‘A Separation’ Oscar win heralded by Iranians

I posted this to touch on my previous post about the Iranian film "A Separation".

To me, this was one of the biggest winners of the night. Due to the fact that talks between the U.S. and Iran have not been the most amiable recently, an Iranian film winning an Oscar (the country's first Oscar) says a lot about not only Americans but the film industry as a whole.

As Americans, it shows that we are open to accepting all sorts of ideas and beliefs, no matter the source, because it is the humanity within films that bring us together.

In defense of the film industry and the academy, the Oscar win illustrates the apparent absence of political bias among the members responsible for nominating contenders.

Rather Than Flirt With Audience, Oscar Producers Play Hard to Get (marketing strategy for the television broadcasting of the Oscars)

Producers "have been conspicuously silent on its themes, challenges and the presumably fresh approach they will take to the annual display of movie glamour and gratitude"

Clooney? Weinstein? Crystal? Who Has Most At Stake At The 2012 Oscars?

"When the stars hit the red carpet on Sunday night for the Academy Awards show, most of the focus will be on the glitz and glamor of Hollywood at its best. Gowns will be discussed before the show and acceptance speeches will be analyzed later. But as much as the Oscars are about artistic achievement, they are also about business."

The Impact of Winning an Oscar

This is a nice article that talks about how winning an Oscar shapes careers and has a huge affect on how much money a movie will make. It mentions how The King's Speech made $100 million more than expected after it won Best Picture last year and that Natalie Portman's salary for movies is now $10 million since she won Best Actress. It also talks about how just being nominated will bring in money for a movie and that is particularly important this year because none of the movies are really huge hits.

ABC Sells Out the Oscars....

... of the advertising space. "A single spot in the 2008 Academy Awards cost nearly $1.3 million. In four years, the rate has increased by a factor of 30 percent." The average price of 30 seconds went for $1.7 million this year, clearly showing that marketers want to spend money on precious air time. The Academy Awards have the fourth largest audience and brought back the popular host, Billy Crystal. ABC had to turn away companies vying for those last seconds of ad time. Crystal is hosting for the ninth time and brings in an average of 45.2 viewers (last year there was only 37.6).

Will Crystal get the following of the younger audience of 18-34?
From his performances the past couple times that I've seen, he can handle it!

Billy Crystal opening of the 2004 Academy Awards.

The Art of Losing at The Oscars

How the night begins and ends when your name isn't called...

OSCAR NOMS: Grazer, Mischer, Sherak Talk Today’s Diversity And Coming Show

The producers and directors of the upcoming Academy Awards show discuss the preparation, the nominees, and the overall satisfaction with the upcoming event.

OSCARS: Academy Launching Electronic Voting For 2013 Awards

Academy Awards voting process is subject to change to digital come the next Oscar season. Voters will be able to send in their votes electronically just like other major award shows have already been doing. Hesitation is in the air with how the Academy and its voters will handle this.

Kodak Asks Court to Remove Its Name From Oscars Theater

Due to potential bankruptcy, Kodak theatre has asked the producers of the Academy Awards to remove the name of their theatre when broadcasting the 84th Oscars this February. They cannot afford that exposure since they are so close to bankruptcy. Even with this concern, the Academy has agreed to keep the theatre's name in the broadcast this year since they developed a contract together since 2002 and Kodak has the design already in place. Interesting to see what is in store for next year's theatre.

OSCAR Q&A: Harvey Weinstein On ‘The Artist,’ Dueling Best Actress Contenders, And Indie Film In The VOD Age

The man about town, Mr. Harvey Weinstein discusses the movies that were nominated for the 2011 Academy Awards. He also mentions how he wants to avoid audience members believing movies win the awards due to great campaigning instead of what they truly are and deserve.

The Road to the Oscars

For those who don't know, The Carpetbagger has great information on the ins and outs of the many award shows taking place this award season. This article in particular discusses the changing discourse of the Oscars, which have taken the route of honoring films that remind viewers of the films that once were. While campaigning is still very important, the article reports that films with a historical, nostalgic feel tend to make it to the list of nominations despite entering into the awards circuit late.

Also mentioned, the voting process (which has changed some this year) and how some films who may have not appeared in previous award ceremonies now have the chance to gain some recognition, i.e. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.

The Academy Awards Undergo a Change

This article talks about how much the audience matters in the Oscars nowadays. It seems that, even if a film does not do well at the box office, it can win many awards. For example, The Artist has done well with critics and has already won accolades, but some viewers did not enjoy it.

I tend to agree with this change. Award shows should not be a popularity contest, where the movies the most people saw get the awards. Accolades should depend on quality, effort, and other factors, none of which should include how popular it is. For instance, Avatar is a fun movie but not a quality one. So, I agreed for it not to win the Best Picture award last year, like some believed would happen. Only time will tell if this continues to happen.

2012 Oscar Noms Announced

Bright and early this morning the nominations to the 84th annual Academy Awards were announced, with some surprises in hand. In the Supporting Actor category, many were stunned at the omission of Albert Brooks who was nominated previously for his role in Drive at the Golden Globes. Other surprises, Demian Bichir in the Lead Actor category for his role in A Better Life and Melissa McCarthy for her comedic performance in Bridesmaids.

For the complete list of nominations click here.

Oscar Nominations

The 2012 Academy Awards are quickly approaching and I don't know about anyone else, but I am so excited (I'm hoping The Artist gets a couple nods, I loved it). The nominations get announced tomorrow night!