M. Night Shyamalan had a two-minute-long AmEx ad on the Oscars telecast tonight (watch or download — thanks, Arzan and Sonia). The ad was lots of fun, a riff on Shyamalan’s odd worlds. Manoj Night was all slicked out in necklace, fitted suit and fancy haircut. Ennis Del Mar would approve.
I heard there was a short Ismail Merchant clip in the obituary montage. Sajit adds that Aishwarya Rai’s L’Oreal ad was shown at the end.
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p>Out of the nominees, here are my personal should-have-beens (see also the complete list of winners):
Picture: Munich (winner: Crash)
Director: Steven Spielberg for Munich (winner: Ang Lee for Brokeback Mountain)
Actor: Joaquin Phoenix for Walk the Line (winner: Philip Seymour Hoffman for Capote). It’s a travesty that Reese Witherspoon won her Best Actress award for Walk the Line, while Phoenix, the movie’s heart, was jilted for his dark, intense performance.
Yes, Hoffman disappeared entirely inside that role like a good interper, in a way you rarely see any more. But the faults of the rest of the movie bleed over. Capote was so slow and aggressively anti-stim, so sensory isolationist, it literally almost put me to sleep in the theater, slower than watching paint dry. As Anthony Lane wrote about a different film, it had ‘the touch of mummification which wins awards’ and an elegiac tone that was stultifying.
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p>Crash blindly jabbed your emotional buttons. It was a race drama by the guy who wrote Million Dollar Baby, and about as subtle, i.e. not at all. It felt as pointlessly corrosive as downing a bottle of Tabasco sauce, making it upsetting to sit through, every key character spewing racist invective. It felt like reading Usenet: messy, undirected, didn’t go anywhere. You’ve got my time, now make a point.
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p>The movie was way too pat, like feature columnists in small papers in the ‘burbs. Everyone just happened to bump into everyone else in the L.A. urban sprawl. I’ve seen that narrative structure before, but it wasn’t used well here — it was utterly contrived. The carjackers were like scholars. The Latino dude who lived in a ghetto barely had any accent. If you’re going to deal with race, be accurate. This movie veered into Lifetime schmaltz often, as mawkish as much of Bollywood.
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p>I liked Munich a lot. It felt artistic without being showy — Spielberg played with visual filters and style the entire movie, it felt inventive and deeply personal. The script was pretty subtle for Hollywood, playwright Tony Kushner’s touch.
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p>Host Jon Stewart was strangely slow and restrained, much less entertaining than usual. In years past, Billy Crystal actually had more zing.
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p>Was Ang Lee’s win the first for an Asian-American director? I loved his shout-out in Chinese to his peeps at the end.
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p>Like every year, the technical categories’ acceptance speeches felt more or less real, while all the actors’ speeches struck me as pre-rehearsed and overacted. Much gagging. And aside from Ben Stiller’s green-suit antics and the brilliant, in-jokey Robert Altman parody by Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin, the tone of the entire production was unbelievably sedate and establishment for a profession which is a hothouse of nonconformists. Someone could do well with an alternative, rockin’ Oscars.
Here’s Anna’s liveblog and fashion commentary.
Update: Watch Jon Stewart’s opening monologue.
m. night shyamalan and ang lee rock. i ignored the dummy awards, but wohhoo to those two!
The actual film can be seen online here directly
I’m extremely disappointed that Good Night and Good Luck as well as Paradise Now didn’t win. I thought for sure if they gave Lee the nod for director, that they would split the political/social message with GNGL. I think the look on the Crash people said it quite well – they were as shocked as anyone else.
So Academy, you really had a chance to send a message about current policies and B.S. with GNGL or even Syriana (I unfortunately have not yet seen the latter) but you blew it.
The only saving graces were Stewart’s banter and Clooney’s remarks.
Snooze fest! Jon Stewart was pretty decent but hampered by a very self-involved audience who barely condescended to laugh at his jokes. The montage of “epic films” was full of more recent movies that are anything but at the expense of some of Hollywood’s truly great epics that barely got a mention or were ignored altogether. The montage of departed celebrities elicited barely any response from the audience, proving that they don’t even know many of the people who preceded them or who were even contemporary to them or just didn’t care. The only good thing besides Stewart was the March of the Penguins win. This ceremony and the actors and the movies become blander by the year.
thanks arzan! i was hoping i wouldn’t miss the best part of the whole thing!
oh, and m. night is cute too!
I feel you judged Crash a bitt too harshly just because it beat a movie the you wanted to win. If you didnt get the direction of it all then I guess you are out of the target market for that movie. I believe it apealed to the more errr “Intelligent people” who can follow a complex plot. Munich ia a really good movie I agree but I found crash to be more intriguing.
I think Hollywood is too scared of crazed Zionists to give any big award to Munich. Even supposedly mainstream Zionists like Charles Krauthammer (Washington Post) and anti-Likud Jews like David Brooks (NYTimes) savaged the movie and the movie maker in their op-ed pieces for showing the humanity of the Palestinian terrorists. OMG! next they will make a movie and say the word ‘occupation’.
i’m proud to see that the short doc on Norman Corwin’s life won. I had the pleasure of watching it this weekend and it resonated with me and the entire audience. If you get a chance, watch the movie or listen to Corwin’s poetry and how all of his words regarding World War II mimic our lives now, 60 odd years later.
i’m also proud to see the foreign film Tsotsi win.
The best part of the Oscar show was “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp.” You see, in the Pimp-Ho relationship, it’s clearly the Pimp who has the raw end of that deal.
Classy.
Al M – huh?
Am I alone in thinking that M. Night is really good-looking? 🙂
Nope I think he’s a hottie too…mostly cause of his demeanor and accomplishments. And I had the biggest crush on a guy once who is a dead ringer for him.
I wish they had shown more of the non-black audience member faces during the “It’s hard out here for a pimp” performance =)
I liked “Crash” for the most part, and I can give them the points for trying to make the statement. I did have a small problem with the fact that every character redeemed themself somehow, except for the Asians. That’s kind of uncool.
Catherine Seipp, a regular contributor to National Review, argued that Crash represents Westwood’s take on racial interaction in LA. For the rest of Angelenos, most interactions are far more ordinary.
Segregated Screenwriters
“Even from the vantage point of the particularly bland bedroom community I grew up in decades ago — a period when southern California was far whiter than it is now — my family, who managed rental real estate, had regular interactions with Japanese shopkeepers, Mexican contractors, black insurance salesmen, Cambodian apartment managers, Korean roofers, and tenants of all stripes. These encounters were usually friendly, even when my dad drove up to Watts one day in 1966 to collect rent for my grandparents — before realizing this was Day One of what turned out to be the famous riots.”
So, that song didn’t bother any of the women who post regularly here? I didn’t see Hustle and Flow: how were the women depicted? Was there any sympathy for their plight? Why should I care about some guy, a grown man capable of making all kinds of choices, who is a pimp, hates it, and wants to get out of it. I’m sure there were other jobs he could do: they just wouldn’t give him the high life he wanted. Am I wrong? Does the movie have any redeeming qualities?
Oh, and note to Clooney – making a movie about McCarthyism 50 years after the fact is not bravery. I eagerly await his timely take on the Teapot Dome scandal.
Oh, and note to Clooney – making a movie about McCarthyism 50 years after the fact is not bravery. I eagerly await his timely take on the Teapot Dome scandal.
In the current political climate, when the ability of the press to hold the government accountable is under attack, the movie was timely if not brave. I guess real bravery is when minority self loathing right wingers write books defending the internment of other minorities 50 years after the fact.
MD personally I don’t listen to any music that has insulting lyrics towards women and disrespect in general. I find it grates more at me than other music and perhaps more as I get older. I didn’t watch the movie because it isn’t interesting nor relatable subject matter for me so I can’t comment on it but I thought that acceptance speech was horrendous. What the hell was that? And like you I’m ruthless, I have no sympathy for those that make wrong choices. Whatever.
I did have a small problem with the fact that every character redeemed themself somehow, except for the Asians. That’s kind of uncool.
Asians (east asians, south asians and arabs/west asians) are the only group left in America who can be ridiculed for being asian with no consequences.
MD: I thought Hustle & Flow was a good film, it didn’t offend me because it wasn’t personal. Not in the ‘Crash’ sense. H & F tells a story of a man’s life, he just happens to be a pimp. It does nothing to either actively propagate or tear apart the lifestyle. A judgement of right or wrong, good or bad, is not delivered and you end up having to make up your own mind. I think this ‘tell it like it is’ style of story and dialogue makes the movie work.
The song only works because it is a part of the movie, it was actually performed by said pimp and a pregnant prostitute during a particularly uplifting scene. Hard to believe but I’d say give it a shot.
why?
Al Mujahid: great comments on this thread – both about “Malicious Malkin” and about Asians being ridiculed for being Asian.
Neha: Good point – I saw H & F and dug it, though I was very skeptical that prostitution was the starting point. But I felt like it was more real than a lot of the films out there that glorify sex work/pimping, because I don’t think that it was overly romanticized. But it would be good to hear from other women, who’ve actually seen the movie.
Thendi: Go join the GOP/RSS – they love your kind. Trolls.
in case they multiply?
/goes away shaking head.
MD: Hustle and Flow is actually pretty good. (And 3-6 Mafia were TOTALLY HILARIOUS when they won the Oscar. Could they have been any drunker?) I think when you attach the word “pimp” to something it conjures up images of Snoop Dogg with some wicked curl and a long fur coat, but the reality of it as shown in the movie is very unglamorous and not fun at all for anyone involved (least of all the prostitutes, but no one was trying to say it was easy for them). The point of the movie wasn’t about pimping though, it was about having a dream and following it. Terence Howard is amazing, too. He’s a guitar-playing lover of John Mayer in real life. I saw this special on HBO where 3-6 Mafia had to teach him how to rap, it was hilarious.
Manish: Munich? Really? I usually find myself agreeing with your critiques (especially about Crash) but Steven Spielberg does not know how to handle sex. Did anyone else find that to be the case? It was a little awkward.
Fair enough Rupa and Neha, but why didn’t he just get another job? Was that the only thing he could do? He was so deprived he had no other choices available to him? If he was so unhappy, why didn’t he do something else? I know men who would rather go hungry than treat a woman that way, and they ain’t all from the upper or middle class. I’ll watch it (maybe, if I remember to add it to the list), but I am still unconvinced by the remarks. And if it was about following a dream, why pick a pimp?
Oh, I don’t know why it bothered me so much – if I can watch Russell Crowe do his turn as an Australian skinhead, I suppose I can watch a pimp-as-protagonist. Why pick this guy to do a movie about is beyond me, but, whatever.
Steven Spielberg does not know how to handle sex. Did anyone else find that to be the case?
Yup. Munich was a great film but what the hell was Spielberg thinking with that sex scene towards the end?! It was so amateurish and jarring. Ang Lee deserved the Oscar over Spielberg – Brokeback wasn’t as self-indulgent a film as Munich
“I didn’t watch the movie because it isn’t interesting nor relatable subject matter for me so I can’t comment on it but I thought that acceptance speech was horrendous. What the hell was that?”
i’m not trying to start a war here … but i don’t know how you can say a movie is/isn’t interesting w/o watching it… and i don’t understand all the hate on this movie b/c of its subject matter…are people really not watching this movie b/c they feel it degrades women? (i’m not trying to be sarcastic)…i just think that this really limits your experience at the movies….are you just as offended at movies which portray women as the token weak/stupid characters and avoid them as well (though this maybe harder to do)?
i really liked this movie…and i thought the performance/speech by three 6 mafia (along w/ the actress from the movie) was a highlight of an otherwise by the books ceremony…they actually seemed surprised and elated that they won…
Ang Lee definitely deserved that award. A Chinese dude making a movie about gay cowboys in 1960s Wyoming. He was definitely waaaaaaay outside his comfort zone on that one.
The sex scene at the end of Munich owes more to Tony Kushner’s heterophobia than to Spielberg.
MD: SF Gate reviewed Hustle and Flow, and I think they touch upon the main points of what makes the film good. It was screened at Sundance Film Festival and people absolutely loved it.
I didn’t watch the Oscars.
The only thing I feared missing was Jon Stewart. You can watch a long clip of his monologue here.
Up to his high standard of humour and political commentary: http://www.onegoodmove.org/1gm/
Nope I think he’s a hottie too…mostly cause of his demeanor and accomplishments. And I had the biggest crush on a guy once who is a dead ringer for him.
OMG…..most definately NOT alone. he’s got a baby face, and sweet eyes. something about him screams gentleman. he’s very cute. (note to monty, rabbi, waris..i’ve not givene up on you! i’m just thinking outside the dhari 😉 )
and why is the foreign films always seem best…
Speaking of heterophobia, Ross Douthat had a really interesting take on Brokeback Mountain (this is from when he was guest blogging at andrewsullivan):
No hate Rani. For me I watch films that look interesting to me and I feel have the ability to move me. I didn’t see Brokeback Mountain either. Seriously. I feel like the non-iPod using crowd, people look at me like I have 12 heads. I didn’t find either subject material something worth me wanting to see it also I’d read BBM earlier. I didn’t not see it because of the women angle.
I thought the speech was just hilarious. I didn’t understand a word. They are allowed to be overjoyed and happy. I just disliked the acceptance. There have been more articulate actors in the past who sounded like total idiots when they won awards as well. (I hate to have to throw this disclaimer in just so I don’t sound like a racist bitch…I really really do.)
janeofalltrades:
sorry, maybe i misunderstood your previous comments…
but i’m just trying to say that though a movie may have misogynistic themes wouldn’t categorize it as a movie that i avoid …a movie is a movie…its hard to define what makes a good movie…but i wouldn’t say its bad/do-not-see based on the personality/views of its characters…sorry for blabbering..
my 2 cents: brokeback was robbed for best picture…
manish, you were rooting for munich? come, on 🙂
PattieKaur – Is there any man you don’t find attractive or cute?
“In the current political climate, when the ability of the press to hold the government accountable is under attack, the movie was timely if not brave.”
Yeah – cause every time I turn on the news or read the newspaper, I keep reading how awesome Bush is. The praise that the media give him for his handling of Iraq, Katrina, the deficit – it’s a model of restraint. And that Fahrenheit 9/11 tanked at the box office.
As for Clooney, Good Night, and Good Luck seems to overlook the major fact that McCarthyÂ’s downfall had more to do with his idiotic attempt to take on the Army, and causing Eisenhower pulling out the rug from under him. And Syriana give us a modernizing Muslim leader who is assassinated by the U.S. Has anyone shown this film to Hamid Karzai yet? Maybe he should trade in his American bodyguards for more trustyworhy ones from the ummah?
Rani, I’m not hating on anything. I said I would give the movie a chance. If Shakespeare can write Othello……except that feeling sympathy even with Othello bothers me. How dare you make me feel sympathy with that? And yet, it’s art that makes us see the humanity in characters that are less than savory. And, I’m a huge fan of tell it like it is film-making. You know, I have a sneaking suspicion I’ll like the movie. But I didn’t know a thing about the movie, looked up the lyrics to the song, and, well, hated them. I suppose in the context of the movie they have meaning, but they seem so flat on the page, just like any other rap song that happens to denigrate women. And I’m not of the left, and I couldn’t care less about political correctness, and the artist should be free to explore what he or she wants. But why, oh why, oh why, are so many female characters in movies prostitutes – from Closer to this film? My next door neighbor is African American, has health related disabilities and used to pick tobacco in the fields to feed her kids! She’s a hero to me, she’s gentle and loving and giving. She’s very like my mother, who is another woman deserving of every love and respect. I have no idea what I’m trying to say. I am deeply ambivalent – I see the merit in the film as you discuss, and I also feel tremendous sadness. It’s not hate. It’s complete and utter ambivalence.
forget m. night shyamalan…no one noticed my l’oreal ad?
A history of Violence should have been nominated for the best movie
aishwarya, even I’m not jumping out of my seat anymore when I see your loreal ad .. and hey, i’m obsessed with you =)
You know, Sholay could be interpreted as a little “Brokeback Hillstation”-ish…..Two guys closer to each other than to anyone else, their women in the film relegated to background roles, lots of denim shirts and cowboy-like action, some cuddling and crying at the end (yes I know one of ’em was dying at the time, dammit)…..
Okay I’m just kidding, don’t start accusing me of Bollywood blasphemy and placing bounties for 51 crore rupees on my head.
However, speaking of Bolly Brokeback action, I remember another 70s (early 80s ?) film starring Amitabh, this one with Shashi Kapoor. I can’t remember the name of the movie, but it had a sniggering shower scene with these two where they’re discussing how they’ve been taking baths together since they were kids, and it even included some “don’t drop the soap” jokes. It was only when I saw the film again a couple of years ago (like most people I’d originally seen it as a kid) that the dubious gay overtones of the scene became clear to me. Ah, the innocent of childhood…..or, more probably, a typically-sheltered desi upbringing 😉
Yeah sorry Ash I’m so not into the ad anymore either though every day when I walk into the building your poster greets me with those eyes and I secretly smile thinking “Props to brown people”. But then again you also don’t really look brown. And there is no way those lashes on you in the ad are real. Also that two step is the worst two step mascara ever. You can’t get beyond the clumping first step. But you do look great 🙂
I was thinking of moving to Canada if Crash didn’t win the vote…
M. Nam
MD,
Well, that’s really the point of the whole movie, he does want to do something else, the entire plot revolves around his existing household, which consists of 3 prostitutes and an unborn child, and his desire to do something better for himself and for the others. This flick is hardly a clear representation of reality, pimps don’t give a shit about who they’re tricking in the real world. That said, it is a hopeful representation of a group of people making an effort to do better for themselves. Now go rent it before I ruin the entire plot 🙂
sorry #47, I started scowling at your ad after I shelled out $12 (plus 9% in NYC sales taxes) to find that the so-called Revolutionary brush in the second step of your mascara is about as precise and graceful an applicator as a paint-roller. You scammed me, ho.
Where’s ANNA? I need a good rec on a 2-step 🙂
..but it had a sniggering shower scene with these two where they’re discussing how they’ve been taking baths together since they were kids, and it even included some “don’t drop the soap” jokes.
Silsila?
47 being a reference to Ash’s rank, not to Neha’s comment 🙂