Saturday, October 4, 2008

More to Come

I will sit down and write reviews of Blindness, Choke and Happy-Go-Lucky this week. Off to the supergames...

Also, I've taken (if you haven't noticed) to just placing my Oscar predictions on a sidebar at the edge of the page. More comments to come later. Regarding my best actress predictions, I've finally stopped resisting Kristin Scott Thomas's French language performance in I've Loved You So Long, a performance I've been hearing about for a long time. At this point, the buzz is almost deafening. I put her in over Sally Hawkins, whose performance I've actually seen and loved. But I have a feeling the Academy may take a pass on Hawkins bubbly fare in favor of something heavier. Just a hunch. Speaking of which,

(Note: I am about to do something you will probably never do again: openly call out another Oscar blogger, though I wouldn't say I'm an Oscar blogger perse. I digress...)

Over on Oscar Breach, which is a site I sometimes visit, I was struck by a rather dumb remark on the creator's page. Now, the site is run by a right-leaning Oscar prognosticator, which I initially found refreshing. Not because I'm conservative (quite the opposite), but the idea of a Republican Male who's also obsessed with the Oscars sounds completely bizarre that I had to take a gander. That being said, he's kind of a dumbass (he named Marion Cotillard one of his top five best actresses of the year last year, then stripped her of the prize for her "un-American" remarks. Because how dare a French actress be un-American).

9/30-

"The trailer for I've Loved You So Long can be seen here. Some say Kristen Scott Thomas is a shoo-in for a best actress nomination, but I don't know. It's particularly difficult for foreign-language films to get recognition for their acting, especially when the film isn't that widely acclaimed or released. La Vie En Rose sort of broke that barrier last year, but I doubt it can happen two years in a row."

...Wha? What the hell is he talking about? True, Cotillard winning for her foreign-language performance was somewhat of an anomaly, but she broke no kind of barrier last year when she received a nomination. And two years in a row? I suppose he's forgetting Penelope Cruz in Volver the year before, which he very well may be. Oh, and then there's Catalina Sandino Moreno in Maria Full of Grace... You're right Oscar Breach. It IS a rare occurrence for the AMPAS to pick a foreign language performance to fawn over. Especially in the leading actress category. Especially of late. Except...not. If you're going to have a website whose sole purpose is to write about and analyze the Academy Awards, do yourself a favor and know it, don't blow it. I would be annoyed by such patently false and unsubstantiated "analysis" if I weren't already expecting it from the same guy who named Van Helsing one of his favorite movies from whatever the hell year it came out and wrote comments like these:

"It's strange. Normally I just can't catch onto romantic films. They really are not my genre. However, for some inexplicable reason, this was different. It really got to me, and I actually felt for the characters. It really gave power to an unbreakable, yet unwithstandable bond. Very well done. (note: I am straight)."
-2005, when discussing why Brokeback Mountain was one of his favorite films of the year. Don't you love the little homophobic (Note: I am straight) at the end? Ah, masculine bullshit.

And more recently....

"
The trailer for Milk can be seen here. Looks like some good performances, but is it me or are all the gay characters flaming stereotypes? Is that inoffensively authentic and PC? Maybe the Academy's reaction will tell us."
-2008, when discussing the trailer for Milk. Apparently, he's one of those "I don't like my gay guys TOO gay" kind of people.

I don't know why I'm so disappointed whenever I encounter stupid Conservatives. Why can't I ever seem to remember that Social Conservatism in and of itself requires a certain level of myopic stupidity in the first place?

Peace, Love and Pretension.

2 comments:

rOCK said...

"Don't you love the little homophobic (Note: I am straight) at the end? Ah, masculine bullshit."

How can you use a quote where the person praises a movie with overtly gay themes and then proceed to call said person a homophobe? If he were a homophobe wouldn't he have boycotted the movie, or given it a bad review? While the addendum may have been silly, it is far from homophobic. Your comments display your narrow-mindedness as much as your subjects.

The Pretentious Know it All said...

1. I didn't say he was a homophobe. I said the comment was homophobic.

A Few Definitions of Homophobia:

i. Literally an uncontrollable fear of homosexuals and of homosexuality, but the term is generally used for a negative and contemptuous attitude to same-sex sexual relationships and to those who participate in them.

ii. An aggravated form of heterosexism. Fear of homosexuality.

iii. Fear or paranoia of being perceived as homosexual. This may be a result of internalized homophobia, fear of one's own homosexuality.

2. Obviously, I'm pointing to the third definition. I didn't call him a homophobe. I said the comment was homophobic. Having to provide a qualifier for his liking of "Brokeback Mountain." Why else would he have included it if he weren't worried that readers of the blog would think that his fondness of the film translates as homosexuality, latent or otherwise? Fear of being perceived or thought of as gay is also a form of homophobia.

3. Again, I wasn't calling him a homophobe. But it's kind of absurd to assume that liking "Brokeback Mountain" precludes a person from having feelings of homophobia. Yes, he praised the film. I do believe that the "(Note: I am straight) at the end" is quite literally a homophobic statement, which is why I said "Don't you love the little homophobic (Note: I Am straight) at the end?"