A Rant on the Oscar In Memoriam Montage

I realize that the Academy makes mistakes.  After all, Inception NOT getting an Editing or Director nomination?

But one of the classier moments of the night is always the "In Memoriam" package that honor the people in the film industry.  Last night, the video packaged contained a noticeable number of omissions.

COREY HAIM
No one will ever confuse him for the greatest actor of his generation.  But the fact remains that Haim was a big star in the 80s.  Starring in movies such as The Lost Boys, License to Drive and Lucas.  His career was pretty much non existent in the last 20 years, but that doesn't mean you forget about the man.



PETER GRAVES
While most people recognize him as the Captain from Airplane!, he was a veteran actor with many films under his belt including The Night of the Hunter, Stalag 17, Addams Family Values as well as the television show "Mission: Impossible."

BETTY GARRETT
Known mostly for her television work, she did plenty of work during the golden age of Hollywood musicals appearing in films such as On the Town, Take Me Out to the Ball Game and Neptune's Daughter.

 

LISA BLOUNT
An ACADEMY AWARD WINNER in 2001 for her short film The Accountant, Blount was also an actress that appeared in An Officer and a Gentleman and Prince of Darkness.

All I'm saying is, Academy, that you can't just pick and choose who was important and who wasn't.  These people all had careers that deserved to be recognized.  It's bad enough that you chose to "honor" the dead with Celine Dion, of all people, showing how completely out of touch you are.  What's more annoying is that there were two people in the montage that you DID include that don't deserve the honor.  One was an agent, the other a publicist.  I'm not saying that these people didn't have important jobs or didn't have families and friends that cared about them, but they do not belong on the same list.  This is supposed to be a dedication to the artists and creators and talents in the industry.  Actors, Writers, Directors, Cinematographers, etc.  You CAN'T make a film without them.  You can, however, make a film without an agent or a publicist.

The montage video is linked below: