The Oscars

Who would have thought the Academy Awards were so controversial? People complained that The Dark Knight and Iron Man weren't up for best picture. Their most common argument is "they grossed more money than any other movie so obviously people liked them better." The Dark Knight had a $185 million budget and Iron Man had a $180 million budget, while movies like Milk and The Reader had much, much smaller budgets. With this logic, all of the following movies would have been nominated for best picture:

1999 - Highest grossing - Star Wars Episode I
Best Picture winner - American Beauty
2006 - Highest grossing - Pirates of the Caribbean 2
Best Picture winner - The Departed
1990 - Highest grossing - Home Alone
Best Picture winner - Dances With Wolves

I love Home Alone as much as the next guy, but I don't think in a million years it should have been nominated for Best Picture.

The Dark Knight and Iron Man could afford to spend millions and millions on promotions (TV ads, billboards, radio spots, you name it), while a movie like The Wrestler had to rely on word of mouth. The film's budget was so small that Mickey Rourke wasn't even paid and they relied on donations of music from Axl Rose and Bruce Springsteen for the soundtrack. Slumdog Millionaire was going to be a straight-to-video release in the US but due to repeat viewings and theaters becoming more and more packed in the few cities it premiered in, they raised enough money to distribute the film on a larger scale. The Dark Knight and Iron Man premiered in over 3,000 theaters nationwide, while most people didn't have the opportunity to see Milk, The Reader, The Wrestler, Frost/Nixon, and the rest of the nominees.

Don't get me wrong, The Dark Knight and Iron Man were both great movies: perfectly cast, very polished and very entertaining throughout, but neither were the best film of the year; both were very formulaic. I saw each movie two times and would gladly watch them again, but after giving a chance to the little guys, I realized that there is more to a movie than the number of people who watch it.
Think about the music industry - the albums that sell the most are the ones that get the most radio play. The ones that get the most radio play are the ones who spend millions on promotions. Even American Idol will not let the greatest singers through because they are not "marketable" aka "pretty". Do you honestly think Britney Spears, Nickelback, and Kanye West released the best music of the year just because more people buy their records?

I quit listening to the radio because it is the same recycled garbage year after year, and the same goes for movies. 90% of movies released I can tell you the entire storyline of, the twist, and the ending based on a two minute preview because they are so formulaic. Hollywood knows what sells and keeps selling it to us again and again. The Oscars are trying to expand our artistic views and bring to light movies that don't follow the formula. These movies are wonderfully crafted stories that we wouldn't ever hear about without the "Oscar Buzz".

As far as Best Actor goes, my personal pick was Mickey Rourke. If you have seen The Wrestler you know how wonderful his performance was. The hype around the movie seemed to gain momentum after his Oscar nomination but has still only grossed around 19 million. The movie did not have a wide release and therefore could not physically match the numbers put up by The Dark Knight. Sean Penn won for Milk and at first I was very mad that Mickey Rourke walked away empty handed, but then I got to thinking about the award. The reason I liked Mickey Rourke so much in this role was because it mirrored his real life: he really is a washed-up actor who can only do one thing well, just like his wrestler counterpart in the film. I thought his performance, combined with the irony of the movie, was so clever that he deserved to win.

Sean Penn's win is much more impactful. With the passing of Prop 8 and the recent argument over gay rights, this film means a lot more to a larger group of people than I first imagined. This is a giant leap forward for the gay rights movement. I had never heard of Harvey Milk until I watched this movie and am honestly kind of surprised. He was to gay rights what MLK Jr. was to the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Sean Penn was very convincing in this role, and honestly it probably was the best acted role of the year. Mickey Rourke played himself, Sean Penn is a happily married straight man with kids and played a flaming gay rights activist/politician. Although he is an activist in real life the character he portrayed on film was so different than him in real life he showed his acting muscles and put out the best performance of the year.

Slumdog Millionaire truly is a great movie. The whole process and story of the way it was made is so inspirational. It started as a small independent film with a very limited release and based on word of mouth, it grossed over 85 million in the US alone. Although it wasn't my personal favorite film of the year, it did have the greatest underdog story both on film and in real life. It conquered all odds to become the most talked about film of the year and is rightfully deserving of its eight Oscar wins.

So, until people give films like Milk, The Wrestler, The Reader, and Frost/Nixon a chance, I cannot listen to them gripe that The Dark Knight didn't win. The Academy Awards are more than a popularity contest. Although a lot of times I do disagree with the winners, and nominees (has Meryl Streep really been nominated 15 times?), I feel that this year they got it right.