Can Genre Film Break Through at this Year’s Oscars? We Sure Hope So!

It’s no secret that we, here at The Farsighted, enjoy watching, talking about, and writing on film. It’s also no secret that we tend to especially love us some genre film. Thus, it tickles our proverbial pickles when the Academy finds it in their hearts to show some love to horror, action, and other films that aren’t the standard Oscar bait.

This year, the Academy seems pretty keen on a few movies that fit this bill, the notables being the much lauded horror/thriller Get Out and The Shape of Water, the romantic fantasy film born out of a classic horror tale. To a lesser extent, the action packed Dunkirk and the quirky coming-of-age film Lady Bird also fit in the conversation of non-standard Oscar nominees, though both fit the standard formula a bit more closely than the aforementioned genre fare.

Get Out received four nominations, all in major categories. Jordan Peele is nominated both for Best Director and Best Screenplay. The film’s lead, Daniel Kaluuya, is nominated for the Best Actor. And, the film received a nomination for the most coveted award of the night, Best Picture. new Twilight Zone is being given 23:2 odds to win the Oscar for 2017’s Best Director. The film is a longshot for Best Picture at 25:1 and Daniel Kaluuya is even more of a longshot for Best Actor at 100:1. Of course, we would be pretty damn happy over here if the film found a way to sweep it’s nominated categories, though coming away with at least one trophy would suffice.

The odds makers seem a bit more keen on the chances of Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water, a late 2017 entry into the mix. With a somewhat limited release, it hasn’t played in many cities across the United State quite yet, but it got more than enough exposure to make waves (pun intended). In fact, the film leads in Oscar nominations with 13 total nominations, including several in the most popular categories.

Guillermo del Toro is the favorite for Best Director according to many sources, as well as the odds on favorite at 9:11. In fact, the film ranks just a shade below Best Picture favorite Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri (2:1) at 3:1 odds. Sally Hawkins is at 19:1 for winning Best Actress, Octavia Spencer is at 9:1 for Best Supporting Actress, and Richard Jenkins is at 19:1 for Best Support Actor – with several huge Bone Tomahawk fans on The Farsighted staff, I think it’s fair to say that we’re pulling for Richard “Chicory” Jenkins.

In a year where It: Chapter One broke records and several other films got the mainstream filmgoers and genre film nayasayers talking about horror film and other genre fare in the same breath as standard Oscar bait and all type of blockbusters, some official recognition of the films we love would be one hell of a cherry on top. Can Get Out get Jordan Peele a statue as Best Director? Can Richard Jenkins get just a little bit of the love he deserves? Could Guillermo del Toro and his love letter to classic monster movies earn a Best Picture accolade?

While nothing is written in stone just, we like our odds.

thepaintedman

Founder / Professional Nerd

Justin has been running websites since his first Geocities site in 1994, but only did he ever start covering anything of substance years later. After he stopped regularly running local concerts in Northern NJ and the greater Philly area, he knew he needed to step up his writing game if he expected to continue to get free music to listen to. He writes regularly here and at Cinapse, as well as contributing to a few other sites on occasion. He likes music, film, the Philadelphia Eagles, the 76ers, talking about Criminal Justice, reading Intelligence Report, and his family... not in that order. His beautiful wife is far more talented than he is and his kids far more adorable... and crazy.

Tags: Academy Awards, Fantasy, Genre Film, Get Out, Guillermo del Toro, Horror, Jordan Peel, Nominations, Nominees, Odds, Oscar Nominations, Oscars, The Shape of Water, Thriller, Vegas