MY Oscar Race Begins

With the recent-but-not-just-the-other-day announcement of this year's Oscar contenders, I find myself more interested in the films implicated by this year's nominees than any other year in recent memory. I cannot recall a year where I have been interested in just about every movie nominated in the major picture/acting categories. I chalk it up to the Academy having finally exhausted the politicking that seems to have poisoned my well of interest for the past several years.

To be sure, the mere fact that Michael Moore's "Sicko," while nominated for an Oscar, has not been surrounded by a hate/love/lib/neocon fuck fest makes me more inclined to go see it. I reconcile this phenomenon with the fact that despite the fact that I own both "Fahrenheit 9/11" and "An Inconvenient Truth," I have been unable to weather either of those films because of how much they have polarized their audiences into either Moore/Gore lovers or haters. Instead of taking the material presented in the films at face value, I find myself wondering if the filmmakers have more of an agenda than merely presenting the world as they see it, but through their eyes. To me, a true documentary either interests me ("Dieter Must Fly") or bores me ("Glen or Glenda").

That being said, I now find myself not only irritated by the writer's strike, but the creative alimony being paid by actors, directors, producers and the like in the form of "we're not scabs, we're not crossing the line." Even more irritating is the fact that all of the late night asshole hosts came back at almost the same time, having all miraculously worked last minute deals with the guild.

I am absolutely positive that I have no grasp on how difficult and starved the writers are for every single show in Hollywood and I am sure that there is a perfectly sound explanation for why a "work for hire" hack sitcom writer should also gets residuals in the syndication of the putrid shit that they (and a thousand monkeys and a thousand typewriters) crank out every day for their employer studios. It will likely be the same successful argument later used by actors (oh wait, they negotiate that up front - what a novel idea), make up people, cameramen, foley artists, and grip boys in their future negotiations for a bigger piece of the creative pie.

I see Jon Stewart is hosting, again. I guess Crystal and Goldberg are busy. I can't wait to see what political jibber jabber takes the stage, that is to say, if anybody bothers to grace the ceremony with his or her presence on February 24, 2008. Oh, fuck! February 24th! I have less than a month to squeeze in the major pictures, which as far as I am concerned are the following:

• Eastern Promises. Whoa, Cronenberg can't write -but man, he sure can direct - this smacks of the simplicity that graced his "A History of Violence." Cronenberg is known for improving through most of his films, i.e., he can't write worth shit. Both this film and his previous, "Violence" were adaptations of other authors' works...thank God.
• Michael Clayton. Clooney is like Baldwin - everything he touches is gold. Clooney also leaves belligerent voice mails on Baldwin's daughter's cell phone.
• There Will Be Blood. [Text Fades In] Written by Upton Sinclair. [Text Fades Out/ Text Fades In] Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. [Text Fades In/ Fades Out] Starring Daniel Day Lewis. Wow.
• Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street. I know, I know: Depp and Burton, again. I happen to believe Depp is one of the best actors in Hollywood right now and while "Willie Wonka" was a turd, I believe in redemption.
• Into the Wild. Finally, Hal Holbrook gets an Oscar nomination. I hope they get this one right. Personally, I think he deserved one for his role in "Creep Show," but that's just me.
• Atonement. The obligatory chick flick. It must be good, they're already carrying it in paperback at the "Hudson News" in Hobby Airport.

I know I've missed a few others, and if I have time, I'll squeeze them in and review them as they come. Reitman's "Juno" looks like the sequel to "Super Bad", which was the prequel to "Knocked Up", which was the sequel to "40 Year Old Virgin." Yeah, I know, it's not Aptow, but it might as well be. I'll catch that on video - I'm not wasting my time in a theater for the same shit Aptow and Rogen have been throwing up for the three (3) years.

In the meanwhile, the race is on!