The speculation has grown, one could say - metastasized- for years, that the Motion Picture Academy of Arts & Sciences has slowly been losing its way, evolving into an ever more isolated enclave of elitist "insider" tastes. Now, the buzz is mounting that they have really jumped the shark, and are prepared to award this year's "Best Picture" Oscar to....get this, a back and white, SILENT French film, "The Artist". Are you effing kidding me?
This is the year 2012, not 1912! We do not, I repeat do not, award Oscars for Best Picture to gimmicky black and white silent movies!
Here's the deal: as movie prices are now jacked up to the point that movie attendance has dropped off precipitously, and one must expect to shell out at least $25 for two, for the film plus just a diet coke and small popcorn, why would you pump and hump a silent black and white movie? Oh wait! I got it! To entice the elites to drool all over themselves at their impeccable "artistic" taste and refined perceptions ....which vastly exceed ....by light years...the Philistine tastes of the hoi polloi, otherwise known as the "masses".
In other words, just another example of exalted tastes in which to rub the noses of the not so well off . We already beheld, after all, in an earlier blog "Lex" and his take on the grandiose tastes of the elites, e.g
http://brane-space.blogspot.com/2012/02/hey-poor-white-folks-learn-morals-from.html
Quoting "Lex" therein:
"A cultural gap separates the Elite from other Americans. They seldom watch 'Oprah' or Judge Judy', in fact they do not watch much television at all. They eat in restaurants but not at Applebee's, Denny's or Waffle House...chains that cater to the common taste. They read The Economist and the New York Times, or Wall Street Journal, and they drink wine and boutique beers.....but only in moderation and never smoke cigarettes."
Now we can add:
They opt to see refined French black and white movies like "The Artist" as opposed to degenerate common fare like "The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo" or...."War Horse"
But in fact, the last two films beat any modern silent black and white film twice on Sundays and any given day of the week. (I do not rule out ever seeing b&w silent fare, since the 1927 German flick 'Metropolis" is one of my favorites, as well as "Nosferatu"- but there is no sound basis for such in 2012!) Not only is "Girl" - with Rooney Mara in the star role as an iconoclast hacker - a terrific flick, but Mara deserve the "Best Actress" for her peformance. It is certainly worth paying out $25 for, and not regretting it ten minutes later! Same with "War Horse", a spell binding film which definitely hasn't received the credit it's due.
Anyway, we shall see come next Sunday night.
We will see if the Academy selects a film with appeal to only a very tiny subset of the population, the monied Elites who can afford to piss away $25 or even $50 on a black and white silent film, or respect the tastes of the hard working 99 percent. My bet is they will go with the elites.
Maybe the time really has come for two separate sets of Oscars. One for the movies with mass appeal and terrific entertainment value, like "War Horse", and the other for the toffy-nosed brie and wine crowd who fancy themselves - with their special "adjustable" - toilet seat warming and spray-drier commodes - above the rest of us!
This is the year 2012, not 1912! We do not, I repeat do not, award Oscars for Best Picture to gimmicky black and white silent movies!
Here's the deal: as movie prices are now jacked up to the point that movie attendance has dropped off precipitously, and one must expect to shell out at least $25 for two, for the film plus just a diet coke and small popcorn, why would you pump and hump a silent black and white movie? Oh wait! I got it! To entice the elites to drool all over themselves at their impeccable "artistic" taste and refined perceptions ....which vastly exceed ....by light years...the Philistine tastes of the hoi polloi, otherwise known as the "masses".
In other words, just another example of exalted tastes in which to rub the noses of the not so well off . We already beheld, after all, in an earlier blog "Lex" and his take on the grandiose tastes of the elites, e.g
http://brane-space.blogspot.com/2012/02/hey-poor-white-folks-learn-morals-from.html
Quoting "Lex" therein:
"A cultural gap separates the Elite from other Americans. They seldom watch 'Oprah' or Judge Judy', in fact they do not watch much television at all. They eat in restaurants but not at Applebee's, Denny's or Waffle House...chains that cater to the common taste. They read The Economist and the New York Times, or Wall Street Journal, and they drink wine and boutique beers.....but only in moderation and never smoke cigarettes."
Now we can add:
They opt to see refined French black and white movies like "The Artist" as opposed to degenerate common fare like "The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo" or...."War Horse"
But in fact, the last two films beat any modern silent black and white film twice on Sundays and any given day of the week. (I do not rule out ever seeing b&w silent fare, since the 1927 German flick 'Metropolis" is one of my favorites, as well as "Nosferatu"- but there is no sound basis for such in 2012!) Not only is "Girl" - with Rooney Mara in the star role as an iconoclast hacker - a terrific flick, but Mara deserve the "Best Actress" for her peformance. It is certainly worth paying out $25 for, and not regretting it ten minutes later! Same with "War Horse", a spell binding film which definitely hasn't received the credit it's due.
Anyway, we shall see come next Sunday night.
We will see if the Academy selects a film with appeal to only a very tiny subset of the population, the monied Elites who can afford to piss away $25 or even $50 on a black and white silent film, or respect the tastes of the hard working 99 percent. My bet is they will go with the elites.
Maybe the time really has come for two separate sets of Oscars. One for the movies with mass appeal and terrific entertainment value, like "War Horse", and the other for the toffy-nosed brie and wine crowd who fancy themselves - with their special "adjustable" - toilet seat warming and spray-drier commodes - above the rest of us!
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