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And the Oscar for most depressing . . .
Jewish World Review ^ | Feb. 25, 2008 | Mitch Albom

Posted on 02/25/2008 12:20:00 PM PST by Caleb1411

I'm didn't watch the Oscars. Normally I do. But I've spent enough time and money on the most depressing, dark and disturbed lineup of movies I ever can remember. I don't need to see them get rewarded.

Am I the only one who remembers when they actually gave Oscars to movies that had happy endings? There's not one happy ending in this lot — unless you consider an unplanned teenage pregnancy resulting in someone else's adoption a happy ending. That's the big payoff in "Juno."

Otherwise, you have "There Will Be Blood," in which a tyrannical oil baron destroys everyone and everything around him; "No Country For Old Men," in which a serial killer destroys everything and everyone around him; "Michael Clayton," in which greed gets nearly everyone killed; and "Atonement," in which a false accusation ruins the lives of all involved.

Um. Remind me again.

Why do we go to the movies?

THERE'S NO DEBATE HERE

Now, I'm not a Pollyanna. I enjoy films. I collect them. And I understand that not every story ends with music swirling and heroes walking off into a sunset.

But lately there's this sense that unless a movie is dark, violent and hopeless, it can't be "real." It can't be "art." It can't truly "matter." I put these words in quotes because it feels as if critics and awards committees define things that way.

(Excerpt) Read more at jewishworldreview.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: hollywood; oscar
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To: ClearCase_guy

Thank you. Take care.


121 posted on 02/25/2008 1:25:08 PM PST by DoughtyOne (We've got Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dumb & Tweedle Dumber left. Name them in order. I dare ya.)
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To: durasell

I read the book. Got sucked in by the pace and then turned off by the pointlessness of it all. Does Tommy Lee Jones every play anything but a cop?


122 posted on 02/25/2008 1:25:55 PM PST by Soliton
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To: clintonh8r

Oh, yes, sorry. Coen brothers. My error.


123 posted on 02/25/2008 1:25:56 PM PST by i_dont_chat (Your choice if you take offense.)
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To: DoughtyOne

“The left heralds that which is worst about man.”

Pretty much because that’s what they grew up with. Cynicism, blame, weakness, all make great themes for their idea of a quality movie. They don’t know or appreciate anything else.


124 posted on 02/25/2008 1:25:58 PM PST by Melinda
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To: Caleb1411

There’s nothing wrong with a noir movie as long as it’s good. As it happens, I haven’t seen any of these yet.

But I suspect that the Coen brothers movie is good, because all their other movies are good, and some of them are dark.

And I suspect that all the rest of these movies are left wing, politicized junk, with no redeeming features.


125 posted on 02/25/2008 1:26:01 PM PST by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
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To: Borges
My favorite part was when the Clint Eastwood character says that the Swank character has great footwork and then cuts to...her feet.

ROTFLMAO!

All the subtlety of Michael Bay without the panache.

126 posted on 02/25/2008 1:26:31 PM PST by wideawake (Why is it that those who call themselves Constitutionalists know the least about the Constitution?)
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To: i_dont_chat

Just “for the record”.....


127 posted on 02/25/2008 1:27:13 PM PST by clintonh8r (An Obamanation would be an abomination.)
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To: Cicero

There Will Be Blood is terrific and merits comparison to Absalom Absalom. Thought it isnt nearly as good as that.


128 posted on 02/25/2008 1:27:14 PM PST by Borges
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To: Borges

>>This was actually the best crop of Best PIcture nominees in a long time.<<

You’re a hollywood writer, aren’t you?


129 posted on 02/25/2008 1:27:35 PM PST by netmilsmom (Giving up "Hairspray" and the cast for Lent. Prayers appreciated!)
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To: Caleb1411

Ratatouille was great—and the story of Edith Piaf, La Vie en Rose, though truly sad in real life, was very true to her bio, had some great music, and the best actress’ performance was very dramatic, even if it was in a foreign language.


130 posted on 02/25/2008 1:27:43 PM PST by MHT
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To: <1/1,000,000th%
Yes, I do hope for a brave Hollywood to emerge from these ashes.

Their cynicism is getting boring, to much navel gazing for sure.

131 posted on 02/25/2008 1:27:50 PM PST by roses of sharon (Who will be McCain's maverick?)
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To: lapster

Maybe the terrorists, in their next attack, will target the source of the filth they always accuse America of exporting to the world.


132 posted on 02/25/2008 1:28:15 PM PST by RedCobra
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To: netmilsmom

Nope. Did you see any of the BP nominees? The only one I didn’t like was Atonement. And that’s the sort of film that usually wins.


133 posted on 02/25/2008 1:28:24 PM PST by Borges
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To: Soliton

Tommy Lee Jones has been typecast, which is too bad because he’s a fine actor.


134 posted on 02/25/2008 1:28:27 PM PST by durasell (!)
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To: max americana

I know that area fairly well. I live over in Glendale and have frequented that area on occasion my whole life. We’ve been down there to protest the Oscars, or more to raise the visibility of certain issues over the years.

My thoughts along the lines of yours, apply to the families with children. Have they every got a tough task these days.


135 posted on 02/25/2008 1:28:44 PM PST by DoughtyOne (We've got Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dumb & Tweedle Dumber left. Name them in order. I dare ya.)
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To: Texas Federalist
The best movie of the year, I believe, was 3:10 to Yuma

Rent the original Glen Ford version. Much, much better

136 posted on 02/25/2008 1:29:31 PM PST by Soliton
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To: Texas Federalist
The best movie of the year, I believe, was 3:10 to Yuma

Rent the original Glen Ford version. Much, much better

137 posted on 02/25/2008 1:29:41 PM PST by Soliton
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To: Fiddlstix

AMEN!!!!


138 posted on 02/25/2008 1:31:47 PM PST by RedCobra
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To: Melinda

That’s true Melinda. What’s really strange is that many of these actors are the offspring of other actors, people who have lived a fairly good live. I should couch that a bit, because even though many of them did come from some level of wealth, they more than likely didn’t have what you and I would consider a ‘fairly good life’.

That’s just a hypothesis, but the work they put out sure makes a person wonder.

Then, even if they weren’t raised with wealth, these folks sure seem to forget what the normal world was like.


139 posted on 02/25/2008 1:32:10 PM PST by DoughtyOne (We've got Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dumb & Tweedle Dumber left. Name them in order. I dare ya.)
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To: Borges
The Redneck left lasted for a while. The Dixiecrats and so forth. Adalai Stevenson and finally JFK and LBJ drove them away.

Adlai Stevenson didn't drive them away (though Ike managed to get more support in the South than previous Republican candidates). All the states Stevenson carried were in the Deep South, and both his running mates were Southern Democrats (one Deep South, one Upper South). At any rate, the "solid South" was still in play in '52 and '56, and I don't recall any "principled" Democrats decrying this "southern strategy."

Conservatives often forget that the Solid South was one of the original members of the New Deal coalition. Despite modern revisionist histories in which FDR was opposed by a South full of "rightwing Republicans" and personally liberating Blacks from slavery for a second time, FDR was always a hero to Southern whites (TVA, anyone?).

140 posted on 02/25/2008 1:32:20 PM PST by Zionist Conspirator ('Elleh hadevarim 'asher-tzivvah HaShem la`asot 'otam.)
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