All eight are a combination of action adventure, comedy, and animation; truly not the kinds of hard hitting dramas and independent productions Oscar prefers to see on his list of categories. Yet those are the ones audiences shelled out money to see over the past year. They don’t want to see what practically all the critics recommend like The Reader or Frost/Nixon, both of which have yet to hit the $20 million mark.
To be honest, the last time I was ever excited about the Academy Awards, which could include most everyone else (OK-me and all the women because no guys consider Titanic (1997) a “man’s film.”), was back in 1998 when the ship “God couldn’t sink” won 11 of its 14 Oscar nominations. Back then, 55.2 million viewers watched compared to last year’s lowest: 32 million.
Along with the low ratings is how boring the telecasts are with only one big surprise that happens over the course of the entire three plus hours. The big surprise at the 2006 Oscars was when Crash (2005) won Best Picture. Last year’s unexpected surprise, in what I found to be a touch of class, was when host Jon Stewart brought Oscar winning singer Marketa Irglova back on stage again allowing her to give her thank you speech for Best Song for Once (2006), which she shared with Glen Hansard. The moment wouldn’t have happened if the orchestra hadn’t butt in cutting everyone’s acceptance speeches short with music in order to keep the running time under four hours.
If anything unexpected happens at this Sunday’s Oscars on Feb. 22, I’d like to believe it’s going to be that the late Heath Ledger will not win the Best Supporting Actor nomination for playing the Joker in The Dark Knight.
Now wouldn’t that just be a complete pisser to all the nerds and Batman fans who have been pushing for the star to not only get an Oscar nomination but to win as well since the 28-year-old actor passed away last January as a result of an overdose on prescription medications? I can just see the Oscar statue swimming in an ocean with Dark Knight fans and nerds circling like angry sharks with fins on their backs ready to snack on the golden statue’s innards.
That’s what I’d like to see happen. If nothing else, it would make the night, not to mention the aftermath coverage the loss would get from the entertainment press so much more news worthy.
This is not, however, a perfect world. When it comes to movie trivia, Ledger is probably going to go down as the second actor in Oscar history to win an Academy Award posthumously, the first being Peter Finch for his 1977 win as “The Mad Prophet of the Airwaves” Howard Beale in Network (1976). The only reason why Ledger will win is because you can’t tell if that is really Heath Ledger under the white makeup. It’s as if we really are watching a homicidal maniac on the big screen. So let the nerds have their day in the sun.
Then again, stranger things have happened. Maybe the ratings will pick up this year. Perhaps people will be interested to see what was going through the producers’ minds when they decided to have actor Hugh Jackman host the ceremonies instead of a comedian. Maybe they did it as a means to attract more female viewers since Jackman won People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive last year.
Then again, Oscar has never been much of a people person. The golden statue doesn’t care what the people want to see nominated, much less the critics. This is all about him or it. That’s why they have The People’s Choice Awards so the public can get their say on who they think deserves the highest honors.
So don’t be surprised in the days after the ceremonies are over if among the questions you hear being asked by reporters on Entertainment Tonight and in Entertainment Weekly as “Who wore the best red dress?” and “What was the biggest surprise of the night?” if you once again read about how the ratings were either down, or the same as last year’s and what can be done to make next year’s ceremonies more interesting.
©2/15/09
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