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Big studios to sit on sidelines at Oscars
(AP)
Updated: 2006-03-05 09:09
No matter who wins Sunday, Hollywood can both brag about an unusually daring
crop of Academy Awards films and hang its head in embarrassment that hardly any
came from the studios that dominate the movie business.
Worker Frank Roach
of Local 33 carries a Oscar statute in preparation for the 78th annual
Academy Awards on the red carpet outside the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles
on Saturday, March 4, 2006. The awards will be held Sunday, March 5.
[AP] | The Oscars are as establishment as it gets in the entertainment world. So
it's a triumph of art over commerce that low-budget, fierce dramas such as the
cowboy romance "Brokeback Mountain," the ensemble tale "Crash," the Truman
Capote story "Capote" and the Edward R. Murrow saga "Good Night, and Good Luck"
are the awards darlings this time over the escapist blockbusters that often
rule.
"It doesn't have anything to do with the budget of the film. It has to do
with the scope and scale of ambition, and the skill that people brought to it to
realize that ambition," said James Schamus, a producer of best-picture
front-runner "Brokeback Mountain."
"None of these films is small in what they're trying to accomplish," he said.
Those films — along with their fellow best-picture nominee, the assassination
thriller "Munich" — had rung up $230 million in domestic grosses as of a week
before the Oscars. Last year's best-picture nominees tallied $315 million and
together drew the smallest audiences among key Oscar contenders in 20 years.
What the Oscars signal this time is dissatisfaction with the big movies into
which the studios pour most of their money. In the eyes of the 5,800 industry
professionals who vote on the Oscars, dark character stories were more deserving
than the usual studio crowd-pleasers.
Oscar attention always draws more people to see nominated films, and that has
been especially helpful for this year's best-picture contenders, most of which
have not had the benefit of huge marketing budgets.
"Munich" was the only best-picture nominee to emerge from a big studio. The
others were independently produced or came out of studio-aligned arthouse
banners such as Focus Features and Sony Pictures Classics.
The beauty of the academy "is it points to things that aren't necessarily
something that audiences would generally go to," said George Clooney, a triple
nominee as supporting actor in the oil-industry thriller "Syriana" and for
directing and co-writing "Good Night, and Good Luck."
Artistic triumph though they may be, the Oscars themselves may suffer for it,
at least in TV ratings. Generally, the fewer people who have seen the key
nominees, the fewer who tune in to watch the Oscars.
With last year's modest box-office lineup at the Oscars, 42.1 million people
caught the show, down 1.4 million from the previous year, when "The Lord of the
Rings: The Return of the King" was the big Oscar draw. The biggest Oscars
audience was 55.2 million the year king of blockbusters "Titanic" ruled the
ceremony.
As of last weekend, 36.4 million people had seen this year's five
best-picture nominees in theaters, compared to 173.8 million the year of
"Titanic." "Crash" already is out on home video, adding millions more viewers to
this year's best-picture field, but still leaves the ceremony at risk of
becoming a ratings dud.
Tom O'Neil of the awards Web site, theenvelope.com says this year's Oscar
show will probably be the lowest rated ever, but it shouldn't matter.
"If we judge the success of the Oscars by the number of people who watch
them, then we're as guilty as Hollywood studios who judge the success of movies
by how many people see them," he said.
Still, ABC and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are trying to
maximize the show's appeal, loading up on A-list celebrities as Oscar
presenters, including Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Lopez, Nicole Kidman and Tom Hanks.
The marquee players provide name recognition for an Oscar show whose acting
nominees are heavy on less-familiar performers such as David Strathairn of "Good
Night, and Good Luck" and Amy Adams of "Junebug."
Academy president Sid Ganis said first-time host Jon Stewart should help lure
viewers, as well as the cultural phenomenon over the gay love affair in
"Brokeback Mountain."
The Oscar drama itself also may entice movie fans to tune in. There are
acknowledged favorites in most key categories, including "Brokeback Mountain"
director Ang Lee, "Capote" star Philip Seymour Hoffman as best actor and Reese
Witherspoon as country singer June Carter in "Walk the Line" as best actress.
But none of the front-runners look like slam-dunks, and dark horse winners
could walk away with any of the top Oscars.
Some awards watchers feel "Crash" could pull an upset over "Brokeback
Mountain" for best picture. The best-actor lineup is particularly strong, with
any of the other four nominees a potential spoiler for Hoffman. For best
actress, Witherspoon faces serious competition from Felicity Huffman as a
transsexual preparing for a sex change in "Transamerica."
Win or lose, a number of top nominees will be on stage as presenters,
including Clooney. It will be the first trip to the Oscars for Clooney, who
turned down invitations to present awards in the past because he only wanted to
show up if he were nominated.
"I didn't want to feel like I was trying to force my way into the film
community," he said. But now that he's been nominated, Clooney joked: "I'll show
up at every awards show."
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