Disclaimer: This topical post ridicules the cinematic taste of the proletariat.
Gmail spamming news headers managed to catch my attention with this tidbit:
Oscars draw record low TV ratings
I figured it was something like a boycott based on writers' strikes. But no, apparently most of the nominated movies this time around were genuinely unpopular as box office items. I was gobsmacked. Well, at least a little surprised.
On the bill this year we had independent lovable but fairly black comedy Juno, the kind of movie I always wish would win Best Picture but never will, up against the big guns of direction The Coen "Kubrick-reference" Brothers and Paul "what 'norm'" Anderson. No Country For Old Men genuinely deserves its 8+ rating on imdb, and though I haven't seen There Will Be Blood, Lord knows I want to. Atonement and its fellow also-rans are a big "whatever" to me, though I'm curious about Michael Clayton. But anyway, there's a genuine three-horse-race of quality cinematic achievement right there.
I don't understand why these three movies (and other European gems like La Mome failed to perform at the box office. Oh wait; yeah I do. People are sheep. I forgot.
I've been iffy about the Oscars for a while (last year's Departed was good, but in the end its just another remake), but the quality of movies (and the justified awards they received) this year really impressed me. Every Oscar season should be this good. This is how movies should be made, ladies and gentlemen. Don't buy that ticket to Saw 5 or Next Friday After Next (or anything with Snoop Dogg or Hillary Duff as a main character), and start getting into the miracle that is foreign and independent cinema. Your soul will thank you.
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