Writing too much about Oscars
"There is also a growing tension between critics -- who take film seriously as art and are increasingly scornful of the vituperative blog culture -- and Oscar pundits, who with their wacky statistical analysis come off more like breathless racetrack tipsters than film admirers. The root of all this evil, of course, is that everyone writes entirely too much about the Oscars (my newspaper included). With all those special issues and Oscar blogs to fill, the occasional astute observations are drowned out by the 24/7 blather." -- from a 12.18 Patrick Goldstein "Big Picture" column that I should have acknowledged earlier.
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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on December 23, 2007 at 6:39 PM
comment #1
christian
says ...
He's right.
Posted by christian
at December 23, 2007 7:00 PM
comment #2
dangovich
says ...
Yes.
The only thing dopier than the Oscars is Oscar forecasting.
Posted by dangovich
at December 23, 2007 7:21 PM
comment #3
JaySmire
says ...
Yes infernal Oscar balloon.
Posted by JaySmire
at December 23, 2007 7:24 PM
comment #4
incomplet
says ...
I just don't get the obsession with awards, period. Why such a rabid need to have our tastes (or their work) validated so?
Posted by incomplet
at December 23, 2007 7:29 PM
comment #5
thevisceral
says ...
So who you picking for Best Picture?
Posted by thevisceral
at December 23, 2007 7:33 PM
comment #6
Spicer
says ...
Why does anybody give a shit about these awards? I know this is a cliche, but why would anybody create a subjective competition involving works of art? In sports individuals or teams can compete against each other to see who's best. All this speculation about who should win or who will be nominate or win is useless. How often are great works of art overlooked in the present only to be appreciated so much more over time. Factoring in the modern day practice of huge sums of money being spent to advertise certain films, even an honest attempt to award quality work is lost. Here is my solution: scrap the award shows' formats. Why nominate 5 in a category and then award one winner? And why would anybody not directly involved in the industry care at all?
Posted by Spicer
at December 23, 2007 7:37 PM
comment #7
Gaydos
says ...
The hysterical thing about this column is that he decries all the prognosticating...and then goes on to prognosticate. Read it if you think I'm kidding. Bizarre.
Posted by Gaydos
at December 23, 2007 9:32 PM
comment #8
T. S. Idiot
says ...
Some of us love movies because of aesthetics. Oscar voters love emotionalism, sentimentality, and their bizarre sense of setting things right. The only thing crazier than the Oscars is being obsessed by the Oscars.
Posted by T. S. Idiot
at December 24, 2007 3:21 AM
comment #9
EDouglas
says ...
Growing tension? I don't think any one of the groups really cares about the other but it's nice for Patrick Goldstein, clearly the most self-loathing person working in the industry, to try to create some sort of situation. Sure, not all critics have respect for sites like Gold Derby and Awards Daily, but there are clearly a lot of critics getting involved in the Oscar prediction race whether it's in their papers or on their newly set-up blogs, so for any writer who posts on a blog to attack anyone else who blogs is completely hypocritical, especially Goldstein who seems to get on one of these anti-blogger campaigns twice a year.
Wow, I'd love to be a fly on the wall of the L.A. Times newsroom as it must be the cliquiest group of misanthropes ever put in the same office space.
Posted by EDouglas
at December 24, 2007 5:33 AM
comment #10
Gaydos
says ...
T.S. Idiot: Would you mind if I copyright your phrase and use it to sign off every missive here???
"The only thing crazier than the Oscars is being obsessed by the Oscars."
You said it!!!!!!!!!!
FYI: Does anyone here remember the true story that Dyan Cannon recounted in her divorce from Cary Grant? Hint: It was his behavior while watching the Oscars at home on his TV.
Posted by Gaydos
at December 24, 2007 1:02 PM
comment #11
T. S. Idiot
says ...
Copyright hereby and thenceforth and so on to Gaydos.
Cary Grant was obsessed by the Oscars because he never won one. He blamed this slight on his irritating the studios by daring to become an independent long before such was the excepted practice and on having extreme difficulty getting his percentages of his movies.
The fact that the greatest movie star ever never won an Oscar and was nominated only for two of his worst films tells us a lot.
Posted by T. S. Idiot
at December 24, 2007 5:14 PM
comment #12
Gaydos
says ...
Actually, and one of our experts can correct me if I'm mistaken, Cary was on acid, running and jumping around the living room, laughing hysterically and pointing at the TV screen showing at the Oscar telecast, shouting, "LOOK AT THEM!!! THEY'RE ALL CRAZY!!!! THEY'RE ALL CRAZY!!" I believe it's on the record from the divorce hearings...
Posted by Gaydos
at December 24, 2007 8:32 PM