My blog has returned!!!
Thanks to the wonderful, talented and beautiful Jen Gallardo, I am now able to post freely without worrying about blogger doing weird things or without having to worry about whether or not things actually post… hopefully.
Its been quite sometime since my last blog post (September 8th, 2009 to be exact) and a lot has happened in the world. While I’m sure all of those things are interesting, I’ve chosen to discuss something that really doesn’t pertain to anything that truly matters. I’m talking about the Oscars. As a jaded film student, I constantly hated watching the uber-rich and uber-famous Hollywood blobs parade their accomplishments in front of each other. To be perfectly honest, I still do. The only thing that has changed is that I may have finally figured out the value of such a show. Now, saying that I’ve figured out this value actually says that I stopped stomping my feet around the apartment protesting why some awesome micro low budget film didn’t get nominated for best picture and actually paid attention to what the potential of the show could be. I’m sure this year’s parade will feature smurf-like aliens carrying James Cameron to the alter of gluttony so that he can ramble on about how appreciative he is of being the Zeus of modern day Hollywood. As he should. Avatar is a major cinematic accomplishment. Spielberg himself likened it to watching the original Star Wars. While I wouldn’t give it that much praise, Avatar was a fun experience that reminds us why we go to movies.
We go to not care.
Cinema has always been the “Everyday American’s” way of escaping whatever stress is cutting years off of their lives. Over the past several years, we’ve been blasted with messages of how our government in inept, people are inherently evil or how some action film compares to its comic book counterpart. Avatar did away with all of this. We just sit back and watch stuff blow up. Obviously, there is a message of environmentalism and imperial entitlement sprinkled into the story. However, this message does not weigh down the experience of watching the film. Everyday we are blasted with images of governmental failures and natural disasters. We don’t need another blasting in our theaters. Should we feel the need, there are plenty of alternatives out there.
Getting back to the Oscars… one of the realizations that I’ve come to is that this show provides films with what they need, a firm push in the face of the public. It is easy to forget how many films go unnoticed. I’m a filmmaker, its my duty to keep up on these things. However, the school teacher with three kids doesn’t have to the time to scour the internet for a 15 year old’s review of Hurt Locker. They have to rely on such blubbering parades as the Oscars to let them know what they might not have seen. What films trailers they might have missed outside of commercials during Monday Night Football or the Simpsons. This is why I’m in firm support of the inclusion of ten pictures for the Best Picture Category. While I may not fully agree with the selection, each of these films garners a different demographic. By bringing them all together, you expose new things to new people. The audience that watched A Serious Man may not have given District 9 a chance.
This sort of things breaks the exclusivity of the award and actually gives it a modern purpose. It is a new tool for advertising and as we all know advertising is all that really matters in the end. 
Cool blog, I loved The Hurt Locker and at first glance didnt like District9. I turned it off about 30 mins into but I may have to give it another chance.
You make a great point. The Oscars serve that “curated voice” role for folks that are disconnected from the industry. It is great for films that need that push (such as “A Serious Man” which I still seem to get mixed up with the amazing “A Single Man”).
However, for me it brings up the problem of choice. The more choices you give a person, the more complex the choice becomes. At least, in my head, I think “great, now there are TEN movies that I haven’t seen and need to see” instead of five.