Tuesday, November 18, 2008

NEWS: Religulous OUT of Contention...

So, today brings the news of the final 15 films up for a possible nomination for Best Documentary at the upcoming Academy Awards. I went into checking these out thinking that my Documentary of The Year and one of the best I've seen in a long time, Religulous, would be up in the list. However, The Huffington Post is reporting something else...

Bill Maher's documentary exploring religion, "Religulous," is out of Oscar contention after being left out of the final 15 list released by the Academy in the Best Documentary category.

All I can say is wow. The film is a monetary hit, as it has grossed roughly $13 Million on a $2.5 Million budget, and it has been a pretty big critical hit as well. The well respected awards site, In Contention, believed that it would be a lock to make Oscar contention, but now it is out as the Academy believes that there are 15 better documentaries from this year. I have to disagree with them, as I don't think there are 15 documentaries that I've EVER seen that are better.

Other notable snubs are "Dear Zachary," "Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson" and "Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired."

The Top 15 are the following...
"At the Death House Door"
"The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)"
"Blessed Is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh"
"Encounters at the End of the World"
"Fuel"
"The Garden"
"Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts"
"I.O.U.S.A."
"In a Dream"
"Made in America"
"Man on Wire"
"Pray the Devil Back to Hell"
"Standard Operating Procedure"
"They Killed Sister Dorothy"
"Trouble the Water"

I fully expect that Man On Wire will win, and I did before this, but I would have liked to have seen my personal favorite, Religulous, at least get a little love.

Why do YOU think they didn't get a nod? Is it the content? Could it be how Maher went about talking about the content? Or is it something else?

Go see something good!

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