Oscars

My beef with the Oscars is about what kind of surprises the academy yields.

For the most part, the Oscars are totally predictable. There are about 6-8 films/actors/whatever in each category that are plausible and they pick 5 of them. The only interesting thing are the subtle surprises. They are never a big deal, but they are always the wrong choice, in my eyes. You see, democracy and voting and popularity, work for a political science, but not arts and crafts.

So yes, it bugs me that the most audacious and interesting movie of the year - United 93 was snubbed a best picture nomination. It was given a best director as a type of consolation prize for being too bold and subtle simultaneousl (which incidentally, is exactly what makes it great). Same thing with Paul Giamatti not getting nominated for Sideways...the guy only delivered the most touching male performance of his generation and all people can think about is whether they liked him or not or whether he represented California liberal values. And my list goes on.

My point is, I have both no problem and a total problem with the way the Oscars work. Because the only thing I actually cared about was seeing United 93 win best picture. And it didn't get nominated. So that pretty much sums it all up.