The Big Questions

When you travel alone you have far too much time to think. One thought I keep returning to is how sad it is that there is so much beauty in this world, and yet so few people get to see even a tiny fraction of it. Everyone should get to see Machu Picchu. Everyone should get to enjoy tapas and wine in San Sebastian. Everyone should get to dip their toes in Lake Baikal.

Inevitably thoughts stray to the timeless questions that have tormented thinkers since the dawn of time. Why do billions of people live in desperate poverty with no hope of escape? Why do governments inevitably turn corrupt? Why is it human nature to fear and hate those who are different?

There is one question that keeps me up late at night though, makes me question whether there is any logic or justice in the fabric of the universe.

Do I really want to live in a world where Sandra Bullock wins an Oscar?

All in all I thought the Academy Awards winners were deserving. Avatar should have won more, of course. My personal theory, based as all my theories are on no evidence whatsoever, is that Avatar was snubbed because Hollywood hates James Cameron. He's legendarily difficult to work with.

I was shocked when I read that Titanic came out 12 years ago. The guy made the most successful movie of all time then took a dozen years off to pursue other interests and count his money. When he decided to return he made the new most successful movie of all time and, oh, by the way, invented a whole new way of making movies. I can see where the mere mortals in Hollywood might be a wee bit jealous.

Steven Spielberg or Peter Jackson might have been able to make Avatar. Everyone else in the movie industry watched it and, just like the rest of us, thought How the hell did he do that?

The Hurt Locker is a fine film. I was a bit disappointed by its lack of a plot, something I generally consider important in a film. It was a long overdue recognition for director Kathryn Bigelow and a well-deserved coming-out party for Jeremy Renner. (As I watched I kept flashing to Russell Crowe in Gladiator.)

One storyline regarding the movie I didn't see explored is the possibility that Hollywood finally wanted to give credit to a film about the war in the Middle East. Dozens of films have been made about Bush's Folly but most have been financial and critical flops. The Hurt Locker gave the industry an opportunity to give credit to the brave souls serving overseas without having to take a political stand. The movie avoids politics altogether. It's about dedicated soldiers doing their job as best they can and, except for Renner's character, trying to get back home alive. No one can argue with that.

Another angle I thought didn't get the play it deserved is that Cameron and Bigelow were formerly married! Could it be that voters twisted the knife a little by not only snubbing Cameron but giving the award to his ex-wife? To his credit Cameron seemed genuinely happy for her. (Of the many things Cameron is famous for, wearing a fake smile is not one of them.)

In years to come people will watch The Hurt Locker and enjoy it, but 50 years from now people will remember Avatar as a seminal moment in cinema. The movie it most reminds me of is Star Wars, not just because it's a sci-fi blockbuster, but because it will forever change the way movies are made.

Star Wars did not win Best Picture at the Oscars. Annie Hall did. I love Annie Hall. It's one of my all-time favorite movies. But it's safe to say Star Wars has aged better. The Hurt Locker will be to Avatar what Annie Hall is to Star Wars.

(Annie Hall contains one of my all-time favorite movie lines, when Alvy explains to Annie that his grandmother never gave him gifts because "she was too busy being raped by Cossacks". It's hilarious in the movie. Really.)

It's also worth noting that Citizen Kane, indisputably the greatest movie ever made and still fresh and fun to watch despite being almost 70 years old, did not win Best Picture either. Raise your hand if you knew that Citizen Kane lost to How Green Was My Valley.

As for the other awards, you can't argue with Jeff Bridges. By all accounts his performance (which I have not seen) was great, and he was long overdue. He's had a long career of consistently top-notch performances. This wasn't a popularity prize, like Al Pacino winning for The Scent of a Woman, or Julia Roberts for Erin Brockovich, or Denzel Washington for Training Day, three laugh-out-loud bad performances.

The Supporting Actor and Actress awards were complete no-brainers. I thought Inglourious Basterds would have been completely unwatchable without Christoph Waltz. If nothing else he deserved the award for acting in four languages! The guy was so cheerful and so dedicated that I found myself almost liking him, despite the fact that, oh yeah, he's a Nazi called the Jew Hunter.

Mo'nique's performance in the climactic scene in Precious was one of the most mesmerizing pieces of acting I've ever seen. For the bulk of the movie she's almost cartoonish, an hateful, crazy monster. But when she reveals her sad, sordid history she suddenly becomes almost sympathetic. Incredible.

Then there's Sandra Bullock. For crying out loud. This was clearly a case of the industry rewarding one of its cash cows. She couldn't act her way out of a wet paper bag, but she makes Hollywood a ton of money. For some reason people like her and line up to see her crap fests.

This wouldn't be such a disgrace except for Precious. I think one way to judge a performance is to ask whether someone else could have done the role as well or better. For Christoph Waltz and Mo'nique the answer is an emphatic no. The same for Gabby Sidibe. She had to go into dark emotional places most of us fortunately will never know. And she did it in her first role.

Setting aside the physical aspects of her character, is it possible to imagine Sandra Bullock pulling off that part? It's funny to even consider. It was a once-in-a-lifetime performance that ended up losing to a role straight out of a bad TV movie of the week. How sad.