“Gravity” has fared a lot better than other movies of its
genre when it comes to awards the season. We have seen it loads of times when a
special effects heavy movie dazzles its audience but fails to get any luck when
it comes to awards aside from technical categories. “Star Wars” or “Raiders of
the Lost Ark” might be the first movies on the scene that received that
acceptance but it seems that every year there is a film like that which stands
out from the rest. “Aliens” “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” “Jurassic Park” are
all examples of films that impressed the critics enough but still fell short of
top prizes. It seemed that it would always be that way until the final chapter
of the “Lord of the Rings” saga grabbed the golden statue giving hope to films
with more of a visual intent. After that win however, the Academy of Motion
Picture Arts and Sciences or AMPAS decided that they had finally given their
dues to the more visceral films and waited a few years before they finally
began to take the seriously again. “Avatar” was the first of the bunch, and
then came “Inception” then “Hugo” and then “Life of Pi”. All of them fell short
ultimately and got defeated by films that fit the AMPAS’s formula all too well.
This year however the race seems to be at its closest. “Gravity”
has taken everyone on a thrill ride of their lives and they have loved it. It
has swept many awards in its wake and seems ready to take home some gold. Its
competition of course is none other than the much safer choice for the AMPAS “12
Years a Slave” a period piece about the true story of a freed black man who
gets kidnapped and sold back into slavery. It is easy to see the appeal of the
film to the AMPAS as it has everything they look for in a film and it would
seem that it has the upper hand in taking the big prize but “Gravity” has many
tricks up its sleeve that give it many advantages over “12 Years a Slave”.
First, “Gravity” relies much more on its director to deliver
the experience than “12 Years a Slave” and if one thing is sure, based on
historical precedence, it is that the AMPAS considers the director the driving
force behind a film. Most of the time, the film that wins best picture also
wins best director and there is nothing to suggest that “Gravity” won’t win
that prize.
Another way “Gravity” has edge is the box office receipts it
gathered. Gravity was a great success with the box office which means more
voters have probably seen it. I am sure that a good chunk of the AMPAS have
seen “12 Years a Slave” since it didn’t fair so bad in that aspect either but comparatively
“Gravity” made over five times the money “12 Years a Slave” did.
And then of course is the idea that it is time for a viscerally
entertaining film to win. This just might be the film they have been waiting
for since 2003 when “Return of the King” was released. It certainly seems like
it is. It has more overall nominations which could indicate a better liking of
the film. You could say that it only has more nominations because of its
technical categories but really the only category “12 Years a Slave” is not
eligible for is visual effects, everything else could have been in its
nominations like sound or cinematography but “Gravity” made too good of an
impression on the voters to leave any room for the slaver film. Also this might
be a huge stretch but it is technically correct to say that “Gravity” has a
better record with its acting nominations since half of them are nominated
(Even though there are only two actors in the film).
In the end do I really think that “Gravity” will win the top
prize? No but I bloody well hope it does. These are perhaps the thoughts of a
hopeful fool but I just might get my surprise. My predictions
of Oscar night can be found here, and since this contest is not vote based we
will have a clear winner this time instead of one of us beating the other by 2
votes. Happy Oscar night everyone!
