January
28
Oscar Watch: Is Milk Coming Up on the Outside?
While reports of the inevitable Slumdog Millionaire backlash may be overstated--the hugely popular movie is still charging forward to some major Oscar wins on February 22--here's a new Oscar slant: Slumdog and its main rival, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, split the vote and Milk takes the best picture win.
Possible? Milk was ahead in the Oscar race back in November before Slumdog took off. The biopic about assassinated San Francisco gay activist Harvey Milk boasts the earmarks of a powerful Academy contender: the politically correct, timely, emotional true story grabbed great reviews, New York Film Critics wins for picture and Sean Penn, LA Film Critics win for Penn, SAG win for Penn over Globe-winner Mickey Rourke, and eight Oscar nominations on January 22.
Lately, Milk is recovering momentum. And this Friday, a new ad campaign kicks in as the movie finally--after seven weeks inching along in no more than 300 locations to a $22 million gross--goes wide on 882 screens.
"The hope from the beginning," says producer Bruce Cohen, who with producing partner Dan Jinks produced the surprise 1999 best picture Oscar winner American Beauty, "was to start with the core demo and from there build out, eventually getting people who have never heard of Harvey Milk, and might not think that a gay subject was their cup of tea."
Having learned some lessons on the 2005 release of Oscar contender Brokeback Mountain, which was considered the front runner for the Best Picture Oscar but lost to Crash, Focus Features has taken the slow-and-steady-wins-the-race approach for Milk, a movie looking for Oscar love.
The distrib waited to break Milk wide until after the Oscar nominations. Because they were bumped by the presidential inauguration from Tuesday to Thursday this year, that left no time to plaster ads with Oscar noms. So Focus delayed the movie one week to lay that info on the consumer. Now Milk goes out backed by a substantial ad campaign--during the prime of Oscar season. Final ballots were mailed to 5800 Academy voters on Wednesday, and are due back February 17.
"It takes time," adds Jinks, "to reach less sophisticated audiences. Eight Oscar nominations helps enormously. Milk resonates in an emotional way that tops the other films out there."
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the Slumdog backlash is laughable. Some people are so pathetically desperate to trash the movie due to jealousy and ignorance, while others just want to cash in on the popularity.
This is a typical reaction from people who can't handle the truth, the harsh reality of this stuff we call "LIFE"!!!!
MILK is such a great movie, and I hope that it will reach more people. People need to learn about Harvey Milk and the gay rights movement of the 70s. But I doubt that MILK is going to win any significant awards at the Oscars. look what happened with Brokeback Mountain.
Posted by: UGLY DEAF MUSLIM PUNK GURL! | January 28, 2009 at 07:27 PM
In the considered opinion of this critic, there's not much slumdog backlash, but there's a "let's torpedo the oscars because it looks like slumdog will sweep" backlash.
the pundit hath spoken. for the morning.
Posted by: Ramesh | January 29, 2009 at 05:57 AM
Nothing's gonna be able to overthrow Slumdog Millionaire. It's gonna win Best Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay, Editing and Score. Milk's gonna take home Best Actor for Sean Penn and Best Original Screenplay.
Posted by: Bryan C. | January 29, 2009 at 06:27 AM
can it be president too?
Posted by: Ramesh | January 29, 2009 at 07:36 AM
Milk is a great film and it's release timing could not have better. It's a powerful story that should be credited for it's fantastic screenplay and acting.
Evan
http://www.beyondrace.com
Posted by: Evan | January 29, 2009 at 12:18 PM
Look, if an OK but truly not great film like Crash, without even being nominated for BP at the Golden Globes, was able to come out of nowhere at the last minute and topple an exceptional Masterpiece such as Brokeback Mountain which had virtually won every Best Picture award prior to the Oscars, anything can happen on Oscar night. When it comes to the Academy Awards, we then had the proof that the "campaign" can be as important, if not more, than the films themselves simply because numerous voters do not even see the films they vote for. Insider politics rule. If Milk is indeed an excellent film and wins, so much the better, but it won't make up for the scandalous & outrageous debacle of 3 years ago.
Posted by: brisdeservice | January 29, 2009 at 03:11 PM
It's Saving Private Ryan vs. Shakespeare in Love again.
Posted by: Shali Dore | January 29, 2009 at 03:33 PM
Was "American Beauty" really a surprise winner? Didn't it win the BFCA, Globe, PGA, SAG and DGA prizes? Mentioning "American Beauty" here only seems to underscore the inevitable win for "Slumdog."
Posted by: Dan | January 29, 2009 at 03:42 PM
wats gonna happen is, Slumdog wins the biggies. button wins technical awards and one for milk one for kate.
Posted by: Ramesh | January 29, 2009 at 09:15 PM
American Beauty earned its win, as you say. It started small, without the earmarks of an obvious contender, and took its time getting there. When the final five were selected--American Beauty, The Insider, The Sixth Sense, The Green Mile, and The Cider House Rules--clearly, American Beauty was going to win. No surprise there.
Posted by: anne Thompson | January 30, 2009 at 01:25 AM
No, Ann and don are right. It is an American Beauty Vs the Sixth Sense race, where a popular british Indi took on a Hollywood behemoth. IIRC the sixth sense blanked that year.
Hope button doesn't blank.
Posted by: Ramesh | January 30, 2009 at 05:06 AM
This is off subject a bit, but it's a question I've been trying to get the answer to...
Did the film "Milk" (which I haven't seen) go into Milk's relationship with Jim Jones (of the the mass suicides at the People's Temple)? Milk, as well as former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown and many others, lauded Jim Jones several times. This is according to wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Jones
I'm interested to know if this little factoid made it into the film.
Now back to the Oscar discussion...
Posted by: Chester | January 30, 2009 at 06:49 AM