November
12
Can $9.99 Get You an Oscar These Days? (Maybe in the Toon Category)
[Posted by Peter Debruge]
Get this: Of the 14 animated films vying for Oscar, seven have yet to be released in the U.S. (another six that opened earlier in the year simply weren't submitted, which keeps the category from growing from three to five slots). Going by the films you already know, you can get a pretty good idea of what the final ballot will be, but don't put it past the Academy to pick a film you haven't heard of.
Like $9.99, a stop motion toon for grown-ups, based on the very short stories of Israeli writer Etgar Keret (some of them no longer than a sneeze, but evocative enough to set your imagination running). That might seem like a shortage of material on which to base a feature, but consider that (a) most blockbusters can be reduced to 25 words or less and (b) director Tatia Rosenthal has gathered up a handful of Keret's ideas and packed them into a single film (by making his characters neighbors in a disaster-prone Australian apartment building), and you've got more than enough story to deal with.
As for its Oscar chances, the Academy just loves stop motion. Maybe it's the fact that you can see the work (fingerprints and everything), as opposed to all those new-fangled CG films where the computer does the heavy lifting (I jest, of course, since $9.99 might also have been the budget for this modest indie). Still, every stop motion toon submitted since the category was introduced has gone on to be nominated (that would be The Corpse Bride and Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit), and the Academy awarded last year's animated short award to Suzie Templeton's Peter & the Wolf (which bodes well for Coraline and The Fantastic Mr. Fox going forward).
But it's a curious entry, not as polished as Aardman. I don't dare spill any of the plot, except to confess that $9.99 is easily the least predictable film I've seen this year, as the characters' various existential musings prove a decoy for the surreal plot twists in store. The movie itself opens Dec. 12 in Los Angeles. In the meantime, feast your curiosity on this exclusive poster:
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oh crap... now I want Gumby's Pizza.
Posted by: UGLY PUNK GURL! | November 13, 2008 at 08:13 AM
Perhaps it's silly, but if the Academy go big for "Australia" perhaps the chances for "$9.99" go up. If "Australia" bags big nominations, plus Heath Ledger and perhaps Cate Blanchett maybe the animation branch will want to get in on the action too since "$9.99" is an Australian film (Aus/Israeli co-production, actually but the cast is filled with notable Australians).
...just a thought.
Posted by: Glenn | November 14, 2008 at 07:20 PM