Sunday, February 27, 2011

Freaky Franco / Oscars Schmoscars

So, who had James Franco as the first Freaks & Geeks alum to get an Oscar nomination?

Yeah, me too.

~

We saw so few movies last year I find that the interest in the Academy Awards is even lower than usual. Granted, to put any attention toward the motion picture industry patting itself on the back is inherently ludicrous unless you actively have a financial stake in the outcomes, but to the extent that the AMPAS has convinced the public to give a crap for decades I'd always at least taken some heed of what got nominated. There have been films in past years that got nominated that made me think, Hey, maybe I'll try to see that eventually, and for the movies I had seen I had something to root for.

But with this year's ceremonies on the verge of starting (as I post this), even having seen six of the nominated best pictures, I detect in myself utter indifference. And while part of me fancies this suggests I've grown into a more mature attitude about the spectacle, it feels more like I've lost some of the fascination with the medium. The one film we saw last year that affected me in a significant way was Toy Story 3. It's not that I didn't enjoy other films we saw, or fail to see some level of quality in them, but if I'm brutally frank, most didn't match what I get out of a typical episode of The Good Wife or Fringe.

Is it that movies aren't the same as they used to be, or is it me? Well, of course, it's me to a great extent, but are movies more the bailiwick of the young? Is my attention span now geared for 22 or 44 minute bursts (with fast-forwarding through commercials)?

Or were the movies last just not as good?

Perhaps all of the above. In any case, it will be pleasant to watch the Oscars—of course we'll still watch—and not really give a crap who ends up with a statue and who doesn't.

It's not that there's any animosity toward those times when the compulsion to pay any heed, nor any dismissal of those who still do. I'm just serene.

1 comment:

  1. In general, movies today suck compared to 20 or 30 years ago, just like music.

    The high point of "Toy Story 3" was hearing "You've Got a Friend In Me" sung in Spanish. And watching Buzz in Spanish lover mode. Hilarious.

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