The Russo Brothers, Anthony and Joe, have made some of the most successful films of all time. A few of their gigs in the MCU, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, stand among the highest-grossing box office successes, and they’re perfect reasons why the directing duo should make movies of this nature. However, they are not Oscar winners. Except for technical recognition, superhero movies, more often than not, don’t stand a chance against films that are recognizable award-season darlings. In a pretty controversial statement, Joe Russo says that Harvey Weinstein is to blame for this because of the way he used to campaign during the award season.
As reported by Variety, Russo spoke to The Sunday Times, and during the interview, he mentioned Weinstein as the reason why blockbusters are not winning Academy Awards. Before he became one of the vilest figures in the entertainment industry, Weinstein used to heavily campaign his productions during the award season, and he even won an Oscar in 1999 for making Shakespeare in Love. This is what Russo said about Weinstein championing “art films” over blockbusters:
“He vilified mainstream movies to champion the art films he pushed for Oscar campaigns. Popular films were winning Oscars before the mid ’90s, then Weinstein started mudslinging campaigns… It affected how audiences view the Oscars, because they’ve not seen most of the movies. We’re in a complicated place. Things we should all be enjoying collectively we instead punch each other in the face over.”
Like this argument that Marvel movies were killing cinema. Well, Marvel movies seemed to be keeping cinemas open for quite a long time.
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The question is, does Russo have a point? Or does he need to do a bit of research? Social media users showed their outrage at his claims, and they used examples like Oppenheimer, Gladiator and The Lord of the Rings as blockbusters that have been recognized at the Academy Awards in the Best Picture category. When it comes to other categories, the list grows, proving that blockbusters are not entirely out of the race just because they’re massively popular.
Each Avengers installment can be considered an event film. No one can deny that. They sell millions of tickets, and the fandom associated with them grows every second. But that doesn’t warrant instant awards recognition. Martin Scorsese said it best when he stated the following about superhero movies: “It isn’t the cinema of human beings trying to convey emotional, psychological experiences to another human being.” Superhero stories are engaging to some, but their monetary success is not purely indicative of their quality and worthiness in the awards season. And it’s not like Marvel films don’t get love during that time of the year, either. The critically-acclaimed Black Panther, for instance, was nominated for Best Picture at the 2019 Academy Awards.
The Russo Brothers’ ‘The Electric State’ Is a (Loud) Netflix Bomb
Netflix
The Russos are currently promoting their latest movie. The Electric State, starring MCU star Chris Pratt and Stranger Things’ Millie Bobby Brown. The film just released on Netflix, and so far, reviews have been less than desirable, to say the least. The incredibly expensive project cost $320 million, and by the time of writing, it sits at 14% on the Tomatometer at Rotten Tomatoes. However, the audience score (Popcornmeter) registers a score of 75%, proving that Netflix viewers are giving this massive bomb some love.
Russo’s experience of making blockbusters is only within the superhero universe. Their films are well-designed thrills, and they are, without question, important movies for the studios backing them and for the fans who just wish to see their dream characters brought to life. But does that mean that they’re good or compelling enough to have a place at the Oscars?
Source: Variety
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