Another Oscar Update

I just finished watching The Social Network and was quite surprised. It was one of the three Best Picture nods I had been avoiding like the plague and originally said I would give it twenty minutes and then whip it off. Twenty minutes came and went and I was still glued to it. The characters are all horrible people...but they're interesting. They all talked about all situations as if they were high risk deals despite they were mainly working on one man's initial investment in this...imaginary company. It's still imaginary. And for all this fascination (and wonderful dialog), it gets my vote for Best Adapted Screenplay. I mean, let's remember, it was written by the same man who gave us "The truth? You can't handle the truth."

I do still think it is a bit of a novelty film, mostly because it was shot on the RED and all the cinematography was only showing off its pretty-ness with little emphasis on its relation to the story. I suppose in a way it does since both deal with new innovations and the future of media, but that's far too esoteric to appreciate on a purely visual level. It also made me hyper-aware of my activity online- a thing I never like to think about. The internet really is the new television at this point. It is the opium of the masses. As Howard Beale said, it's part of the boredom killing business. Also, I could blatantly tell which parts were filmed at Wheelock and NOT Harvard. It was kind of hilarious if you know the two school at all.

Also watched The Fighter today which brings my total of Best Picture nods to five out of ten. That's not bad and I have two more on my computer- Black Swan and Winter's Bone. The former (from my observation) is the darling of the art school and the latter was hailed as the best picture of the year by NPR- two very reliable sources.

2010 was a good year for cinema. I really have no idea from the five I've seen which will get the grand prize. I even think Toy Story 3 has a reasonable shot. I was about to say the first should have been nominated, and even win, in the 1996 Academy Awards but then saw The Usual Suspects came out that same year and wouldn't have stood a chance...if that was nominated as well. For those of you playing at home, Braveheart won that year. Fuck you Mel Gibson. You know your little epic really can't stand a chance against Kevin Spacey.

It's snowing. Again. Dear God.