Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Take 'Em to the Bank Oscar Predictions
Sorry that this is a little late. I guessed seven of the top 10 and 18 of the total 24, which is pretty good, but I'm sure it would have been more impressive had I managed to post the list BEFORE the Oscars. I missed Leading Actor (Mickey Rourke should demand a recount); Best Foreign Language Film (I picked the actual best one--my mistake--The Class from France); Best Original Song (I'm still a Peter Gabriel fan despite his total lack of good songs since So); Sound Mixing (I picked WALL-E over the Dark Knight--so sue me); and documentary and animated short film (those are always difficult).
I like Hugh Jackman OK, but I think it takes a comic first, song and dance man second, like Billy Crystal. I hated the five person "got-nothin'-but-love-for-ya'" presentations but loved presenters doubling or tripling up on related categories. The clips sections were OK, but put them on the screen. A camera shot of the clips being shown on a screen at the Oscars is no good.
A little on minor actor Sean Penn's speech. It is not, repeat, NOT brave to portray a gay man or make a film about a gay man. It is about as brave as making an anti-Nazi or pro-dog film. Second, only if you think that it is a civil right for a man to be able to work as a Hooters waitress do you think that it is a civil rights matter regarding marriage for other than one man and one woman. The people who want to retain marriage's millennia long definition are not generally anti-gay, they just know that if you knock out the original definition and replace it with "you can marry whomever or whatever you love," you cannot rationally prevent marriages which are actually detrimental to society--to your sister or brother, to your dog or horse, to your favorite automobile, to the 7 year old girl who just drives you wild. That Penn can't see this (or that the anti-Prop 8 people have been the real hate-mongers here) makes him a fool who can play act.
And sorry Hugh, the musical is not back, as your second number varied between boring and cringe inducing, Beyonce notwithstanding.
I wonder if many people watched them this year?
I like Hugh Jackman OK, but I think it takes a comic first, song and dance man second, like Billy Crystal. I hated the five person "got-nothin'-but-love-for-ya'" presentations but loved presenters doubling or tripling up on related categories. The clips sections were OK, but put them on the screen. A camera shot of the clips being shown on a screen at the Oscars is no good.
A little on minor actor Sean Penn's speech. It is not, repeat, NOT brave to portray a gay man or make a film about a gay man. It is about as brave as making an anti-Nazi or pro-dog film. Second, only if you think that it is a civil right for a man to be able to work as a Hooters waitress do you think that it is a civil rights matter regarding marriage for other than one man and one woman. The people who want to retain marriage's millennia long definition are not generally anti-gay, they just know that if you knock out the original definition and replace it with "you can marry whomever or whatever you love," you cannot rationally prevent marriages which are actually detrimental to society--to your sister or brother, to your dog or horse, to your favorite automobile, to the 7 year old girl who just drives you wild. That Penn can't see this (or that the anti-Prop 8 people have been the real hate-mongers here) makes him a fool who can play act.
And sorry Hugh, the musical is not back, as your second number varied between boring and cringe inducing, Beyonce notwithstanding.
I wonder if many people watched them this year?
Labels: Oscar Predictions
# posted by Roger Fraley @ 1:18 PM 
