So, early on we heard
THE YEAR OF THE BIOPIC over and over again. And it did turn out to be that way with 3/5 best picture nominees being just that. But how well did the year of the biopic turn out overall. Did they do well only because there were so many of them that it would be impossible to ignore or because Oscar really just can't get enough.
A chronological rundown of the year's 11 BioPics (did I miss anything?) and how they fared w/ Oscar:
THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST -Non traditional format. One short period in subject's life. Critically divisive. Huge box office. No Oscar campaign =3 tech nominations.
DE-LOVELY -Semi traditional format. Adult Fame Years. Death. Critics not that interested. Poor box office. Surprising pre-cursor showings. Minor campaign = 0 nominations.
THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES -Non traditional format. One short period in subject's life. Critically respected, sometimes adored. Very strong box office for a foreign language film. Major Oscar campaign = 2 nominations.
RAY -Traditional format. Youth. Adult Fame Years. Death. Critically respected if not adored widely. Good box office. Great FYC campaign =6 nominations
KINSEY -Traditional format. Youth. Adult Fame Years. Near Death. Critically respected. Poor box office. Good FYC campaign = 1 nomination.
FINDING NEVERLAND -Non-Traditional format. One short period of subject's life. Critically respected if not widely adored. Decent box office (in relation to cost) = 7 nominations.
ALEXANDER -Traditional format. Youth. Adulthood. Death. Critically reviled. Horrid box office (in relation to cost). Aborted FYC campaign = Not one nomination.
THE AVIATOR -Semi-Traditional format. Little youth. 20'ish years of Adult Fame Years. Critically respected if not widely adored. Good box office. Good FYC campaign =11 nominations
HOTEL RWANDA -Non-traditional format. Short period of subject's life. Critically adored. Late release and late starting FYC campaign = 3 nominations.
BEYOND THE SEA -Don't know about the format. Didn't see. Critics not interested. Poor box office. Late release and late starting FYC campaign =0 nominations
THE SEA INSIDE -Semi-Traditional format. Adult fame years. Death. Critically respected if not widely adored. Poor box office. Late release and late starting FYC campaign = 2 nominations.
So, OK. I see no revelatory patterns here other than that they like them (considering some did OK despite no box office or short campaigns) but maybe there were two many of them for some to make it through the clutter?
27.2% of all biopics released this year got a Best Picture nomination (ha ha. Don't you love useless statistics? The accounted for
35 nominations. Which, OK, Oscar does love them even though I hate them. Maybe Oscar just hates me? ;)
