Oscar 08 Wrap-Up
The “Down-Lo” Oscars
Every year there’s a theme to the Oscars. I remember going to the 77th Academy Awards, otherwise termed “The African-American Oscars”. Morgan Freeman and Jamie Fox grabbed their statues, while Oprah waved like a proud mentor mama bear in the first few rows. Host Chris Rock got slapped on the wrist for dissing Hollywood producers and rushing crappy films into malls with jabs at Pootie Tang and White Chicks. His comic “man on the street” reportage was more like a cynical cold shower of all the heinous films being subjected to American multiplexes. Despite the hyper-sensitive post-coverage, I’d say his public display of “tough love” whacked filmmakers pretty hard. In general, i think it was a pretty therapeutic year to laugh (and question) the responsibility of making films. Truth hurts.
This year was more experimental. It also felt less about “stars” and more about “motion picture”. Tinseltown is back! Making some good ‘ol classics for our kids to rent one day. We saw protagonists so nutty, layered, and brilliant — all marinated with some some chemical imbalance. Unforgettable performances.
Lets consider the rest of the climate which birthed the 80th Award show this year. The strike ended so abruptly that the organizers were forced to whip out a show on-the-fly (in less than 2 weeks!). Ah, the challenge of a good freestyle. Some people froze with panic, some chilled out and “played-it-by-ear”. Personally, I don’t really care if Cameron Diaz fumbled the word “cinematographer”. The point is she made a relaxed joke afterwards, and made the “stuffy” audience, um, “unstuff” themselves by pokin’ fun at herself. Jon Stewart seemed at ease coasting it. Seth Rogan and Jonah Hill were another perfect example of calling in fresh writers who can think on their feet.
Let’s see, what else? The 38 year old documentarian (NYC based/Australian born) Eva Orner came in with a surprise “upset” by taking the Best Doc Award away from Michael Moore’s Sicko. The winning flick, Taxi to the Dark Side, is about an innocent taxi driver in Afghanistan who was tortured and killed in 2002. A timely topic to focus on — and a sharp look at the US war on terrorism.
(Eva Orner, documentary winner with Alex Gibney, for Taxi to the Dark Side.)
Speaking of intense times, I do believe there’s always collective conscience in the air, and color selections illuminate pretty primal decisions. If you want to break down the dominant shade that women gravitated to this year, it was Red.
(Katherine Heigl)
Red is associated with energy, war, danger, strength, power, determination as well as passion, desire, and love. It is also widely used to indicate danger which is why stop signs, stoplights, and fire equipment are usually painted red. The standard meaning of red is essentially blood and fire. Last night, the six women emoting those sentiments were Katherine Heigl, Helen Mirren, Miley Cyrus, Ruby Dee, Anne Hathaway and Heidi Klum.
(Anne Hathaway, Heidi Klum, Miley Cyrus)
Two lovely women ready to bear children (and glowing with new life) were wearing dark purple. Purple is said to represent spirituality, nobility, ceremony, mystery, transformation, wisdom, and enlightenment.
(2 Plum Preggers, Cate Blanchett and Jessica Alba, wearing the alternate color last night — Dark Purple)
So there you go. Subconscious selections broken down into a nutshell.
Overall, the Associated Press said the evening was “underwhelming”. The ratings were lowest in years. I thought it was raw, honest, and phony-free. There was also some real competition! It wasn’t slick and cosmetic like all the other years. Even Oscar winner Diablo Cody (Juno Screenwriter) was offered $1 million worth of shoes (for real), which she “passed” on wearing. There were, however, spasms of traditional enforcement such as rushing winners off the stage with cut-off music…FOR NO REASON. The show wasn’t even in danger of going into overtime. Inexplicably, the Academy overlooked its Druidian laws and let the sweet filmmaker come out to give her grateful words of acceptance. Cool. The big ‘ol machine of a show transformed into an awkward improvisational lab last night. P.S. Sarah Polley, you made a beautiful film, and I’m sure (at least we hope), you’ll be back as Director.
And for my favorite part of the show, mad respect to all those in the Annual Memoriam — a walk down memory lane. Just for the record and out of respect, I’d like to shout-out Mr. Ulrich Mühe who was NOT part of the montage last night.
(Ulrich Mühe in Lives of Others – R.I.P. 6/20/53 – 7/22/07)
If you haven’t seen The Lives of Others, rent it now. In his personal life, Ulrich showed true courage while leading some real life demonstrations against the East German communist regime in Berlin back in November 1989. He was a great man and deserves his moment of silence…. even if only on this little humble blog.
(For those into movie trivia, Ulrich starred in the original Funny Games. The remake, with Naomi Watts, is out in theater this March)
