Dec 12, 2008–Go Figure: “Journey to the Center of the Earth” has made the Motion Picture Academy's long list of 15 visual effects contenders, but Warner's “Speed Racer” and Universal's “Wanted” did not.  The long list is the pictures members of the vfx branch are expected to see before they meet to choose the seven movies that will compete in the vfx short list , to be announced January 6, 2009.

Part 5 of this series of articles analyzes the Oscar
winning films in terms of their themes and messages, focusing on the Oscar contests of 2000 and 2001, which were as much about politics as about art.  How else would you explain that, year after year, the films nominated for Best Picture–and especially the one that wins–are not necessarily the most artistically distinguished, but those whose ideological messages are timely and widely accepted.  More than other films, the Oscar nominees may serve as America's storehouse of recorded values, a reflection of its zeitgeist. A chart at the end of this piece demonstrates the trend over the past 80 years.

Dec 10, 2008–Comedian-actor-philanthropist Jerry Lewis will receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the February 22, 2009 Oscar ceremony.

Is there any specific type of film that tends to be nominated for and win the Oscar?  Part 4 of this series of articles discusses Oscar politics in 1982, when the Academy favored Gandhi over Tootsie.  Was Gandhi a better picture artistically?  Please read Part 5 tomorrow.

 Is there any specific type of movie that tends to be nominated for and win the Oscar?  Part 3 of this series of 5 articles explains how and why Cecil B. DeMille's The Greatest Show on Earth, arguably one of the worst Oscar-winning movies, was chosen by the Academy in 1952.  Please read Part 4 tomorrow.