Playing trivial pursuit with myself
Answer to the little trivia question I asked. . .a good while ago now that I think of it: None of the performances I listed won an Academy Award. I guess its kind of understandable since there can only be one winner per category. But sometimes politics among the Hollywood elites can play a factor too. This is more often the case in the Best Director category, case in point Martin Scorsese. Then there's the "apologetic" award; Cuba Gooding Jr.'s win for Jerry Maguire seemed more like an apology for Morgan Freeman's overlooked performance in The Shawshank Redemption. I really admire Tom Hanks and he definitely deserves recognition as one of America's finest actors, but he was out of his league when put next to Freeman in that instance. I'm not saying the Academy is racist, they just felt the need to offer recompense because of the inequity of outcome. The Best Actor result of '95 is better explained as a textbook example of movie critics' tendency to lavish undue praise on the portrayal of the mentally disabled. In my opinion, playing insane is more impressive than playing mentally deficient; you're adding complexity and entering a domain that is ill-understood and much more subtle. Examples of Academy ignorance of this fact are the lack of recognition for Brad Pitt in 12 Monkeys and Gary Oldman in The Professional. There's also an inexcusable neglect of Sci-Fi and Fantasy. This was "apologized" for with the 12 wins by Return of the King, even though Fellowship of the Ring was the superior film. Another problem with modern understanding of film in general is the idea that characters are always a medium for the film-maker's opinions and ideologies. Critic's attitudes toward race and the portrayal of unorthodox attitudes are archaic, at best. The message of American History X is often lost simply because Neo-nazis and racist diatribes are featured in the film. Scorsese's films often incorporate xenophobia, homophobia, and racism, thus accounting for the Academy's blacklisting of him. The Oscars (fuck you, I'm not putting the registered trademark symbol) are also tremendously deficient in recognizing foreign films and actors. This is most evident in the overlooking of Cidade de Deus (City of God) and the great acting and film-making talent therein.Really I dunno why I'm writing this, mostly I'm just bored.
Heck, while I'm updating I might as well make comments about current events. Nobody should really be surprised about the bombings in London and Glasgow. Some 6-10% of the UK's Muslim's have voiced support for al-Qaeda in polls. This, granted, is proportionally small, but consider that it amounts to approximately 100,000 people with terrorist sympathies. Imagine even a single percent of this number with the will to act on these impulses. The idea does something to take away the shock of the past few days' events. We've been lucky wherewithal and competence doesn't normally accompany hatred and these would-be jihadists are about as threatening as the Marx Brothers. But all it takes is a few with luck or a brain. I fear this is the beginning of a new trend.
Heck, while I'm updating I might as well make comments about current events. Nobody should really be surprised about the bombings in London and Glasgow. Some 6-10% of the UK's Muslim's have voiced support for al-Qaeda in polls. This, granted, is proportionally small, but consider that it amounts to approximately 100,000 people with terrorist sympathies. Imagine even a single percent of this number with the will to act on these impulses. The idea does something to take away the shock of the past few days' events. We've been lucky wherewithal and competence doesn't normally accompany hatred and these would-be jihadists are about as threatening as the Marx Brothers. But all it takes is a few with luck or a brain. I fear this is the beginning of a new trend.