As you’d have expected, given all the premature Oscar talk in the summer, Disney and Warner Bros. have announced that they will campaign, “Wall-E” and “The Dark Knight” respectively for the Oscar Best Picture.
At the moment, Oscar-bait is weak so it could happen, but we can’t help but not take either of these films too seriously as Best Picture contenders. Neither film was that good. Still, populists that don’t enjoy the fall season will be banging the drum loudly for both films. And since they both killed at the box-office, Warner’s ‘TDK’ especially, there could be a backlash around typical Oscar-fare and a turn towards films that keep the movie industry going (especially in this terrible economic climate). Frankly, this would be a terrible thing. Will “Transformers 2” be nominated next year? Probably not, but hopefully the Academy voters don’t put their worry about commerce and the industry above the pure art of the films (yes, both films were artful, no we just don’t think they’re serious enough film for Best Picture contention).
Populist films do sneak their way into Oscar sometime, look at Peter Jackson’s fantasy trilogy “The Lord of the Rings” for example. Anne Thompson says that Paramount Vantage has started their Oscar bids too and are campaigning hard for “Defiance,” “The Duchess” and “Revolutionary Road.” We just saw the first real Oscar film of the season last night. We’re not allowed to review it yet, but let’s just say we weren’t lactose intolerant to it and it likely will nab many, many nominations for its outstanding ensemble cast.
Btw, some readers had doubted our posit, but Philip Seymour Hoffman will officially be running for Best Supporting Actor, not Best actor in the upcoming drama “Doubt.”