Straight Man Watching

According to the stellar reporting of Guy Adams, a reporter for the Independent in Great Britain, "Hugh Jackman performed a song and dance routine in a top hat, carrying a cane. But some critics wondered if the appeal of People magazine’s “sexiest man in the world” would extend much beyond the event’s core audience of housewives and gay men." As a movie loving straight man with absolutely zero problem with housewives and gay men, I take serious offense to that statement (besides the bleeding inaccuracies contained within the rest of the article regarding who and who did not show up to the ceremony...which subsequently has been removed in the less than 10 minutes it took to write this blog posting).

So it was a new year for Oscar. Not necessarily having the time to go see every film nominated this year, I saw a few and had my favorites going into the night. I was unhappy that Mickey Rourke did not win for his role in The Wrestler, but can understand why Sean Penn did. As Penn said in his own words, Hollywood is full of "commie homo-loving sons-of-guns". I really cannot wait to see Milk and Slumdog Millionaire. Movies that garner the type of award season hype they did are usually worthy of watching at least once.

As a devoted lover of the film industry and the escape it provides for everyday human beings, the Academy Awards are the Super Bowl of film. For years the Academy has been shuffling in comedians to fill Billy Crystal's shoes and had over-extended the format to a point where the sheer length of the show was mind numbing. Tonight's show was different. It was like something we had never seen before. It was a logical approach to film and it spelled it out for the casual viewers. Hugh Jackman has a likability that I am convinced is completely due to his Australian accent. If he used the Wolverine accent, nobody would watch. The one thing I was completely impressed with was the Academy's decision to include former winners in the presentation of the acting awards. The stars they were able to bring together was something I will soon not forget. When Adrien Brody, Robert DeNiro, Michael Douglas, Anthony Hopkins, and Sir Ben Kingsley walked onstage to present the Best Actor award I actually said out loud to an empty living room, "WOW!".

So to all the nominees and winners: Thank you for doing what you do that gives us a reason to keep watching. I have not seen all the films yet but it is only a matter of time. Keep giving us the escape so many of us enjoy.