five movie field. And it deserved to win. The two best movies of 2008 didn't even get a nomination - The Dark Knight and WALL-E. The Reader was relentlessly depressing. Benjamin Button got a C from tons of media outlets in their reviews. There is no good reason why WALL-E got left out except that it was animated. It is my personal favorite. I think it was better than Up, but the score between the top four Pixar movies is separated by decimal points. A ten film field would have easily put this movie into play. And with the movies that wear actually nominated, it may have pulled off an upset. It deserved to.
One final thing about Pixar movies. A way to judge their Oscar-worthiness is to think about how that movie would look if it was live action and not animated. How would that film have been received? I know that can't work with the toys and bugs and cars. But the basic story, applied to people. How woud that have gone over? I think that when you do that, you can see just how robbed Pixar was. If Up was live action, I can guarantee that Ed Asner would bee looking at a Supporting Actor nomination. If Ratatouille was live action, the story of a young restaurant worker and a homeless guy instead of a rat, it would have been seen as a powerful tale. Finding Nemo - if it were people, a father searching for his lost son - would have had tons of acting awards too. Personally I like the ten movie field because it gives movies like Pixar films a shot at Best Picture recognition. Now, if we can just convince the voters to give them a shot at the trophy.
One final thing about Pixar movies. A way to judge their Oscar-worthiness is to think about how that movie would look if it was live action and not animated. How would that film have been received? I know that can't work with the toys and bugs and cars. But the basic story, applied to people. How woud that have gone over? I think that when you do that, you can see just how robbed Pixar was. If Up was live action, I can guarantee that Ed Asner would bee looking at a Supporting Actor nomination. If Ratatouille was live action, the story of a young restaurant worker and a homeless guy instead of a rat, it would have been seen as a powerful tale. Finding Nemo - if it were people, a father searching for his lost son - would have had tons of acting awards too. Personally I like the ten movie field because it gives movies like Pixar films a shot at Best Picture recognition. Now, if we can just convince the voters to give them a shot at the trophy.
No comments:
Post a Comment