Yesterday was Oscar night. The first since The MacMahonian came into existence. The reason for this post is to inform that this is the last post on Oscar night. The MacMahonian doesn´t do Oscar night. Because the Oscars suck. They consist of the pooled votes of the members of the Academy of American Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, who mostly vote in block to exalt the cheesy/worthy side of American Cinema and/or to prep up the box office of movies doing badly, like if there are 2 films from the same studio running for best film and film A has good box office and film B doesn´t, they all vote for film B to so that it gets an Oscar. It´s like insider trading.
Furthermore: Howard Hawks, Fritz Lang and Raoul Walsh, to name but a few of the very greatest, never won an Oscar nor were they even nominated. Ernst Lubitsch was nominated 3 times and never won (got an honorary one in 1947). Same with David Lynch (but no honorary so far). Martin Scorsese was nominated a staggering 8 times to win only once. Alfred Hitchcock: 5-0(although Rebecca got best film). King Vidor: same. Stanley Kubrick: 4-0. Enough?
No? OK. Some of the greatest duds in film history, from Rocky to Dances with Wolves to The King´s Speech won Oscars for best film. Running, respectively, against Taxi Driver, Goodfellas and Inception. Furthermore:
In 1932, Grand Hotel beat Arrowsmith and Shanghai Express
In 1956, Around the World in 80 Days beat The Ten Commandments
In 1980, Ordinary People beat Raging Bull
If you think the above enunciation of the, er, aesthetic criteria which govern the Oscars is long and fastidious, let me assure you it could go on for much, much longer. And don´t blame me, blame the Academy of friggin´ American Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. OK, The Academy occasionally and probably fortuitously chooses right: regarding best film, 2007 (No Country for Old Men) was the last time their decision wasn’t patently lame.
Plus, some 15-20 years ago, Oscar night gradually stopped being about the movies and started being about Oscar night: an endless show of bad standup, bad music, bad (OK, maybe sometimes good) dancing, bad FX and irksome self-congratulation.
So now you know. I though you should. You won´t read about Oscar in these pages again.
Furthermore: Howard Hawks, Fritz Lang and Raoul Walsh, to name but a few of the very greatest, never won an Oscar nor were they even nominated. Ernst Lubitsch was nominated 3 times and never won (got an honorary one in 1947). Same with David Lynch (but no honorary so far). Martin Scorsese was nominated a staggering 8 times to win only once. Alfred Hitchcock: 5-0(although Rebecca got best film). King Vidor: same. Stanley Kubrick: 4-0. Enough?
No? OK. Some of the greatest duds in film history, from Rocky to Dances with Wolves to The King´s Speech won Oscars for best film. Running, respectively, against Taxi Driver, Goodfellas and Inception. Furthermore:
In 1932, Grand Hotel beat Arrowsmith and Shanghai Express
In 1956, Around the World in 80 Days beat The Ten Commandments
In 1980, Ordinary People beat Raging Bull
If you think the above enunciation of the, er, aesthetic criteria which govern the Oscars is long and fastidious, let me assure you it could go on for much, much longer. And don´t blame me, blame the Academy of friggin´ American Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. OK, The Academy occasionally and probably fortuitously chooses right: regarding best film, 2007 (No Country for Old Men) was the last time their decision wasn’t patently lame.
Plus, some 15-20 years ago, Oscar night gradually stopped being about the movies and started being about Oscar night: an endless show of bad standup, bad music, bad (OK, maybe sometimes good) dancing, bad FX and irksome self-congratulation.
So now you know. I though you should. You won´t read about Oscar in these pages again.