Oscar Nominations
By Ryan Kelly
Co-Executive Editor
There were few surprises as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on Tuesday their nominations for the 78th Academy Awards. “Brokeback Mountain,” the love story of two gay cowboys which met critical acclaim and has been considered an Oscar favorite, took in eight nominations including one for Best Picture.
Two other films, “Crash” and “Good Night, and Good Luck,” each received six nominations. Another big winner was George Clooney, who was nominated for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for “Good Night, and Good Luck,” as well as Best Supporting Actor for “Syriana.”
Perhaps the most shocking aspect of the nominations was the make-up of the nominated field. In addition to “Brokeback Mountain,” the films nominated for Best Picture were “Capote,” “Crash,” “Good Night, and Good Luck,” and “Munich.” All are serious films dealing with important political or social issues.
And with the exception of Munich, all of the films nominated for Best Picture were made with a budget of less than $15 million (Munich’s budget was $75 million). “Good Night, and Good Luck,” “Capote,” and “Crash” all had budgets in the range of $6-8 million. “Brokeback Mountain” was made for about $14 million.
To put these figures in perspective, last year’s Best Picture winner, “Million Dollar Baby,” was made for $30 million, and was in contention with “The Aviator” (with a budget of $116 million), “Finding Neverland” (with a $25 million budget), and “Ray” ($40 million budget).
If you want to go back another year, “Lord of the Rings: Return of the King,” which won Best Picture of 2003, had a production budget of just under $100 million. Compared to these numbers, “Capote’s” $7 million budget is pocket change.
Traditionally the Academy has nominated one independent or smaller-budgeted film per year. Last year it was “Sideways,” and the year before it was “Lost in Translation.” To have four of the five nominees with such small a budget is a drastic change in recent Academy history.
These small-budget films being honored were not chosen from a field of few big-budget pictures. 2005 saw “War of the Worlds” and “King Kong,” both directed by Oscar-winning directors. The Golden Globe-winning “Walk the Line,” a biopic about Johnny Cash, was also overlooked when it came to the Best Picture nominations.
After a year when box office receipts were down, could this change be indicative of a greater acceptance of small films from within Hollywood? It could be chance that the films studios thought were most worthy of being promoted this year happened to be on the small side. But it could also be that studios are now more willing to produce and distribute small-budgeted films. Blockbusters are not the winning propositions they were years ago.
The greatest indicator of this trend is the increasing number of “specialty divisions” of the big studios that are being set up, to deal with smaller and “independent” films. These include Sony Pictures Classics, Warner Independent Pictures, Focus Features, Miramax and Fox Searchlight Pictures. These divisions are great for film.
We should look at this year’s Academy Awards as a change in a new and positive direction. More “indie” films are being produced, and they’re great films. The Academy is honoring them, which will only boost their popularity and viewership.
It is these films that challenge the status quo and raise important and interesting points. “Good Night, and Good Luck,” while chronicling McCarthy-era journalism, provided a scathing critique of where the state of the journalism industry is now. “Crash” tackled racism at a time when people are forgetting it’s an issue. Even Munich, with by far the biggest budget, addresses the on-going cycle of violence in the turbulent Middle East.
Each of the films to get the Best Picture nod were also nominated for Best Director. This included Steven Spielberg (“Munich”), who has won two Best Director Oscars and been nominated for three more in the past. Ang Lee (“Brokeback Mountain”) was nominated in 2001 for “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.”
In the Best Actor category, “Capote” star Philip Seymour Hoffman is considered the favorite, after winning both a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild award for his portrayal of the novelist Truman Capote. He is up against Terrence Howard for “Hustle & Flow,” Heath Ledger for “Brokeback Mountain,” Joaquin Phoenix for “Walk the Line” and David Strathairn for “Good Night, and Good Luck.”
On the women’s side, Reese Witherspoon was nominated for Best Actress for her role in “Walk the Line.” Witherspoon also won both a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild award for this portrayal. She is up against Judi Dench for “Mrs. Henderson Presents,” Felicity Huffman for “Transamerica,” Keria Knightley for “Pride & Prejudice,” and Charlize Theron for "North Country." Dench won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in “Shakespeare in Love,” and Theron won a Best Actress Oscar for her role in “Monster.”
The Oscars will be presented on Sunday, March 5, 2006 at 8:00 p.m. on ABC. They will be hosted by comedian and “Daily Show” fake-news anchor Jon Stewart.
Co-Executive Editor
There were few surprises as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on Tuesday their nominations for the 78th Academy Awards. “Brokeback Mountain,” the love story of two gay cowboys which met critical acclaim and has been considered an Oscar favorite, took in eight nominations including one for Best Picture.
Two other films, “Crash” and “Good Night, and Good Luck,” each received six nominations. Another big winner was George Clooney, who was nominated for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for “Good Night, and Good Luck,” as well as Best Supporting Actor for “Syriana.”
Perhaps the most shocking aspect of the nominations was the make-up of the nominated field. In addition to “Brokeback Mountain,” the films nominated for Best Picture were “Capote,” “Crash,” “Good Night, and Good Luck,” and “Munich.” All are serious films dealing with important political or social issues.
And with the exception of Munich, all of the films nominated for Best Picture were made with a budget of less than $15 million (Munich’s budget was $75 million). “Good Night, and Good Luck,” “Capote,” and “Crash” all had budgets in the range of $6-8 million. “Brokeback Mountain” was made for about $14 million.
To put these figures in perspective, last year’s Best Picture winner, “Million Dollar Baby,” was made for $30 million, and was in contention with “The Aviator” (with a budget of $116 million), “Finding Neverland” (with a $25 million budget), and “Ray” ($40 million budget).
If you want to go back another year, “Lord of the Rings: Return of the King,” which won Best Picture of 2003, had a production budget of just under $100 million. Compared to these numbers, “Capote’s” $7 million budget is pocket change.
Traditionally the Academy has nominated one independent or smaller-budgeted film per year. Last year it was “Sideways,” and the year before it was “Lost in Translation.” To have four of the five nominees with such small a budget is a drastic change in recent Academy history.
These small-budget films being honored were not chosen from a field of few big-budget pictures. 2005 saw “War of the Worlds” and “King Kong,” both directed by Oscar-winning directors. The Golden Globe-winning “Walk the Line,” a biopic about Johnny Cash, was also overlooked when it came to the Best Picture nominations.
After a year when box office receipts were down, could this change be indicative of a greater acceptance of small films from within Hollywood? It could be chance that the films studios thought were most worthy of being promoted this year happened to be on the small side. But it could also be that studios are now more willing to produce and distribute small-budgeted films. Blockbusters are not the winning propositions they were years ago.
The greatest indicator of this trend is the increasing number of “specialty divisions” of the big studios that are being set up, to deal with smaller and “independent” films. These include Sony Pictures Classics, Warner Independent Pictures, Focus Features, Miramax and Fox Searchlight Pictures. These divisions are great for film.
We should look at this year’s Academy Awards as a change in a new and positive direction. More “indie” films are being produced, and they’re great films. The Academy is honoring them, which will only boost their popularity and viewership.
It is these films that challenge the status quo and raise important and interesting points. “Good Night, and Good Luck,” while chronicling McCarthy-era journalism, provided a scathing critique of where the state of the journalism industry is now. “Crash” tackled racism at a time when people are forgetting it’s an issue. Even Munich, with by far the biggest budget, addresses the on-going cycle of violence in the turbulent Middle East.
Each of the films to get the Best Picture nod were also nominated for Best Director. This included Steven Spielberg (“Munich”), who has won two Best Director Oscars and been nominated for three more in the past. Ang Lee (“Brokeback Mountain”) was nominated in 2001 for “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.”
In the Best Actor category, “Capote” star Philip Seymour Hoffman is considered the favorite, after winning both a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild award for his portrayal of the novelist Truman Capote. He is up against Terrence Howard for “Hustle & Flow,” Heath Ledger for “Brokeback Mountain,” Joaquin Phoenix for “Walk the Line” and David Strathairn for “Good Night, and Good Luck.”
On the women’s side, Reese Witherspoon was nominated for Best Actress for her role in “Walk the Line.” Witherspoon also won both a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild award for this portrayal. She is up against Judi Dench for “Mrs. Henderson Presents,” Felicity Huffman for “Transamerica,” Keria Knightley for “Pride & Prejudice,” and Charlize Theron for "North Country." Dench won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in “Shakespeare in Love,” and Theron won a Best Actress Oscar for her role in “Monster.”
The Oscars will be presented on Sunday, March 5, 2006 at 8:00 p.m. on ABC. They will be hosted by comedian and “Daily Show” fake-news anchor Jon Stewart.
posted by rtkelly at 8:42 PM
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