Pretty Good Oscar Bait Movies

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, released in 2008, tells the story of a man who ages backwards. It had some Oscar success (winning for Best Art Direction, Best Makeup, and Best Visual Effects), but considering that it was nominated for 13 and only took home minor awards was certainly a disappointment for director David Fincher and stars Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchette.

While Benjamin Button didn't perform as well on its big night as many hoped it would, it got relatively positive reviews across the board. Todd MacCarthy of Variety called it a "richly satisfying serving of deep-dish Hollywood storytelling." Which is kind of a dumb thing to write. You're reviewing a movie, Todd. Stop with the food metaphors.

Stop whining. You know, deep down, The Revenant isn't a great movie. It's genre trash disguised as Oscar bait that only exists so Leo can keep trying to win his statue (he did, good for him) and director Alejandro González Iñárritu can continue his attempt to convince the world he's Alfonso Cuaron (he isn't). 

Sure, The Revenant is visually stunning. It does a fantastic job of aping the mature style of Cuaron, as first exhibited in Y Tu Mama Tambien and developed in Children of Men and Gravity. There are also some wide lens close ups cribbed from Terence Malick, and in particular The New World. What a surprise, then, that the film's cinematographer is Emmanuel Lubezki, who shot all those movies.

The sparse revenge narrative of The Revenant feels a bit like dumbed down Tarantino coupled with the stark, singular drive of Gravity. In fact, this movie is basically Gravity on the tundra, with some revenge thrown in. Go see it. Your bros will totally watch it with you. 

Rob Reiner directed it! Aaron Sorkin wrote it! Michael Douglas stars! Based on that, you might expect The American President to be an prodigiously made, relatively meaningless reiteration of vague, upper-middle-class, private liberal-arts-school decency and the joys of neoliberalism (cleverly disguised as good ol' fashioned socialist democracy).

It is exactly that. And it's pretty good. And Oscar baity as hell. Martin Sheen shows up, and that, coupled with Sorkin's inimitable dialogue, might make you super confused, like you're watching an alternate timeline version of The West Wing. The real prize of The American President, though, is Annette Bennng, who's always the best thing about every movie she's in. 

The Lovely Bones was adapted from a bestselling novel by director Peter Jackson and co-writers Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh, the team behind Lord of the Rings. Before you assume it's weird to have that team tackle a troubling novel about a teenage girl who watches her family and friends cope with her grisly rape and death while in heaven, remember Jackson and Walsh also made Heavenly Creatures, a highly regarded crime film about teenage girls and violent deaths. 

Sounds like a perfect recipe for the Oscars, but The Lovely Bones only received one Academy Award nomination (Best Supporting Actor for Stanley Tucci) and got mixed reviews. Still, Tucci and co-star Saoirse Ronan were widely praised, as was Jackson's directorial work. It's definitely worth a peek, if you can stomach the material. 

Kingdom of Heaven is a 2005 historical epic from Ridley Scott starring Orlando Bloom, Jeremy Irons, Ed Norton, Liam Neeson, Brendan Gleeson, and Eva Green. Sounds like it would have all the Oscars in the bag, especially coming only five years after Scott did just that with another period piece (Gladiator, if you've heard of that). Critics did not like the movie (holds a lowly 39% on Rotten Tomatoes) and audiences didn't flock to see it (it made $47.4 million in the US, on a budget of $130 million). 

Still, Kingdom of Heaven was praised for its cinematography, score, and performances. In December 2005, seven months after the film came out, Scott released an director's cut that runs three hours and thirteen minutes and received widespread critical acclaim. To quote a piece on director's cuts from Empire, "The added 45 minutes in the director’s cut are like pieces missing from a beautiful but incomplete puzzle... This is the one that should have gone out." 

The Academy loves musicals. Somewhat ironically, Joel Schumacher, director of Batman and Robin and 2004's Phantom of the Opera, wasn't able to drum up enough hackneyed cheese to attract love from the Academy. To his credit, though, the film made more than $150 million world wide. 

Phantom of the Opera, which stars Gerard Butler and Emmy Rossum from Shameless, was criticized for its writing and acting. While Butler isn't a trained singer (a fact pointed out by many critics), his versions of fan favorite songs aren't really that bad, all things considered. The movie is a little long at two and a half hours, but has a fun ambiance, ace production design, and is entertaining enough for fans of the genre.