Backstage: Hollywood kicked into high gear on Jan. 24 with the announcement of the nominees for this year’s Academy Awards. The race for the industry’s top prize—that coveted Oscar gold—has been fraught with ups and downs, controversies and surprises. All in all, 2016 was a superb year for prestige filmmaking, as the artists below have proven in their submissions to the Academy.
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This is the first I’ve heard about the Oscar nominations, and I’m excited to see who wins. Reading what the nominees had to say about their movie was very interesting, but there was one comment that I had a weird reaction to. It was Mel Gibson’s comment for Best Director that stood out to me to be salty, which at first really annoyed me. Basically the comment was about how the rise of Superhero movies is receiving a lot more budget, time, and all around attention, and it has changed the “film game”. The comment irked me for two reasons. The first reason is that the actual article is supposed to be comprised of nominees giving a brief comment about the process of the film, and not how spandex characters have taken over the ‘film game’. Second reason is that he doesn’t even acknowledge the significance of his film’s nomination. I haven’t seen “Hacksaw Ridge”, but from my understanding that it is a war drama set in World War II about Desmond Doss, and that the movie was good enough to get an Oscar nomination. As I’m looking through the list of nominations right now, as I can see it the only time ‘spandex’ has won (I’m also including Star Wars, Star Trek, and Fantastic Beast because spandex) is in costume design, makeup, hairstyling, production design, sound mixing, and visual effects, all production awards, which (debatably) isn’t as high regarded let’s say Best Picture or Best Director, which Hacksaw Ridge was nominated for both and more. When I read the comment it just sounded whiny.
However, once my annoyance subsided, I began to think about how much the superhero film genre has grown and how much it has dominate the box office. It is true that the popularity of superhero films has grown, I mean how couldn’t it. Marvel (and DC) is utilizing both nostalgia and familiarity to bring in audiences of various ages, and leaving them with hope of more live action footage of their favorite characters, and who knows maybe, just maybe, the character that you have loved and have personal admiration and connection with will get their own movie or be introduced. That explains why Spiderman keeps getting movies. He is one of the most well-known superhero that almost anyone could relate to. But wouldn’t say that Superhero movies, although have done well, haven’t taken over the film industry. The Oscars and other awards are proof of that. People still go see movies for their interest and to experience a story with an amazing production, plot, direction, and/or actors. Just because it isn’t a superhero movie, doesn’t mean it won’t do well, and isn’t that the outcome important?
I cannot wait for the oscars! It is so beautiful how a group of artists can meet up annually and celebrate the art they created. There were a lot of great movies this year- my favorites being hidden figures, fences, and jackie. All of which received nominations rightfully so. This season in Hollywood we saw some very important pieces about societal norms. It is so important that a group of artists are holding politicians accountable so publicly. We SHOULD be voicing our concerns. We SHOULD be actively engaging in our political system. I look forward to seeing who is awarded and wether or not we continue to progress in the upcoming year. It is important to remember that we as artist can move mountains if were united. USE YOUR VOICE!
I like seeing that most of the content of these “Best Screenplay” nominees’ work is derived from outside sources. To me, the films I see with the least perspective and least impact on me when I leave are rooted in narcissism, underestimation of the audience, and the desperation to make a hit.
One screenwriter touched on this saying that comic book movies were the only things getting notability and money nowadays. Of course there was creativity and hard work involved in these, but I can’t say I’ve seen a superhero movie that told an important story that I considered worth telling.
When I sit down and watch Iron Man 3 where what’s his face in the cape defeats the bad guy with some sort of eccentric facial hair and childish name, I think about how much time I and all the people spreading the “message” of this film are wasting. But, when I sit down and watch Hidden Figures, a movie that brings light to unrepresented heroes that deserve more than their fifteen minutes of fame, I feel the film industry has done its job.
Its interesting seeing how theses directors focus on how their film corresponds to their vision. whether it is left up to the imagination or just straightforward musical numbers. their focus on what the audience takes away is important to them. i think this is a big takeaway for any person working in a creative field. It is also mentioned how generic superhero movies are flooding the market and that experimental or other creative ventures are given the short end of the stick. That's what makes some of these movies even more impressive the fact that they did not fall into line like some other films. this really speaks to the creative process and i believe that we should learn from these directors to pursue our own vision and push to tell that story. Also the variety of films up for nomination really shows the push for more creative and challenging storytelling.
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