From Newsgroup: alt.tv.star-trek.tos   
   From Address: sdlitvin@earthlink.net   
   Subject: Re: The Case For Star Trek Winning Best Picture (was Re: Star   
   TrekMakes 2009 National Board of Review Top 10 Films List)   
      
   KalElFan wrote:   
      
   > Consider that Star Trek is on a par with Star Wars, an   
   > iconic American property that even older Academy voters   
   > can appreciate.  When Star Wars came out in 1977, it   
   > was new.  It got nominated but lost to Annie Hall.  In the   
   > 2007 update to the American Film Institute's Best 100   
   > American Films of All-Time, Star Wars is at #13 now   
   > while Annie Hall is at #35.  The perspective of 30 years,   
   > and the demos of those voting, combined to place Star   
   > Wars in a much more respected place.   
   >    
   > Who will ever remember half the Best Pictures of prior   
   > years?  Will "Up In The Air" really be a greater achievement   
   > than rebooting such an iconic American property as Star   
   > Trek, so spectacularly well as that movie did this year?   
   > So well received, critically and at the box office, with   
   > such iconic characters as Kirk, Spock, McCoy and so   
   > on?  Will "Up In The Air" really match that, ever?   
   >    
   > Or just because Invictus is about Nelson Mandela, South   
   > Africa, and a Rugby World Cup, does that automatically   
   > qualify it more than Star Trek?  Why?  Because it's artsy   
   > fartsy, Not Science Fiction, and More Important?  This   
   > is why when the For Your Consideration, Gimme An   
   > Oscar Please ads get rolled out Academy voters are   
   > supposed to just dutifully vote for it?  Is it just "obvious"   
   > that Invictus is a better candidate, like when they gave   
   > the Oscar to Gandhi over E.T. (which is now #24 on the   
   > AFI all-time list BTW).   
      
   The Academy likes to position itself as the American equivalent of the    
   Cannes Film Festival.  They often give awards to, as you called them,    
   artsy-fartsy movies.  "Crash" was a good example.  When released in    
   2005, grossed less than $60 million, which is poor by today's standards.    
       Yet it won Best Picture.   
      
   And given that "Star Wars" changed movie science fiction from then on,    
   introducing audiences to SFX blockbusters, it had far more lasting value    
   than "Annie Hall."  But the Academy wants to honor "meaningful, arty"    
   movies.   
      
   Look, I agree with you.  Major motion pictures (as opposed to small    
   films by independent filmmakers) are supposed to be entertainment, not    
   social statements.  Hollywood is just too in love with itself to admit that:   
      
   "What are 'Up in the Air's' Oscar bona fides? you may ask. Well, it is    
   top-heavy in the areas that make Academy voters think of it as a    
   contender. It has a serious contemporary subject, a terrific script    
   adapted (by Reitman and Sheldon Turner) from a well-regarded book (by    
   Walter Kirn) and showy performances by a past Oscar winner (George    
   Clooney) and an actress who's due (Vera Farmiga). It is also directed by    
   a filmmaker on a rocket-fast trajectory."   
      
   http://insidemovies.moviefone.com/2009/12/04/oscar-buzz-up-in-the-air/   
      
   That's one thing Star Trek did not have:  A "serious contemporary subject."   
      
      
      
   > So I think there's at least a chance 1 in 5 voters, or   
   > a bit more, would see the merit, just say No to genre   
   > bias, and Star Trek wins it.  The ensuing, deafening   
   > whining from some of the clueless artsy fartsy crowd   
   > would be sweet.  :-)  At least for now, because who's   
   > going to remember *them* a year from now, let alone   
   > the 50 or 100++ they'll know Star Trek.   
   >    
   > It'd also be fun to see J.J. (I guess) get up there and   
   > accept the Oscar for it.  Hopefully he gets a Director   
   > nom too, but he's also listed first on IMDb among the   
   > Producer credits.   
      
   "Paramount Pictures is sending the three screeners of Star Trek to the    
   judges in the Oscar panel and it is seriously vying for the coveted    
   award of aThe Best PictureA. This year the Academy of Motion Picture    
   Arts and Sciences have extended their list of nominees to 10. Star Trek    
   had the best reviews for the year 2009 and this makes it a strong    
   contender."   
      
   http://tinyurl.com/yff6m7x   
      
      
   --    
   Steven L.   
   Email:  sdlitvin@earthlinkNOSPAM.net   
   Remove the NOSPAM before replying to me.   
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