By Aaron 2/26/2008

My immediate thoughts were that we should have given the Academy more credit. We focused too much on why we thought the Academy would pick a certain winner: because they had already won a Globe, or they were so heavily favored, or anything besides really getting into who SHOULD win.

A few highlights. I called the Marion Cotillard win over the heavily favored Christie and the popular fave Ellen Page. All I have to say about that is EAT IT Julie Christie. Seriously she was just not that great in Away from Her. This year, I took the time to see all of the movies in the Best Actress category and it gave me a new appreciation of the category, and the actresses. Cotillard was simply the best, playing a difficult character that required a new look, a new voice, and an incredible amount of emotion. Sure I would have liked to see Ellen Page win, but she has plenty of time, and I a pretty comfortable that she will win eventually.

I was also glad Juno won best original screenplay but I thought Diablo Cody’s speech was soo cliché. And long. But I did enjoy the Coens’ speech – especially the fact that they ensured that PTA and Blood were denied what they didn’t deserve. Sure, I know I’m alone on this one, but I’m okay with that. If you want a little humor in the Blood v Country debate watch this SNL short, here. And for good measure Tilda Swinton’s win was a pleasant surprise – she’s a great actress and the category was pretty watered down (Ruby Dee and Amy Ryan) we should have seen the category as being Swinton v Blanchett. Another error in the Academy’s judgment.

The other thing that really nagged me was that I should have stuck to my guns on Visual Effects and Art Direction where I had stressed how I thought Compass could win because it’s look was so unique and that Todd was literally a dark horse. But I chickened out and bailed on my gut. I guess it was not that big of a surprise that Michael Moore’s latest Sicko, failed again, but I really felt it was his best documentary yet – certainly his least partisan. I was also disappointed to realize that Blood, who’s haunting score kept that film alive, was not even nominated!

See SaltyStix Staff Picks Here

Start Reading our Oscar Roundtables Here

 

Could “Avatar” Win Best Picture?

By Brett Hogan

 

Last week, the trailer for James Cameron’s sci-fi experiment “Avatar” debuted. While initially unimpressed with the teaser, I began to wonder: Could this film win best picture? 

 

Buzz has been generating for this movie for years. Years. The technology to make this movie didn’t exist when Cameron conceived it, so he invented it. When is the last time you heard of a director spearheading the invention of anything? The casting started in 2005. Most movies these days, even epics, are done in half that time. I could go on. 

 

The most important thing to take away from all of this is that people are saying this will be the future of movies. Now, I don’t agree with the idea that CGI will become more prevalent than it already is. But I do believe that this will set the bar miles higher for sci-fi. I mean, that is what Titanic did. And that won some awards if memory serves.

 

I’ll bet you’re asking yourself, how can you even suggest that a film like this will win Best Picture when the initial trailer was nothing better than visual stimulation? Well, there are a couple of reasons. First, the Academy has expanded Best Picture to ten films. This doesn’t guarantee anything other than improved chances for most films on the cusp.

 

Second, after last year’s Oscars debacle, which saw the best film of the year, “The Dark Knight,” not only get shafted in awards but nominations as well, the Academy is pulling out all the stops to appease those with the loudest voices in the film industry, the fanboys. Now, the Academy probably didn’t lose anything because of that other than some viewers of the award show. Perhaps if people are again outraged with the winners or nominees, the heads of the Academy would lose their jobs. So this is all about the Academy protecting itself, which is not so outrageous.  

 

 

Third, there is an economic motive here. I’ve heard this film will cost $190 million, not counting the R&D costs associated with Cameron’s inventions or the cost of getting 3-D cameras into every theater in the country. The Academy will do everything in its power to get people into the seats and make this the next “Titanic” or “The Dark Knight.” But the Academy doesn’t have much power, besides nominating and awarding, so they will slap the “Nominated for Best Picture” moniker onto every commercial and print ad to get the people who didn’t believe the critics to relent and see this movie.

 

Of course, all of this is pure conjecture, and no revolutionary film (Terminator 2, Jurassic Park, etc.) has ever won the Best Picture category because it changed the game. Except maybe Titanic. But still, could this movie actually win? My answer is no but a nomination is certain and who knows what could happen from there. We’ll know more come February 2010.