One more Oscar note before I put the 80th Academy Awards to bed when it comes to blogging. Yesterday everyone was ripping on the Oscars, calling the show boring, flat and complaining that it isn’t a show for real movie lovers. Well duh! It’s a 3+ hour awards show that’s recognizing the best in Hollywood. So of course you get a show that’s long, not too controversial and the movies that win are the best of the best of the mainstream. I’m always surprised when people get angry about this. Of course the films nominated aren’t really the best films of the year (although I thought the Academy did pretty good this year, There Will Be Blood, Michael Clayton and No Country For Old Men, are actually really really good). Of course the host, in this case Jon Stewart, is kind of lame (although I thought he did a really good subtle job myself). What do you expect for a show being broadcast on a major network to tons and tons of people?
So why do I watch and why should you watch the show? Why am I always excited about it? My answers are below:
- Back in the day really good films were nominated and did win - check out past nominees and winners from the 70’s or the 60’s or the 5o’s etc.. They were amazing films, and I guess each year I watch in hopes that things will again start to shift in American cinema, back to a time where blockbusters and the weekend box office didn’t rule the day. This year saw The Coen brothers winning a lot of awards and you know what Joel and Ethan Coen are really good filmmakers. I would argue that No Country is definitely not their best, but who knows, my guess is that more Americans will be inclined to give Barton Fink and Miller’s Crossing a look now.
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1) THE WRITER: Mel Miller
3) THE WRITER: Dixon Steele