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Well, it's truly possible now. An Adam Sandler film might be nominated for an Oscar at the next Academy Awards. No, I'm not referring to the wonderful film Punch-Drunk Love, but his newly released animated film, Eight Crazy Nights.
Yes indeed, it was announced this week that that film and 16 others had made the eligibility cut by the Academy for consideration for the second Animated Feature Oscar to be given in March. The Board of Governors of the Academy voted this week to officially activate the category for this year's awards, and then the executive committee of the Short Films and Feature Animation Branch announced these 17 films as possible contenders for this award: The Academy stated that the category could hold up to five nominated films, and some have speculated that this year there could be five, but I'm more apt to believe that there will only be three. Some are still thinking that Treasure Planet could gain a nod, but I don't see it ... it's failed at the boxoffice, and that never spells anything good for Oscar success. No, I think the nominees are going to be Ice Age, Lilo & Stitch, and Stuart Little 2. It's interesting that Stuart Little 2 was included as being eligible for this award, as that film is live action mixed with animation. So where I would have originally given that slot to Spirit, I think the novelty of Stuart Little 2, and the fact that almost everyone agreed that the second film was better than the first, will bring it an Oscar nod in the Animated Feature category. Tough to call a frontrunner from those three possible nominees, but I'll lean with Ice Age just barely over Lilo & Stitch ... it would be the second year that Disney would be cut out of the honor of winning this new Animated Feature Oscar by another studio. We can't ignore Spirited Away either, the animated film from Japan ... it shared best film honors in Berlin, and has been hailed by critics as an absolutely astonishing achievement. It could theoretically be nominated as well ... okay, maybe there will be four nominees, but I'd be surprised to see five. |
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