Something which I always find annoying in this period is that the movies everyone has been raving about in November/December finally show up in the cinemas here. Being patient is difficult when you really want to check out a specific movie. But that’s not what I want to ask you a question about. Many of these movies are either big historical epics or biopics. Now I’m not saying that is a bad thing (recently saw The Imitation Game and thought it was a very good movie), but I always think it is a shame that all these interesting movies are released during the same period to make sure that the Oscar voters remember them. What is you opinion about this?
What do you think of the release dates of Oscar worthy movies towards the end of the year and do you think this is only to make a bigger chance to win?
I hate it! We have the same situation here, where a lot of the best films of the year are released in January. I go to the cinema once a week, on average, sometimes twice a week, and I’ve been three times this year already but there are still another four or five films showing that I’d like to check out! The trouble is every Friday is bringing another 3 or 4 supposedly decent films throughout January and early February – Selma, Inherent Vice, Whiplash, Wild, etc. etc..
I know I should be happy there are so many good films about, but it’s hard to keep up and the lack of balance with other times of the year is noticeable. The biggest shame is that lots of other films – perhaps not Oscar bait – are released and disappear quickly from screens. The new Woody Allen film and National Gallery being cases in point over here.
Yeah, it is hard to keep up. Still would like these movies to be released at the same time all over the world or at least if they are released later to be shown in both cinema and VOD services.
I don’t mind it. Most those Oscar “worthy” films are only released in LA and NY and don’t get wide released until January. That gives something good for people to see that month since almost all January & February regular release dates are usually for dud movies.
I can understand your thinking, although I wouldn’t mind releases in December instead of after all the nominations.
I’m totally with you, Nostra! Although I do think it’s interesting that movies such as Boyhood are receiving a lot of critical acclaim, and that was released in the summer. I also think back to Argo when it was released in August (I think?), and it ended up winning Best Picture that year. I wish more movies would stop worrying about Oscar season and be released throughout the year, but it seems like that is how most of the major “Oscar bait” films handle their release date.
I, too, get annoyed, because it means that I have to use the month of January (and often February too) to catch up on all of the big films since I can’t see 12 films on Christmas Day.
Yeah, spread it more evenly over the year!
Film studios want their films to make sure that the Academy keep them in mind when it comes to awards season. But does it even play into it? Who knows. I don’t think so. Though in my mind the Oscars is all a sham anyway!
I understand the reasoning, but if a movie is good I’m sure people will remember it 🙂
I’m with you on them being a sham and have stopped watching them years ago.
I love Oscar bait films, as you might have guessed, and there’s a large part of me that wishes they were spread out over the full year. This year we do have Grand Budapest Hotel (March release) and Boyhood (August release), but most of the other films do come during the later window.
But as much as I wish these films would spread themselves out throughout the year, I’ve also come to understand why they don’t. I think part of it is making sure that Oscar voters don’t forget them. But the real problem might not be the voters so much as the audiences, or at least the studios’ beliefs about audiences.
Studios really do believe that they need those award citations to get people into the theaters. (I don’t mean dedicated film bloggers like ourselves, but the general public). A film like The Imitation Game is a good example: Every commercial I’ve seen for it includes “Nominated for 5 Golden Globes.” That’s the selling point to get people to show up, and the studios really are worried that if they open it in the summer that no one will see it because they’ll be too busy seeing The Avengers, The X-Men and the Transformers!
Julianne Moore’s Still Alice is probably an even better example. It hasn’t even opened yet where I am and it’s already January! As a Golden Globe winner and Oscar frontrunner there will be lots of people who go see it in the next few weeks, precisely because it got buzz from the awards season. But if they had opened it the same weekend as Guardians Of The Galaxy, there’s no way that it would sell as many tickets.
Yeah, movies seem to use that Oscar nomination as a way to promote them when they come out later. And it probably works…
I get annoyed by it as I find “Oscar-bait” films to be very awful as they smell desperation as it plays into the vanity of actors or studios desperate to be recognized. That was one the reasons why I hated The Blind Side where I was disgusted by its trailer as I would later see the film on TV which confirmed every thing about it I wasn’t going to like. It’s fucking annoying as hell.
Yeah, they do have some very specific feel which sometimes can work against them.
Yeah, not a fan of the “big clump” of Oscar worthy films all coming out near the same time. Especially down here in Australia, where most of the time they’re released about a week or two before, making it near impossible to see them all before the show.
That said, this year’s even spread (and the fact front-runner Boyhood has been and gone from cinemas here) makes it more likely I’ll have actually seen them all before the day. Which would be the first time ever.
🙂
Here is an idea: the Academy could release an initial nominations list for the major Award categories in July, to cover films released in the first six months of the year. This might work if they expand Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Director (and maybe others?) to 10 nominations each (bring those in line with Best Film), and choose 5 from each half of the year. Such a set-up will change the dynamics and allow the studios to spread out quality films throughout the year.
Possible, but what if the first half of the year didn’t have enough worthy movies?
I’m always baffled by these sporadic release dates. I think even living in the US, we don’t always get every movie first, but I think most countries have it worse!
Yes, I can definitely confirm that! 😉
Most of the award-season titles don’t see the light of day over here until February or March, which is even worse.
Yeah, same thing over here…I know a couple of them won’t be released till the end of February/beginning of March as well.
I hate that!