There's One Thing The Academy Awards Did Right

As I had posted here, the Academy Awards show last night included Godzilla suit actor Haruo Nakajima in their memoriam segment.

Here's what flashed on the nation's television screens (for those who bothered to watch the show):

Let's Be Honest The Oscars Hate Star Wars

The truth is, no Star Wars movie has won an Academy Award since 1981!

From The LA Times

Mark Hamill, Kelly Marie Tran, Oscar Isaac and BB-8 took the stage at the 2018 Oscars to present the awards for animated short and animated feature.

But their film, “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” ended the night winless, extending the franchise’s Oscars drought.

It’s been 40 years since George Lucas and his galactic fairy tale made their debut at the Academy Awards, and “Star Wars” has made itself at home in the years since.

But while the franchise has racked up a respectable 33 nominations, spread over nine films (including 2016’s “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”), the series hasn’t brought an Oscar home since 1981.

The galaxy far, far away had by far its most successful showing at the 1978 ceremony, where “Star Wars: A New Hope” won six categories, including film editing, score and visual effects.

(Fun fact: George Lucas has never won an Oscar for the “Star Wars” franchise. His ex-wife, Marcia Lucas, has won an Oscar for the films, thanks for her part in editing the original film.)

“A New Hope” garnered the most nominations among “Star Wars” films at the Oscars, with 10 nominations. At the 1981 awards, heat for the series was already fading, with “The Empire Strikes Back” earning three nominations but only one win.

“Empire’s” win for best sound is the last Oscar the franchise has earned, special achievement awards notwithstanding.

But Oscar nominations continue to roll in for the “Star Wars” universe. Here’s a look at how nominations break down by picture.

“Star Wars: A New Hope” — 6 wins, 10 nominations

“Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back” – 1 win, 3 nominations

“Star Wars: Return of the Jedi” – 4 nominations

“Star Wars: The Phantom Menace” — 3 nominations

“Star Wars: Attack of the Clones” — 1 nomination

“Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith” — 1 nomination

“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” — 5 nominations

“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” — 2 nominations

“Star Wars: The Last Jedi” — 4 nominations

We’ll see how the next “Star Wars” film fares next year.

Source

5 Sci-Fi Movies That Deserved to Win Best Picture

From Popular Mechanics

Barring some unforeseen break in character, the Academy will not bestow Best Picture honors upon Gravity or Her (And as we know ... they didn't). Most likely, the critics have agreed, the Academy's preference for straight dramas and period pieces will hold true once again. American Hustle or 12 Years a Slave will take home the statue, making the remaining seven films token nominees.

That's nothing new for sci-fi movies, which have always been in the happy-to-be-nominated pool as more typical Oscar bait takes home the award. The expansion of nominees from five to 10 in 2009 at least opened the door for more geeky films to get nominated. Still, nothing that you'd ID as true sci-fi has ever won the big award. But these should have:

2001: A Space Odyssey

The clearest choice. Number 1 on PopMech's list of the greatest sci-fi movies of all time wasn't even nominated for Best Picture in 1968. No offense to the movie musical Oliver!,, which won that year, but one of the most innovative films ever made deserved the selection here.

Blade Runner

Number 2 on our list wasn't nominated either. The sprawling epic Gandhi won the award, because of course it did. But if any year should have been sci-fi's breakthrough, it was 1982. Besides Blade Runner, Ridley Scott's brilliant, rain-soaked, blue-gray interpretation of a Philip K. Dick dystopia, there was the much happier E.T., which actually earned a Best Picture nomination. The best Trek movie, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, also came out this year.

The Empire Strikes Back

Although Empire is the critical darling of the original Star Wars trilogy, I'd be open to the argument that the 1977 original deserved the statuette. But even now it's hard argue against Annie Hall, which won the award that year. So let's talk about the trilogy's marvelous and dark middle child. While Star Wars grabbed a nomination, The Empire Strikes Back got no Oscar love despite weaker competition. Ordinary People infamously took home the 1980 Best Picture Oscar. It should have been Empire, or if not that, Raging Bull.

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Academy Launches Website To Find Lost Films

Source: Susan King / LA Times

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Academy Film Archive is asking the public to help it find "Oscar's Most Wanted" -- Oscar-winning or Oscar-nominated films that have long been missing.

People might not know they are sitting on some long-lost cinematic gem. Films that have long disappeared from view often show up in the oddest places, including barns, yard sales and attics. Two years ago, a treasure trove of silent American movies was found at the New Zealand Film Archive.

(Read More)

For more information go to www.oscars.org/mostwanted

Monster Japan Travel Guide In Margaret Herrick Library Seach Engine

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences Margaret Herrick Library now lists The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan in their website's search engine.

I tried it out and here's the result:

To view the Margaret Herrick Library website, go here.

"The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan" Donated To Margaret Herrick Library

A copy of The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan has been donated to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Margaret Herrick Library at the Fairbanks Center For Motion Picture Study.

About the Margaret Herrick Library:

The Margaret Herrick Library is a world-renowned, non-circulating reference and research collection devoted to the history and development of the motion picture as an art form and as an industry. Established in 1928, a year after the Academy was founded, the library moved to its current Beverly Hills location in 1991.