Are comic books movies still considered as nothing more
than cash grabs by the Academy and other awards organizations?
Well it’s a fact that there have been some nominations
here and there, with the very occasional win, but for the most part the genre
has been dismissed by award organizations as the flavor of the month, and
are forgotten come award season despite critical recognition, which then becomes meaningless because some voting members look at genre as empty and for children.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier directors, Joe and
Anthony Russo have weight in on the question.
"It’s strange that the comic book film genre is so often thought of
only in terms of its economic merits. Yes, it’s shockingly popular and continues
to grow, and, yes, the box office success of these films can often
embarrassingly outweigh their merits, but as Christopher Nolan perhaps first
proved, real and valuable filmmaking can be achieved with the genre. It’s sad
that some people , seemingly soured by having to endure the massive cultural
presence and expectations that even mediocre or poor examples of the genre can
generate, react by trying to reject the genre as a whole," said Joe in a recent interview
"Snubbing comic book movies because of their ubiquity is akin to
dismissing the western as matinee fodder," adds Joe.
But let's face it, this isn't exclusively the Academy's fault, the
studios are also to "blame". When was the last time you saw Marvel or
Warner pushing one of their films or actors to get an Oscar nomination? That I can
remember the last time it happened was with Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight.
So far this year the Oscar contenders are The Imitation Game, Foxcatcher,
and Nightcrawler, but what about Captain America: The Winter Soldier?
"That’s a very interesting question. I think you look at all those
awards ceremonies, there’s a whole process of advocacy for those awards, right?
What is the value of the award (to Marvel)? And why should they spend the money
required to go down that road? To create the boxoffice? They already have the
boxoffice," said Joe.
Anthony chimes in and adds that Captain America 2 aspires to be more than
just an action Summer blockbuster, and that despite being based on a comic,
Captain America: The Winter Soldier was influenced by films like The French
Connection, or Three Days Of The Condor
"It’s a real movie, real filmmaking, and it has really high
aspirations, in terms of what cinema can be and what it can do, and what our
experience of it is. It has every intention on the part of the filmmakers to
reach audiences on the deepest level."
This year Cap 2, X-Men: Days of Future Past, and Guardians of the Galaxy
were not only smashing hits at the box-office but also loved by critics, do you
think any of them have a chance to get at least an Oscar nomination?
Source - Deadline
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