"For the very reason...that it (the film 'Amour') forces matters of decay and death on viewers who feel the cold breath of mortality in every pore -- some Academy members of advanced age have reportedly been scared away from watching 'Amour.' And if people refuse to see the film, they're not likely to vote for its leading lady.
...even if hers (Emmanuelle Riva) is surely the single great performance in any of the Acting categories...[and] should speak profoundly to the many elderly Oscar voters."
Richard Corliss, Time magazine
http://entertainment.tim…
Instead, Jennifer Lawrence gets the Oscar for a performance as nuanced as that of whacked-out-but-lovable Jack Nicholson in "As Good as it Gets."
Well, she (via her manager) campaigned hardest for it. And she's young and hot. Which helps hugely, as Best Actress wins in recent years by Halle Berry over Sissy Spacek), Gwynneth Paltrow (over Fernando Montenegro), Marion Cotillard (over Julie Christie), Reese Witherspoon (over Felicity Huffman), Hillary Swank (over Imelda Staunton and Annette Bening) etc. showed.
Hollywood cannot and will not confront its fear of aging--much greater than that of death--or its rampant ageism. Hollywood, dream-factory, cradle of botox and face-lifts...
Academy members, baby boomers, and Americans in general, and to a lesser extent, Europeans: What you refuse to look at, you do only at your own peril. Look in the mirror not for external beauty but for the wrinkles and creases that signify growth.
* * * *
"And why do these foreign-language films have to be, after all, so "foreign" anyway?
Why do they have to have subtitles?
If foreigners want us to watch their films, they're gonna have to make them with bigger budgets, sexier stars, more action--as in gunfire, explosions and car-wrecks.
An' no ol' people, pleez' unless they're gonna play someone's grandma."
* * * * *
The Oscar show itself was a shambles, vulgar, over-the-top, and full of insults and digs ("jokes") at others. Demeaning jokes at the expense of women is still O.K.
Ang Lee's win for "Life of Pi" was a pleasant surprise, showing that chauvinism does not always triumph, although the win for "Argo" was Hollywood narcissism at play, the movie having refashioned what was basically a story about the role the Canadian Ambassador played in rescuing American hostages out of Teheran into a paean to C.I.A. heroics.
Daniel Day-Lewis was eloquent and moving, but then the Brits always come off with "
"class," even if their surroundings resemble a combination of a circus and a David Letterman show.
http://www.usatoday.com/…
...even if hers (Emmanuelle Riva) is surely the single great performance in any of the Acting categories...[and] should speak profoundly to the many elderly Oscar voters."
Richard Corliss, Time magazine
http://entertainment.tim…
Instead, Jennifer Lawrence gets the Oscar for a performance as nuanced as that of whacked-out-but-lovable Jack Nicholson in "As Good as it Gets."
Well, she (via her manager) campaigned hardest for it. And she's young and hot. Which helps hugely, as Best Actress wins in recent years by Halle Berry over Sissy Spacek), Gwynneth Paltrow (over Fernando Montenegro), Marion Cotillard (over Julie Christie), Reese Witherspoon (over Felicity Huffman), Hillary Swank (over Imelda Staunton and Annette Bening) etc. showed.
Hollywood cannot and will not confront its fear of aging--much greater than that of death--or its rampant ageism. Hollywood, dream-factory, cradle of botox and face-lifts...
Academy members, baby boomers, and Americans in general, and to a lesser extent, Europeans: What you refuse to look at, you do only at your own peril. Look in the mirror not for external beauty but for the wrinkles and creases that signify growth.
* * * *
"And why do these foreign-language films have to be, after all, so "foreign" anyway?
Why do they have to have subtitles?
If foreigners want us to watch their films, they're gonna have to make them with bigger budgets, sexier stars, more action--as in gunfire, explosions and car-wrecks.
An' no ol' people, pleez' unless they're gonna play someone's grandma."
* * * * *
The Oscar show itself was a shambles, vulgar, over-the-top, and full of insults and digs ("jokes") at others. Demeaning jokes at the expense of women is still O.K.
Ang Lee's win for "Life of Pi" was a pleasant surprise, showing that chauvinism does not always triumph, although the win for "Argo" was Hollywood narcissism at play, the movie having refashioned what was basically a story about the role the Canadian Ambassador played in rescuing American hostages out of Teheran into a paean to C.I.A. heroics.
Daniel Day-Lewis was eloquent and moving, but then the Brits always come off with "
"class," even if their surroundings resemble a combination of a circus and a David Letterman show.
http://www.usatoday.com/…
