Oscar Conspiracy Theories

January 25th, 2005 Posted in News and Reviews

The 2005 Oscar nominations came out today, and I have to say I agree with most of the choices (not that anyone of consequence in the film industry was waiting for my approval, of course, but I give it all the same).

I do admit, though, that Alan Alda’s nomination for Best Supporting Actor is a bit of a puzzler. In The Aviator alone, I’d have given the nod to Alec Baldwin or John C. Reilly above Alda, who basically played… well, Alan Alda, which is to say a slight variation of Hawkeye from M*A*S*H.

This reeks of one of those “He’ll be dead soon, best get this over with” awards, in the vein of Martin Landau’s Ed Wood win some years back.

I’m also extremely confused as to why the Academy insists on keeping animated films in their own little category away from the rest of the contenders. Judging a documentary separately from other films I can understand—if it’s doing its job well, the focus of a doc should be less on storytelling and more on a gripping interpretation of a historical event or relevant personality.

It’s more difficult for me to wrap my head around why an animated film—with its like-minded focus on storytelling and character—should be judged seperately from any non-animated film. Few Oscar fans would deny that the Best Picture award is “the show”—it’s the big one. Winning for Best Animated Film is like getting a You Almost Made a Real Movie! trophy.

Normally this wouldn’t grate at me, but in a year where The Incredibles towered head and shoulders over every other film in critical acclaim, box office and audience affection, it seems a bit suspicious that it’s been left out of the Best Picture category.

For all you conspiracy nuts out there, suck on this: inside the industry, it’s widely understood that Martin Scorsese, having been denied Oscar gold despite decades of landmark filmmaking, is pretty much a lock for Best Director and Best Picture. However, giving the trophy to the difficult, three-hour-long butt-number The Aviator over crowdpleaser The Incredibles would just anger viewers. Keeping Incredibles off to the side gives it an easy win—not to ruin the suspense, but it’ll probably beat A Shark’s Tale – while still giving mad props to a filmmaker who’s probably ready to throw a tantrum if he doesn’t get something to put in his trophy case soon.

Alternative conspiracy theory: the Academy is setting up Scorsese to fail, hoping an Oscar loss this late in the game will provoke the director into an on-air rampage, during which his enormous eyebrows are revealed to be sentient and deadly.