"No Way Home" and Oscar Dreams. Or, When advocacy goes wrong...
Friday, December 24, 2021 at 1:47PM by Nathaniel R
There are some that argue that Oscar pundits shouldn't be critics or vice versa. Prognostication and film criticism both require analytical skills but they're different jobs. The lines get murkier when it comes to advocacy. Each media outlet produces more Oscar coverage than we have ever had in the past. It's subversively hilarious that as Oscar ratings have steadily dwindled in the era of splintering audiences, discussion and analysis of the awards race is noisier and more populated each year! Yet, if the proliferation of film critics organizations has taught us anything it's that if you get enough film types in a room to talk "Best"... they will immediately, whether consciously or not, begin to equate Best with Oscars. That's how successful the Oscars have been as a name brand and institution. You can see it in the prizes given each year in the precursor awards and how eagerly space is handed over to presumed Oscar hopefuls that don't really need the boost. Even while the same journalists and outlets, who vote on the preliminary prizes, regularly bemoan that 'Oscars never get it right'. Advocacy doesn't equal prognostication but it looks too much like it at times.
Into this mess of adjacent but not always compatible agendas, comes the superhero blockbuster. In this case, Spider-Man: No Way Home which is suddenly getting the "nominate it for Best Picture!" discussion...
Marvel & Sony's latest collaboration opened to near-record business last weekend in the pandemic era when that wasn't supposed to happen. Superhero fans lost their minds over all the call-backs and expensive reunions (Fan Service: The Movie!). Due to the enormous immediate success right smack dab in the always mind-melting 'heat' of precursor and holiday season, predictably people are hoping for and even pushing for its Oscar success. The movie is cute and fun but can't we leave it at that? Can't we just celebrate its box office success and let it dive or in this case swing, joyfully, into a pool of well-earned money!
It's not that cute and fun can't be award worthy! The Oscars could do well to lighten up in this regard. But Spider-Man No Way Home is not Singin' in the Rain (1952) or Beauty and the Beast (1991) or Babe (1995).
It's also, more importantly, not "Best" by superhero entertainment standards. It's action scenes, in particular, don't measure up to the invention and excitment of Shang-Chi (now an ancient 4 months old). It's not trying anything particularly new or daring like the form-busting WandaVision or (the admittedly much inferior) Eternals. Even its interpersonal drama isn't all that much more impactful than say Black Widow, which let us say goodbye to Scarlett Johansson and gifted us with Florence Pugh's wonderfully funny-sad Yelena who we suspect fans will feel the same way about seeing in the future as they do, say, seeing Andrew Garfield in Spider-Man tights again. Hell, it's not even the best Spider-Man movie (that's still Sam Raimi's inventive, energetic, and stand-alone satisfying Spider-Man 2 from 2004).
No Way Home is not a perfect singular movie but a carefully programmed cultural moment in time, that required mutiple films and audience shorthand for it to work emotionally. It is well engineered and produced, for sure, but "Best Picture"? We already know the movie won't "endure" since no comic book films, do, as they're rebooted or recast or retconned within a decade (or less) to serve the next episode or next generation of fans. There's nothing inherently wrong with any of this but a Best Picture nomination for Spider-Man No Way Home would not be entirely unlike nominating the Friends: The Reunion for an Emmy for Best Movie Made For Television. It's a must-see and probably-enjoy (I sure did. I love Spider-Man movies!) but neither of those equal 'must-reward!'
The media keeps pushing for action blockbusters to be Best Picture nominees, regardless of quality or probablity of endurance. That "you're too stuffy!" whining is frankly just as exhausting as the Academy's desire to reward supbar biopics each year regardless of quality or probability of endurance. But the solution is not to lower "Best" standards for action pictures but raise the bar on the default preferences like dramas, war films, and biopics.
Pushing for blockbusters to be honored is fine and even important and admirable when a popular movie is an instant boundary-pushing triumph or cultural reset (Avatar, Toy Story, Black Panther, Beauty and the Beast) or a truly no-hyperbole-at-all explosion of genuinely genius craft (Mad Max Fury Road, Terminator 2 Judgment Day). But popularity as a metric is and always has been its own reward. Do we want the Oscars to aspire to be "The People's Choice Awards"? When was the last time that ceremony inspired breathless anticipation, heated arguments, big viewership numbers, and months and months of discourse before and after it aired? Point us to the sites who discuss it and its history all year long.
We'll wait.
Tom Holland's star-making role: BILLY ELLIOTT when he was just 14.
Tom & Zendaya dancin' for fun
This can't help remind the much-battered Oscar lover (it me! and probably some of you) of all those articles each year on "How to fix the Oscars" most of which invariably boil down to asking it to be more like other awards show. It's a strangely perennial argument, 'be more like this thing we care even less about than you!'
When it comes to enthusiasm about pairing Spider-Man with the Oscars, the only place we'll heartily co-sign is Tom Holland hosting the ceremony. The ceremony needs a host and celebrities who are charming, funny, famous but not infamous, and good dancers is a super-solid way to go.
Action, Best Picture, Oscars (21), Punditry, Spider-Man, Tom Holland, film critics, superheroes
Reader Comments (26)
I don't think it will happen, but I don't think having this movie in the discussion for Best Picture is a bad thing. It's an experience movie that has clearly resonated with audiences, and when it comes to film-making, the sheer amount of work, time, & talent it took to put a film like this together is quite astounding - especially when looking at the result.
Compare this movie to Power of the Dog, which has so far been the critics and awards magnet. Yet the audience scores - even the majority of people I've spoken to about it - showcase that it's not catching fire with people the same way. Is NWH the best movie of the year? I don't necessarily think so, but I think for a lot of people, it will end up being their favorite movie experience of the year.
Anyway, I really liked it, and wouldn't be too upset if it got a nomination. Happy Holidays!
It's the Don Draper quote: "That's what the money's for."
I had a great time seeing Spider-Man: No Way Home, but that doesn't necessarily make it Oscar worthy (or even "Best"). Still, Tom Holland hosting would be a great idea and an appropriate way to honor the star and the movie.
Fuck Tom Holland and fuck Marvel.
While broadly I agree with you, it’s also true that these are “industry” awards, not critics awards, so make sense to support and acknowledge things that support the industry’s economic success. I haven’t seen No Way Home and perhaps it’s not the right example but in a world with 10 guaranteed best picture noms, I don’t think it’s asking too much for 2-3 of them to be genuinely popular movies. Box office metrics are obviously tricky these days but of the consensus nominees only Dune seems remotely like a hit… perhaps Netflix will turn Don’t Look Up into one as well, but that’s pretty slim pickings. I would rather apply your standard “an instant boundary-pushing triumph or cultural reset…or a truly no-hyperbole-at-all explosion of genuinely genius craft” to the middlebrow filler that usually pads out the list. What is the point of nominating Nightmare Alley, Coda, Tragedy of Macbeth, Spencer… no one thinks they are the best movie of the year, few people saw them, and they aren’t going to win. Throw a couple bones to the mass market and it will be good for the whole enterprise.
I think this is caused because there are 10 spots for best pictures and they have to be filled.
As you mentioned, the issue is the Academy has to broaden the view of what's considered best pictures beside the stuffy biopics and "important" movies.
I like "Being the Ricardos" and "Nightmare Alley" enough. Haven't seen "Don't Look Up" yet. Before the reviews came out, these movies are widely predicted to be nominated but now that those critical reception were mixed, looks like the Academy has to find other options.
It's possible one if them or even all of them can still be nominated but if not, the Academy has to find other movies to nominate. This is why the conversation of nominating "No Way Home" comes up.
If only the Academy can look beyond what are pushed by studios, there are other options like "Parrarel Mothers", "A Hero", "Green Knight" or "Cmon cmon".
If the Academy can sneak some unusual suspects like "Drive My Car" etc , then they are doing their jobs but I am not holding my breath.
There are plenty of options, they don't have to go with what the options shoved down their throat including "No Way Home" (which by the way, I like).
On the other hand, I would rather they nominate "No Way Home" than "Respect" etc. That will the the worst outcome.
@Drew-AMEN!
Peggy Sue and -99 need to work on their commenting skillsets (rather short).
Good article and Nathaniel how are the Oscar nomination predications going? Also I hope Spider-Man and Godzilla vs Kong get Oscar nominations for Best Visual Effects.
The first two movies I saw back in a theater this year were Cruella and In the Heights. The last two will probably end up being West Side Story and No Way Home. I enjoyed all four and wouldn't be mad if three of them got Best Picture nominations tbh, given the competition. But only one of them is likely to get it, realistically.
Ultimately, the most useful function of awards shows is to put a spotlight on films that might not have otherwise gotten much mainstream exposure. Sometimes mega blockbusters are undeniable, like the ones you mentioned in the article. But suffice it to say, Marvel movies are not lacking in attention or exposure. Giving No Way Home a Best Picture nomination would just be wasting a spot that could have been used to highlight a movie that could have actually used the boost. A Drive My Car, a Parallel Mothers, a C’mon C’mon…any of those would get a major profile boost with a Best Picture nomination. No Way Home getting a Best Picture nomination accomplishes nothing but providing insecure fanboys with the validation they’re still seeking from Scorsese vaguely dismissing this franchise years ago.
Edwin - I agree but it’s also empirically true that Oscar ceremonies draw higher ratings and more attention when a few mass blockbusters (LOTR, Black Panther, Get Out, Gravity, Avatar, Titanic) are in the mix, ideally with a chance to win. When it is all indie films no one watches except obsessives like us.
Peter - Well, that's the identity crisis the Oscars have to confront then, I suppose. It's strange that the general public at large still views the Oscars as somewhat elitist and snooty, while most diehard cinephiles view them as overly populist. The truth is that they've always existed somewhere in the middle, far more populist than critics tend to be but also not nearly as mainstream as general moviegoing audiences. The massive blockbusters you mentioned all had major crossover appeal and were embraced by critics and audiences alike. No Way Home has good reviews, but I'm not seeing any critics or cinephiles championing it as a major achievement. For it to get a Best Picture nomination would reek of being a move done solely to boost ratings, and while, again, I understand the Oscars have never been solely about prestige and there is indeed an element of populism to them, but they've always at least tried to avoid nominating movies exclusively because they're big box office hits.
And there have been big blockbusters they arguably should have nominated for Best Picture in the past, including The Dark Knight, WALL-E, Terminator 2, Aliens, and even The Matrix (which didn't have any Best Picture buzz at the time but in retrospect I don't think would have been a controversial Best Picture nominee at all). No Way Home simply isn't in that category and would register as pandering for ratings. It would be less of a Black Panther situation and more like if they had nominated, say, Men in Black for Best Picture: a blockbuster very popular with audiences and generally well liked by critics but neither a cultural landmark nor critically hailed as one of the year's best.
That's the identity crisis that Oscar voters might need to be having right now: yes, a massive blockbuster in the Best Picture lineup would help ratings, but at what point does it stop being about finding the middle ground between mainstream and critical tastes and cross over into being transparently a ratings decision? Are we going to need a superhero movie in the Best Picture lineup every year from now on just to appease the masses?
Oscars? Big deal ,Nominate it if more people watch the awards show. Its always been a popularity contest and it means more money for the nominated films and better ratings which means more money in AMPAS coffers...
Just saw it.
Just what Oscar needs to revive the mainstream interest, honestly. Best live action Spidey, way more than just fun service and way more than just an exercise of nostalgia, it's a meta study on the genre and its evolution, and underlining how the icons can't really escape the key moments that build them.
A complete must-see for any film lover, beyond any genre, and one of the best films of the year. I think the Oscar nomination for Best Picture is pretty possible, if difficult to get... but Score, Film Editing, Sound, Visual Effects seem safe bets for a nomination, maybe some win.
Edwin - I think the fact that there are now 10 best picture nominees means the tent should be bigger in all directions, including blockbusters. And given that comic book movies have become the dominant box office draw over the last 15 years, it is quite bizarre that only 2 have earned a best pic nom. The failure of Dark Knight (and Wall-E) to get nommed in ‘08 (over those timeless classics Frost/Nixon and The Reader) is the whole reason they expanded the category in the first place.
The Men in Black example is interesting but recall in 1997 not only did they award Titanic, but As Good as it Gets and Good Will Hunting were the 6th and 7th highest grossing films of that year. And they only had 5 slots. Now we have 10 slots but will have only 1 film in the top 30 highest grossers. It’s a big problem for Oscar.
Peter - It’s a big problem for Oscar in terms of ratings, yes. No denying that. But my point is if there’s any sort of directive or initiative to nominate a movie for the explicitly stated intention of boosting ratings for the broadcast, then for the people who actually follow the Oscars — most of the people who write for and follow this blog among them — that could very well be a jumping the shark moment for the Oscars. That’s why I said the Academy may have to undergo this identity crisis. Not that they’ve ever been the most serious, prestigious award show out there, but to actually nominate movies based on what they believe will draw ratings? That would be completely destroying any remaining notion that the Academy is at least attempting to celebrate what they believe to be excellence in their art form and replacing it instead with the value of celebrating success in their business. And while that may be a good move for ratings, I shudder to think of the day when we refuse to acknowledge a difference between those two ideals.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame changed their rules a few years back to allow one inductee each year to be decided by a fan vote. I legitimately believe there’s a chance that within the next few years the Oscars may reserve a spot in the Best Picture lineup for a movie chosen by a fan vote. The “audience choice” Best Picture nominee. Again, I understand that would be good for ratings, but to a lot of people, that would be the final nail in the coffin for any shard of credibility the Oscars have left. While the Oscars have never fully been about celebrating the art, are we really prepared to give up on pursuing that idea entirely for the sake of ratings?
You mentioned Good Will Hunting and As Good As It Gets being box office hits back in ‘97, but that’s almost 25 years ago, and the moviegoing culture has changed drastically since then. Comic book movies do indeed dominate now, to the point that it’s pretty unlikely a movie like Good Will Hunting would be anywhere near as successful at the box office nowadays. It would probably be a Netflix original or something because for better or worse, that’s where the audience for movies of that type is watching movies now. The movie theater industry is in a bad way right now, and not just because of the pandemic. Superhero movies and other brand-name franchises are really the only movies selling a lot of tickets, but I don’t think that means we should reward them with Oscars. There’s a troubling number of people who now equate such franchise movies with cinema in general, and that’s a bigger problem for the state of movies as an art form than low Oscar ratings will ever be. The sad truth is that if you remove such tentpole franchises from the equation, movies are becoming a more niche interest every year. Less relevant to mainstream conversation, less a part of our culture. I don’t like it, but that’s the way it’s looking. However, I don’t think the solution is to transform the Oscars to simply reflect what the general public is watching. If movies — that is to say, the overall art form of movies, not just franchise blockbusters — are becoming more of a niche interest, then it only makes sense that the Oscars would also become more niche. If people don’t want to accept that, then it’s time to seriously ask what we’re celebrating when we hand out statues to the people making movies.
The question should never be, "do people like it?" It should be "does the Academy like it?" They're a private organization made up of film professionals rewarding the films that they, in their industry, are proud of. This idea that other people should be telling say, the Nobel committee to stop being so stuffy and give Stephen King a prize is ridiculous, but that kind of thinking gets a lot of traction in the film world in terms of the Oscars.
And nobody in fanworld would be happy with just a nomination. Let's say the Academy gets generous and nominates SPIDER-MAN it for best picture and five or six below-the-line awards. Then it loses to BELFAST, POWER OF THE DOG or WEST SIDE STORY. The fanboys will REALLY be mad then. "The producers came to the ceremony and went away empty handed. Outrageous!"
Edwin - I am not saying the goal is to boost ratings, my point is ratings are an indicator of an underlying problem which is the Oscars drifting away from the actual moviegoing experience of the country. I think that’s a problem they should seek to rectify. You seem happy to have them reflect solely a “niche” set of tastes which is withering away.. I guess we just fundamentally disagree on that point. And - again I have not seen No Way Home yet - but the magnitude of its success and positive critical reception suggests there is something worth acknowledging there as praiseworthy by the academy with one of the 10 slots.
People really just need to accept that people are no longer interested in watching award ceremonies. It doesn't matter if you nominate something super popular with the masses like a Marvel movie, the Marvel fans aren't gonna watch the Oscar telecast. The same goes for the Emmys or the Grammys. Award ceremonies do not draw in ratings anymore and I don't think there's anything to do about it.
This bitch ass Tom Holland would have sucked a dick anyway to get into a Scorsese film.
The Oscars is not the People’s Choice. Fuck the Spiderman LMFAO
re:1997
I would have nominated Men in Black and Chasing Amy, over As Good as it Gets and Good Will Hunting.
Peter - Yes, maybe it’s a fundamental disagreement on the implications of the Oscars drifting away from the actual moviegoing experience of the country, as you put it — which I think is absolutely the case, so we’re not in disagreement there. If we’re disagreeing on anything, it seems it’s just the issue of whether or not the Academy should strive to do something to change that. I guess from my perspective, I don’t put the Academy at fault here and therefore don’t believe they should take any initiative to align their tastes with those of the general public. As snotty as this may come across, if superhero movies and other mega-franchise blockbusters are now the extent of the average American’s moviegoing experience, that’s on them, and perhaps it’s time to admit that the average American isn’t interested in movies anymore so much as they are interested in fan properties, which, contrary to what the box office reports may entail, only account for a small subset of movies. It’s sad as a cinephile to realize that cinema as a whole is becoming less relevant to mainstream culture — fan properties aside, that is — but that’s the age we’re living in. I don’t want the Oscars to only award movies the general public has not seen, but if the general public is only interested in one type of movie, then unfortunately that’s just how it has to be. Has the average person even heard of any recent book that’s won the Pulitzer Prize? No, but it’s not because the Pulitzer committee has drifted away from what the American public is reading; it’s because the American public has drifted away from appreciating literature.
Dan H. - I completely agree on the point of how people would react even if Spider-Man were nominated. I said in my previous comment that I fear the Academy is a few years away from reserving a slot in the Best Picture lineup for a nominee decided by fan vote, and the thing is that even if that were to happen, it wouldn’t satisfy anyone because it’s unlikely the “audience choice” nominee would ever actually win. Better for the Academy voters to just nominate what THEY want to nominate, and if they’re accused of being out of touch, so be it. Their function is to award what they feel is excellence in their field, not to reflect what the general population is watching. If there’s overlap, great, but if not, oh well.
Sarah - Yes, you’re absolutely right, and that’s the crux of this debate. It’s okay to admit that the Oscars aren’t mainstream anymore. We should accept that, and so should the Academy.
Edwin - agreed x 3
I think Drive My Car gets a best picture nomination, but Spidey does not.
Also, Men in Black>As Good As It Gets. Clearly.
black panther is a good movie according to this article?? give me a break, it is by far the worst mcu movie with awful cgi! but god forbid anyone is hollywood will say it's a crap cos it's all black cast-they will be deemed racists! fuck shitty black panther, i'd rather watch batman and robin which is at least funny for all the wrong reasons. fuck pc and cancel culture which is ruining american movies. thank god it's not that bad in europe.
It's just embarrassing that we look at the Oscars' history and we see that for example in 2008 Wall-E and The Dark Knight, films beloved and highly rewatched until today, are not there - and in their place are The Reader and Frost/Nixon, movies that nobody watches and cares about for the last 15 years.
On the contrary, it's highly respectable that the Oscars have Terminator, Aliens, Star Wars in their "hall of fame".
The fact that Black Panther was nominated is just another proof on how crooked this system of honor works. Black Panther is a superhero movie, agreed by the vast majority of people that it's just OK, and wasn't even the best superhero movie of the year. But because it was deemed "important socially", the Oscars just nominate it.
So what is the stance? Are we nominating the best movies or the most socially important?
And is Spencer more relevant socially than Spider-man, then?
Nominating Spencer, Don't Look Up and other mediocre movies that nobody really cares about will be just another embarrassment. Because it's the Oscar voters just eating what the studios presented in their plate and campaigned for.