Last week we saw the minor league awards. Not to belittle them because they are prestigious, but they also offer some insight to who may be the front runners for the big league awards. This morning the big league candidates were announced by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Sid Ganis and Academy member and past Oscar nominee Salma Hayek.
The announcement came at 5:30 AM on the west coast and 8:30 on the east. A bit early for the average Joe in the west and a little too late for those on the east to catch live. At least, it was a bit late for me. I had to scrounge a few minutes here and there to peruse the list, only now getting a chance to take a closer look at the films that got the call up. Still, I am not quite ready to make my choices for who will win — that will come a little closer to the telecast.
However, I am not above skimming over the list and giving my impressions. There are some surprises, a few that seem to be nearly written in stone, and a few films that were overlooked in the major categories, to my disappointment. Something else I noticed as I glanced at the titles — there are a number of movies that I have yet to see. Sure, I have seen the majority of them, but there are still a few that either never came to my town in upstate New York, or scheduling did not permit me to take the time. Still, I think I have seen enough and have enjoyed enough to have a valid opinion on the selections, who I think should have been there, and maybe even who should not have been there.
The first thing that hit me square in the jaw was the lack of Children of Men in the Best Picture category. It was a given that Babel and The Departed were going to move on, and Little Miss Sunshine and The Queen had built up a good deal of momentum heading into the announcement. That leaves one space free, the slot that ultimately went to Letters from Iwo Jima. Sure, it had won a couple of the early critics associations top slots, but it still didn't have a big push, as it hasn't even gone terribly wide at the theaters yet. In fact, the reason behind it even being released in 2006 seems to be a consolation prize following the soft response to its sister film, Flags of Our Fathers. I guess I cannot complain too much for its inclusion, as I have not yet seen the film. That still does not soothe my pain of not seeing the brilliant and visionary Alfonso Cuaron film among the final five.
Article comments
1 - SolShine7
It looks like Kate Winslet is going to get snubbed again. One day...
2 - Jane
If you had seen Ryan Gosling's performance in Half Nelson, then you would not have been surprised this morning. He has been getting buzz since September when the film was released in selected cities. He received a Spirit Award Nod, a Sag Nod and Critics Nod. Where have you been? The only reason why he did not get a Golden Globe is because the Foriegn Press is able to nominate the same actor for two different roles (Leo). Don't mean to be smart, but you need to see the movie and read up before you comment. I say the biggest surprise is Brad Pitt not getting a nod.
3 - Chris Beaumont
I do not think my comment was all that mean, I didn't imply his performance was bad or completely unworthy. But he didn't strike me as one of the more obvious choices. Besides, I am just a little disappointed over Owen's snub, and the Children of Men snub for Best Picture. Quite frankly, I could have been much "meaner" in my comment, but why should I? If you get nominated you must have had a good performance. Everyone has their favorites. This will hopefully lead to bigger and better for Ryan.
4 - Ty
"Half Nelson didn't have much of a stay in the theater, and is one of the ones that I missed."
Once again the fact you are in the middle of nowhere rears its ugly head in your opinions.
Nice...
5 - Chris Beaumont
Nice to see you haven't abandoned me, Ty. Also, the comment is rather baseless as I did not say it did not come to my area, but I missed it. It is impossible for me to see everything that I want to, whether it comes to my area or not. I keep myself quite busy doing what I do in addition to my fulltime job. I have seen enough to have an opinion of who I would like to see nominated, and I was in no way belittling Gosling's performance.
6 - Chris Earp
I very much agree with your comments about Children of Men. That was my favorite film of the year, with Pan's Labyrinth a close second, and I was also appalled at the snub. After just watching the Oscars, I am even more disheartened with the Academy for the fact that it didn't win any of the three it was nominated for, especially cinematography, which I thought it was meant to win well before the nominees were announced. I may be a little bias because it is my favorite film genre (sci-fi noir) and the kind of film I hope to make in the future, but looking back at the past Oscars, I can tell the Academy has a problem with Sci-Fi in general. Many of the greats have been snubbed big time, and this particular situation is reminiscent of how it was with my favorite film of all time, Minority Report, which was praised by critics (and even gained the top spot on Roger Ebert's best of 2002 list), but was almost ignored by the Academy. Spielberg is a good example for the Academy's refusal of Sci-Fi because he about half of his films are Sci-Fi, but only his non-Sci-Fi films have ever won. If I do every make the great Sci-Fi noir films I hope to make, I will not expect any recognition from the Academy. Critical and viewer acclaim should be enough for any filmmaker.