Sunday, February 25, 2007

Academy Awkward

Okay, that's it.
Does anyone pay attention to fucking awards shows anymore? And if not, why is the only thing that the news idiots keep rambling on about today is Scorsese's fucking Oscar? The only decent film that that bitch has crapped out since the fucking 80's was 'Bringing Out the Dead', and that was "good" at best. Shit, how do you go from 'Taxi Driver', 'Raging Bull', and 'King of Comedy' to chained to a desk cranking out formulaic crap for DiCaprio? Maybe he thinks that DiCaprio is the new Deniro (pause for laughs).
What I'm saying is that his EARLIER films were definitely Oscar-worthy, but the academy has always had it's head firmly planted up its collective ass. Those earlier films were passed-over by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences , and (in my estimate) that's confirmation that they were truly good.

All of the voters are fucking Hollywood insiders, and we all know how great their tastes are (think 'Soul Plane') - Keep in mind, the same guy who green lighted 'Stealth' gets to vote for the best picture. The great majority of films that ever are in serious contention for an Oscar are major studio vanity projects aping the truly influential independent films that came out 5 years before. It's just like the fucking Grammys - Justin Timberlake wins over Johnny Cash ('nuff said).
It's all a big fucking joke - Out of all of the Best Director nominees, they've only gotten it right once in the over last Decade (2004). All you've had to do win Best Actor since '88 is be an A-List actor who plays a character who is mentally ill, disabled, psychopathic, or gay. And don't even get me started on Best Picture - I'm still unholy-pissed that 'How Green was My Valley" beat out 'Citizen Kane" back in '41.

Here's my proposition: Artistic awards should have a 10 year lapse period. That way, the wisdom of retrospect will enable to sort the wheat from the chaff. This is the one instance where the world of professional athletics has gotten it (mostly) right. The Academy should be focusing on movies released back in 1996 - I'd bet that the list of nominees would be jarringly different. Just look at the Best Actress nominees from 2001 - If we had the benefit of time, we wouldn't go around trying to pretend that Halle Berry's ham-fisted "performance" in Monster's Ball (that would make judges from the Daytime Emmys blush in embarrassment) was the best that that year had to offer.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am writing a script where Keanu plays a mentally ill, disabled, psychopathic, gay cowboy who goes to war and destroys the Republican Party by stopping global warming and fixing Medicare. (I threw in cowboy, war, destroying the Republicans, global warming and Medicare just in case. Always good to pull at the heartstrings of liberals)

They suck and their movies are making less and less money. I for one put more weight in how a movie rates on the tomato meter than what the academy thinks.

tom o said...

until sunday both Kevin Costner and Mel Gibson had best directing oscars, while Kubrick/Scorsese didn't. but of course!

i watched most of it though. i was rooting for eddie murphy to win, give his acceptance speech and then cut to commercials for the 'Norbit' trailer.

edP said...

I love Soul Plane

edP said...

ONly you would reach back for Bringing Out the Dead.

I thought I was a party of one who loved that movie.