A little TV on in the background this afternoon, and at one point, I am urged to rush out so that I can "Own this Oscar-winning movie on DVD today!" The movie in question is Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. I didn't see it, but I might want to--I've got nothing against it per se. And yet, across the screen in small print as I hear this exhortation, I learn that LSSUE won the Oscar for Best Makeup.
I don't object to Academy Awards that reward the hard work of all the people behind the scenes--it takes a village to make a movie. But c'mon. How far are we away from the day when some studio literally hires some guy named Oscar, whose job it is to "nominate" movies for something meaningless, so that every movie they advertise is "Oscar-nominated"? If the studios are hiring the same marketing flacks responsible for telling us about the varying amounts of flavor present in the largely flavorless bottles of water that pass for American beer, then it shouldn't be too much longer.
That is all.
Good point, but it is a pretty good movie. Perhaps a rental other than one to buy, but worth seeing for sure.
Oh, I still want to see it, but that kind of stuff does usually drop something down my list a ways...
I brew the beer I drink.
I watched Ebert and Roeper for some reason on Friday night, and oddly, the packaging of LSSUUE claims that it received 2 thumbs up. However, Ebert replayed his recap from that week, and the movie actually got 2 thumbs down. I'm wondering if the misprinted cover will be pulled, and if so will it become a collector's item?