by Chris MaGeeWe already heard back in September that the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan had selected Ryoichi Kimizuka's police procedural drama "Daremo Mamotte Kurenai (Nobody to Watch Over Me)" to represent Japan in the race for the Best Foreign Language Film Award at the 82nd annual Academy Awards. I kind of questioned then, and still question, whether or not this story of a police detective put in charge of the sister of a murder suspect is a strong enough film to take home the Oscar, but news about another Japanese film being into another category in the Oscars race seems much, much more promising.
Japan Today is reporting that that Hayao Miyazaki's "Ponyo" is amongst twenty films that are being considered for the Best Animated Film category at the Academy Awards this coming February. Miyazaki's tale of a little goldfish who longs to be human is competing with the likes of Pixar's "Up", Wes Anderson's "The Fantastic Mr. Fox" and Henry Selick's "Caroline" for the coveted gold statuette... pretty serious rivals, but considering Miyazaki's win for Best Animated Film in 2003 for "Spirited Away" you have to seriously ask yourself who's competition for who?
This year marks a new record for the number of animated films being considered for the category. 2002's race started off with what was then the highest number of films, 17 in all, but regardless of how many the race starts out with only five will be considered when the official nominations are announced in January and only one will end up with the title of Best Animated Film. What do you think the chances of Miyazaki walking away with another Oscar is? Have your say in the comments.
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2 comments:
Wow, I totally gave "Daremo Mamotte Kurenai" a miss - along with a lot of recent films that I'd have to download to watch and can't afford to hunt down on my own. I'm obviously mostly mistaken in my impression of it, because I sort of jumbled it in with other films that have the prototype "cute kid in peril, legal battles, heart-rending decisions, someone seeks forgiveness". Which is good if done well, but doesn't often grab my attention.
Has J-Film Powow gotten to see this one yet?
Not yet I'm afraid, Katie. Still working out a way to get a look at it.
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