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Finally, Oscar Nominations Families Can Cheer
For!
On Tuesday
(February 2, 2010) the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the
nominations for the 82nd Academy Awards. While many of the films were expected
to have gained Oscar attention, what caught me off guard was the number of
nominations for movies that we gave glowing marks to at
Parent Previews.
The biggest
surprise were the nominees for Best Picture. This is the first year the Academy
has increased the number of nominations for best picture from five to ten. Two
movies in the category are titles we awarded with A-grades this year:
Up and
The Blind Side. Two other movies on the list came close to our
recommended grades, with
Up In The Air and
Avatar both being recognized as fine films with just a tad too much
content to be suitable for family viewing.
The nomination of
Up is somewhat surprising, as the Academy often appears to view
animations as a category unto themselves (and, yes, there is a separate category
for Best Animation, and Up will certainly be a prime contender -- and my
prediction to win). Yet it’s thrilling to see the members of the Academy
recognize this wonderful story, which speaks to old and young alike, in their
most notable category. As I mentioned in an earlier column, it’s my pick for
Best Picture this year.
Perhaps even more
of a shock was the kudos given to The Blind Side. When was the last time
Oscar looked favorably upon a movie that extols positive religious values within
a reasonably happy well-functioning family? Certainly, I like The Blind Side,
but it just doesn’t have the typical Oscar-feel to it. Is it gritty enough? Dark
enough? Maybe all that will be added in the home video directors cut! (Complete
sarcasm noted...)
I think many
industry insiders were (ahem...) blindsided by this feel-good film’s
amazing $238 million domestic box office run. That is a huge take for a
relatively low budget film. (In fact, compared to Avatar, which as of the
moment I’m writing this, is now the all-time highest grossing movie in history,
The Blind Side -- which, according to
boxofficemojo.com, cost $29 million to produce -- is delivering a far
greater investment return on a percentage basis.)
Of course dollars
and Oscars shouldn’t be in the same sentence, but for years I have speculated
about the fact that the Oscars are slowly alienating themselves from the general
film-going audience. Again, returning to boxofficemojo.com, the site’s founder
and writer Brandon Gray has noticed that last year’s five nominations held the
dubious record for being the
least attended movies at nomination time. Brandon notes the nomination of
Avatar alone more than triples the cumulative gross of all five of last
year’s Best Picture nominees.
I’m certainly not
claiming to be an original thinker in speculating that this year’s Oscars are
trying to bring mainstream audiences back around the tube and cheering for their
favorite film. And there are still nominated titles that fall far more into the
art house category, like
An Education. However, I am pleased to see Oscar extending his tastes
toward a wider range of genres and audiences.
To this point I
have only discussed the Best Picture category. Other fine movies have received
major nominations as well. Both Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon have been
recognized for performances in the inspiring film Invictus. Sandra
Bullock is nominated for The Blind Side and Meryl Streep for her
performance in the charming Julie & Julia. Yet another interesting film,
The Young Victoria has been recognized in both Art Direction and Costume
Design. Finally, the oft overlooked Harry Potter franchise has won a nomination
for cinematography for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
So perhaps this is
the year to return back to watching the telecast on March 7th. It’s always more
fun to watch the awards when it involves films you may have seen. As long as the
celebrities can keep their tongues in check during this live event, this year’s
Academy Awards could end the decline in popularity for Hollywood’s grandest
night.
Rod Gustafson
Besides writing this column for the Parents Television Council, Rod Gustafson authors Parent Previews® - a newspaper and Internet column (published in association with movies.com) that reviews movies from a parent's perspective. He's also the film critic for a major Canadian TV station, various radio stations and serves on the executive of the Alberta Association for Media Awareness. Finally, his most important role is being the father to four wonderful children and husband to his beautiful wife (and co-worker) Donna.
Parenting
and the Media by Rod Gustafson
The Parents
Television Council -
www.parentstv.org
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