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A land of Laws,Oscar Night 2005
American Spectator ^ | Mar.5, 2005 | Mark Steyn

Posted on 03/13/2005 9:46:36 PM PST by Zivasmate

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Not Steyn's best column ever, but he makes some salient points about the Oscars and its declining appeal.
1 posted on 03/13/2005 9:46:37 PM PST by Zivasmate
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To: Zivasmate

He also mistakenly calls 'Vera Drake' a Hollywood film.


2 posted on 03/13/2005 9:51:07 PM PST by Borges
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To: Zivasmate

Cheadle was robbed and that's the truth.


3 posted on 03/13/2005 9:52:40 PM PST by jocon307
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To: jocon307

I agree. He was doing genunine acting whereas Foxx was doing something a notch above sketch mimicry.


4 posted on 03/13/2005 9:54:50 PM PST by Borges
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To: Zivasmate

Still, he does make a point. These self congratulatory, award swapping 'Celebrities' are getting so wound up in PC that in the very near future they won't have a joke to tell that won't offend some artificially defined group's sensitivities. The same is probably true of screenplays. LMAO.


5 posted on 03/13/2005 9:55:38 PM PST by drt1
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To: drt1

That Jude Law issue just proved once again that Sean Penn is the single most humorless person on Earth.


6 posted on 03/13/2005 9:59:13 PM PST by Borges
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To: drt1

It's called reaping what you sow,or getting hoist with your own petard.


7 posted on 03/13/2005 9:59:53 PM PST by Zivasmate (" A wise man's heart inclines him to his right, but a fool's heart to his left." - Ecclesiastes 10)
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To: Borges

"Foxx was doing something a notch above sketch mimicry."

And you know, they could have given best supporting to Foxx instead, for "Collateral" which seems like a better performance by him.

Disclaimer: I've actually seen NONE of these movies, but I will make it a point to see Hotel Rawanda. But I just think that whole movie just got robbed, it shows what phonies they all really are.

All their posturing, and they can't wait to heap awards on Million Dollar Baby, a formulaic piece of liberal orthodoxy. Maybe they should be careful what they wish for, after all, it is in their world where not being a star is a fate worse than death.


8 posted on 03/13/2005 10:06:45 PM PST by jocon307
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To: Borges

I may have missed the reference you're correcting but I don't think he called it a Hollywood film; he refered to it as coming from the film industry, which it did.


9 posted on 03/13/2005 10:07:42 PM PST by Darkwolf377 (UAW disses USMC http://www.detnews.com/2005/autosinsider/0503/13/C01-115531.htm)
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To: Zivasmate
Of the nominated films I saw I'm glad Million Dollar Baby won. For the "where are your credentials?" crowd, I'm 100% anti-euthanasia. It's a terrific character piece. I don't look to movies for moral guidance, just interesting characters, good filmmaking, and compelling stories, all of which this had.

I think Fox should have won for Collateral if he had to win, though I was glad Freeman won. In fact, Eastwood's performance will be remembered after 'Ray" enters that pantheon of winners who didn't REALLY deserve to win, now that we think about it years later.

Last year was an awful year for movies.

10 posted on 03/13/2005 10:10:59 PM PST by Darkwolf377 (UAW disses USMC http://www.detnews.com/2005/autosinsider/0503/13/C01-115531.htm)
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To: Zivasmate

Actually, I didn't even realize this was a Steyn article until you mentioned it. Not quite the biting edge that he normally uses.


11 posted on 03/13/2005 10:11:33 PM PST by Experiment 6-2-6 (Meega, Nala Kweesta! It appears that SABERTOOTH got himself suspended. Again. ????)
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To: Darkwolf377

"Last year was an awful year for movies."


May have been the worst ever.Best little movie of the year I saw was "Paper Clips."


12 posted on 03/13/2005 10:14:59 PM PST by Zivasmate (" A wise man's heart inclines him to his right, but a fool's heart to his left." - Ecclesiastes 10)
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To: Darkwolf377
Last year was an awful year for movies.

Not all that bad. If I may be so bold, did you see 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind', 'Before Sunset' 'Kill Bill V2' 'Vera Drake' (not a pro abortion film at all) or Primer? And even amongst the nominees, Sideways and The Aviator are quite good.
13 posted on 03/13/2005 10:15:31 PM PST by Borges
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To: Borges
",,,did you see 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind', 'Before Sunset' 'Kill Bill V2' 'Vera Drake' (not a pro abortion film at all) or Primer? And even amongst the nominees, Sideways and The Aviator are quite good."

Eternal Sunshine was interesting, even though it swiped all its ideas from Philip K. Dick I enjoyed it. Before SUnset was painfully bad. Kill Bill 2 was one of the worst things I've ever sat through. Have no desire to see another Mike Leigh film. I was pleased with the wins Sideways and Aviator got, but found both to be lesser films from their makers.

The only movies from 04 that will join my alltime list were Million Dollar Baby and Collateral.

14 posted on 03/13/2005 10:20:28 PM PST by Darkwolf377 (UAW disses USMC http://www.detnews.com/2005/autosinsider/0503/13/C01-115531.htm)
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To: Experiment 6-2-6

His curveball didn't have the sharp break in this one. Maybe writing about Hollywood so nauseates him, it knocks him off his game. A perfectly understandable reaction.

Or maybe he fell asleep watching,(who could blame him?) and had to fudge a little.


15 posted on 03/13/2005 10:20:31 PM PST by Zivasmate (" A wise man's heart inclines him to his right, but a fool's heart to his left." - Ecclesiastes 10)
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To: Darkwolf377

As to Before Sunset perhaps you're not a fan of Linklater's style. He has that laid back this-is-happening-now improv groove that leaves lots of people cold. One of the keys for me was that those two characters aren't all that interesting or nearly as smart as they think they are. The movie knows that. Lesser Scorsese is still better then most directors at their best. I forgot to mention 'I Heart Huckabees' and The Life Aquatic with Steven Zissou. Not entirely succesful but ambitious and honorable.


16 posted on 03/13/2005 10:26:02 PM PST by Borges
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To: Zivasmate

You have wonder why someone who dislikes movies would write about them at all.


17 posted on 03/13/2005 10:28:12 PM PST by Borges
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To: Borges
I like loosely-plotted or even plot-free movies, so that wasn't my problem with Before Sunset. My problem with it was that it was boring. Two boring people saying boring things is boring.

I'm a fan of Raymond Carver (and of Lost in Translation), so character-centric stuff is fine by me. But these two people were so self-involved and lacking in anything that compelled me to watch that I was starting to get physically uncomfortable just sitting there listening to them prattle on about nothing.

18 posted on 03/13/2005 10:29:33 PM PST by Darkwolf377 (UAW disses USMC http://www.detnews.com/2005/autosinsider/0503/13/C01-115531.htm)
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To: Darkwolf377

I had that reaction to 'My Dinner With Andre'. If you ever get a chance see Linklater's 'Waking Life'. 'Before Sunset' with academics...and animated. I loved it but many find it sheer torture. :-)


19 posted on 03/13/2005 10:32:19 PM PST by Borges
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To: Borges

Linklater's next is an animated PKDick adaptation, I'll be seeing that.


20 posted on 03/13/2005 10:49:16 PM PST by Darkwolf377 (UAW disses USMC http://www.detnews.com/2005/autosinsider/0503/13/C01-115531.htm)
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