Sunday, February 27, 2011

2011 Oscars: A Superhero Enthusiast's Perspective

Tonight is Oscar night.  I might tune in to watch some of it, but the really all you need to do these days is go online to see the winners.  There's too many technical awards to keep track of, and I need to see James Franco make an idiot of himself again.  Still, the Oscars are the biggest night in movies, and here are some things that you might find interesting.


Nominating the Avengers
Look at the choices for Best Supporting Actor, and you'll see that two members are the latest Avengers recruits.  Jeremy Renner and Mark Ruffalo, aka Hawkeye and the Hulk, both scored nominations and will appear in 2012's superhero epic.  The critical acclaim they've been receiving will certainly bolster the movie's chances at winning the box office.  But don't expect either to win.  Odds are the award will go the man who deserves it.  Or should I say, the Batman who deserves it!  Christian Bale was unreal in The Fighter, and delivered an unforgettable performance.  Good to see our beloved Caped Crusader finally getting some respect.

Black Swan and Comic Books
Both the star and director of the film are soon to enter into comic book movie lore.  Natalie Portman is the frontrunner for Best Actress, and we can see her alongside the mighty Thor.  Again, her inevitable victory only helps Thor gain credibility.  And of course, Darren Aronofsky will be taking over Wolverine for 2012.  I doubt he'll win, but a nomination is still something.

Apologies to Chris Nolan
Fanboys have been complaining about this one since the nominations were released.  Somehow Chris Nolan failed to be nominated for Best Director, which is kind of mindblowing.  Passing him up for the Dark Knight is one thing, but now Inception?  This is starting to look personal.  Even worse, Inception failed to get a nomination for Editing, an award it deserved to win easily.  Still, Nolan can rest easy knowing Inception around the more than the five other guys' movies combined.  So suck it.



Only One Superhero Nomination, Is That Weird?
No.  The only comic book movie to get a nomination was Iron Man 2 for special effects.  Considering Iron Man 2 was one of the few comic book movies to be released this year and it didn't even receive quite the same acclaim as the first, this isn't unusual.  So this year I can't rip on the Academy for being bias against comic book adaptions.  But for the record, yes they still are.



Come back tomorrow as I discuss how Superhero movies will fare in the future at the Academy Awards, especially with the upcoming onslaught of moves over the next two years.

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