Comic Book Movies getting an Oscar nod

The comic book world has found itself exploding on to the big screen over the past few years we as nerds can thank in large part Christopher Nolan for this.  He gave Batman the darker edge that readers have been longing to see on the big screen.  Michael Keaton will always be Batman to people from my generation but having Christian Bale as Batman to future generations isn't a bad thing either.

I don't care what kind of flack I get for this but Batman Forever was the first comic book movie that I watched as a kid and made me fall in love with comics and nerdy things.  Not to mention the hot steamy scene with Nicole Kidman and Val Kilmer...ah memories...*cough, ehm* any who, the corny lines from Robin, the cheesey interaction between the Riddler and Two-Face, it was the perfect introduction to a world that at this point in time was considered extremely "uncool".  

Then came Spiderman with Toby Maguire and the comic industry began it's slow upward trend of breaking into the industry of film.  Fun Fact, Spiderman 2 won an Oscar for Best Achievement of Visual  Effects in 2005. Comic books aren't just about the art, they need a great story with great writers to help them along.  Christopher Nolan gave us a world that we could really sink our teeth into with Batman Begins and the shock that he wasn't nominated at the Oscars for Dark Knight gave the committee pause and decided to open up the nominations list from 5 to 10.

The one who did win an Oscar that year for the Dark Knight was Heath Ledger, for Best Actor in a Supporting role.  The question that I wish we could have answered is, was he nominated for his work in that role or was it simply because of his untimely death?  Not that his work as the Joker wasn't wonderfully portrayed, the Academy has just not been very light hearted when it comes to who is selected for this prestigious award.

Not to be out done by DC, Marvel came back with a vengeance with Iron Man and the fantastic Tony Stark, brought to life by Robert Downing Jr.  This character kicked off a campaign that has made Marvel the forerunner for comic films since Batman Begins.  The Avengers is quite possibly one of my favorite films of all time.  I wish I could tell you that it was because I was a Marvel chick and that I knew this storyline inside and out but alas, I can only say that my love for Joss Whedon and his clever repartee won me over hook line and sinker.  I believe the unison of the characters in this story (Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk, Thor) gave life to these follow up films that I am not sure would have been as successful without the Avengers.   One of my favorite films of 2014 was Captain America: The Winter Soldier.  The first Captain America left something to be desired but my love for Chris Evans and Joss Whedon can not be deterred!  I gave the sequel a shot (as I did with Thor) and was pleasantly surprised!  Most fans have left sequels and prequels with bad tastes in there mouths.  With a glimmer of hope, I looked towards the future only to see the next project of Marvel...a giant humanoid tree and a talking racoon...what the?!

I will be the first to say that I was very skeptical of this movie.  Guardians of the Galaxy sounded utterly ridiculous in theory and I couldn't see how any grown person would want to see a movie that involved a giant tree and a talking racoon.  Then I learned Chris Pratt was the lead.  Better, I do like him on Parks and Rec, then I found out Zoe Saldana had joined the project.  This should be interesting...she's been building quite the resume since Avatar...then I saw the trailer.

Are you kidding me?!  This movie looks amazing!  So now I was very amped to watch the film, hoping beyond wildest hope that this movie would be everything I wanted it to be.  Needless to say James Gunn did not disappoint.  The best part about the film in my opinion is that James Gunn didn't even want Chris Pratt as Peter Quill in the beginning.  Who could have played the role any better??  It wasn't until after the two met that the role seemed to click for the director.  The movie is excellently written, has enough action for your manly men, enough sexual intrigue for your not so manly lady friends and enough comedy for a family friendly film. This movie was the surprise sleeper hit of the summer.

This movie also caught the attention of the Writers Guild of America and was handed a nomination for best adapted screenplay.  This organization has some serious street cred in the film world for any of you who aren't aware.  In fact, many films that are nominated by the WGA are then nominated for the Oscars.  Having a film like Guardians of the Galaxy nominated for an Oscar in the best adapted screen play division would be huge for the comic book world.  Talk about going from comic geek to comic chic, in fact, there would probably be many more titles that are currently considered second and third tier titles that could be green lit and would make excellent films.  As a comic enthusiast, nothing would please me more.  The real rub here for Guardians is that did it get the nomination because it truly deserved it or because several other critically acclaimed films (i.e. Birdman, Selma, The Theory of Everything and Mr Turner) didn't follow the filming guidelines set up by the Guild.

Whatever the case may be, the Guardians of the Galaxy does have the nomination and nothing would thrill me more than to hear on January 15th that a comic book film has picked up a nomination for an Oscar that packed a little more punch than best visual affects. To those of you who feel differently, I think Peter Quill sums it up best.