Oscar nomination day is a holiday for me. I wake up super early (on my day off, mind you) and watch the nomination presentation, this year, streamed live online. It’s a lot like Christmas, except without the tree, gifts and family stuff, although you still complain about who shouldn’t be there and who’s missing.
This year the academy expanded its number of Best Picture nominees from five to 10 in perhaps the smartest move they’ve done in years. This expansion not only makes obvious room for more nominees, it effectively enhances the perception of the types of films that can be Best Picture nominees.
Take this year’s 10 nominees for example: “Avatar,” “The Blind Side,” “District 9,” “An Education,” “The Hurt Locker,” “Inglourious Basterds,” “Precious,” “A Serious Man,” “Up” and “Up in the Air.” Just the sheer fact that alien-infested, science-fiction thriller “District 9” is next to the wise British drama “An Education” is terribly exciting.
Although some might be turned off by the inclusion of some more mainstream audience favorites like “The Blind Side,” I would wager that viewership of the Academy Awards this year is going to skyrocket. People love to see their favorite movies and performers win big, so as downright giddy as I will be when Katherine Bigelow wins her much warranted Best Director trophy for her smart war drama “The Hurt Locker,” more people across America will be over the moon when Sandra Bullock takes Best Actress for her turn in the critically-divided, yet audience and box office smash, “The Blind Side.” Opening up the playing field to 10 horses yields a much more honest representation of the kind of contemporary films people, critics and audiences alike are seeing and loving.
Again, let’s take a look at our nominees. Jason Reitman’s “Up in the Air” secures the quirky indie-sensibility factor; science-fiction geeks will be pleased by the presence of aliens and spaceships with “Avatar” and “District 9.” Auteur lovers have themselves a nice dose of Tarantino and Coen Brothers with “Inglourious Basterds” and “A Single Man” respectively; those seeking emotionally charged tear-jerkers have themselves “The Blind Side” and “Precious;” parents forced to confine their cinematic endeavors to animated, kids-friendly films have “Up.” Then there’s “The Hurt Locker” and “An Education” for the existential, art-house theater-goers. It’d be difficult to argue that these 10 aforementioned films don’t represent quite a plethora of film-going demographics, tastes and trends.
It will be interesting to see how this more open, inclusive approach to Best Picture will translate in future years, but more so than anything, I really hope to see the academy warm up to some comedy films. As Anne Hathaway read the 10 films up for the big award, I secretly hoped a film like “The Hangover” would sneak in. Sure, it’s no “Hurt Locker,” but I just appreciate the novelty that for quite some time, especially after its surprising Golden Globes victory, the film was in the running for a Best Picture nomination.
“The Hangover” chronicles the gross-out-humored blackout night that involved a homosexual ninja thief, a tiger stolen from Mike Tyson and an accidental marriage to a stripper. All tasteless, sure, but how great would it have been to see something so crude in the same line up as “An Education?” Although the latter was leagues better in pretty much every department imaginable (aside from laughs), I can probably count the people I know who saw it on one hand. “The Hangover,” however, I feel was seen and adored by most people I know, from crass uncles and the high school kids I work with to fellow film students.
Expanding the field was a brilliant idea and the implications for its new inclusive air for the independent industry is terribly exciting, I just hope the academy loosens up a little and starts taking comedy seriously.
You can reach this columnist at thescene@theeagleonline.com.
