Draw your own conclusions.
As founder of The Warren Report, Warren Etheredge hosts over 250 events every year,
a podcast and television series. The Warren Report promotes "slow culture" through commentary, outreach,
events and education. Our principle: Smarter audiences make a better world!
Every year, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences stages their glitzy award show. The Oscars® aren’t just the culmination of an extremely expensive, industry-wide popularity contest, they are also the bane of my critical existence. Never have so many worked so hard to get so much wrong.
Starting now, my countdown to the Oscars®, an informal analysis of the hype and an enumeration of my gripes… plus a prediction or three. Enjoy… but more importantly, let me know what you think.
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February 19th, 2009 at 12:16 am
my least favourite of the films which have been nominated has got to be ‘revolutionary road’ – it felt like ‘who’s afraid of virginia woolf’ but with less drunkenness & the addition of the crazy son (who stole the entire flick.)
and this from a kate winslet fanatic. ahhh well at least i got to see her in another flick that might gain her her first oscar….
February 19th, 2009 at 10:09 am
HI WARREN! I only have one gripe about the Oscars: 1) I want Slumdog Millionaire to get Best Picture, but a controversy has arisen about how much the slum children did or did not get paid and how does that payment do good in a family that is destitute? This is an important discussion that may actually affect the award. What do you think?
February 19th, 2009 at 10:37 am
Warren, re: “Changeling”–THANK YOU! That cuts 20 minutes of complaining out of our next session. After watching the first half hour of “Changeling” Chad and I decided to turn it into a drinking game–raise your glasses everytime you hear the word ‘son’!!! Needless, to say, I’m not sure how the movie ended.
February 19th, 2009 at 10:47 am
Dear Jenni and Chad,
If you enjoyed that drinking game, might I suggest you try another…. Watch NOT WITHOUT MY DAUGHTER and take a shot every time Sally Field refers to her offspring. You’ll be blotto faster than Danny DeVito in a vat of limoncello.
February 19th, 2009 at 10:52 am
Dear Angela,
Indeed, this is a good question regarding thee ethical implications of filmmaking in such communities. However, need it detract from our appreciation of the art or just our perception of the producers as individuals?
If this topic fascinates you, might I strongly urge you to rent OPERATION FILMMAKER, Nina Davenport’s stunning documentary about Liev Schreiber’s efforts to give a young Iraqi film student a chance to work on the set of EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED. The movie does an outstanding job of plumbing the moral inconsistencies and consequences of Hollywood liberalism.