Deadlinehollywooddaily.com has an interesting argument answering this question, and it kind of puts the shallowness of Hollywood in perspective, don't you think?No way United 93 would get a Best Picture nomination. Why? Because this critics' darling had no name stars in it, and the most elite Screen Actors Guild members make up the largest segment of Academy voters. They don't like it when somebody with a good script makes a great movie with a C-grade cast. In a nutshell, it's bad for their biz (their biz, of course, consisting of implausibly padded perks, ironclad start and stop dates, half-hearted promotional efforts in exchange for those studio jet flights, and other pain-in-the-ass behavior that drives up production costs.). There was also the content problem: no one in Hollywood wanted to nominate a jingoistic rah-rah America drama. Not when this year's seven-times nominated Babel was to global bleakness what last year's Crash was to Los Angeles. Instead, the punishment they meted out is to nominate Paul Greengrass for Best Director and, on Oscar night, force him to sit for hour after hour and hour of that interminable awards broadcast inside that fucking prison impersonating the Kodak Thater.For me, United 93 was one of the three best movies of last year. Fifty years from now, United 93 will be remembered and watched. I don't think the same will hold true for Babel.
***
No comments:
Post a Comment