Oscar night for movie buffs is like the World Series for baseball lovers, but after the Academy Awards Sunday, some felt like Red Sox fans watching the Yankees take the trophy yet again.
"It was entirely predictable," said Maureen Turim, professor and director of film and media studies at UF. "There were no big surprises."
"Slumdog Millionaire" snagged a staggering eight out of 24 award categories, stirring mixed emotions in movie fans.
"I had some problems with the film," Turim said. "It's that pattern of Hollywood taking over a foreign idiom."
Although the British director, Danny Boyle, won an award, Turim said the film catered to Americans.
One award that Turim felt was well-deserved was Heath Ledger's supporting role win for "The Dark Knight," which made him only the second actor to receive a posthumous Oscar. Turim said that Ledger's recent death did not bolster his win.
"It was a great performance," she said. "I'm glad he was recognized."
She said she also appreciated the Academy's recognition of "Milk," though it didn't win Best Picture.
Andrea Stokes, director of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender affairs at UF, said "Milk," based on the gay politician and activist Harvey Milk, deserved its two awards.
"Films about other great leaders like Ghandi have won awards," she said. "So it's really exceptional that such leaders in the LGBT community are being recognized."
Despite a few high points, like Penelope Cruz's recognition for "Vicky Christina Barcelona," Turim said that 2008 was a poorer cinematic year than 2007. She said that many of the films relied on famous faces more than quality.
"Hollywood casts its money-makers," she said, citing the correlation between the fame of a cast and the film's box office success.
Steven Thompson, an English sophomore who has taken film classes at UF, said that the Academy rewarded filmmakers who took their pet projects and turned them into something bigger.
"I think the Oscars should be about artistic expression and not a big budget," he said. "Overall, it was an Oscars for people who really love movies."
