One thing I've noticed with the Academy Awards lately (actually with this decade) is the lack of recognition of awards/nominations for science fiction films.
It used to be that at the very least us fans had a bit of consolation in having our favorite sci fi films win an Oscar for best special effects.
But the last obvious science fiction film to win that award was The Matrix, exactly ten years ago (one can consider Spider-Man 2 to be science fiction but its comic book background blurs the distinction).
Let's look at the winners/nominees:
2000: Gladiator won while the only SF nominee was Hollow Man.
2001-2003: dominated by the Lord of the Rings juggernaut. SF nominees in those years included A.I., Spider-Man, Star Wars Episode II, and in 2003 no SF film was nominated.
2004: Spider-Man 2 wins while I, Robot is the only other SF film nominated that year.
2005: King Kong wins while the only SF nominee was War of the Worlds and Star Wars Episode III was dubiously not nominated (the other film nominated was the first Chronicles of Narnia film. Yes folks a movie with talking animals was considered to have better FX than a Star Wars film).
2006: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest wins while Superman Returns doesn't (a comic book film but with more SF trappings than Spider-Man 2).
2007: The Golden Compass wins (another movie with talking animals) while Transformers just garners a nomination (didn't like the film but will admit that the FX were spectacular).
2008: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button wins whereas Iron Man and The Dark Knight go home losers.
Despite this track record I expect Sci Fi films to dominate this year's VFX nominations (my prediction, Avatar, Transformers 2 and a toss up between 2012, District 9 and Star Trek--the Academy has never had much respect for Trek films, I don't expect that to change anytime soon.). While that may be good, I'm just wondering why the snubbing for so many years. There were several SF films that were worthy of winning or being nominated that came out this decade, was it purely politics or that SF wasn't considered kewl anymore?
It used to be that at the very least us fans had a bit of consolation in having our favorite sci fi films win an Oscar for best special effects.
But the last obvious science fiction film to win that award was The Matrix, exactly ten years ago (one can consider Spider-Man 2 to be science fiction but its comic book background blurs the distinction).
Let's look at the winners/nominees:
2000: Gladiator won while the only SF nominee was Hollow Man.
2001-2003: dominated by the Lord of the Rings juggernaut. SF nominees in those years included A.I., Spider-Man, Star Wars Episode II, and in 2003 no SF film was nominated.
2004: Spider-Man 2 wins while I, Robot is the only other SF film nominated that year.
2005: King Kong wins while the only SF nominee was War of the Worlds and Star Wars Episode III was dubiously not nominated (the other film nominated was the first Chronicles of Narnia film. Yes folks a movie with talking animals was considered to have better FX than a Star Wars film).
2006: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest wins while Superman Returns doesn't (a comic book film but with more SF trappings than Spider-Man 2).
2007: The Golden Compass wins (another movie with talking animals) while Transformers just garners a nomination (didn't like the film but will admit that the FX were spectacular).
2008: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button wins whereas Iron Man and The Dark Knight go home losers.
Despite this track record I expect Sci Fi films to dominate this year's VFX nominations (my prediction, Avatar, Transformers 2 and a toss up between 2012, District 9 and Star Trek--the Academy has never had much respect for Trek films, I don't expect that to change anytime soon.). While that may be good, I'm just wondering why the snubbing for so many years. There were several SF films that were worthy of winning or being nominated that came out this decade, was it purely politics or that SF wasn't considered kewl anymore?
