31 Days of Oscar: The Movies – Could more be more?

Our 31 Days of Oscar blogathon wraps up with Week 5 posts — The Movies. I’ve been thinking about the Best Picture category a lot lately, since I read Movies Silently’s Week 2 post, The Silent Oscars, in which she highlighted Academy Award categories that were lost with the advent of sound films. Near the beginning of her very informative post, she writes:

The first Academy Awards had several categories that were never repeated. The best picture award was divided in two, best production (Wings) and most artistic (Sunrise). Frankly, I think dividing best picture into art film and crowd-pleaser would be an excellent idea today but what do I know? The best director category was likewise divided into best dramatic director (Frank Borzage) and best comedic director (Lewis Milestone).

wings-sunrise — Two winners, both alike in dignity…WINGS and SUNRISE

Such interesting ideas. What would two Best Picture and two Best Director categories look like?

Having 20 different nominated films might get complicated, so it’s quite possible the Academy would return to limiting the Best Picture categories to five each. Also there would probably be some films that get nominated for both Best Production and Most Artistic. For instance, I think last year’s Best Picture, Argo, qualified for both. Would it have gotten lost between plausible Best Production nominees Django Unchained and Silver Linings Playbook and Most Artistic shoo-in Beasts of the Southern Wild?

playbook-jump — Among the nominees for Best Production…SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK and…21 JUMP STREET?

On the other hand, separating directors into Best Dramatic and Best Comedic categories would probably have helped Argo director Ben Affleck to get nominated the same year (that he wasn’t is still a staggering snub in my book), though I think Ang Lee still would have won. My money would have been on Playbook director David O. Russell in the Comedic category, would he have gotten into the dramatic category as well? Who else would have gotten nominated? Phil Lord and Chris Miller for 21 Jump Street possibly? It’s hilarious. Seth McFarlane for Ted? Jay Roach for The Campaign? Jason Moore for Pitch Perfect? Would these films then get nominated in a Best Production category? Or would those nominations go to effects-heavier movies?

I’m not sure, but I do know that comedy has long gotten short shrift from Oscar. And I also know the Academy has tried all sorts of tactics to increase viewership. Designating an actual category just for comedy direction places these films — and possibly their fans — at the core of the Academy Awards. Would it also alienate the base (if there is such a thing)? And, with the differentiation between drama and comedy in other categories, would it then be necessary to split up the acting and craft categories as well? The mind boggles…but it’s fun to think about.

This post is part of the second annual 31 Days of Oscar blogathon hosted by Paula’s Cinema Club, Outspoken and Freckled, and Once Upon a Screen. For more posts featuring Oscar snubs, visit the megapost at Outspoken and Freckled, and stay tuned for more Oscar-related posts throughout the month. Our blogathon gets its inspiration from Turner Classic Movies’ 31 Days of Oscar, “where every movie shown is an Oscar winner or nominee.”

Reckless Review: ARGO

The thing about Argo is that we already know how it ends. In 1980, CIA operative Tony Mendez (played by Ben Affleck) managed to “ex-filtrate” the six Americans who escaped to the Canadian ambassador’s house when Iranian revolutionaries took over the US embassy in Tehran. But I forgot all about that, and judging from the reactions of others in the audience, so did everyone else. This film immerses you in suspense.

As I noted in one of my past posts, I liked the trailer for Argo, maybe because it reminded a bit of The Town, one of my favorite heist pictures ever, also directed by Affleck. The director doesn’t disappoint, ratcheting the tension up exponentially. It could have been a bit too tense, but Affleck and screenwriter Chris Terrio break the mood with some very funny moments at Hollywood’s expense. The lighter, satirical scenes with John Goodman and Alan Arkin in the movie capital do more than just relieve almost unbearable stress. These scenes – actually the whole movie – are a meditation on the nature of espionage, movies, and storytelling. It begins with a brief history of Iran and the causes of the 1980 revolution. Instead of the usual text on a blank background, or a newsreel-style montage, Argo‘s introduction is a series of animated story boards. Then, of course, there are the fake identities and backstories the diplomats take on to pull off their own rescue. If they can act convincingly enough, they’ll live. At the risk of saying too much, this film shows that the key to being a good spy and the key to making a good movie are one and the same — having the ability to tell to a good story.

PS: I highly recommend reading this excellent Entertainment Weekly interview with Affleck and Mendez if you haven’t already. Among other things, I found out that the Argo story is just one chapter in the CIA agent’s fascinating life. Hoping Hollywood will call on him again.

Trail(er) Mix – LAWLESS, END OF WATCH, ARGO

I’ve been to the movies two weekends in a row now (for The Avengers and Dark Shadows), and am definitely looking forward to three of the films I saw trailers for.

I was probably going to see Lawless anyway, due to my being a sucker for anything to do with Prohibition and the presence of Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman, Jessica Chastain and Mia Wasikowska, all of whom I believe to be talented actors. Hardy, Shia Labeouf and Jason Clarke play “the infamous Bondurant Brothers: bootlegging siblings who made a run for the American Dream in Prohibition-era Virginia” (per the film’s site). Their livelihood is threatened when the lawmen sent in to stop them demand a piece of the action. The film is based on Matt Bondurant’s novel The Wettest County in the World, which he based on stories of his own family. The Player-style pitch: “It’s like Bonnie and Clyde with The Untouchables and some Godfather thrown in.” The trailer sets up the conflict, but, unlike a lot of trailers, it doesn’t show you how it’s going to end. I love the look of this film, the desaturated colors with lots of shadows and night shots. It took me a minute to recognize Guy Pearce as a menacing FBI agent. Hardy is always a standout for me, he transforms himself for every film, and I’m looking forward to seeing him and his Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy co-star Oldman in their scenes together. Lawless will debut at the Cannes Film Festival; its US release date is August 31.

In End of Watch, Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña star as cops in south central L.A. who are as close as brothers. They are modern-day cowboys, looking for dope, money and guns …until they get on the wrong side of a scary cartel. The car chases and drug busts have documentary look, with handheld and dashboard-camera footage, giving the film a rushed, urgent quality that matches the subject matter. The film was written by David Ayer, who was also responsible for Training Day and The Fast and the Furious. I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say that Watch is going to do for JG what Jarhead and Prince of Persia failed to do—make him a blockbuster action star. Jarhead wasn’t actually an action picture, but it was marketed like one, which didn’t work, and Prince of Persia had too many Disney/fantasy elements for people to take it seriously (though it is one of those films that I’ll stop to watch every time I find it when I’m flipping the channels and happen upon it.) If the trailer is any indication, End of Watch is gritty, violent and riveting. US release date is September 28.

Argo, directed by Ben Affleck, is based on a covert operation detailed in recently declassified US government documents. In 1980, when Iranian revolutionaries took over the American embassy in Tehran, 66 Americans were held captive for 444 days. Apparently there were also six who managed to escape to the Canadian embassy. Knowing these six were in incredible danger, the White House took a chance on a crazy scheme…send in operatives masquerading as a film crew working on a sci-fi film. I really love Affleck’s film The Town and it looks like this will have the same adrenaline-producing suspense and true-to-life characterization, with a little more humor as it parodies Hollywood. It will be interesting to see how he blends the drama of the extraction with the comedic elements. Argo will be released on October 12.

What do you think? Seen any good trailers lately?