Oscar hissyfits all over the web today

[boomtownrat]

The Oscar geek blogs are infested with some of the loudest moaning that I've ever heard because Crash took Best Picture. I mean, I've been an Oscar geek for a long time myself, and this tops every outrage I've heard. One awards database maintainer has shut down his website over it in what must be a case of "I'm taking my ball and I'm going home".

Comments

[boomtownrat]

And then, for that matter, PSH just won for playing the most flamboyantly gay celebrity of his time, heh. :)

I haven't seen Good Night, And Good Luck yet, but I love Edward R. Murrow (he was my hero when I was a budding journalist :)) and David Strathairn is so good. Maybe it was as simple as the fact that it's black and white, but I'm not as cynical about the Oscars as you are. ;)

[boomtownrat]

I saw that you rated it low on Netflix.

The competition wasn't strong, but only because almost everyone thought BBM would win and there wasn't even a hint of a suggestion that it wouldn't win until about a week before the Oscars. That's when a few people started talking about Crash. BBM had a peak really early in the race and I think some people may have actually voted against it because they were sick of hearing about it. Also, it had become the source for a lot of bad jokes, and that's never a really good sign.

The first movie I saw PSH in was Scent of a Woman (hoo-ah!), then Twister. If it's good enough for him, damn it, it's good enough for me. :)

[ihvpave]

I thought BBM was the better movie - mostly 'cos I felt that Crash was emotionally manipulative. I rented it about a month or so ago 'cos I had read so much about it, but I wasn't blown away. The way I look at it, it happens. I mean, Chicago won best picture a few years ago, and it was pretty widely panned the first time it hit Broadway, and then again when the revival hit in '97. But the story itself - and frankly, most of the music, as far as I am concerned - kinda blows. And don't get me started on Shakespeare in Love or American Beauty.

The fact that the Academy nominated BBM in the first place, to me, says a lot about how far they've come. I loved the movie, and of all the films nominated, I found it the most honest and touching... But I didn't expect it to win. 'Cos I am realistic. And to my mind, it was an easy out to choose Crash.

[boomtownrat]

Well, I can see how Crash is emotionally manipulative, but I didn't mind so much because the acting was so good and the story was so complex. It also had humour in unexpected places and I really do feel that it succeeded in making some audiences think and talk about things that some people still aren't comfortable talking about. I have a feeling that eventually I'm going to wind up wishing Capote had won - it definitely moved me the most out of the three Best Pic nominees I've seen - but I knew that wasn't going to happen

[egretplume]

I loved Crash. I thought it was Capra-esque, and firmly in a hallowed Hollywood tradition. The acting was brilliant and it had a point to make.

I am only disappointed that once again, Joaquin Phoenix did not win. I have been waiting for his Oscar for years now.

[boomtownrat]

Now that you've mentioned it, I do see the Capra similarities. I thought all the acting was great, it illustrates that we haven't done away with racism at all, and it gets people to talk. I had conversations with my coworkers about the movie and its themes, and I'm not a big talker at my job. It's being unfairly trashed, most of the time by people who haven't even seen it.

If it weren't for my great love of PSH, I would've been happy to see Joaquin win. I believe he will win at some point.

[chaptal]

I love your second paragraph. It's just movies kids, have a drink and relax :)

[boomtownrat]

Thanks. :)