Three Weeks til Awards
Their is still plenty of time for those of us movie spectators who haven't watched many of the top releases from last year to get caught up before the upcoming Academy's. The awards are on February 24, providing ample time to gather an opinion on which are most worthy among the nominees of the 20 categories. The Golden Globe awards were last month and suggest some gauge for how the upcoming Oscar nominations could play out. But certainly their's no perfect correlation of winners from one ceremony to the next.
Rather the Golden Globes are given by the British Foreign Press, who for anyone who caught a few of the acceptance speeches last month probably noticed that the organization isn't warmly perceived by most actors or directors. Some distaste for the British Foreign Press is nothing more than celebrity banter regarding their relationship with the media that is just typical love hate. The constant intrusion into the personal life is either a curse that these stars begrudgingly have to confront but the media frenzey also elevates the notoriety for these on screen personalities, perpetuating their success. You take the good with the bad I suppose when you're rich and largely reckognized but of course the attendees are going to take the opportunity to sneak in a few sardon remarks.
The Academy Awards on the other hand, recognizably the more prestigious of the two, are chosen by the eighty or so members of The Academy of Motion Arts. These individuals comprise a short list from different areas of the movie business such as actors, directors, executives, producers, film editors, members at large and other designations meant to represent the industry. So a kinder, more welcoming reception is normally the attitude of those attendees who are being honored for their work. Acceptance speeches are therefore poised with the usual appreciation to the team of collaborators, the families as well as the general public but absent are the snide remarks to the press organizations.
This year will mark the 85th award ceremony and will be hosted by the Family Guy director Seth McFarland, who also co-wrote and directed the recent comedy 'Ted', which is not up for an award.
As the red carpet is rolled out and attention is tuned to the brief interviews with the Hollywood A listers out front of the Dolby Theater in LA on Sunday afternoon, the mood is to be jubilant and flashy. The spectacle will, as it does, provoke a day's or so coverage on the next morning's new shows, web story headlines and some small discussion at the office water cooler. Therefore utilizing a handful of evening hours over the next coming weeks to cross through that mental list of movies that just haven't made it into the busy schedule should have you up to speed before you know it.
It should be said that the cinematic culture plays an important part in the patronage for the many of us that choose to attend an occasional movie or have conversations about what we enjoyed or would like to see. It's an aspect of the creative process that is made for us to see. And that creativity further flows from the movie makers to the level of the individual when we talk about the meaning, the actors and the other components of a recently watched film. Being informed and having an opinionated interest on the most recent year's cinematic culture makes for becoming involved in that which we find some enjoyment in. So to get up on what to look out for come Oscar Sunday. Here's a look at the movies that will be contending for awards.