Anthony and Joe Russo slam The Academy for overlooking superhero movies, saying that they deserve the same level of recognition as non-comic films.
- Oct 28, 2014
AceShowbiz - Anthony and Joe Russo weigh in on the Oscar snub for comic book movies. Speaking to Deadline, the directors of highly-praised "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" who will next helm "Captain America 3" express their frustration that superhero movies are not getting the same level of award buzz as non-comic flicks.
"It's strange that the comic-book film genre is so often thought of only in terms of its economic merits," Joe said. "Yes, it's shockingly popular and continues to grow, and yes, the box office success of these films can often embarrassingly outweigh their merits, but as Christopher Nolan perhaps first proved, real and valuable filmmaking can be achieved with the genre."
"It's sad that some people, seemingly soured by having to endure the massive cultural presence and expectations that even mediocre or poor examples of the genre can generate, react by trying to reject the genre as a whole," he continued. "Snubbing comic book movies because of their ubiquity is akin to dismissing the Western as matinee fodder."
Joe went on, "I think you look at all those awards ceremonies, there's a whole process of advocacy for those awards, right? What is the value of the award (to Marvel)? And why should they spend the money required to go down that road? To create the box office? They already have the box office."
Anthony Russo chimed in, "It's a real movie, real filmmaking, and it has really high aspirations, in terms of what cinema can be and what it can do, and what our experience of it is. It has every intention on the part of the filmmakers to reach audiences on the deepest level."
Al Pacino and Heath Ledger are among the few actors who get Oscar nomination for comic-book role. They were nominated for Best Supporting Actor for 1990's "Dick Tracy" and 2008's "The Dark Knight" which was directed by Nolan.
