The Aviator? I find biopics tiresome, and this one didn't even garner enough critical heat to convince me to go check it out in the theater...so naturally, it has eleven nominations. Then there is Million Dollar Baby, which I haven't heard anyone else tag for this, so I'll do the honors: terrible title. Terrible, terrible title verging on self-parody, in fact--and every review I read said this was thoroughly OK, if you can get past the hammy plot moments. Not promising, so I missed that one, too--seven nominations.
Finding Neverland had some wretched reviews, which helpfully pointed out
a) It's a biopic, which I don't usually like, and
b) It whitewashes Barrie's pedophilia/aberrant behavior as "the desire to be young, to be a boy, blah blah blah". What?
So I missed that as well--but Oscar didn't, with seven nominations. And the only thing that Oscar likes better than nasty, sketchy pedophiles is blind, friendly musicians, so Ray has to get a nomination for Best Picture, too--this might even be a good film, except that
a) It's a biopic, and
b) It's a biopic that exists so we can all coo over how much an actor "becomes" someone else--my least favorite kind of stunt casting.
Leaving Sideways, which i thought was a fantastic film--one of the best of the year by far, and certainly of this band of fuck-alls and half-wits that the Academy ended up nominating, easily the very best movie. Of course Oscar can't even do this one goddamn thing correctly, and so Paul Giamatti gets no nomination--apparently Eastwood doing his statue impression trumps Giamatti. Also, we all know that Thomas Hayden Church will get robbed on Oscar night, probably by Alan Fucking Alda.
It's cold comfort, but this is the year the Academy blatantly revealed how out of touch it is with most of America, by ignoring Fahrenheit 911 one one hand and The Passion Of The Christ on the other. I think that could be misinterpreted as the Oscars actually caring about films until you realize that Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind got a small nod for Original Screenplay and that's it. Pfffffttt.
Where's Kinsey? I don't like biopics, but that one at least had so much support, and was considered by many to transcend the genre. Oh, I'm sorry--it's about sex. Bzzzzzzz.
Talentless ass clowns.
10:27 AM