And so the oddsmakers, pundits, and columnists are all aflutter in the run-up to the Oscars this Sunday. So many times people say, "She/he has been nominated three or four times, it's time to win!" Maybe. Amy Adams has been nominated five times and snuck up on us. Someone like Steve Carell has slowly built capital into being taken seriously in his best role to date in Foxcatcher. The two frontrunners for Best Picture, Birdman and Boyhood, were by far the bravest, most original films, and the Academy voting might be a dead-heat. Remember who's voting, their reported average age, and that was something I learned twenty-five years ago as an exchange student in Europe. Oh, the things we learn that don't go reported to locals.
The other angle is perspective. A friend said five years ago during The Great Recession, when Oscar viewers were headed downward, "Who wants to watch millionaires give each other awards?" This a week after the NBA doesn't allow the general public to buy tickets to its All-Star Game. Nope, corporate clients only. So, people will pick and choose the films they think are best, and you always wonder how much luck plays a part, or how many dues actors/actresses have to pay in order to win. Apparently Jake Gyllenhaal has to pay more, though he easily gave one of the most memorable performances in one of the most relevant movies of last year. There is still so much we don't know, the Academy voting process so secret, that after awhile, will this turn viewers away? From the show, maybe, but not from movies.
The other angle is perspective. A friend said five years ago during The Great Recession, when Oscar viewers were headed downward, "Who wants to watch millionaires give each other awards?" This a week after the NBA doesn't allow the general public to buy tickets to its All-Star Game. Nope, corporate clients only. So, people will pick and choose the films they think are best, and you always wonder how much luck plays a part, or how many dues actors/actresses have to pay in order to win. Apparently Jake Gyllenhaal has to pay more, though he easily gave one of the most memorable performances in one of the most relevant movies of last year. There is still so much we don't know, the Academy voting process so secret, that after awhile, will this turn viewers away? From the show, maybe, but not from movies.
