Settled down with a post-breakfast coffee yesterday and she who must be obeyed discovered that The Oscars were live on TV. This was probably not a good discovery, for we then spent the next 2-3 hours transfixed as we watched the evolving car crash that is this annual vomit-fest. Half of the time was spent watching Thai advertising breaks which struggled to last as long as the American breaks that they were shadowing. This was the highlight. The rest of the time I watched with rising contempt and despair as assorted millionaires lined up to praise, weep and applaud each other in an orgy of self-congratulation.
High on the most-odious list was the “In Memoriam” segment where songs were sung, eulogies spoken. and we were told that these people had changed each of us for ever. The list included a marketing executive who I am sure was a wonderful person but she sure as hell has not changed my life; and excluded Joan Rivers who did make me laugh on occasion. But wait, there is worse.
The fiftieth anniversary of The Sound of Music was an excuse to have some of the turgid songs recycled by none other than Lady Gaga. The girl can sing, but someone who has been known to wear a bikini made out of ham, should not be singing about girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes. I had to go an watch the video of “Bad Romance” to cleanse my aural passages.
The presenter was bland, some of the award-givers appeared to be on drugs, and John Travolta looked and behaved like an undead version of your creepy Uncle. It was all quite awful, and that’s before we got to the movies.
I’ll admit to being less than moved by many of this year’s nominations, to the extent I haven’t even watched some of them. Winner was Birdman, maybe not because it was “best film”, but because the subject matter was the entertainment industry and the entertainment industry loves to reward its own. I watched half of it before giving up. Cleverly shot, occasionally witty, but far too far up its own arse for me to stomach the full experience.
“Still Alice” is another nomination I gave up on; but for different reasons. The subject was Alzheimer’s, and the prospect of that freaks me out so much that I really couldn’t manage watching a whole movie about it.
“The imitation game”, “Selma” and “The Theory of Everything” I will admit to not having watched. I suppose I will eventually, but they are not enticing subjects for an evening’s entertainment.
Unlike “Whiplash”, which is probably too slight a movie to win overall prize, but what a delight. And I don’t even like drumming, or Jazz. Then there was “The Grand Budapest Hotel” which was made by Wes Anderson, which is all you really need to know. A riot of gorgeous visuals and engaging characters; have watched it twice and will enjoy it again.
Finally, “Boyhood”. What’s it about? Twelve years of boyhood where not a lot happens beyond a normal boyhood; but as the movie was made over twelve years with the same actors, you realise at the end that you have observed a real person growing up, albeit in a fictional world. It’s somehow quite profound and really should have been awarded “best film”, if only to acknowledge the perseverance of all those involved in the making of it.
That leaves “American Sniper”, and I was glad to note that it won very little. The true story of Chris Kyle who proudly claimed 200+ kills in Iraq and seemed to relish the experience. By all accounts, an unpleasant man, but director Clint Eastwood is quite happy to portray Kyle as an American hero and family man, while all the Iraqis in the movie are one-dimensional targets of no consequence; which I suppose is a reasonable reflection of American foreign policy. The only bright spot was the ending when Kyle gets shot by one of his own. Karma; bitch.
And while we are feeling political, hurrah for Citizen Four for “best documentary”, although I found it less revelationary than I had expected.
Tucked away in the awards were some other movies I have enjoyed.
Foxcatcher - See Steve Carrell like you have never seen him before; genuinely creepy. Nightcrawler - See Jake Gyllenhaal like you have often seen him before, but even more creepy and deranged. Gone Girl - See Ben Affleck. Is he lying, who can you trust? Probably “best film” if the Academy comprised me and she who must be obeyed.
So there we are; the Oscar nonsense is over for another year. The movie industry better buck up its ideas and produce some better offerings in 2015; or else I will start torrenting rather attending the cinema or buying DVDs……
Comments 🔗
2015-02-24| Camberley saysI think you should stop beating around the bush and give to us straight. Tell us what you really think.
2015-02-24| Ted saysAgree with almost everything you say, but “Still Julia” is still called “Still Alice.” Still unpleasant. But did you actually see American Sniper? Because all insurgents weren’t portrayed two dimensionally, and the film excruciatingly explored the internal conflict of a sniper balancing the life of one child about to take the lives of many American service men and women. And the film doesn’t even portray Kyle’s murder at the hands of a troubled individual this “unpleasant bitch” was trying to help, as he had many times before. The concept of Karma involves truth–something you’re a little light on here, my friend…
2015-02-24| Spike saysDon’t know where Julia came from, thanks, have fixed it.
Yes, I watched American Sniper. I have also read part of Kyle’s book. He was not conflicted about killing people, he loved doing it. He has been reinvented into a hero by Eastwood.
Iraqis were portrayed in the movie as savages (which is how Kyle described them in his book); with no attempt to add any humanity to the individuals or context to the war. Given that Iraq was monstrous fuck-up which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis, in addition to the fighters who were resisting the invasion of their country by a foreign power (or as you call them, “insurgents”), this is not a subject for the making of a good guy against the baddies film. The movie perpetuates the myth, America good, Iraqis bad; and also does a neat job of linking 9/11 to the invasion of Iraq; when of course there was no link. It’s irresponsible, unpleasant and sickening. The truth about Iraq, Afghanistan and other military enterprises by Western governments is not portrayed in the mainstream press; and this movie just serves to perpetuate the lie. The killing of Kyle could not be shown in the film because the court case for his alleged killer is still in progress.
Some light reading; as usual, Rolling Stone can say it better than I can: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/american-sniper-is-almost-too-dumb-to-criticize-20150121?page=3 https://storify.com/RaniaKhalek/american-sniper-chris-kyle-in-his-own-words https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/01/08/clint-eastwood-ignores-history-american-sniper/
2015-02-25| Andrew saysAll this brouhaha makes me wonder…If Clint directed a post WWII film ( assuming Hollywood history rewrites ) about Adolf Hitler entitled " No More Mr. Nice Guy “….would that fly as well ??????
2015-02-25| Andrew saysand now I return to the green insect I was before…Wordpressland avatars are quite interesting…
2015-02-27| Sproggit saysAward ceremonies strike me as being a con from start to finish. In fact, they are just a glitzy form of the annual “Performance Management Review” that some companies impose on their staff. Publicly those employers say things like, “We are a meritocracy” yet when it comes to the crunch the bonus money often seems to go to those with the longest legs, biggest tits, or brownest nose. Allegedly.
It’s the same with the Oscars. Whatever makes it to the shortlist and the award on the night is not the subject of an open and honest debate on the merits, but the result of back-room horse-trading on the basis of the fact that an Academy Award is with $X for Best Picture and $Y for Best Actor/Actress… Oh, and have you noticed how we now use the masculine form (Actor) to describe female performers, unless it’s the Oscars, in which case they are allowed to be an Actress again. How Frightfully non-PC of them!!!
Just wait until next year… As you know, one of the things that the Academy Awards like to do is “out-award” any other award show (like, say, the BAFTAs), and their weapon of choice is the addition of a new category for an award. This is an awards show, dahling - one can never have too many awards! So next year there will be a new award for - you’ve guessed it - “The Best New Award Category”(1). I can just see the judges lining up to give themselves this Oscar, complete with a hearty pack on the back, plus of course a sprint to the front to either crowd-surf, or grope Scarlett Johansson. Or both.
- Probably.
2015-02-27| Sproggit says“is with $X” should have read, “is worth $X”. Oops.