Apparently, I'm not alone in my summation --yes, now it's official: the Academy Awards is losing its luster, whatever luster it had left.Numbers don't lie.
Or lack of numbers.
I think the Oscars are old news. It used to be a really grand show way back when people in large numbers watched--even people in the so-called flyover states who don't particularly love Hollywood and its left-leaning sleaze and political agenda. But with real movie stars, the common folks watched even if they didn't like the show. Now the show is bloated and uninspiring which is why they'll probably bring back, get this!, a host who can make the show interesting if not more entertaining.
The Oscars had an "it" cycle for decades when Jack Nicholson was in the front row and camera ready; now Jack is old and has deserted the theatre. The Oscars have never replaced a real emcee; Johnny Carson was grand and superseded politics and possessed Midwest cache --he's been gone a long time; Billy Crystal was a part of the last frontier but he too is long gone. Chris Rock can't save a dying carcass. The Oscars have to literally beg now for a host because no one wants the gig and a good part of that is that the show is worthless and not worthy of the time earned to carry off the chaos and its pratfalls.
I barely watched the replays. I saw Brad Pitt accept his best-supporting actor role and political zinger but even that barely registered on the culture radar. Maybe with social media the Oscars have become plain dull. Like everything else, they've become marginalized. Perhaps the Academy should do like the Golden Globes and let 'em all drink and get a little lit before and during the show, but even that seems a bit tepid. I think it's all about entertainment. There is none. Boring is what boring is.
The Oscars are dull.
Anytime we get more Dion Lim it cant be that bad. i wonder if Kristen is pissed she got bumped from the reporter on the scene roll?
ReplyDeleteDion has the best energy in the bay!
DeleteAmericans need to see the movie Parasite! It is about a family that has con (confidenced) its way into a rich house (the White House) for its own benefits. With lies too!
ReplyDeleteI don't think the problem is the Oscar TV show presentation itself. It's that for the most part the movies being screened these days aren't very interesting. Seen anything on the silver screen recently like The 39 Steps? MASH? Invasion of the Body Snatchers (either one)? The Day the Earth Stood Still? The English Patient? Lawrence of Arabia? Rush? I don't think so. The most common plot is now either about teenage ingénue's manipulating men, or high-tech action scene after action scene. Been there, done that.
ReplyDeleteBoy, if I were going to name great movies, most of those wouldn't be it. Although funny you mention Bay Area Philip Kaufman's lamest movie (Invasion of the Body Snatchers remake) and not his far better The Right Stuff, The Unbearable Lightness of being, Quills, Rising Sun, Henry & June.
DeleteRegarding 9:37 AM's adverse comment on the merits of the 1978 remake of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers", "The New Yorker's" Pauline Kael said that it "may be the best film of its kind ever made". To each his own I guess.
DeleteThe Academy, of course from their own planet, will beg to differ. Didn't watch a single minute. And very glad I didn't.
ReplyDeleteHow come we haven't seen a story about the ratings for the "event"? Wonder if someone's trying to doctor something. Hmmm...
ReplyDeleteWho's "we?" You? I have. Google it.
DeleteYa see what happens when they inject politics into something that people don't want to hear?
ReplyDeleteOscars are dull, irrelevant, and way too long. Who cares who wins best hairstylist or film editing? Time wasted you will never get back.
ReplyDeleteWhen the biggest stars in the business like Cruise, The Rock, Robert Downey Jr., Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Morgan Freeman, McConnaghy, Jennifer Lawrence, Matt Damon, Emma Stone, Harrison Ford, Eastwood, Michael B. Jordan, Jaime Foxx, Sandra Bullock, Kevin Costner, etc. don't show up to celebrate their own industry - why should the rest of America care? Hell, a few of the nominees didn't even show up.
ReplyDeleteWe don't need to watch anymore. 30 seconds after the award has been presented, its on social media. It's just the times that we live in.
ReplyDelete