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Mar. 1st, 2004 03:45 pmYou know, I've never watched the Oscars before. Bits and pieces here and there, but never ever right through.
And I seriously doubt I ever will again.
So, yes, everyone knows that the Oscars, whatever they used to be, have devolved into a popularity contest and egofest. I knew that. But it's one thing to know it and another thing to see it in action.
It wasn't just both Bill Murray and Johnny Depp losing out to Sean Penn just because he played the screaming drama and they went for (respectively) subtle humour/angst and immersive comedy. It wasn't just the increasing boredom as the weakest of the LotR movies won award after award. It wasn't just that some of those awards could have gone to more deserving candidates (Dear Sofia Coppola, Don't feel too badly, because you know in your heart that your direction was way better than Peter Jackson's. Love, Cathryn).
Sure, all that pissed me off. But it was mostly seeing, over and over, the same five or six names of the same five or six movies that coincidentally all happened to make a crapload of money. I work at a movie store, people, I know for a fact that there were at least ten movies released last year. Maybe even more. And a lot of them had really really wonderful things in them. They couldn't have maybe spread those nominations around a little?
Just as an example of what I mean, here are a few of the categories and nominations according to the Oscars in my head. There isn't an entry for every category, and I've tried to avoid repeating actual nominations. This is just for the movies that have been on my mind lately, as I certainly can't remember all the 2003 releases I saw.
Best Male Actor:
Crispin Glover, Willard
Nicolas Cage, Matchstick Men
Jason Isaacs, Peter Pan
Best Female Actor:
Allison Lohman, Matchstick Men
Lindsay Lohan, Freaky Friday (Oh, shut up, this kid was more convincing as an uptight forty-year-old businesswoman than Jamie Lee was in the same damn role.)
Best Score:
Willard
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Once Upon a Time in Mexico
I'll think of more later, I'm sure, but I just wanted to share an example of the stuff that got overlooked in favour of the big moneymakers. (Sure, I got a little repetitive, too, but I've put, like, five minutes' thought into this, as opposed to like hours and hours of time and effort.) I am upset way out of proportion to how much I actually care about the stupid ceremony, and it's not something I wish to experience again. Next year, I'll just listen to the radio to learn the results like I've always done.
In conclusion: I know I'm the only person on the planet who thinks this, but Return of the King was NOT THAT GOOD, DAMMIT.
And I seriously doubt I ever will again.
So, yes, everyone knows that the Oscars, whatever they used to be, have devolved into a popularity contest and egofest. I knew that. But it's one thing to know it and another thing to see it in action.
It wasn't just both Bill Murray and Johnny Depp losing out to Sean Penn just because he played the screaming drama and they went for (respectively) subtle humour/angst and immersive comedy. It wasn't just the increasing boredom as the weakest of the LotR movies won award after award. It wasn't just that some of those awards could have gone to more deserving candidates (Dear Sofia Coppola, Don't feel too badly, because you know in your heart that your direction was way better than Peter Jackson's. Love, Cathryn).
Sure, all that pissed me off. But it was mostly seeing, over and over, the same five or six names of the same five or six movies that coincidentally all happened to make a crapload of money. I work at a movie store, people, I know for a fact that there were at least ten movies released last year. Maybe even more. And a lot of them had really really wonderful things in them. They couldn't have maybe spread those nominations around a little?
Just as an example of what I mean, here are a few of the categories and nominations according to the Oscars in my head. There isn't an entry for every category, and I've tried to avoid repeating actual nominations. This is just for the movies that have been on my mind lately, as I certainly can't remember all the 2003 releases I saw.
Best Male Actor:
Crispin Glover, Willard
Nicolas Cage, Matchstick Men
Jason Isaacs, Peter Pan
Best Female Actor:
Allison Lohman, Matchstick Men
Lindsay Lohan, Freaky Friday (Oh, shut up, this kid was more convincing as an uptight forty-year-old businesswoman than Jamie Lee was in the same damn role.)
Best Score:
Willard
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Once Upon a Time in Mexico
I'll think of more later, I'm sure, but I just wanted to share an example of the stuff that got overlooked in favour of the big moneymakers. (Sure, I got a little repetitive, too, but I've put, like, five minutes' thought into this, as opposed to like hours and hours of time and effort.) I am upset way out of proportion to how much I actually care about the stupid ceremony, and it's not something I wish to experience again. Next year, I'll just listen to the radio to learn the results like I've always done.
In conclusion: I know I'm the only person on the planet who thinks this, but Return of the King was NOT THAT GOOD, DAMMIT.