No More, AMPAS

Something’s got me thinking.

When was the last time that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS; the runners of the Academy Awards) gave out Best Picture to a movie that got actual run (and I don’t mean an indie film that was loved by sellout critics or a fall sleeper that was equally well-received by the ignorant)? Let’s take a look. What we’re looking for is a film released between May and August (still outside the guidelines set down later, but somewhat “summer”ish) a release of over 2500 screens, (for a reference, Slumdog Millionaire had a 614 theatre release although it achieved a post-Oscar second run at nearly 3000, while Iron Man had 4104) and isn’t a remake or Americanized version of a foreign film (i.e. The Departed).

The 81st Academy Awards in 2009 gave 17241294…. wait, no, 8 (which is still a ton) to Slumdog Millionaire including Best Picture. What struck my ire about this film was the fact that it received no wide release, just came out of nowhere, and had to be distributed by a big name studio (Warner Independent in tandem with Fox Searchlight) to get audience! Oh, and the fact it was subpar in comparison to every other musical movie ever made, was incredibly superficial in its plot, (kid’s poor, then kid’s not poor; thrilling) and was a general bore. It won against a palate of films such as The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, (winter sleeper; sure, it had some big name actors tied down to it, but it got what, an 800 theater release? give me a break) Frost/Nixon, (now, this one was playing in Gurnee, and I was right well PISSED to not have been able to see it. if anything, Frost/Nixon should have taken the prize for Best Picture) Milk, (882 theatre release, if I had wanted to see it, would’ve had to go to freaking Evanston) and The Reader (like Benjamin Button, had a few big name stars, but a generally unimpressive release, and I didn’t give half a care about this movie to begin with). All of these films were in the post-blockbuster “sleeper release” period following 1 August (12 November, 25 December, 23 January, 30 January, and 10 December respectively) which were critical hits (no pun there). Also, note the absence of films such as Clint Eastwood’s final Gran Torino or the $1 billion grossing epic The Dark Knight (saw it, loved it, Eugene will pay though for spoiling it).

We look back another year, to the 80th ceremony in 2008. Again, it was the critic suckfest spread, all placed in the lame duck winter time. We had No Country for Old Men as the winner (Coen Brothers festival that year, although their stuff’s relatively unimpressive) and runner-ups Atonement, (derivative of a modern novel, but the author actually knows what the hell he is doing, so I’m not complaining; still, another winter sleeper that no one saw) Juno, (it was as if a million pro-lifers called out and managed to get another topic vehicle to harp on; skipped that shit like it was the virus from The Stand) Michael Clayton, (the only film in this set that had the semblance of an American movie, with actors like George Clooney; I wanted this film to win it) and There Will Be Blood, to finish out the Coen set. On a final note, I can’t believe that Juno managed to nab the award for Best Screenplay. I could write a better screenplay with my ear (and I am actually writing a screenplay, so wait for that to drop).

No luck at 80, so let’s take a trip to 79. In 2007, The Departed managed to get the award (a nice spread of A-list actors, but it managed to get an October release rather than its deserving July one, and it was a take on a Chinese movie, so I guess we’re going to see another year up here) over films like Babel, (a torture film, like Bolano’s 2666 was a torture book; could have seen better) Letters From Iwo Jima, (should have won; Clint Eastwood gets stiffed AGAIN) Little Miss Sunshine, (I don’t know how that got in there; Christ, how many times can you bash out “dysfunctional family does some stuff, deriving comedy from their antics” like it hasn’t been done a million times before) and The Queen (more sucking up to the late Princess Diana, as if we didn’t already need a reason to give her more posthumous attention). This was another year of stiffs, shutting out films like Guillermo Del Toro’s fantascene Pan’s Labyrinth and the only good movie Eddie Murphy’s done in 20 years, Dreamgirls.

2006 marked the 78th running of the Academy Awards, with Crash taking home top honors (and by god, it was released in May! still didn’t want to see it; another slice of life in L.A. film) against Brokeback Mountain, (didn’t understand the hype, but it was a nice original that I would have liked to see win) Capote, (god, how many times can you do a “thrilling” biopic? skip this) Good Night and Good Luck, (George Clooney, so this one should have won by a mile) and Munich (how many times can Steven Spielberg do a historical fiction piece based around Jews? I’m glad this movie didn’t win, because then he’d put nothing but Jewish historical fiction pieces…. oh wait). Memoirs of a Geisha and King Kong got equally stiffed.

Backing up another year to the 77th Awards in 2005. This year was Million Dollar Baby. Eastwood does it again! (That means I couldn’t have talked about how 2003’s showing should have been canceled in favor of giving every award to Spirited Away.) At this, my quest is over (although it didn’t meet any of the guidelines). But, to continue my points, let me just overview some of the big hits and misses over the last few years.

In 2005, The Aviator lost its Best Picture nom, while Hotel Rwanda (I loves Don Cheadle) got stiffed from the category entirely, as did The Incredibles (I’m sorry, but Pixar is just boss; they make Best Picture-calibre films, and AMPASS always shuts them out). Had I not had that soft spot for Clint Eastwood, I would have gone back and selected The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King’s taking of the top prize in 2004 as the true fulfillment of my criteria (released in December, but had a $96 million budget, distributed by New Line, and went wide at thousands of theatres).

Anyway, what is driving this trend of indie films routing at the Oscars? You know my sharp criticism of the state of the film industry, and my general dislike for movies today. However, if summer standards got wins in the past, (like Gladiator’s win in 2001) why couldn’t summer standards win today?

You know, I’m utterly perplexed. Leave comments, and we can start from there.