Skyfall: 10 Reasons It's A Best Picture Oscar Contender

1. It Fills The Oscar "Blockbuster" Slot

Ever since the Academy made the controversial decision to allow between 5-10 films to be nominated for Best Picture, the field has indeed widened out, allowing for some more populist fare to sneak in, and while some of this is turgid, condescending garbage - The Blind Side and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, anyone? - a lot of it is accounted for by intelligent blockbuster films that previous Academy prejudices - as well as a limited 5-film field - would not allow entry. 2010 saw District 9 be nominated for Best Picture, 2011 saw Toy Story 3 make the cut, and 2012 saw Spielberg's War Horse trot into the mix (even if initially it was considered a "serious" Best Picture contender), noting a trend of smart blockbuster movies crashing the Oscar party. How does this fare for 2013? There are three big-hitter blockbuster films that were also big commercial hits - Skyfall, The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises - though going by the quality of the craft and prior trends, it is only Skyfall of the three that stands a shot at securing a Best Picture nomination, while the other two will be relegated to below-the-line crafts nominations. Therefore, Skyfall is the blockbuster pick for the year, the one unabashedly "mainstream" pic that the Academy, as something of a back-patting exercise, will allow into the nominees club, even if it hasn't got a hope in Hell of winning. Do you think Skyfall will be nominated for the Best Picture Oscar? Let us know in the comments below.
 
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Frequently sleep-deprived film addict and video game obsessive who spends more time than is healthy in darkened London screening rooms. Follow his twitter on @ShaunMunroFilm or e-mail him at shaneo632 [at] gmail.com.