Today's question, courtesy of Jacqui Lipton:
This year, two science fiction movies have been nominated for Best Picture - District 9 and Avatar. It is very unusual for a science fiction film to be nominated for Best Picture and no science fiction film has ever won this category before. Name at least three science fiction films that have been nominated for Best Picture prior to 2009.
Pictured: Jurassic Park (1993), one of my favorite sci-fi movies. The film captured three Oscars but was not a Best Picture nominee.
A Clockwork Orange, Star Wars, ET
Posted by: anon | March 05, 2010 at 12:26 PM
Damn - that was quick!
All correct answers. Obviously this question was WAY too easy. (Sorry.)
Posted by: Jacqui Lipton | March 05, 2010 at 02:40 PM
Additional reading here:
http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2010-02-23-scifirules23_CV_N.htm
Jacqui, perhaps we should solicit input from readers on what other sci-fi films deserved a Best Picture nomination.
I'll suggest JURASSIC PARK. The first time you see it on the big screen leaves an indelible impression. (Query how many folks are in therapy because of a Port-A-Potty phobia! But that's a discussion for another day.)
Posted by: Tim Zinnecker | March 05, 2010 at 02:54 PM
One of my students had suggested that Raiders of the Lost Ark should have qualified. It was nominated for Best Picture, but I'm not sure it was appropriately characterized as "sci fi".
Posted by: Jacqui Lipton | March 05, 2010 at 03:08 PM
BTW, if people want another challenge today (given that my first Q wasn't very hard apparently), how about:
"Walt Disney was nominated for the most academy awards of anyone in the history of the awards. Who is the living person with the most nominations?"
Posted by: Jacqui Lipton | March 05, 2010 at 03:09 PM
RAIDERS is my all-time favorite movie! The first fifteen minutes are some of the most entertaining in the history of film! (Recall Alfred Molina, anyone?)
As for your alternative question, two "educated guesses" come to mind. Actress Meryl Streep, and musician John Williams. I'm assuming fashion designer Edith Head is no longer with us.
Posted by: Tim Zinnecker | March 05, 2010 at 03:42 PM
Argh - you got me on that one too. It's John Williams.
Clearly I'm a rank amateur compared to the rest of you movie buffs!
Posted by: Jacqui Lipton | March 05, 2010 at 04:01 PM
Here are some of my picks for science fiction films that should have been nominated:
Dark City
2001
Children of Men
Twelve Monkeys
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Metropolis
Back to the Future !/II
Alien(s)
Terminator I/II
Donnie Darko
The Abyss
Posted by: Colin Miller | March 05, 2010 at 05:20 PM
I am completely with you re Dark City and Twelve Monkeys, and maybe even The Abyss.
What about Blade Runner?
Posted by: Jacqueline Lipton | March 05, 2010 at 05:50 PM
I was thinking about adding Blade Runner, but I greatly prefer the director's cut over the theatrical release, which is why I left it off. Thinking about it, I guess that the same applies to The Abyss as well. The opposite, though, applies to Donnie Darko, where the theatrical version was much better.
Posted by: Colin Miller | March 05, 2010 at 06:29 PM
But are you saying you liked the director's cut of The Abyss better or the theatrical version? I only liked some parts of the director's cut better - I thought the end was a little silly frankly.
Posted by: Jacqueline Lipton | March 05, 2010 at 07:10 PM
I prefer the director's cut on The Abyss but don't love the ending in either the DC or the theatrical version. It's the changes in the rest of the movie that give the DC the edge in my mind. The Abyss is definitely an imperfect movie, but in a year when Driving Miss Daisy won the Oscar for Best Picture, I easily could have seen it nominated.
Posted by: Colin Miller | March 06, 2010 at 03:55 PM