# Could/Should Harry Potter 7.5 be up for any Oscars next year? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 6, 2011, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-should-harry-potter-7-5-be-up-for-any-oscars-next-year/588039 "2011-07-06T15:02:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-should-harry-potter-7-5-be-up-for-any-oscars-next-year/588039/1 "2011-07-06T15:02:26Z")
Since these films seemed to be largely ignored by the academy (besides the technical awards) do you think they’ll finally be rewarded for the series finale? I’d love to see Alan Rickman get a best supporting actor award for his Snape portrayal that he’s been playing/perfecting for years. LOTR seemed to be ignored till the last film. Could the same happen with Deathly Hallows 2? ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-should-harry-potter-7-5-be-up-for-any-oscars-next-year/588039/2 "2011-07-06T15:17:01Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > LOTR seemed to be ignored till the last film. All three movies were nominated for Best Picture, and that was before the field was expanded from 5 to 10. Jackson was nominated for Best Director for the first and third movies, and Ian McKellan was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for the first. > [@](#): > > Could the same happen with Deathly Hallows 2? The same? No - because it won’t garner nearly as many nominations. It’ll get a Best Picture nod, simply because it’d be stupid to waste the opportunity to attract all of Potter fandom to watch the Academy Awards when you have 10 spots to fill. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-should-harry-potter-7-5-be-up-for-any-oscars-next-year/588039/3 "2011-07-06T16:13:11Z")
I still say Rickman should have won Best Supporting for the _first_ movie. And yet he was never even nominated. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-should-harry-potter-7-5-be-up-for-any-oscars-next-year/588039/4 "2011-07-06T16:44:48Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > The same? No - because it won’t garner nearly as many nominations. It’ll get a Best Picture nod, simply because it’d be stupid to waste the opportunity to attract all of Potter fandom to watch the Academy Awards when you have 10 spots to fill. The Academy did away with the new 10 picture rule they first instated several years ago. Now it will be an unknown amount of films between 5-10, depending on the quality of films released, precisely to circumvent the scenario you just mentioned where they end up picking what may be seen as “lesser” films just to fill 10 slots. So if they feel the year only justifies 5 or 6 nominees, they’ll just have 5 or 6, but if they feel there are many deserving films, they can nominate up to ten. And no one will even know how many will be chosen until the morning the nominations are announced. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-should-harry-potter-7-5-be-up-for-any-oscars-next-year/588039/5 "2011-07-06T16:52:24Z")
Interesting. I doubt it will dip below 10 at any point though - they don’t lose much by nominating a “lesser” film, simply because there is always a hue and cry about some such movie that deserved it and didn’t get nominated. Maxing out the 10 will always give the Academy an out (and attract more viewers). ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-should-harry-potter-7-5-be-up-for-any-oscars-next-year/588039/6 "2011-07-06T18:03:22Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > All three movies were nominated for Best Picture, and that was before the field was expanded from 5 to 10. Jackson was nominated for Best Director for the first and third movies, and Ian McKellan was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for the first. The series earned 32 cumulative nominations, with _Fellowship_ earning the most, with 13 (though _Return_ obviously won the most, with 11). > [@](#): > > It’ll get a Best Picture nod, simply because it’d be stupid to waste the opportunity to attract all of Potter fandom to watch the Academy Awards when you have 10 spots to fill. Not a chance. First of all, the Academy has changed its rules again, so that there are no longer 10 Picture nominees (though there is room for more than 5 who meet certain criteria). Essentially, 5% of the Academy membership have to name _Potter_ the Best Film of the Year on their ballots to even be in contention for a Picture nomination. This will not happen. Not a prayer in the world. If the series is so beloved by the craftsmen in Hollywood, why has it only earned 9 nominations over 7 films thus far? Because they may admire the cash cow it represents, but very few truly Love the films. Will the film be nominated? In a category or two (none of them have earned three since the first film), but they’ve already shown a disinclination to recognize the past installments (and I honestly can’t think of any film, year & category where it deserved to win anything), and that is not likely to change. With _Star Trek_ (the reboot) winning Best MakeUp recently, Potter is now the film franchise with the most nominations in movie history without a single win. I’m skeptical that 2011 will reverse this trend. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-should-harry-potter-7-5-be-up-for-any-oscars-next-year/588039/7 "2011-07-06T18:10:00Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Interesting. I doubt it will dip below 10 at any point though - they don’t lose much by nominating a “lesser” film, simply because there is always a hue and cry about some such movie that deserved it and didn’t get nominated. Maxing out the 10 will always give the Academy an out (and attract more viewers). The decision to select 10 or fewer is not an arbitrary one. It is based on numbers, a voting threshold. If only 7 films meet that numeric threshold, then that’s the number of Picture nominees. There is no industry calculus as to casting a wider net to be more inclusive of Popular Money-Maker X or Y. It is all based on individuals’ votes and how they tally in the long run. I don’t see many people voting for Potter because they “should” or because of “ratings” (a spurious proposition anyway); if they do vote for it, it’s because they like it a lot. But that number will be few and far-between. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-should-harry-potter-7-5-be-up-for-any-oscars-next-year/588039/8 "2011-07-07T01:15:28Z")
Could it be up for the ‘big’ Oscars? Of course it could. Stranger things have happened. After all, Mira Sorvino has an Oscar sitting on her “I Love Me” shelf at home. Should it be? Not the movie I saw. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-should-harry-potter-7-5-be-up-for-any-oscars-next-year/588039/9 "2011-07-07T01:25:06Z")
I think they’ve added a couple of categories. Maggie Smith will probably be nominated in the _Best Performance by an Old English Actress_ category unless Helen Mirren does something that gets her double nominated into that category as well as the new _Best Performance by Helen Mirren or Meryl Streep_ category. I think of all the performers Rickman is most likely but I doubt he’s very. Jason Isaacs is always good considering how hammy his character is, but I thought he was great in Deathly Hallows 1.0 in playing the combo of arrogance and terror and forced calm. His role may be a bit larger in the final one but probably won’t be enough for Oscar consideration. Radcliffe _should_ be nominated but I seriously doubt he will be. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-should-harry-potter-7-5-be-up-for-any-oscars-next-year/588039/10 "2011-07-07T02:33:56Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > After all, Mira Sorvino has an Oscar sitting on her “I Love Me” shelf at home. Should it be? Not the movie I saw. She got hers fo a Woody Allen flick–and he has the golden touch like few others when it comes to actors & Oscars. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-should-harry-potter-7-5-be-up-for-any-oscars-next-year/588039/11 "2011-07-07T07:52:51Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > Could it be up for the ‘big’ Oscars? Of course it could. Stranger things have happened. After all, Mira Sorvino has an Oscar sitting on her “I Love Me” shelf at home. Should it be? Not the movie I saw. You’ve seen it? It’s not on general release yet. That kinda makes it hard to predict how it’ll do in terms of Oscars. The story for the final film does focus a lot on Rickman and give him many opportunities to show off his acting chops, and he has been perfect as Snape through all the movies; unless he suddenly turns into a terrible actor, I’d say he’s got a good chance of a best supporting actor Oscar. The special effects team will be busy too, so, unless they mess up, they’re a likely nomination though perhaps not win. Same for make-up, costumes, other smaller artistic categories. It also depends what other films are released in the meantime. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-should-harry-potter-7-5-be-up-for-any-oscars-next-year/588039/12 "2011-07-07T15:21:22Z")
I thought 7.5 meant the first half. My bad. That said, it will need to be significantly better to be seriously considered. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-should-harry-potter-7-5-be-up-for-any-oscars-next-year/588039/13 "2011-07-07T16:18:47Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > The story for the final film does focus a lot on Rickman and give him many opportunities to show off his acting chops, and he has been perfect as Snape through all the movies; unless he suddenly turns into a terrible actor, I’d say he’s got a good chance of a best supporting actor Oscar. People said the exact same thing about Sean Astin based on the heavy duty nature of his role in _LOTR:ROTK_. But in the end? Nothing. The fact is that effects-heavy franchise films almost never get acting nods, and when they do (Alec Guinness, Ian McKellen, Sigourney Weaver, Johnny Depp), they’re always for the earlier installments. The Potter films have never been up for a major award (acting, writing, etc.) before. That’s not going to change now… ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-should-harry-potter-7-5-be-up-for-any-oscars-next-year/588039/14 "2011-07-07T17:16:29Z")
Yeah, I kind of doubt it, too, which is a shame, because Radcliffe and Rickman, in particular, have done very, very good work, and the SFX, costumes and cinematography have been first-rate. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-should-harry-potter-7-5-be-up-for-any-oscars-next-year/588039/15 "2011-07-07T18:25:09Z")
Stuart Craig and Stephanie McMillan have been nominated three times for their Art Direction & Set Decoration on the series. If anyone were to walk away w/an award, I’d hope it’d be them. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-should-harry-potter-7-5-be-up-for-any-oscars-next-year/588039/16 "2011-07-07T19:41:16Z")
I hope this isn’t considered thread-shitting, because, after all, the OP includes “\*Should \*HP 7.5 be up for any Oscars?”, but no, and because it probably won’t deserve any. I don’t think any of the first 7 movies deserved it, outside of technical/visual wonderfulness. The stories (especially starting with 4) don’t work well enough on their own, and I think (but don’t know, since I’ve read the books) they aren’t terribly appealing if you haven’t read the books. They seem really hurried a lot of the time. They’re OK movies, but not great movies. It is impressive that they cast Harry/Ron/Hermione/Draco at the ages of eleven/twelve, and they’ve all been decent actors throughout. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-should-harry-potter-7-5-be-up-for-any-oscars-next-year/588039/17 "2011-07-07T23:02:24Z")
> [@bup](#): > > They’re OK movies, but not great movies. I’m inclined to agree. I marathoned through the entire series last year in the week leading up to the most recent Harry Potter, since my girlfriend wanted to see the midnight showing and I hadn’t seen any at that point, and wanted to know what was going on. Aside from the 3rd movie, which I would argue as legitimately great, the rest (mostly) seemed very forgettable–the first two especially. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-should-harry-potter-7-5-be-up-for-any-oscars-next-year/588039/18 "2011-07-07T23:43:51Z")
> [@bup](#): > > I hope this isn’t considered thread-shitting, because, after all, the OP includes “\*Should \*HP 7.5 be up for any Oscars?”, but no, and because it probably won’t deserve any. > > I don’t think any of the first 7 movies deserved it, outside of technical/visual wonderfulness. The stories (especially starting with 4) don’t work well enough on their own, and I think (but don’t know, since I’ve read the books) they aren’t terribly appealing if you haven’t read the books. They seem really hurried a lot of the time. > > They’re OK movies, but not great movies. > > It is impressive that they cast Harry/Ron/Hermione/Draco at the ages of eleven/twelve, and they’ve all been decent actors throughout. A big “me, too” on this. I’ve seen every _Harry Potter_ movie in the theater and plan to do the same for part 7b…but I’ve never seen any of them _again_ and don’t really have any desire to. I wouldn’t consider any of them a great movie in its own right, so unless 2011 turns out to be a pretty grim year in terms of quality films then I don’t think the last _Harry Potter_ is going to deserve any of the big awards. Technical/artistic awards, sure, but probably not anything else. I could believe a Best Supporting Actor for Rickman, but I don’t think it’s likely.