1. Apparently the Academy wants even fewer people to watch the show this year.
2. The Academy voters are out of touch with American moviegoers.
3. The Oscars are no longer relevant.
That is how upset I am about "The Dark Knight" not being nominated for Best Picture, and Christopher Nolan getting snubbed for director. I have a feeling that Heath Ledger wouldn't be nominated in his unbelievable performance as the Joker if he was still alive. This irks me even more than "Shakespeare In Love" beating out "Saving Private Ryan" for Best Picture.
I haven't seen all of the nominees, but TDK was the best movie I had seen last year. I saw "Benjamin Button," and I thought it was a good movie but not a great movie. It bore a striking resemblance to "Forrest Gump" (possibly because both movies had the same screenwriter), but was a little better because of convincing special effects, and director David Fincher's penchant for witty humor and refusal to let the film get overly sentimental. The bottom line is "TDK" was a better movie.
"The Reader" was supposedly the movie that "stole" TDK's spot. It received mixed reviews, and was supposedly just an okay adaptation of the book.
"Slumdog Millionaire" is this year's "Juno," the little film that surprised everyone. After its sweep at the Golden Globes, it's the favorite to win.
Anyway, back to the travesty that is the "TDK" snub. One could argue that Oscar doesn't want to pander, and the public doesn't always like the best movies... Just because McDonald's sells more food than any other restaurant doesn't make it the best. Still, huge moneymakers like "Titanic" and "LOTR: Return of the King" have been nominated for and have won Oscars. Also, most critics said the film brought the "superhero" genre to another level, and had it on most of their top ten lists. I just believe that the Academy thinks it's too good to have a "comic book movie" among their Best Picture nominees.
Also, Wall-E, another great film, was snubbed, likely because the film was relegated to the Animated Feature category (which it will most likely win), and didn't want a "cartoon" among their Best Picture nominees. By the way, "Wall-E" has a good shot at winning for Best Original Screenplay, aka the Citizen Kane Pulp Fiction consolation prize (since, once again, TDK's screenplay wasn't nominated.)
Once again, the Academy has proven to me that they are mostly interested in big, sprawling epics, and artsy, stuffy films that are too depressing and/or boring to be watched more than once.
However, there were some good picks that came out of this year's mess. Robert Downey Jr. got a nod for "Tropic Thunder," and Taraji P. Henson was recognized for her role as Benjamin Button's adopted mother.
Some people will probably tune in because on Brangelina's nomination. Pitt was nominated for "Benjamin Button" and Jolie for "Changeling."
Still, I am so upset at this point that I am seriously considering not watching the Oscars this year, because I hope this becomes the lowest-rated telecast in Oscar history, and these guys get the message to either wake up and smell what they are shoveling, and/or bring some new, young blood into the Academy's membership rolls.
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