Friday - February 25, 2005

BMEWS Oscar Preview

This Sunday night, the Hollyweirdos will gather in front of the TV cameras, dressed in all their fancy designer clothes and massive jewelry collections to pat each other on the back and engage in the world’s biggest circle-jerk in front of all the great unwashed masses in “flyover country”, who will be glued to their TV sets jealously wondering who will win the coveted Academy Awards .... or maybe not. Personally, I have more important (and more entertaining) things to do Sunday night .... like trimming my toenails and cleaning out the most recent science experiments in my refrigerator (what the hell is that gray stuff that grows on tomatoes after only two weeks in the fridge?). For the full list of nominees, click here. Anyway, in the “For What It’s Worth Department”, here is my take on the pictures and “actor-persons” nominated this year. Let me know how I did on Monday.

Best Picture:

“Finding Neverland”: I’ve seen all of the nominated pictures except this one. I (mistakenly) thought it was about Michael Jackson’s home and when I saw it starred Johnny Depp, I crossed it off the list. However, some people who saw it say it was pretty cool. However, “pretty cool” doesn’t win Oscars. Dark horse candidate at best.

“The Aviator”: Somehow, the image of Howard Hughes with Leonardo DiCaprio’s high squeeky voice just didn’t click with me. Alan Alda played a fairly convincing evil Congress-Critter and Cate Blanchett did an impeccable impersonation of Katie Hepburn. The story was fairly accurate but DiCaprio pretty much ruined it for me. His interpretation of Howard Hughe’s descent into madness left a lot to be desired. The kid just can’t act. For a better view of a man’s greed and disintegration into insanity rent “Treasure Of The Sierra Madre”. DiCaprio could take several lessons from Bogart.

“Sideways”: Make no mistake about it, guys. This is a “chick flick” in disguise. Two men go on a trip through wine country in California prior to one of them getting married. The only problem is the guy who is about to get married wants to use the trip to bed as many women as possible before getting hitched and the other guy is a neurotic, nutless basket-case who hasn’t recovered from a recent divorce. That pretty much sums it up. Of course, they get their nuts in a wringer with some chicks they pick up and by the time the credits roll, you’ll be squirming in your seat wondering how in the hell you let your girlfriend/wife talk you into paying $20 for two tickets to watch this embaressment to guys everywhere.

“Million Dollar Baby”: this is one of Clint Eastwood’s better movies. I admit I thoroughly enjoyed it .... up until the ending (which I won’t disclose). Unfortunately, it is that ending that will probably keep it from winning an Oscar (there is already quite a controversy brewing over this ending). The overall acting was excellent and Hillary Swank will steal your heart away. She should get Best Actress for this one. Clint already has an Oscar for “Unforgiven” so the Academy will probably pass over him this time. I do urge all of you to see this flick though .... just have your crying tissue ready for the ending.

“Ray”: You all know I’m a huge fan of Ray Charles so you can understand if I say I was prepared to absolutely hate this film. I was prepared for another of Hollywood’s glossy, piss-poor tributes to an artist. I was wrong. The movie delves into Ray Charles’ life and pulls no punches .... but does so in a tasteful, honest manner. Jamie Foxx gives the performance of a lifetime and deserves the Oscar for Best Actor. I think Ray would be proud of the movie and the actor who played him .... even though it brings up moments in the great soul singer’s life that he would probably rather never have happened. A fine tribute .... and my pick for Best Picture. Hell, you should see it just for the soundtrack .... What’d I Say?

Overlooked Picture: Finally, what would the Academy Awards be without one picture that everyone should see but received no nominations. Last year, I said that picture was “Secondhand Lions” and this year I have another fantastic picture that somehow escaped Hollywood’s attention .... “Ladder 49”. It is a beautifully made tribute to firefighters everywhere and Joacquin Phoenix displayed outstanding talent in the lead role. John Travolta also starred in this magnificent movie but Phoenix is the character to watch .... until the ending. Sometimes life just sucks .... especially if you have a dangerous workplace.

So there you have it, troops! Let me know what you think and if you stay up to watch this overhyped four-hour extravaganza Sunday night, drop me an e-mail to let me know how my predictions came out. In return, I’ll give you an update on my attempts to grow penicillin in my fridge. Do we have a deal?

Posted by The Skipper     on 02/25/2005 at 01:57 PM   
Filed Under: • Hollywood •  
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Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:

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It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

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