Nielsen to Oscars: You just got served!

I watched hardly any of the Oscars myself--did catch John Stewart. The reason is that I just didn't see ANY of the movies except (1) Brokeback (and I thought that one was absolutley horrid), and Walk the Line, which I loved. Some of the movies never even played in my city at all! Not one of the people I know went to see Brokeback, not one. I don't know hardly anyone who saw any of the others either with the sole exception of Walk the Line. The bottom line is that the Oscar people are basically putting up movies NO ONE went to see, LOL! So, why should any of the general public care about them? My favorite movie of the past year was Harry Potter, and it wasn't even up! I also really liked Corpse Bride. Do the Oscar people have a bias against successful movies? I have a hunch that if Gone With Wind were made this year, it too wouldn't even be nominated. The Hollywood people know why the ratings are low, of course. They just don't care. The Oscars have become the way to reward their pals for making mediocre movies no one wants to see. Get rid of Brokeback and run Harry Potter and people will start to care and tune in again!

And another thing: that stupid Pimp song as best song of the year. Are you KIDDING me? That was just stupid.

I will say one thing. At least the people running the Oscars seem to have got the message out to George Clooney et al. that NO ONE gives a damn what they think about politics, and they should keep their big mouths shut.

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Look at the 5 films nominated for best picture ...they are not very mainstream. Brokeback Mountain and Capote had gay theme in them. Chronicles of Narnia grossed more then the five films nominated COMBINED. BBM was more ridiculed than praised. It provided endless material for the comedians ...a movie about two gay cowboys ...no one saw that coming!/sarcasm. With no movies the general public could pull for, I am not at all surprise about low ratings.

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Oh, I think there was a definite level of excellence in the five films nominated for Best Picture, but yes, I also think there were BETTER pictures. All five of this year's films were highly aggressive in their preaching of messages that the elite in Hollywood adore. We even heard several times during the Oscarcast that "art is about pushing boundaries and daring us to think." Funny, I thought art was about beauty: I don't go look at a Van Gogh or a Renoir to be dared into thinking. And I don't usually go to a movie theater to be A) scolded for my inherent racism, B) scolded for not sympathizing enough with gays, C) scolded for choosing EITHER side in the Israeli conflict, or D) urgently warned in not-so-subtle terms that Bush is something akin to McCarthy. So the Best Picture nominees may have been well-made, but they were preferred over OTHER well-made films because they are political / moral / ethical firebrands.

... I guess I'm saying I agree with Sy and Kent, although I actually found the Oscar ceremony itself to be one of the most enjoyable I've ever seen. Jon Stewart did what he was supposed to: Host an awards ceremony for movies - Unlike past hosts who thought they were supposed to satirize conservatives all night long.

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If you want to watch all the "popular" movies take home awards for being rated PG-13 and stealing babysitting money, then mark your calendar for the People's Choice Awards or the MTV Movie awards. The best part? When you watch those award shows, all the presenters plug their upcoming movies! Now you know what you can let your tweens see next weekend when you wanna drop them off at the theatre.

That being said, I think the show as a whole is severely lacking. They could be way shorter (bye bye sound editing) and way more entertaining (bye bye nominated song).

It's a thin line between "fun" and "classy", but think of what the Oscars would be like if they went to actors in really popular movies. Perhaps giving that kid from Harry Potter and award seems like a good idea now, but if this had been the way things were a few years ago we'd have multiple Oscar winner Arnold Schwarzenegger and Best Picture winner Men In Black II.

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I was one of those who tuned into the last 2 hours and I was soon very relieved that I hadn't been watching all evening! BORING. The celebrities looked bored, Jon Stewart was so toned down as to have become nothing more than a talking head reading really dull copy.
I think that Oscar overstretched himself; While I applaud recognition for the many films honored that actually dealt with social and moral dilemmas, I think that Oscar bent over backwards to dilute that fact by disbursing the awards evenly and shying away from giving the obvious favorite Best Picture.
Considering that the Oscars are supposed to be recognition for outstanding achievement by their filmmaking peers and not necessarily a popularity contest I find it perfectly acceptable that big box office hits are not always nominated. That being said however, I think that the production of the awards show itself then takes on the onus of entertaining the masses.
This particular production failed at that miserably despite the provocative films that were up!
One other thing; what was the deal with excessively repetitive and long shots of peoples names on the marquee?! I'm sitting in my living room, not in a theater audience! Let me see people's faces!!!

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"...the Oscars are supposed to be recognition for outstanding achievement by their filmmaking peers..."

Exactly. And films should be judged on their technical and artistic achievements in the arena of entertainment rather than their value as Hollywood's idea of social commentary. Brokeback was so controversial that nobody actually sat down and said, "Hey, hot-buttons aside, this is actually a crummy film. If you overlook the all-male romantic angle, it's your stock standard marital-infidelity genre with a weaker structure."

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Right off the bat it felt like it had already been on two hours. Stewart was not really on point, and the audience wasn't quite into it... Not the 'match made in heaven' it felt like it was going to be... Disappointing. The 3-6 Mafia performance was great, but really felt like I was watching the MTV music awards. Sort of weird.

You know what? Why do people act so mad about 'stars and politics' when really what they want to say is: 'I hate politically liberal stars!' Just say what you want to say: You're only mad about it because their opinon differs from what you think. Who cares about you NOT CARING, Kent? I like to hear people stick it to the lame government we have right now.
It's better for America than 'telling people to shut up,' like you want.

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So am I the only one who actually enjoyed the ceremony MORE than the past few years' shows?

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Brian: No, you're not the only one. I thought it was a great ceremony, and that Jon Stewart did a great job -- as did everyone I watched with. Reading comments online, I keep thinking I watched a different ceremony than everyone else.

As for the movies themselves -- I saw all five Best Picture nominees and a pretty healthy percentage of the other nominees, and I thought their selections were pretty good. I could quibble on a few points -- Hollywood's general fear of comedies and genre movies continues to annoy me, for example -- but overall I wouldn't have been terribly disappointed by any of the Best Picture nominees winning. I didn't find any of them particularly preachy; all were solidly entertaining, interesting, AND thought-provoking. Maybe my own political opinions come into play here; I won't claim I'm entirely without biases. Still, my gut feeling is that some of these movies -- Brokeback Mountain included -- really will stand the test of time.

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"My gut feeling is that ... Brokeback Mountain ... really will stand the test of time."

Hmm, my guess would be the opposite for one key reason: The only reason that movie got any attention was because of its homosexuality. If that had been a heterosexual love story in the same setting with the same structure, everyone would have yawned and criticized it for being yet another romance about two people whose illicit affair causes them heartache. In terms of its elements, themes, and structure, it was a cut-and-paste job from every other romance in cinematic history.

I think once the fervor and furor over its homosexual theme dies down and another political firebrand comes along, "Brokeback" will become a mere footnote as people realize how overall ordinary (not "bad," just "ordinary") it is.

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