When you’re a parent, it’s tough to make it out to the movies. What kid-wrangler’s got the time for George Clooney, Brad Pitt or that girl with the dragon tattoo? The last time you made it to the multiplex was probably for something animated and junior-friendly—but guess what: This year, those credentials might just put you ahead of the pack when it comes to forecasting the weather on Oscar night.
With nine family movies nominated, it seems as if the Academy’s recent quest to skew younger and appear hipper blew right past twentysomethings and aimed for the PG set. Topping the entire crop of hopefuls is a film based on a prose/graphic-novel hybrid for kids: Martin Scorsese’s Hugo, with a whopping 11 nominations.
Joining it in the Best Picture race is Steven Spielberg’s tearjerker War Horse. Meanwhile, the Best Animated Feature candidates include a few surprises: Pixar’s not even in the running at the 84th annual—Cars 2 was, after all, lackluster—nor is the wonderful Arthur Christmas. Instead, we get two foreign titles in that field: Chico and Rita (a romance set in Cuba, not for kids) and A Cat in Paris, a family-friendly, Hitchcockian French cartoon about a cat who leads a double life, living with a police officer by day and with a burglar by night.
Surely some film among these nine will rally your trooplets during the televised ceremony on February 26. Click through our slideshow below to learn more about each cinematic candidate.
84th annual Academy Awards | Slideshow
Hugo
This adaptation of kid-lit author-illustrator Brian Selznick’s The Invention of Hugo Cabret is in the running for the Big Two: Best Picture, and a Best Director nomination for Martin Scorsese, who made the film so his adolescent daughter could see one of his movies. Among Hugo’s nine other noms are shots at winning Best Adapted Screenplay (by Chicago playwright John Logan) and awards for Art Direction and Visual Effects.
Not since Babe, the 1995 charmer about a pig who would be a sheepdog, have we seen a family-ready live-action film in the race for Best Picture. But can it take home the top trophies?
Read our review of Hugo here.
012.mm.tock.HugoOscars.jpg
849051
War Horse
A family film about war? Well, you wouldn’t bring little kids to see this PG-13 movie, set during World War I, but that said, yes: Steven Spielberg pulls it off. This gorgeous yet challenging fable features an equine protagonist who inspires every human he meets. War Horse is nominated for Best Picture and a few other awards including Art Direction and Score.
Read our review of War Horse here.
012.mm.tock.WarHorseOscars.jpg
849172
A Cat in Paris
One of two surprise choices in the Best Animated Feature category—along with another foreign film, the not-for-kids Cuban romance Chico and Rita—we hope this nomination for Une Vie de Chat indicates an imminent distribution deal for this delightful French cartoon, even if foreign animation is a tough sell. (Lucky Chicagoans had three chances to see it in October, during the Facets-run Chicago International Children’s Film Festival.)
Codirectors Jean-Loup Felicioli and Alain Gagnol use old-school, hand-drawn art to weave this thriller-mystery starring a cat, natch; a plucky, mute girl; her police-detective mom and a charming thief.
Read our review of A Cat in Paris here.
012.mm.tock.ACatInParisOscars.jpg
849013
Rango
What happens when one reluctant lizard ends up sheriff in one godforsaken town in the wild, wild West? We got our answer last spring in this oddball flick, in the running for Best Animated Feature. Rango features the vocal talents of Johnny Depp, and Abigail Little Miss Sunshine Breslin, with whom we had a blast talking about high school, biting fingernails, deep dish pizza, celebrities and other fun stuff.
Read our review of Rango here.
012.mm.tock.RangoOscars.jpg
849114
Puss in Boots
Last fall, a cunning but egotistical feline in oversized boots, and a hit character from the Shrek franchise, got his own name in lights. Will this amusing and action-packed DreamWorks flick repeat Shrek’s feat of winning Best Animated Feature? Salma Hayek gushed about the idea when we met up for our interview, but costar Antonio Banderas claimed he didn’t care either way. Whose attitude is the smartest? We’ll see when ol’ Puss and Kitty Softpaws snatch Oscar…or don’t.
Read our review of Puss in Boots here.
012.mm.tock.PussInBootsOscars.jpg
849095
Kung Fu Panda 2
DreamWorks studio is up against itself in the Best Animated Feature category, as Po the lovably inept kung fu guru faces off against Puss in Boots and his partner in feline crime, Kitty Softpaws. Given that neither is an original concept—one’s a sequel, the other a spinoff—will either be able to win?
Read Time Out Chicago’s review of Kung Fu Panda 2 here.
012.mm.tock.KungFuPanda2Oscars.jpg
849076
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
2011 brought the end of a fantasy-film era as the Harry Potter saga drew to a close with its eighth and final episode. Muggles everywhere might be a bit miffed that the year’s biggest box-office success didn’t rank higher on the Academy’s list, but Deathly Hallows Part 2 did catch the eye of Art Direction and Visual Effects judges, who shortlisted the film.
Our critics have dueling opinions on Harry’s merits: One raved about it and the other wasn’t even remotely impressed.
012.mm.tock.HarryPotterDeathlyHallowsOscars.jpg
849037
The Adventures of Tintin
Steven Spielberg has enjoyed better seasons with Oscar. Although his War Horse is in the running for Best Picture, he was snubbed in the directing category—as was his labor of 21st-century technological love, The Adventures of Tintin. Apparently the Academy remains unimpressed by motion-capture filmmaking, even though it’s so much cooler today than back when The Polar Express gave us the creeps. Still, Spielberg’s longtime collaborator, composer John Williams, earned Tintin’s lone nomination, for Best Score.
Read our Tintin review here.
012.mm.tock.TintinOscars.jpg
849158
The Muppets
Last on our list, though not least in our hearts, we present The Muppets. Most of us here at TOCK Central enjoyed Kermit and Company’s return to the big screen. But we’re divided about the source of the film’s lone nomination: “Man or Muppet” for Best Song. Some of us have already lodged our complaints about the movie’s music. (Recap: Only frothy ditty “Life’s a Happy Song” was any good.) Others loved the deliberately silly ballad, which, given that there are only two songs in competition (really, Academy?), is likely to go on to win the golden boy. Either way, it’ll be fun to see a Muppet appear onstage during the ceremonies on Sunday, February 26.
Read our Muppets review here.
012.mm.tock.TheMuppetsOscars.jpg
849139
Hugo
This adaptation of kid-lit author-illustrator Brian Selznick’s The Invention of Hugo Cabret is in the running for the Big Two: Best Picture, and a Best Director nomination for Martin Scorsese, who made the film so his adolescent daughter could see one of his movies. Among Hugo’s nine other noms are shots at winning Best Adapted Screenplay (by Chicago playwright John Logan) and awards for Art Direction and Visual Effects.
Not since Babe, the 1995 charmer about a pig who would be a sheepdog, have we seen a family-ready live-action film in the race for Best Picture. But can it take home the top trophies?
Read our review of Hugo here.
![[title]](http://cdn.timeoutchicagokids.com/sites/default/files/hipsqueak-sm.jpg?1292626567 "[filefield-filename]"){kind=small}
Comments
There are no comments