Documentary Shortlist

[Greg]

Paul Krugman gives a rave review for Inside Job, which deals with the recent financial crisis, on his blog at the New York Times.



Edited By Greg on 1291682694

[Mister Tee]

Evene if there are few touted titles missing, you have to say this is one area where the Academy heard criticism and acted on it. Back in the Thin Blue Line/Hoop Dreams days, not one of the well-known films here (Gift Shop, Client 9, Inside Job, Tillman Story, Superman) would have made it. Instead, we'd be looking at a slate of Holocaust efforts of which no one has ever heard. So, two cheers, anyway, for th Academy fixing something that WAS broken.

[Damien]

Delighted that Banksy made the cut, though I'll be surprised if Exit Through The Gift Shop is in the final five.

[Precious Doll]

From EW:

OscarWatch: 'Superman' in, 'Joan Rivers' out of documentary shortlist

by Dave Karger

Another year, another outrageous oversight from the documentary branch of the Academy. Today AMPAS announced the 15 films that will contend for next year’s five Best Documentary Feature slots, and although there are several worthy films included (Waiting for “Superman”, Inside Job, Exit Through the Gift Shop, and The Tillman Story among them), missing from the list was the acclaimed exposé Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work, one of the sweetest and most fascinating films, unscripted or otherwise, of the year. Also MIA: The Facebook-fueled Catfish, the transgender family tale Prodigal Sons, and the political eye-opener 8: The Mormon Proposition. Given its strong reviews, I was surprised Lucy Walker’s Countdown to Zero wasn’t included, though her Sundance prize-winner, Waste Land, did make the cut. (For the record, an Academy spokeswoman tells me that the Joaquin Phoenix doc I’m Still Here was not submitted for consideration in this category.)
As steamed as I am about the exclusion of Joan Rivers, I shouldn’t be too surprised. The same branch failed to put Bill Maher’s Religulous on its shortlist two years ago. I guess the moral of the story here is: If you’re gunning for a Best Documentary Oscar nod these days, you better not be funny.

Here’s the full list of semi-finalists:

Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer
Enemies of the People
Exit through the Gift Shop
Gasland
Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould
Inside Job
The Lottery
Precious Life
Quest for Honor
Restrepo
This Way of Life
The Tillman Story
Waiting for “Superman”
Waste Land
William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe