Category: Rants and Raves

What in the holy hand grenade of Antioch is The Academy of Motion Pictures doing now? Their never-ending quest to stem the tide of declining ratings is tied to a Baby Huey-sized anchor around its neck that is choking the life out of the yearly event. They have lost total sight of the fact that awards shows, while not quite a thing of the past, are not something today’s world needs the way it used to. Sure, everyone complains about the show’s length. It frequently goes to four hours, and no one seems to be sure why. Even when the Academy makes a silly decision such as relegating the honorary award tributes to a separate ceremony, they gain nothing in shortened time length. Instead, they fill the show with lame stunts designed to go ‘viral’ that mostly don’t work, and they spend time showing scenes from all 8-10 Best Picture nominees. And that isn’t the biggest problem, one the Academy still hasn’t figured out yet; there are no surprises. Maybe if you are not an avid film watcher, and if you are not, why are you even watching this show, you might find it surprising that the winner of the BAFTA, Golden Globes, several Critics awards, and SAG trophy, just won an Oscar for Best Actress, but it isn’t surprising to most of us. There are so many awards now, all presented before the Oscars, that there is simply nothing left to be surprised about. Maybe once every five years