Oscars
The zeitgeist's heavy hammer—by which I mean the Internet—has landed hard on last week's Oscar host Seth MacFarlane. The consensus: MacFarlane's act was racist, sexist, homophobic, anti-Semitic, and, perhaps most unforgivably, not funny. READ MORE >>
The word that comes up again and again in discussions about Michael Haneke, the Austrian director of Oscar nominee Amour, is “austere.” His films are so precisely crafted, with such rigorous camerawork and editing, that you feel you might suffocate halfway through. Minutes-long takes are not uncommon. There is no music, except for what the characters hear, and music is often more of an agony than a mercy. And then there’s the violence—it’s depicted unflinchingly and without warning. READ MORE >>
In Wreck-It Ralph, the Disney film up for an Oscar for Best Animated Feature, the hero Ralph, voiced by a croaky John C. Reilly, opens by brooding about his fate. Shrek-chested, with arms so thick they rip his sleeves, Ralph was born to play the villain, programmed into a retro-chic arcade game where he has the Sisyphean task of pummeling a pixellated building. Each time a kid drops a quarter, Ralph is expected to Wreck. The result is that those who dwell in his game—residents of the threatened building, the angelic hero "Fix-It Felix"—despise him. READ MORE >>
One of the promos for Seth MacFarlane's upcoming gig as Oscar host starts, "Hi I'm Seth MacFarlane," followed by a whispered aside, "Ask your kids." Sure, he's winking at the fact that he's easily the least famous host in the Award's history.1 But he is also acknowledging why he was likely offered the job in the first place: to attract a younger audience. READ MORE >>
Every couple of years a movie comes along that exposes the sorry state of contemporary film criticism. I’m not talking about the Jackass franchise or anything starring Danny McBride. I mean the sort of sentimental claptrap that sends otherwise sensible people into raptures of moral self-satisfaction. Dances with Wolves or Crash, for example, both of which rode white liberal guilt like a hobbyhorse all the way to the Oscars. READ MORE >>
Because we’re a serious political journal read by serious political people, when I had the chance to buttonhole California lawmakers who had gathered at the California State Society inauguration fashion show at the Washington Ritz Carlton on Saturday, what I really wanted to know was: What were their Oscar pics? READ MORE >>
Slideshow: What If the GOP Candidates Were Movie Stars?
The Problem with Oscar Voters: They All Look The Same
The Oscars’ Disgraceful Nominees for Best Song
Why Oscars Are Left Wing
You hear a lot of rubbish from conservatives about how left-wing Hollywood is, but in one overlooked respect it really is left-wing. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences uses, in its nomination process, a complicated form of voting that's somewhat similar to the proportional-voting scheme that sank Lani Guinier's chances of getting confirmed assistant attorney general for civil rights during the Clinton administration. READ MORE >>
