Griping about the Oscars
3/26/1

My cell phone rang with the news to wake me up and I heard that Gladiator won best picture and Russel Crowe won best actor. I was wondering if there was still no justice in the world. I suppose I can rest assured there isn�t.

I didn�t hate Gladiator, but I was disappointed in it. I saw it in the theater with my wife and sister-in-law. They both really liked it, but I was disappointed. I wanted an action movie. Gladiator isn�t an action movie. It�s a period drama with spectacle.

Now, you can�t make the blanket statement that I don�t like period dramas. I liked Far and Away. I think it�s Ron Howard�s best film. I loved Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. I think the reason it didn�t get the votes was because of the subtitles.

I didn�t see Erin Brockovich mainly because it�s propaganda. I work in the environmental field and know the dangers of hexavalent chrome. But I don�t want to see Julia Roberts beating the evil corporation with her whorepower.

The problem with hex-chrome is that it�s a bear to get rid of. Most metals will drop out if you just doodle with the pH and slow the flow so it�ll settle. Hex-chrome isn�t like that. And since it takes more money, it�s more likely to be polluted around.

I didn�t see Traffic either, but I really like Benicio Del Toro. I thought he was great in The Way of the Gun. Now it seems that modern noir gets no respect. Everyone says that it�s just ripping off Tarintino. Oh, and they are right, since no one ever made a noir film before Quentin.

I didn�t see Pollack and don�t even remember the name of that gal who won best supporting actress. I really like, I think it�s No. 16, 1948 by Jackson himself. I�d buy a print of it if I could find it again.

What movie did I think should have cleaned up? Crouching Tiger. I�d give it best picture and best supporting actress to the young gal. I think I�d let it pass on Best Music, since I�d give that to O Brother Where Art Thou. Maybe it didn�t have the bet music in the world, but I got Man of Constant Sorrow stuck in my head for a while. I know it�s not an original song, but kudos to them for using it.

What did I see over the weekend? After catching (rather than recording) a biography of Steve Martin, I added in a Steve Martin channel on the replaytv. Last Sunday, the four star sci-fi channel got the 1982 The Thing. I forgot what a good movie that was. The Steve Martin channel picked up Father of the Bride Part II. It was good light fare, the kind of movie that Michael J. Fox could have been in.

Steve only did his crazy legs shtick once.

In other news, Rush Limbaugh just used Lit�s My Own Worst Enemy as bumper music.