The Oscar Nominees...aka "Who?"
Well, here we are in another delightful Oscar season. Bob Hope often quipped that in his household Oscar was known as "The Fugitive" and that Oscar time was "Passover." Lately, I would add that many Oscar contenders fit into the category "The Unwatchables." Oscar historians are familiar with another bizarre concept from decades past: the show finishing early. I have watched the Oscars since 1995, not tuning in every year for one reason: only about one year in 3 has a movie that I have actually seen nominated for the big awards. Reviewing the Oscars is boring now because the critics and the movie people make the same complaints every year about the show and the Academy members never fix their problems.
The Academy members always complain that they have lost viewers and usually blame said loss on the host. In reality, the host has little to do with whether people want to watch the show: it's the Oscars, stupid. Nominate movies that people have seen and the stars of those movies, and people will watch, genuinely interested as to who will win the big awards. This year, the five movies up for Best Picture have so far COMBINED to gross $246 million. That total will increase, but six other movies exceeded that number by themselves. Spider Man 3, Shrek 3, Transformers, Pirates 3, Harry Potter Order of the Phoenix and I Am Legend each grossed over $250 million and they combine for a grand total of 4 Oscar nominations. The wildly successful Lord of the Rings trilogy managed to get through three Oscar seasons without an acting victory. We in the viewing public want to see actors we know of win for roles that we have seen. That happens only occasionally.
The critics complain that the show is too long. No one - that means not even the producer's mother - wants to see a mock symphony of people operating sound effects equipment to lead into the Best Sound Editing category. Just give the awards out already, and move the show along. Almost without exception, every recipient who is not an actor, director or producer is someone of whom the audience has never heard and about whom they will never care.
Will we have an Oscar show on TV this year? Judging by the nominees, the answer is "Who cares?" The Academy nominated 21 films for the top awards: Picture, Director, acting, and writing. The median gross for those movies was $17 million and seven movies grossed under $10 million. Last year, 28 movies surpassed a box office gross of $100 million, but only three of them are major award nominees. Of those three, two have only one nomination each, ("American Gangster," "Ratatouille") so "Juno" is the only blockbuster with significant Oscar nominations. Here is a likely scenario: Kate Blanchett wins Best Supporting Actress for "I'm Not There," (gross: $4 million), Hal Holbrook wins Best Supporting Actor for "Into the Wild" (gross $18 million), Julie Christie wins Best Actress for "Away From Her" (gross $16 million). If Tommy Lee Jones wins Best Actor for "In the Valley of Elah" (gross $7 million), the Academy might succeed in giving all of its acting awards to obscure movies.
This year, I'll probably go to bed early.
The Academy members always complain that they have lost viewers and usually blame said loss on the host. In reality, the host has little to do with whether people want to watch the show: it's the Oscars, stupid. Nominate movies that people have seen and the stars of those movies, and people will watch, genuinely interested as to who will win the big awards. This year, the five movies up for Best Picture have so far COMBINED to gross $246 million. That total will increase, but six other movies exceeded that number by themselves. Spider Man 3, Shrek 3, Transformers, Pirates 3, Harry Potter Order of the Phoenix and I Am Legend each grossed over $250 million and they combine for a grand total of 4 Oscar nominations. The wildly successful Lord of the Rings trilogy managed to get through three Oscar seasons without an acting victory. We in the viewing public want to see actors we know of win for roles that we have seen. That happens only occasionally.
The critics complain that the show is too long. No one - that means not even the producer's mother - wants to see a mock symphony of people operating sound effects equipment to lead into the Best Sound Editing category. Just give the awards out already, and move the show along. Almost without exception, every recipient who is not an actor, director or producer is someone of whom the audience has never heard and about whom they will never care.
Will we have an Oscar show on TV this year? Judging by the nominees, the answer is "Who cares?" The Academy nominated 21 films for the top awards: Picture, Director, acting, and writing. The median gross for those movies was $17 million and seven movies grossed under $10 million. Last year, 28 movies surpassed a box office gross of $100 million, but only three of them are major award nominees. Of those three, two have only one nomination each, ("American Gangster," "Ratatouille") so "Juno" is the only blockbuster with significant Oscar nominations. Here is a likely scenario: Kate Blanchett wins Best Supporting Actress for "I'm Not There," (gross: $4 million), Hal Holbrook wins Best Supporting Actor for "Into the Wild" (gross $18 million), Julie Christie wins Best Actress for "Away From Her" (gross $16 million). If Tommy Lee Jones wins Best Actor for "In the Valley of Elah" (gross $7 million), the Academy might succeed in giving all of its acting awards to obscure movies.
This year, I'll probably go to bed early.
posted by Bountyhawk at 3:25 PM
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