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Courtesy of IMDB

"The Darkest Hour"

On the morning of Jan. 23, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) announced their chosen picks for their upcoming 90th annual Academy Awards ceremony, known to many as the Oscars. Actors Andy Serkis and Tiffany Haddish revealing the nominations themselves via a global video live stream that began at 5:22 a.m. Pacific time.

The event itself will be held on Sunday, Mar. 4 at its usual venue, the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, and its telecast will air live on the ABC channel. Late night host Jimmy Kimmel will once again host after doing so last year. The Oscars will honor and celebrate the achievements made in film by honoring such films that were released within the year of 2017.

Heading into the nominations, some speculated that the films that were nominated and won in other major film awards ceremony (i.e. the 75th annual Golden Globes, the 23rd Critics’ Choice Awards, the 24th Screen Actors Guild Awards etc.) this year would reappear in the Oscars list and sure enough, they did. Yet, while there were obvious contenders that were sure to make the cut, there were also some surprises and snubs to be had among other interesting aspects surrounding the nominations.

Although, of course, people who are aware of the nominations – film industry folk, movie critics, cinefiles, and general audiences –  would have their own picks of surprises and snubs for what got in and what got left out. So it all depends on taste because the act of watching a film evokes various reactions from various people.

But as expected, awards darlings and critically acclaimed choices “Call Me by Your Name,” “Dunkirk,” “The Shape of Water,” “Lady Bird,” “Phantom Thread,” “The Post,” “Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri,” “Darkest Hour” showed up in the Best Picture pics, reflecting the tastes of the 6,687 total members of the Academy, but American mainstream film favorite “Get Out” managed to get on the board. The film, in particular, was also beloved by critics and the media for its uniqueness in the horror-thriller genre mixed with social commentary. Fortunately, though, the 687 more members the Academy added to try to diversify their organization’s makeup could have helped spur the much-deserved recognition for “Get Out,” proving that while progress has been slow, change is happening.

It is important to note, however, that “Dunkirk” is also considered a mainstream film because it too made a lot of money (about $525 million worldwide) since it is directed by Christopher Nolan, the guy known for directing the mind-blowing “Inception,” the “Dark Knight” films and “Interstellar,” all of which were box office successes. However, the Academy consists mainly of members from the baby boomer generation, a demographic tend to favor dramas, specifically historical dramas. So it would be obvious that “Dunkirk” would automatically make the list without question.

But while it is clear that the Academy’s relationship with honoring mainstream and blockbuster filmmaking isn’t a priority on par with their appeal of the arthouse-indie low-budget films that they usually recognized, the organization is at least trying to promote innovation and creativity of film through their nominations.

As ERHS senior and cinefile Calvin Sotakoun, the Academy “doesn’t choose or define films by how good it is, but how much effort you spent to create such a film.”