2018 Nominee Watch – June 22nd

There is only one movie that matters at the box office this weekend, whether or not it matters to the Academy remains to be seen.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
Yes, we are welcoming the fifth installment of the Jurassic Park franchise and second that follows the new cast of Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy) and Bryce Dallas Howard (Spider-Man 3). Jeff Goldblum's (Independence Day) Dr. Ian Malcolm character makes his first return to the series in over 20 years as well which will be an interesting addition.

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​This Jurassic film looks to be more of the same overall. There are already obvious callbacks to previous films in the series and this feels a bit like a mashup of The Lost World and Jurassic Park III. The mercenaries are back on an island trying to bring dinos off with them, while at the same time a rescue is taking place, though this time it's humans rescuing dinos, rather than other humans.

I looked back through the history of the Jurassic franchise with the Academy, and while it started off with a bang, the success has not been sustained. The original film was nominated for Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing, and Best Visual Effects, winning for all three categories. There is a very simple reason for this...the film was groundbreaking in just about every way. No one had ever dared create 3D computer animated dinosaurs before. The filmmakers had to develop technology as they worked in order to accomplish what they were trying to do.

As far as the sound categories go, think of the first time you watched the original film and heard the roar of the T-Rex or even just her distant footsteps mixed with the image of the shaking glass of water on in the Jeep. While the images of the dinosaurs were breathtaking, they would have fallen flat if not for a boost from the audio

The only other film in the series so far to even receive a nomination was The Lost World which was again nominated for Best Visual Effects, though it did not win. Even with the increased interaction between dinosaurs (especially the raptors) and humans in Jurassic World, it could not even garner a Best Visual Effects nomination among a crowded field including Mad Max: Fury Road, The Martian, The Revenant, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and eventual winner Ex Machina. I personally think the effects in Jurassic World surpassed at least two or three of these films, but I'm not an Academy voter.

One thing possibly working in the favor of Fallen Kingdom, is the array of returning talent from three years ago. In addition to Pratt and Howard, Colin Trevorrow returns to writing and directing duties with musical scoring by Michael Giacchino. (There is another conversation to be had about how well Giacchino has started filling in for sequels and offshoots to films originally scored by John Williams, but not here.)

After Jurassic World was passed over for any nominations, I would be surprised to see it left off the visual effects ballots this year. We have plenty of superhero movies to contend with in that category already this year, but I feel like some new ground may be broken for this film.

Limited Releases

• The Icarus Line Must Die – Punk rocker Joe Cardamone looking at himself and the place of his music. (June 20th)
• Beach House – Psychological thriller with a teenager exploring sexual fantasies with her bother's former boyfriend.
• Boundaries – Family relationship drama about a woman and her son reconnecting with her aging father (Christopher Plummer) as they drive across country.
• The Catcher Was A Spy – WWII espionage drama starring Paul Rudd as a baseball player turned American spy.
• Damsel – Western film starring Robert Pattinson as he pursues his love, Mia Wasikowska.
• Distorted – Christina Ricci and John Cusack star in a psychological thriller where subliminal messages are being distributed throughout an ideal apartment building.
• Incident in Ghostland – Horror thriller that appears to blur the lines between fiction and reality.
• Izzy Gets the F**k Across Town – Izzy must find her way across Los Angeles to break up her ex-boyfriend's engagement.
• The King – Documentary tracing the rise and fall of Elvis Presley as a metaphor for America through a cross-country journey driving his 1963 Rolls-Royce.
• Spiral – A documentary look at modern antisemitism in France.
• The Domestics – A husband and wife search for safety in a post-apocalyptic gang land. (June 28th)