2010 Oscar Nominations: The Comic Book Movie Report

Let's get this out of the way right at the start, folks: 2009 was not a memorable year for comic book movies.

Where 2008 gave us two of the best comic book movies of all time in "The Dark Knight" and "Iron Man" (as well as the darn good "Wanted" and "Hellboy II"), the 2009 theater slate gave us one of the most polarizing comic book adaptations to ever hit theaters ("Watchmen") and an uber-hyped but critically panned blockbuster ("X-Men Origins: Wolverine"). A few more forgettable adaptations slipped in the back door, too — namely, films based on Top Shelf's science-fiction thriller "The Surrogates" and the Oni Press murder mystery "Whiteout."

So it's no surprise that comic book movies were noticeably absent from this year's list of Academy Award nominees. However, since public outrage over last year's "Dark Knight" snub paved the way for an expanded nomination pool this year, it's worth giving this year's list a look to see what should be celebrated, what's missing and what's worth pondering at the intersection of comic book movies and the 2010 Oscars.

CONGRATULATIONS DUE: Neil Gaiman nabbed himself a well-deserved Oscar nod for "Coraline," which was named one of this year's "Best Animated Feature Film" nominees. The 3-D, stop-motion film was directed by stop-motion veteran Henry Selick (who also wrote the screenplay), and though it was first published as a novel prior to being adapted into graphic-novel form, "Coraline" is the closest we get to a nomination for anything from the comics world.

The fact that it's also a great film? Well, that's just icing on the cake.

A POTENTIAL SNUB? While no one is going to argue that "Wolverine" or "Watchmen" deserves a "Best Picture" nomination (though I still stick by my appreciation for Zack Snyder's adaptation of Alan Moore's series), there are some categories where the absence of any of the aforementioned films does seem a bit odd.

"Avatar," "District 9" and "Star Trek" all received nominations for "Achievement In Visual Effects" — a category in which "Watchmen" (or one of the other previously mentioned adaptations) could make a case for being included. However, the fact that no comic book movies made the final three isn't as surprising as their absence from the short list of nominees released earlier this year. Along with the three official nominees, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," "Terminator Salvation," "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," and "2012" were all considered as potential nominees. The big-budget effects of "Watchmen" were nowhere to be found on the list, though.

Similarly, comic book movies failed to factor into several other categories typically reserved for genre fare that were dominated by adaptations a year ago: "Sound Editing," "Sound Mixing," and "Makeup."

LOOKING AHEAD: Though this should be a relatively uneventful Oscars for fans of comic book movies, it's worth noting that 2010 is poised to rebound into a huge year on the 2011 awards circuit. If "Iron Man 2" earns half the nods of its predecessor, the much-anticipated sequel could be the focal point of next year's awards coverage here on Splash Page. However, the early word on "Scott Pigrim Vs. The World" and "Kick-Ass" is that both films could more than live up the hype and impress a great many critics.

Meanwhile, "Red" continues to boast an impressive (to say the least!) cast of award-friendly actors, and films like "The Last Airbender," "Jonah Hex" and "The Losers" could find their way into a few categories, too.

Think any comic book movies were snubbed this year? What do you think about the prospects for the 2011 Oscars? Let us know in the comment section or on Twitter!

Tags coraline, oscars 2010, watchmen