I can understand that, though personally I have too much trouble getting past the things I hate about it (which are the standard typical things to hate about awards shows) to enjoy it.
When is it, John? (too lazy to look)
3.5 hours left of this dumbaroo work day...
So... Does anyone have a rather nice bike they have abandoned temporarily which would like to come live with me for 3 months? I’m thinking—just thinking, mind you—of training for a triathalon.
Also, unlike the Grammys, I do think that they “get it right” once in a while. (And actually, it’s not that the Grammys are “wrong,” it’s more like they’re an exercise in futility, since thousands of albums come out each year and you can only hear so many.) Obv. they’re going to be disproportionately tilted toward star-studded blockbusters, and there are some major embarrassments every year, but it’s also awesome to see someone like Ryan Gosling nominated for a movie that’s made under $5 million, and for which was probably my favorite single cinematic performance last year.
Oscars are Sunday night.
hey can someone fill me in on tasering story
Did they ever figure out why Shavers was shot? (I guess Jordan is out for the day....)
Whatsay some of us organize a little road trip? I have a hankering for New Orleans!
I say with conviction that I WILL be in NO for Carnival next year. The only thing that can keep me away is being a FT student, or perhaps death.
What tasering story? In Chicago? Google search found only pretty old stories.
i know what tasering of which he speaks but do not know details. i do not believe the gentleman in question was actually tasered. though he was obviously threatened with it.
Errr, John, now you’ve lost me. By saying they sometimes get it right, you’re conceding that it’s even possible to pick a “BEST PICTURE” or whatever, which to me is something that’s stupid to even try to do. But this is probably a discussion that we don’t want to get into. We’ve probably even had this discussion before.
“Best film” may not actually mean best film, but the competition is still interesting, or would be to me if it wasn’t for whatever it is that is turning me off.
Anyway, is the winner of a sports competition really the best team? Sure, they scored their way to the top, but if you replayed any game they were in, they could often just as easily have won, so the empirical reason for calling them “the best” is not unquestionable, and there is room for subjectivity. Right?
By saying they sometimes get it right, you’re conceding that it’s even possible to pick a “BEST PICTURE” or whatever, which to me is something that’s stupid to even try to do.
Stupid because it’s relative? I mean, obv. there’s no way to prove that such-and-such film is the “best” of the year, but I guess I like the idea of history recording what many people’s consensus favorite is. When I say “get it right,” partially I’m talking about agreeing with ME (which is admittedly silly) — but I’m also talking about the Oscars reiterating what seems to be the overall critical/public opinion. Last year, I was disappointed by Crash winning, on one hand because *I* thought that Brokeback Mountain was the superior film, but mostly because Brokeback was a fascinating cultural phenomenon and a Best Picture win would’ve capped off its narrative in a really satisfying way.
And not JUST a fascinating cultural phenomenon, either. I mean, Snakes on a Plane was a fascinating cultural phenomenon. But one that LOTS of people, both film critics and the public alike, all seemed to genuinely love.
Oh wait, I just remembered, you didn’t like it.
And because Crash was AWFFFFFFFUL.
I don’t think “get it right” necessarily means “agree with me,” only since one’s reasons for believing a movie is The Best would have to extend beyond your own particular opinion. Right?
“Best film” may not actually mean best film, but the competition is still interesting, or would be to me if it wasn’t for whatever it is that is turning me off.
I agree with this.
Anyway, is the winner of a sports competition really the best team? Sure, they scored their way to the top, but if you replayed any game they were in, they could often just as easily have won, so the empirical reason for calling them “the best” is not unquestionable, and there is room for subjectivity. Right?
The difference is that the whole purpose of a baseball team is to win the World Series, the whole purpose of a football team is to win the Super Bowl, etc. Few movies are created with the primary purpose of winning an Oscar.
But one that LOTS of people, both film critics and the public alike, all seemed to genuinely love.
I meant BBM. If it wasn’t clear.
For example, my very favorite book is not the book I would nominate for Best Book, though the book I did nominate would be one I like.
Few movies are created with the primary purpose of winning an Oscar.
Maybe the way they get it really wrong is by nominating mostly/only films that are made for this purpose.
I thought Brokeback was very overrated but I was definitely rooting for it over Crash, which was one of the worst movies I watched last year. But I didn’t particularly like any of the three Best Picture nominees that I saw last year (the two above and Capote. Nothing I really like is ever nominated. I think this is related to me mainly liking comedies.
But one that LOTS of people, both film critics and the public alike, all seemed to genuinely love.
so lowest common denomenator wins here? i dunno, i have lousy taste in films especially.
test
nevermind.
I have nothing to say about any of today’s conversation.
Today I had my students get into groups and each group wrote — or re-wrote — a portion of The Anna Nicole Smith Story. They were upset that the Newsweek article we read treated her with disrespect, so we rewrote with a more compassionate tone. It was pretty fun.
As for Oscars, I could not possibly care less about who wins what and whose performance was best. I find actors talking about acting to be boring. That does not mean that it IS boring, just that I, Armando, find it to be boring.
OK. My main problems with the Oscars:
1. General concept of art being a competition.
2. Terrible movies always nominated.
3. People acting like they are actually a measure of quality.
However, I will say that if the only reason I watched the Oscars was to see what I thought were the “best” movies win, I would be pretty cranky about the whole thing. I think you sort of have to divorce yourself a little bit and just get into fun celebrity-fite aspect of it (or if you’re geeky like me, the handicapping). I mean, Dr. Morbs and Eric H. are big Oscar dorks, and they’re also huge snobs that hardly ever like any of the movies that are in competition.
I’m pretty sure Morbs likes them because only one movie can win in every category which means that EVERY OTHER FILM LOSES which means schadenfreude galore.
The thing is, I hate most movies.
The thing is, I hate most movies.
YES
This is what I’m listening to right now:
The thing is, I hate most movies.
YES
Srsly
Maybe the way they get it really wrong is by nominating mostly/only films that are made for this purpose.
Yes.
so lowest common denomenator wins here?
I’m not sure that’s the best way to describe it, since in the context of film, that term is too redolent of big gross-out comedies or whatever. I mean, yes, it’s a consensus, but it’s a consensus of what’s considered quality.
I find actors talking about acting to be boring.
Hmmm, yeah, I actually find it pretty interesting. But I don’t think you find any actors talking about acting on the Oscars. In fact, about the only place you’ll actually find actors talking about acting — I mean, really going into depth about the craft — is on Charlie Rose or Inside the Actors Studio.
Agree with Nick, but with some changes
1. LotR winning!
2. Terrible movies always nominated.
3. People acting like they are actually a measure of quality.
4. Too much fuss.
5. General concept of art being a competition—only sort of, since this is usually the way of the world except maybe in the case theraputic or healing art.
How can you hate most movies? Really?
I mean, they’re MOVIES!
Hating movies would require seeing them.
The thing is, I hate most movies.
fixed.
I feel like I hate most movies other people spooge themselves over, the movies I’m supposed to like or think are “important” or whatever. Maybe I’m just being contrary.
HOWEVER I think that “Half Nelson” was pretty good, as it actually succeeds at being naturalistic, and was subtle, which is a quality you rarely see in movies.
hee hee xpost to kevin.
Hating movies would require seeing them.
Very true. Perhaps I should change my opinon to “I don’t care about most movies”.
In fact, about the only place you’ll actually find actors talking about acting — I mean, really going into depth about the craft — is on Charlie Rose or Inside the Actors Studio.
BLEEECCCH to the craft. Sorry. I have simple needs: entertain me and if you can, make me laugh or cry.
Talking about it ruins it for me.
I need to get back on Netflix. (Why did they delete my account?? One minute it’s there, the next it’s gone! I paid my bill, honest!) I want to see
Half Nelson
The Animation Show
Brick
Marie Antoinette
Many others WHICH WERE IN MY QUEUE AND I’VE SINCE FORGOTTEN!
xpost ^^^^Why I stay the fuck out of ILM.
I like meta-anything, but James Lipton bugs the living shit out of me, and there is inevitably too heavy a dose of pretention on that show/out of the mouths of actors, generally. Lipton eggs them on, though.
I think I tend to dislike the meta.
I like most movies I see, to varying degrees of course. There are usually only a couple of movies a year that I outright hate — and then even those aren’t necessarily horrible to sit through (my hatred of Little Miss Sunshine expands the more I think about it, but I’m not going to pretend that I didn’t laugh a few times). But then I don’t usually see movies that I know I’m going to dislike, either.
I guess the thing to remember is that the Oscars is what it is. I’ve never really liked when music critics say things like “In a perfect world, this song would be #1.” If all your favorite songs were on top of the charts, and all your favorite movies won Oscars, would that really be a “perfect world”? It seems like it would be kind of weird, actually. I like having stuff that I like, and sometimes it’s fun when it syncs up with what other people like, but even when it doesn’t, it’s still interesting to me to see who likes what and why.
brick was ok, i didn’t dig it as much as most. the dialog was rediculous, reminded me of heathers. i’m sure 14 year old girls across the country thought it was the best movie ever.
In other news, I’m reading The Sun Also Rises for the first time, and it is good. Next I will try to read “House of Incest” again. It’s only 72 pages, with pictures, and while it’s lovely, it’s HARD!
road to hell is paved with unbought stuffed dogs
God I love that book.
i’m sure 14 year old girls across the country thought it was the best movie ever
??? Weird. I’m sure very few 14-year-old girls actually saw “Brick.”
I’m going to get my car’s oil changed now. Bye.
God I love that book.
Do you mean the Hemingway or the Anais Nin?
The one I quoted above. You might not be to that part yet, don’t want to spoil it too much...
I think acting isn’t talked about enough, frankly, because a lot of critics don’t know how to talk about it. It’s an interesting art.
the dialog was rediculous, reminded me of heathers. i’m sure 14 year old girls across the country thought it was the best movie ever.
Uh, you’re kidding, right?
The dialogue was ridiculous in the sense that you get the impression that Rian Johnson just wanted to have fun with all that hard-boiled noir patter (totally unrealistic), but I think that that actually makes it kind of abstruse and somewhat of an impediment toward 14-year-old girls loving it. They might love Joseph Gordon-Levitt, though, and I don’t entirely blame them. Emilie de Ravin and Nora Zehetner are pretty easy on the eyes, too.
the dialog was rediculous, reminded me of heathers. i’m sure 14 year old girls across the country thought it was the best movie ever.
Uh... 14 year old girls thought it was weird and had no idea what was going on or why. and the dialogue was pulp detective story patter from the 30’s. Only ridiculous if you’ve never seen a Bogart movie.
other news, I’m reading The Sun Also Rises for the first time, and it is good.
long time favorite of mine. love it.
??? Weird. I’m sure very few 14-year-old girls actually saw “Brick.”
i formed this opinion based partially on news from an acquaintence who works at a local video retailer. the more i thought about it the more it made sense.
big xpost
I enjoy most movies and tend to be fairly uncritical of them. I do mock movies constantly, but, for the most part, only ones I haven’t seen. In the end, I just like to sit back and be entertained.
I thought Brick was wonderful, but I might be biased because of the cuet boyz.
the ladiez wasn’t bad, either.
sorry... dames.
I think acting isn’t talked about enough, frankly
tell me you’re kidding! what other profession is talked about with the hyperbolic, laudatory language people use when they talk/write about acting? i know you’ll probably say that those people don’t know how to write/talk about acting, but seriously, when people talk about how brave an actor is or how excruciating something was for them, I want to puke.
no, i understood it for what it was yet found it utterly rediculous. the social interactions and broad caste portrayals were something out of the first season of 90210. it was a bore and only laughable when it was trying to be serious.
[in my best gene siskle voice]
two thumbs down, WAY DOWN, for brick.
In other words, I watched it for the same reason as all those 14 year old girls. Ok, not really. It was good over all.
I don’t mind awards shows. I think they can be pretty fun if you have a posse together to watch them. Mostly I like the Oscars because they introduce me to movies I might need to check out. Also, I like seeing what everyone wears. There, I said it.
The only reason I would want to watch Oscars is to gawk at beautiful people. I’m not immune to that.
the only reason i watch is to try to guess who’s already drunk as they make their way into the event. once it switches from red carpet to the indoors i lose whatever little interest i may have had.
no, i understood it for what it was yet found it utterly rediculous. the social interactions and broad caste portrayals were something out of the first season of 90210.
But your second sentence contradicts your first. You thought that movie was about teenagers? It wasn’t.
But your second sentence contradicts your first.
this is the second time (at least) that you’ve written this today and have been incorrect both times.
I mean, Dr. Morbs and Eric H. are big Oscar dorks, and they’re also huge snobs
I am going to rassle you to the ground when I get out there.
Winning an Oscar may now be even worse than winning a Grammy.
i wouldn’t mind half a grammy.
that’s a pirated grammy
when people talk about how brave an actor is or how excruciating something was for them, I want to puke.
A. MEN. Cf. Sharon Stone talking about taking long baths and sobbing for days after filming Basic Instinct. And it is the self-awed way actors say these things! Like they’re talking about having just come out of Auschwitz or something. Have a really strong emotional reaction, transform yourself into a character for months, be traumatized, but be aware that I want to see a moving performance IN the movie, not when you talk ABOUT it, when it is just gross.
Boy, clicking on Buddyhead’s “Best of 2006”* while at work was a bad idea.
*Pretty much the only year-end list/awards/whatever I can stomach, if only for roffles.
Few movies are created with the primary purpose of winning an Oscar.
Many of the big-studio movies that come out every December are made with that as a major consideration. Why else would The Horse Whisperer have been made? Also the 3 Anthony Minghella films before this last one.
(also when I saw the Ray trailer, I was so revolted I turned to a friend and said “Best Actor”)
Oh, Amanda. :-)
I don’t understand why actors do things like pick up a new drug or gain a bunch of weight so that they can seem more realistic playing their part (ie: drug addict or fat person I suppose, ha ha). It’s called ACTING. Otherwise, studio execs would just hire actual junkies/ obese people.
Seriously! Actually, one of the movies I’ve seen recently that I thought was rather good was the one that only had real people in it — I can’t remember what it was called but it was about this dude and a girl who worked in a doll factory in a place that looked a lot like Ohio. There was a middle aged lady too, who was friends with the young dude. Then some things happened. What was that called? I dunno. Whatever. It was pretty good and very short.
Bubble.
Ah yes. Bubble. I dunno. I thought it was pretty good.
It’s been confirmed: Armando DOES NOT KNOW.
“I dunno.” — Armando
no ordinary looking working-class ppl allowed in Hollywood when Charlize Theron and Will Smith can play them.
I love All the Real Girls. italics.
General concept of art being a competition
I was thinking about this as I went to lunch just now, and actually, I think this is a huge part of what makes the Oscars so interesting to me. In the absence of any objective means by which to compare one work of art with another, Oscar winners are determined by a weird conglomeration of racial/sexual politics, Hollywood liberal guilt, studio campaigning, notions of who “deserves” to win based on past performances, the momentum accrued through the precursor awards (the December critics’ awards shape the race in much the same way that the New Hampshire and Iowa primaries prefigure a political party’s nominees), and other sundry factors. Watching all this play out I find to be pretty compelling.
tell me you’re kidding! what other profession is talked about with the hyperbolic, laudatory language people use when they talk/write about acting? i know you’ll probably say that those people don’t know how to write/talk about acting, but seriously, when people talk about how brave an actor is or how excruciating something was for them, I want to puke.
Yeah, I guess maybe what I meant to say is that people don’t talk INTELLIGENTLY about acting.
All I know is that you guys ALL win “BEST FRIEND” category!!!! :) LOL
Talking about “how brave an actor is” does not constitute “talking about acting” to me.
That said, acting is kind of an amazing experience, or can be, sometimes.
DUDE WATCH AGUIRRE. I’LL LET YOU BORROW IT.
It’s called ACTING.
HI DERE, Laurence Olivier to Dustin Hoffman on the set of Marathon Man.
I am going to rassle you to the ground when I get out there.
When I said you were a snob, that was a descriptive statement, not a pejorative one. Think of a better word (“cinephile”?) and I’ll use it.
Hey, question: when you people ordered from goth perfume warehouse, how long did it take to arrive? I’ve been waiting about a week and a half now.
DUDE WATCH AGUIRRE. I’LL LET YOU BORROW IT.
Hey, do you want Y: The Last Man back? There’s no reason for me to have them, except for a hazy memory I have of you telling me to keep them. But they’re yours, and I’m not likely to re-read them or anything.
It’s a gift!
I’ll take ’em.
It was “Oscar dork” I obj’d to more, actually. Eric co-writes two giant columns abt the nominations and awards every year, I’m not in his league.
I am thinking of staying near Wrigley Field not Uptown this summer.
unless i’m actually going to a game, and even then it’s about 50/50, being in wrigleyville makes me want to kill myself in the summer.
hello there, dark chocolate with orange and spice. nice to meet you.
Paczki!
I’ve had TWO today. Good thing I’m going to the gym tonight.
summer in hamtramck i don’t need to watch tv
sit out on my front porch see all i got to see...