The Oscars

Before i begin to write something relevant to this topic i must say that last month i had grand plans to upload around 8 new posts but well,all that grand plan went down the crapper.Lots of work at the institute has made it impossible for me to find the time to post anything.Since the Oscar buzz has started and i would like to say a few things regarding the Oscars.Lately,having watched quite a few films which had been nominated for the oscars i find it even harder to expect justice to be done even this year.Granted i have not seen any of the nominees for this year but i am all psyched for quite a few films-namely,Brokeback Mountain,Munich,Goodnight and Good Luck.I had hoped Jarhead would get some nomination at least for its camerawork by Roger Deakins but that didnt happen.Over the years i have seen the Academy ignore deserving candidates and give awards for popular contestants.To name a few-
Two of the most over hyped films in history to win so many oscars-
Unforgiven and Gladiator.To say that Unforgiven is a disappointment is a terrible understatement.Anyway,no matter how much i rant about how bad this film was it wont change the fact the Clint Eastwood's film won so many awards.
The best Actor/Actress awards are also no exception.I recently saw Fargo ,in which Frances McDormand won the Best actress Oscar for a 12 minute role.The shortness of the role isn't a problem.Fargo isnt a bad film,but that same year Emily Watson was nominated for Lars Von Triers' Breaking the Waves and that role was immensely more difficult.Similarly Ellen Burstyn was nominated for Requiem for a Dream .That year Julia roberts won for Erin Brockovich.That same year even Juliette Binoche was nominated.Dont get me started.We all know how Russel Crowe won the oscar beating Tom Hanks for CastAway.That particluar one hurts.In recent years,Sean Penn won for Mystic River(another overrated film) when Sir Ben Kingsley had a much more memorable performance in House of Sand and Fog.Sean Penn was nominated for I am Sam but did not win,though admittedly that was a difficult choice with Denzel Washington winning that year for Training Day.I plan to watch Training Day again some time soon to refresh my memory of Denzel's performance.Last year Jamie Foxx's win for Ray,beating Don Cheadle for Hotel Rwanda is another one i find unfair.Having seen both the films i can say that in my humble opinion,Foxx's role was overhyped.Throughout the film's shoot he either wore dark glasses or wore skin colored monocles to help him act the role of a blind man.Think 14 years back when Al Pacino did the role of a blind man in Scent of a Woman.Hell and Heaven difference.Moreover out of the 8 or 9 odd songs in the film he sung only 2.The rest was sung by Ray Charles himself.That in my eyes at least reduces Foxx's achievement considerably.Don Cheadle made the role of Paul Rusesabagina's role so lifelike that i was in tears in the hall.All this is only natural in a country whose favourite critic calls Sean Penn's role in I am Sam very easy and gives the film 2 stars while giving XXX a 3.5 star amazing adventure fest.This very same critic calls Forrest Gump unbelieveable and Cinema Paradiso boring and melodramatic.Oh well, i just hope that this year the Academy makes less unfair choices than all the previous years.
A little trivia before i end my post-did you know that Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon is one of the 4 films in the history of cinema to be nominated for both Best Picture And Best Foreign Language film simultaneously?The film holds the record for the most Oscar nominations for a "foreign" film. It was nominated for 10 Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Music (Song), Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay), Best Film Editing, and Best Costume Design.Ang Lee rocks!
Until my next post,goodnight.