Nice and early yesterday morning, the movie world welcomed the official release of the 52nd Oscar nominations, but not everyone has been left to thank the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
As the nominations reflect the work of this past year’s films and filmmakers, Oscar buzz has certainly left a sour lump in the back of Buried Screenwriter Chris Sparling’s throat. Unfortunately for Sparling, no one passed along the memo that said shameless self-promotion to those with voting power is against Academy rules, or at least they didn’t before he sent an email to each of the members asking for their vote. As a result, one of last year’s best original screenplays was effectively rendered disqualified from the trophy race. And while The King’s Speech was rightly awarded twelve nominations and the Coen Brothers’ True Grit gathered an exceptional ten, Buried was left with its head in the sand. Bad luck, if you’re Spanish director Rodrigo Cortez and Buried was to be the film to break it into Hollywood. Quite entrapping, if you’re Ryan Reynolds and gave the performance of your career. And simply disappointing, if you’re a movie lover who recognises a great film when you see one — a thriller of such ingenuity and depth, it’s on par with Hitchcock’s best.
Anyone like Sparling with the patience to write a feature length screenplay that depicts one on-screen character, in only one location, with little to no hope of a happy ending, does deserve a little bit of credit. Despite no chance at taking a little golden man home, Sparling can take heed from the fact that the press took note of Buried’s “disqualification”, which hopefully will be enough to see an influx of intrigued and/or equally outraged viewers to catch the film when it lands on DVD in Australia on Feb 23rd.
At the end of the day, it’s important to remember the Oscars are not the be all and end all; Cortez, Sparling and Reynolds should be proud with what their little film has already achieved, from an impressive 85% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, to the 2010 Melies d’Or Award for best film at the European Fantastic Film Festival. And let’s be perfectly honest, Buried was never going to win an Oscar when competing against films backed by million dollar campaigns, such as The Social Network and The King’s Speech. Still, the thought does count.
Let’s get chatting: do you agree with the disqualification of Buried from the Oscar nominations? And of those successfully nominated, who do you think will walk away with the Oscar?
