海角大神

The summer blockbuster 鈥淢ad Max: Fury Road鈥� continues to look like a serious awards season contender, with 鈥淢ax鈥� scoring a best picture nomination for the Critics鈥� Choice Awards alongside such heavy hitters as 鈥淪potlight鈥� and 鈥淏rooklyn.鈥澛�

The other movies to earn best picture nods from the Critics鈥� Choice Awards are 鈥淭he Revenant,鈥� 鈥淩oom,鈥� 鈥淪icario,鈥� 鈥淏ridge of Spies,鈥� 鈥淭he Big Short,鈥� 鈥淐arol,鈥� and 鈥淭he Martian.鈥� Most of these movies are ones that have gotten nods at pre-Oscars awards already like the Golden Globes or the Screen Actors Guild Awards, though 鈥淪icario鈥� got a needed boost from these nominations.聽

"Max" got the most Critics' Choice Awards nominations total.

Among these Critics鈥� Choice Awards nominees, 鈥淢ax鈥� stands out like a sore thumb. Most of the movies are either dramas about serious contemporary issues (鈥淪potlight,鈥� 鈥淪icario,鈥� 鈥淭he Big Short鈥�) or historical films (鈥淭he Revenant,鈥� 鈥淐arol,鈥� 鈥淏rooklyn,鈥� 鈥淏ridge of Spies鈥�), genres that are normal Oscar fare.

鈥淢artian鈥� stands out a bit but it echoes the success of 鈥淕ravity,鈥� the 2013 science fiction movie that was viewed a serious contender for the Best Picture prize. In addition, it鈥檚 directed by Ridley Scott, a director who鈥檚 found success with the Academy before, earning nominations for such movies as 鈥淕ladiator鈥� and 鈥淏lack Hawk Down.鈥� And it鈥檚 a story set in space but also in our own time like 鈥淕ravity鈥� or past Oscar contenders like 1995鈥檚 鈥淎pollo 13.鈥澛�

The familiar world depicted in 鈥淢artian鈥� is a far cry from that of 鈥淢ax,鈥� which takes place in a dystopian world where water is a precious commodity, violence is commonplace, and people survive by battling in their cars.聽

No traditional sci-fi movie has ever taken Best Picture, but a fantasy movie has 鈥� the 2003 film 鈥淭he Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King鈥� became the first (and to date only) in the genre to take the award.聽

Could 鈥淢ax鈥� duplicate that success?聽

The two have some factors in common. The movies were both blockbusters and both were the newest in a series. Both tell stories of people dreaming of a better world, with the 鈥淜ing鈥� characters trying to take down a villain and the people in 鈥淢ax鈥� trying to make it to a green oasis.聽

鈥淢ax鈥� will most likely have more competition. 鈥淜ing鈥� won Best Picture in a year when there were still only five nominees. Now between five and 10 films can be nominated. The Academy has tended towards the larger side of that spectrum in the past, with eight movies being nominated last year.

It was believed that part of the reason the Academy expanded the field was to give more crowd-pleasing movies a chance to get a nomination (the announcement came after 2008鈥檚 鈥淭he Dark Knight鈥� and 鈥淲ALL-E鈥� failed to get nominations for Best Picture, which prompted an outcry). This expanded roster gives a movie like 鈥淢ax鈥� more of a chance to get a nod.

Whether it increases its chances to win, however, is a different question. While each movie and its Oscar chances are of course different, an animated movie like 鈥淯p鈥� or a crowd-pleasing movie like 鈥淚nception鈥� still hasn鈥檛 taken the prize despite this expansion.聽

As for the chances of 鈥淢ax鈥� in comparison to 鈥淜ing鈥� winning, the 鈥淩ings鈥� series had a history of acclaim from the Academy. The two previous films, 鈥淭he Fellowship of the Ring鈥� and 鈥淭he Two Towers,鈥� had both been nominated for Best Picture.聽

This is the first time a 鈥淢ax鈥� movie will get a nomination, if it does. 鈥淢ax鈥� director George Miller has discussed a sequel. Perhaps the Academy will wait to see what Miller can do in the future with this fictional universe rather than give 鈥淢ax鈥� the statuette immediately.