F R I D AY, F E B R U A RY 0 3 , 2 0 0 6Why Everyone Is Wrong About The Oscars ShowThe New York Times, The New York Post, the LA Times, USA Today --everyone agrees that the Oscars show is in danger of being irrelevantbecause of the nominees.</p><p> And they're all wrong.</p><p> Here are the mythsabout the Oscars:1.</p><p> It's dominated by tiny little independent films.2.</p><p> People don't care about the movies nominated because they haven'tseen them.3.</p><p> Ratings will drop because there are no blockbusters nominated.4.</p><p> Brokeback Mountain is controversial.Let's tackle #1: the Big Nominees are "independent films." Of course,the term "independent film" is almost meaningless.</p><p> Budget is not agood measuring stick and neither is the studio distributing it.</p><p> All thatreally matters are the stars.</p><p> So of the five Best Picture nominees --Brokeback Mountain, Capote, Crash, Good Night and Good Luck andMunich -- I'd say only Capote is an independent film in the classicsense.</p><p> Philip Seymour Hoffman is a recognizable name to afficionadosand Catherine Keener just co-starred in the blockbuster The 40 YearOld Virgin, but no one in the movie opens films and they're morebeloved by critics than known by moviegoers.</p><p> Frankly, Munich with its$70 million budget and low-key cast is as much of an independent filmas any of them.</p><p> But of course it's directed by the most popular moviedirector in the world.But Brokeback Mountain? Please.</p><p> Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaalhave starred in a string of high profile movies and appeared incountless interviews and gossip magazines even before this filmexploded.</p><p> And Michelle Williams starred in one of the iconic TV showsof the 90s (Dawson's Creek).</p><p> This is not a no-name movie withunknown actors.Crash? This LA drama is practically like MGM -- it has more stars thanthere are in heaven.</p><p> Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon,Brendan Fraser, Ryan Phillipe, Jennifer Esposito, Laurenz Tate -- it's ahuge, diverse, recognizable cast that can appeal to every minority groupthere is.</p><p> It was also the year's biggest word of mouth hit -- $50 millionNext Blog»sal1mineo@hotmail.comSEARCH BLOG FLAG BLOGFOLLOW BLOGP O P S U R F I N G .</p><p> C O MS U R F I N G T H E WAV E S O F P O P U L A R C U LT U R EB Y M I C H A E L G I LT Z & F R I E N D SPOPSURFING.COM: Why Everyone Is Wrong About The Osca...http://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2006/02/why-everyone-is-wron... 1 of 37/29/09 3:44 AMFAV O R I T E L I N K SAmericablogFive O'Clock Lightning baseball blogDeep Pop -- Lori Lakin's BlogThe Back Page -- Jason Page on ESPNRadioCine-Blog -- George Robinson's BlogDocuments On Art & Cinema - DarylChin's BlogBrucie G's Wondrous Blog OfAdventure and Mystery -- BruceGreenspan's BlogB L O G A R C H I V E▼ 2009 (17)▼ July (3)1939 -- The Greatest Year ForMoviesSwimming Bans Those Hi-TechSuits!Best Movies Of The Year -- TheMaster List► June (3)► May (1)► March (2)► February (1)► January (7)► 2008 (86)► 2007 (781)► 2006 (2412)► 2005 (5)C O N T R I B U TO R SAaronBiboyMichael in New York POPSURFING.COM: Why Everyone Is Wrong About The Osca...http://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2006/02/why-everyone-is-wron... 2 of 37/29/09 3:44 AMPOPSURFING.COM: Why Everyone Is Wrong About The Osca...http://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2006/02/why-everyone-is-wron... 3 of 37/29/09 3:44 AM
