Thursday Theoretical Oscar Category

Welcome to a new weekly feature here at Movies With Abe. In my love for everything Oscar, it’s always fun to speculate on who or what might have been included given different circumstances. Though there are twenty-four fields recognized on Oscar night, that still neglects a handful of key players. As a result, I’d like to take a look each week at imagined categories, and who or what might have benefited from their existence.

The category: Best Trailer

Why it should exist: This is an already an AFT Award category, designed to recognize movies that look the best from the outset in a theatrical trailer. My choices don’t fully jive with Oscar voters’, but the main thing that could be achieved with this category is to reward films with Oscar pedigree that don’t end up being Oscar-caliber. There are awards for short films and editing; this is a masterful and appetizing combination of both.

Why it doesn’t exist: A trailer is not a complete film, feature-length or short subject, and as a result it’s a strange thing to honor. It might also be too disparate from the rest of the awards which recognize concrete excellence in production, and trailers are often so disconnected from, and unlike, the movies themselves. Also, are teasers eligible too? It would be a cool inclusion, but I can’t imagine it ever being given out.

Who might have been nominated the past five years:
2011: The Artist, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Tree of Life, War Horse
2010: 127 Hours, Black Swan, Inception, The Social Network, True Grit
2009: Inglourious Basterds, Invictus, The Lovely Bones, Nine, Up
2008: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Dark Knight, Doubt, Revolutionary Road, The Wrestler
2007: American Gangster, Atonement, Juno, Michael Clayton, There Will Be Blood

Who do you think might have been nominated?