It was recently announced that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has just invited 115 artists and executives to join the ranks and those who accept will be the only additions in 2007 to the Academy’s roster of voting members.
Academy President Sid Ganis was quoted saying, “These individuals are all exceptionally accomplished in their respective fields. We’re looking forward to having them join the Academy’s ranks.”
Now, before we go kissing anyone’s feet over this lets examine some of our new members. Remember, these are the people deciding the Oscars. For the last four years the Academy has just been under 6,000 voting members and under their rules they could have invited 150 new members, but they are trying to slow the growth of the organization. Well, based on some of these picks they could have slowed it a little more. First for the actors:
- Jennifer Aniston (really?)
- Adriana Barraza (the Babel chick?)
- Steve Carell (okay, now give comedies credit come award time)
- Daniel Craig (the new Bond is accomplished, I’ll bite here)
- Aaron Eckhart (not so sure about this one)
- Chiwetel Ejiofor (Good choice)
- William Fichtner (Hmmm, from character actor to the Academy)
- Ryan Gosling (After The Notebook he should still be serving a suspension from being considered)
- Jackie Earle Haley (From his couch, to a performance as a creepy child molester, to the Academy… makes perfect sense)
- Jennifer Hudson (Easily the most shocking one of them all… Utterly ridiculous)
- Danny Huston (Not bad)
- Eddie Murphy (Okay, not a huge fan but he has contributed big time)
- Christopher Plummer (Good choice)
- James Rebhorn (uh, hmmmmm… I got nothing)
- Michael Sheen (Definitely)
- Maribel Verdu (Who? If I don’t know their name right away they should be automatically disqualified)
Now for the directors:
- Peter Berg (I definitely like the guy and think The Kingdom will tell us if he deserves this)
- D.J. Caruso (This is terrible, gimme a break. Did anyone see Two for the Money?)
- Antoine Fuqua (Obvious choice)
- Paul Greengrass (Obvious choice #2)
- Monte Hellman (You should at least be required to be relevant to be considered)
- Simon West (Wow, Simon West and Jennifer Hudson must have paid some people off.)
Now the writers:
- J.J. Abrams (He is definitely talented, but I think this is a bit premature)
- Michael Arndt (Wow, with only Little Miss Sunshine to his credit they waste no time)
- Guillermo Arriaga (The Academy loves this guy and his depressing stories so he gets a pass)
- Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (Say that name three times fast and then tell me one movie he wrote.)
- Patrick Marber (Excelent choice, a definite talent)
- William Monahan (Another good pick but he is going to have to prove himself after Kingdom of Heaven and The Departed)
- Peter Morgan (Obvious pick with The Queen and Last King of Scotland under his belt in one year)
- Billy Ray (Ha, this is a joke right? Come on… Volcano, Flightplan and Breach?)
- Erin Cressida Wilson (I don’t get this one at all.)
The list also includes invitees in the categories of Animators, Art Directors, At-Large, Casting Directors, Cinematographers, Music, Producers, Production Designers, Public Relations, Costume Designers, Documentary, Executives, Film Editors, Live Action Short Films, Makeup, Sound and Visual Effects. However, I don’t know many of those people and can’t comment, but if you want to see the complete list click here.
New members will be welcomed into the Academy at an invitation-only reception at the Fairbanks Center for Motion Picture Study in Beverly Hills in September. I wonder how often people turn the invitation down… I know I could recommend a few that should out of common courtesy.
