Gold Statues

[Bill Floyd]

Sandra Bullock won an Oscar, The Wire never won an Emmy, and Public Enemy was right about the Grammys.  

 

But sometimes it can be fun to watch the ceremonies with the sound muted, thereby disabling the breathless acceptance speeches, the tedious jokes (self-referential, politically smug, tone-deaf), and leaving only the discomfited flailing of the presenters as they try (unsuccessfully) to maintain some shred of dignity.  

 

Middle America may wax smartass about gays and elites, but few are immune to the hi-def hypnotist, the IMAX experience.  We live in a world where our dominant cultural intake is passively visual, and these are after all our cathartic avatars.  They suffer majestically and rebound heroically, take our revenge for us, kill who we want to kill, screw who we want to screw, and then deliver the bon mot with impeccable timing (no matter how many takes it takes).

 

So it can be instructive to see how our professional escapists rank themselves, what they choose to glorify at this particular historical moment--just as long as you don't listen to what they're actually saying.  

[Jeanette Cheezum]

Great sceniro. I'll try that next year.

[Jamie Hogan]

Bill loaned me Tomato Red, and I'll say it would probably fall in the top 10-15 best novels I've read. I echo his praise for the voice Woodrell captures, and I'll also give him praise for tracking his a character honestly and unflinchingly.

[Bill Floyd]

One more quick comment & I'll leave this be.  For anyone looking to discover an interesting new writer, I recommend Daniel Woodrell.  He wrote the novel Winter's Bone is based on.  So far, I've only read his novel Tomato Red, but the way he captures the voice of an under-represented part of our society is pretty much peerless, a striking mix of Elmore Leonard's efficiency and The Drive-By Truckers' lurid Americana.

[Mike Handley]

@Bill (Jamie, are you listening?): "Winter's Bone" had the same effect on me.

@Cath: Indeed, I think they got it right this year, at least for Best Picture. "The King's Speech" was remarkable. I think Geoffrey Rush should've taken a statuette. Colin Firth should've taken the Oscar for last year's "A Single Man."

[Mike Handley]

I'd like to thank my wife, if only I could remember her name.

[Gita]

Last year. And in her acceptance speech, she talked about how her husband was her support, her rock, the "one who always has my back." Three weeks later, it emerged that he'd been screwing women right and left while she was making the movie that won her an Oscar. (Note to Self: When you  win for best original screenplay, just thank everyone on 6S.)

[Angela]

Sandra Bullock?  When did that happen?

[Cita]

Damn shame about The Wire.

[Jamie Hogan]

It is becoming increasingly rare to find people in that industry who care about being actors and care nothing about being a celebrity. I hear this so clearly, it draws a picture so clean (sentence four is the thick, straight bolt holding the plaque of truth to the wall). And I also love what movies can do, when they are done right. You keep telling me about Winter's Bone. I gotta get ahold of that.

[Cath Barton]

I hope you've all been to see The King's Speech, because it is soooo good.