Oscar wrap up

A few more points from the Oscars…

1) If I had to choose a word to describe the Oscars last night that word would be, sadly, masturbatory. It’s the only way I can describe the proceedings. Now all award shows have a degree of self-love associated with them given that all they are is a group of people giving each other trophies for how super they think they are. But the more I think about it the way the acting awards were handed out took it to another level. It consisted of five famous people telling five other famous people how fabulous they were for being famous. When people talk about Hollywood being insular this is exactly what they meant.

2) Off the subject but it fits in here. While in one of the many tacky t-shirt shops in New Orleans (which survived Hurricane Katrina completely unscathed) I saw a shirt that read “I’d rather be masterbating.” I’m not sure what would be the worst part about wearing this shirt. It would either a) be the fact that you are crass enough to express that feeling in public or b) be the fact that not only did you buy a shirt referencing masturbation but you couldn’t even find one that spelled it properly.

3) Back to the awards. What really bugged me about the break from tradition in showing clips from the nominated performances is that for many of the nominees I still have no clue who they are or what their movie was about. Face it, Speed Racer got more screen time in the Oscars than Frozen River or The Visitor and both of those had top acting nominees. You would think that after watching the entire show I would have some sense of what those movies are about other than a body of water in a cold climate and someone coming over to your house.

4) I could have mentioned this last night but I didn’t. I have no idea why everyone makes such a big fuss over Angelina Jolie. I don’t even find her that attractive. Yes she is dark and mysterious and seems like someone who in the middle of the night will cut out your kidney. I just don’t find that very interesting. I know there are many people who are still upset that Brad Pitt left Jennifer Aniston for her. Count me in the camp who wonders how Brad Pitt could have left Gwenyth Paltrow for either of them.

5) I’m still at a loss as to how Bruce Springsteen wasn’t nominated for his song in The Wrestler. That seemed tailor made for an Oscar nomination just because it would have gotten some people to tune into the broadcast.

6) As for Hugh Jackman, he did a fine job as host though I was quite upset that he never made an appearance as Wolverine. What is the point of our top scientists spending years working on fusing a human skeleton with adamantium if we do not get to showcase it on the world’s biggest stage? And don’t ask me why but on the list of superpowers that I would like to have Wolverine’s claws are really high on the list. They are surprisingly useless when you think about it (ooh, it is like having a knife you can’t drop) but just seem to rank really high on the coolness scale.

Since it is Lundi Gras and tomorrow is one of my favorite days in the world I thought that I would post some New Orleans music the next two nights. Tonight I’ll go with one of my favorite zydeco performers: Terrence Simien. For the record, I have bowled with his washboard player at a concert that literally took place in a bowling alley. And people wonder why I like New Orleans…