Wednesday · February 23 2005
I'll jump to a competely unscientific conclusion based on the limited results of The Poll this week. There are 2 types of people in the world. There are people who see all of the Oscar nominated movies (or bend over backwards trying) and there are those people who don't give a flyin crap. Count me in the former camp, obviously.
This conclusion is probably not true at all, but I feel due to make an indefensible claim.
I used to be in the former category but have shifted to the latter. I just don't get out to the cinema as much as I used to and if it's something I really want to see, I know I'll get around to seeing it on DVD eventually. If not, that's ok, too.
Also, I've lost my innocence when it comes to the Oscars. I think it happened when Gladiator won best picture. I realized that not only does the academy often overlook some quality work, but that it does in fact, from time to time, bestow high honors on abject crap. Before that I felt like I could at least trust Oscar to highlight great work, even if it wasn't necessarily the greatest work. No longer.
From that point on, what used to seem like a marvelous celebration of the American film tradition now seems like just another of Hollywood's heavily hyped excercises in self-congratulation.