Will Fast Five Crash the Best Picture Race Next Year?

When Fast Five premiered last week in all of its machismo glory, Movieline praised it as being charming and downright enjoyable -- but we never figured that the Vin Diesel car heist vehicle would garner Academy attention. That doesn't mean that other people aren't already launching their own informal Oscar campaigns for the fifth Fast & Furious film though.

Like Diesel himself, who told the Los Angeles Times, "I wouldn't be surprised if there is some Oscar talk around this. I don't know, maybe I'm just biting off what some guy from Channel 7 thought. But sooner or later, people are gonna say, 'Wait a minute, just because they are for the working class doesn't mean they're not great.'"

First of all, if "great" was the only qualifier for Academy Award nominations, Frosted Flakes would have topped The King's Speech for Best Picture last year.

Secondly, I would gladly sit through a "Consider This..." Oscar season campaign launched by Diesel and that guy from Channel 7. In fact, I would encourage it and (ironically) champion it. I would write a weekly feature about the progress of their uphill battle, go behind-the-scenes of their controversial photo shoot and defend them against critics that argue that the Oscars' discrimination against Vin Diesel-Ford GT40 collaborations be upheld. It's going to take work to earn that coveted "Inception Exception" spot in the Best Picture category though because, like Movieline's own S.T. VanAirsdale explained, there is only one spot available for a summer tentpole, and unless Diesel and that faceless Channel 7 supporter start campaigning seriously, that position will probably just go to J.J. Abrams's Super 8. Yawn.

· 'Fast Five': In the fast lane [LAT via Vulture]