The Oscar Formula: Wall-E, Best Picture Lock?

So... that happened. Wall-E won best picture at the LAFCA. Now a critics award was always going to be in Wall-E's future, and they aren't always strong Oscar indicators... but this is the Los Angeles Film Critics Assosciation. It's not only important because of its geography, but because of its "dead-on-balls" accuracy (in the words of Mona Lisa Vito).

Want some stats? How about this- 28 out of the last 34 LAFCA winners have gone on to a BP nomination. In other words Wall-E has a better than 4 to 1 chance of getting a nomination for Best Picture.

Now the film's status as Animated would seem to dampen its chances quite a bit, but it doesn't rule it out in my mind. Take for example the somewhat recent nominations for Life is Beautiful and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (another LAFCA winner) despite the existance of a Foreign Language Film Category. Also, Wall-E could become the recipient of a nomination because of the overall excellent body of work of Pixar.

Whatever the reason Wall-E and Eve (EVAH!) have reason to pop in that Hello Dolly tape and dance around to "Put On Your Sunday Clothes" because their awards chances just got a majory boost.

Contender Profile: Wall-E

Wall-E
Directed by Andrew Stanton


Broad Appeal: 96
Perceived Quality: 93


Mini Review: This will probably be my favorite movie of the year. Dazzling visually, it is also hilarious, deeply touching, and able to deliver a message without making it sound like a “message.” A film about what it means to be human.

Awards Chances: While I’m over the moon about it and the critical reaction is extraordinarily positive, we have seen this dance almost every year: Pixar releases a film that is one of the best of the year and it has to settle for a best Animated Feature award. Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, and Ratatouille have all had strong Best Picture support, so why should Wall-E be any different? Perhaps a growing sense that the studio deserves an award will do the trick. If so, this is the year.

Verdict: Dark horse for Best Picture, sure to get nods for sound, score, song and a lock to win best Animated feature.