Friday, January 23, 2009

Oscar for the Best Picture


The Academy Awards are around the corner and entertainment shows are rife with speculation on the would-be winners. Lots of people are complaining that " was obviously the best of 2008 and it did not even get nominated" (Dark Knight, Wrestler, Wall-E ...).

I think the academy awards, and for that matter all movie awards, are bullshit. If you put a gun to my head and asked me to name the best movie that I have seen last week (let alone last year), I would not be able to. How can one compare the incredible Slumdog Millionaire to Milk or to Curious Case of Benjamin Button? What is the criteria that is used to make this comparison?

All the nominees and some that got snubbed are all great movies in their own right. I think one of the pros coming from these award ceremonies is the recognition and the publicity for some of the excellent movies that do not have a Dark Knight-like budget for marketing. At the same time, the ceremonies somehow imply that the best picture winner is somehow better than the nominees or other good films made in the year which is absolutely untrue.

PS: 2008 was a year that provided many excellent movies and I am very happy for that.

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