Can’t be silent on movie of the year… really?

So, the Academy Awards have come and gone and there were definitely some highlights and a few low-lights.
Christopher Plummer won Best Supporting Actor for his role as a senior coming out of the closet in Beginnings. I really like Christopher Plummer. He’s what Michael Caine would be as an actor if Caine could use the word no. Plummer is British gravitas personified, even if we do count him as a native son, and he brings that to this role. It’s well written and while it’s a pretty beefy role, it isn’t the whole movie so Supporting Actor is fair.
Then there’s Best Actor. Jean Dujardin. Ok that was a leading actor’s role given that it’s a mostly silent movie. Are you kidding me?!
It’s a mostly silent movie. It won Best Director Best Film and Best Actor.
Oh the humanity.
Ok let me declare my conflict of interest right here, or rather, let my ignorance show itself in favor of a few cheap laughs at a lot of people’s efforts.
I haven’t seen it.
I tried to watch it.
It’s a mostly silent movie.
I kept trying to turn it up.
See? I’m classless but I’m good with that. Maybe it was so emotionally powerful it didn’t need any words. Not the part I saw but maybe it got better.
K. Let’s assume it didn’t and just for the record, I love movies with subtitles.
Anyway, this is the kind of film that Hollywood likes to give awards to. I doubt they watched it either. I just think they like to give awards out that make them look smart so they can go and watch the latest installment of Mission Impossible without feeling dumb.
I get that it’s the heyday of Hollywood silent films and portrays the demise of an era, and captures the feel and the  era. But no words.
Sean Connery can play a Russian submarine commander with a Scottish accent, they can throw in a couple of Haiku’s.
I thought the director Michael Hazanivicius gave a wonderful speech at the Golden Globes about how he was continuing his dad’s love song to the era and all that.
But a silent movie? Hello?
Let me put it this way: It’s the first time an Oscar has gone to a silent picture in 82 years. There’s a reason for that. The last time it won, doctors thought using leeches was cutting-edge treatment.
Anyway, every one pat themselves on the back for being so artistic and let’s go rent  A Harold and Kumar Christmas. Hey, at least I know my limitations.
Octavia Spence won for Best Supporting Actress for The Help. I would have liked it to win Best Picture It was the best thing I’ve seen in a while She was great but could easily have lost it to a couple of the other actresses in the film, which is a compliment to the ensemble not a slam on her performance.

In one of the rare I-told-you-so moments, Meryl Streep won yet another Best Actress for Iron Lady. Well no bugami Sherlock. She’s not a lock for an award every time she sets foot on a soundstage, but pretty close. She becomes the character. I have long extolled her virtues as the greatest living actress of my generation and her turn as Margaret Thatcher is amazing. Some of her ability to immerse herself in the role comes from us not being clobbered over the head with her picture here there and everywhere. Who knows where she goes between films? I hear she’s a greeter at the Peterborough Wal-Mart. That might be a rumor I just started though. All I know is she deserved it, and I’m just glad The Artist didn’t have a strong male mime.
Man I hate mimes. I know enough.
By the way, everyone who loved The Artist can send their comments to me at www.mybrainsbiggerthanPauls.com

Rango won for Best Animated and that seemed about right.
Woody Allen won an Original Writing award for Midnight In Paris, his most commercially successful film to date.
All in all, the Academy Awards continues Hollywood’s dominance as the most boring awards show since The Stamp Collectors’ Annual Gala.
But I digress.
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.