Oscars Oscars Oscars!

So yesterday us Brits woke up while the Hollywood A-Listers partied hard into the night following another great night at the Oscars. We find out that it is a Brit's night, with Slumdog Millionaire winning 8 times and Kate Winslet finally rewarded for her great acting, with best actress for The Reader. Shock of the night came when Mickey Rourke was snubbed for Sean Penn, who won best actor for his role as Harvey Milk in Milk. But there were bigger snubs all round. How about the films that didn't get mentioned for the main prizes...

The Dark Knight was one of the most commercially succesful films of 2008, and bar the best supporting actor, was only nominated for production categories such as Best Achievement in Makeup and Art Direction. Heath Ledger's nomination was a case of 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' but he was a worthy winner.

Other films that didn't get enough recognition were Wall-E, which was mind blowing and deserved much more, and Gomorrah, Christopher Nolan (for the Dark Knight), James Franco and Benicio Del Toro for his role as Che Guevara. But that's also what makes the Oscars great. The talk afterwards about this and that, who didn't get nominated and who should've won what.

But one thing that bugged me recently was to do with the best picture award. With Slumdog Millionaire winning over The Reader, Milk, Frost/Nixon and Benjamin Button, something struck me which I will now demonstrate below.

Slumdog Millionaire - Released 23rd Jan 2009 (Limited from 12 Nov 08)

The Reader - Released 10th Dec 2008

Milk - Released 26th November 2008

Frost / Nixon - Released 23rd January 2009

Benjamin Button - Released 25th December 2008

(Based on USA openings)

Notice that? Not one film was released before November of last year, and all these films were released in the UK in January. Every single one. Meaning films brought out around this time for next years award and going to struggle. Does the Academy only watch the recent films to decide what to award?

That will be the classic Hollywood Wants Money scam going on. As many of these films are still in the cinema, the Oscars drive more people to see them by advertising through Oscar noms. I'm not saying that none of these films deserve recognition, but it's getting more and more unfair on people working on films earlier in the year to not get nominated due to Hollywood risking not making money from it. Slumdog Millionaire was a deserved winner, but where was The Dark Knight, Son of Rambow, Let the Right One In, 4 Months 3 Days and 2 Nights, The Visitor, Wall-E, and The Happening? Ok, not the last one. But I'll tell you where they were. Back in the early part of 2008, that's where.

Comic Book Adaptations

Did you know that currently in Hollywood there are 70 movies being made that just lay in the comic book genre! That's a big seven-zero. People might not see any 70 films in the space of about 5 years.

So what's so engaging about the comic book film? The many popular adaptations are the Batman series, Spiderman (of which they are making an unnecessary fourth), Superman, Blade, Hulk, Iron Man, Fantastic Four, the list goes on and on. Other films that people might not have realised where comic book adaptations include V For Vendetta, Road To Perdition and even Stardust.

I'm not a big comic book fan, but after seeing this stat I have become intriguied to what brings people in to see them. Some will be big successes and some will fail, but they all are getting attention through comic book fans and lifelong devoters. With Hollywood releasing around 600 films in both 2006 and 07, it looks to stay around the same for 2009 / 10, which means a hefty amount coming from adaptations, not to mention Hollywood churning out the weekly remake, the monthy Seth Rogen "comedy" and the films about Dogs, which leaves a very small percentage of films that deserve recognition (in my eyes)

That's not to say that these films won't be a success. One film that has caught my attention over and over again is Watchmen, a film who people say that the comic book equivalent "changes the way they view other comic books." Now that's a pretty bold statement. Could Watchmen the film bring in a mass audience and make us change the way we view other superhero films? Directed by the man who brought us the green-screened, half-decent 300, we do not know. But from early pictures, reviews and some sneak peeks, he could be on to something this time around. We'll just have to wait till March to find out.

I like comic books. I read them all the time when I was a child. From the Beano to the... well, Beano was all that was needed to entertain me for a week, but you get the idea. Many people who are going to see these films will be much older than I was in my Beano-reading days though, and maybe it's something about having that connection with your childhood that drives people back into the cinemas to see these sorts of films. Films that are in production such as X-Men Origins, Justice League, Green Lantern, Iron Man 2 and Spiderman 4, are all fantastically well received children's cartoons and retro comic books, which just shows why they are getting good press and praise. The new generation of comic book readers are intriguied, children love a superhero and the older generation can't help but be clawed back by the images of when they first read comic books. 

Other notable films to look our for: Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (Edgar Wright), Green Arrow, The Avengers and Ness (David Fincher)

Also, check the new Poll at the bottom of the page which asks Who Deserves The Best Picture Oscar This Year?