By Devin Wachs, Public Relations Coordinator
BMFI is awarding two free tickets to our third annual Oscar Party! on Sunday, February 27 to one lucky contestant! Great movies deserve to be watched on the big screen, and so do the 83rd Academy Awards. Enjoy a silver screen simulcast of Hollywood’s biggest night while you and a friend enjoy a gourmet buffet dinner, drinks, cash bar, and silent auction.
Every year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Board of Governors meets to consider new categories. It's been ten years since they added a new award: Best Animated Feature. (Shrek took home the gold.)
Pretend that we’re on the Board. Make a case in for the award category that you’d most like to see added to the ceremony by commenting below. The person who submits the most creative and convincing entry, as judged by BMFI staff, will win two tickets to our Oscar Party! Perhaps you’d like to bring back awards long since eliminated (eg. Best Dance Direction, Best Assistant Director), or maybe you’re part of the campaign to recognize the work of stunt coordinators. Post your entry by Monday, February 14 at 5pm. We'll announce the winner next week.
And remember to buy your tickets before it's too late!
Please note: When posting your comment, you will be asked to select a log-in from a list. If you do not have a Google account, etc., please select either 1) "Name/URL", which requires that you have a valid website address of your own, or 2) "Anonymous". If you select the latter, please be sure to sign your name in the post. Thanks!
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Best Cast like the SAG gives out. Come on let's face it, we do go to see films that have great reviews or a great director but often we are drawn to a film by an outstanding cast. Putting all those people together is a skill just like sound effects editing. I went to see Nine simply after reading the credits: Marion Cotillard, Penélope Cruz, Judi Dench, Fergie, Kate Hudson, Nicole Kidman, Sophia Loren. Oh yes - definitely!
ReplyDeleteHOW ABOUT A REWARD CATEGORY FOR THE MOST POSITIVE FILM MORALLY SPEAKING WHICH WILL GIVE OUR SOCIETY A BIG LIFT IN THE SPIRIT?
ReplyDeleteJ. ANGELE KUCHUKIAN
CatholicArtist999.CatholicWeb.com
How about the category "Most under-whelming movie adapted from the most over-rated book." Up for nomination: Eat, Pray, Love. Did they forget to include 'Gag'?
ReplyDeleteObviouslyyy the Academy should give Meryl Streep her own category. How about, Best Meryl Streep Performance of the Year…Yes/Yes? Let’s just face it; this woman should just get an award for simply EXISTING! First of all, her perfection on screen can make any so-so movie absolutely fabulous. Mamma Mia anyone? Secondly, what's an Oscar season without Meryl's magic? I mean really it feels a little empty this year. And lastly for having received an astounding total of 16 nominations over the course of her 34 year career the MOST deserving actress in Hollywood has only won TWICE!!! TWICE?? HOW DOES THIS EVEN HAPPEN? With her own category all can be forgiven, Academy. No worries! ☺
ReplyDeleteFor your consideration:
Rhianna Shaheen
rshaheen@brynmawr.edu
Why not a category for the best wholesome entertainment that leaves the viewer with a "feel good" experience?
ReplyDeleteBea Blackman, beezypc@yahoo.com
How about a category for the best "B" film of the year? Reminiscent of the "golden age" of the 1940s films..Those films "carried" the major studios during the lean times..They deserve a place of honor.
ReplyDeleteI would like to see a category for Best Break-Out Role--something like the Grammy for Best New Artist, though it would not necessarily have to be a brand new actor--just an actor or actress who has not had a Stand-Out performance in the past. It could be a young, new actor or it could even be a veteran who has always been cast in small roles or bad movies. This award is often stolen by a Best Supporting Actress nominee, sometimes leaving the true BSA without her Oscar. For instance, this year Hailee S. in True Grit would be one of the Break-Out (or Stand-Out or "Best Role") nominees (and in my opinion the Winner). Plus I like the idea of a category that includes male and female actors. Yes, we need to have an Oscar for "Best Role"!
ReplyDeleteBrenda McFadden, BMFI member
How about an annual award for best film criticism. It could be a newspaper movie reviewer or someone who writes books about film. But really, film criticism is a crucial part of the movie world.
ReplyDeleteThe BEST "EXTRAS"-- Yes, the people who say nothing but are there making that scene look real! Take notice of the extras whether in an arena, walking down the street, sitting in a restaurant, they are the forgotten bunch that is needed.
ReplyDeleteMaria
Best Venue to Watch the Oscars!
ReplyDeleteHere's how it would work: All venues where 50+ people gather to watch the Oscars are invited to submit an entry explaining why they are the best. 5 Venues are chosen. On the day of the awards ceremony, cameras and a reporter from a local news station are dispatched to each of these locations. During the broadcast, all 5 venues are shown (enthusiastic crowd, fashions, Hollywood look-alikes, decorations, etc.) on TV and to the live audience. Toward the end of the broadcast, the live audience votes for the best venue with the help of an applause meter. The winning venue is given a real Oscar to display for an entire year. At the end of the year the Oscar is returned so that a new group of venues can vie for it.
P.S. BMFI should definitely win the first one!!
Award for Technologic Advancement: The goal of this award is to recognize movies which experiment with new techniques and equipment.
ReplyDeleteAwards currently exist for Best Visual Effects and Best Sound Editing/Mixing, but a more inclusive category is needed, naming the advanced technique used, even if it is not visible to the viewer, such as energy-saving lighting techniques.
Three-D movies are a step toward holographic movies (or other tech packages) that may someday be available in special theatres and at home. Many of the movies on the AFI Top 100 Movies List are there because of being the "first" of some advancement (e.g. Technicolor, Cinemascope, etc.).
Let's stimulate the process by recognition with an Oscar.
Pat Lynch (lynch_pm@yahoo.com)
"Best Ensemble Performance"
ReplyDeletee.g.:
"Crash"
"The Usual Suspects"
"Glen Gary Glen Ross"
For your consideration:
John Castrege
jcastrege@gmail.com
NEW AWARD: Best Movie We Forgot to Nominate a Decade Ago
ReplyDeleteWhat do movies like Metropolis, Scarface, King Kong (1933 version), Modern Times, Sullivan’s Travels, The African Queen, The Searchers, Some Like it Hot, Psycho, 2001:A Space Odyssey, The Wild Bunch, The Empire Strikes Back, and Blade Runner all have in common? They would arguably be considered classic and/or great movies that were never recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences with a nomination for Best Picture. This award has been created to correct such injustices. This award for the “Best Movie We Forgot to Nominate a Decade Ago” goes to the movie that 10 years ago should have been recognized with a Best Picture award nomination (or win) but received neither. This film has stood the test of time, and has continued to receive critical and popular acclaim, and finally deserves to be recognized. Partly to avoid this omission, the Academy has now expanded the number of nominees for Best Picture from 5 to 10 films, so it will be harder to find a winning picture starting in 2019 (although Star Trek stands a chance). The award considers films released 10 years ago, so that the 2010 Academy Award would go to a film released in 2000. My proposed 6 nominees (I had trouble whittling it down to 5) for the 2010 award are: Almost Famous, Billy Elliot, Cast Away, Memento, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, and Requiem for a Dream, although we would have to go through the formal nominee selection process (and only have 5) to be fair.
How about an award for the best comedey. Comedians are an undervalued commodeity in our society. They make you laugh and then, make you think. I would enjoy having the runs to see all those nominated films each year.
ReplyDeleteImodiumly yours,
Joe
Award for Most High-Tech Movie Theater: No matter how technologically advanced movies become, the environment in which the movies are viewed contributes greatly to the experience.
ReplyDeletePlaces like Disney World have theaters with serious quality Surround-Sound, giant screens placed so that all can see, seats that move, vibration systems in the floor, and water misters. All of these devices are intended to enhance the viewing experience.
They should become more commonplace, rather than be relegated to theme parks. Like technology in general, the bugs have likely been worked out by now and should be able to be incorporated at an expense to the theater that would be recoverable in a reasonable time. Theaters will need to become more creative to compete with home HD and 3D.
We need to advance beyond cup-holders. Recognition is needed to spur theater technology development, so that the viewing audience will go out to see a movie, and not just lie on the sofa at home.
Pat Lynch (lynch_pm@yahoo.com)
We would like to add the category of "Best True Story" Award...every year there are at least 3 movies telling a story about a true experience; i.e. Conviction is one of them...so I propose we adopt another category of BEST TRUE STORY....
ReplyDeleteCeleste Rose
I believe the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences should give serious consideration to adding a new Academy Award category for Best 3D Feature. Without a doubt, 3D technology is here to stay, so acknowledging it with a separate category makes sense. Further, those who have directed and produced films using 3D technology are passionate believers in its ability to enrich the moviemaking and movie-viewing experience. Lastly, 3D technology has the potential to revolutionize the movies as an art form, much as the advent of color and sound production did in earlier eras. By acknowledging the potential of 3D movies as a new subset of the motion picture
ReplyDeletearena, the Academy will help to further this nascent technology and, hopefully, generate renewed interest in the experience of enjoying movies in and of themselves.
In conclusion, in this era of myriad distractions and competition for leisure time - including the internet, cable TV, satellite TV, pay-per-view, TiVo, cell phone videos, and many other new media distribution technologies - it is no secret that the traditional motion picture studios are struggling. Box office revenues continue to break records almost every year, but that is often due in large part to rising ticket prices and inflationary effects. In actuality, the gross number of movie tickets sold has steadily declined over the past 50 years. As such, the studios should be willing to embrace new technologies and features - such as 3D - which have the potential to capture the movie-going public's interest and drive increased movie attendance. As such, in its role as the public face for the studios, the Academy should add a new category of Best 3D Feature to its annual awards program - thus doing its part, however small, to help spur on this exciting new technology.
kasten@wharton.upenn.edu
I would like to see the movie posters for the best picture nominees be judged according to how the posters accurately depict the theme of the films. Advertising is a real asset to a film. Movie posters are considered an art form.
ReplyDeleteAward for Arts & Culture Film, Documentary, or Short: In awards distribution, films that involve Arts & Culture to a significant degree should have a separate category, so they will not be completely overshadowed by blockbusters and animated films.
ReplyDeleteFilms like “Paris, the Luminous Years” enrich and inform, but one has to find them first.
As a society, we could do with some couth, but we currently make it awfully difficult to identify.
Pat Lynch (lynch_pm@yahoo.com)
Let's face it- you're not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but if it doesn't grab you at the beginning you're not going to read it. The same is true in film. The openieng sequence sets the mood, confuses you, keeps you wondering. So, I propose a Best Opening Scene award. And the award goes to...James Bond!--Gail Greenspan
ReplyDeleteAward for the best film that reinforces classic film values and does not succumb to current dilution of same.
ReplyDeleteWhat about an award or best casting. Casting is one of the most important decisions, and the right casting makes for a great movie. Casting department need to not only find talent but the look the movie needs to project, whether its an era in time, it takes more than wardrobe to look the part, the person has to have the look of the character .
ReplyDeleteMscuz@aol.com
Best Youth Performance (18 and under)
ReplyDeleteThree kids have broken through to win Oscars, all for Best Supporting Actress; others have been nominated, only to lose to adult actors (as most observers predict will happen to Hailee Steinfeld this year). A Youth Performance category would give child actors their due and could have given deserved recognition to great un-nominated performances by Thora Birch for “American Beauty,” Evan Rachel Wood for “Thirteen,” Ricky Shroeder for “The Champ,” Elijah Wood for “The Ice Storm,” and, going way back, Enzo Staiola for “Bicycle Thieves.”
I'd like to see a catagory that involves the advertising and promotion of the movie...Perhaps the best edited trailers. The best would give you a tantalizing idea about the subject, keep you guessing and make you wish you were at that movie already. I think the trailer for "The King's Speech" was a good example of this. So many unremarkable trailers are just blasts of sound and motion, not noteworthy, nor appealing. Barbara
ReplyDeleteShakespeare has shown himself an accomplished screenwriter for decades; his masterpieces have been stealing the spotlight from living writers since silent film days. How about a "Best Shakespeare: Adaptation or Faithful Rendition" as a new category. It's easier than saying "Sit on your hands, Will, and give someone else a turn!" to a dead playwright.
ReplyDeletelaura lnselinsky@hotmail.com
The BEST CASTING ------ they are sometimes forgotten but their decisions make the movie believable. Who better than Robert DiNero in the Godfather and Natalie Portman in Black Swan. "Now for the Best Casting Director.................
ReplyDeleteMscuz@aol.com
I’d like to see an award for Best Low-Budget Picture. Maybe use $5 million as a cut-off. A few of my favorites this year were Blue Valentine, Fish Tank, Tiny Furniture & Please Give, none of which cost more than $3 million and Tiny Furniture cost just $45,000! Compare that to the Oscar front runners - The King’s Speech at $15 million, True Grit at $38 million and Social Network $40 million. Consider that ALL Academy members vote to nominate the 10 Best Picture candidates and the production designers, costumers, cinematographers and sound designers probably have a lesser appreciation for low and micro-budget films, which by necessity have more technical limitations.
ReplyDeleteNew Oscar Category: Most Deceiving Trailer
ReplyDeleteFor those films that will never be nominated for anything, one should at least be recognized for its efforts to convince us to make the trip to the theater.
Dana B. Greenblatt
danagreenblatt@comcast.net
Award for Global Cultural and Ethnic Impact: Amid the thrillers, comedies, and personal dramas, there should be a vehicle to recognize impactful films depicting cultural identity and ethnicity or those that have a global impact due to their political or social message. These are films that capture the true essence of society through authentic depictions that educate viewers about life beyond borders.
ReplyDeleteThey have a profound ability to affect change or offer a new revelation to ponder. Such an award would inform and educate viewers to other cultures and diversity of perspectives.
The award would be open to domestic and foreign entries. It would provide some good balance to the enjoyable, but frivolous films that fill our theaters.
Judith Pacher Judith.pacher@gmail.com
AWARD FOR WORST SUBTITLE TRANSLATION:
ReplyDeleteHow many times have you heard the words, then read the subtitle, and thought: "That's not what they said," or "It sure sounded better in French," or "WoW, talk about lost in translation."
Send a message to the translator that needs no translation!
Pat Lynch [lynch_pm@yahoo.com]
Every year there are a few big budget films that don't get considered because...well, because they're big budget films. Since they've added 10 nominations, this balanced the score card a little more, but they will still never award a best picture Oscar to a film like "The Dark Knight" even when other award foundations and swarms of critics championed the film. So, I propose two new categories. Similar to the Golden Globes having two categories for best feature film, the Oscars should have one category for BEST INDEPENDENT FEATURE and another for BEST COMMERCIAL FEATURE. It would actually help both categories equally. And it could help encompass the entire year, so films such as "The Way Back" could have a better chance of being recognized. It would also get viewers much more excited about the Oscars. If they could watch knowing that films like "Star Trek," "Inception," and "District 9" had better chances of winning, they would be much more likely to watch the ceremony.
ReplyDelete