Well another year has gone by and another Academy Awards has commenced, only this time with more snooze & booze. The Academy has once again reminded the people of their predictability & unwillingness to accept the change in films these days.
My major two case-in-points: The Kings Speech winning Best Picture over The Social Network & Christopher Nolan not getting an Oscar nod for Inception.
While it is a fine film, The Kings Speech follows a very formulaic format that for some reason the Academy has been fond of. After witnessing The Hurt Locker winning Best Picture last year, I had hope for the future. No longer will the Academy show favoritism to these idealistic films that seem to be repeating themselves. Previous winners such as No Country For Old Men, Slumdog Millionaire, & Chicago all had this same formulaic plan that is popular among the Academy members. While I loved No Country For Old Men, there was never a scene that grab ahold of me like There Will Be Blood continuously did. Slumdog Millionaire may have had a feel good plot to it, but it couldn't match the emotion and force that Milk or even The Dark Knight contained. I'm not going to even touch the atrocity that is Chicago winning Best Picture. The most deserving picture that won the prestigious award was The Departed, while it too followed this same format, all-around solid performances & big name director, it brought the emotional punch and brute force that any great film contains. The Social Network had all the makings to be maybe one of the best Best Picture winners ever, but now it will go down as the best Best Picture runner-up. It contained brilliant performances all-around, especially from Armie Hammer, beyond amazing script (courtesy of Aaron Sorkin), and a tone and theme presented in a way that is original and courageous.
All in all, Academy you have taken 3 steps back!
