Oscar Breakdown

The only awards ceremony I ever watch is the Oscars and as such as I was very disappointed to be denied a viewing this year, the first time i've actually been in the right time zone to watch it live. Unfortunately, my entertainment was destroyed by house politics and an ill scheduled trip to the radiology ward. I saw a few bits early on and despite John Stewart being raved as the last best hope for left wing entertainment I've never been bought into the hype (the Daily Show might be the best spoof news show on television at the moment but that’s more a sign of lack of competition than proof of brilliance) and any comedian is going to be watered down by performing to such a wide varied audience.
If I was betting on the Oscars (as many people obviously do) then the fact that 'Crash' won over 'Brokeback Mountain' might have been a shock but as I do not I can hardly be surprised that the it won. It's certainly a more user friendly film than Brokeback. It was well made, well acted and painfully politically correct but did it really tell me anything I didn't already know? Basically, LA has a race relations problem (i don't think anyone was unaware of that) and good people can do bad things (Ryan Phillipe, natch) and bad people can do good things (Matt Dillon, on the score) and people can be lucky (who can honestly say they were surprised when the gun that shot the girl turned out to be loaded with blanks?) and people can be unlucky (never pull out a lucky charm when you're getting a ride from a trigger happy policeman). I didn't think it was the best of the year but I didn't think Brokeback was either. Brokeback Mountain was an incredibly beautiful movie and one of the best and most painful stories of unrequited love I've ever seen. I've called it a modern day Romeo and Juliet. It's about gay cowboys but it's not really about homosexuality. It's about two people who were in love but could never be together because of circumstances. In any event, 'Capote' split the homo vote and gave it to 'Crash'. In any event, I never agree with the Best Picture winner anyway. And why would I? Yes, the peope who nominate and eventully vote for the winners are people in the industry but, most importantly, they're JUST people and most people have no taste when it comes to movies (my housemate, a splendid fellow in most regards considers 'Bad Santa' to be the pinnacle of the motion picture industry and a girl i met t'other night spouted 'A Knight's Tale' to be the best film she's ever seen, I'm sure there is even someone out there who thinks 'The Fifth Element' deserves the accolade of best film). The 'Best Picture' award has been given to so many mediocre (and even bad) films in the past that I'm rarely bothered when one film pips another to get the gong - Shawshank Redemption, denied to Forrest Gump; Titanic beat LA Confidential; Chicago over Lord Of the Rings (and why was only the third instalment of that trilogy given all of the accolades - not because the previous ones were bad but because the academy, in all its wisdom, were saving the cheers for the last one when the whole thing should have been bundled up if not for the fact that nobody on Earth has a bladder big enough to handle 9 hours of movie in one sitting - bring back the intermission I say!). What movie should be given 'Best Picture' anyway? Is it the movie that is the best acted, best directed, best edited, and offers the most gratuitous use of the word 'Fuck'? No, there are already awards for all of the details. The film that wins should be the film which moves the audience and changes the audience. 'Crash' didn't do that for me. 'Brokeback Mountain' certainly moved me and it certainly had the power to change the views of the anti-gay crowd if any of that crowd would have had the guts to see it. 'Good Night and Good Luck' was a similar preach to the already converted. If I had to choose the best film of THIS year it would probably be 'Syriana', which was shocking, educational and tragic. But, 'GN&GL' had already snagged the left leaning political nomination so it wasn't even in contention ...
I didn't see any of the speeches, bar two, so I can't really comment on what were probably a overlong, over weepy or just plain dull, ego trips by the winners but one that I did see which completely impressed me was Rachel Weisz's acceptance - it was brief, just a little weepy, she thanked everyone worth thanking, especially the author of the original story, and she concluded with a very touching commentary about the value of the real world people who devote and sacriice their lives for others. Every year there's always at least one good speech at the Oscars and despite missing the show I was lucky to see that one. So, that's my 2c on a show I didn't even see this year. So there.