My Thoughts on the Oscars

I broke a ten year streak when I decided to watch the Academy Awards this year. I generally hate awards shows since they are usually a sycophantic display of superfluous narcissism. And let's face it, what they celebrate in all of the self congratulation is who did the best job of make believe. But since I love movies I guess I'm a fan of make believe anyway. The Oscars have only angered me in the past. They ignore true originality at times and award the politically correct far more. This year wasn't much different. I was happy with some wins, not so much with others. 

Speaking of breaking streaks, I had to end one streak in order to continue another....I haven't watched a movie with Ben Affleck since the last Best Picture he appeared in. That was fifteen years ago. I've done my best to avoid his annoyingness, no matter what hype I hear, but since Argo won Best Picture I will be watching it soon. I had already heard good things about the movie, but was secretly hoping it wouldn't win the top award so I could skip it. You see, I've seen every Best Picture winner (ok, so I haven't seen ALL of Ordinary People, but it's a bit too sappy for me) and so the streak must continue. I was a bit surprised Lincoln did not win....wait, no I'm not. Saving Private Ryan didn't win either, and NO I still haven't forgiven them for that one. Spielberg still has only one Best Picture winner which amazes me. 

I was happy to see Jennifer Lawrence win. She is one of the best actresses out there right now. I was also very happy to see my opinion confirmed that Daniel Day-Lewis is the greatest living actor. Since he is the first man to win more than two awards for Best Actor he can even be called the greatest of all time. But of course that's up for debate since Oscar has snubbed many who deserved multiple awards. Katherine Hepburn still stands alone with four golden statues for leading roles. 

In the scratch my head category, I can't understand how Tarantino now has TWO Oscars for screenwriting. No, I haven't seen Django Unchained so I can't be authoritative with my criticism. I only know I hate Tarantino from his previous work where he writes like a nerdy teenager trying desperately to sound cool. Once again, my favorite writer/director Wes Anderson did not win. Not that I'm surprised, but in the originality department I would award anyone over QT. Even the name "Django" is  purloined from Japanese cinema. He likes to steal a little from here and there and play it off as homage. But I don't buy it. I realize that I'm in the minority, though. As usual. 

I have yet to see some of the most acclaimed films of the year, which puts me more behind than usual. I loved Silver Linings Playbook and Lincoln. I still need to see Life of Pi, Argo, and Les Miserables among others. I will post reviews when I do see them in the near future.