No Jack Nicholson? No Angelina Jolle? No Denzel Washington, for either of his movies? And, possibly no Awards ceremony? What is the entertainment world coming to? Maybe, at least for one year, Oscar is growing up.
Welcome to the intrigue and interesting-ness of the 80th Annual Academy Awards, to be held February 24 at The Kodak Theatre. Of course, that schedule assumes that the writers’ strike will end or that a waiver will be granted to save the show. The nominations were announced this morning.
"Atonement," "Juno, " "Michael Clayton, "No Country for Old Men" and "There Will Be Blood" are the nominees for Best Picture. In another year, with perhaps less controversy existing in other cultural arenas, I think there’d be more chat about why two major African-American themed movies-- “The Great Debaters” and “American Gangster”-- were overlooked for Best Picture as well as the major acting categories. But given the looming writers strike, as well as the stock market drop and the presidential race, this issue may go quietly into the night this year.
Cate Blanchett (for "Elizabeth: The Golden Age"), Julie Christie (for "Away From Her"), Marion Cotillard (for "La Vie en Rose"), Laura Linney (for "The Savages") and Ellen Page (for "Juno") are the best actress nominees. Only Page’s film is represented as a Best Picture nominee, so this category may bring more yawns than yeahs. Honestly, have you seen all five of these movies? Even three?
George Clooney (in "Michael Clayton"), Daniel Day-Lewis (in "There Will Be Blood" ), Johnny Depp,(in "Sweeney Todd"), Viggo Mortensen (in "Eastern Promises") and
Tommy Lee Jones ("In the Valley of Elah") are the Best Actor nominees in a year when perennial big stars Tom Hanks (“Charlie Wilson’s War), Washington (“The Great Debaters” and “American Gangster”) and Nicholson (“The Bucket List”) were all overlooked. For that matter, so was Morgan Freeman (“The Bucket List”) as well as another big name and—if anyone wants to make something of it—another African-American.
Sean Penn, who directed “Into the Wild” and won awards from the Directors’ Guild and the Producers’ Guild, was also denied a nomination for Oscar. And to round out a year when big stars were passed over, Julia Roberts wasn’t nominated for Best Supporting Actress (from “Charlie Wilson’s War”).
It’s a shame that this year’s show may be abbreviated in nature and skipped over by some major starts, because—at least for this year—nominations were based on this year’s performances on-screen rather than popularity and star loyalty off-screen.
Cate Blanchett playing Queen Elizabeth (again!) probably wasn’t everyone’s favorite idea for a nominee, but her performance was honored, as well as her turn as Bob Dylan (in “I’m Not There”) for Best Supporting Actress. Long-time character actor Hal Holbrook will be a sentimental favorite as Best Supporting Actor for “Into the Wild.” And the Best Actor nominees are all well-known actors who’ve made quite a few popular movies, so that’s nice.
All in all, though, this ceremony will go down either as the year when the great performances didn’t come from the biggest stars, which may make for a boring show, but should inspire everyone watching that good work—in any profession—can be rewarded through consistency over time.
If, of course, there actually is a show this year...
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The Academy falters, the critics fail, and the people rule!!
As co-founder of The Spiritual Cinema Circle, I have blogged recently about the pathetic state of mainstream movies and film critics, most particularly the ugly, violent films that were praised by critics and also nominated for the 2007 Academy Awards.
Well, the Oscars were broadcast on February 24 and, lo and behold, the show received the lowest rating in the history of the Academy Awards!
Why?
People were so turned off by and uninterested in the dark, violent films that were nominated that the broadcast was viewed by a million fewer people than even the previously lowest rated show in 2003. No one cared about NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, THERE WILL BE BLOOD, and all the other dark, nihilistic films that were nominated. (The adorable JUNO being the only exception.)
The highest rated Oscar show ever was in 1998 when TITANIC, a big, powerful, epic love story dominated the nominations. Almost 56 million people viewed that broadcast, compared to a paltry 31 million people this year. That's 25 million less people from the highest rated show ever to the lowest rated show ever. Give us classic love stories and human dramas that uplift us and we care. Give us doom and gloom and we won't watch. And that's very, very good news. The studios can no longer deny how many people they have driven away with their drivel.
Maybe 2008 will be better, but movies take a long time in the pipeline so maybe we won't see much of a change in programming until 2009, if even then. But the truth is out there now. Hollywood, keep making your dark, ugly, violent films and we will all vote with our feet and remote controls , stay away, and turn you off.
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