Almost every single straight-up drama directed by Steven Spielberg has made it into the Best Picture Oscar race.
I’m not arguing that his pulpier entertainments were robbed in the Oscar race. However, that Spielberg has recently focused on old-school historically-specific American history dramas, the kind of star-driven, adult-skewing, high-minded films that would otherwise struggle to find a theatrical audience, has arguably made him an even bigger magnet for year-end acclaim. Spielberg famously claimed thatalmost became an HBO original movie even as it made $275 million on a $65 million budget.
Whatever the reason, Five of the last five Spielberg dramas released since 2005 have earned Best Picture nominations, and heck if you useWest Side Story one of the safest bets to enter the final ten when the Academy Award nominations are announced early next year. Whether the Rachel Zegler/Ansel Elgort musical romance is as good as hoped and/or as commercially successful as hoped in mid-December alongside, it’s almost certain to continue Spielberg’s 24-year streak of Best Picture nominated dramas. Of course, it’s also likely to continue his Best Picture losing streak too, but c’est la vie.