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The Oscars are coming, the Oscars are coming!
It’s December and movie studios will soon release their best feature films for the chance at earning Hollywood’s most prized possession, the Academy Award.
This month, American theaters will be overloaded with films full of self-interest and empty performances leaving audiences searching for a genuine film aimed at entertaining them rather than Oscar voters.
(It’s the summer when the popcorn-friendly films come out.)
More than 470 films were released in 2006; forty-five films will be released in November and December. Of those, 25 are considered Oscar hopefuls.
Winning means more money for their next project and more respect as a craftsman.
George Clooney returns to the Oscar race with another black and white period film, “The Good German” directed by friend Steven Soderbergh. The post-Berlin film has Clooney’s former mistress dragged into a murder mystery, and is sure to bend the minds of voters, especially with wide-eyed Tobey Maguire rounding out the cast.
Julianne Moore enters the race with Clive Owen in “The Children of Men” set in 2027. Humans aren’t able to procreate and a group of people transport a pregnant woman to scientists, who will save mankind. Great idea, but severe overacting by Moore and surprisingly under acting by Owen.
Will Smith is back with another bio-pic after 2001 “Ali” earned him a best actor nomination. This time,”The Pursuit of Happiness” is an Oscar friendly film about a man overcoming poverty and life’s struggle as a single father.
Robert De Niro and Matt Damon team up in the “The Good Shepard.” De Niro directs the star studded cast telling the story of the men who created the Central Intelligence Agency.
No Oscar race would be complete without the Brits. Judi Dench (“Notes at a Scandal”), Kate Winslet (“The Holiday”) and Cate Blanchett (“The Good German; “Notes of a Scandal” ) are enrolled in Oscar worthy films.
Directors who create an Academy Award-winning film take the basic elements of a film and magnify them, but sometimes it’s difficult to see what the point is.
Take Martin Scorsese. He’s directed 33 films (“Mean Streets,” “Taxi Driver,” “Raging Bull,” “Goodfellas”) and has not received an Academy Award for his achievements in directing. His earlier works are studied and emulated in classrooms, music videos and in everyday life.
Now, Scorsese is making B-movie features hoping one of them earns him an Academy Award before he dies. The Academy voters need to just give “The Departed” director an Oscar, so he can return to making a point with his films.
Aside from Scorsese trading his soul for a chance at Oscar gold by having three back-to-back films starring Leonardo Dicaprio, studios profit from the mini man statute as well. The biggest winner ever is Walt Disney, who picked up 26 Oscars from 64 nominations, plus another six special technical trophies and has the top grossing film of 2006.
Ellen DeGeneres will host the 79th Annual Academy Awards Feb. 25 at 8 p.m. on ABC.
Terra Simms is a gradute student in the Kent School of Social Work. E-mail her at [email protected].
