io9: academy awards

Jonathan Nolan On Dark Knight Snubs And Oscars' Crappy Cash Bar

Meredith Woerner — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 16:00:03 PST

Talk about adding insult to injury. Not only will The Dark Knight crew have to grin and bear it through the snubs on Oscar night, but they'll have to pay for their own drinks.

Two days later, and I'm still upset that The Dark Knight was inexcusably excluded from the Best Picture category at the Academy Awards as well as Nolan for Best Director. But I'm not alone in my lament; Dark Campaign has been rooting for TDK's success for some time now. Jonathan Nolan (TDK screenwriter) sent an email to the faithful fans explaining his dismay and thanks for the ongoing support:

hey — not sure who to address this to as it looks like a collective effort, but I just wanted to pass along my thanks.

It’s truly humbling that you guys would take the time and effort to try to get the film recognized. I, like you, was disappointed that Chris didn’t get some recognition this morning, but for Heath and so many of the people who worked so hard on this thing to get nominated is thrilling.

Any nominations for a comic book movie is a thing of beauty no matter how you slice it, and that takes the sting out a bit. Besides, I’ve been to the big show before, and, like any of these things, it’s a little disappointing. Did you know it’s not even an open bar once the show starts? At least this time I would have remembered to bring a little cash so I could buy myself a drink after losing.

The best part of this experience is seeing other people getting passionate about the film the way that we did. It has been a truly incredible experience. So thank you again.

best,

jonah nolan

Also check out this amazing fantastic, yet super sad, video Dark Campaign made.

The Oscars Overlook The Dark Knight But Love Backwards Babies

Meredith Woerner — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 06:39:33 PST

The nominees for the 81st Academy Awards was released this morning, and while the genre movie racked up plenty of nominations our beloved Dark Knight was passed over on a few surprising categories.

The big winner this morning was The Curious Case Of Benjamin Buttons. The backwards aging baby was nominated for 13 awards including Best Performance (Brad Pitt), Best Picture, Adapted Screenplay (which I'm a little dubious of) and Best Visual Effects. WALL-E received 5 tips of the hat including Best Animated Feature, Best Original Song and Original Screenplay. The visual effects and sound effects nominations are stuffed with scifi and it's great to see Hellboy II get the recognition it so rightly deserves for makeup. So on that note I'm quite pleased with many of the nominations.

But I'm very disheartened by the passing over of Christopher Nolan for Best Director in The Dark Knight, as well as the snub in the Best Picture category and Best Original Score. The Dark Knight deserves every single technical award it was nominated for, but the movie as a whole deserved attention as well (not saying it deserved to win but a nom for sure). But let's take solace in the fact that Heath Ledger was rightfully nominated for his supporting role, and I will say he should win this category hands down. Plus it is a pleasure to see TDK getting props for Achievement In Cinematography.

Here are the rest of the nominees please feel free to share your surprise and delight.

Performance By An Actor In A Leading Role:
Brad Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Richard Jenkins in The Visitor
Frank Langella in Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn in Milk
Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler

Performance By An Actor In A Supporting Role
Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight
Josh Brolin in Milk
Robert Downey Jr. in “Tropic Thunder”
Philip Seymour Hoffman in Doubt
Michael Shannon in Revolutionary Road

Performance By An Actress n A Supporting Role
Taraji P. Henson in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Amy Adams in Doubt
Penélope Cruz in Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis in Doubt
Marisa Tomei in The Wrestler

Performance By An Actress In A Leading Role
Anne Hathaway in Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie in Changeling
Melissa Leo in Frozen River
Kate Winslet in The Reader

Best Animated Feature Film Of The Year
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
WALL-E

Achievement In Art Direction
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Changeling
The Duchess
Revolutionary Road

Achievement In Cinematography
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

Achievement In Costume Design
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Revolutionary Road
Milk
The Duchess
Austrailia

Achievement In Directing
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button David Fincher
Frost/Nixon Ron Howard
Milk Gus Van Sant
The Reader Stephen Daldry
Slumdog Millionaire Danny Boyle

Achievement In Film Editing
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Frost/Nixon
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire

Achievement In Makeup
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Achievement In Music Written For Motion Pictures (Original Song)
"Down to Earth" from WALL-E Music by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman, Lyric by Peter Gabriel
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Alexandre Desplat
Defiance James Newton Howard
Milk Danny Elfman
Slumdog Millionaire A.R. Rahman

Best Motion Picture Of The Year
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Achievement In Sound Editing
The Dark Knight
Iron Man
Slumdog Millionaire
WALL-E
Wanted

Achievement In Sound Mixing
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
WALL-E
Wanted>
Slumdog Millionaire

Achievement In Visual Effects
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Iron Man

Original Screenplay
WALL-E
Frozen River
Happy-Go-Lucky
In Bruges
Milk

Adapted Screenplay
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Doubt
Frost/Nixon
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

The award show will be held on February 22.

[The Academy of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences]

Possible "Benjamin Button" Snub Proves Oscars Hate Science Fiction

Charlie Jane Anders — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 16:30:00 PST

Variety reports that the Oscars are considering passing over Brad Pitt's performance in The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button for a Best Actor nod, because his acting was enhanced by special effects. Especially in the early scenes where he's an old-man infant, some critics say he's more of an animated Gollum-esque figure than an actual actor. Variety wonders whether Paramount did too good a job of exposing the movie's makeup and CG wizardry in the promotional campaign, and that biased Pitt's critics against the role. I found Pitt's performance in the film somewhat underwhelming, but it was typical of the types of performances that often win an Oscar. To deny him one simply because his performance involved special effects is misplaced snobbery of the worst kind. [Variety]

Stop The Speed Racer Hate

Graeme McMillan — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 14:00:47 PST

The bad reviews and poor box office is one thing, but when Speed Racer starts getting ignored by the Academy Awards, it's time to wonder just what the Wachowski brothers have done to upset everyone.

I understand that this summer's big screen version of Speed Racer may not have been everyone's cup of tea, but I did think that those who saw it all admitted that the special effects were amazing... until I found out that the movie wasn't on the short list for Oscar recognition in visual effects. The argument that, "well, there were a lot of other movies with great special effects this year, maybe Speed Racer wasn't as worthy of recognition as those" loses all respectability when you see that Hancock and Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull are two of the fifteen films up for selection for the Oscar Short List. Can anyone out there really argue that Indiana Jones was more visually impressive than Speed Racer?

15 films on Oscar's visual effects list [Variety]

Science Fiction's Oscar Domination Has Begun

Meredith Woerner — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 11:17:22 PST

Whatever happens in other categories this year, science fiction is going to own the best feature animation category at the Oscars, mark my words. Fourteen films have been submitted "for your consideration" to get on the Academy Awards ballot, and the biggest stand outs out of the lot are all science fiction films. Could the best picture running be next? Check out the top contenders, below.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has to choose the pick of the litter from this collection of animation features. The chosen few will go on to be Oscar nominees, which will be announced January 22, 2009. We've decided to star each scifi or cult-genre contender.

The contenders are:
Bolt
Delgo
Dragon Hunters *
Fly Me to the Moon *
Igor *
Kung Fu Panda
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
$9.99
The Sky Crawlers *
Sword of the Stranger
The Tale of Despereaux
Waltz With Bashir
WALL-E *
Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!

I think it's easy to assume that WALL-E is the front runner for this years win, but I'm so happy that Mamoru Oshii's The Sky Crawlers got a little respect, as it's a gorgeous story. Still let's take a minute to remember the fallen Space Chimps, and those reviewers who were forced to watch it.

Does Obama's Win Mean A Dark Knight Oscar?

Graeme McMillan — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 13:35:00 PST

Barack Obama's election as America's 44th President was a milestone in many, many ways - but did it really help The Dark Knight get closer to an Oscar win for Best Picture? We're not convinced, but that's what Entertainment Weekly is claiming, in one of the more unexpected examples of fallout from Tuesday's election.

In a post on the magazine's "Oscar Watch" blog called "How Obama helps Batman," EW writer Dave Karger puts forward the following theory:

I thought the sequence involving the two ferries (in which a group of commuters and a group of convicts have the power to blow up each others' boats but don't) was a bit too reality-show-ish for my taste. But I know most viewers loved it. Either way, that part of the film speaks to the innate goodness of human behavior. And let's remember that Oscar ballots are due next January 12, just a week before Barack Obama is inaugurated. It's safe to say most Hollywood types will also see that event as an example of innate human goodness. All of this only helps The Dark Knight's chances, don't you think?

In a word... No. Sorry, Dave, but I have the strangest feeling that, when Academy members are considering whether The Dark Knight deserves an Oscar nod or not, they won't be thinking "Well, now that Obama is trying to bring hope to this country, that reminds me of that part where the two boatloads of people fail to blow themselves up." Or maybe that's just me.

The Audacity Of Joke image by James Lillis.

How Obama Helps Batman [EW Oscar Watch]

Science Fiction Will Rule the Oscars This Year

Kevin Kelly — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 07:00:50 PST

The Oscars will be all about science fiction this year — at least, if you look at the Awards ceremony poster. It was painted by celebrated poster artist Drew Struzan, who also created posters for The Phantom Menace, designed the ILM Logo, and was designated by Spielberg as "the only artist who was allowed to paint E.T." Recently he painted artwork for the new Blade Runner: The Final Cut DVD, based on his original artwork from 1982 when the film came out. It's not surprising that his Oscar poster depicts the golden guy in a sea of stars. Check out some of Struzan's amazing work in our gallery and find out more below.

Struzan came to George Lucas' attention when he helped an artist friend who was uncomfortable with portrait work by painting the human figures on a Star Wars poster. Struzan stepped in and painted Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia on the "Star Wars Circus" poster, and that started his long career of painting movie posters for George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.

You've probably seen his work dozens of times without realizing it. From Hellboy to Harry Potter to Back to the Future to The Thing, Struzan's been there. While we see the need for posters advertising the Academy Awards as about as necessary as a screen door on a deep-space cargo ship, it's cool that they're using an artist who loves and appreciates science fiction so much.

Academy unveils Oscar poster [Variety]