The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have announced their nominees for the best in movies for 2013. As usual, I'm rolling my eyes.
And so it ever has been. Any thorough film buff of course knows perfectly well that these are not the awards for the best in the year's movies. Often the best films of the year are little independent productions that very few people see. These are disqualified pretty much automatically.
Remember though that many of such films are created by actors and technical staff that are working for free or well below union rates. And the Academy, if nothing else, is a union - and one that fiercely defends its privileges. So don't expect any "scabs" to be honored.
Even, though, if your film doesn't fall into that disqualifying category, there are plenty of other ways to get disqualified. The two main irritants can be called Politics and politics.
Using the upper case, Politics, refers to the ideological commitments of the members of the Academy - unionists after all! So, naturally films that depict capitalists and business men generally as venal and even sinister, that lament war (unless patriotic and "just"), celebrate the causes of supposedly downtrodden minorities and provide heartfelt inspirational messages about the triumph of the human spirit, are always well ahead of the curve in Academy-think.
And with the lower case, politics, I'm addressing the unwritten pecking order rules that are ubiquitous. You can't win an award too young/early (though there is an occasional break on this in the acting category); you have to earn your spurs. Many Oscar watchers have that moment when they just threw up their hands and could never take it seriously again.
For me, the year was 1995, and in their twisted wisdom the Academy awarded best director honors to Zemeckis for Forrest Gump. In the process, they rather overlooked a little flick called Pulp Fiction, which wasn't merely the best (and best directed) movie of the previous year. It was arguably the best of the previous decade. But, hey, it was Quentin Tarrantino's first nomination! We can't be doing something like that? Ever since, I've found the Oscars pretty much laughable. Similar was the treatment of director Peter Jackson who, according to the code, couldn't be honored for the first - and, as it turned out, the best - installment of Lord of the Rings.
And on the other side of the coin, there are the elders who have to be honored, whether they've earned it or not. (Isn't that what the lifetime achievement awards are for?) So, among the most grievous results in the acting category, Dustin Hoffman's tour de force portrayal of Ratso Rizzo in Midnight Cowboy had to go-wanting so as to pat John Wayne on the back for yet another insipid cookie-cutter performance in True Grit.
And, sometimes, it seems, the Academy just doesn't want to nominate some people too often - maybe they're afraid of them getting too big for their britches. (Though Meryl Streep seems oddly exempt from this attitude.) I can only assume that something like this explains the exclusion of yet another brilliant, moving performance by Tom Hanks in Captain Russell. (Is it time to finally say it: Tom Hanks is the greatest film actor of all time? Could be. Watch Best Movies of 2013 for an upcoming piece on this topic.)
In the end, then, what can we say? Another year and another time that my pick for best of the best movies of 2013 (or whatever year) fails to be nominated by the stately old Academy. But, hey, to reference the great closing song to another movie masterpiece snubbed by the Oscars, "it don't worry me." I know that somewhere commitment to integrity and achievement in the movies is being honored. Just not on Hollywood Boulevard.
And so it ever has been. Any thorough film buff of course knows perfectly well that these are not the awards for the best in the year's movies. Often the best films of the year are little independent productions that very few people see. These are disqualified pretty much automatically.
Remember though that many of such films are created by actors and technical staff that are working for free or well below union rates. And the Academy, if nothing else, is a union - and one that fiercely defends its privileges. So don't expect any "scabs" to be honored.
Even, though, if your film doesn't fall into that disqualifying category, there are plenty of other ways to get disqualified. The two main irritants can be called Politics and politics.
Using the upper case, Politics, refers to the ideological commitments of the members of the Academy - unionists after all! So, naturally films that depict capitalists and business men generally as venal and even sinister, that lament war (unless patriotic and "just"), celebrate the causes of supposedly downtrodden minorities and provide heartfelt inspirational messages about the triumph of the human spirit, are always well ahead of the curve in Academy-think.
And with the lower case, politics, I'm addressing the unwritten pecking order rules that are ubiquitous. You can't win an award too young/early (though there is an occasional break on this in the acting category); you have to earn your spurs. Many Oscar watchers have that moment when they just threw up their hands and could never take it seriously again.
For me, the year was 1995, and in their twisted wisdom the Academy awarded best director honors to Zemeckis for Forrest Gump. In the process, they rather overlooked a little flick called Pulp Fiction, which wasn't merely the best (and best directed) movie of the previous year. It was arguably the best of the previous decade. But, hey, it was Quentin Tarrantino's first nomination! We can't be doing something like that? Ever since, I've found the Oscars pretty much laughable. Similar was the treatment of director Peter Jackson who, according to the code, couldn't be honored for the first - and, as it turned out, the best - installment of Lord of the Rings.
And on the other side of the coin, there are the elders who have to be honored, whether they've earned it or not. (Isn't that what the lifetime achievement awards are for?) So, among the most grievous results in the acting category, Dustin Hoffman's tour de force portrayal of Ratso Rizzo in Midnight Cowboy had to go-wanting so as to pat John Wayne on the back for yet another insipid cookie-cutter performance in True Grit.
And, sometimes, it seems, the Academy just doesn't want to nominate some people too often - maybe they're afraid of them getting too big for their britches. (Though Meryl Streep seems oddly exempt from this attitude.) I can only assume that something like this explains the exclusion of yet another brilliant, moving performance by Tom Hanks in Captain Russell. (Is it time to finally say it: Tom Hanks is the greatest film actor of all time? Could be. Watch Best Movies of 2013 for an upcoming piece on this topic.)
In the end, then, what can we say? Another year and another time that my pick for best of the best movies of 2013 (or whatever year) fails to be nominated by the stately old Academy. But, hey, to reference the great closing song to another movie masterpiece snubbed by the Oscars, "it don't worry me." I know that somewhere commitment to integrity and achievement in the movies is being honored. Just not on Hollywood Boulevard.
About the Author:
Notice has been taken of Mickey Jhonny as one of the freshest, most audacious voices in movie and TV commentary. If you're a fan of Mad Men, you won't want to miss his sensational piece dissecting the secret of the show's success. His article criticizing the vilification of popular culture and celebrities by the anti-eating disorder crowd has been an online bombshell. Don't miss it!
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