The Oscars Are Coming
So as an avid film lover the beginning of the year is the most exciting time of the year for me. It is the start of the award season, when the creme de la creme of the previous year get recognized for their excellence. I will admit there were tons of quality films that came out last year and to my delight were commercial success stories as well. So early last week the Academy Award nominations were released. 2010 was an interesting time for filmmaking in comparison to the triumph 2009. They were coming from celebrating the first time a female director won Best Director and the first time an African American screenwriter won an award for writing(Best Adapted Screenplay). It was an exciting and historic time for Hollywood. One year later things seemed to go back to normal, which is not really that progressive. When looking at the list of nominees one would notice that there is a wide range of talent but it is not diverse as it once was. No female director was nominated in the Best Director category even though Lisa Cholondenko and Debra Granik were good contenders. I am happy that their films( The Kids are All Right and Winter's Bone) were recognized in the Best Picture and Best Screenplay categories. One thing I have noticed is that there is an increase in strong female characters that are being portrayed on the screen. Just take a look at the female actors that were nominated, they all played complex and raw characters. They were so real because we got to see all of their flaws and the actors did a fantastic job at fleshing them out. Unfortunately there are still roles that exist where the female characters have no substance but I am in awe of the roles that are coming out for females. Take for example The Fighter. How fantastic were Amy Adams and Melissa Leo. Now I am confused about who I want to win for Best Supporting Actress. On a side note Christian Bale was mesmerizing in the film.
According to many reports this is the first year in a decade that no black actors were nominated in an acting category. Which is a shame coming from previous years of great performances from black actors. Looking back at 2010 there were no real strong contenders. The films that black actors were in may have been hits at the box office but not hits with the critics. For Colored Girls was pushed to a release date of October to be viewed in time of award season. Unfortunately it was not able to crossover like Precious and was not well reviewed by the critics. It was not a shock to me since Tyler Perry is a director whose films are often not well reviewed. He knows his audience and he does a great job at catering to them. I have yet to see For Colored Girls, people who I know really enjoyed it. I will have to watch it to determine what the disconnect was. It is a shame since I loved I Can Do Bad All By Myself. I really felt that Tyler Perry was stepping his game up big time. Besides Tyler Perry that are not too many black directors who are doing their thing. Spike Lee has been absent for a few years. The Hughes Brothers did direct The Book of Eli and John Singleton has Abduction come out this year. I believe that it is up to black filmmakers to create films that are well executed and have well rounded characters. I would love to see a 21st century "Red" or Jules Winnifield. I am hoping that 2011 would be a better year for black actors in film.
Now I am going to go in complete campaign mode. I saw The King's Speech about two weeks ago. It was a complete delight and if Colin Firth does not win the Oscar for Best Actor it would be a travesty. I have been a loyal fan of King Firth for over a decade now. I am so happy he is getting the recognition he deserves. His performance in The King's Speech was immaculate. Geoffrey Rush was phenomenal as usual and Helena Bonham Carter was marvelous. Tom Hooper did a wonderful job directing the film, I was so stoked he won the Director's Guild Award last night. The art direction, cinematography, costume design, the screenplay I could go on about her perfect the film was. This is a must see for anyone who loves films. It deserves all of its 12 Academy Award nominations.
According to many reports this is the first year in a decade that no black actors were nominated in an acting category. Which is a shame coming from previous years of great performances from black actors. Looking back at 2010 there were no real strong contenders. The films that black actors were in may have been hits at the box office but not hits with the critics. For Colored Girls was pushed to a release date of October to be viewed in time of award season. Unfortunately it was not able to crossover like Precious and was not well reviewed by the critics. It was not a shock to me since Tyler Perry is a director whose films are often not well reviewed. He knows his audience and he does a great job at catering to them. I have yet to see For Colored Girls, people who I know really enjoyed it. I will have to watch it to determine what the disconnect was. It is a shame since I loved I Can Do Bad All By Myself. I really felt that Tyler Perry was stepping his game up big time. Besides Tyler Perry that are not too many black directors who are doing their thing. Spike Lee has been absent for a few years. The Hughes Brothers did direct The Book of Eli and John Singleton has Abduction come out this year. I believe that it is up to black filmmakers to create films that are well executed and have well rounded characters. I would love to see a 21st century "Red" or Jules Winnifield. I am hoping that 2011 would be a better year for black actors in film.
Now I am going to go in complete campaign mode. I saw The King's Speech about two weeks ago. It was a complete delight and if Colin Firth does not win the Oscar for Best Actor it would be a travesty. I have been a loyal fan of King Firth for over a decade now. I am so happy he is getting the recognition he deserves. His performance in The King's Speech was immaculate. Geoffrey Rush was phenomenal as usual and Helena Bonham Carter was marvelous. Tom Hooper did a wonderful job directing the film, I was so stoked he won the Director's Guild Award last night. The art direction, cinematography, costume design, the screenplay I could go on about her perfect the film was. This is a must see for anyone who loves films. It deserves all of its 12 Academy Award nominations.
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