The Post Oscar Depression Sets In

Now that the Oscars are over, I feel sort of depressed that I will no longer be having lengthy, pointless conversations about "what deserves to win and what will win." So to prolong the moment a little more, and to add to the fray of post Oscar media analysis, here is my own list of stuff that stood out at the Oscars. Beware of some negatory stuff.

1) Everyone loves to hate the host, but I thought Seth McFarlane was quite funny and not too mean. There was a lot of talk about racist, sexist, homophobic jokes, but you know, I don't know if you've noticed but all those things exist in the world and make for great comedy. Often times, these jokes are a good way to hold up a mirror to ourselves with a spoonful of sugar, and say: look at who you are, society. Are you proud? Personally, I enjoy a good racist, sexist, homophobic joke on occasion, so just chill. 

2) Why did we have to celebrate musical films? What about just celebrating film-films? Or if we need a theme, how about we celebrate costumes in film? Or historical films?  I hate musical films. I hated Chicago. I have no desire to see Les Miz, the movie. There was only one musical film nominated and we make a whole spiel about celebrating this genre? Then why wouldn't they do anything about West Side Story? It was the best musical film made thanks to the genius of Jerome Robbins and Leonard Bernstein. The best performance of the evening was Jennifer Hudson who is so consistently good that it's almost taken for granted (did anyone discuss America the Beautiful during the Superbowl? No). Shirley Bassey was pretty good. I wouldn't say that she "crushed it" or "murdered it" or "sleighed it" as I've been reading around the nets. I thought she was ok, period.

3) There were a slew of awkward moments:
- Paul Rudd and Melissa McCarthy, I couldn't tell you what that mess was. 
- When the Visual Effects winner's speech got cut off by the Jaws theme music right when he was talking about Rythm & Hues' bankruptcy. It was kind of mean. 
- I have no idea what the Avengers actors said.
- Renee Zellweger's squint and sway. I was worried she was going to pass out. She looked depressed.
- Anne Hathaway's cradling of the Oscar like a baby when she said "it came true!" Ugh. Just grow your hair already and everyone will start liking you again.

4) The Twilight Zone moment of the show goes to Michelle Obama's appearance for the Best Film award. It was plain wrong. While you can certainly draw parallels between Hollywood and Washington, we cannot have these two super-merging in real life. We need one to keep the other in check, get it? They'd be breaking antitrust laws, and the American people would have to sue: "The People versus the Way Too Dangerously United, States of America." Ugh. Just wrong.

5) Sandra Bullock should present more. When I see her coming out, I feel relief, like "phew Sandra Bullock is presenting. It will be coherent and simple, thank God." Girl is a pro.

6) I predict Kristin Stewart's career will go down the drains now that Twilight is over UNLESS she is smart and only sticks to roles in which her character is aloof and monotone.

7) It's only this year that I realized that Daniel Day Lewis was married to Rebecca Miller and not Penelope Ann Miller. I've been spreading lies for years and now I'm just gonna have to live with myself.

We Could Be Heroes

I blame Nike.




Their advertising work is awesome, but they have a keen ability to elevate athletes to the status of inspirational hero in a matter of weeks. That's an attractive and lucrative proposition for any athlete, but sometimes a confusing one for consumers. Nike wants you to love and admire these people for their grit, their determination, their persistance, their will power and their strength. And Nike wants you to try to emulate them, be inspired, improve your own life and push yourself beyond your limits. And use their shoes while doing so. That is the Nike way. What's so bad about that? Nothing, these are all great things. But then the Nike athlete is found out, like the wizard of Oz, to be just another human being. Once revered as an inspiration for millions, they turn out to be more flawed than us meager earthlings. Because the pedestal was so high, the disappointment is so great. At the same time, I've seen so many documentaries and even news segments over the last year that are just teeming with "real life" heroes. People I can't even believe exist because they're just so unsung. People who legitimately change lives for the better. Personally, I'd love to hear more about them. Give me an ad with Bob Hurley who year after year has been coaching the best highschool basketball team in the country in Jersey City on meager funds. Or Bill Courtney, who coached football to inner city kids in Memphis for six years: Anybody can be a champ. It takes a man to stand up when this thing hits you in the mouth, cause it hurts. That does a lot more for me than I am the bullet in the chamber.

Three makes a pattern right? Tiger Woods, Lance Armstrong, Oscar Pistorius* (four if you count Michael Vick, but I don't count him for other reasons). Each one probably relieved that the other has taken the relay baton of sociopathic behavior. And Usain Bolt probably dopes, too. There is big money to be made with these guys, I understand that, but what annoys me in the end is that everywhere you turn, you get a new spin on some "hero" as if that even really existed -- Tiger Woods is a black golfer! Lance Armstrong had cancer! Oscar Pistorius has no legs! -- propped up in your face with false earnestness. Thank you, but this isn't my first day of kindergarden.

All I've managed to confirm with the downfall of these three athletes is that if it's too good to be true, then it sure ain't true. The more amazing the story, the harder the fall. Interestingly though, the famous and powerful are still the ones who get all the credit and glory from us, even after we witness a succession of them fall like dominoes. So why do we do this to ourselves? Why do we constantly reward and heroize the wrong people? Is it because the wrong people are the ones who fight and kick and manipulate until they make it to the top while others, perhaps more admirable, but more "normal" people just get sick and tired of the BS and call a spade a spade? The overwhelming desire for fame, fortune and power seems to have a direct correlation with having a fucked up personality. Why do we find ourselves encouraging, and as a result getting steam rolled, by these people? We're so desperate for larger than life "heroes" who will make us feel something that we will first fabricate them, then shield them until we can shield them no more, then shoot them down (no pun intended). And while by now we should be schooled in the art of deception and human behavior (has House of Cards taught us nothing?), we still can't help ourselves but be drawn to the shining bright light of Crazy.

Well I'm here to tell you, that at the rate we're going, we could all be heroes. Just for one day. No, actually, David Bowie said that. I mean, we gave those guys years.

*Note: I have no idea what will come of the Pistorius trial, but let's just say, he killed someone brutally. That, we cannot dispute.

The Oscars

Time for my evaluation of whatever it is I've seen that's been Oscar nominated. 

"Fiction" Films

1) Lincoln
Awesome. The all star cast make you forget they're stars and remind you that they're actors. Read: James Spader, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Tommy Lee Jones (except that Jones did kind of deliver a "star performance"), David Strathairn, Jarred Harris (I didn't even recognize him as U.S. Grant). 

2) The Beasts of the Southern Wild
I liked this. Didn't love it like all the critics and some people I know. I admire what the director accomplished with this film on no budget and amateur actors who were better than some of the "pros" I know. I got a "Whale Rider" vibe from this, though I liked Whale Rider better. The scenes with the young heroine and the beasts were a bit heavy handed in their symbolism and long, and a bit boring.

3) Zero Dark 30
Most people loved this film. I liked it and loved some parts. But I had some issues with it. I couldn't get passed the naivete of the CIA woman who thought she landed on the perfect informant. It was just too unsubtle for me. Jessica Chastain did a great job, but again, her character seemed to lack dimension. Torture, blah blah blah. I totally didn't care about this controversy in the media. Those people focus on the stupidest things.

4) Silver Linings Playbook
Liked it a lot. Entertaining. Good acting. Good script. To me, this felt like a really excellent, high level romantic comedy. And I don't understand people who thought this shouldn't be in the comedy section. It was totally funny to me.

5) Django Unchained
What's not to love? This was the feel-good movie of the year. Great fun. Got a little long towards the end for me. I'm purposely not talking about the fact that some people thought this film saved America, because that shit just annoys me. Samuel L. Jackson not getting nominated is a travesty.


PREDICTIONS (who I think will win):
Best Picture: Lincoln
Best Director: Steven Spielberg 
(How you can separate the two escapes me, but whatever.)
Best Actor: Should go to Daniel Day Lewis, might go to Hugh Jackman. A small part of me wants to give it to Bradley Cooper. Very small. 
Best Actresses: Jennifer Lawrence. Or possibly Jessica Chastain. I'm having a hard time deciding between these two. 
Supporting Actor: Tommy Lee Jones. Or Christoph Waltz. But I think it'll be Tommy
Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway. Or Sally Field. But I think it'll be Annie.
Best Original Screenplay: Django? Zero Dark 30?
Best Adapted Screenplay: Lincoln - Tony Kushner all the way

Documentaries

Note: If you're an Oscar nominated documentary, you know you kick serious ass. I've never seen a bad nominated doc.

1) The Invisible War

Awesome. Heart wrenching. I've already written about this doc here.

2) How to Survive a Plague

Also awesome. It depicts gay activists of the 80s, many of whom had HIV or AIDS, fighting the Man about finding a cure to the disease more quickly, with less red tape and less stigma. They succeeded in a lot of ways. A great lesson in activism and getting organized.

3) Searching for Sugar Man
Rodriguez, a lauded singer songwriter from Detroit, a would-be-Dylan, inexplicably falls into obscurity in the US only to find real success in South Africa-- unbeknownst to him. It's an amazing story. I was a little disappointed when someone I met recently told me his South African parents had never heard of Rodriguez, but oh well. The point is that his talent has finally been recognized here in the USA and he certainly deserves it. 

4) 5 Broken Cameras
Or "How to Make Israel Look Real Bad." Told from the perspective of a Palestinian farmer who filmed his village's peaceful protests against Israeli West Bank settlers/soldiers, the words to describe this film are "poignant" and "heart-breaking." It's the closest I feel I've gotten to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict/tension whatever you wanna call it. That said, I would be shocked if this won the award given it's "controversial nature." This ain't no Weinstein movie.

5) The Gatekeepers
I haven't seen this because I don't know how to access it. But thought I'd point out that this film is a series of candid interviews with six former members of Shin Bet, Israel's counterterrorism agency. Can't wait to see it.

PREDICTIONS:
Best Documentary: I think Invisible War is gonna to win. It's a current issue that has attracted the support of Congressmen and women. For that reason alone, I think it has a really big shot. Plus I cried like a mo fo watching it.

WORDS WITH FRIENDS

As I've been playing Words with Friends with various people over the last two years, I've noticed a few patterns that I now feel able to verbalize into some coherent sentences. 

First of all, no one I play today will ever be as good as my first opponent. He beat me every time, and the only time he didn't was because of an unlucky letter pick. Kind of like playing tennis against someone who is better that you, he elevated my game. Now, I'd say I'm at a pretty consistent level, but I've definitely plateau-ed and still don't possess the logical mind (nor the time) that is required for competitive scrabble. As the movie "Word Wars" so aptly demonstrated, scrabble has nothing to do with your understanding of the English language and everything to do with logic and strategy. "English is fucked up language, says one haggard scrabble master, too many words got multiple meanins'." That's why the world scrabble champion is some guy in Taiwan who doesn't speak a word of English. 

Sometimes I get lucky, I put down a word whose meaning is completely unknown to me and that magical word "sending" comes up on screen along with it's little status circle. I feel elated that a word I had no idea existed actually worked out. That doesn't mean I go look it up afterwards or anything. It's a satisfying and totally addictive feeling, and one of the reasons I play the game. It's like, I tried to stop, but I just couldn't. I needed to see "sending" on my iPhone screen one more time.

HIGHSCHOOL

New York Magazine did an article on the nefarious effects of highschool on the human spirit. Of course, the title is meant to "grab your attention" by affirming that Highschool is a "sadistic institution", and while most of the article supports this view, it concludes with saying, hey, maybe this is just life. I find that the content of these articles just don't live up to their sensational headlines. Remember the article entitled "I Love My Kids but Hate My Life"? That concluded with, really, everyone should just have kids because they give meaning to our lives. Anyway, I enjoyed reading the article, it had some really interesting scientific facts about teenagers, but for the most part, the highschool part of the story was a tad weak. It's true that mixing up a bunch of very different kids who just happen to be the same age in a giant pot while they're in the middle of developing their personalities and bodies can be traumatizing for some, but it seems...kind of...logical...no? How else are you going to educate kids? Home schooling? mix them up with kids of different ages and developmental stages? Put them in school with kids who have very similar personalities? Skip school altogether and get them working alongside adults like back in the factory days? Adolescents are very susceptible to the pains of a highschool environment, but I'm not sure how better to do it. My HS was mostly girls of similar backgrounds but that didn't mean they were similar in personalities. There were the nerds, the bitches and the normals. Perceptions were heightened, I definitely gave some thought about these girls and what they represented in our little highschool social hierarchy only to realize later that we were all basically the same person, humbled by life etc, etc. Back then, our differences were perceived to be huge, we were all so damn special.  But I know now that these warped perceptions were just the result of our brains developing and adjusting to our adulthood. 

If I remember something I learned in sociology once, one of the important ways we define ourselves is by identifying who we aren't. This is why like-minded groups are formed in every society. The democrats and the republicans, the born again Christians and the Neo Nazis. Their existence depend on their animosity towards and perceived differences with other groups. It's kind of like bonding with a new friend over backstabbing mutual friends. That friendship might not have been so quick to form if you didn't find commonalities in pinpointing the faults of others. Since the article stipulates that we act in adult life similarly to the way we act in highschool due to the deep impact that HS had on our psyches, I wonder if this is more a chicken and egg thing. Is it really highschool's fault? Or are we just naturally prone to segregate ourselves into groups based on our talents or lack thereof? And don't other people affect who we become anyway? Isn't "the other" and how we live relative to eachother not one of the the most fundamental aspects of human life? In this case, highschool, no matter how shitty it is for some people, is a rite of passage that is hard to escape from. One way or another, highschool or not, we will learn that life isn't fair, that there are people who will always succeed better than us, as there are people who will do worse. It has to happen some time.