Do you remember earlier this year when The Dark Knight was snubbed for a Best Picture nomination by the Oscars, despite being the highest-grossing movie of the year, one of the best-reviewed movies of the year, and featuring what is arguably one of the greatest performances in motion picture history? And do you remember how damn near everyone who saw the movie thought it got screwed? Well, if there was a silver lining in the situation, here it is: The New York Times is reporting that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will now be nominating ten films for Best Picture, instead of the traditional five. And it’s partly thanks to The Dark Knight.
From the article in the Times:
“We will be casting our net wide,” Sidney Ganis, the academy’s president, said in announcing the change at a morning news conference at the group’s headquarters here.
In a question-and-answer session that followed the announcement Mr. Ganis said, “I would not be telling you the truth if I said the words ‘Dark Knight’ did not come up.”
This is a pretty big deal when you think about it. How often have genre movies, comedies, and animated films gone without Best Picture nods due to the Academy’s refusal to acknowledge anything but period pieces and stuffy, bloated dramas? Yeah, the change is a few years too late, but better late than never.
June 24th, 2009 at 7:45 pm
Not to pooh-pooh on The Dark Knight, but I think this move has WAAAAAAYYYYY more to do with the Oscar’s falling-like-a-rock-ratings than it does any respect the Dark Knight did or did not get. The Oscars have been desperately trying to get the ratings up for years. This is just the latest ploy.
June 24th, 2009 at 8:33 pm
it is too little too late. just like in 2002, the best animated feature was introduced. just because they wanted to give shrek an award.
whatevs. it’s not that fact that TDK was snubbed, but Nolan. That hurt.
June 24th, 2009 at 9:30 pm
I think this is a good, if a mixed, blessing. I’ll proudly admit that I was pretty upset by TDK being snubbed but this will surely get deserving “genre” movies nominated in the future, especially with double the nominees (hell, six would’ve been fine). That said, I don’t think it’ll allow so-called “genre” movies to win.
June 24th, 2009 at 9:43 pm
Rolando: I think both reasons go hand in hand. The ratings for the last ceremony would have been higher had TDK been nominated, and I think the Academy realizes it. Ergo the change, so as to make sure nothing like that happens again. I’m sure TDK was not the ONLY reason for the change, but when the academy president namedrops the movie when talking about why they made th decision, you can’t completely dismiss the movie’s influence.
Lan: Shrek sucked. Pixar has deserved more than a few nominations for their flicks. Hayoa Miyazaki, too. (Though I thought Spirited Away was a wee bit bloated and weird for weirdness’s sake. Still a good movie, tho.)
June 25th, 2009 at 7:38 am
Yes, it probably has more to do with generating interest in the Oscar telecast than anything, but this also means that more deserving movies (big and small) get the promotion that they need.
Also, it’s about balance. If the academy nominates too many big popular movies then they look like they’re controlled by the studios, and if they nominate too many small movies then they look out of touch with the audience.
June 25th, 2009 at 7:59 am
Of course TDK and the ratings for last year’s show went hand in hand…One of the most popular films EVER (and that’s not just hyperbole), easily last year’s most talked about movie, one of the year’s best reviewed and most praised films, and then… No nomination. Sure Ledger’s nomination, and win, was great but everyone knew that would happen. I knew it, and without TDK or Nolan gets nominations, not to mention WALL*E (which was my other favorite film of last year) I didn’t bother tuning in either.
Hell, with a field of ten films one could even make a case for Iron Man getting a Best Picture nod. At the very least, I think Robert Downey’s performance in IM probably deserved a nomination. Instead, what we got were five films that not many people saw. I did see Slumdog, and I liked it, but most people really only saw that AFTER the Oscar nods.
What it comes down to, and people have said this for years, is that Oscar needs to take a more open-minded approach to what qualifies as “Best” each year. Snubs for action films, sci-fi/fantasy, comedy, and animated films has never been fair. LOTR helped a bit, but the snubs of TDK and WALL*E (actually, the snubs of Pixar in general) proved that Oscar still didn’t get it.
Next year, you can expect to see UP get a nomination, and maybe (maybe) even Star Trek? I’m still not interested in seeing it, but I recognize that the film has gotten a lot of love from both the critics and the general public.
June 25th, 2009 at 9:31 am
Can we please do away with the Best Animated category then?
June 25th, 2009 at 9:46 am
Star Trek was fun, but if a flick with that many holes gets a nomination, that’s a pretty good reason for me to continue not tuning in. Being in touch with the audience shouldn’t justify nominating movies that have no place being nominated.
Of course, I can’t recall ever watching the Oscars, so for me, it doesn’t really matter which movies are nominated.
June 25th, 2009 at 9:48 am
Oh, and I don’t think the first Shrek movie sucked… Sure, it wore its influences on its sleeve, but that was part of the movie’s charm. I though it worked equally well for adults and kids alike and it was pretty funny stuff. The cast was good, and it wasn’t that film’s fault that it helped spawn a million imitators (loading movies with lots of little pop culture references and all), that weren’t nearly as good.
Shrek 2 was a step down but still enjoyable and fun. Really, Puss In Boots made that movie for me. Shrek 3, I never saw it. I think the jokes were played out by then, I certainly didn’t care about a third adventure with those characters, and the reviews were pretty dreadful. Besides, they killed off John Cleese’s character? I’m sorry, but for that reason alone I’d have passed. You don’t do that to Cleese. They definitely needed to stop with Shrek 2. As it is I can’t believe they’re planning to make another one.
June 25th, 2009 at 11:34 am
@ Michael: Oh, I’m sure Trek was full of plot holes… I mean, look at who wrote the damned thing! I’ve let my wife, and other people, try to describe the plot to me and it sounds pretty ridiculous, not to mention incredibly contrived (even for a sci-fi movie)… Mostly, just an excuse to bring the original characters together, shoehorn Leonard Nimoy into the movie so it’ll have an air of legitimacy, have a bunch of battles, and put their own stamp on things so they’ll now have carte blanche to go do whatever they want in future installments.
So, again, I’m not interested. BUT… The film’s at 95% on Rotten Tomatoes. No, it’s not the ultimate word on what’s agreat movie and what’s not. That makes it one of the year’s best-reviewed films,so it’s a clear sign the critics really liked this movie. In spite of it’s (apparently many) flaws. And it’s been the year’s biggest hit (though UP is poised to beat it this weekend). In one sense, you could sort of say it’s this year TDK. I’m sure it’s not nearly as good, nor is it nearly as big a hit, but it is the movie that people have been talking up, going to see multiple times, and the critics are nearly all on board with it.
So that was my point… Just that, with a field of 10 to choose from now, the convergence of box office popularity and critical acclaim, even if the best most people can say about it is “It was fun!”, could cause it to sneak in the backdoor with a nomination. Long shot that it is.
June 25th, 2009 at 10:30 pm
Not that the Oscars are an accurate measure of anything, but box office is *competely* irrelevant, and The Dark Knight is just not that good a film. At heart it is really not saying anything about anything, it’s just an action movie with a crazy ‘I love chaos’ villain and Heath Ledger’s performance, may he rest in peace, had no centre and no apparent psychological motivation. ‘But that was the whole point!’ the fans will say. That doesn’t make it good. Sometimes pointful pointlessness is the worst kind of awful. Christian Bale was an absolute emotional vacuum at the film’s centre, too, much like in the new Terminator. Batman Begins was a far superior film, when it comes to story and character, and without those two things working perfectly no Best Picture awards should be forthcoming.
June 26th, 2009 at 6:25 am
Frankly, I was more irked that Gran Torino didn’t get nominated. While I enjoyed TDK, I EXPECTED it not to get nominated because it was a genre film.
June 27th, 2009 at 10:53 am
Oh please… TDK wasn’t a good movie? Whatever… I’d say the public – filmgoers and critics alike – have spoken on that front. Yes, Batman Begins was an excellent film too and I’m perplexed that it doesn’t get more credit. But to say TDK wasn’t good? Well, all I can do is shake my head over that one.
I’m not saying TDK was perfect, few films are, I’d have changed a few things. But it was still damned excellent. As was Christian Bale, who also doesn’t get enough credit (would you honestly prefer Michael Keaton slumming/sleepwalking through the role of Bruce Wayne again?), but of course he was going to be overshadowed by Heath Ledger’s performance. Not to mention a cast that includes Michael Caine, Gary Oldman and Morgan Freeman. Add a strong performance by Aaron Eckhart, and Bale is almost taken for granted I guess.
Anyhow, TDK had plenty to say (not that a comic book-based film necessarily needs to be more than a strong, smart action flick really), but the film’s commentary on our place in the world after giving in to the fear-mongering of the Bush (mis)-Administration, and how to best deal with terror, has been well- documented.
If anything, I’d have to say the Watchmen movie really didn’t have much of anything to say at this point… I love the book, and have for over 20 years, but years later I feel that Watchmen’s been done again and again in so many other forms (including The Incredibles) that seeing it actuall acted out as a movie felt redundant. Not to mention I felt the film actually missed the point in spots.
Anyhow… I’ll put BB and TDK together, as a pair, at the top of the list of the best superhero/comic films made. To me, they’re two parts of the same piece (sort of like the LOTR films are for me). TDK was was the “Empire Strikes Back” or “Two Towers” of the saga, and I hope there’s at least one more installment coming from Nolan & Co.
June 27th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Oh, and FWIW, here’s what my five nominations would’ve been for last year: TDK, WALL*E, Slumdog, Frost/Nixon, Gran Torino.
Had it been 10 nominees I’m not sure what else would’ve made my list, as I doubt I even saw 10 Oscar-worthy films last year, but it would at least include Iron Man. Benjamin Button, which didn’t really get nearly as good of reviews as TDK overall, would NOT have made my list even with 10 to choose.