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Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Oscar's No Popularity Contest That's for sure. At least not this time. Nineteen movies last year grossed $100 million or more. Not one was nominated for best picture -- or even best animated picture. See 2005 Top Ten List. (Only No. 19, Walk the Line, was oft-mentioned by critics as best-picture worthy.)
The year's biggest hit, Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith, got only one nomination, and it was for makeup, not special effects. Sorry, Yoda (left).
Art and popularity aren't always divided, though. Three best-picture winners -- Titanic, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, and Forrest Gump -- are in the all-time Top 15.
The nominees for animation, by the way, were Howl, Corpse Bride and Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, while the biggest animation hits were Madagascar, Chicken Little, and Robots. (I wonder if this category even makes sense any more, since so many movies use computer graphics.)
