Random Thought of the Day

You know, for all the talk about Crash being an undeserving Best Picture winner, and I'm *still* hearing about it, and now even I'm sick of it even though I agree, I had a thought.

Worse decisions have been made before. What is the worst Best Picture winner of all time? Certainly not Crash. I can only really speak for 1960 onward here as I have not seen all the winners before that, but (drumroll please)....

Driving Miss Daisy (1989) -- Best Picture

This is easily the worst piece of dreck that has ever received the award. It didn't even get a *nomination* for Best Director. I think that that situation has happened maybe, three times in Oscar history that I know of. And was Driving Miss Daisy supposed to be a very challenging movie about racial issues? This is where you're supposed to gag profusely.

A partial list of what was better than Driving Miss Daisy (actually considering that I do not even like the movie, I could name off many of the years' releases, but just to make a point) from 1989:

Born on the Fourth of July
Cinema Paradiso
Crimes and Misdemeanors
Dead Poets Society
Do the Right Thing
Drugstore Cowboy
Field of Dreams
Glory
My Left Foot
Roger & Me
Say Anything
sex, lies, and videotape

I'm sure there are many more. My personal choice would be Do The Right Thing (not even nominated, incidentally), but you know? Maybe this year wasn't so bad after all.

How To Ruin a Promising Movie

Inside Man (2.5/5 stars)

I heard of this movie and it looked so promising. Directed by Spike Lee, who has won my personal best picture of the year twice (Do The Right Thing, and Malcom X), and starring Denzel Washington, Jodie Foster, Clive Owen, and Christopher Plummer, it was looking pretty good. Then I saw the reviews: 89% on Rotten Tomatoes, a ridiculously good score.

I was, however, severely disappointed. This was some of the most run-of-the-mill garbage I have seen in a long time. It tries so hard to be different than other movies like it, but fails. It tries so hard to surprise you, but again, fails. Finally, the movitations behind the characters are either completely absent or don't make sense put together, all of which contribute to feeling that you've seen something you would've much rather caught on HBO and asking, "Can I please have my ten dollars back?"

So how does such a promising movie go bad? An absolutely horrible screenplay, written by someone who probably couldn't even write a phoned-in episode of Everybody Loves Raymond. Everything that can be is very contrived, everything that tries to be a plot twist is blatantly shoved in your face while trying (and failing) to be subtle about it (hint: the biggest twist of the movie is ruined in the first scene), and absolutely no character development is to be seen. The only good things here are Spike Lee's direction, which keeps up the pace and makes it relatively interesting throughout despite the predictability, and Clive Owen's performance.

I can't reveal about why I feel this way about the movie without giving it away, but trust me, wait for rental, or HBO, or don't see it at all.

Death Merchant

Thank You For Smoking (4/5 stars)

Thank You For Smoking tells the story of a tobacco lobbyist, his family, his relationship with a young reporter, and his battle with a anti-tobacco senator from Vermont.

The movie satirizes both the cigarette lobby and the opposition, although not quite as savagely as I would like. There are many very funny touches throughout, however, such as the MOD (Merchant of Death) squad meetings with the alchohol and firearms lobbies where the lobbyists brag and compare notes on how many people their products kill yearly, the tobacco lobbyist's lecture to his son's class ('my mom says cigarettes are dangerours' a girl says, 'are she a trained physician, little girl?' he replies), and a plot to increase smoking by having good looking movie stars light up cigarettes in a space station after a sex scene. "We'll make tobacco sexy again."

The cast is excellent and the writing good, and I completely recommend seeing it, but what would have made this movie better is making the man even more evil than he is in the movie. Additionally, the opposition is touched upon as being hypocrites out to get votes but it could have been taking farther. Not being particularly fond of mommy-state politics, this would have hit right home with me. Finally, towards the end of the movie the main character kind of gains a conscience, which wasn't completely necessary.

While not destined to be any kind of great classic, this will probably be one of more funny movies to come out this year.

Oh My

The South Park Creators respond to the repeat of their Tom Cruise/Scientology episode getting pulled from Comedy Central because of pressure Tom Cruise put on Viacom (which owns Paramount, distributor of Mission Impossible 3 and Comedy Central).

Here is a good link.

The best:
------------------

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
So, Scientology, you may have won THIS battle, but the million-year war for earth has just begun! Temporarily anozinizing our episode will NOT stop us from keeping Thetans forever trapped in your pitiful man-bodies. Curses and drat! You have obstructed us for now, but your feeble bid to save humanity will fail! Hail Xenu!!!

-Trey Parker and Matt Stone, servants of the dark lord Xenu

------------------

It actually requires you to know something about Scientology to get it completely, but that is completely hilarious.

Incidentally this behavior by Tom Cruise is over the line. Just because someone satirizes you, that doesn't mean that you should be a complete idiot and refuse to promote your blockbuster movie unless the parent company pulls the repeat on a cable network. I've had a boycott void as of late since I stopped boycotting Tom Hanks a while back. So now I announce it here first: I am officially boycotting that raving lunatic Tom Cruise. Enjoy making your bad movies, and releasing your Thetans without me as a viewer.

Teenage Boredom Revealed

Duck Season (4/5 stars)

Duck Season tells the story of one day in the lives of two young teenage boys after the power goes out in their building. They are eventually joined by a slightly older teenage girl who comes over and has trouble getting a cake made, and a pizza delivery man who refuses to leave over an on-time delivery dispute.

Shot in black and white, and taking place entirely in the apartment of one of the two teenagers with the power off, not a whole lot happens, but it is still interesting because of the realness of the characters and the interesting visual imagery throughout. Many jokes are made in the movie by suddenly cutting to some scene which looks entirely ridiculous and you can't help but laugh, or by realizing the complete inaneness of the actions and conversations that go on between the people stuck in the apartment.

There are also some nice comedic and dramatic touches; people have certain intentions towards each other, the pizza delivery man is obsessed with a riduclous painting, at one point with power the boys play a player vs. player shooting game and call it "Bush vs. Bin Laden", there is a grand brownie mishap, and the teenage girl plays a game trying to guess the color inside of a candy and fails an absurd amount of times in a row. There are also some deeper troubles behind the surface of these people: the boy who lives at the apartment's parents are going through a divorce, the neighbor girls' family has forgotten her, the pizza delivery man has failed at his goals in life, and the boy who does not live at the apartment is not really sure who he really is.

This is definitely something that should be seen, not only to enjoy the fascinating while still boring characters, but to remember what you may have done in the same situation when you were younger.

Victory from the Underground

V for Vendetta (4/5 stars)

I came into this movie with pretty high expectations: I expected a film with great action and an important message about totalitarian societies. The film provides neither but it still works well.

The story is about the masked hero V (played/voiced by Hugo Weaving), set out to take down the dystopian society of the not-so-distant future United Kingdom. On November 5th, he destroys an important landmark, and vows to demolish the Parliament building exactly a year later, on the anniversary of when dissenter Guy Fawkes attempted to do the same thing hundreds of years ago. On the way he saves Evey (Natalie Portman) from police attempting to attack her, and brings her along for the ride.

What I did not like about the film is that the action and technical elements of the film were actually fairly weak in comparison to what I was expecting, and the message the movie portrays is fairly flimsy. Not enough is said about what is bad about a totalitarian government, not enough (I can't reveal too much about this because it reveals a plot twist that kind of made me cringe) is revealed about how the character Evey changes her mind and aligns herself with V, and finally the explanation of how he eventually gains support of the people is rather unbelievable.

That being said, this isn't supposed to be a masterpiece, it's a summer-ish popcorn movie, and it's still enjoyable to watch. The lack of action gives for more concentration on plot which (despite the weak points I mentioned above) keeps the movie interesting throughout. The performances by Hugo Weaving and Natalie Portman (except for the tendency to slip into different English accents at different points in the movie) as the two main characters, as well as the entire supporting cast are very well done. Also one portion of the movie's message gets it right on, the explanation for how a democratic society can turn totalitarian virtually overnight is rather frightening and completely plausible in today's climate.

I'd definitely recommend it, just don't go in expecting something you're not likely to find or else you may be disappointed.

The Most Anticipated Films of 2006

Note: I am leaving out movies coming out relatively soon, like V for Vendetta, as everyone has seen about 30 commercials and knows about them and I've already talked about how I want to see them. I'll do an additional March/April preview very soon. Finally, I've left off the obvious summer blockbusters like Pirates 2, The Da Vinci Code, or Superman Returns as you'll be hearing enough about those soon enough and I doubt they'll be that great anyway.

1) Babel (10/06/06)

The third collaboration between writer Guillermo Arriaga and director Alejandro González Iñárritu (Amorres Perros, 21 Grams). Starring Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, and Gael Garcia Bernal. If this is anything like their previous two movies, it is going to be excellent.

Plot: Another story of multiple plots that intersect each other in strange ways, as in the previous two films.

2) Goya's Ghosts (Unknown)

Directed by Milos Forman (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) and starring Natalie Portman, Javier Bardem, and Stellan Skarsgard.

Plot Outline: Painter Francisco Goya faces a scandal involving his muse, who is labeled a heretic by a monk.

3) For Your Consideration (09/22/06)

Directed by Christopher Guest. Starring Christopher Guest, Ricky Gervais, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Fred Willard, Jennifer Coolidge, Parker Posey

Plot Outline: Three actors learn their respective performances in the film "Home for Purim," a drama set in the mid-1940s American South, are generating award-season buzz.

A mockumentary on the Oscar campaign season. By the people who make these types of movies I love. How can I *not* be excited?

4) Zodiac (09/22/06)

Directed by David Fincher (Fight Club, Seven). Starring Robert Downey Jr., Anthony Edwards, Jake Gyllenhaal.

Plot Outline: Based on the Robert Graysmith books about the real life notorious Zodiac, a serial killer who terrorized San Francisco with a string of seemingly random murders during the 1960s and 1970s

Fincher returns to the serial killer genre for a story about the unsolved San Francisco Zodiac killings. I think this will be a good one.

5) The Fountain (Unknown)

Written and Directed by Darren Aronofsky (Pi, Requiem for a Dream). Starring Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz.

Plot Outline: Spanning over one thousand years, and three parallel stories, The Fountain is a story of love, death, spirituality, and the fragility of our existence in this world.

A new Aronofsky movie ought to be interesting. And Rachel Weisz is in it!

6) The Science of Sleep (08/04/06)

Written and Directed by Michael Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind). Starring Gael Garcia Bernal, Patricia Arquette, Rhys Ifans.

Plot Outline: A man held captive by the people in his dreams tries to wake himself up and take control of his own imaginings.

Gotta see the follow-up movie to the director of one of my favorite movies ever.

7) Inland Empire (Unknown)

Written and Directed by David Lynch. Starring Laura Dern, Jeremy Irons, Harry Dean Stanton.

Plot Outline: Set in the inland valley outside of Los Angeles, David Lynch's new film is a mystery about a woman in trouble.

A David Lynch movie should always be interesting.

8) The Good German (Unknown)

Directed by Steven Soderbergh. Starring Cate Blanchett, George Clooney, Beau Bridges, Tony Curran.

Plot Outline: In post-war Berlin to find his former mistress, an American journalist is lured into a murder mystery.

Whenever Soderbergh makes a non-experimental movie, it usually turns out to be quite good.

9) Marie-Antionette (10/13/06)

Written and Directed by Sofia Coppola. Starring Kirsten Dunst, Jason Schwartzman.

Plot Outline: A stylized account of a naive Viennese girl who, in 1774, became the queen of France at age 19.

The follow-up to Lost in Translation for Sofia Coppola. I'm going to have to see it. Although I am slightly nervous about the cast in a serious movie. We'll see.

10) A Prarie Home Companion (06/09/06)

Directed by Robert Altman. Starring Garrison Keillor, Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin.

Plot Outline: A look at what goes on backstage during the last broadcast of America's most celebrated radio show, where singing cowboys Dusty and Lefty, a country music siren (Streep), and a host of others hold court.

Another movie from the guy with a transplanted heart who just received an honorary Oscar. I've enjoyed I think every movie of his I've seen. I doubt this will be any different.

11) Volver (06/23/06)

Written and Directed by Pedro Almodóvar (Talk to Her, All About My Mother). Starring Penelope Cruz.

Plot Outline: After her death, a mother (Maura) returns to her home town in order to fix the situations should couldn't resolve during her life. Of her family left in the town, her ghost slowly becomes a comfort to her daughters (Cruz, Dueñas), as well as her grandchild (Cobo).

I really like the director, he hasn't released a bad film yet.

12) Little Children (Unknown)

Written and Directed by Todd Field (In the Bedroom), starring Kate Winslet, Jennifer Connelly.

Plot Outline: Little Children centers on a group of young marrieds, whose lives intersect on the playgrounds, town pools and streets of their small community in surprising and potentially dangerous ways

I like both of these actresses and I liked In the Bedroom so I am intrigued by this one.

13) The Black Dahlia (10/13/06)

Directed by Brian de Palma. Starring Josh Hartnet, Hilary Swank, Aaron Eckhart, Scarlett Johannson, Mia Kirshner.

Plot Outline: An adaptation of James Ellroy's 1940s-set novel about two L.A. cops who head up the hunt for the killer of fledgling actress Elizabeth Short.

Could be some nice L.A. Confidential style new-noir.

14) Youth Without Youth (Unknown)

Written and Directed by Francis Ford Coppolla. Starring Bruno Ganz, Tim Roth.

Plot Outline: A pre-WWII drama where a life-changing incident turns a professor into a fugitive.

A new Francis Ford Coppola movie? Wow.

15) The Prestige (10/20/06)

Written and Directed by Christopher Nolan (Memento, Batman Begins). Starring Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, Michael Caine, Scarlett Johannson.

Plot Outline: Based on Christopher Priest's 1996 novel, Bale and Jackman play rival magicians in turn-of-the-century London who battle each other for trade secrets. The rivalry is so intense that it turns them into murderers.

I really like the director and this has a very interesting cast.

16) The Children of Men (09/29/06)

Written and Directed by Alfonso Cuarón (Y Tu Mama Tambien). Starring Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Michael Caine.

Plot Outline: In 2027, in a chaotic world in which man can no longer procreate, a former activist agrees to help transport a miraculously pregnant woman to a sanctuary at sea where her child's birth may help scientists save the future of mankind.

Can you tell I have a little bit of a science-fiction bent in my anticipation list? Anyway, the plot looks interesting, as well as the cast and director.

17) Scoop (Unknown)

Written and directed by Woody Allen. Starring Scarlett Johannson, Ian McShane, Hugh Jackman.

Plot Outline: An American student (Johansson) in London begins an affair with an aristocrat.

Will this one be better than Match Point ?

18) The Painted Veil (11/17/06)

Starring Naomi Watts and Edward Norton.

Plot Outline: A woman becomes dissatisfied with her marriage, as her husband favors of his research over time with her. An affair leads her on a journey of self-discovery, and her new dedication to fighting cholera brings her to the Far East.

I really like Naomi Watts, so I fully expect a great performance from her in this.

19) The Good Shepard (Unknown)

Written by Eric Roth The Insider, Directed by Robert De Niro. Starring Matt Damon, Robert De Niro, Angelina Jolie, Joe Pesci, Alec Baldwin.

Plot Outline: The tumultuous early history of the Central Intelligence Agency is viewed through the prism of one man's life.

This could be your next Best Picture front-runner.

20) Running with Scissors (09/22/06)

Written and Directed by Ryan Murphy (Nip/Tuck). Starring Annette Bening, Brian Cox, Joseph Fiennes, Evan Rachel Wood, Alec Baldwin, Gwynneth Paltrow.

Plot Outline: An adult man looks back on his childhood with his bipolar and self-centered mother.

21) Little Miss Sunshine (07/28/06)

Starring Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Greg Kinnear, Alan Arkin

Plot Outline: A family determined to get their young daughter into the finals of a beauty pageant take a cross-country trip in their VW bus.

The biggest thing out of Sundance, could be interesting.

22) All the King's Men (Winter 2006)

Written and Directed by Steven Zaillian (Gangs of New York, The Interpreter), starring Sean Penn, Jude Law, Meryl Streep, Kate Winslet, James Gandolfini, Mark Ruffalo, Patricia Clarkson, Anthony Hopkins

Plot Outline: Based on the Robert Penn Warren novel. The life of populist Southerner Willie Stark, a political creature loosely based on Governor Huey Long of Louisiana.

Can you get a more ridiculous cast than this? For that alone I am intrigued.

23) Stranger than Fiction (10/10/06)

Directed by Mark Forster (Finding Neverland, Monster's Ball), starring Will Ferrell, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Dustin Hoffman, Queen Latifah, Emma Thompson

Plot Outline: An IRS auditor suddenly finds himself the subject of narration only he can hear: narration that begins to affect his entire life, from his work, to his love-interest, to his death.

Interesting story for one, I'd like to see if it pans out.

24) Margaret (Unknown)

Written and Directed by Kenneth Lonergan (You Can Count On Me), starring Anna Paquin, Mark Ruffalo, Matt Damon, Matthew Broderick, Jean Reno.

Plot Outline: A young woman (Paquin) witnesses a bus accident, and is caught up in the aftermath, where the question of whether or not it was intentional affects many people's lives.

Can Anna Paquin play a serious adult role?

25) Flags of our Fathers (Unknown)

Written by Paul Haggis, Directed by Clint Eastwood. Starring Ryan Phillippe, Jamie Bell, Robert Patrick, Barry Pepper, Paul Walker.

Plot Outline: The life stories of the six men who raised the flag at The Battle of Iwo Jima, a turning point in WWII.

I'm really interested to see if Clint can pull off a third success in a row, after his slump between Unforgiven and Mystic River

26) World Trade Center (08/11/06)

Directed by Oliver Stone. Starring Nicholas Cage, Maggie Gyllenhaal.

Plot Outline: Two Port Authority police officers become trapped under the rubble of the World Trade Center.

I am really curious at what type of political angle Oliver Stone is going to take on this one. And he can be really hit or miss so this may be great, it may be awful.

27) The Departed (Unknown)

Directed by Martin Scorsese. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, Jack Nicholson.

Plot Outline: Two men from opposite sides of the law are undercover within the Boston State Police department and the Irish mafia, but violence and bloodshed boil when discoveries are made, and the moles are dispatched to find out their enemy's identities.

This is a remake of a foreign movie called Infernal Affairs. I know that I have posted previously that I do not like Americanizing good foreign movies, but it is sort of hard to ignore anything that Scorsese is going to do. I have a curiosity as to whether I will actually enjoy it or be offended that the original was not left alone.

28) A Scanner Darkly (07/07/06)

Written and Directed by Richard Linklater. Animation voiced by Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey, Jr., Woody Harrelson, Winona Ryder

Plot Outline: "A Scanner Darkly" is set in suburban Orange County, California in the future. It imagines a paranoid world in which it seems two of every 10 Americans has been hired by the government to spy on the other 8 -- in the name of national security and drug enforcement.

I am always interested in movies based on Phillip K. Dick stores, plus I'd like to see if Linklater's animation follow-up to A Waking Life is any good.

29) Hotstuff (Unknown)

Directed by Phillip Noyce (Rabbit-Proof Fence, The Quiet American), starring Robert Hobbs, Derek Luke, Bonnie Mbuli, Tim Robbins

Plot Outline: A drama about terrorism in Apartheid-era South Africa, revolving around a policeman (Robbins) and a young man (Luke) who carries out solo attacks against the regime.

The story looks very interesting, I like the director, and it is being released by Focus, which I have an unusually high faith in for their previous track record.

30) Hollywoodland (Unknown)

Directed by Allen Coulter (Six Feet Under, The Sopranos), starring Adrien Brody, Ben Affleck, Diane Lane, Bob Hoskins

Plot outline: Plot Outline: A detective examines the mysterious death of George Reeves, TV's Superman

Another Focus title, so I have a little faith that it will be good. Plus I love the director's TV work.

A Calmer Reaction to the 2005 Oscars

After getting back from going to my friend's wedding and having a few days to think about it, I've calmed down a bit now, and here are my thoughts.

Well, the Oscars were certainly at least one thing I was not expecting: completely and utterly unpredictable. At least in the most important category. I thought I would get 8 out of 8 in the major categories for the 2nd year in a row for sure. It looked like, for the fourth time in the last ten years, we had a sure-fire lock for best picture. This wasn't the case. Instead of being very boring, these will perhaps go down as one of the most controversial Oscar years in history.

I'd like to address the Best Picture issue, but first I would like to mention a few things, in case people got the wrong impression from my previous post (which I will delete, as I was angry at the time):

1) I thought Crash was a good movie. Infact it was number one on my charts for over three months.
2) I think it is legitimate that someone likes Crash more than Brokeback Mountain. We all have our specific tastes. Just like I liked The New World, The Constant Gardener, The Squid and the Whale, and Junebug more than any of the movies that were even nominated for best picture.
3) I do not think that someone who does not like Brokeback Mountain is homophobic.

The reason why I thought Brokeback Mountain was a better movie than Crash was that it simply affected me more emotionally. It is a very moving story of self-inflicted loneliness, heartbreak, and people living a lifestyle when it was socially unacceptable and even dangerous to do so. Crash on the other hand, while dealing with a very important issue (racism), did not address it in the correct way. There are few people anymore who are extremely and overtly racist (at least in the areas of the country where I'd like to live) like the characters portrayed in this movie. I think it would have been much more powerful if it had dealt with the real issue: subtle racism. People who are racist without even realizing it, who think they are on board with the progressive movement on the issue but help further its existence every day. The movie simply failed in this regard. So despite the fact that I liked the movie, I don't think it attacked the issue from the right direction.

Now, my commentary:

Besides the fact that Brokeback Mountain was my favorite movie out of the five nominees and I wanted it to win, I was displeased with the outcome at the Oscars for a few reasons. You might say "well, maybe people simply liked Crash more?"

Then, what I want to know is why Brokeback Mountain received the following best picture awards (there are more than these, but I don't have them on hand right now):

British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA)
Venice Film Festival
Golden Globe Drama
Independent Spirit Awards
Golden Satellite Awards
The Producers Guild of America
The Directors Guild of America
Writers Guild of America (Adapted)
Broadcast Film Critics Association
LA Film Critics Association
NYC Film Critics Association
British Film Institute - Sight and Sound
London Film Critics
San Francisco Film Critics
Southeastern Film Critics
Boston Film Critics
Vancouver Film Critics
Online Film and Television Association
Cinephile Society
Internet Entertainment Writers Association
Florida Film Critics
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics
Las Vegas Film Critics
Iowa Film Critics
St Louis Film Critics
Utah Film Critics

This is an unprecedented number of wins for one single movie to receive in a given year. Even heavy favorites such as Titanic, or American Beauty, or The Return of the King did not receive such widespread and universal acclaim across almost every award given out for the year. In order to find a movie that did, you have to go all the way back to 1993, with Schindler's List. I can't even imagine the uproar and furor that would have resulted had that ended up losing Best Picture to The Fugitive.

Crash, on the other hand, won the following awards during the season:

Chicago Film Critics
Screen Actors Guild of America Ensemble Cast Award
Writers Guild of America (Original)
Independent Spirit Best First Picture

Basically, if a movie wins the Directors Guild of America, the Producers Guild of America, the Golden Globe Best Drama, the BAFTA, the movie is going to win best picture. Many of the same people who vote for the DGA, PGA, BAFTA also vote for the Oscars. What could have happened here?

1) The previous awards BBM got were flawed in the first place because it was this massive frontrunner and people conceded their vote. Once people started hearing Crash had a chance at the Oscars they changed their mind and voted for it. I seriously doubt this, people don't automatically vote for what they think is going to eventually win Best Picture at the Oscars. It is very rare for one movie to have a sweep like Brokeback Mountain did, it usually goes to several different movies. For example, last year The Aviator won the Golden Globe Drama and the BAFTA, Million Dollar Baby won the DGA, and Sideways won many of the critics association awards.

2) The acting branch made a huge, I mean, really huge difference. This is the one branch of Oscar voters that don't show up as well in the precursor awards. How could this have helped Crash? There were so many people in the movie, and they and all their friends, etc, could’ve gone for it. Jon Stewart even made a joke during the show, “please raise your hand if you were NOT in ‘Crash’ ? If this is the case, were people really voting for what they felt was the best movie or were they voting for their friends?

3) The stuff I read before the Oscars is actually true. People didn’t even bother to watch BBM because of the content and voted for either A) whatever they liked best or B) whatever they thought had the best chance of winning. Except for a couple of special categories, you are *not* actually required to see all of the nominees. I read several articles about Oscar voters saying they were not planning on watching Brokeback Mountain due to the content of the movie before the awards, but I did not take it as a serious threat to the movie actually losing. Unfortunately I think this may have been a major help.

4) The Los Angeles factor. The movie was made in, was about, and employed many people in the area. Probably half the voters or more knew somebody who had something to do with the movie. Brokeback Mountain on the other hand, was a smaller scale film shot in Canada with little ties to Hollywood.

5) Crash is a vote for a liberal cause that can make Hollywood types happy without threatening their industry by angering middle America. As a liberal, I was waiting for the ranting that people like Pat Robertson would spout out that Hollywood is attempting to demoralize America. Maybe people were afraid of this affecting their industry.

6)Despite all the talk about Hollywood being on "the fringe" (I am quoting George Clooney's acceptance speech here), people were afraid of awarding a movie that would turn into a "cause" movie so early into the battle over the issue. Gay rights issues are going on every day right now, with constitutional amendment bans in the Red states, and people fighting for their rights. Despite the fact that I do not think Brokeback Mountain is an "issue" movie, but rather a tragic love story about people who happen to be gay, I think that this could have happened. Giving the "gay cowboy movie" the most prestigious movie award there is would be a slap in the face to those on the other side of the fence, outwardly taking sides in a battle that is still largely being fought.

7) Homophobia. Between the people who refused to watch the movie, to the people who may have been afraid of awarding the movie with its contents the big prize. Now I do *not* equate this with bigotry, if you look up the definition of homophobia, it is:

ho·mo·pho·bi·a
n.
1) Fear of or contempt for lesbians and gay men.
2) Behavior based on such a feeling.

The key word here is fear. Fear of watching a movie about two men because it is unfamiliar to you and against the tenets with which you have been raised. Fear of the ramifications of what might happen by giving an award to a movie about gays praise and giving it Hollywood's stamp of legitimization. Fear of a number of things. I personally believe a lot of that was involved with this win, and you may disagree. I have even been told that I might be suffering from liberal-white-straight-male guilt on this issue. It is possible I suppose, but I do not think so.

Now, I disagree with the Oscars best picture almost every year. Since 1994, I have only agreed with the winner (based on the nominees) one time. I have agreed with the winner based on all movies released that year zero times. So being disappointed is not anything new to me. However, I usually think it is just a matter of (in my opinion) bad taste. I don't think that was it this time. I don't think the majority of voters really thought Crash was the Best Picture of the year, and I think a number of them didn't even give the movie a chance by watching it.

What is really too bad about this whole thing is that this is going to go down as one of the worst decisions on record for the Oscars. Do people remember Rocky as a great movie because it won Best Picture? It is a great movie (despite the fact that the sequels were quite awful), however people remember that moment much more because it lost to Taxi Driver, a (in most people's minds) far superior movie. This does a disservice to Crash, a good movie, because it will now be remembered in a less than positive light because of what happened at the ceremony.

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Now on to the other categories:

Best Director: At least Ang Lee won. And usually when there is a split between Picture and Director, the movie that wins director is better (the last time this happened was when Chicago won Best Picture but The Pianist took Best Director).

Best Actor: I am glad that Phillip Seymour Hoffman won, he is one of my favorite actors. I think perhaps Joaquim Phoenix or Heath Ledger deserved it more, but any of the three of them are good enough for me. Ralph Fiennes should have been nominated.

Best Actress: I would have preferred Keira Knightley to win this, but it was never going to happen. I am glad that Reese Witherspoon won over Felicity Huffman, who I thought gave an average performance in a bad movie (Transamerica). The other three people did not even deserve to be nominated. This was my least favorite category of the night, my top three choices for the year weren't even nominated, and it was by far the weakest category of the night. Naomi Watts should have been nominated.

Best Supporting Actor: Like I've said in previous posts, I think Clooney got this one as a consolation prize because there was no way he was going to win for Best Director or Best Original Screenplay. Personally I think Jake Gyllenhaal deserved it based on who was nominated, but considering that Jeff Daniels was not an available choice I am not so concerned with who won here.

Best Supporting Actress: The one choice of the night I was happiest with. Despite the fact that I actually thought Amy Adams gave a better performance, I consider them so close together (a virtual tie) that I would've been glad with either. As long as it wasn't any of the other three, who had few good scenes or gave average performances at best.

Best Original Screenplay: I am okay with Crash winning this. While I would have liked to have seen The Squid and the Whale win, I knew it would not, so this would have been my second choice.

Best Adapted Screenplay: I wanted and am glad that Brokeback Mountain won this.

Best Animated Film: I think Howl's Moving Castle was robbed. Hayao Miyazaki is so far ahead of everyone else's league in in the animation department it is ridiculous. At least he has already won for Spirited Away.

Best Documentary: I would have liked to see Murderball win this. To be honest I wasn't that enthralled with March of the Penguins. Addtionally, I am really wondering why Grizzly Man was not even nominated.

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The good of the rest:

1) George Clooney's speech: Despite the fact that the outcome of the awards seems to contradict his speech, it was a great thing to say. And I like speeches where people do not personally thank everyone they know. I am proud to be on the fringe too.

2) Jon Stewart hosting: A big improvement over the hosts of previous years.

3) The fake campaign clips: Hilarious

The bad of the rest:

1) The constant pleading for people to see the movies on the big screen. You know what? I do see movies on the big screen, all the time. You don't need to tell me to go. But if you really want to improve your audience, maybe you should improve your product. As well, maybe you should think about reintroducing short cartoons to play before every movie instead of making everybody sit through ten minutes of commercials for a movie that they paid up to ten dollars for.

2) The masturabatory self-congratulating film montages. Do I really need to see a tribute to film noir? To epic movies? To movies that advocated a cause (and including a low-rent movie like The Day After Tomorrow in that montage was pretty hilarious to me) ? I don't think so.

3) Despite the fact that I didn't like the win, cutting off Robert Moresco in the middle of the final acceptance speech to end the show was just classless.

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My prediction scores (from a previous post):

Here's how I did:
Major Categories: 7/8 (everything but Crash for Best Picture)
Specialty Film Categories: 3/3
Technical Categories: 6/8 (missed Editing and Cinematography)
Original Music Categories: 0/2
Short Film Categories: 0/3

Total: 16/24. Not too bad really. The short film and music categories are pretty much impossible to predict reliably, so I really feel like I got 16/19.

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Total Win Tally:
Crash 3 (Picture, Original Screenplay, Editing)
Brokeback Mountain 3 (Director, Adapted Screenplay, Original Score)
King Kong 3 (Visual FX, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing)
Memoirs of a Geisha 3 (Art Direction, Costumes, Cinematography)
Capote 1 (Actor)
Walk the Line 1 (Actress)
Syriana 1 (Supporting Actor)
The Constant Gardener 1 (Supporing Actress)
Wallace and Gromit 1 (Animated Film)
March of the Penguins 1 (Documentary Film)
Tsotsi 1 (Foreign Language Film)
The Chronicles of Narnia 1 (Makeup)
Hustle and Flow 1 (Original Song)

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So, to sum up, the ceremony was to me what the year in movies was to me: disappointing. Hopefully next year we will get a higher quality group of movies again and maybe the awards won't annoy me as much as they usually do next year. We'll see.

Still Trying to Process This...

A very nice article from Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times explaining how this was even possible.

Here is the link.

The "Independent" Spirit Awards

Wow, I don't think this awards show has ever matched nomination and (probably winner) wise with the Oscars ever before. It is literally all the same movies. Which is a shame because this is supposed to recognize stuff that gets ignored everywhere else (Garden State for example, got a best first feature award last year).

What is great about this show is that it is aired on IFC, so people can (and do) say whatever they want, the jokes are actually funny, and for every movie nominated for best picture, someone comes on and does a parody song for the film. I gotta say that Peter Gallagher's song for Brokeback Mountain was hilarious and maybe the only *good* joke about the movie I've seen or heard all year.

Note that there are certain eligibility requirements, so things like The Constant Gardener, Munich, Syriana, Cinderella Man, and Walk the Line were not eligible, so some potential winners might not match up. But since EVERY SINGLE WINNER is nominated for an Oscar (that has to be the first time it has ever happened), you never know.

Best Picture
Won: Brokeback Mountain

I would've voted for The Squid and the Whale.

Best Director
Won: Ang Lee -- Brokeback Mountain

I would've voted for Noah Baumbach for The Squid and the Whale.

Best Actor
Won: Phillip Seymour Hoffman -- Capote

I would've voted for Jeff Daniels for The Squid and the Whale, although I think it's a supporting part, really.

Best Actress
Won: Felicity Huffman -- Transamerica

I would've voted for Laura Linney for The Squid and the Whale, but again I think that's more of a supporting part.

Best Supporting Actor
Won: Matt Dillon -- Crash

I would've voted for Jessie Eisenberg for The Squid and the Whale, but this one I think is actually a lead role.

Best Supporting Actress
Won: Amy Adams -- Junebug

I completely agree with this one!

Best Screenplay
Won: Dan Futterman -- Capote

I would've voted for Noah Baumbach for The Squid and the Whale. Note that there isn't separate adapted and original categories here.

Can you tell I think The Squid and the Whale got robbed here? It was my third favorite movie of the year after all. This is the kind of movie that SHOULD be sweeping this awards show. In another year when the entire Oscar nominee slate weren't low budget movies it would have.

Now, the "lesser" awards

Best First Screenplay
Won: Duncan Tucker -- Transamerica

Puke. Angus McLachlan should've won for Junebug

Best First Feature (for first film by a producer or director)
Won: Crash

I agree with this one too.

Best Cinematography
Won: Good Night and Good Luck

Again, I agree.

Best Foreign Film
Won: Paradise Now

Considering that I haven't seen any of the nominees I don't really have a comment.

Best Documentary
Won: Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room

I would've voted for Grizzly Man.

You can see the nominees here.

Following the Money and Xenophobia

Here is an interesting article on the latest Oscar odds and some other random tidbits. The most interesting points:

"UK bookmaker William Hill cut Crash's odds from 8/1 to 6/4 but still put Brokeback Mountain ahead at 1/2."

8/1 to 6/4 is a significant increase in odds. Although I'm still not (metaphorically) buying it. Not going to happen. No matter how many times Roger Ebert says so, or some odds maker says so, etc. It is just a bunch of unsubstatiated media hype in order to make the whole thing less boring. Which I guess is fine, but considering that I don't believe it for a second I just find it irritating.

Secondly.

"Meanwhile, a conservative US Christian group has said 61,000 people have signed a letter protesting against Brokeback Mountain's eight Academy Award nominations.

The Center for Reclaiming America for Christ said the acclaim "had little to do with honouring great moviemaking".

"Instead, it is just a high-profile attempt to mainstream the homosexual agenda," the centre said.

The letter, sent to the Academy, said the gay cowboy story was "offensive to the vast majority of Americans".

I'd say that considering Brokeback Mountain has made 75 million dollars (more than any other best picture nominee, mind you), and that the vast majority of Americans are infact, not bigots, that it is actually maybe a high-profile attempt to honor excellent film-making and the movie itself is offensive to bigots, xenophobes, and psychotic fundamentalist religious zealots everywhere.

The Sanest Person On The Planet

I don't think I even need to comment on this one, it parodies itself.

Ann Coulter, oh beacon of infinite wisdom:

Here is her very insightful take on the Oscars

Awards Will/Should/Can't/Etc and the 6 Year Phenomena

Okay, my obligatory will win/should win/can't win post for the year:

Note that should win is based of course on the actual nominees, and for should have been nominated I have only included things that actually had a chance at it. For example there was no way The New World was ever going to get a best picture nomination.

Also, as far as should have or should nots go, I'm only picking one for each category.

Best Picture
Will win: Brokeback Mountain
Should win: Brokeback Mountain
I'm rooting for: Brokeback Mountain
Should have been nominated: The Constant Gardener
Should not have been nominated: Munich

Best Director
Will win: Ang Lee -- Brokeback Mountain
Should win: Ang Lee -- Brokeback Mountain
I'm rooting for: Ang Lee -- Brokeback Mountain
Should have been nominated: Fernando Meirelles -- The Constant Gardener
Should not have been nominated: Steven Spielberg -- Munich

Best Actor
Will win: Phillip Seymour Hoffman -- Capote
Should win: Heath Ledger -- Brokeback Mountain
I'm rooting for: Phillip Seymour Hoffman -- Capote
Should have been nominated: Ralph Fiennes -- The Constant Gardener
Should not have been nominated: No one sticks out as being particularly undeserving to me. Pick any one of them and boot them out for Ralph Fiennes and I'd be happy.

Note: While I think Heath Ledger was better than Phillip Seymour Hoffman, I don't think he gave the best performance in his own movie, and I happen to have liked PSH in many other movies so I kind of hope he wins for this as he's due for something by now.

Best Actress
Will win: Reese Witherspoon -- Walk the Line
Should win: Keira Knightley -- Pride and Prejudice
I'm rooting for: Keira Knightley -- Pride and Prejudice
Should have been nominated: Naomi Watts -- King Kong
Should not have been nominated: Judi Dench -- Mrs. Henderson Presents

Best Supporting Actor
Will win: George Clooney -- Syriana
Should win: Jake Gyllenhaal -- Brokeback Mountain
I'm rooting for: Paul Giamatti -- Cinderella Man
Should have been nominated: Jeff Daniels -- The Squid and the Whale
Should not have been nominated: Matt Dillon -- Crash

Note: This time my rooting for is different than should win because Paul Giamatti not only not winning, but not even being *nominated*, last year for his spectacular performance in Sideways is one of the worst snubs in Oscar history. I'm still sickened by it. So I wouldn't mind if he had it made up to him.

Best Supporting Actress
Will win: Rachel Weisz -- The Constant Gardener
Should win: Amy Adams -- Junebug
I'm rooting for: Rachel Weisz *or* Amy Adams
Should have been nominated: Maria Bello -- A History of Violence
Should not have been nominated: Frances McDormand -- North Country

Note: I only like Amy Adams' performance slightly more than Rachel Weisz's. I would be happy if either of them wins.

Best Original Screenplay
Will win: Paul Haggis, Robert Moresco -- Crash
Should win: Noah Baumbach -- The Squid and the Whale
I'm rooting for: Noah Baumbach -- The Squid and the Whale
Should have been nominated: Angus McLachlan -- Junebug
Should not have been nominated: Woody Allen -- Match Point

Best Adapted Screenplay
Will win: Larry McMurtry, Dianna Ossanna -- Brokeback Mountain
Should win: Larry McMurtry, Dianna Ossanna -- Brokeback Mountain
I'm rooting for: Larry McMurtry, Dianna Ossana -- Brokeback Mountain
Should have been nominated: Hard to think of something that had a chance here.
Should not have been nominated: Tony Kushner & Eric Roth -- Munich

The writing in Munich, particularly the last third of the movie, and the mis-timed beginning to the lead's change in personality over what he's doing is what prevented the movie from being great. I don't know what should take its place necessarily, but it shouldn't be there.

A note on the 6 year phenomena: I agree with the Oscars based on their nominees once every 6 years. Since I think that Brokeback Mountain should win (based on the nominees only, note that it is actually only my #5 of the year and my first four did not get nominated) it probably will.

The last time I agreed with the Oscars based on the nominees? 1999, American Beauty.

The time before that? 1993, Schindler's List.

I wonder what movie will be coming out in 2011 that will be my next match.