Count me in the minority (?) who enjoyed the last night's Oscar ceremony.
Sorry, Kerry, MIDNIGHT IN PARIS, was my favorite film of the year.
I have been watching since the very first Oscar telecast in 1953. In those 59
years, some were better; some were worse.
Technology has jaded us all a bit. When I watched the first Oscar telecast, we
could only see the films and their stars in a movie theatre for a limited time.
Pictures did play for weeks on end, unless they were "held over by public
demand". They played two or three days, then were off to another theatre across
town. After first and second run play dates, they would go to the drive-ins
then back to the film exchanges, seldom to be seen until re-issued five to
seven years later.
Occasionally, a favorite celebrity would pop up on television as a guest in a
television series or early news/talk show like TODAY. Perhaps, you would even
hear them on radio gabbing with Louella Parsons or Hedda Hopper. A personal
appearance by a Hollywood celebrity was a fairly rare occurrence outside a
major city, so we would have to be content reading movie magazines and the
newspapers.
Today, thousands of movies are available at our finger tips. We can build our
own DVD libraries of of favorite films over and over again, or watch them
uninterrupted in our homes via rental, cable or via streaming. Celebrities are
easier to contact -- via Twitter, Facebook or other networking sites -- and
are almost constantly in our view via network television, cable or the internet
24 hours a day.
It's become all too familiar, much like collecting movie memorabilia. Harkening
back to 1953 or even 1963, dedicated fan though I was, I had no idea -- other
than asking my local theatre's manager -- how to obtain a one-sheet poster, a
still or a lobby card. Now, on any given day, there are nearly a million
different items listed for auction or sale on E-bay alone.
Personally, I enjoy being able to view and own thousands of films on DVD to
enjoy again and again. I also delight in being able to see and acquire stills
and posters I never thought I would own. But the very technology that provides
these wonderful blessings may have tarnished Oscar and the ceremony a bit
through the years.
Yes, it can be done better and, yes, the Academy is made up of only a select
number of mostly male, mostly over 50, Hollywood insiders. These complaints are
not new and have been voiced every one of the seven decades I have watched the
Academy Awards telecast.
The Oscars are, and always have been, the film industry congratulating itself.
In the future, like in the past, some telecasts will be better; some will be
worse.
As Shakespeare wrote, "The fault, dear Brutus, lies not in our stars, but in
ourselves...."
----- Original Message -----
From: Kirby McDaniel
To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
Sent: Monday, February 27, 2012 10:17 AM
Subject: Re: [MOPO] The Oscars
Agreed. This was mid-level Woody Allen at best. I couldn't understand what
the fuss was about. And the "American" family
in that film - a bunch of right-wing bores - what a tired idea. Would have
been funnier to make them American lefties more liberal than thou!
Still, it wasn't entirely boring. Great shots of Paris. Who needs a star
when you have Paris. We'll always have Paris, won't we?
K.
On Feb 27, 2012, at 10:07 AM, Posteropolis wrote:
Franc, Woody got Best Original Screenplay, which I thought was weird,
considering what a tired idea for a movie it was.
Dave
----- Original Message -----
From: Franc
To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
Sent: Monday, February 27, 2012 10:59 AM
Subject: Re: [MOPO] The Oscars
I actually thought it was one of the LEAST boring Oscar telecasts I've
seen in a long time but then again I record the show on my DVR and only began
to watch it at around 9.30 PM EST with a remote control in my hand. By the time
11 o'clock rolled around I was completely caught up, having not listened to any
of the acceptance speeches I wasn't interested in or the commercials. (You do
the math on that one.) I thought Billy Crystal got it right almost all night. I
thought some of the choices on the video packages were strange especially the
In Memorial segment which featured almost all still photos, odd for an event
celebrating motion pictures. I didn't miss having to sit through the two
ghastly Best Songs but the package assembled for Best Movie of the Year was
wrong-headed, intercutting the clips from the best films so that one never got
a taste for any of the nine films, just a stupid idea. I wasn't too upset with
the actual awards last night, although I wish Hugo had taken either Best Movie
or Best Direction. I was frankly expecting an old guard backlash with the
totally ordinary The Descendants and George Clooney winning top awards and I'm
glad that didn't happen. I would have preferred Viola Davis or Michelle
Williams rather than Meryl Streep winning for a strong performance in an
absolutely ghastly film but I'm also glad Woody Allen didn't win for his latest
warmed-over opus. I guess I'm mellowing. FRANC
-----Original Message-----
From: MoPo List [mailto:mopo-l@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU] On Behalf Of
Joseph Bonelli
Sent: Monday, February 27, 2012 9:55 AM
To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
Subject: Re: [MOPO] The Oscars
Sorry to disagree, Bruce, but several of us thought that, though it
wasn't the greatest, that last night's Oscar presentation at LEAST paid
attention to the professionals, living and passed on, who make up the world of
movies...unlike the last two years when the production tried to cater to the
People's Choice and Teeny-bop Awards. We could actually see the entire audience
in the beautiful theatre last night-- instead of having it decorated like a
studio for a game show, complete with peanut gallerey screaming, "Pick me!"
Sorry, but SOMEONE has to take the higher road. I believe that OSCAR
needs to be that someone.
There is a huge international audience for the Oscars which negates the
necessity to cater to the US's Text-Sending Teeny-Set. Don't worry about
them.. Michael Bay & the Vampire Crew. will see to it that they are well
entertained and spend lots and lots of mommy-daddy money at the concession
stands...and the grownups can snooze with pleasure through an Oscar program
that honors "Hugo" rather than "Transformers".
When Oscar becomes the People's Choice, excellence in film will be
buried under a heap of poot jokes and CGI.
Sorry if my comments seem old-fashioned, but that's the way this movie
fan sees it.
Joe B in NOLA
PS-- I thought the awards were well-apportioned on the whole. This
year was all about the Nomination being the thing--- an excellent year for film.
PPS-- But the choice NOT to bestow special honors on the "Potter"
series with it's decade-long history of excellence in everything, was
unfortunate...the night's biggest failing in my estimation.
Joe
From: Bruce Hershenson <brucehershen...@gmail.com>
To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
Sent: Monday, February 27, 2012 6:55 AM
Subject: [MOPO] The Oscars
It's the morning after, and overall, I thought it was a real
snoozefest, Billy Crystal was entertaining, but SO familiar in everything he
did and said. And was I the only one who kept wondering if he might have looked
and performed better if he hadn't had his very obvious plastic surgery? And
isn't it a bad sign when the best segment was the circus art, which has zero to
do with movies.
It hit me when they did the "In Memorium" segment, and there were tons
of behind the scenes people no one knows, with a few famous faces thrown in.
They have successfully turned the Oscars into the Golden Globes, filled with
insiders and inside jokes, where they pretty much ignore the viewing public,
and give the awards to the movies THEY like. the kind that the critics fawn
over, but which not many people actually see.
Of course, this transformation has been going on for many years, but at
least they used to pretend to care about the people who make it all possible,
those who buy the tickets. And in a day when movies face more and more
competition from all sorts of other kinds of entertainment, it may not be just
the awards ceremony that sees its number of viewers continuing to fall in
coming years.
This was once must-viewing for me. and I have watched it every year,
but I think I will skip it next year.
Bruce
--
Bruce Hershenson and the other 24 members of the eMoviePoster.com team
P.O. Box 874
West Plains, MO 65775
Phone: 417-256-9616 (hours: Mon-Fri 9 to 5 except from 12 to 1 when we
take lunch)
our site
our auctions
Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com
___________________________________________________________________
How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List
Send a message addressed to: lists...@listserv.american.edu
In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L
The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com
___________________________________________________________________
How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List
Send a message addressed to: lists...@listserv.american.edu
In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L
The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
__________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus
signature database 6919 (20120227) __________
The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.
http://www.eset.com
Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com
___________________________________________________________________
How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List
Send a message addressed to: lists...@listserv.american.edu
In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L
The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com
___________________________________________________________________
How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List
Send a message addressed to: lists...@listserv.american.edu
In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L
The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com
___________________________________________________________________
How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List
Send a message addressed to: lists...@listserv.american.edu
In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L
The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com
___________________________________________________________________
How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List
Send a message addressed to: lists...@listserv.american.edu
In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L
The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
