I don't watch the Oscars, or any awards shows for that matter. What's the point in wasting 3 or 4 hours watching a bunch of self-important celebrities pat each other on the back. Besides, all of the winners are posted on the internet the next day, and the show's highlights are talked about ad nauseum and are always available on YouTube within hours.
Add to the boredom factor the somewhat depressing fact that I generally haven't seen most of the movies that have been nominated. This year was no exception.
There Will Be Blood. No Country For Old Men. La Vie En Rose. Juno. Michael Clayton. I have not seen any of these movies. Don't get me wrong - all of these are (and have been) on my must-see list. (Well, except for Ma Vie En Rose, because, quite frankly, I don't know who Edith Piaf is, and I don't really care.)
What I do care about is the fact that all of the "best of" awards for acting went to foreign nationals. And, no, I don't think that is a bad thing.
For so many American actors & actresses, it's not about the art, it's about the celebrity - the money, big houses, fancy cars, and designer duds. They cannot truly appreciate the award because they don't really value anything, and are generally devoid of any true talent. (I know there will be those of you who will come up with some exceptions to this, but this is intended to refer to the overall Hollywood community, not everyone specifically.)
But when I saw Marion Cotillard sobbing with job on Forrest Whitaker's shoulder after she won her award, I knew that she really appreciated and deserved it. And Daniel Day-Lewis is a seasoned actor who has been responsible for some of my favorite movies - including Last of the Mohicans and In the Name of the Father. Javier Bardem? Just the previews of No Country scared me so badly that I was afraid that I'd no longer be able to find him sexy. (No worries - I got over it rather quickly.) Don't forget Tilda Swinton, God bless her ugly little self. She is such an amazing actress that she has repeatedly convinced me that there is no woman more beautiful than she - now THAT, my friends, is talent.
So until our American actors learn that making a crapload of dough doing something they love is a blessing, and until they stop cranking out more mindless, heartless crap, I hope that the awards will continue to go overseas.
Until that time, I will enjoy every minute of Javier, Daniel, Tilda, (and probably not Marion unless she makes a new movie soon).
Because every girl has an alter ego.
My Beautiful Smelly Girl
2 comments:
Entertainment weekly had a quasi interesting article this week about how boring the Oscars have gotten and what they can do to change it. One of the things they suggested was to nominate films that people actually GO AND SEE. Like Titanic, Return of the King, Forrest Gump, etc etc. No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood grossed under $40 M, I believe, and the studios spent nearly as much if not more promoting them for Oscar films. Ridiculous. I haven't seen No Country yet, but I strongly disliked There Will Be Blood, however, I do believe it should have been in the running for Best Picture.
My rambling point is here that even though I agree with you that it shouldn't be about celebrity, it should be about great roles, Oscar needs to do a better job of appealing to a wider audience as well. I'm not saying Talladega Nights deserves to be up there, but The Bourne Ultimatim should be. You get my drift...hopefully.
Carrie, I totally see your point. My biggest (and really, my ONLY) objection to that is that some of the smaller films that are absolutely fantastic will get ignored because they aren't major box office draws.
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