So, the Toronto Critics weighed in and so did the broadcasters, New York critics, the AFI, the National Board of Review, the Los Angeles critics, National Society of Film Critics and even the Screen Actors Guild and the Golden Globes. Of the bunch only the Los Angeles Critics and National Society of Film Critics managed to mention Children of Men in any capacity as both of them awarded Emmanuel Lubezki for his cinematography. This is the only mention this film has managed to attain despite a 92% rating over at RottenTomatoes.
So what happened and is there any chance of Oscar glory for one of the most deserving films of the year in at least three categories: Best Picture, Best Director for Alfonso Cuarón and Best Cinematography for Lubezki.
If anyone wants to challenge why I don’t have it in my top five of 2006 as it sits firmly at #10 I will remind you that my top ten is not based on awards, it is based primarily on rewatchability factors. While I believe Children of Men is a film that deserves a Best Picture nomination it is not a film I could watch every day, even though I have already seen it twice, which is more than I can say for four of the other films rated higher than it on my top ten. Hopefully that is enough to satisfy you.
As for this subject, I am hoping I will eat a bit of crow as I pointed out in my 2006 wrap-up that Universal’s publicity and “For Your Consideration” push of both Children of Men and The Good Shepherd were horrible! At least to this point.
Now, regular visitors to the site I am sure have seen the COM ads that have been running around and if you go over to Variety you will see an entire section dedicated to the film in advertisement form, but is it too little too late?
What about this staggered release schedule as they just expanded the film to 1,200 theaters and it managed to pull in $10.2 million, an average of $8,515 per screen. Obviously people want to see this film, people like this film, so why can’t they see it?
After seeing Children of Men there is no doubt in my mind that Alfonso Cuarón is the director of the year. This is the most ambitious film and is a film that pushes the limits of a director’s ability, yet Clint Eastwood gets double noms at the Golden Globes for two films that any director could have made, and one for Flags of Our Fathers, which was a mess from start to finish? The only reason Letters from Iwo Jima is getting so much praise is because Flags was so bad and people had to praise something from Clint or they felt they may be offending a Hollywood idol. Get over it people, it is possible for people to do bad work and for you to say it is bad. Don’t be afraid, I am sure Clint will go home to his billion dollar mansion and be just fine with it.
I will admit that if Cuarón had taken such chances as he did with Children of Men and failed he would not be deserving of such praise, but considering he took these risks, risks such as several one shots including one in a climactic war scene and one that included the birth of a child, and did it effectively… that is worthy of praise my friends.
So, will Universal’s last minute push for praise pay off? It possibly could and I will have to write a retraction on calling their effort disappointing. Quite possibly it could be what is heard last in the Academy’s ears that makes it through, but for so long now we have heard of nothing more than the “on the bubble” films such as Little Children, Babel, Bobby, Dreamgirls and Little Miss Sunshine. I think we all know The Queen and The Departed are the front-runners, but Children of Men has to work its way in there or things just won’t be right. Instead of screaming for the destruction of the BCS I will be asking for the heads of the Academy… on a platter please!
That said, I leave you with this fan made trailer that was sent to me just yesterday. Yeah, fan made, use it Universal, it will help!
Children of Men is in theaters now, for more on the film click here and be sure to check out my interviews with Clive Owen and Cuarón here and our gallery of film clips here.
