OSCARS 10' - Week 1

The skinny:

February to some is just another month. It follows January and precedes March, so no surprises there, but February is bigger than people give it credit for. It not only is the host month for both the Super Bowl of football and racing, it is the month we find out who is among the best in film from the previous year. And although the ceremony itself has been pushed out into the first week of March, Oscar coverage begins and ends in February as far as I’m concerned. The nominations have been released and are once again in prime position to be debated and ridiculed ten-times over by prognosticators like myself. It may be the second month of 2010, but 2009, in regards to film, is far from over. That’s what the Academy Awards bring, an extension to last year and a time to watch some of the best Hollywood had to offer for the first time or again. So, while some may still be reeling from the ride James Cameron recently took them on with AVATAR, I will turn my attention to this year’s nominees, a list that includes the new box office ‘king of the world’ nine times. I do this with an entirely new look to my Oscar column, so sit back and get set, for my own Oscar push begins now.

The history:

Sticking with what works, I will continue to give my thoughts and predictions on everything pertaining to the Oscars, and this week I have no choice but to journey into the topic on everyone’s mind, which is the Best Picture category. My predictions will of course come later, but how many of you were as surprised as I was this past June when you heard the category was moving from 5 to 10 nominees? This was a complete shock for me, given this category hasn’t changed since 1944. That’s right, for the past 66 years, we have seen only five total films eligible for this award, so make no mistake about it, this is a huge change for this ceremony. With less than stellar TV Ratings over the past several years, producers have been looking for something to spice it up and this change by The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) might just do it. Considering anywhere from 8 to 12 films were nominated for this award back in the 30’s and early 40’s, this change isn’t as crazy as it seems.

Question is, why didn’t they do it sooner, given how many years offered up at least 10 or more quality films? Too bad this past year wasn’t one of them, but maybe that’s a good thing given the nominees that did make it into the famed category. Fact is, everyone has their own definition of what was “best” from last year, so with five more choices, it allows the Academy voters to include those films that in past years would have been snubbed. Its often these same excluded films would show up in the lesser categories, so why not give them a shot at the top prize? Seems to make sense, but I just hope all 10 nominated films actually have a chance at winning and it’s not some lame notion that a simple nomination is good enough. Although I don’t disagree with Tom Cruise when he once said that just being nominated is like a win, there is still a pretty big difference there; and easy to say for a guy who has yet to win. Holding up that 8.5 pound statuette on stage in front of all your peers is a lot different than sitting with your all your peers, clapping for someone else who won. So, let’s be real and call it what it is, which is a token nomination.


The reality:
I’ve never steered away from the politics that surround this ceremony, so I won’t now; but by adding more slots to the category, in my mind, lets some of the Academy voters get away with nominating a film despite another. So, essentially, some integrity might get lost in the mix here with this change; but I hope the voters realize with more choices, they can truly pick the best and not just go with the flow. The result should be a more balanced turnout of votes, across the board, which in the end should truly produce the best from that year. But, there are drawbacks to that theory as well, as voters might just go with the one that earned the most money, given they didn’t see all 10 nominated films. I know that’s crazy to suggest, but think about the new audience that will tune in this year to hopefully see AVATAR win. Many probably haven’t watched the ceremony in years, if at all, but knowing AVATAR is among the leading nominees, they will watch. So, sorry to burst you bubble, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin, but no one will tune in solely based on the fact you are co-hosting the event. History tells us otherwise, as the year TITANTIC won was one of the highest rated Academy Awards ceremonies and we all know how long that film stood atop the box office. Throw in the fact that part of the reason why the AMPAS changed this category was to be able to include films like AVATAR or the animated feature UP, so the writing may already be on the wall. And that’s just one common point of contention, but in the end, this could very well shake up the voting in a big way, making it somewhat of a popularity contest, which I doubt any of us want.

The trivia:

For those new to this column, each year I pick one aspect of the Oscars that tends to get left out from all the hype that you see on TV and online. And this year, I figured I would let you into some of the more interesting trivia/milestones from the coveted Best Picture category. So, whether you know it or not, it’s still a lot of fun to see it in writing.

And starting way back when this category looked, well, how it will look this year with at least 10 nominees, in 1939, the race for top prize was about as tight as it could be. Many might think a classic such as THE WIZARD OF OZ would be undoubtedly a best picture winner, but it lost this famed year to GONE WITH THE WIND. For those that don’t know, GONE WITH THE WIND was not only the first winner in this category to be filmed in full color, but it holds the record for selling the most tickets in history at the box office. Consider the adjustment for inflation and it’s not even close as this film would eclipse its next closest competitor, AVATAR, two-times over. So, as we move back into an age of at least 10 nominees for this category, let’s not forget the past, as it truly led us to this point.

Moving on into some unusual milestones in this category find us looking at acting and one that caught my eye was a Best Picture nominee, also having nominations in all four acting categories. Only twice in the now 82 years of this ceremony, has that happened, as the film’s FROM HERE TO ETERNITY (1953) and REDS (1981) did it. That sure is hard to believe, when you think of all the amazing cast ensembles over the years to grace this ceremony. The flipside to that coin finds THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, which is the last Best Picture winner to win both Best Actor and Best Actress awards. Again, hard to believe through all these years, we haven’t seen a sweep like that, but that’s the reality. The most recent sweep for any acting category was done by AS GOOD AS IT GETS, winning for Best Actor and Best Actress, but falling short in the Best Picture category. However, maybe the one that takes the cake is just last year when SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE won for Best Picture without having a single acting nomination, a first in an extremely long time, so long in fact, that I can’t seem to find the other time it happened, if at all. So, I guess no matter which way you go when it comes to the acting and best picture categories, they find themselves intertwined in some manner.

Now, keeping with the Best Picture theme, only twice has a trilogy been nominated for Best Picture for all three installments; with THE GODFATHER series doing it first, followed by Peter Jackson’s LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy a decade or so later. Now, out of all six films between both trilogies, only half claimed the coveted statuette, with THE GODFATHER, THE GODFATHER II and LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING all winning respectively. Sort of hard to fathom how THE GODFATHER III didn’t win in 1990, considering its pedigree, but it had been over 15 years since its predecessor, THE GODFATHER II, won. And when you look at the other nominees that year like GOODFELLAS, GHOST, AWAKENINGS and the eventual winner, DANCES WITH WOLVES, it’s easy to understand why. But, I still think the Academy got it wrong, as Martin Scorsese’s GOODFELLAS was by far the best movie that year and one that has helped define that genre for the future.

The breakdown:

So anyway, now that you have been privy to some of the unknown history and trivia to these awards, let me educate you on what will come over the next few weeks. And to mix it up this year, I am throwing in a few new categories, not as well known, but full of intrigue. My predictions for the 82nd Annual Academy Awards, beginning next week, are as follows:

Week 2:

Best Original Score
Best Original Song
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Original Screenplay
Best Film Editing

Week 3:

Best Actor
Best Actress
Best Supporting Actor
Best Supporting Actress

Week 4:

Best Director
Best Picture