The Avengers Loses Academy Award To Life of Pi

Best Picture nominee The Life of Pi has beaten out Marvel's The Avengers in the race for the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, beating out a number of other genre films to take home the trophy as well. In spite of being the year's top-grossing film, having a 92% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and its cast presenting tonight, this was the only award that Marvel's The Avengers was up for. The film was up against stiff competition, with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Ridley Scott's Prometheus, The Life of Pi and Snow White and the Huntsman also featured in the category. Moments before, The Life of Pi also won for Best Cinematography, beating out Best Picture favorite Argo. Technical categories such as sound and visual effects are often those in which the big-budget blockbusters have a chance at winning; the sort of critical darlings that generally win most of the big awards don't tend to be the same box office juggernauts that drive big dollars at the box office. About 500 members of the Hollywood visual effects community picketed outside of the Academy Awards today, complaining about conditions, including what they call costly and ineffective film subsidies programs.