So far Brokeback has gone 1 for 3 on the biggies - a win for "Original Score" and two losses (Best Supporting Actor and Actress). This is as it should be. The score is incredibly moving, and I can't help but react to it being played now. As for Gyllenhaal and Williams, though, they're not the core of the movie for me. But I will not accept anything less than Best Actor for Heath Ledger.
I was very pleased to see Reese Witherspoon win. She was incredible in Walk the Line and has quite the track record of making good movies. Her speech was really moving, too, and I'm pleased the directors didn't try to cut it short like they did with (I think this was the category...) Best Original Screenplay.
Other speech fav: The adapters of Brokeback thanking all of the booksellers in America and the producers (or maybe screenwriters) for Crash dedicating their award to peace and tolerance and all that jazz.
I was a bit disheartened to see that Brokeback Mountain did not take more awards. At the Oscar Party tonight, my ballot was pretty much all Brokeback and Chronic-what?-cles of Narnia.
All in all, it was kind of a blase' show. The crowd wasn't as receptive to Jon Stewart as I had hoped, and I didn't think his material was really that good.
A fashion note: What was up with the costume designer from Memoirs of a Geisha's dress? I seriously expected more from a costume designer. Salma Hayek, Rachel Weisz, Reese Witherspoon and Uma Thurman were all gorgeous. Jake Gyllenhaal was working the stubble in a great way, but I wasn't as impressed with Heath Ledger's bit of facial hair creativity. I'll probably have to invest in a People or Us Weekly this week to see the dresses that I missed while I was chatting during the slow parts.
I'm going to play in the Oscars Orchestra in my next life.
Ok, having just viewed the oscars from a home about a mile away from the theater, here's my thoughts:
-Crash blows. Sorry to anyone who likes it, but it does. If anyone wants to know exactly why it blows, I'm happy to explain.
-Too many Brokeback jokes and imitations killed its chances of winning best picture
-I think every Best Song nominee from now on must include interpretive dance with its performance. Especially if it's interpretive dance by hos.
-Other than that, I liked all the winners. To my fellow NYU-ians: Everyone toast to John Canemaker, Tisch professor who thanked his NYU students when he won.
-Waayyyy too many random montages. Like, I like 40's film noir probably more than the next guy, but I don't need to spend 2 minutes watching it when I had a red eye to catch at 10PM and I wanted to make it to the best actor nominees.
Ahem, pardon me ranting for a moment. Crash, for those of you who don’t know, is a movie about ISSUES, and about RACISM and PREJUDICE, and it’s a very IMPORTANT film that wants you to think long and hard about racism in this country… made of course by a couple of wealthy white guys. It’s also melodramatic, over the top, full of clunky dialogue, and about as subtle as a Mack truck. Now, racism exists in this country, and of course people prejudge each other every day. However, rarely do they vocalize it, especially in uber-PC areas like Los Angeles. Racism is in subtleties – in a look, a statement that comes out the wrong way, a person holding their bag a little tighter when a black person walks past them, that sort of thing. People don’t talk about how they are racist, nor do they shout racial slurs at each other all the time with little provocation. It’s ridiculous, especially coming out of the mouths of politicians, studio writers, etc. But in the world of Crash they do, because they don’t think the audience is smart enough to see the subtle prejudice if they portray it in a realistic way. The film had it’s moments, mostly when it does manage to achieve subtlety, but those moments are few and far between, and the movie takes itself way too seriously in a ‘This Is the Most Important Movie You’ll See Ever’ kind of way. Ok, rant done.
I also disliked Capote. I did not get to see Munich. If I could list my top 5 for the year, they would be Brokeback Mountain, Jarhead, Match Point, Batman Begins, and The 40-Year-Old Virgin. This is why I should run the Academy.
I agree that 40-year-old Virgin shoulda been a contenda, and Seth Rogen should of had a Best Supporting nod. Moreover, if you read the coverage today, I've never seen such immediate backlash against a best picture winner. The world seems to be echoing everything Kelly is saying. I guess this one screwed a lot of people in their betting pools. Other things... Reese Witherspoon looked like a skeleton, especially in the face, which was scar6y, but not as scary as Uma Thurman's smacked-out skeleton. Dancer-Zombies emerging from a flaming car during the "In the Deep" performance. I thought Jon Stewart did a good job, but the whole thing jus seemed really... small, didn't it? Like they had debated whether they should go through the rigamarole at all this year; like the surprise party for the guy who doesn't really care about his birthday, you know? Hollywood's profits were down 6% last year. Solution: Have Jake Gyllenhaal present a montage of big movies to bring people back into the theatres. First off, the grand majority of people watching the telecast were probably watching it on televisions, so the grandness of the scenes was a little diminished. Secondly, if you want people in the seats , make new grand movies instead of reminding us of the old ones. This years selection were wall-to-wall marginal films, which I certainly have no problem with, except that I don't think they were very emblematic of the culture at large. I know, I know, ostensibly Municha dn The Constant Gardener are both thrillers, but even those are highly topical, and shoehorning in a montage of clips from ET and North-by-Northwest isn't going make any of last nights films age any more gracefully. This is why, while I understood and agreed with George Clooney's acceptance speech, it frustrated me to see how self-important the whole enterprise has gotten. The industry is mistaking pretense for prestige and then patting itself on the back for the error.
7 Comments:
So far Brokeback has gone 1 for 3 on the biggies - a win for "Original Score" and two losses (Best Supporting Actor and Actress).
This is as it should be. The score is incredibly moving, and I can't help but react to it being played now. As for Gyllenhaal and Williams, though, they're not the core of the movie for me.
But I will not accept anything less than Best Actor for Heath Ledger.
CRASH?!? Are you f***ing serious?!?
I was very pleased to see Reese Witherspoon win. She was incredible in Walk the Line and has quite the track record of making good movies. Her speech was really moving, too, and I'm pleased the directors didn't try to cut it short like they did with (I think this was the category...) Best Original Screenplay.
Other speech fav: The adapters of Brokeback thanking all of the booksellers in America and the producers (or maybe screenwriters) for Crash dedicating their award to peace and tolerance and all that jazz.
I was a bit disheartened to see that Brokeback Mountain did not take more awards. At the Oscar Party tonight, my ballot was pretty much all Brokeback and Chronic-what?-cles of Narnia.
All in all, it was kind of a blase' show. The crowd wasn't as receptive to Jon Stewart as I had hoped, and I didn't think his material was really that good.
A fashion note: What was up with the costume designer from Memoirs of a Geisha's dress? I seriously expected more from a costume designer. Salma Hayek, Rachel Weisz, Reese Witherspoon and Uma Thurman were all gorgeous. Jake Gyllenhaal was working the stubble in a great way, but I wasn't as impressed with Heath Ledger's bit of facial hair creativity. I'll probably have to invest in a People or Us Weekly this week to see the dresses that I missed while I was chatting during the slow parts.
I'm going to play in the Oscars Orchestra in my next life.
I would like to say that Tacitean is currently working the stubble in a great way... ;)
Ok, having just viewed the oscars from a home about a mile away from the theater, here's my thoughts:
-Crash blows. Sorry to anyone who likes it, but it does. If anyone wants to know exactly why it blows, I'm happy to explain.
-Too many Brokeback jokes and imitations killed its chances of winning best picture
-I think every Best Song nominee from now on must include interpretive dance with its performance. Especially if it's interpretive dance by hos.
-Other than that, I liked all the winners. To my fellow NYU-ians: Everyone toast to John Canemaker, Tisch professor who thanked his NYU students when he won.
-Waayyyy too many random montages. Like, I like 40's film noir probably more than the next guy, but I don't need to spend 2 minutes watching it when I had a red eye to catch at 10PM and I wanted to make it to the best actor nominees.
OK, back to work on an hour's sleep...
Ahem, pardon me ranting for a moment. Crash, for those of you who don’t know, is a movie about ISSUES, and about RACISM and PREJUDICE, and it’s a very IMPORTANT film that wants you to think long and hard about racism in this country… made of course by a couple of wealthy white guys. It’s also melodramatic, over the top, full of clunky dialogue, and about as subtle as a Mack truck.
Now, racism exists in this country, and of course people prejudge each other every day. However, rarely do they vocalize it, especially in uber-PC areas like Los Angeles. Racism is in subtleties – in a look, a statement that comes out the wrong way, a person holding their bag a little tighter when a black person walks past them, that sort of thing. People don’t talk about how they are racist, nor do they shout racial slurs at each other all the time with little provocation. It’s ridiculous, especially coming out of the mouths of politicians, studio writers, etc. But in the world of Crash they do, because they don’t think the audience is smart enough to see the subtle prejudice if they portray it in a realistic way. The film had it’s moments, mostly when it does manage to achieve subtlety, but those moments are few and far between, and the movie takes itself way too seriously in a ‘This Is the Most Important Movie You’ll See Ever’ kind of way. Ok, rant done.
I also disliked Capote. I did not get to see Munich. If I could list my top 5 for the year, they would be Brokeback Mountain, Jarhead, Match Point, Batman Begins, and The 40-Year-Old Virgin. This is why I should run the Academy.
I agree that 40-year-old Virgin shoulda been a contenda, and Seth Rogen should of had a Best Supporting nod. Moreover, if you read the coverage today, I've never seen such immediate backlash against a best picture winner. The world seems to be echoing everything Kelly is saying. I guess this one screwed a lot of people in their betting pools. Other things... Reese Witherspoon looked like a skeleton, especially in the face, which was scar6y, but not as scary as Uma Thurman's smacked-out skeleton. Dancer-Zombies emerging from a flaming car during the "In the Deep" performance. I thought Jon Stewart did a good job, but the whole thing jus seemed really... small, didn't it? Like they had debated whether they should go through the rigamarole at all this year; like the surprise party for the guy who doesn't really care about his birthday, you know?
Hollywood's profits were down 6% last year. Solution: Have Jake Gyllenhaal present a montage of big movies to bring people back into the theatres. First off, the grand majority of people watching the telecast were probably watching it on televisions, so the grandness of the scenes was a little diminished. Secondly, if you want people in the seats , make new grand movies instead of reminding us of the old ones. This years selection were wall-to-wall marginal films, which I certainly have no problem with, except that I don't think they were very emblematic of the culture at large. I know, I know, ostensibly Municha dn The Constant Gardener are both thrillers, but even those are highly topical, and shoehorning in a montage of clips from ET and North-by-Northwest isn't going make any of last nights films age any more gracefully.
This is why, while I understood and agreed with George Clooney's acceptance speech, it frustrated me to see how self-important the whole enterprise has gotten. The industry is mistaking pretense for prestige and then patting itself on the back for the error.
Post a Comment
<< Home