The real fun of the Oscars isn’t the cut-throat competition for the little gold naked man but guessing who will make the biggest idiot of himself. 

The Academy Awards show has a fine tradition of pampered celebrities popping off with something stupid when they hit the stage.  It must be something about TV cameras and the opportunity to make damn fools of themselves before tens of millions of people around the world that the Hollywoodoids find irresistible.  Notice how you never hear any fallout from the “technical awards” ceremony?  You know, the non televised ceremony recognizing the boring technological stuff that actually makes movies possible that is usually held at the Beverly Hills Elks Lodge with hosts Steve Guttenberg, Charo and/or one of the lesser Sweathogs.

Some of the past magic moments are legendary.  Remember back in 1993, when Tim Robbins and his then-gal pal, tranny vomit insanity enthusiast Susan Sarandon, harangued the crowd about the detention of Haitian refugees?  Of course, right after that these stars led the way by opening up the grounds of their mansion to these huddled Haitian masses.

Roberto Benigni engaged in memorably tiresome antics after winning “Best Foreign Language Film of 1997” for the Worst Film of All Time, the insanely appalling Life Is Beautiful.  Life has certainly aged well, and Benigni’s shtick has only gotten fresher, contributing to the runaway freight train of success that his career has become since then. (more…)

Sapphire, the author of Push, spoke at my college, Claremont McKenna on February 8. Her book was made into the movie, Precious – which is now a serious contender for the Oscars.

The question and answer period quickly descended into the kind of self-flagellation that white liberals and modern academia have come to demand whenever we discuss the issue of race in America. It’s important to fact check these types of speakers because they allow so much misinformation and disharmony into our culture.

Ask yourself: Why is an author of a book designed to empower black people so wrong about their accomplishments and history? Could it be that she is profiting off of showing a slanted view? I took a detailed recording of Sapphire’s talk, so that it could appropriately discusses and ultimately rebutted, if necessary. Among several of the ridiculous things that Sapphire blamed on the white man was the disintegration of the black family from slavery, but in reality, slaves actually had stronger marriages than Sapphire would have us believe: (more…)

“I don’t blame nobody.  I just want to say when I was twelve, TWELVE, somebody hadda help me it not be like it is now…. Why no one put Carl in jail after I have baby by him when I am twelve?”  — From “Precious,” Based on the Novel “Push,” by Sapphire.

From ABC’s 20/20 segment on “The Blind Side”:

Deborah Roberts: There are some black people who feel a little uneasy about the notion of the wealthy white family comes in to help the poor black kid…

Michael Oher:  I don’t understand why people would feel that way because as long as somebody’s, uh, somebody’s helping somebody and taking, you know, somebody off the streets,  I don’t care, you know, black or white, that shouldn’t be a problem.

(more…)

Last night, the 67th Golden Globes Awards were given out by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA). According to the HFPA mission statement, one of the goals of the organization is to “recognize outstanding achievements by conferring annual Awards of Merit, serving as a constant incentive within the entertainment industry, both domestic and foreign, and to focus wide public attention upon the best in motion pictures and television…”

At the beginning of the show, the Globes did just that but there were other times (including the conclusion of the program) when undeserving victors beat out more worthy competition.

The awards show cast a new light on two deserving performers who were not well-known for their strong acting abilities. First, in what I thought was the highlight of the night,  Mo’Nique won the award for “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role” for ”Precious.” She was given the first award of the night and gave a wonderful speech. In her brilliant performance, the comedienne portrayed a selfish and cold woman who abuses and enables the abuse of her own daughter. At the Globes, Mo’Nique started her speech by thanking God for “the amazing ride.” Later she spoke of all the “Preciouses” and about speaking up about abuse. It was a classy moment. (more…)

I’ve been a member of The Screen Actors Guild for almost thirty years. They spend my dues on politically correct crap I don’t agree with and to my knowledge have never supported a political candidate for whom I would vote. A lot of the better known members scream for a government takeover of health care but do not pressure the union to adopt a policy which would allow actors who work less to still have access to the union plan. At the same time, thousands of paid-up members continue to chip in with their dues to support richer members’ benefits. Exactly the opposite of what they would like the government to do.

A lot of my slack jawed knuckle-dragging conservative friends ask me why I remain a member. If I ever want to work in film or television again I have to be a member. The “art” of  television and film-making is a closed shop. I do get a really cool card to carry around in my wallet and I get to vote on the SAG Awards every year. Getting to vote on the SAG Awards has a great perk; I get screener copies of a number of the nominated movies. I got “Up in the Air” and “Precious” today. Most of them are films I would never pay $12 to see in a theater. I usually see a lot of  the nominated films during downtime on ships or airplanes.  For example, I recently saw “Inglourious Basterds” on a plane. I thought the first scene was compelling and then the movie disintegrated into mess which couldn’t decide if it was a farce or a Sam Peckinpah homage. (more…)

Spoilerific means there are spoilers. I hope that’s clear, because now that these films have been out for a while it seems safer to give away more information regarding plot and go into greater detail as to what’s so terribly wrong with them. In the case of “Precious” and “Up in the Air” there was more I wanted to say in the initial review and didn’t. With “Avatar” I just want to address the “Dances With Wolves” comparisons.

Avatar vs. Dances With Wolves

Comparing Kevin Costner’s elegant and moving Oscar-winning Western to the junk that is “Avatar” is unfair. There are similarities in the messaging, but when it comes to the execution and storytelling – the only thing that counts — the juvenile “Avatar” is a Scooby-Doo episode compared to “Wolves.”

In the first twenty-minutes (heck, in the trailer), the ham-fisted James Cameron telegraphs every plot point, character arc and moment, right down to the natives’ trendy spiritualism and insufferable sanctimony, all the way through to the protagonist’s eventual decision to turn on his own people and fight for his nobly dull new friends. The climax of “Titanic” is more surprising than ”Avatar,” and there are drivers-ed films with more humor.  (more…)

A few solid performances are not enough to overcome a story that can only be described as porn for people who confuse wallowing in depravity with some kind of important existential statement about life, or worse, art. There’s no point to “Precious.” There might have been, but then from out of nowhere this brutally unsentimental drama serves up one last turning point (I won’t reveal), one final slap in the face of an audience who dared believe an emotional investment into a horribly abused, illiterate, obese teenage girl might actually pay off with something meaningful.   

What do you expect from a story where a baby with Down’s Syndrome is named Mongo?  

Though sixteen years of age, Precious (Gabourey Sidibe) is still in middle school but not for long. After it’s discovered she’s pregnant for the second time after being raped by the same father who impregnated her the first time, school policy demands she drop out. Thankfully Dad’s no longer in the picture, but there’s still Mom (Mo’Nique) to deal with, a vicious woman willing to do anything to keep her daughter from realizing any amount of happiness, much less her hopes and dreams. (more…)

BEST PICTURE – DRAMA

Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglorious Basterds
Precious
Up In the Air

BEST PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL

(500) Days of Summer
The Hangover
It’s Complicated
Julie & Julia
Nine

BEST DIRECTOR – MOTION PICTURE

Kathryn Bigelow – The Hurt Locker
James Cameron – Avatar
Clint Eastwood – Invictus
Jason Reitman – Up In The Air
Quentin Tarantino – Inglourious Basterds (more…)

The Oscar-nominated movies in recent years have been enough to make a grown man cry… Or worse. Consider “There Will Be Blood,” “No Country for Old Men” and “The Reader” as a sampling of the morbid films jockeying for Oscar glory. This year, add Oscar wannabes “The Road” and “Precious” to the list.

Newsweek scribe Ramin Setoodeh writes about the trend in the liberal magazine’s latest edition. Setoodeh bemoans the fact that some of the best films lately take a too sober view of society. On that we can agree.

Then, Setoodeh whips out his trusty Bush bashing cudgel and starts a whacking:

You can blame Hollywood’s doom and gloom on the Oscars, but I’m not going to. Instead, I think it’s George W. Bush’s fault. Most liberal directors felt restless under his presidency, and they pushed the envelope with over-the-top, operatic tragedies. (more…)

Some lives slip through the cracks, people who you might pass everyday without giving a second thought. Precious is one of those people.

Vastly overweight and carrying her second child at the far-too-young age of 16, Precious is an African-American girl living in the Bronx who’s stuck four years behind her age group in the 7th grade, with a single mother who is verbally, emotionally and physically abusive towards her. Her father is only in the picture enough to come over and rape her, which led to her first child being born with Down Syndrome, and Precious utterly unaware of proper prenatal care or even a delivery date for her second.

The only thing that brings her any sense of joy is her imagination, which Precious uses to block out horrific moments of the past and present with visions of herself on red carpets and other glamorous situations. But when a school official steps in and orders her to go to an alternative school for troubled young women, a concerned teacher, social worker and eventually a male post-natal nurse discover the extent of Precious’ problems and help her take the drastic actions needed to save her life. (more…)