As we reflect on the glory (or the tedium) of the 82nd Academy Awards, here's an imaginary visit to a Hollywood where movie posters live up to the high standards of truth in advertising:

These are part of great collection cooked up by the jokers at College Humor, you should check out the entire gallery right here...

And this one may be my favorite of the fanboy-leaning films in the mocking collection... 

-- Geoff Boucher

 Images: CollegeHumor.com

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"Avatar" has become the highest grossing movie of all time, surpassing the Oscar-winning film "Titanic." Will "Avatar" make a big mark on Oscar night too?  We talked earlier to Rebecca Keegan, the author of "The Futurist: The Life and Films of James Cameron," and here she weighs in on why this could be the year a science-fiction film wins the Oscar for best picture. -- Jevon Phillips

Slasher films, pot comedies, anything starring The Rock -- there are some movies that no one expects to win Academy Awards. And traditionally, Oscar's no-fly list has included science fiction. Academy Award-winning films are supposed to be serious, weighty, historical -- if your movie takes place in a galaxy far, far away, well, you can leave your tuxedo in the closet until it's time to accept a somewhat less prestigious prize shaped like a rocket ship.

This year, however, is looking like a breakthrough year for sci-fi, as the alien vehicles "Avatar," "District 9" and "Star Trek" have earned critical praise and accolades from the industry groups that tend to foreshadow Oscar nominations. Thanks to a convergence of factors, including the expansion of the best picture category from five movies to 10, the ascendance of the post-"Star Wars" generation in Hollywood and the imposing box office success of James Cameron's "Avatar," this Rodney Dangerfield of movie genres looks like it may finally win some respect come Oscar time.

"The academy has always thought of sci-fi as a secondary type of exploitation film," says Roger Corman, who was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Oscar in November, in large part for his role in producing the low-budget sci-fi films that gave directors like Cameron their start. "They're only beginning to realize that there is seriousness and depth within the genre."

A sci-fi film has never won best picture, and to a certain generation of Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences members the genre is still the ignoble territory of the drive-in, the rubber suit, the B actor. In 1968, influential film critic Pauline Kael called Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" "a monumentally unimaginative movie. . . . If big film directors are to get credit for doing badly what others have been doing brilliantly for years with no money, just because they've put it on the big screen, then businessmen are greater than poets and theft is art." It seems many in the academy agreed with Kael's dismissal of "2001," because Kubrick's now iconic film earned only one Oscar, for its special effects, and was not nominated for best picture.

The academy primarily rewards sci-fi in its technical categories, as it must, since so much of cinema's innovation comes from artists depicting alien worlds and futuristic wars. But after years of largely ignoring the genre in its other categories, Hollywood was virtually forced to acknowledge sci-fi in 1977. "The academy had to admit that there was this 800-pound gorilla in the room and that was 'Star Wars,' " says John Scalzi, author of "The Rough Guide to Sci-Fi Movies." An undeniable cultural phenomenon, "Star Wars" was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, including best picture, but lost to the cerebral comedy "Annie Hall." At the 1982 Oscars, another sci-fi gorilla, Steven Spielberg's "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial," lost to "Gandhi," a three-hour Richard Attenborough-directed biopic of a beloved historical figure -- in other words, a made-for-Oscar film. In his acceptance speech, Attenborough demurred the honor, saying, "I was certain that not only would 'E.T.' win, but that it should win. It was inventive, powerful [and] wonderful."

Perhaps the biggest impediment to sci-fi's acceptance at Oscar time has been actors. With actors accounting for the largest branch of the academy (1,300 out of the body's 5,800 members), a genre that showcases ideas rather than performances is at a disadvantage. Only a handful of actors have ever been nominated for a sci-fi performance -- Alec Guinness for playing the sage Obi-Wan Kenobi in "Star Wars,"  Sigourney Weaver for the role of intrepid space heroine Ellen Ripley in "Aliens," her last pairing with director Cameron before this season's "Avatar."

"If you're just shooting ray zappers and ducking at other people shooting at you, then you're not going to get a nomination any more than the actors doing the same thing in a western did," says academy Executive Director Bruce Davis.

Even films with sci-fi premises, like "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," with its erased memory story line (and for which Kate Winslet was nominated), are often categorized more simply as dramas.  "There's a cognitive bias against sci-fi," Scalzi says. "In that, if it's good, it can't possibly be sci-fi."

But the demographics of the academy, like the demographics of Hollywood, are changing. New academy members in 2009 included young actors like Michael Cera, who wasn't even born when "E.T." hit theaters. For young Hollywood, sci-fi has been big-budget entertainment their whole lives. "New generations maintain their early interests and passions," Davis says. "They may think of 'Star Wars' as an old classic."

There have been recent signs the academy is inching toward an embrace of sci-fi. The awarding of best picture and a record-tying 10 other Oscars to Peter Jackson's 2003 adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" signaled a softening toward fantastical movies -- albeit ones with a literary pedigree. Last year, Warner Bros. mounted a best picture campaign for Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight," a comic book movie that shares some of sci-fi's DNA. For the academy, which has been concerned in recent years with the shrinking audience for its award show's telecast, having a box office hit like "Dark Knight" in the mix was attractive.

But despite earning widespread critical praise and eight nominations in other categories, Nolan's film couldn't crack the top 5 for best picture. "Dark Knight's" omission prompted a hue and cry in some corners of Hollywood and helped motivate the academy's expansion of the category last June. "We wanted to give certain kinds of films more of a chance," Davis says. "Not just sci-fi, but we would love it if we found room for an animated film or two or a documentary."

Sci-fi may be just what the Oscars need. In Hollywood's current, risk-averse environment, it's hard to imagine a studio green-lighting a film as lavish and elaborate as "Gone With the Wind" or "Ben-Hur" -- the kind of grand, epic movies that have historically lent the ceremony glamour and mass appeal. Science fiction has become the last refuge of epic filmmaking and "Avatar," with its heroic, blue-skinned characters, sprawling story set on the alien moon Pandora and extravagant, 3-D spectacle, is closer to Scarlett's Tara or Ben-Hur's chariot race than any of its competition. The blockbuster is also, as everyone from the Vatican's film critic to the U.S. Marine Corps' newspaper has pointed out, stuffed with allegories about war, the environment and spirituality. For academy members who have long considered sci-fi kids' stuff, it's hard to deny that Cameron's film has given adults plenty to think about. And as it closes in on the box office record, and having taken best dramatic motion picture and best director at the Golden Globes this month, "Avatar" is emerging as a best picture front-runner.

Neill Blomkamp's "District 9" too is rich with political metaphor. A faux documentary about crustacean-like aliens who make their home in a hostile South Africa, "District 9" earned a best picture nomination from the Producers Guild of America and screenplay nods from the Golden Globes and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. As a sleeper hit with a pointed message about xenophobia, "District 9" gives academy voters a chance to acknowledge the art and the business of moviemaking. Even "Star Trek," J.J. Abrams' slick rebooting of the ultimate geek franchise, has earned love from both the producers and writers guilds. There is, apparently, room this awards season for a popcorn film that simply does what it's supposed to do -- entertain.

It's safe to say that none of these directors set out to make Oscar-bait movies or they surely would have chosen more earthly stories to tell. But if multiple sci-fi films are nominated for best picture this year, or if one wins, it will be a landmark for the genre.

"I felt I was being accepted to a club I never thought would accept me," Corman says of receiving his Oscar last fall at age 83. "I just never thought it would happen." Not in this galaxy anyway.

-- Rebecca Keegan

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Photos: Neytiri of "Avatar" (top) receiving an Oscar, Alex Gross / For The Times; "Star Wars," 20th Century Fox; Gertie (Drew Barrymore) with E.T. in "E.T," Bruce McBroom / Universal Studios; "District 9," TriStar Pictures.

NEILL BLOMKAMP INTERVIEW: PART 3

"District 9" got a best-picture nomination from the Producers Guild Assn., it was announced Tuesday, and the sci-fi film remains a wild card in the awards season. That's music to the ears of Neill Blomkamp, the director who put himself on the map with the intriguing sci-fi tale based in his native South Africa. Here's Part 3 of my interview with Blomkamp, whom I sat down with during his recent visit to Los Angeles. We began this segment by talking about casting and Blomkamp's enthusiasm for using lesser-known actors such as Sharlto Copley, the "District 9" star photographed below (on the left) with the director. (This Part 3 of the interview; read Part 1 here and Part 2 here.)

GB: What did the "District 9" experience teach you about casting?

NB: I'm not particularly interested in working with movie stars. It depends on where you come from, I suppose. Why are you making films? The reason I want make films is because they convey ideas. I think some directors make films because they want to hang out with movie stars and be part of Hollywood. They want to be a star themselves. I'm not interested in that at all. I think the reason you use an actor is if they are right for the role. Most of the high-profile stars tend to be good actors. That's probably what led to their fame. So if they are right for the movie, you can certainly use them. But I don't want to, not at all. Stardom and Hollywood overpower the ideas and the film. That being said, it's hard finding very good performers who aren't well-known.

GB: So how do you compensate for that? Will you seek out actors from the stage?

NB: I have thought of that. I have one idea for the lead guy [for the next film] that I actually haven't told to anybody yet because it's been brewing in the back of my head. Everybody knows him but not really as a star. I think that would fine. It's a situation where people are benefiting from an unusual pairing with the material. But I'm not interested in putting big-name movie stars into my movies.

GB: So it's not the familiarity of the face that bothers you, it's the physics of stardom and Hollywood.

NB: Yeah exactly. That's it. I don't want egos and personalities on the set that make it more difficult to make the film. I don't want people who take the focus away from the movie and the ideas behind the movie.

GB: Considering that stance and what you've said about the Hollywood machine, is it uncomfortable for you to promote your movie with an eye toward it as an awards season contender?

NB: A little bit. Sony has kind of pushed for awards and, really, if I feel like people are watching the film because they are interested in the film, then it's fine. I'm fine with that. But if I feel even remotely like I'm being asked to be a salesman, I have a problem.

GB: It's an interesting era right now with Facebook, Twitter and blogs and, more than that, this whole cross-platform approach to public life. There's an expectation of unfettered promotion and the marketing of self.

NB: I don't like it. I don't like it at all. I like where we're going with technology and global integration but the fact that corporations and dollars rule everything in our lives, I don't like it. This isn't the Hollywood I wanted to be part of. This isn't the version of it that I saw when I was a kid..."District 9" and every other movie is treated like fast food. It's promoted relentlessly and then it's gone. Everything is a flamethrower-intensity and milked for everything it can give and then it's just chucked away. Everything is judged instantly, too. You look back at something like "Blade Runner" and wonder how a film like that, which doesn't do well at first, would be treated today.

GB: There's been interest in taking "District 9" on past the film either as a sequel, a television show or a video game. At this point, what's your view on those pursuits? You would have a say, yes?

NB: I definitely have input into it. Ultimately the person with the most control is Peter [Jackson, producer of "District 9"], but I for sure would have some influence over whether that happens or not. I play a lot of video games. The idea of "District 9" as a video game stresses me out a little bit because games based on movies rarely work. And movies based on games don't work -- I don't know what's up with that.

GB: Well, wait, if you were going to direct "Halo," why were you going to make a video-game film if they don't work? You thought you were the guy that could make it work?

NB: Yeah, totally, that's exactly why. But anyway, "District 9" as a game would be fascinating. And I don't want to see it happen for any sort of corporate reason or profit thing. I used to be involved in computer graphics and I love virtual environments. That's why I like video games, really. And I think a virtual environment of the slums of Soweto is an appealing idea to me. The weapons are cool, too. I photographed the film in a way that isn't that different than video-game perspective in some parts. So a game would be interesting to me. There's nothing happening with it though.

GB: What about a spin-off TV series or a film sequel?

NB: A television show I wouldn't really want to do. That would be…well, I just don't want to do that. But a sequel might be interesting. I know what I'm doing next so it wouldn't be right away. But the concept of aliens in Johannesburg is such an appealing idea to me and the issues of race and how they meet. All of the things that I had going on with it. I wouldn't mind messing around with it again. I'm open to it if the story works and there's a reason to do it. And [Copley's character] Wikus is so funny to me, I'm very interested in a sort of passive racist like that. If you go forward [with his story beyond "District 9"] it's more of a traditional film but if you go backward I'd be intrigued in that. I'm not so interested in aliens coming back and blowing things up but [a prequel] might be interesting.

GB: "District 9" was very much of a place. The story and texture of the film were defined by South Africa. For your next film, would go to other locales or would you root the film in your home country again?

NB: The setting for the next film takes place 150 years from now. There are two cities that I'm choosing between. They would play as themselves. They are not in South Africa. The success of "District 9" has made things a lot easier. I can get other things made. The thing I won't forget though is that you're really only as good as your last film. The whole flavor-the-week thing -- that’s how Hollywood works. If I screw up the next one it will be like I never made "District 9." I’m totally aware of that. It can all disappear in 30 seconds.
 

READ PART 1: 'District 9' director says no to Hollywood: 'I don't want to do high-budget films'  

READ PART 2: Blomkamp's future? Think 'Black Hawk Down' and...Monty Python?

-- Geoff Boucher

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Top photos: Sharlto Copley, left, and director Neil Blomkamp pose on the red carpet for photographers before the screening of the film "District 9" during the 35th International Film Festival in Deauville, France. Credit: Daniel Joubert / EPA. Middle and bottom photos: Scenes from "District 9." Credit: TriStar

NEILL BLOMKAMP INTERVIEW: PART 2

Neill Blomkamp established himself as a filmmaker to watch in 2009 with "District 9," a film that wrapped satire, social commentary and gripping action within a sci-fi tale that looked far more expensive than its $30-million budget. I sat down with Blomkamp in downtown Los Angeles recently to talk about his future, both short-term and long-term. It was clear that science fiction is his focus, but he also spoke like a restless director who is also intrigued by films of combat and even comedy. (This is Part 2 of the interview, you can read Part 1 right here. Check back for Part 3 tomorrow.)

GB: What’s next for you?

NB: I know what I’m doing now. QED paid for “District 9” and Bill Block the producer put it together. And now MRC is another finance group and they’re putting together the cash for my next film based on a treatment I wrote. I had the idea in my head for about a year. I wrote it within a month of finishing “District 9,” so July or something I suppose, or May. It was May. So I wrote it in May and I sent it to them and they agreed to do it. So now I’m writing.

GB: What can you tell me about it, if anything?

NB: Not much. I’m trying to keep it to myself at this point. But it is science fiction and it has many sociopolitical ideas that interest me. Those ideas are wrapped up inside something that is like a Hollywood action film,

GB: It’s interesting – most directors in your position would have sought a bigger budget at this point, especially if they wanted their next film to be an action or special-effects film. You have a different plan. Could you talk more about that?

NB: I’ve been offered films – a lot of films, in fact – with seriously high budgets, and I’ve turned them all down. The reason is exactly what you said earlier: Once the budgets get bigger, you can’t do what you want as a director, unless you’re Peter Jackson or James Cameron. And even then, the pressure is still on the filmmaker. Even if the studio isn’t clamping down on you, all the pressure is on the director. And if you screw that up, the jeopardy situation is even worse. The way you don’t get yourself in that jeopardy situation is by making films that aren’t as risky financially. I just want to make films that have enough of a budget to pull off high-level imagery but also have a budget that is low enough that I can do what I want.

GB: So you want the risks to be creative ones, not commercial ones. There are many filmmakers who take a course like that for an entire career – John Sayles springs to mind – but I suppose the interesting thing is that visual effects are reaching a price point where you can make smaller sci-fi movies that look big.

NB: This next movie will cost more than “District 9” but it will cost much, much less than the big summer films. You can do a lot for less now. It’s all about process, too. If go into it knowing what you want to accomplish, you can save money. If you go into it trying to figure out what you want, it’s going to cost a lot of money. The other aspect is trimming it down. It’s like a diet. Instead of 2,000 effects shots, you can probably do with 1,000. Those kinds of sacrifices are worth it if you get to make something that is not in any way generic.

GB: There can be an interesting freedom in the restrictions, too, even though that sounds contradictory. If you look at “Jaws” and “Alien,” the limitations on the visual effects led to ingenuity and better films. And there are many films today that go wild with visual effects and it leads to entirely forgettable films.

NB: It’s so true. From a pure audience perspective, it may yield a more interesting result. Think of “Alien,” if they made it now you would probably get “Alien vs. Predator.”

GB: Do you expect to pursue mostly sci-fi projects as you go forward from here?

NB: Science fiction interests me massively. There are two reasons for that. There are loads of sociopolitical, racial, class and future-planet situations that really interest me, but I’m not really interested in making a film about them in a film that feels like reality because people view that in a different way. I like using science fiction to talk about subjects through the veneer of science fiction. The other reason is I’m like a total visual kid. I grew up as an artist. Science fiction allows for design and creatures and guns and all the stuff that I like as well. So I think most of the films I make, I’m sure, will be in that category. But I can also see myself making a film like “Black Hawk Down” and I could also totally do horror. Science fiction and horror, that right there is my optimum. I can see myself doing out-there comedy like Monty Python, absolutely, I would love that. Seriously.

GB: What films have you liked recently?

NB: My favorite film of the year was “The Hurt Locker.” I really loved it. I really liked “Inglourious Basterds” a lot. One of my favorites recently was “Let the Right One In.” The way it’s put together. I love that film. The fact that they’re making an American version, that’s part of everything I’ve been saying about Hollywood. Why not just watch the real one? Do we need a remake of that film now? They’re remaking “Oldboy” too. I don’t understand it.

GB: Peter Jackson was a key part of your success story to date. How would you describe your relationship with him at this point?

NB: The relationship is a good one but he’s very, very busy. I’ve been in very limited contact with him really. When I was making the film I talked to him all the time, of course, but now it’s hard. The guy has more films on the go than anyone I know. It’s amazing. We do sparse e-mail – it’s a combination of his attention and my attention is going away from “District 9.” Things are good but it’s not easy to keep in touch.

GB: When you reflect on your time working with him, can you point to some things you learned from him, either specific things or perhaps more philosophical things?

NB: He’s a nice person. He’s a generous and very likable guy. I enjoyed working with him. I think I can talk about some of the general, overall things I took away from it. My process, typically, is to work within parameters. I kind of like that. I like knowing what the game is and figuring out moves based on that. What I mean is I like knowing the number of shooting days, I like knowing the script is locked, the budget is set – I like knowing all of those factors aren’t going to change. Peter’s process is the other way around. His process seems like very pure creativity so budgets change and duration of shoots are very fluid and there are rewrites. His mind doesn’t fall into a state of “I’ve been creative and now I’m executing this way.” His mind is in the creative state throughout. It’s constant. His approach is 180 degrees away from mine. What it yields is an environment of hyper-creativity. No matter how much stress it’s going to produce on the production or the crew, if it’s the right idea for the movie he’s going to do it. It can be all of a sudden saying, “I don’t want to film in L.A. Now I want to film in New York.” So if I had to sum up what he taught me it would be that spirit. He taught me not to be so buttoned-down about how to go about making a movie

GB: It sounds like the difference between a marching band and a jazz band.

NB: Totally. It’s very interesting to think about. He’s got a very fluid focus. I actually can’t get away with that right now. You have to be a very successful world-class filmmaker to get away with it, so I can’t get away with that. But it’s a good lesson. I also like that he doesn’t get flustered. I don’t either, really, but he is very, very calm. He doesn’t get worked up about situations. You look for solutions.

Check back for Part 3 of the interview tomorrow.

-- Geoff Boucher

READ PART 1: 'District 9' director says no to Hollywood: 'I don't want to do high-budget films'  

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CREDITS: Neill Blomkamp portrait by Spencer Weiner / Los Angeles Times. "District 9" image from TriStar Pictures. Producer Peter Jackson, actor Sharlto Copley and director Blomkamp at Comic-Con International from Getty Images.