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Oscars. Oscars. Oscars
The most absolutest funnest thing about the Oscar nominations (save for the fact that, in a rare sense of retribution for forcing East Coasters to stay up past midnight to watch the actual ceremony, they announce the nominations at the ungodly hour of something like 5am LA time -- to fit the New York time zone news cycles) is that it leads to so much useless pontificating about Trends In The Industry. Then, about two days after the awards, the American Public goes back to watching what it damn well cares about -- which generally means that Deuce Bigelow will still trump Capote when all is said and done.
In any case, we're about to have another year of "It's The Independents Who Know What's Up" type of commentary. Of course, they're right in one way. But, after having been to a Sundance Festival just last weekend, where every major independent film was completely dependent on star casting to get a release, it's hard to work up much enthusiasm. Does anyone really think that the people who work on $60 million films care less about their product, than the maker of a $60 thousand dollar film? I've worked on cheap films and expensive films and I've never met anyone who didn't give a shit about their work. When I was on The Cotton Club, Coppola once threw a fit on stage because (as he put it) "I've got sixty million bucks and it still seems like a fuckin' low budget film." Which I took to mean that he still wasn't able to craft the film to his liking because of budget constraints.
Sure, he was whining, but can anyone tell me that Chumscrubbers was a better film than Godfater 1?
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Oh, any in case you cared, I'm actually pretty stoked that Paradise Now got nominated, and that Brokeback got eight nominations. I doubt it will win half of them, but it's still great to see a film with that much going for it, actually getting a nomination. When I fill out my ballot, I usually assume that most of my picks won't end up on the nomination list. So, for those who were wondering, here was my list of the top films of the year (of the ones I saw -- admittedly a limited list) in alphabetical order.
In any case, we're about to have another year of "It's The Independents Who Know What's Up" type of commentary. Of course, they're right in one way. But, after having been to a Sundance Festival just last weekend, where every major independent film was completely dependent on star casting to get a release, it's hard to work up much enthusiasm. Does anyone really think that the people who work on $60 million films care less about their product, than the maker of a $60 thousand dollar film? I've worked on cheap films and expensive films and I've never met anyone who didn't give a shit about their work. When I was on The Cotton Club, Coppola once threw a fit on stage because (as he put it) "I've got sixty million bucks and it still seems like a fuckin' low budget film." Which I took to mean that he still wasn't able to craft the film to his liking because of budget constraints.
Sure, he was whining, but can anyone tell me that Chumscrubbers was a better film than Godfater 1?
==================
Oh, any in case you cared, I'm actually pretty stoked that Paradise Now got nominated, and that Brokeback got eight nominations. I doubt it will win half of them, but it's still great to see a film with that much going for it, actually getting a nomination. When I fill out my ballot, I usually assume that most of my picks won't end up on the nomination list. So, for those who were wondering, here was my list of the top films of the year (of the ones I saw -- admittedly a limited list) in alphabetical order.
- Brokeback Mountain
- Capote
- Constant Gardener
- Crash (sorta)
- Good Night and Good Luck (sorta)
- The History of Violence
- Howl's Moving Castle
- Last Days
- Look At Me (sorta)
- Matador
- Paradise Now
- The Squid and the Whale
- Transamerica
- Weather Man
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