ot the oscars

[paulandmonster]

what do you think about oscars, legitimate awards or just a load of ....

[TMB]

Like all award shows.

A load of ..........

I leave the family room because I can't stand them.

The women in my life watch them.

[93legendti]

Worse than a load of...

[KeithS]

My 12 year old daughter saw the Jonas Brothers on Barbera Walters pre-Oscar special so she's had enough for tonight, then she surprised us all and said she wanted to watch part 2 of "Oliver Twist" on PBS instead of the Oscars. There is hope.

[MarleyMon]

I like the dolled up actresses, especially Kate Winslet and Penelope Cruz.

[avalonracing]

I think that we need lots more shows with entertainers celebrating themselves. Currently we only have about 47 each year.

[eddief]

good movies are art. tv has a tough time with art. oscars are no exception. i watched em, but i managed to cook dinner, clean my house, and surf the net simultaneously.

[Ray]

Both. Legit AND a load. Its obviously a bunch of self-reverential, over the top, BS that's used primarily for promotional purposes. The fact that its insiders voting means, by definition, its elitist. So that's the "load" part.

But they also tend to get most of the nominations right enough. Like the college football bowl games, they usually leave some good ones out, but its rare that real crap gets any awards. And they usually get some fairly obscure stuff some good publicity, which is good. "The Visitor" and "Frozen River" were great movies that got about zero recognition until they got nominated. Now people will see them. And you can argue about who shoulda won something, but Sean Penn and Kate Winslet were great in the movies they won for, as was Penelope (oh God, ANY tv show that has Penelope Cruz in it in ANY role is ok with me - and all dressed up is fine too) and Heath Ledger. Even if the rest of some of the movies weren't that great.

And its never too painful to look at mostly good looking people for a couple of hours, and even get a peek at the schlubs behind the scenes that make the good looking ones shine. I'm sorry, but you can trot lots of those women out there for me to visually peruse anytime you like. And my wife seemed fairly taken with Hugh Jackman and Brad Pitt.

Of course its ridiculous - have you seen some of the paints jobs people like on bikes? So what - its not such a terrible thing.

-Ray

[keno]

and I'm out of there. I love the hot babes and the idiots who interview him. BTW, George Clooney is truly a man to be disrespected on all matters beyond box office receipts.

keno

[93legendti]

...BTW, George Clooney is truly a man to be disrespected on all matters beyond box office receipts.

keno
I wish I had posted this.

[dogdriver]

Oscar Ferrerra?

[goonster]

I was thinking about how happy Viper must have been for Heath Ledger. :cool:

[Sandy]

That dog in your avatar could really scare someone. A real blockhead. Bet he or she is a sweetheart......maybe.


Sandy

[ti_boi]

I personally felt the show was again about an hour too long....really....

[csm]

the oscars were on? when?

[ti_boi]

It is really a trade show convention with a better looking bunch of managers and sales people....and I really, really hate conventions.

[William]

How did you all feel about the change to a group of former winners in each category showering kudos on the nominees before announcing the decisions? I liked it better when they would show a clip of each nominee in action before announcing. If I had not seen the movie at least I could get a sense of it and their performance.



William

C’mon, the whole family has been sick all weekend. We had to watch...though I did go to bed early. :)

[goonster]

That dog in your avatar could really scare someone. A real blockhead. Bet he or she is a sweetheart......maybe.

Sweet as pie, no maybes.

Likes bikes:

[johnnymossville]

The opening number with Wolverine was nice. I turned it off after that.

[Steelhead]

So So. I like the Golden Globes a lot better as they seem to be more about the art form and less a popularity contest. I haven't yet seen Milk, but Sean Penn must have had a hell of a performance to beat Rourk in The Wrestler. I thought about Randy the Ram for days after seeing that. Rourk WAS The Wrestler. Amazing.

[eddief]

think he'd get more babes and more parts if he'd cut his hair and wear some mainstream clothes. i swear, every time i hear him interviewed i fear he is less than one step away from freaking out. seeems to be a fragile fellow.

[William]

..... i swear, every time i hear him interviewed i fear he is less than one step away from freaking out. seeems to be a fragile fellow.

Yeah, I was wondering if we were going to have a "Gary Busey" moment when Hugh was ribbing him during the first number.





William

[Bobbo]

I wish I had posted this.

I knew I shared a lot in common with 93legendti, but not so much w/ keno. 'Cept this - I'm with you. Clooney is a himbo in an empty suit. A true woman's man.

Real men in Hollywood don't exist. Why no love for Clint?

[Ray]

So So. I like the Golden Globes a lot better as they seem to be more about the art form and less a popularity contest. I haven't yet seen Milk, but Sean Penn must have had a hell of a performance to beat Rourk in The Wrestler. I thought about Randy the Ram for days after seeing that. Rourk WAS The Wrestler. Amazing.
I think Rourk kind of IS the wrestler, hence, it was less of an amazing performance than a great comeback. But Rourk always plays Rourk to some extent, sort of like Nicholson always plays Nicholson. Sean Penn played a role about as completely unlike any other he's ever played as you could imagine (and totally unlike Penn, from what I can tell) and he totally inhabited the guy. I loved the Wrestler and didn't completely love Milk, but I think Penn was the right choice for best actor. Same thing with the Reader, btw - I've never seen Winslet do a part that even remotely resembled that one but she was totally convincing, even if the movie wasn't quite as good as the performance. Streep too, in Doubt. And, for that matter, Anne Hathaway did the same thing in Rachel Getting Married, but less impressively than Kate or Meryl. All IMHO, of course.

I'm not gonna comment on the Clooney bashing (beyond calling it Clooney bashing, which I guess is comment enough). I promised myself not to get into political food fights around here anymore and I'm trying to stick to that.

-Ray

[BumbleBeeDave]

I generally don't go see movies, especially Oscar "contenders." These movies generally are on "serious" themes, which generally means violent, dramatic, and stressful. I have enough of that in my life already--just read the news these days. The last one I saw was "Babel" and it re-enforced the this sentiment.

I was struck, however, by the story in the paper this morning about the poor kids in Mumbai who were in the movie getting to watch the ceremonies on TV. The gulf between what these kids have in their lives--which is pretty damn near nothing--and what the people attending the awards have on an everyday, taken-for-granted basis, is simply light years. The amount that any one of the women on the show spends on cosmetics in a month could probably feed one of these kids for a year.

BBD

[bigdeal]

I was struck, however, by the story in the paper this morning about the poor kids in Mumbai who were in the movie getting to watch the ceremonies on TV. The gulf between what these kids have in their lives--which is pretty damn near nothing--and what the people attending the awards have on an everyday, taken-for-granted basis, is simply light years. The amount that any one of the women on the show spends on cosmetics in a month could probably feed one of these kids for a year.
BBD


BumbleBeeDave,
I agree with your opinion and your view, the everyday things we take for granted as Americans is mind-numbing if not depressing. Visiting India, Egypt, Israel, and Jordan is an EYE-OPENER. That said I have to ask:
Have you seen the price of a Meivici AE lately? I wonder how many years THAT would feed one of those kids.....

I'm just sayin'......... ;)

[EastCoastRoadie]

BumbleBeeDave,
I agree with your opinion and your view, the everyday things we take for granted as Americans is mind-numbing if not depressing. Visiting India, Egypt, Israel, and Jordan is an EYE-OPENER. That said I have to ask:
Have you seen the price of a Meivici AE lately? I wonder how many years THAT would feed one of those kids.....

I'm just sayin'......... ;)


I agree with bbd's post, but also wanted to play devil's advocate to bigdeal's post. If you buy a meivici, you probably worked really hard over a long period of time saving for this bike, and once you get it you will treat it like gold and use it a lot. The ridiculous extravagance of the oscars is all for one night, and those people don't even think about $10-20K for a dress/suit. Then throw on top having to be lectured by these people on many aspects of life when they have no idea what it is like to need a monthly paycheck. Total morons and hipocrits. Just shut up and act...

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . the more I'm turned off by hypocrisy. I will admit up front I didn't watch the show. But, as I mentioned, I generally don't anymore. Can someone who did tell me: Was any mention made on the show or anywhere else that you know of that any of the profits from this multi-Oscar winning movie will be channeled BACK to benefit those kids on a long term basis in the slums where they and their families live?

The Oscars just seem to have this air of people telling themselves so publicly "WE are so important. What WE do to entertain people is so important."

This kind of stuff just gets me going . . . I need to go have breakfast and some coffee!

BBD

[csm]

. . . the more I'm turned off by hypocrisy. I will admit up front I didn't watch the show. But, as I mentioned, I generally don't anymore. Can someone who did tell me: Was any mention made on the show or anywhere else that you know of that any of the profits from this multi-Oscar winning movie will be channeled BACK to benefit those kids on a long term basis in the slums where they and their families live?

The Oscars just seem to have this air of people telling themselves so publicly "WE are so important. What WE do to entertain people is so important."

This kind of stuff just gets me going . . . I need to go have breakfast and some coffee!

BBD
there are a lot of jobs that exist because of the Oscars. Someone designs the dresses, someone somewhere makes the dresses, someone makes the swag that goes into the gift bags, someone drives the limos that bring the stars there, etc. I am no fan of these award shows but it ain't like they exist in a vacuum. there's an impact locally on people that otherwise might not have income. sometimes the movies they make are important.

[Ray]

The Oscars just seem to have this air of people telling themselves so publicly "WE are so important. What WE do to entertain people is so important."
No doubt. But I think that's just human nature and, frankly, excessive sefl-congratulations is also a big part of every professional conference I've ever been to and my wife feels the same about hers'. I suspect it's true of NAHBs and other bicycle trade shows too and is no doubt true of all professions. Everyone should feel that what they do is important, but most of us occasionally lose perspective on this and forget how fleeting our professional roles really are. The Oscars do it on a grander scale, but making movies happens on a grander scale than what most of us do too. I figure that if I'm gonna go to movies, and I do, and form opinions on them, and I do, that I may as well watch the awards shows too. I also check out the Grammy's because I'm also into music but never watch the Emmy's or Tony's because I don't watch a lot of TV (other than news, sports, and movies) or go to the theater more than about once every several years.

-Ray