Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Where are all the Oscar Movies?

As I'm doing my own traveling, I've gotten a chance to catch up on some pop culture news. Entertainment Weekly has a news item in the July 11th issue about how few oscar films have been released. A steadfast rule of mine the last 10 years is that if a movie is released between January and March, skip it. If you think a movie looks good after watching commercials or the trailer, don't worry you've seen the best part of the film already. There, I just saved you $10.

The print article has a the following in a nice graph that I can't find online.

Major Oscar nods received by films released before Aug. 1
2000 -- 10
2001 -- 6
2002 -- 4
2003 -- 8
2004 -- 4
2005 -- 6
2006 -- 6
2007 -- 4

This backloading of the quality movies after August first frustrates me. What I want to know is what was the last movie worth seeing released in January, February or March?

6 comments:

elgringo said...

2008: In Bruges, Cloverfield, Be Kind Rewind, Paranoid Park, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, Funny Games.

2007: Daddy's Little Girls, Black Snake Moan, Zodiac, Reign Over Me

2006: Dave Chappelle's Block Party, 16 Blocks, Thank You for Smoking, V for Vendetta, Inside Man

crackers and cheese said...

V for Vendetta is the only one that came to mind for me, and 300 (though not Oscar quality, it was thoroughly entertaining escapism). I've seen and thoroughly enjoyed a few that el gringo lists, but I never saw them in theatres.

This year, I've been mostly disappointed with the films I saw in theatres during that time period: 27 Dresses, Jumper, Vantage Point, and Run, Fat Boy, Run. In my defense, these were all other's ideas, two of those movie tickets were bought by someone else, and movie tickets here only cost $4. So, I wasted $8 on 8 hours of sub-par entertainment. Not such a bad deal after all, I suppose.

On a different note, Adam and RC, what do you guys think of Entertainment Weekly's new design? I am not a fan. I think the bold printed summary sentences in the middle of the movie reviews irks me the most. And I miss turning to the final page to read rambling pop culture editorials by Stephen King and Diablo Cody! Now the last page is the silly 10 hot items of the week.

Jordan M. Poss said...

Seems like the summer is becoming more and more about mindless fluff and the "Oscar movies" are being lumped together in November and December. Braveheart won Best Picture and was released in May of '95. Saving Private Ryan should have and was released in July '98. And of course both of those are from a decade in the past.

Anonymous said...

Gladiator was released in May of 2000 and Erin brockovitz in March of 2000. Crash in May of 2005. The silence of the Lambs in February of 1991. La vie en Rose in June of 2007...

general125 said...

@elgringo -- That's quite a list. The only one's I'd agree with you on is Thank You for Smoking. Of the others I've seen that you listed, I didn't think it would have been better to see in the theater.

@ crackers -- I tend to only read EW on airplanes. I'm not married to their old layout, but this new one isn't all that great. I don't think their information is any more accessible or readable. In fact, I think the magazine is more cluttered and doesn't flow as well. The other reason I'm not a big EW fan is they act like a rag for any and all Warner Brothers movies. The Dark Knight article from the 7/11 issue could have been written by a WB publicist.

elgringo said...

Cloverfield, as flawed as it was, needed to be seen on the big-screen, I think.