The Oscars: random thoughts/semi-live blogging

I’m starting this at 10:30pm (eastern time) on the dot.

Random thoughts as of 10:30pm:

1. The simpler, less extravagant Oscars are a plus.

2. Heath Ledger winning The Oscar was a powerful moment in Oscar history.

3. Bill Maher is an awful, awful comedian – I hesitate to even call him a “comedian.” Damn, he sucks. I mean, he really, really sucks. What an arrogant, terrible human being.

4. I’ve enjoyed the comedy so far – Seth Rogen, Ben Stiller, and Tina Fery come to mind.

5. The opening was pretty damn good.

6. I am ashamed of how behind I am this year when it comes to movies.

7. What is the deal with Hoffman’s hat?

10:35pm

Will Smith was a good choice. And Slumdog Millionaire is looking good for the win.

10:55pm

I really enjoyed the last acceptance speech (score for Slumdog Millionaire) – why? Because the guy finished with “God is great.” In your pompous face, Bill Maher!

11:06pm

Hugh Jackman has been a good host.

11:16pm

Roy Schneider, Isaac Hayes, Charlston Heston, and Paul Newman… where was Heath Ledger?

11:20pm

Boyle just won Director.

11:32pm

Kate Winslet has won Best Female Actor.

11:47pm

Sean Penn just gave one hell of an acceptance speech – I’ll be sure to post it ASAP.

11:56pm

Slumdog wins Best Picture. I was very pleased with The Oscars this year. Sean Penn > Bill Meyer.

Milk

Go see it. Not only is it a great film, it’s all too timely with the passage of the bullshit, un-American Prop 8 in California.

Valkyrie

At it’s best, Valkyrie is a well-intentioned thriller with a good cast. Does it thrill? Yes. Anyone that is even slightly versed in history knows how this one ends: (SPOILER!!!) Tom Cruise doesn’t kill Hitler. The accuracy of the rest of the film is up for debate.

At it’s worst. Valkyrie is a muddled, poor attempt at a politically heavy World War II film. I think the Nazis were modeled after those in Indiana Jones. And I couldn’t help but notice a bit of irony in the story-telling: a major theme of Valkyrie is that not all Germans were evil. However, only the members of the S.S. and those close to and including Hitler have German accents. Just a little subtlety that bothered me.

Valkyrie doesn’t give you much to cheer about, but it doesn’t give you much to boo about either.

C +

Note: I’ll be posting a review for Milk soon, unless someone beats me to it, which would be fine.

Coming soon: Milk

Another film I am already anticipating: the story of Harvery Milk, starring Sean Penn and Josh Brolin (who plays George W. Bush in Oliver Stone’s W., which comes out tomorrow).

The synopsis of Milk (provided by IMDB):

After moving to San Francisco, the middle-aged New Yorker, Harvey Milk, became a Gay Rights activist and city politician. On his third attempt, he was elected to San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors in 1977, making him the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in the USA. The following year, both he and the city’s mayor, George Moscone, were shot to death by former city supervisor, Dan White, who blamed his former colleagues for denying White’s attempt to rescind his resignation from the board.

This is an important film and I hope that it lives up to its full potential. Milk will be in theatres Dec. 5th.

Visit the site and watch the trailer.

UPDATE: I’m placing this “update” of sorts here because I breifly mentioned Oliver Stone’s W. in this post. Looks like I’m going to be let down by another political thriller (why can’t I get another Syriana?) – W. went from around a 70% on RT to a 55% today. Sounds like the film is just too cheap in its attacks and too shallow in its story telling. I’ll still probably see the film, just not tonight (W. opens today).