I’ve said it three times now, but the writing at the Oscars played more like a eulogy for the Oscars and the industry overall than anything else. As much as Neil Patrick Harris‘ opening song and dance number sounded like a loving tribute to “moving pictures”, it had an odd twinge of defensiveness to it. Then Jack Black stormed the stage for his moment in the spotlight, “Opening with lots of zeroes, all we get are superheroes: Spider-Man, Superman, Batman, Jedi Man, Sequel Man, Prequel Man, formulaic scripts!”
Then, Liam Neeson took to the stage to introduce Best Picture nominees The Grand Budapest Hotel and American Sniper and even he alluded to the strangling of art with comic book movies and he wasn’t the last… or even the first. The night before, at the Independent Spirit Awards, Nightcrawler director Dan Gilroy accepted his Best First Feature award and said:
“Independent film, the foundation and everybody here today, I think are holdouts against a tsunami of superhero movies that have swept over this industry… We have survived and we have thrived and I think that’s true spirit.”
Well, never fear comic book fans, while Hollywood has clearly turned their back on the blockbuster and filmmakers are struggling to get corporate franchise visions greenlit, James Gunn, writer/director of the $170 million budgeted Guardians of the Galaxy is here to defend blockbusters against the likes of Gilroy, who seems to think the success of his $8.5 million production is some sort of accomplishment.
Gunn, Hollywood’s new celebrity Facebook blogger and righter of all wrongs, took to social media to settle this once and for all:
I didn’t really find the Jack Black superhero jokes offensive, did you guys? It was, like, a joke. I’m not sure if you guys noticed, but the writing on the Oscars didn’t seem to be all that well thought out.
As far as Dan Gilroy saying that attendees of the Independent Spirit Awards have survived against a “tsunami of superhero films” – well it seems a bit weird coming from a guy whose wife has acted in two Thor films – really, that seems like you’ve drowned horribly in that tsunami. But I know I just kind of make up stuff as I go along on these awards shows, so I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.
Whatever the case, the truth is, popular fare in any medium has always been snubbed by the self-appointed elite. I’ve already won more awards than I ever expected for Guardians. What bothers me slightly is that many people assume because you make big films that you put less love, care, and thought into them then people do who make independent films or who make what are considered more serious Hollywood films.
I’ve made B-movies, independent films, children’s movies, horror films, and gigantic spectacles. I find there are plenty of people everywhere making movies for a buck or to feed their own vanity. And then there are people who do what they do because they love story-telling, they love cinema, and they want to add back to the world some of the same magic they’ve taken from the works of others. In all honesty, I do not find a strikingly different percentage of those with integrity and those without working within any of these fields of film.
If you think people who make superhero movies are dumb, come out and say we’re dumb. But if you, as an independent filmmaker or a “serious” filmmaker, think you put more love into your characters than the Russo Brothers do Captain America, or Joss Whedon does the Hulk, or I do a talking raccoon, you are simply mistaken.
“Popular fare in any medium has always been snubbed by the self-appointed elite…” Really, really deep stuff there and that last paragraph, what a doozy. I wonder, does Gunn think blockbusters are suffering under the weight of independent cinema? And if the “self-appointed elite” are snubbing popular fare, then why did Disney purchase Marvel and Lucasfilm and why did Warner Bros. just release Jupiter Ascending? He even goes on to say, “I’ve already won more awards than I ever expected for Guardians.” Ummm, okay, but since they weren’t Oscars you’re upset?
I can’t tell why Gunn felt the need to make the argument. Is he arguing for a Best Picture nomination for Guardians or Captain America: The Winter Soldier? Because that doesn’t appear to be what Jack Black’s lyrics or Gilroy’s acceptance speech were discussing. Does Gunn realize a studio could have made 20 movies the size of Guardians of the Galaxy‘s budget and still had $5 million left over?
In my interview with Oscar winning screenwriter Graham Moore (The Imitation Game) we discuss how he wrote that screenplay for free. “I did,” he said, “But this wasn’t Iron Man, we were a small budget, independent film, we were financed independently… I can promise you, this was no one on this film’s pay day. Because we were financed independently we didn’t get a lot of the creature comforts other productions might get. We did not have heat in our studio and, ironically, didn’t have working Internet in our studio, which is hysterical for a film about Alan Turing.” Hmmmm, maybe now we’re getting somewhere?
The fact of the matter is Gunn didn’t need to write anything, blockbuster filmmaking is the elite and the Oscars came off as more of a defensive missive than any sort of statement. When Harris told the audience the eight Best Picture nominees had grossed over $600 million domestically and more than half of that came from American Sniper he more or less put the final nail in the coffin. Don’t worry James, that statement alone signaled just how “popular” the majority of Oscar-nominated films are and how defensive every little speech, mention or backhanded swipe at superhero films during the broadcast actually was.
Truth be told, Harris and every presenter at the Oscars may as well have just said, “Well folks, hope you’re enjoying this because the lights are being turned off as we broadcast.” The Oscars felt like a swan song for cinema, acknowledging all that will be left are superhero films and their big budgets. They aren’t saying you don’t put any less effort into making them and, let’s be honest, many of them are made with “formulaic scripts” as Jack Black sang. Hell, if you really wanted to get up in arms about something why not mention Green Lantern on June 19, 2020.
