Saturday 20 February 2010

Pandora's Box Of Oscars: Part II

Further thoughts on Avatar's multi-Oscar nominations: for all the criticism, Avatar hasn't been nominated for a single Golden Raspberry this year. It's fair to say that the public, who vote for the Razzie nominations, haven't carried a knife for this film - they've either been highly enthusiastic or indifferent rather than especially critical, and seem to have reserved their real hatred for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Twilight.

However this also reflects the categories of Raspberry which are still too broad and too traditional. There really aren't any grounds for Avatar being nominated for Worst Picture, or Worst Supporting Actress etc. However if there were a Raspberry for Worst Name Of A Mineral In A Sci-Fi Movie, for example, or perhaps Most Badly Disguised Political Message, then Avatar would win hands down.

4 comments:

Maurice Mitchell said...

Yeah, that is surprising since Avatar has been given "negative 1000 stars" by Auburn Plainsman. I liked it a lot, but my brother didn't. A guess you're right. People have to be motivated to say that Avatar was the worst film of the year, and Transformers arguably deserves that title.
http://scifiwire.com/2009/12/the-worst-avatar-review-e.php

Sci-Fi Gene said...

Negative 1000 stars is pretty harsh. I feel better about the Oscar nominations now, and the BAFTA showing - widely nominated but only winning in a few specific and well deserved categories, seems fair.

I still haven't seen either Transformers movie so feel relieved but also very left out - how many negative stars did they get?

Maurice Mitchell said...

Avatar is doing alright in the awards department which is what it deserves I guess.
I can't find anywhere that gave it more than the usual 1-5 stars, but Rotten tomatoes gave it 20%. That means "Consensus: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is a noisy, underplotted, and overlong special effects extravaganza that lacks a human touch." Ouch. I didn't hate it THAT much.

Sci-Fi Gene said...

Thanks Mauricem: on the whole Rotten Tomatoes usually gets it right. I think as far as Transformers is concerned I'll break the habit of a lifetime and actually take notice of the bad reviews.