punching the clock ~ and Oscar

[lookingland]

just checking in.

this mung will be the death of me for sure. sorry if i have not been responding to my f-list. if this hacking doesn't stop, i'm checking into a morgue next week.

~ * ~

i thought i ought to say something about the Oscars since i tend to talk about film a lot. i didn't watch the Oscars (still don't have a working tv), but i saw that Crash won and that a lot of people are disappointed that Brokeback did not.

i have not seen Brokeback and won't make any sort of assessment on it based on the varied reviews i have read/heard. when it comes to video, i promise i will check it out and give it a fair watch (i love ang lee, so that shouldn't be hard).

i will say, however, that Crash in its own rights is an excellent film on a lot of levels and though i don't really consider the Oscars authoritative on matters of picking great films (their track record is pretty hit-or-miss), i will say that Crash deserved an Oscar. i'm also glad that it won "best screenplay" because it was extremely well-written ~ one of the best things i've seen out of american cinema in a good while.

and okay, i admit that i'm glad it won because it was a low-budget dark horse, but that's sort of just lagniappe so far as i'm concerned.

given that hollywood is pretty liberal and Brokeback was a big favorite, i don't think there's any cause to assume this is some sort of anti-gay thing. Brokeback doesn't deserve to win solely on the merits of it being a big-budget gay cowboy movie. in the final analysis, the Oscars are extremely subjective. i mean Titanic won for crying out loud. still, i'm happy for Crash and don't think for a moment that it didn't deserve the recognition.

: D

Comments

[utter-scoundrel.livejournal.com]

You didn't miss much. I had seen none of the major nominated films so I didn't feel as if I had any personal stake in the awards show. I tuned in mainly for Jon Stewart (the Daily Show and old movie channels are the only reason I miss cable). Despite appearing a tad overwhelmed, he was a pro.

Lauren Bacall presented a montage of film noir clips. She trembled a lot and kept stumbling over her words. It was very painful and depressing to watch.

The "In Memoriam" tribute didn't feature James Doohan, and for a few seconds I was ticked. Then I calmed my inner geek down and reminded him that "Scotty" was more remembered for his tv work than movies.

It's a shame you missed the opening minutes, though. There was a cute skit where the previous hosts - Crystal, Chris Rock (both living in the Brokeback Mountain tent), Steve Martin, Whoopi & Letterman - all declined to host this year's Oscars. Stewart also when on a faux rant on how he thought "Brokeback Mountain" tarnished the image of the very heterosexual Cowboy Movie...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwivtARIlA8&search=oscars%20cowboy

[lookingland.livejournal.com]

well scotty still made all the trek movies ~ ya would think they'd give him a nod at least!

ah well.

: o p