Archive for February, 2009

…who the hell cares?

I actually sprained my eyeballs with all the eye rolling I was doing during the program. First off, Hugh Jackman does a tribute to musicals. Then, for each Best Actor/Supporting Actor category, they nixed the usual playing of a clip from the movie they are nominated for and in its place they invited previous winners in those categories to give a schmaltzy soliloquy of positive remarks for each nominee. My favorite was when Adrian Brody talks about Richard Jenkins and you know he has no idea what to talk about when he mentions googling the guy! As if the academy awards weren’t self-congratulatory enough, everyone congratulates themselves. Bring back the movie clips.

Besides the Oscars are kind of a joke. It’s so gamed now. First, only movies that come out in the fall end up being considered. There’s nothing nefarious about it, just short memories. It seems that the studios use this to their advantage doling out the crap films in January and February and hold the really good ones until November and December. And then there are the summer movies, which are intended for the kiddies who froth at the mouth at dumb ass films like Kangaroo Jack or Jack Ass 2. Well, anything with “Jack” in the title. Second, the movies that are submitted for consideration tend to be on the schmaltzy side. Easy emotions always win. Third, most of the people voting seldom see the movies they’re voting on. Fourth, politics are a huge factor. A best actor nominee who is seemingly a lock on the Oscar can blow it by blowing his temper or getting some bad press (qed Russell Crowe). The Oscars are handed out by peers and so it stands to reason that those relationships come into play. It’s more a popularity contest than a qualitative assessment of the films of the past year.

Anyway, the Oscar went to Slumdog Millionaire. I had been saying that for months, so time for me to gloat. I need to, my eyes are shot at the moment.