"I haven't seen white people this mad since they canceled M.A.S.H."

[ayrdaomei]

I was planning on taking an LJ break this week, but glancing over my f-list really quickly this morning, I rather felt compelled to raise my hand and say that, for my part, my heart swelled to hear Crash had won.

Having come out a while ago, I didn't think its chances were all that good, so I had my fingers crossed for Munich to upset BBM - which, for the record, while y'all know I didn't care for it, I didn't think it completely sucked or was entirely worthless. Just not anywhere near the best movie I'd seen all year, let alone the best movie among the films nominated (and I never even saw Capote and GN&GL). Crash wasn't a perfect movie, but emotionally, I found it a lot more...ambitious? effective? I'm pretty sure I ran the gamut of emotions watching it, and I walked out of it not sure what I felt or thought, not just about the movie itself, but about who I was as a person. Which, actually, now that I think about it, is also how I felt walking out of Munich. So I guess I have a soft spot for films that try to push me, as opposed to simply play out in front of me. I was probably more engaged during single scenes of Munich or Crash than I was during the entirety of Brokeback Mountain.

If I had a larger f-list, I'd be interested to do a poll and see the breakdown on reaction to the best picture win ([Bad username or site: _____faith / @ livejournal.com] jokingly suggested in [Bad username or site: lisabird / @ livejournal.com]'s journal that love of Crash was "an ethnic thing"), but I don't, so I guess there's not much point. It did win its share of awards in the past year (though by and large, it had been the cast that was recognized, I think), so I'm guessing while it seems a certain way in this corner of LJ, it's hardly the case. Anyway, I'll just be glad a movie I was truly excited about won.


-- Jon Stewart wasn't enough to get me to watch the Oscars live, but I skimmed the show this morning (I DVR'd it), and he was quite funny. Yay Jon.
-- LOL @ Three Six Mafia actually winning for It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp. Does that top Marisa Tomei?
-- Yay for Clooney and lol at his "Alright, so I'm not winning director..." Every year someone gives a variation on the "you can't compare performances" theme, and yet the Academy keeps doing it. FUNNY THAT :-P
-- Reese was the best part of Walk The Line; that was a solid win.
-- Didn't see either Capote or The Constant Gardener, so I can't speak to either of those wins, but I generally like Hoffman and Weisz, so I suppose I'm glad.
-- Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit for best animated feature, which I think makes this the third or fourth of these W&G films to win an Oscar? I remember seeing that with Ambrose (by accident :-P I'd gotten the theatres confused) and both of us being entirely surprised at how wink-wink-nudge-nudge it was, you know, for a G rated film. Those cheeky English.
-- I had no idea Fayard Nicholas of the Nicholas Brothers had passed away!
-- Did I blink and miss them, or were Jimmy Doohan, John Spencer, and Andreas Katsulas not mentioned in the Salute Our Honored Dead tribute? All three had done work in film, wtf. I'm disappointed they were omitted.
-- But I did appreciate the round of applause for Vincent Schiavelli. Every time I step on a subway, I still half-expect to see him, btw.
-- My favorite part of the show was the medley of original score tracks. That was very excellent and made me want to go buy them right away. I definitely need to get Memoirs of a Geisha and Munich, at least. I'd forgotten how much I loved the score to Geisha.

Moving on: all new Prison Break in just two weeks! I'm excited. Let's hope I get to watch it. I have absolutely no idea how Michael's gonna get them out, and I love that. Oh, and tonight, a special X-3 preview during 24 I hear.

Smallville fans: the third season is priced at $25 at BJ's Wholesale Club. Which kind of pisses me off since I paid $45 for my set. but I very much thought Shattered, Asylum, and Memoria were worth it at the time, so no use crying over spilt milk, I guess. I also saw the first season of Teen Titans for $14.

Supernatural fans: [Bad username or site: wickedgoddess_ / @ livejournal.com] posts about the SPN panel at the Paley Festival here, and links to some good indepth reports from others here.

Mets and Indians on ESPN at 1pm EST today ^_^ Watched most of the PR/Mets game yesterday; good times. Oh, and speaking of - I had no idea Pedro had gotten married! That's...weird. I don't know why, but it is. It was a decent game, but the Mets were depleted so it was only so much fun to watch. I kept watching the DR/Astros score, though - looks like that one was a lot of fun. Wish it had been on ESPNAlternate, or something.

Comments

[tinkelo.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen Crash but since so many people (including my brother at home) talked about it very highly, I was kind of expecting it might take the best picture Oscar. :) I really need to see it now. =P

Yay for Clooney and lol at his "Alright, so I'm not winning director..."
Reese was the best part of Walk The Line; that was a solid win.

I'm so very much agreeing with these. ;)

I take it you've seen Memoirs of a Geisha? How was it? I'm only asking cause I've got this school thing on the same night I have tickets to it (for free) and I have to go to the school thing. But I'm actually interested to see it, so I'm considering going anyway later but as a paying customer. ;)

[ayrdaomei.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen Crash but since so many people (including my brother at home) talked about it very highly, I was kind of expecting it might take the best picture Oscar. :)

Cool ^_^ I'm glad to hear that. There was a ton of buzz about Crash here in the beginning of 2005 I think, but I felt like it had kind of gotten trampled under the BBM hype machine in the past month or so, so I really wasn't giving it much of a shot to win at all. I'm pretty glad I was wrong :-P

I take it you've seen Memoirs of a Geisha? How was it?

Um. I liked it, for the most part. It's visually gorgeous and the score is haunting and beautiful. The acting is good. My only thing was that I wasn't crazy about the main character, at least in certain parts. I found it hard to be invested in what was happening to her sometimes. But I wasn't mad I'd spent the money to see it, and the movie made me want to read the book - I got the feeling the movie was mostly surface stuff, and it didn't really get into the meat of the story. As long as it doesn't cost you an arm and a fortune, I suppose I would recommend it.

[tinkelo.livejournal.com]

the movie made me want to read the book - I got the feeling the movie was mostly surface stuff, and it didn't really get into the meat of the story

I've been eyeing the book in the book store everytime I go there. Just haven't had any free time to pick it up and read. =/

As long as it doesn't cost you an arm and a fortune, I suppose I would recommend it.

*lol* Not an arm or a leg. Maybe just skipping lunch at campus for two or three days at the most. =P

[ayrdaomei.livejournal.com]

I've been eyeing the book in the book store everytime I go there. Just haven't had any free time to pick it up and read. =/

A friend of mine loaned me her copy about two days after I saw the movie...which was about a month ago? >.> I still haven't read it. I hope to get through it this week.

*lol* Not an arm or a leg.

Oh, wow. See, that's my brain acting up again. My brain couldn't decide if it wanted to say "cost you a fortune" or "cost you an arm and a leg" so my fingers said FINE, WE'LL JUST SAY BOTH :-P

[tinkelo.livejournal.com]

so my fingers said FINE, WE'LL JUST SAY BOTH :-P

Well, it works like that too! ;)

[poisonavery.livejournal.com]

I bet Mike and Brian watched the Oscars together.

[ayrdaomei.livejournal.com]

lol, I bet you $5 they didn't. They don't seem like the type. They probably rented something.

[rickenbacker.livejournal.com]

For my part, the only Best Picture nom I'd seen was Crash (which I loved). My favourite movies are the ones that inspire. Doesn't necessarily have to get me asking questions, but it does have to get me coming out with a renewed passion for life.

Watched most of the PR/Mets game yesterday; good times.

I planned my day around it and then something came up, thanks to my little sister, and I had to go shopping for pet food (which took 3 hours, since I live in the boonies). I don't get WGN so that was gonna be my first game of the year seeing major leaguers. Wondrously, little sis is still alive. I even managed not to yell.

Debating whether to rush home from work Tues and/or Wed and catch the end of some of the WBC games ... but that would mean I'd be visiting my pets in the dark. So I probably won't.

[ayrdaomei.livejournal.com]

For my part, the only Best Picture nom I'd seen was Crash (which I loved).

Yay!

I planned my day around it and then something came up, thanks to my little sister. . . . Wondrously, little sis is still alive. I even managed not to yell.

Impressive. I salute your restraint. I almost killed my mom on Saturday, because I'd wanted to catch some games online and she had me running all over Creation.

Debating whether to rush home from work Tues and/or Wed and catch the end of some of the WBC games ... but that would mean I'd be visiting my pets in the dark. So I probably won't.

Awww. I think the US game on Tuesday is an afternoon start; no chance of catching any part of that?

[kmousie.livejournal.com]

Did I blink and miss them, or were Jimmy Doohan, John Spencer, and Andreas Katsulas not mentioned in the Salute Our Honored Dead tribute?

If you blinked and missed them, then I did too. :-/

My favorite part of the show was the medley of original score tracks. That was very excellent and made me want to go buy them right away.

That was awesome. And I'm so glad Gustavo Santaolalla won...not because it gave BBM another award, but because he works with Juanes all the time, so yay for that. And he's from Argentina. Argentina was very good to me while I lived there, so it's nice to see good things happen for its people.

[ayrdaomei.livejournal.com]

Cool ^_^ I skipped ahead after the performance, so I didn't see who won there.

(Dude, I didn't know you lived in Argentina!)

[kmousie.livejournal.com]

(Dude, I didn't know you lived in Argentina!)

Yep. :-) I spent my junior spring there. It was an interesting time to be in the country...before we arrived, the Minister of Economy had changed three times in two weeks. So, not so much with the stability. I was pickpocketed while I was there, and my host family and friends felt so bad about it (when actually, it's fairly common in any big city).

I had a great time. To meet some of the local kids, one of my classmates and I joined the University Chorus. We did a concert that President de la Rua attended, so that was super-cool. Plus, the food was awesome...empanadas and dulce de leche are LOVE. Seriously. The music and art were out of this world as well.

I've got some interesting observations on race and ethnicity within Buenos Aires and outside it, but perhaps those are better suited to an email...when I'm not at work. ;-)

[caruso.livejournal.com]

you should see some of the reactions on various bbm message boards and communities. it's HIL-ARI-OUS. one person was like "i was in tears!" and someone else posted a link to the academy's feedback page, and urged people to complain. i was like, "people, people. please. don't get your panties in a wad. so it didn't win best picture. doesn't it matter that a ton of people are watching it, instead of dismissing it as a niche film?" but noooo, people are crying in their spilled milk.

okay i think i mixed metaphors, oh well! haha.

[ayrdaomei.livejournal.com]

**laughs** I don't think you did. Though now I'm amused at the thought of people crying into their wadded panties...

I suppose I can kind of understand why people who actually liked BBM are upset, because it killed at award shows leading up to this. But yeah, writing to the Academy to complain about the choice of the voters? A bit ridiculous, kids. **rolls eyes**

[scornedsaint.livejournal.com]

I watched the Oscars live with my siter...honestly, I was more surprised about the win for "It's Hard out Here for a Pimp" than Crash

[ayrdaomei.livejournal.com]

**laughs** Yeah, I never saw It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp having any serious shot at best song. I'm convinced that what happened was people voted for it as a joke, being amused by the title of the song, and enough people did that for it to actually win.

[teenagewildlife.livejournal.com]

i wasn't surprised that crash got best picture, probably because i haven't seen a single one of the movies nominated for any oscar this year. a couple of weeks ago, i thought about renting crash, but i rented wedding crashers instead XD my curiosity wanted me to go see brokeback mountain but ultimately, my bank account won.

so i guess i play the rental queue waiting game now. which kind of sucks. though i always seem to be a step out of touch with everything that's all the rage and i think i like it that way =p any personal recommendations for when i have my choice of best picture nominees to choose from at blockbuster?

[ayrdaomei.livejournal.com]

**laughs** What did you think of Wedding Crashers? Heard a lot about it, because it was filmed on Maryland's Eastern Shore. My dad wants to see it for some random reason.

I very much recommend Crash, which has the added bonus of being the only one of the best picture films on dvd already (and it's been out long enough that it's on sale this week for $10 at Circuit City, I think). GN & GL will be out next week, and Capote after that, and I haven't seen either of them. Munich and BBM aren't even slotted for release yet.

If you're planning to wait until everything's available, my personal recommendation is Crash first, Munich second. I was really, really underwhelmed by Brokeback Mountain, so for what it's worth, I'd next recommend the two flicks I haven't seen over it :-P

I do have plans to see both Capote and GN & GL when they come out on dvd, so I can give you a more informed rec sometime in April ^_~

[katiebabe46.livejournal.com]

I'm with you all the way on Crash. It definately deserved to win. There are so many other movies I need to see now! Constant Gardner, Walk the Line, Munich... ha, maybe i'm in no position to compare movies since i only saw like 3 or 4 of them : ) But... i did watch Hustle and Flow last week, and there's sooo a better song in there! I mean, the main character wasn't exactly a hero, but he was complicated in a way that song doesn't capture -- esp if you don't hear it in the context of the movie. Why that one?? oy : ) And, the more Jon Stewart in one's life, the better, I say.