Best invisible columnist award goes to…
Paul Peterson | Mar 09, 2011 | Comments 0
Ok, so I’m a week late and several dollars short but it’s still a little bit timely to take a look at the Oscars that were.
First of all the show was OK. Anne Hathaway is charming and has certain comic chops and James Franco is a guy who cut his arm off.
At least they didn’t take themselves too seriously and while their performance was about as predictable as this year’s winners, at least they didn’t suck. I’d still like to see Letterman get one more kick at it but that will never happen. Can you say Uma Oprah?
OK, let’s get right down to the most contentious moment of the evening.
Christian Bale winning the Supporting Actor award.
It was by no means controversial. His portrayal of a crack head small time boxer in The Fighter was all the things the Academy looks for. Grit, despair, a chilling willingness to put his habit above everything else and he really did nail it. He might have given Firth a run for the money if it had been a bigger role but it clearly was a supporting one. I still couldn’t watch the film without thinking of his infamous meltdown. Actors should be seen and not heard. The more they impress themselves on our collective consciousness the less effective they are in their respective roles. I want to disappear into the film and for those two hours think about nothing but what’s happening on the screen. His verbal assault on a lighting director who had the temerity to move while his royal daintiness was acting is part of the zeitgeist now. Not only was it bad behaviour it was a bad movie. Terminator Rise of the Machines. This isn’t his take on Hamlet, it’s his take on a character once protrayed by the Governator. Duh-losing
I still would have voted for him but I would have hated myself in the morning.
Now categorically contradicting myself, I tip my hat to the winner for Best Actress Natalie Portman who won as much for the role as for her performance therein. Black Swan was one of those movies.The role was the winner, she just happened to be the one picked for it. That’s not fair and in light of recent events I have a lot more respect for her but you get the idea. Here’s the thing. She just emphatically came out against the designer Galiano who is associated with the fashion house Dior. Seems he thinks Hitler was keen and had good idea. Maybe Mr G should watch Bent to see how that worked out during the nazi’s. The point is she took a stand and I admire that. She’s swimming upstream given that the fashion world seems to be populated with wild personnas who are rarely held accountable and Dior is so big that even I know who they are. Freaky movie tho. Might as well say it.
Meanwhile, to no one’s surprise, Colin Firth, the loveable everyman who has really built up an impressive body of work won for Best Actor for The Kings Speech.
I love little pictures.
By that I mean no Avatar or anything James Cameron would look at.
A movie that tells a simple story with characters.
No props.
No special effects. Characters. Story. Words
I loved that film.
We struggled with him as he tried to find the key to unlock his tortured speech.
Firth disappeared and a King emerged. There was never any doubt as to who the winner should and would be.
In other Prince Albert news this movie wouldn’t have existed today. If you’ve seen the film you know his therapist puts headphones on him and he delivers his words beautifully
Today we’d just hook him up to an Ipod and he’d be fine. Ahh, progress.
But I digress.
Best supporting actress went to Melissa Leo for The Fighter. She plays the mother to Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale and it’s a worthy win. If you haven’t seen The Fighter check it out when it comes out on video. It’s The Wrestler without the soft and fluffy parts.
Finally Best Picture I really was surprised. Not in a bad way. The King’s Speech won and it’s a great film, but I thought Social Network was going to win.
It just had that feel to it. If I had been voting I would have given it to Inception. It was revolutionary. The technology was secondary to the story but it was pretty spectacular visuals. Christopher Nolan started to write the script for this 10 years ago while he was filming Memento. I can see why. I still need an interpreter to remember what I watched Understanding it isn’t going to happen this lifetime. That kind of pioneering filmmaking deserves some kind of reward. However The King’s Speech got the nod and I have no quarrel with it although I think it was # 3
At the end of the day it was 11:59
One final thought that has nothing to do with the Academy Awards.
In my other life, where I’m thin and well-groomed, I used to work with people with problems and I think we are currently watching a modern day tragedy unfolding. Anyone who has known someone who is bi-polar and especially people who have experienced manic episodes will recognize what’s happening to Charlie Sheen. It might make for compelling reality TV but it’s soul-less and almost certainly destined to end poorly.
He has the money fame and charm to produce some seemingly amusing sound bites, but I really think you’re watching someone self destruct while the whole twitter world watches. I doubt I need to wait for the movie to know how this one ends, and it’s sad.
As always, other opinions are welcome, but wrong That’s it for this week. The cheque’s in the mail and I’m outta here. Paul
Filed Under: Paul Peterson
About the Author: