"Capitalism is the Predatory Stage of Human Evolution"
Movie Monday
Well, I have been thinking about movies all day. Not particularly the Oscars which I don't think I've ever watched. Even if I had an interest I think the plethora of commercials would flatten me.
Have you ever seen photos of early Oscar ceremonies?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1st_Academy_Awards
It looks like a crowded restaurant scene. Apparently, Hollywood didn't realize it could milk the actual ceremonies until later. It always amused me that the Oscars are such an "inside" award; peers voting for peers but outsiders, the general public, are supposed to ultimately foot the bill.
Sundance had a documentary on yesterday, The Red Carpet (I think that was the full name.) Basically, it told about designers paying big bucks to actors to wear their clothes for the walk on the red carpet (any red carpet will do.) Some actresses said that the money they picked up for being clothes horses helped them turn down lousy parts. Well, I guess hawking some overpriced designer does have a plus side.
I wonder if karma caught up with James Cameron last night. I have a feeling that his Titanic Oscar win speech: "I'm King of the World"never left Hollywood's craw and last night was pay-back time. (On a side note: How did Titanic ever win all those awards? It was an awfully acted and plotted film.)
It was nice to learn that Sandra Bullock won. Her winning role sounded awful; so did that film. I read the plot of The Blind Side; fodder for right wing conservatives but apparently Bullock is the antithesis of this thinking. (Yes, I did watch an interview of her once.) I've always liked her as an actress. (This seems to be a rather universal feeling.) I don't know if she's a very good actress who has been stuck in pedestrian plots or just an above average performer who adds class to any dreck she's stuck in. Whatever, it was a nice win; perhaps not a professionally deserved win (cripes, she was up against Mirren and Streep) but a nice win.
No, I didn't see The Hurt Locker. Should I? Will this movie turn the tide of world thinking towards pacifism? No? Then I'll stick with my usual schlock.
And in that vein, I did read reviews of The Reader as I promised last week and I wasn't in left field with my original comments. Once you got beyond the "I love Kate Winslet." group you could read a lot of comments best summed up in that ubiquitous acronym: WTF?
I'd like to say that this movie had all the parts but didn't sew them together. Unfortunately, I can't even get that far. I'm still grappling with Hanna's sexual prowess and her illiteracy. What was that all about? Do they go together? Like bread and jam? You can see how lost I am.
And now, I'll end my movie ramblings with one final thought: Evita. I didn't know that Antonio Banderas could sing. And second, and really annoying to me: the show-stopping song, Another Suitcase in Another Hall is not Evita's song in the play but the song of Peron's discarded teenage mistress. (Yes, I saw another interview about that song in the play version.)
OK, it's a great song and I can understand if Madonna selfishly wanted to sing it; but it is so incongruous to the setting in which she sings it. She has just come to Bueno Aires with Magaldi. He was obviously her first affair which had taken her from the bosom of her family and her home town. (She could have been the town hooker for all I know.)
Evita sings about how being kicked out at the end of affairs is so difficult. Duh! She hasn't even experienced this yet. However, sung by the teen mistress, the song has roots and tells a story. Just a small point but it's been grating on me.
Now, I think I'll go and chase kids off the lawn. I sound cranky enough.
See you next Monday.
Have you ever seen photos of early Oscar ceremonies?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1st_Academy_Awards
It looks like a crowded restaurant scene. Apparently, Hollywood didn't realize it could milk the actual ceremonies until later. It always amused me that the Oscars are such an "inside" award; peers voting for peers but outsiders, the general public, are supposed to ultimately foot the bill.
Sundance had a documentary on yesterday, The Red Carpet (I think that was the full name.) Basically, it told about designers paying big bucks to actors to wear their clothes for the walk on the red carpet (any red carpet will do.) Some actresses said that the money they picked up for being clothes horses helped them turn down lousy parts. Well, I guess hawking some overpriced designer does have a plus side.
I wonder if karma caught up with James Cameron last night. I have a feeling that his Titanic Oscar win speech: "I'm King of the World"never left Hollywood's craw and last night was pay-back time. (On a side note: How did Titanic ever win all those awards? It was an awfully acted and plotted film.)
It was nice to learn that Sandra Bullock won. Her winning role sounded awful; so did that film. I read the plot of The Blind Side; fodder for right wing conservatives but apparently Bullock is the antithesis of this thinking. (Yes, I did watch an interview of her once.) I've always liked her as an actress. (This seems to be a rather universal feeling.) I don't know if she's a very good actress who has been stuck in pedestrian plots or just an above average performer who adds class to any dreck she's stuck in. Whatever, it was a nice win; perhaps not a professionally deserved win (cripes, she was up against Mirren and Streep) but a nice win.
No, I didn't see The Hurt Locker. Should I? Will this movie turn the tide of world thinking towards pacifism? No? Then I'll stick with my usual schlock.
And in that vein, I did read reviews of The Reader as I promised last week and I wasn't in left field with my original comments. Once you got beyond the "I love Kate Winslet." group you could read a lot of comments best summed up in that ubiquitous acronym: WTF?
I'd like to say that this movie had all the parts but didn't sew them together. Unfortunately, I can't even get that far. I'm still grappling with Hanna's sexual prowess and her illiteracy. What was that all about? Do they go together? Like bread and jam? You can see how lost I am.
And now, I'll end my movie ramblings with one final thought: Evita. I didn't know that Antonio Banderas could sing. And second, and really annoying to me: the show-stopping song, Another Suitcase in Another Hall is not Evita's song in the play but the song of Peron's discarded teenage mistress. (Yes, I saw another interview about that song in the play version.)
OK, it's a great song and I can understand if Madonna selfishly wanted to sing it; but it is so incongruous to the setting in which she sings it. She has just come to Bueno Aires with Magaldi. He was obviously her first affair which had taken her from the bosom of her family and her home town. (She could have been the town hooker for all I know.)
Evita sings about how being kicked out at the end of affairs is so difficult. Duh! She hasn't even experienced this yet. However, sung by the teen mistress, the song has roots and tells a story. Just a small point but it's been grating on me.
Now, I think I'll go and chase kids off the lawn. I sound cranky enough.
See you next Monday.
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