Because Hollywood takes itself waaaaaay too seriously.When winners use clichés like “journey” and “artist” they MEAN IT. When they call a director who helmed AMERICAN PIE 10 a “visionary” they really think he is.
When Oscar attendees wear ribbons supporting the cause de jour they seriously believe they’re doing their part…just by wearing the ribbons. That’s not true in all cases. A few, like George Clooney are very sincere and generous with their time and money, but I guarantee you when the Haiti earthquake struck there were six studio heads (who will wear the ribbons) hoping this wouldn’t affect the weekend boxoffice.
Hosting the Oscars is a thankless job. The film industry does not like to laugh at itself. They don’t find it funny that they waste billions of dollars a year on projects like LAND OF THE LOST. And they don’t like to be reminded of it by some smart ass in a tux. And if you can’t talk about that their mistakes and foibles, then what’s left? “I see Meryl Streep is here. How many nominations is this for you now, Meryl? A hundred?” HAHAHAHAHAHA. (Probably that joke would be deemed inappropriate because it makes reference to an actor aging. These are people with thin skin, folks.)
The film industry does not want edgy humor. So imagine writing a roast for Mother Teresa. And they especially don’t appreciate edgy humor from “outsiders”. If you’re not a legit “film star”, if you’re not invited to Spielberg’s for Passover they want nothing to do with you. Chris Rock, David Letterman, Ellen DeGeneres, Jon Stewart – doomed before they even opened their mouths (although, in fairness, Letterman was just plain bad). It’s like Jackie Mason can make Jew jokes, Larry the Cable Guy can’t.
Not that attendees are looking to be entertained anyway. They just want to WIN. It’s such a joke that one of the producers of HURT LOCKER was banned from the ceremony because he sent an email to all academy members asking them to vote for his film and not AVATAR. Some members (read: opposing nominees) were outraged. But the truth is ALL of these producers and studio execs send emails and texts smearing the competition. They do it informally but it’s as common in Hollywood as hugs.
Studios spend millions on ad campaigns. Since Harvey Weinstein elevated it to an art and marketed his way to numerous gold statues all studios mount massive campaigns. Many actors get it in their contract that the studio must take out full-page ads in the trades on their behalf. One year I saw “For your consideration for Best Actor: Forrest DeKelly for his role as ‘Bones’ in STAR TREK 3”.
So when Ho
llywood takes itself sooo seriously, when Red Carpet shills like George Pennachio asks Amy Adams, “If you win will you be thanking the Teamsters?”, when local news anchors double as “fashion experts”, when winners thank their hairdressers before their families, and where the President of the Academy – who produced DEUCE BIGELOW 2 – gives a speech congratulating filmmakers for their courage and dedication to excellence I find it amusing. And worth pointing out.That said, I hope it’s a great show this year. I hope the speeches are heartfelt, the gowns all gorgeous, and the production numbers dazzling. But I’ll be honest – I also hope for stupid questions, someone wearing the wrong ribbon, fashion train wrecks, and a candid shot of one of the “gracious” losers mouthing “fuck!”
My recap will appear late tonight or early tomorrow morning. Let the hyperbole and hypocrisy begin!
Great insite, Ken!
ReplyDeleteI see no reason to watch the Oscars or give a shit about them, much like the Winter Olympics. Once you realize the Golden Globes is for all intents and purposes the Oscars and the Golden Globes are a total sham why would anyone really care? Aside from the people nominated whose lives does it touch in any meaningful way? Nobody.
ReplyDeleteIf you see a movie well done, or a great Oscar performance, you may want to see them win an Oscar. Some just watch to see their favorite star.
ReplyDeleteIt's me, Anonymous, aka, "I've stopped asking questions..." The Oscars and the Emmys are empty award shows, bought and paid for by the studios and producers. The Golden Globes are nothing more than, "Who can kiss the ass of the HFPA organizers the hardest" event, so they're out, too. I much prefer The Razzies and The Independent Spirit Awards at least they mean something.
ReplyDeleteGuess I'm still reading.
It's live TV. Gosh, anything could happen, anyone could say or do anything or not. Live TV and that makes it worth it. We wait...'cause anything could happen.
ReplyDeleteThe Oscars are MEANINGLESS, unless I win one of course.
ReplyDeleteIt's such an asking-for-it huge target, who can resist? I'll be recapping it also, elsewhere. I'm convinced that for some years now, they only have them so we can hurl snark at them.
But then, I'm all about the craft. I want to hear about the Courage of James Cameron making the most-expensive Smurf movie of all time.
I want to hear that Robert Pattinson is a genius!
And this year I recommend to all to wear transparant, no-color ribbons, symbolizing our opposition to the wearing of ribbons in lieu of actually doing something about something.
And I anxiously await the Dead Actors Montage, in hopes I won't be in it.
Taylor Lautner is a genius, a vsionary, a dedicated artist, a great humanitarian, and soon, a high school graduate.
Avatar is a moving human document.
(Sorry. Just warming up.)
Cheers.
jbryant said...
ReplyDeleteUm, Forrest DeKelly? :)
I smell a ploy to mask his geekitude by pretending not to be a Trekkie.
Unfortunately this super serious and self-important view isn't just restricted to Hollywood. From Cate Blanchett's speech to the Australian Performing Arts Market:
ReplyDelete"They operate at the cutting edge of a science that is now trying to unravel the puzzle of consciousness and identity."
I would have thought that type of thing is more within the field of neuroscience, but maybe I just don't appreciate the danger involved.
"We change people's lives, at the risk of our own. We change countries, governments, history, gravity."
I must admit though, the gravity part may not be too far out there for some people.
Well at least James Cameron invented a new format for all intents and purposes with Avatar. I have not seen the film but I have seen the 3D presentation at Sony Style in Beverly Center (free, not $18) and what I thought would be a gimmick is actually pretty amazing technology and a game changer. The best footage is of a polar bear diving for a fish in icy Arctic water, it's beautiful and the bear has real depth. The worst footage, hands down, is Wheel Of Fortune in 3D, proving that the technology may be better but they're counting on the public to remain ignorant. As was the case with HDTV when crap like Oprah that isn't worth watching ever gets an upgrade. Anyway, there's some really incredible footage in the Sony Style demo and I want James Cameron to win based on inventing a new format-just as I wanted Titanic to win for the realism and detail he put into that.
ReplyDeleteTo the person who said it's live TV anything can happen-not really-and you can do so much more with your own life in that time than waiting for some crap somebody planned to get an emotion out of you.
I may spend an awful lot of time with media, but the vast majority of that time is with music and musical recordings and I get way more enjoyment out of that than virtually anything I ever watch. Especially when I remember and go in search of a long lost gem like Kris Kristofferson's Loving Her Was Easier Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again or the Moody Blues The Story In Your Eyes. I can't imagine getting anything close to that satisfaction and enjoyment looking for an old TV show or film or certain scene in one.
Rodney...PLEASE stop talking so much! I really don't think anyone cares...
ReplyDeleteDid you actually SEE DeForrest Kelly in Star Trek 3? Genius. A true artist on a visionary journey.
ReplyDelete"Draugen said...
ReplyDeleteDid you actually SEE DeForrest Kelly in Star Trek 3? Genius. A true artist on a visionary journey.
Oh please. Christopher Lloyd stole Star Trek 3. His portrayal of the evil Klingon captain who kills Kirk's gay son was the template from which Christopher Waltz stole everything he did in his overhyped nominated performance as a Nazi. By playing an evil alien, he explored all it means to be human. And his attempt to steal the life-giving Genesis Project and warp it into the ultimate killing weapon crystalized the whole of the conflicting drives that have rocked the sad history of humanity since the dawn of time.
I laughed, I wept, I searched my soul, I soiled my upholstery.
Whereas, all DeForrest did was to growl out "I'm a doctor, not a nominee!" and his career-long catch phrase: "He's dead, Jim!"
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock: it made King Lear look like Ernest Saves Christmas, only not as deep.
As long as the In Memoriam segment is presented full-screen for us home viewers, rather than the swoopy-camera travesty (with female singer) that aired a year ago and rendered most of the names unreadable, I'll be happy.
ReplyDelete"For Your Consideration" ads were just plain silly long before Miramax arrived on the scene, all the more so for their seriousness. I recall the weekly Variety ad in early 1979 (ah, those long-ago days when I lived in center-city Philly and could buy it at a newsstand for 75 cents!) that began as follows: "The Boys From Brazil. Best Picture."
Anyone here ever see the mid-1960s movie The Oscar? Vays mir.
The Oscar show is much better on LSD...
ReplyDeleteOh, and Chris Lloyd was indeed pretty darn good as the Klingon in Star Trek III, up until the moment on premiere night (yeah, I saw it on premiere night) that everyone in the audience realized that suddenly his voice had veered into that of his Rev. Jim character from Taxi...
ReplyDeleteAmy Ryan? Isn't that a photo of Amy Adams?
ReplyDeleteYou are soooo right, DJ, it's Amy Adams. She made me blush. I'm not comfortable around girls.
ReplyDeleteAnd the best sucking up for an Oscar award goes to...Chill Wills, for his attempts to get Best Supporting Actor in THE ALAMO.
ReplyDelete"Did you SEE DeForrest Kelly in Star Trek 3"
ReplyDeleteHands down, I thought DeForrest Kelly's performance in Star Trek 2 was much better. He was completely believable as a star ship's doctor. Luckily, Nicholas Meyer (a true visionary) encouraged Kelly to take risks and to be unfraid to explore the character's boundaries. Of course, Kelly was a better actor for the experience.
I gave up on the Oscars when James Cameron won everything for Titanic and Shakespeare in Love won Best Picture.
You cannot be serious. Titanic had great special effects and a turgid story coupled with wooden acting. In other words, a fairly typical Cameron film.
Shakespeare in Love was dumb. It made Heaven's Gate look like a tour de force of acting, writing, and directing. Although, in fairness, Heaven's Gate is a beautiful film.
wc: phorivu - germs found in the tap water from countries that lack proper filtration devices.
Do straight guys actually watch this voluntarily?
ReplyDeleteBecause I don't know any.
The Big Lebowski will be playing at my house tonight.
The don't read my posts asshole-I sure don't care if you do or not.
ReplyDelete@Dr. Leo: You don't come here for accuracy. You come here for content.
ReplyDeleteWhen watching the memorial segment, it always drives me crazy that the audience claps for some of the deceased but not others. It's like an after-life reminder that you were never one of the "cool kids!"
ReplyDeleteI always feel bad for the families of the people who get no applause. Off the air, why can't the producers ask the audience to HOLD their applause until this entire segment is over?
I think what's lost in the whole Levine pre-review is his assertion that Jackie Mason tells jokes and therefore might actually be FUNNY! All the rest I can see, but Jackie Mason funny? Not since the 50's I'd say.
ReplyDeleteLove the insights Ken.
"affect"
ReplyDelete(with love)
@Rodney: ...at least James Cameron invented a new format..." Which format is that? 3-D??? Or using actors and then converting them into cartoon-like characters??? Both are not exactly new.
ReplyDeleteAnd, for a guy who doesn't "give a shit" you sure have a lot to see... and mostly it's wrong.
Your Friend,
Anonymous and Still Reading
gottacook said...
ReplyDelete"Oh, and Chris Lloyd was indeed pretty darn good as the Klingon in Star Trek III, up until the moment on premiere night (yeah, I saw it on premiere night) that everyone in the audience realized that suddenly his voice had veered into that of his Rev. Jim character from Taxi."..
Couldn't agree more... I half expected at some point to see, in response to one of Shatner's overacted lines, this malcontent personnification of evil suddenly get a blank expression on his face, stare off into space and burst out with a tremulous "Uhhhhhhhh... Okey-dokey!".....
3D as a viable format that's worth watching as opposed to the crap that existed before. It's worthwhile not a gimmick or cartoony like earlier 3D. It's still got a ways to go, you know it isn't real but it's a vast improvement.
ReplyDeleteWhat's wrong? The Golden Globes are a crock it's impossible to become a member of the HFPA you'd have a better chance of being appointed to the Supreme Court and the studios pull the strings of the HFPA. So it's all a publicity stunt and the Oscars are predetermined.
And if you don't think Wheel Of Fortune and Oprah are for idiots, then we certainly have nothing to discuss on that front.
I can't imagine watching TV hoping for something to happen. Something I used to do as a kid and would never do again knowing how manipulative the whole business is set up to be.
And music, especially truly artistic music that hasn't been pre marketed to teens and other demographics, is a much purer art form than film in my opinion. There are far, far, far more classic songs in existence than classic films for obvious reasons that a song is cheaper to market than a film but also that the art form itself does not rely on tons of people to achieve the finished result.
That's simply my opinion. And again I think the Oscars have no meaning outside of people in the industry. As in they do not affect people's lives in any meaningful way. And never will. Individual projects-film, TV and others can have a meaningful impact on a person's life and do but awards themselves-no.
Rodney...man who has diarrhea of the mouth, should stay in bathroom.
ReplyDeleteAnd music, especially truly artistic music that hasn't been pre marketed to teens and other demographics, is a much purer art form than film in my opinion. There are far, far, far more classic songs in existence than classic films for obvious reasons that a song is cheaper to market than a film but also that the art form itself does not rely on tons of people to achieve the finished result.
ReplyDeleteI was kinda trying not to get involved today, but I find something in that paragraph worthy of discussion.
First off, I'm personally way more into music than film, but I disagree that it's more of an art than film. Film, as an art, has the ABILITY to be at least as "artistic" as any other art form... "pure" art is in the heart of the creator, not his/her chosen medium.
However, I definitely agree that film is USED as a "pure art form" far less often than it's used as a way to make easy money.
AND... VERY few films that ARE "art" will be mentioned in any way at the Oscars. With a few rare exceptions.
The other thing I wanted to mention, and the reason I couldn't help commenting, is that you really contradicted yourself in that paragraph:
You said, "truly artistic music that hasn't been pre marketed," and then you said, "far more classic songs in existence than classic films for obvious reasons that a song is cheaper to market."
I think you may have made a mistake in conveying your OWN thoughts, but I could be wrong. "Marketing" has nothing to do with whether something becomes a classic, but I think you realize that. In fact, if a song (or other work of art) needs to be marketed in the first place, it isn't "classic" material.
Marketing doesn't make a song a classic... the marketed-into-massive-popularity song will die as soon as you stop marketing it and start marketing the next one.
One or both of two main factors make a song a classic: Artistic merit/true creative genius (i.e. Beethoven's 9th, "Crazy") or a great "hook" (i.e. "Sweet Home Alabama").
Frankly, the "hook" is FAR more important to whether a song is a classic than ANY artistic merit whatsoever. Is "Sweet Home Alabama" a work of art? I don't think so, but it's definitely as "classic" as a song can get.
I'm not even watching. I would if Up had any chance of winning Best Picture, but it doesn't.
ReplyDelete"DeForrest Kelley operated at the cutting edge of a science that is now trying to unravel the puzzle of consciousness and identity."
ReplyDelete"DeForrest Kelley change people's lives, at the risk of our own. DeForrest Kelley changed countries, governments, history, gravity."
I thought "Son of Flubber" changed gravity.
I'm kinda curious to see Baldwin and Martin as hosts, but I figure any good stuff will be on the web, so why sit through Rob Lowe dancing with Snow White or some short film animator declaring his love for his wife or dead gramma? Yeah, yeah, he's and artist, I'm a shallow middle-brow, but it's about as interesting as some line-backer or juiced-up outfielder swearing Jeebus was on the field with him.
ReplyDeleteWhat I was trying to get at is pre-marketed crap-the Disney crap-Miley Cyrus, Jonas Brothers-okay music all in all but manipulative and in no way comparable to CSNY or similar artists. I don't particularly like such stuff but there's a lot of it out there and some of it isn't terrible so it's in my collection especially since it merits a spot based on popularity alone.
ReplyDeleteSweet Home Alabama is a classic to be certain. And, yeah, the really good ones happen by accident. American Pie at eight and a half minutes was hardly AM radio material and the edit didn't do the song justice. I hardly think Don McLean thought it would become what it did. Based on market trends at the time, it's surprising. But it is nice when something different like that breaks through. Arguably, Macarena is a classic-it didn't succeed the first go round, it was about a year later when it really caught on. I'm just using that as an example. As in the movie business, sometimes the labels set out to put a classic out there and the public deems otherwise. I think that happens more often with movies, though. Or at least it's far more obvious.
As films go people who wear more hits-James Cameron, Quentin Tarantino, etc. are better able to control the vision they initially sought to put on screen.
The 3D format Cameron is largely responsible for is indeed a game changer-a whole new segment of manufacturing and another reason for people to buy new equipment and new and replacement product-that's pretty remarkable. Throughout his career, he has taken the road of experimentation and innovation that has given us more than any other individual alive today I can think of in the field.
As far as people criticizing me, I don't write to please everybody and I couldn't care less. If I did, I wouldn't have decided to be a writer in the first place.
OK. What part of Forrest DeKelly don’t you understand?
ReplyDeletePEOPLE, When Ken Levine says Forrest DeKelly, I’m willing to take the man at his word and assume that he means Forrest DeKelly. Sure everybody saw DeForrest Kelley in “Star Trek 3.” Ken was obviously referring to the director’s cut, released in Blue Ray as “Star Dreck III,” in which the tough and gristly character actor Forrest Deckely played bones in a Bavarian pot roast from outer space. Either that, or he was just being amusingly dismissive by intentionally eviscerating the name, much like I enjoy pronouncing the Mexican resort Acapucalo.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I plan on spending all the time I can spare between now and the Oscars analyzing why, with all the invitations my wife and I receive daily for a free Bavarian pot roast dinner at Lawry’s, if we’ll only digest the side order of retirement planning, the guy in the couple portrayed as living happily in sunny retirement always looks like Bob Uecker but isn’t.
Oh, and Mike H, here’s a finger for YOU! You know what I’m talkingabout, MISTER? :)
I like the Star Trek films a lot-I have the three pack (Star Trek II III and IV) on BluRay and the BluRay of the new J.J. Abrams Star Trek.
ReplyDeleteSomeone at The Palm said the other day they thought Abrams was the new Spielberg-someone who apparently makes films. I don't think so. I followed Alias the entire run and I'm trying to get into Lost the last season-it's not really my cup of tea-Alias was a whole lot easier to follow and it was confusing as hell a lot of the time. He did an okay job with Star Trek though it's definitely better than some of the films up for Best Picture that I know of. I haven't seen all of them though.
What I was trying to get at is pre-marketed crap
ReplyDeleteThere's a LOT more marketed crap out there than just the Disney stuff. In fact, in my opinion MOST modern music is just that, market-successful garbage. Some genres are worse than others (country and hip-hop/rap are easy sells, and therefore are mostly low-quality shit).
In a country who's citizens have been largely reduced to mindless, ignorant consumers who spend their lives chasing the "latest" products, quality of ALL kinds has gone completely by the wayside... it's no surprise that the "arts" are full of crap and garbage as well. When you can make a profit without making a decent product, why bother after all?
I'd refer you to "Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance," to really get into the concept of loss of quality, or to my own blog for continuing commentary on the subject.
it merits a spot based on popularity alone.
Why? Garbage deserves some sort of "merit" just because it's popular?
I have to disagree strongly there, and I think it speaks volumes about the mind of the "buying public" that so many DO think shit is somehow valuable just because the neighbors bought it. Shit is shit, I don't care how many people you can dupe into spending their hard-earned money on it.
American Pie at eight and a half minutes was hardly AM radio material
The original CCR version of "Heard It Through The Grapevine" was over 11 minutes long, there was no edited version, and it STILL received regular airplay in a time when stations preferred songs to be 2-3 minutes long.
Arguably, Macarena is a classic
I'm glad you said "arguably."
It's not. In any way.
It's shit. But there's a big difference between a "classic" and a song that's fun to line-dance to. Besides, I haven't heard that one since the last time I was on a cruise ship. They played it right after "YMCA" (which may or may not be an "arguable" bubble-gum classic).
sometimes the labels set out to put a classic out there
The labels never "set out to" create a classic, their intent is to create profit and then move on.
No one who ever "tries" to create a classic does so, and those who DO create "classics" are almost always completely surprised by it. Look at MASH, for example.
Unfortunately, trying to simply create something genuinely GOOD is getting rare. We've (they've?) engineered the public to be an easy sell, and creating something "good" is more costly than creating something crappy and then convincing people to buy it.
Wow... I actually typed right over the limit. Continuing on....
ReplyDeleteAs films go people who wear more hits-James Cameron, Quentin Tarantino
Please don't say Cameron and Terantino in the same sentence again. ;)
One is a commercial success.
The other is an artist (who happens to have achieved commercial success).
There's a huge difference.
The 3D format Cameron is largely responsible for
As someone else said, no he isn't.
Just because he's the first to have USED the technology in a blockbuster doesn't mean he created it.
"Birth of a Nation" was the first full-length silent film. They didn't invent film.
"Citizen Kane" was the first to take full creative/artistic advantage of deep focus. They didn't invent the camera.
These people DO deserve credit for being the first to show us the potential of these technologies, but they didn't create those technologies. And if they hadn't, someone else would have.
It's not like if Orson Welles had chosen to stay home we NEVER would have started using deep focus.
These people were creative, yes, but other than that they were simply LUCKY that said technologies were made available to them and they happened to have the creative vision to take advantage of it.
As far as people criticizing me, I don't write to please everybody and I couldn't care less.
I couldn't agree more with that statement. If you tried to please everybody you'd be doing exactly what we talked about above... creating crap/the easy sell.
However, I think the reason you're getting so much crap is A. some people are slightly rude, and B. many of your statements are blatantly incorrect.
(Not to offend anyone... I said "rude" because while some assertions are incorrect, I didn't think they were OFFENSIVE to anyone, so it's "rude" to be a dick about it.)
I followed Alias the entire run and I'm trying to get into Lost the last season-it's not really my cup of tea-
ReplyDeleteDude... You've gotta get into Lost from the beginning. I can imagine a LOT of it is hard to follow if you don't.
I just started getting into it. I've watched all of season 1 and 2 and it's fascinating! I can't believe how "into it" I've gotten. Frankly, I think it's brilliant.
He did an okay job with Star Trek
I've gotta disagree strongly with that one. Not only was it crap, it completely abandoned its original fan base in order to gain a newer, "hipper," action-blockbuster based one.
I can't help it, I thought it was terrible.
In fact, it's the second installment in my own "Picking Apart Bad Movies" blog series. It's slow going... there's TOO much to say about the ones I'm doing so far, and it's difficult to make myself watch such bad films again so I can write while I'm watching.
Part one is "Poseidon" (and it's "number" one, deserving because there's no excuse for someone THAT good making something THAT bad).
Two is "Star Trek" (the latest),
and three is going to be "2012," if I can force myself to view it again.
Stop ragging on DeForest Kelley. Dude was robbed.
ReplyDeleteWV: swophym. Antiques Road Show for spouses.
Let's not forget the time honored cliche, "I'd like to thank.......who believed in me when noone else did."
ReplyDeleteIs Jeff Bridges still talking?
ReplyDeleteI tried to answer the last post about three hours ago-but I keep getting death threats and an asshole psychotic son of a very likely dirty as hell LAPD homicide detective (he has two sons who are convicted felons) who keeps trying to install malware on my computer which means I have to take all kinds of precautions and a lot of F2 starts after disconnecting the battery and the AC then pressing power plus all kinds of other safeguards. I received 84 such calls since 8 p.m. and Tamar Hirsch just texted me she has received 58 of those calls in the same time span. With her they hang up-she also gets a ton of 911 pages, which is what some of those 58 calls were about. It's at the point we really, really need help from someone with serious law enforcement, FBI connections, etc.-there are going to be bodies if it keeps up-we are clearly in a lot of danger-they also attached an extra fuse to Tamar's home electricity which is very illegal and fits in with the advanced hacking, etc.-I don't know why they would do that type of thing but these assholes are really dangerous and retarded-I've already been attacked and choked and Tamar may have the same issues-she was apparently abducted before Christmas-I don't know much more than that. I've written about it at the blog While In A Beverly Hills Plastic Surgery Center-Creative Writing and Love of Music here past the part about the records I'm still looking for:
ReplyDeletewww.myspace.com/370392338
One of our stalkers just got out of jail and he's right back to it. Same pattern with the other one whenever he goes to jail.
Anyway I wish I was kidding-I'm not.
Here's what I initially wrote in response to the music thing I eventually made into a document because I was offline while Emsi A Squared software swept for malware:
Those songs merit a spot in my collection because the collection covers all popular songs I bought or could/can find in all popular formats from the 20’s to present and is updated all the time. I like Donny Osmond just fine certainly he was marketed as bubble gum along with the entire family. Ken’s written about liking Gary Lewis & The Playboys who made some really good records-not bubblegum but definitely pop like most of the Lovin’ Spoonful stuff for another example from the 60’s.
There was an edit of I Heard It Through The Grapevine by CCR the single reached #43 in 1976 several years after its initial release. There probably was a radio edit promo single before then in response to demand by program directors.
Macarena is just one of many records that took a longer time to build than the norm, which happens fairly often in music but not as much with movies. I heard it as a hit single the second I heard it and was surprised it initially went nowhere-it was the Bayside Boys Mix hit version I heard as well, the one that eventually hit #1 for 14 weeks, not the original Spanish version that became a minor hit because of the Bayside Boys mix. A record out recently that might yet find life as a hit because its worthy is Corrine Bailey Rae’s Put Your Records On (peak so far #64, 2006)
There are a lot of artists out there that produce really good music and don’t have to rely on formula-Bruce Springsteen and Prince for two who have been around for a while. Current artists of this caliber include Eminem, Green Day, Alicia Keys, Lady GaGa, Katy Perry (whose first major label album is produced by Glen Ballard, who also produced Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill), Ludacris, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre and Taylor Swift who is a really good songwriter, especially for her age.
So Jeff Bridges won for best actor. I really like the song Hillbilly Bone (Blake Shelton/Trace Adkins) from that picture. Did the one that was up against the two Randy Newman songs win?
A little more aluminum foil on the noggin might help.
ReplyDeleteYeah well say whatever you want it's real-I've got a restraining order that does no good. It's all related to a fired nursing supervisor from Las Encinas who is apparently psychotic and her violent drug addict friends-one of which is the asshole son of this asshole LAPD homicide detective. Someone like that has probably framed people for murder. How do you raise two sons as felons without being a piece of dirt yourself? Huge payday for some attorney. So let's just see if the same thing happens to you at some point in your life you think it's all being made up-there are violent psychopath obsessive personalities out there and if you know anything at all about the trouble Las Encinas Hospital has been publicly battling since 2008 you would know the whole thing is very plausible.
ReplyDeleteSorry about the personal issues-saving our lives is a priority but I intend to drop the matter now. Were it not immediate I would never have brought it up here. We really do need some serious law enforcement help-the experience we have so far is unless someone is at your door with a gun, the local police couldn't care less.
ReplyDeleteThere's a 1966 western titled "Waco" where DeForrest Kelly spouts the immortal line "I'm not a doctor". He should have at least won the Best Supporting Award then and there, even if Star Trek wouldn't debut for another couple of weeks.
ReplyDelete“Fashion catastrophe! Kathy Bates and Penelope Cruz have the same goulashes!”
ReplyDeleteI KNOW you meant "galoshes" (boots)...but I couldn't help imagining Kathy Bates and Penelople Cruz walking down the red carpet with crockpots.
Really fun stuff and the best summary I have read of the Oscar hoopla. I am a rabid film fan and predicted all wins correctly. Just wish I had bet on it! I agree that The Hurt Locker absolutely should have won and I am glad for all women directors everywhere that she beat Cameron. His pretentious aroma precedes him. Thanks for the laugh.
ReplyDelete"Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteWhen watching the memorial segment, it always drives me crazy that the audience claps for some of the deceased but not others. It's like an after-life reminder that you were never one of the 'cool kids!' "
No, I like the applause for some and not for others. I treasured the fact that Charleton Heston, and ex-Academy President yet, received no applause the year he was in the dead people montage. They have to include all the ones they can cram in, butthe fact is, some are missed, and some we are glad to see gone, and that applause and lack thereof is a barometer of that. The mere smattering given this year to the revolting Michael Jackson did my shriveled heart good.
Geeze Rodney, overshare much? Sorry about your paranoia attacks, but if your're seriously a "writer", learn some self-editing. You do go on and on and on and on. I was getting carpel tunnel just scrolling past your tirades.
I think it's time for a posthumous Life Achievement Award for DeForrest Kelly. He clearly has a large groundswell of grassroots support here.
That may be-but the point is Tamar Hirsch and myself REALLY need serious law enforcement help beyond the local police-the things that are being done to us are felonious terrorist threats and apparently they could qualify as assault as well. The threats are very specific, very graphic and repeated over and over. They continue today-as usual there are about 50 such threats today I've received and there is no doubt in either of our minds they are real and they do want to do us serious harm.
ReplyDeleteHaha. That's nice brother.
ReplyDeleteHi Ken,
ReplyDeleteGreat piece and yes, they're certainly a bunch of tight arse individuals cos they're so insecure but with hindsight I think Martin and Baldwin did a pretty good job... or should i say the WRITERS did a pretty good job :-)
I hope you're reading these comments because one particular comment writer is providing so much material for a "psychological thriller based on one simple blog comment person type individual and the LAPD...Coming soon, Rodney" (it's like Rocky without the boxing, but with extra paranoia...just think of the sequel money) I'd watch it.