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Tuesday, April 27, 2021

The Oscars bore everyone…

 But who cares.


When I was at Ft Carson CO (Colorado Springs) back in 89-92, the local rock station was KATM, The Kat. Routinely you would hear the catch phrase, “The Kat Rocks Colorado Springs,” or “The Kat Rocks Fort Carson.” Occasionally you’d hear, “The Kat Rocks Kansas. But who cares.” I had to think of that when I stumbled on the fact the Academy Awards were being held on Sunday the 25th

To steal the phrase, The Oscars suck. But who cares. I think the last time I watched the show was during the Billy Crystal years, and that man was entertaining. Hell, Whoopi Goldberg wasn’t bad. Compared to the last few years, David Letterman knocked it out of the park. I didn’t watch it, but to confess, I did check a list of actors, films, etc. Of the actors (lead and supporting), I knew 2 (Sir Anthony Hopkins and Gary Oldman), actresses’ one (Glen Close), and movies…none. 

I’ve said it for ages, Hollywood sucks. I don’t mind paying money for good entertainment, but it has to be entertaining, not leftist lectures about whatever is the flavor of the week. It’s pathetic when thousands of new books are released each year, Hollywood finds time and money to put out one sequel after another, or movie versions of TV shows. Or they don’t see the demand where it is. Even have a critical and financially successfully powerhouse of Braveheart, Met Gibson could not get any studio’s to take his next big project, The Passion of the Christ. He self-produced it, and worldwide it made over 600 million dollars. 

George Lucas said his reason for writing Star Wars was he wanted to produce a movie for a generation growing up without heroes. I watched Star Wars at least eight times (it was .50 cents for a kid to get into the movie back then) because it was, get this, entertaining. I showed my wife some classics she never saw before, such as The Quiet Man (The Duke is always good), CasablancaThe Maltese Falcon, and The Caine Mutiny (Bogie at his finest). They have radical things. An entertaining story, well written script, strong characters, character development during the film. There are reasons, over 50 years after it was released, you still must pay on video services to watch 2001: A Space Odyssey. You can get the lackluster sequel, 2010: The Year We Made Contact, for nothing. 

From this past Saturday’s NY Times, I have to say, I’m in agreement with Maureen Dowd. She makes some excellent points. 

Maureen Dowd

Crushed Dream Factory

Craving escapism from the Oscar contenders that reflect our sad reality.

WASHINGTON — People are talking about the Oscars this year.

Namely, how they won’t be watching. A lot of people don’t even realize the show, once an edge-of-your-seat American institution, is Sunday.

Movie stars don’t exist anymore. Movies have been swallowed by TV and streaming. The theaters are on life support; even the ArcLight on Sunset Boulevard, one of the most beloved movie palaces in a town full of cinephiles, could not be saved.

Norma Desmond’s everlasting declaration — “It’s the pictures that got small!” — has never seemed more true.

Sex, glamour, excitement and mystery are relics of a bygone era. Hollywood is now focused on worthy, relevant, socially conscious and lugubrious…

...Brooks Barnes, a Hollywood reporter for The New York Times, put it this way: “The Oscars forgot about its primary job — to sell Hollywood to the world, to be a big, fat commercial for the dream factory, the kind that makes financiers open their wallets and wannabe actresses get pinwheels in their eyes about the day they might be able to stand on that stage and give their acceptance speech.”

Truer words were never spoken. The entertainment business, is, Hollywood has forgotten, a business. The product/service they sell? Entertainment. Just like sports, etc. And when the people pushing their product spend much time insulting their customers, or their country, they wonder why the rating collapse? See below.

Surveys show that small percentages of people who watch movies have seen, or even heard of, the nominated films. (A whopping 15 percent are even aware of what the hell a “Mank” is.)

…Bill Maher made the point on his show that we could use more escapism in this year of plague and tumult.

“I don’t have to leave the theater whistling, but would it kill you once in a while to make a movie that doesn’t make me want to take a bath with the toaster?” he said, adding: “Academy nominations used to say, ‘Look what great movies we make.’ Now they say, ‘Look what good people we are.’ It’s not about entertainment, it’s about suffering, specifically yours…”  

I rarely agree with Bill Maher, but when he’s right, he hits it out of the park. And don’t worry Bill, the offended class have more to be offended by.

The Oscars Are Facing Backlash After Chadwick Boseman Didn't Win During A "Chaotic" Climax To The Show

"Did the Academy hold Best Actor until the end because they assumed Chadwick Boseman would posthumously win and then he didn't?"

The Academy is facing backlash and being accused of building Sunday night's Oscars ceremony around the late Chadwick Boseman and betting on him to win, only for the end of the show to fall into chaos when Anthony Hopkins won instead...

...When it became apparent that the Best Actor category would be the final award of the night, many thought that this would be an emotional and heartfelt nod to Chadwick Boseman, who was nominated for the first time...

...However, in what looked like a bet gone very wrong, people were left stunned when the award was eventually given to Anthony Hopkins for his role in The Father

Nothing against Mr. Boseman, but I never heard about him until his passing. I know it’s a combination of not enjoying what Hollywood is putting out, and just not caring who Hollywood is putting out. As I approach 60, I’m pretty much set in my ways, I’d rather watch my DVDs of Married with Children or All in the Family than a lecture on how we’re destroying the Earth, how we stole the United States from the Indians (but for some reason the actors will not pay rent to the Indian tribes), while capitalism sucks and socialism is great.

Back when I was in college (Mid-80s), I used to go to the movies 2-3 times a month. One, movies were cheaper then. Two, and more importantly, the movies were better. Now it’s 2-3 times a year (last one I think was A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood). Until movies improve, the product Tinseltown is putting out gets better, Hollywood will get less and less of my money. 

UPDATE:

I'm not the only person who thinks the Academy Awards suck:

Oscar ratings drop to an all-time low with unwatchable show

The Oscars ratings are in, and this year’s ceremony landed with a resounding whimper. 

About 9.85 million viewers tuned in, according to Variety, which is a more than 58% drop from last year’s all-time low of 23.6 million viewers. 2019’s ceremony garnered 29.6 million viewers. The ceremony landed a 1.9 rating for adults in the coveted 18 to 49 age demographic, a 64.2% drop from 2020. 

Despite the dismal viewership, the 2021 Oscars were full of several surprises, shockers and  charming moments... 

Yo, Hollyweird, it's not us. It's you. Get over yourself, and start working your product, not convincing us we are racists, sexists, etc. Other than that, I've got many more choices for entertainment than you.

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