2010 Oscars: BOR-ing

First, I didn't watch the Oscars yet. I watched a few minutes when Supporting Actor was on, but that's it. They are taped and I will skim through them to see, mostly, how Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin did. I will say that all this "Oscar season" article writing, campaigning, and guessing who will win - along with the 10 million other award shows preceding the Oscars and "predicting" of how the Oscars will fall out - has made the Oscars themselves BORING. I didn't even care to watch b/c you already knew who would win...Hurt Locker, Kathryn Bigelow, Sandra Bullock, Mo'nique, Jeff Bridges, Christoph Waltz, Avatar for all the tech awards, blah blah blah.

I will say these things about it though...

• I, obviously, did not see all the main movies in the nomination list although a bunch of them I'm dying to see and they are mostly coming up my Netflix list now (Up in the Air, Precious, etc)
• Hurt Locker was really good and intense. But, I have to say I did not finish watching it with a wave of "This has got to win awards it was so good". Don't get me wrong...I really liked it, but to me the war genre is exemplified by Saving Private Ryan, Platoon, Band of Brothers. This movie had a lot of great build up, but it didn't completely blow me away.
• Avatar was amazing to watch and deserves all the technological awards out there. The sheer magnitude of this project should be recognized. But, let's face it...the story was predictable and just ok. I'm glad it didn't win Best Picture.
• Sandra Bullock...I don't DISLIKE her, but she just seems to pull out kind of old hat, boring movies in my opinion. She would never draw me to a movie nor would I expect any mind-blowing acting performance from her. I realize that might not be fair, but I consider her an average actress who hasn't really had a role that seemed extremely challenging. I also have not even been a little inclined to see Blind Side. It looks corny to me and not the awe-inspiring sports movie (a la Hoosiers) you would want it to be. I felt unfair about judging her and then the clip of Blind Side just didn't change my mind. I guess I'll have to see it now to confirm/dispel my opinion. On the other hand, she does seem like a totally down to earth cool chick in real life and I've enjoyed interviews with her in the past.
• I liked Christoph Waltz in Inglorious Basterds. I didn't see the other performances so I guess I'm ok with this right now.

A few other points...

• I saw Julie & Julia last week. I liked it, but come on people. Meryl Streep is a wonderful actress but do we have to nominate her for EVERYTHING????
• Up was pretty good, but Best Picture nomination? Really?
• Why even have an animation category? It always seems like every animated movie makes it in every year. Princess and the Frog for an Oscar? I don't think so. Maybe the music...that was pretty good; but certainly not Oscar-worthy.
• We also saw District 9 a couple of weeks ago. Really good, but NOT OSCAR WORTHY. Original, yes, and I give originality a lot of consideration b/c most movies are predictable and already done. I could see it's nomination for the Screenplay category, no problem. But Best Picture? No way.

It doesn't seem so special to win an Oscar these days b/c I don't think they accurately award people and films fairly. They give the win to someone who hasn't gotten one and deserves one even if they are giving it to them for the wrong movie (Ex 1: Denzel Washington - got it for Training Day, should have for Malcom X or Philadelphia; Ex 2: Jeff Bridges - is Crazy Heart really his best role?; I'm sure with some thought I could come up with a million more examples of this practice).

That's it for now. After I watch the show I will comment on Alec & Steve, any boring/notable Thank Yous, and the outfits of course. I don't watch Red Carpet anymore b/c honestly if it's not Joan Rivers or Kathy Griffen, why bother.