Oscar talk

The Oscar noms were announced today, and controversy attends.  I expected Avatar to get the Best Picture and Best Director nods, and they were both deserved, but no nom for Zoe Saldana as Best Actress?  She practically carried the film, for Christ's sakes, and learned an entirely new language for the role besides.  It seems the Academy still hasn't gotten its head around the new technology that Cameron used -- even though a form of it has already been used in several films to this point, e.g. Andy Serkis as Gollum and Kong.  Sorry, Zoe -- you deserved better for this one.  Meanwhile, Meryl Streep got yet another nom for playing Julia Child, even though I haven't heard anyone say she did a particularly good job.  Sigh...

The other thing that jumped out at me was the inclusion of District 9 for Best Picture.  I enjoyed the film, but I'm not sure I'd put it on the short list for Best of the Year.  It's a remarkably dark and realistic allegory for the immigration debate, and for the way we dress up our species' uglier instincts in a larger defense of society's greater good, but really, it has huge plot holes and is almost sociopathic in its intent to make you feel crummy.  I thought it was the biggest surprise in the ten-picture list.

About that list: I've heard from friends that ten pictures is too many for the Oscars, and it should have been left at five.  But really, over 400 movies are releases in theaters every year in this country -- choosing ten to be considered for the best is too much to handle?  Hard to believe...

Celebrity disasters

I certainly can't be the only one to feel a little queasy about the way America tends to focus its disaster relief efforts on only select crises.  I don't expect us to be able to help everyone the way they deserve to be helped, and certain factors -- politics, resources, cultural differences -- are going to play greater and lesser roles in who we help and how.  But this blog by Zane Fischer helped me put in perspective the way we tend to react in the media to coverage of international disasters.  I hate to say it, but we do tend to treat them like celebrities themselves.  Still not sure how to feel about it...