A Conservative's View of the Oscars

Despite Jon Stewart, ratings fo rthe Oscar telecast were off this year -- under 40 million American viewers for only the second time since 1987. (More males 18 - 34, Stewart's target audience, did watch this year).

But before we all go blaming Jon Stewart, maybe we should look at the nominated movies.

It should hardly be surprising that this year's Oscars appear even more indifferent toward broad ranging audiences than most years. After all, there were few family films worth celebrating in 2005, and that fact also helps to explain the box office slump that many industry experts are scratching their heads over.

The result is an Oscar slate that, for the most part, only adults have been able to view. In the Best Picture category, four out of five films are rated Restricted, while the one lone ranger, George Clooney's PG-rated Good Night, and Good Luck. is hardly something your twelve-year-old is raring to see.

What about the women? Actress in a Leading Role again contains three rated-R titles out of five (Mrs. Henderson Presents, Transamerica and North Country). Here there is a small respite for families with Reese Witherspoon in the PG-13 rated Walk the Line and Keira Knightley playing a titled daughter in the PG rated Pride & Prejudice.

But the Supporting Actress category is an R-rated blackout--all five nominations are rated Restricted. Supporting actors are nearly the same, with four out of five nominations coming from R-rated films. Only Paul Giamatti in Cinderella Man falls in the under-R-rated category with its PG-13 rating. It's still not a movie to take young children to, but is one of the few Oscar hopefuls that offer a strong positive role model within its compelling and inspiring story.

And your point is?

My point in dragging you through this isn't to merely complain about the lack of movies nominated for Oscars with a broad age interest. Instead, it's to illustrate how Hollywood's lack of interest in creating high quality films most Americans will want to see is beginning to have an effect on all aspects of the industry.

But these were the best movies of the year. What do you think should have been nominated?

If I were an Academy voter, here is my slate for Best Picture (and my exact nominations for this category in the Broadcast Film Critics Awards which took place in early January):

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe

Cinderella Man

Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith

Good Night, And Good Luck.

The Constant Gardner

My choices range from the PG rated Chronicles of Narnia and Good Night, And Good Luck to the R-rated The Constant Gardner. (The other two titles are PG-13.) The total domestic box office gross for this grouping as of February 21, 2006: $789,473,080. (The total easily surpasses $1 billion if you include foreign earnings.)

These numbers reveal that close to four times as many people saw these films. (Actually, the amount is likely even higher, as many attending Narina and Star Wars are not paying adult admission prices.) Imagine how many more people would be drawn to the Oscar telecast to see some of these heavyweights contending for the grand prize. The mere fact that two of these films (Narnia and Star Wars) each made more money than all five of the actual Best Picture nominees put together, reveals the incredible popularity these movies hold.