Oscar Review

Here's what I wrote a month ago:

…it's time to remind ourselves that the most prestigious awards in cinema are selected largely by the most self-indulgent disconnected saps on the planet.

That's not to say that all Oscar nominations are off the mark. To the contrary most nominations and many winners, even for films that I personally find reprehensible, are usually well made in a technical sense. Many films have won Oscars for skillfully dragging the audience through the sewers… but at least it was admittedly "skillful." I may not consent to go along but I will concede when something is well done.

So last night the Oscars were awarded and Slumdog Millionaire won the night. Here are a few thoughts:

• Sean Penn was correct in his assessment of the academy.
• I'm not a huge fan of musicals but I was impressed by Hugh Jackman's singing and dancing.
• During the In Memoriam section, the Hollywood audience was stone silent at the mention of Charlton Heston but cheered wildly for Sydney Pollack and Paul Newman just seconds later. No surprise there.
• The show ran over by half an hour and had various live TV problems (curtains that didn't open and a few camera angles that seemed determined to not show you the names of deceased contributors). How does a show like the Academy Awards not get better direction than other Live shows like your nightly news or Sportscenter? Is self-indulgence an issue here, especially regarding length?
• Snubs and shutouts happen each year with the Oscars. This year Frozen River, Iron Man, Wanted, and the Wrestler went 0-2; Changeling and Revolutionary Road went 0-3 each; and Doubt and Frost/Nixon each went 0-5. Ouch.
• Only three nominated films grossed over $350 million (Wall-E, Dark Knight, and Iron Man). They went a combined 3 for 16. If you count Benjamin Button and Wanted (bringing the Oscar count to 6 for 31), no other nominated films grossed more than $160 million to date. Seven of the films seem unlikely to even make $50 million domestically.
  
• 8 out of the 15 films nominated were released in December '08 (or later). Only Iron Man, which didn't win anything, was released in the first half of 2008 (May). One third of the nominees, Frost/Nixon, Slumdog Millionaire, Milk, Revolutionary Road, and The Wrestler, are actually 2009 films that were given an early limited release during the 2008 calendar year in order to be fresh on the minds of the Academy voters.