In recent years, it seems that there’s a certain ‘type’ of movie that racks up the nominations in the Oscar race and some others that get shunned altogether. You could pick out most of these overlooked categories individually: aside from whatever is “this year’s Juno/Little Miss Sunshine,” comedies are ignored; fantasy films are ignored (with the recent exception of Return of the King getting an Oscar to award Peter Jackson for the cumulative achievement of his massive undertaking); and crime films will most likely be ignored despite The Departed trying to make up for all the times Scorsese has deserved his Oscar in the past. A lot of people are clamoring for WALL-E to get a nod, but it’s going to be secluded to the ‘animation ghetto’ of the Best Animated Picture category for a consolation prize.
I’d like to categorize all of these diverse films under the umbrella of “the popcorn film.” Not to discredit all ‘popcorn’ films, but they are, on the surface, the type of film that’s accessible to the common moviegoer and do not require a lot of thought to ingest them. However, many may have their own layers of motifs, recurring themes, and character ticks that provide extra substance for the more analytical viewer.
This past year we saw The Dark Knight, the biggest popcorn movie event since, well, I might say the first Batman in 1989. The Dark Knight ended up being so huge that the Academy will most likely not ignore it - all signs point to a Best Picture nomination to be announced next week. Of course, this will probably be overlooked when it comes to the actual win because of its status not only as a popcorn movie, but a popcorn movie of the worst kind - a comic book film. A lot of people attribute its success, and will likely attribute its nomination, to the untimely passing of Heath Ledger. But here I’m going to put my foot down and say something I’ve said many time in conversations: this film does, in fact, deserve a win. I feel like this movie NEEDS to win because, believe it or not, the Academy used to recognize a lot of ‘cool’ movies, and I would love to see it go back to those times.
A lot of people forget that Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and The Towering Inferno are all nominees for Best Picture. The French Connection actually won the big one. If a movie dubbed by many as ‘the greatest car chase movie of all time’ doesn’t scream popcorn, I don’t know what does.
Even in an awards season full of campaigns and “Oscar films,” let’s review some of the recent winners. To pull a quote from The Dark Knight, “You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become a villain” encapsulates the slippery paths that Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon’s characters are set on in The Departed. Both The Joker and No Country for Old Men's Anton Chigurh can be compared as the ruthless killers who only adhere to their own code in life -- the code of chaos and chance.
When you break it down, Christopher Nolan crafted a superb crime film that is not so different from other Oscar-caliber pictures. Sadly, just because the costumes are more elaborate and the source material is a comic book, people are finding it too easy to write off.
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