The idea of "bakeoffs" that some of the technical Oscar branches use, wherein voting members check out showreels of various films and narrow down the field, is interesting. I'm glad they don't do it with most categories but it's interesting. But when it comes to finals within those semi-finals it just seems... rude. It seems humiliating like Reality TV humiliating. For the first time, we'll have five nominees this year in the Visual Effects category and most people agree that's a smart move given how many movies employ visual f/x these day.
For reasons we don't understand, they've narrowed down their 15 wide finalist list to 7 films, eliminating the new Narnia, wannabe franchises like Prince of Persia and Percy Jackson, jeered 3D efforts Clash of the Titans and The Last Airbender, the Nic Cage sorceror movie and the hit action film Unstoppable. So now we're down to...
- Eyesore in Wonderland
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Tent Moping Part ∞
- Hereafter
- Inception
- Iron Man 2: The Avengers Cometh. You Saw The Shield and the Hammer, Right?
- Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
- Tron: Legacy
Which means that two of those movies will be snubbed on January 25th and that just seems so mean-spirited. Like "PSYCHE! You thought you were going to be an Oscar nominee. And now you're not. HAHA. You lose!" Note to these AMPAS branches: Only narrow it down once. Don't be a jerk! This isn't reality TV.
Or maybe we're just in a bad mood because we figure be nice. Put the totally deserving Scott Pilgrim out of his misery early. Don't make him think you're going to honor his creative, funny, stylized effects only to cast him aside for something infinitely more derivative.