And the non-imees are…

It’s been a while since I posted an update, and I can’t think of a better return than to comment on the 2010 Oscar nominations. But rather than discuss each and every nominee, I thought it would be more interesting to talk about the movies nominated for best picture this year that wouldn’t have been nominated last year. As any cinephile knows, this is the first time since 1943 that there have been ten nominess for best picture instead of the usual five, so this year, by mathematical default, there are five more “dark horses.” In my opinion, here are they are:

 

The Blind Side

There are a lot of reasons why The Blind Side was a sleeper hit, and one of them isn’t because it’s a great movie. It’s because it’s a feel-good movie about football charged by a noteworthy performance from one of most likable female leads in Hollywood—Sandra Bullock—and it scored better reviews than most sports movies.

But it also holds the distinction of being the lowest-rated of the ten nominess, with a decent 70% on RottenTomatoes. By my account, that’s lower than the rating for Youth in Revolt.

 

District 9

True, Neil Blomkamp’s sci-fi allegory was revered as one of the best science-fiction movies ever made, and had one of the most impressive box-office runs of 2009, opening in mid-August to gross $204.8 million worldwide on a budget of $30 million.

But it’s not the first well-received sci-fi movie to be as revered by critics as it was by audiences. The bottom line is that a sci-fi movie hasn’t been nominated for best picture since E.T. The Extra Terrestrial in 1983, and more importantly, a science-fiction movie has never won best picture.

 

Inglorious Basterds

Quentin Tarantino’s films have been critical and audience darlings from his directorial debut, Reservoir Dogs, to Jackie Brown, Kill Bill: Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, and Death Proof, his half of the Grindhouse double feature. The Kill Bill movies were action-packed, funny, and at times heart-wrenching, yet Tarantino’s only best picture nomination came with Pulp Fiction, his “breakout” hit.

Sure, Basterds was a “war movie,” but it blatantly goofed on historical accuracy, turned the story into a revenge comedy, and was punctuated by Brad Pitt’s loony turn as LT. Aldo Raine.  Everyone may have loved it, but a year ago, the academy wouldn’t have been of them.

 

A Serious Man

The Coen Brothers are no stranger to the Academy. They directed the 2008 best picture of the year, No Country for Old Men, and were nominated in 1997 for Fargo. But what those two had in common were that they, especially No Country, were especially serious, two of the most serious in the Coen cannon, save for Blood Simple, Barton Fink, and Miller’s Crossing.  The Coen Brothers have made their name with films lighter than Fargo, like Raising Arizona, The Hudsucker Proxy, The Big Lebowski, and O Brother, Where Art Thou?, to name a few.

A Serious Man grossed only $20.5 million worldwide, which is more than The Hurt Locker and An Education, but those films were front-runners since their release, and much more serious than a period black comedy.

 

Up

The first animated movie nominated for best picture since Beauty and the Beast in 1992, and the second animated movie nominated nominated for best picture ever, Up was the sixth highest-grossing movie of 2009 and has the highest rating of any nominee on RottenTomatoes—98%—but it’s still a cartoon. And while it was a wonderful film, it wasn’t staggeringly ground-breaking like Beauty and the Beast. One can’t help but feel that this nomination is a slightly tainted victory for animation.

What do you think of my picks for the “non-imees?” Agree? Disagree? A little bit of both, maybe? Let me know.

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