Once upon a time I was well-versed in the world of new releases. Even if I only went out of my way to see a few of them, I was aware of pretty much every movie that was out or coming out. Of course, living in New York City made the pursuit of my enthusiasm easier. Everything comes to New York. Even the tiny little art film. But times change—especially after one has a child. It's hard to schedule seeing a movie—or to justify the expense with my single mom's salary. With the cost of a babysitter and the movie ticket (and what about a soda or possible treat?) it has seemed less and less of an imperative to see things first-run. Car payment or Sherlock Holmes, Star Trek or Avatar? I'm already paying for cable, so . . .Just this year I was able to take my daughter to a few films (Up, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief) and not have to make numerous bathroom runs, or watch her fall asleep, or have to shush her every few scenes. The only movie I saw on my own was the latest Harry Potter. That was this year, right? I get to see most everything I want on-demand at some point anyway. Do you notice a trend? It's not that I don't like the more "quiet" films, but when I do go out to the theater and spend the money, it's usually to see the bigger, more visual films. More bang for my limited bucks.
I used to (co)host semi-elaborate Oscar parties, with ballots and wonderful themed prizes. Who knows. Maybe some day again. Out of force of habit or maybe an enduring love of Steve Martin I found myself checking in and watching some of the telecast last night. What always drew me to the show as a child and still does is of course watching the fashions on the red carpet. But the endless shilling of designer names and jewelry has become a bore. Who cares? It's been said a million times already, but where are Cher or Bjork when you need them? And will someone tell Miley Cyrus to stand up straight? She's too young for the slopey shoulders. Leave it to Robert Downey Jr. to be the most dapper by virtue of some blue-tinted shades. And Ben Stiller successfully silly with some blue-tinted skin and a fishing pole (way better than the proposed Sasha Baron Cohen shtick). And it's always fun to see Steve Martin in bed with another man. He and Alec Baldwin make a cute couple . . . of hosts.
This year I am watching the Oscars as a checklist of films that I will soon be watching on cable. Looking interesting: An Education, Crazy Heart, District 9, Inglourious Basterds, Julie & Julia. I suspect that I am not that different from most folks. The Oscars, beyond anything else, has always functioned as advertising for plenty of films that were just missed by most the first time around. As much as I still enjoy movies, I guess I just don't take them as seriously anymore. Or at least I'm less worried about seeing them when they first come out, when everyone else does. If they actually do—I have no sense from my coworkers if they are seeing all the new movies. There isn't much water cooler talk. Facebook and twitter have replaced all that.
Just a few quick observations. The show is always so god-awful long, so why cut people off mid-speech? But meanwhile they can still fit in meaningless film montages (horror movies?) And why was everyone so serious during Steve & Alec's opening tag-team monologue? George Clooney and Matt Damon, get over yourselves. At least Sandra Bullock and Meryl Streep can laugh at themselves. The clips of those who died last year was as touching as ever. That's the only montage I ever think is worth the screen time.
If I don't make it to the end of the show I can catch the jokes I missed on YouTube tomorrow. But I give team Steve and Alec a thumbs up. Colin Farrell's, Michelle Pfeiffer's, Oprah Winfrey's and Stanley Tucci's best actor and actress intros were so fun I didn't really care about the winners (but yay—the DUDE won!) I think Sandra Bullock was genuinely shocked and probably lost money in her Oscar pool. Pretty cool Kathryn Bigelow got her award from Babs. I'm also happy to see LOST's Michael Giacchino won an award for Up, because the music was a wonderful and integral part of that little gem, which also won best animated film. Hey, I did see a winner this year.
2 comments:
I think my experience of the Oscars was very similar to yours except that I missed the red carpet and the opening of the show because of ABC's dispute with Cablevision. Maybe because I had resigned myself to not watching the Oscars this year and missed the beginning, I had trouble getting into it this year. It didn't help that I had seen only one of the nominated films Bright Star which was up for best costume design.
I'm no where near the point yet where I could take the little one to the cinema. She has really just started to watch movies. She picked "Cars" out of her videos last week and actually watched the whole thing very intently and has now seen it several times. I haven't really pushed for movies yet. My brothers have given us stuff their kids have outgrown or movies they have extra of. My older brother's kid are so much older that they watched everything on video! It's funny because we have movies like Pinocchio and Bambi waiting to be watched, but I hesitate to show them to her. Bambi made me cry hysterically and Pinocchio is scary too. I remember my niece, who is now in her second year of college, telling me I may want to cover my eyes because the whale was going to eat Pinocchio but it would be okay. Disney movies are just scary.
I guess I've never had much of a tolerance for violence which is part of the reason that even on a good year I miss a bunch of Oscar movies. My to see list is similar to yours except I don't know if I can handle The Hurt Locker or Inglorious Basterds. I love Quentin Tarantino, I just can't watch his films.
I always say next year I'll see all the films and maybe someday I'll even go to an Oscar party with ballots and alcoholic beverages again. For now it's a DVD here and some Hulu there when I'm not watching Thomas the Tank Engine or Dora. No complaints though.
I don't know what it is post-motherhood, nut I can't take blood and guts anymore either. Maybe we've seen the real deal in the birth room - I just can't watch too much of it. Of course I have been watching Lost, so go figure...But I started watching Slumdog Millionaire on cable a month or so ago and had to turn it off. Between the subtitles and the torture I just couldn't watch that intently!
I probably won't get around to the Tarantino, it's just a wish list, because I like the idea of a Tarantino/Pitt combo. I never saw Kill Bill. But I'm OK with that. I just don't feel the pressure of having to know what's the flick of the moment anymore. The pop culture queen is taking a rest. Or changing the channel.
Lucy loves movies and TV, always has. She was in love with Shrek before she could talk. Going to the movies was a big (and rare) deal for us growing up. Nowadays kids sees tons of stuff via cable and dvd. It's a very different, media-saturated world.
As much as I get tired of the kid TV sometimes, I think my non-kid-having friends don't know hat they;re missing, too. Oswald and Angelina Ballerina and Curious George and Thomas are quite charming.
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