The Oscars Could Make History This Year
The Academy Award nominations were released early this morning. The Best Picture nominees are:
“Avatar”
“The Blind Side”
“District 9″
“An Education”
“The Hurt Locker”
“Inglourious Basterds”
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
“A Serious Man”
“Up”
“Up in the Air”
I am excited about the Oscars this year for two reasons. A film about sexual abuse and poverty, featuring a black cast and a black (and gay) director (Lee Daniels), and based on a semi-obscure novel — Precious — is in the running. The Hurt Locker, directed by a woman (Kathryn Bigelow), is in the running. Did you know that just three women in 82 years have been nominated for Best Director? Pathetic.
What have you seen? What do you think will rise to the top?
February 2nd, 2010 at 1:59 pm
Hmmm….The Biggest Grossing Film In History and nine other films…who will win? Who will win?
It’s great that the expanded Best Picture category allows for a lot more films to get noticed, and it’s great that, as you say, the Academy has broken out of the habit of only nominating Serious White Men, but it’s hard to imagine any of these films beating “Avatar” in BP/BD. The acting categories are much more interesting/competitive this year.
February 2nd, 2010 at 2:10 pm
I thought Avatar was a treat, mostly because of the 3-D. Not serious, though.
I saw Up on the Airplane and thought it was icky and horrible.
My husband has seen Inglorious Basterds, which he thought was a howl, and he thought Up in the Air was excellent.
So that’s the input from Hattie’s.
February 2nd, 2010 at 7:06 pm
Come on. We should now nominate on the fact that a certain group is under represented. Let’s leave that crap in the past and just focus on which film is the best not how many blacks etc. are involved or who directed etc…
February 3rd, 2010 at 1:41 pm
Up and The Hurt Locker are the only ones I have seen. I liked both. So I can’t compare them all, but The Hurt Locker was VERY good.
February 3rd, 2010 at 2:54 pm
The Hurt Locker was probably the second or third war film I’ve ever seen and I loved it!
February 6th, 2010 at 7:14 pm
I have seen Avatar, The Blind Side and a part of UP (it was animated wasn’t it?). My daughter has seen Precious and said it was RAW. I personally would like to see either Precious or The Blind Side win.
May I address you “serious”:
It is a BIG DEAL to have Precious nominated because it is the FIRST TIME an all-black cast with a black director has ever been nominated in the history of the Academy Awards. You can’t leave it in the past because the Academy Awards has historically discriminated against movies made by and starring African Americans.
What was the last black movie you saw with an all black cast AND a black director? My guess would be NONE.