By This Guy Over Here of This Guy Over Here: The Best Films of the 2000s..
On February 2nd, 2010 Avatar was officially graced with nine Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. This fact should be completely disassociated with the fact that on January 26th, 2010 it became the highest grossing film of all time with eight hundred quadrillion dollars. It was nominated because of its spectacular spectacle, right?
All monetary ulterior motives aside, Avatar is completely deserving of its nomination. Not only does it boast the best CGI through the use of all kinds of new technology, (have you heard about that yet?) but it's also the epitome of why we go to the movies. Like it's director's previous work, it contains something for everyone: love, action, geeky sci-fi commodities, and plenty of eye candy for all ages, races, and genders, (well, maybe not all races)
The biggest attack on Avatar is its script. Dialogue hasn't necessarily been Cameron's biggest strength, and this film makes that apparent, but there are indications that it's completely aware of itself, ('I'm just here to do science' - Jake Sully, 2154.) Instead of giving complicated explanations of how things work, we're just briefly introduced to some devices, thrown through a hyper-color wormhole, and walla we're in the Avatar body! If you want complicated explanations, I recommend rewatching the end of The Matrix Revolutions.
One could argue that Avatar is just a clever mishmash of Dances with Wolves, The Matrix, Star Wars, and The Smurfs. There could be some credibility to that argument, but when it boils down to it: does that really take away from the viewing experience? If you said yes, quit lying to yourself. Acceptance comes after you shed your denial. After all, wasn't Sergeant Pepper inspired by Pet Sounds, which was inspired by Rubber Soul? There's a point in there somewhere about the best art being inspired by other brilliant art.
Ah, but the question remains: is Avatar the Best Picture?
That's an impossible question to answer. The Academy Awards, by nature, have a design flaw in that no matter which film they name as 'the best' an entire group of film-a-maniacs who think otherwise are immediately alienated. Film, like any art, is completely subjective. For some people the answer to the aforementioned question is simple: no. For some people the answer to that question is simple: duh.
If you look at the history of the category, one thing is pretty consistent among the large variety of films: hype. Avatar has hype in spades. Highest grossing film of all time? Check. Pushing the boundaries of cinema and inspiring future generations of filmmakers? Check. Entertaining and moving? Check. An insane amount of word of mouth and a cult following? Check. Does that make it the Best Picture?
There's a certain amount of buzz generated strictly on Cameron's clout. It's his first film in twelve years, and it too becomes the highest grossing movie of all-time. In Hollywood that's the equivalent to Clooney's Up in the Air Lifetime Executive Status. Don't think that if he had the clout now back when he made The Terminator in 1984 that it wouldn't have been nominated, (oddly it's the only one of his films that wasn't nominated - for anything - not even Visual Effects!)
People who are sensitive to what wins Best Picture (Crash haters, I'm looking in your direction), take the results with a grain of salt. Avatar has the steam to go all the way. My personal preferences aside, it may even deserve it. There are other films that affected me more, but there's attention that needs to be paid to a film that has made such an impact on pop culture.
As Cameron himself told Variety recently, "This is the thing that fans of genre films have been kvetching about for 30 years," he says. "I remember being outraged when 'Star Wars' lost to 'Annie Hall.' I thought, 'Well, that's ridiculous. "Star Wars" changed the face of filmmaking, and "Annie Hall's" a nice little film.' I like 'Annie Hall,' but I thought that was outrageous."I know a hefty group of tweeters that feel the complete opposite about the Best Picture category, but there is definitely some merit to Cameron's thoughts. I suppose being king of the world is a double-edged sword. On one hand you make tons of money, accumulate loads of accolades, become immortalized. On the other hand - uh - Spazoid9282 trash talks you on the IMDb forums.
The Best Picture, (ahem, theoretically,) could go to anyone. And I have to admit that I am more excited this year than I have been in a very long time about the contenders. If no other reason, I'm just pleased to see such a variety, particularly with the inclusion of an animated film. The genres span the gamut this year from drama (Precious, An Education,) to comedy and romance (A Serious Man, Up in the Air,) to action/adventure (The Hurt Locker, Up, Inglourious Basterds,) to science-fiction (District 9, Avatar) to fantasy (The Blind Side.) Oops, there goes my ironic sense of humor again.
