Oscar Stuff by Chris T. 1/30/09

Without a doubt the big talk in movies this last week has been the Oscar nominations. On February 22^nd, Hugh Jackman will host the 81^st Annual Academy Awards. 81 of those suckas. My, how time flies.

Lots of folks are getting uppity because “The Dark Knight” was not nominated for any of the major honors. Sure, it will probably sweep the technical awards, but when Warner decided to re-release their massive-hype-monster again into theatres, I bet they expected a little more.

But seriously, come on. The Oscars almost always have represented a specific side of film. Look at the Best Picture nominees: an adaptation of a play about scandal in a Catholic school. The true story of a murdered major gay rights figure. An adaptation of a play about one of history’s greatest disgraced Presidents, coming out at the tail end of another great disgraced President’s career. An adaptation of a story by one of the twentieth century’s most influential writers. And of course, Nazis. Holocaust pictures and the Oscars are very old and friendly dance partners.

These are all movies of great cultural and historical impact (at least now they are, but we’ll have to check back in another decade). Naturally, there’s the wild card, with “Slumdog Millionaire” taking the place previously occupied by “Juno” last year and “Little Miss Sunshine” the year before. But with the rare exception of a “Lord of the Rings” or “No Country for Old Men,” genre pictures like “The Dark Knight” rarely make it to the Oscar level.

So please give the Oscars their due and respect, but accept also that truly great cinema wears many different faces and labels. Christopher Tucker’s Best Picture nominees of 2008? Slumdog Millionaire, The Dark Knight, Let the Right One In, Tropic Thunder, The Fall, JCVD, Wall-E and the unforgettable Tokyo Gore Police. Five of these excellent movies are currently available at each of our Videorama locations. Come on in and check them out.