The CC2k Oscars round-up

The Red Baron:

Over the past 10 years or so, long enough for the allure and magic of the exalted Academy Awards to completely wear off and dissolve in a puddle of bubbling acid at my feet, what I've come to hate about the whole shebang is this emphasis on THE BEST.

What's THE BEST movies of the year? Is there always one, single BEST movie? One single BEST peformance by an actor? An actress? A sound mixer?

It's a common topic of casual conversation: what's your favorite movie? What are your top 10 favorite fill-in-the-blanks? But is your opinion any better or well-informed than one of these Academy Member Folk? Sure, they may work in the same industry as the peers whose work they're voting on – but it's still just their opinion. Why do their statements of opinion get elevated to gospel? Why should we care what these other people think? Why can't we focus on the movies we like – and engage in debate with our friends and associates on our own terms. And let the Academy members do the same. Dispense with all the pomp and circumstance of these lavish ceremonies that focus on narrowing down THE BEST. All I see this activity doing is inspiring an already dulled-by-reality-TV viewing public to begin hollow hypothesizing about WHO'S GONNA WIN? Office pools. Surveys on a sidebar of an MSNBC.com webpage. Annoying commercials.

The Oscars, along with all of these other award shows, have unfortantely ceased to be institutions that truly, deeply celebrate the movies, so much as provide an opportunity for studios and production companies to exploit their exposure at said award shows.

BEST PICTURE – 2005!

… smack on the top of the Crash video box. I was waiting for it to come out on video anyway. Don't need the best picture notification.

ACADEMY AWARD NOMINEE – 2005

Brokeback Mountain. Uh, I would have seen it anyway. Because people I talked to liked it. Not because it garnered the attention of the Academy Members.

And Phil Hoffman will forever now be known as ACADEMY AWARD WINNER PHILLIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN in his billing on future film advertisements.

If I see another actor billed as ACADEMY AWARD WINNER BLAH-DIDI-BLEE-BLAH, I'm going to do something horrible, like shoot a kitten in the face. You don't need to remind me that Meryl Streep is a good actor by reminding me that she's won an award for it. These incessant pleas from the studios, reaching out to the lowest common denominator – they might as well be saying "Other people whose opinions matter more that yours thinks she acts well, so you should spend your money on seeing her in a movie."

Of course, there's a place for any organziation to celebrate the accomplishments of its workers. I think the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences should shift their annual ceremony to more of a broad spectrum. Celebrate all the movies that came out, and point out the truly exceptional achievements. Something more general … and personal.

But that wouldn't sell as much advertising space. And would deprive the home video marketing teams at all the studios of a valuable asset.

And as long as we're on the topic of George Clooney's coolness – remember what he said about being proud of the Academy — that sometimes being out of sync with mainstream America is a good thing, because it means you're ahead of the times and the curve. It means you can touch on topics that aren't being explored in the public sector. That the organization nominated a black actor (whose name escapes me) while segregation was still in full effect. And being a member of the film and TV industry, I believe that spirit is alive within us and within our work. Or at least it can be, given the right circumstances. The climate of arrogance, commercialization and gross self-congradulation of the Oscars ceremony is corroding that spirit.

It's created a climate of expectations that influence major studios to produce "OSCAR BAIT" – movies that you expect to meet the qualifications of a — drum roll — Oscar Winner. Rather than make an interesting, challenging movie, once again, movies are made to meet expectations, rather than break them.

And why are the best performances and the best pictures always searing emotional dramas? Can't something be funny? What about serio-comedic?

One of the best movies I saw in 2005 – maybe my favorite – was The 40-Year-Old Virgin. A silly, gross-out comedy on the surface, but with more soul, humor, social commentary, and old-fashioned human drama that I'm sure Brokeback Mountain has, becuse Brokeback just takes itself too damn seriously.

But, I haven't seend Brokeback Mountain yet. It's just my preemptive opinion. Which is just as good as the Academy members who didn't vote for Brokeback.

Make your own decisions, people. There's no Voice of God or cosmic force dictating that CRASH IS THE BEST MOVIE OF THE YEAR. But I fear many people, in their unconscious minds will think of it as such. Instead of realizing that it's just the personal opinions of several hundred members that say CRASH is just that good.

See Crash for yourself. Respond to it on your own terms. Fuck the Oscar.

Just the mindless, five-in-the-morning rantings as I sit here at JFK Airport waiting for my connecting flight to the Delray Beach Film Festival. Hopefully it makes sense to someone out there.

But, you know what? I just get emotional during Oscar week. Because they close down roads that I usually drive on in and around Hollywood. It bugs me. So I write scathing articles about them.

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