The Oscars -- Belated and Outdated

Actually, this is an excuse to publicize some of my favorite movies that have come out this year -- what can I say? The Academy has good taste.

Emma made me watch the Oscars, but I actually had stronger reactions -- joy at the success of Pan's Labyrinth, Helen Miren, and Little Miss Sunshine, anger when Dreamgirls didn't win best original song, and also when Inconvenient Truth beat out Jesus Camp for best documentary.

Pan's Labyrinth and Little Miss Sunshine were both beautiful, coherent movies. PL was incredibly sad but also stunning from a visual perspective, while LMS was quirky in a Royal Tenenbaum-y way. I was initially upset that The Lives of Others won Best Foreign Film instead of PL. Since then I have seen TLO, and I understand. Both were historical, but PL was more like a fable that could have been about any little girl who lives in a sad and nonsensical world. TLO was a very grown-up movie much more saturated in its context -- Eastern Germany. Great acting and directing in both.

Now, about Inconvenient Truth. Let me first say that I fully support "being green." I'm glad the Oscars "went green," and I think it would be awesome if we cut down on our carbon emissions and all drove hybrid cars -- or better yet used mass transit -- in 20 years. Let me second say that I don't care if Melissa Ethelridge is gay, although it was kind of gross when she kissed her wife on the lips, just because normal people kissing, without soft camera lights and consideration of angles is, in general, gross.

I'm not really going to comment on why Jesus Camp should have won best documentary since I haven't seen Inconvenient Truth yet. Let's just say that unless IT exposed a complex and widespread sociological trend through sensitive filming and minimal commentary, Jesus Camp should have won. I get the impression that IT is more propaganda-y than that, but until I can get my hands on it at the media library, I can't be sure.

I CAN be sure, however, that the music in Dreamgirls was 10 times better than the beleaguered melody tacked onto Inconvenient Truth that won instead. "I Need to Wake Up" sounded a lot like a bad praise-and-worship song from the 1990s. There was even PowerPoint going in the background, I think. UGH! Dreamgirls was based on a broadway play about one of the most important musical trends of the 20th century. Hmm...could there have been a little POLITICS involved in that selection?? No . . . I'm sure the fact that the Academy was drooling all over Al Gore the entire show had nothing to do with that anemic ballad's success.

So that's my belated and outdated opinion on the movies of 2006. (and yeah...Marie Antoinette totally deserved to win best costume, although Kirsten Dunst is beginning to annoy me). Did anyone see Babel or Last King of Scotland?