“I’D LIKE TO THANK THE ACADEMY…” The Oscars, Reviewed
A few quick thoughts on the 82nd Academy Awards (or at least the Big Six – do you really care about the other Oscars?):
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE: as much as I like Mo’Nique as an actress, “Precious” is a deeply racist and offensive film (all the moreso because African Americans produced and directed this vile piece of poverty porn that demonized poor African Americans so harshly) so I really cannot support her here.
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE: “Inglorious Basterds” was an amazing film, and Christoph Weitz did a great job playing the Nazi villain role. This Austrian TV actor – in his first major English speaking role – did the job and did it well, he deserves the statuette.
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE: my objection is the same as with Mo’Nique – Sandra Bullock is a great performer, but “The Blind Side” was a very racist movie, so I can’t support her here.
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE: Jeff Bridges was good in “Crazy Heart”, but George Clooney was far superior in “Up in the Air” - Clooney should have been the one with the little statue.
DIRECTOR: Katheryn Bigelow (“The Hurt Locker”) made history as the first woman director to ever get the statuette (and that’s kind of pathetic that it took this long) – AND she beat out her ex husband, James Cameron (“Avatar”)!
And just a few seconds later…
BEST PICTURE: …”The Hurt Locker” beat “Avatar” and 8 other pictures – and it deserved it, a simple story about men and war – showing the triumphs and tears of 3 US Army bomb disposal technicians in Baghdad. I’m actually happier that “Avatar” lost – yeah, it made more money, but as an artwork it’s all big bucs and technology, at the expense of character development, plot and storyline.
Big ups to Ms Bigelow – and to all the other winners.
