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.

LA is Way Hotter

By Brett 10/31/07

This season of “Nip/Tuck” kicks off in a new place, but it’s still the same old song and dance. Christian and Sean have moved to LA in an effort to reinvent themselves. But the two hottest plastic surgeons from Miami have nothing in the Sunshine State. Without any press in the form of famous patients, the doctors have nothing. So what do you do to get big in LA? Get onto a TV show as a producer/technical advisor/actor. They do just that in the form of the soap opera “Hearts and Scalpels.” The bitchy lead actor gets rocked by Sean, who tells him to take some responsibility and learn the part the way it should be done. He gets through to him, and the show’s ratings jump, but not without Sean gaining some notoriety while Christian is left jealous of his limelight.

At the same time, some patients have started to come in. They get a case of a soon-to-be CEO looking to get some marks on his chest removed. He turns out to be addicted to pain in the form of bite marks from Mistress Dark Pain. His addiction spins wildly out of control while in recover, and the Mistress almost kills him. She gives her number to Sean, saying that he’ll need her someday. I smell a plotline.

Their success on the TV show gets them an aging actress looking to improve her looks at the request of her (and McNamara/Troy’s) publicist. Of course, Christian gets assigned to her consult, which leads to sex, and to the Kimber treatment. The Kimber treatment is what Christian did to one of his patients (and later girlfriend) in an effort to talk her into more plastic surgery. The actress, once being a proud 40 year old soon slips into Christian’s salesman routine and becomes another coaxed patient of Dr. Christian Troy.

All in all, a pretty solid start to the season. The writers got rid of some secondary characters just by changing the setting. That means no Matt, Julia, Kimber, Annie, or Conner. I’m sure they’ll pop up eventually, but for now, their gone. I’m happy to say that Liz is still with them, and hopefully we’ll get a few storylines to go along with her this season.

Still, some things are the same. Christian is still obsessed over his appearance, even getting hair plugs to show up the lead of “Hearts and Scalpels.” He’s still as sex crazed as before, but being a full time father may change him a little. I still think he misses Kimber, and if she shows up later in the season, don’t be surprised if he makes one of his aggressive passes at her. Yes, I know that she’s married to Matt, and they just had a baby, but still, it’s Nip/Tuck. Nothing is off limits. Sean on the other hand still frets about the future, seems to be the still unfortunate victim of circumstance, and misses his family.

Where are they going to go next? I have no idea. Expect to see the new show get in the way of their practice, more Mistress Dark Pain, and perhaps a serious love interest for Christian. While this season won’t be as intense as when the Carver was around in season 2-3, it should still make for some fun, over the top TV drama.