Despite 'Best Picture' Snub, DREAMGIRLS Still Manages to Make Oscars History

[CapnHook]

Posted: 1/23/07 at 9:34pm

[EDITORIAL NOTE: Thank you to everyone for your PMs and e-mails regarding the status of MovieMusicals.net. If you had visited in the past week, you'll have noticed we have a "coming soon" page up with our new logo. The Site WILL be live then! Thank you for your support.]

Despite 'Best Picture' Snub, DREAMGIRLS Still Manages to Make Oscars History
January 23, 2007
by Andrew Hartman, MovieMusicals.net

When the Academy Award nominations were announced this morning, what was making news headlines across the country weren't the five films that got nominated for "Best Picture," but the one that [i]didn't[/i]. The ones that did: "Babel," "The Departed," "Letters From Iwo Jima," "Little Miss Sunshine," and "The Queen." The one that didn't: "Dreamgirls."

Yes, it's true. You weren't having a nightmare, it actually happened. What was generally thought to be the front-runner since twenty minutes of the film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival eight months ago, "Dreamgirls" didn't make the cut.

When Regis Philbin announced the news on his talk show, "Live With Regis & Kelly," a loud gasp was heard from the studio audience. A gasp that was heard around the world as more news outlets began to spread the word. The headline on CNN.com reads "'Dreamgirls': Where did Oscar's love go?"

The Academy also didn't recognize Bill Condon for his direction nor for the screenplay he adapted from the original stage production. They did, however, give "Dreamgirls" eight other nominations, making it the most-nominated film of the year.

Eddie Murphy and Jennifer Hudson earned a nomination each for their supporting roles; John Myhre (Production Designer), Tomas Voth (Supervising Art Director), and Nancy Haigh (Set Decorator) were nominated for the Art Direction category; Sharen Davis received a nod for her costume design; Willie Burton (Production Sound Mixer), Michael Minkler, C.A.S. and Bob Beemer (Re-Recording Mixers) were nominated for Best Sound Mixing; and composer Henry Krieger's three new songs, "Listen," "Love You I Do," and "Patience" were all nominated for Best Song.

This is the first time a film has garnered the most nominations without being nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Writing - making Oscar history.

"Dreamgirls" may not be a Best Picture contender, but Paramount and the Condon-led team have much to celebrate. Not only is the film the leader in the nomination count, but Henry Krieger also has the most nominations of the year (three). The film has already won three Golden Globe awards (Best Film - Comedy, or Musical; Murphy for Supporting Actor; and Hudson for Supporting Actress) and was nominated at the PGAs, DGAs, SAGs. Jennifer Hudson was also honored by the National Board of Review as Best Female Breakthrough Performance, among several other accolades. Did we, too, yet mention that so far "Dreamgirls" has grossed nearly $78 million at the box office and that its soundtrack is at the top of the Billboard charts?

"Dreamgirls" may not be taking home a golden statue for Best Picture, but in so many other ways, it has already been honored.

It is expected that Beyonce Knowles and Jennifer Hudson will perform the nominated songs they sung in the film when the Oscars are awarded live, February 25 8ET/PT, on ABC. It is not yet known if Eddie Murphy or Anika Noni Rose will perform their duet, "Patience."

For more information on the Oscars and a complete nominations list, visit Oscars.org.

Updated On: 1/23/07 at 09:34 PM

[rickgianatos]

Posted: 1/23/07 at 9:42pm

Although the Best Picture and Director snubs are a disappointment, I am thrilled that 3 great songs are nominated after years when the song choices left me in the desert looking for a drink .... [think Eminem]! One's GOT to win! I'm hoping Siedah Garrett's "I Love You, I Do" gets it, but I won't argue if "Patience" or "Listen" win!!!

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 1/23/07 at 9:44pm

Just watched Little Miss Sunshine which I assume was the movie picked over Dreamgirls

I have to ask the Academy voters. What were they thinking? Sunshine is minor fluff that is not in the same class as Dreamgirls

Well, the Departed & Iwo Jima have one less nominee to worry about

[CapnHook]

Posted: 1/23/07 at 9:49pm

Henry Krieger is the most nominated man of the year!

Mr Roxy, I don't want to shift the discussion to a "why it didn't get a nod?" (see Oscar Announcement thread in off-topic forum). I'll just say that many Oscar strategists says LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA pushed DREAMGIRLS back to get a nod, not LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 1/23/07 at 9:55pm

Isn't three songs being nominated from the same film also some type of record? Has this ever happened before?

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 1/23/07 at 10:02pm

Disney's Beauty and the Beast also had three Best Song nods -- "Be Our Guest," "Belle" and the title song which ended up winning.

[CapnHook]

Posted: 1/23/07 at 10:11pm

THE LION KING also had 3 in 1994: Circle of Life, Hakuna Matata, and Can You Feel The Love Tonight?

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 1/23/07 at 10:13pm

Yeah - it was Iwo Jima (which was the stronger of the 2 films). Little Miss Sunshine, arguably the feel-good film of the year, was pretty much a lock, especially since it took off faster than the VW bus.

The reason Iwo Jima was a surprise - as 95% of the film was done in Japanese, it was nominated for a best foreign film Golden Globe (and won). It was later ruled that it wasn't a foreign film (it was filmed on American soil).

That said, Dreamgirls, in my opinion, was a very good film. Very good, though, is not "Best Film of 2006."

...that goes to Notes on a Scandal, but nobody who counts cares about my opinion.
Updated On: 1/23/07 at 10:13 PM

[suzycat]

Posted: 1/23/07 at 10:15pm

I hate to be that girl, but it's "Philbin" not "Philban." :)

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 1/23/07 at 10:17pm

LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE is far, far better than DREAMGIRLS.

And LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE didn't get DREAMGIRLS' slot, IWO JIMA did.

Is DREAMGIRLS really the first movie to get the most noms without a best picture nom? I thought it wasn't?

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 1/23/07 at 10:19pm

No, Munk - it is.

[TonyaFanatic]

Posted: 1/23/07 at 10:19pm

I hate to be that girl, but get a life

[StageManager2]

Posted: 1/23/07 at 10:29pm

To whom are you referring, Tonya?

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 1/23/07 at 10:35pm

Thought United 93 was better than Sunshine but each to his own opinion

I hope Scorcese finally gets an oscar for direction & O Toole gets it for best actor

[wickedfan]

Posted: 1/23/07 at 10:36pm

Though no Best Picture nod, I'm still somewhat satisfied with Dreamgirls' Oscar results. However, I really don't think that The Queen deserved an Oscar nod. Helen Mirren, yes, the film itself, not so much.

[Dibbledl01]

Posted: 1/23/07 at 10:40pm

I agree, United 93 never got the recognition it deserves, and I'm still grieving over the lack of noms and just general respect "Bobby" received from Hollywood. Estevez put his heart and soul into the film, his own story of how he came to make it is amazing, and the film was simply breathtaking. I've had enough of this popularity contest within the academies, sorry "Dreamgirls", but enough is enough.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 1/23/07 at 10:45pm

I didn't see it, but the most astute synopsis of BOBBY came from an acquaintance who said, "it was like The Love Boat, only in a hotel." Estevez may have put his heart and soul into it, but when the film is titled "BOBBY," let him be a character who actually appears for longer than what I've heard was about 10 minutes of press reel.

I know that in the days of yore characters were introduced late in the game to build suspense - Iceman Cometh, being a great example, but BOBBY just sounded ridiculous.

[Dibbledl01]

Posted: 1/23/07 at 10:51pm

well then don't bother commenting if you didn't see it...that's all

and the movie was not made to reveal Bobby at all, it was entirely about the people and the nation he touched, occured on the day he was shot, and was meant to portray the tragedy of his death,

...but again...you didn't see it.....
Updated On: 1/23/07 at 10:51 PM

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 1/23/07 at 10:53pm

1st Amendment.

Notice how I wasn't bashing the film. My bashing the film would have been "it was the worst movie ever, everything was horrible, Estevez is a hack, etc." I said along the lines of "the premise sounded ridiculous."

[SDav 10495]

Posted: 1/23/07 at 10:54pm

Somewhat in the snub vein (though not quite, as "snub" implies "had a chance")...did anyone happen to hear any buzz whatsoever about "The History Boys" film this season? I realize now that I never even heard it mentioned in any round-ups of good 2006 films. I was never expecting any actual awards consideration--its marketing and release were very poor, and its major strengths were writing and acting, both of which were much awarded at the Tonys and would never have gotten the same chance come Oscar time. Even so, plenty of deserving films--"Children of Men" has been brought up a lot today--have been ignored by the Academy but at least have been mentioned by critics come Oscar season. I thought "The History Boys" was at least worthy of that. Though it wasn't exactly visionary (as more of a "filmed stage production" it's not in the same league of movies that the Academy recognizes), I'm surprised that I never heard so much as a peep about it from a single critic after the initial reviews came out. A good number of those initial reviews were great, and I thought it was easily two of the most worthwhile hours I've spent in a movie theater in a long time.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 1/23/07 at 10:55pm

History Boys died and wide release was scrapped....like The Producers. It didn't translate.

[CapnHook]

Posted: 1/23/07 at 10:57pm

THE HISTORY BOYS made it into the Top 10 Films by THE NATIONAL BOARD OF REVIEW. Not surprising, since the NBR would do that.

That's it.

There was buzz very early on for Richard Griffiths and also Adapted Screenplay. But the film got lost in a very busy awards season. It didn't even get a nation-wide release. Only limited. They chose not to go forward with an Oscar campaign and basically abandoned the film.

IMHO, they made the right move. Which is a sad shame.

[Dibbledl01]

Posted: 1/23/07 at 11:03pm

that's unbelievable, I knew they made the film but I NEVER came across any coverage, not even a review of it. what a shame....

[SDav 10495]

Posted: 1/23/07 at 11:15pm

THE HISTORY BOYS made it into the Top 10 Films by THE NATIONAL BOARD OF REVIEW. Not surprising, since the NBR would do that.

That's it.

Well that's something, I suppose.

that's unbelievable, I knew they made the film but I NEVER came across any coverage, not even a review of it. what a shame....

I try to follow movie openings in the New York area, and even I had no idea it had been released until a few weeks after the release date. The only press I ever happened to come across before the opening was a mention in Playbill this summer and some links to the posters here on BWW. After that, the only things I've seen (other than reviews I've sought out) are little ads where it sponsors articles on the New York Times site. Oh well. As I said, it's nothing remarkable as a piece of cinema, but it's something so many more people should have seen.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 1/23/07 at 11:18pm

I believe it's still playing in Manhattan, one 12th/5th.