A Night at the Oscars
I love it when critics of any description get it spectacularly wrong – just as BBC Film Critic, Mark Kermode did with ‘The Hurt Locker’.
A couple of weeks ago I made a mental note of him commenting when ‘The Hurt Locker’ won best film at the BAFTA’s.
He was quick to refute any possibility that this success might be repeated at the Oscars.
The Oscars was about money he assured us. Big money such as James Cameron’s ‘Avatar’.
A reward for a low budget film such as The Hurt Locker ‘wasn’t’ possible at the Oscars.
Such assurance! Such Sure Sightliness I thought.
Well precisely what he said couldn’t happen – has happened.
The Hurt Locker is a low budget movie that has shown in under 535 cinemas, cost less than $11 million to make and was directed by a woman – Cameron’s ex wife no less – about a testosterone fueled male environment of bomb disposal. A grittier film I haven’t seen in years.
And it couldn’t have been made much better with any budget.
Perhaps at long last, even in the tinsel and gloss of Hollywood – an ounce of common sense is to be found even if it does touch on subjects such as war and Iraq.
Best Actress, Actor etc Sandra Bullock walked away with Best Actress, 24 hours after graciously turning up to accept the Razzle award for ‘Worst Actress’ for her role in The Blind Side. Another first!
Jeff Bridges was finally recognised for his role in Crazy Heart. He deserves recognition after 4 previous failed nominations.
But my delight of the night must go to Christopher Waltz who plays the German officer in Inglourious Basterds.
Were it not for his performance and that of Brad Pitt, this film wouldn’t have been worth watching. But he played a masterpiece of a role and the film is worth seeing just for that.
A final parting shot at GMTV. Now that GMTV is dumbing down even further with the sacking of Penny Smith and John Stapleton is going back on the road, have we seen a glimpse of what might be to come with Posh and Scary Spice giving us the latest at the Oscars?
They were so self congratulatory I had to switch over to the BBC.
Is this a taste of things to come now that the channel has dumbed down even lower that it already went a year or more ago when it began to shorten its sequences and lighten its depth of research?
Will this early morning show still be earning laudits from Simon Cowell next year as the ‘best show on UK TV.’
Somehow I doubt it but I’m not as sure sighted as Mark Kermode by saying ‘Definitely Not!’
