Another year with Oscar

One of the few things I look forward to during the long cold days of winter is the award season, particularly the Academy Awards. As a self admitted movie nut, I am always interested to see which movies are nominated.

Admittedly, there is generally a pattern with the Oscar nominations. There is either a big film that is the clear favourite, such as Titanic or Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, which is all but guaranteed to win the big prize or there are several outstanding films that, while not receiving considerable box office success, vie for Best Picture. Last year, was a great example of the later, where No Country for Old Men deservedly won, but there were at least 2 other movies that were equally enjoyable and deserving. Even in years where the nominees are neither box office hits or critical favourites, there is always that historical epic, such as Braveheart and Gladiator, that fill the void. Either way, the Oscars always make for predictable, but enjoyable viewing during a dreary time of year.

This year, however, I find myself surprisingly apathetic toward the nominees. It is a year where the Curious Case of Benjamin Button received 13 nominations, which puts in an elite category with Titanic, Lord of the Rings, and Ben Hur, for movies to receive the most nominations. However, unlike those movies, which also had considerable box office success, Benjamin Button has hardly been a huge box office smash. The one movie that received considerable Oscar buzz and definitely made an impact on the box office was the Dark Knight. Considering that the Oscar's usually achieve the highest ratings in years where a box office smash, that is also well received by critics, is nominated for Best Picture, it seemed certain that the latest Batman film would be considered for a number of awards. Instead, the movie was virtually shut out.

Of the remaining four nominees, none fit the usual best picture material. Milk is a biopic on a relatively unknown politician. While I'm sure Sean Penn delivers another Oscar worthy performance, it's not surprising this movie hasn't brought a flood of people to the theatre. Like Milk, Frost/Nixon is another political movie, based on a famous interview that only Americans remember or might even remotely care about. Then we have the Reader, a controversial movie on another one of Oscar's favourite topics, Nazis. However, unlike Schindler's List, this movie has received a lackluster response from the critics and the public alike. Finally, we have the early critics favourite to win, Slumdog Millionaire, a fairly unknown film until recent strong reviews have caught the interest of the public. Despite the good reviews, however, I can't shake the feeling that Millionaire is one of Oscar's token dark horse nominees a la Juno, Babe or Little Miss Sunshine that is considered to be a good little movie, but doesn't stand a chance against the big dogs.

So for the first time, I'm not looking forward to the Academy Awards as an escape from the winter blues. Instead, I'm turning to the recent world events to get me through the cold days of winter and provide me with a much needed break from the Oscars.