Somniferous Oscar show

Monday, February 28, 2011

I thought Sunday night's Oscar Awards show was the most boring I have ever seen—and I have watched them for many years. The hosts were awful, he looked like he really didn't want to be there, she...well, what was that dreadful song she did so dreadfully?

The kids from Staten Island were pleasant, but the did not live up to the hype given them on New York stations. It was nice that Randy Newman won, but that song was weak compared to his earlier work, which I still love. Apropos love, there was Lena Horne, but YouTube amateurs could come up with a better tribute than the one they threw in there.

An afterthought—although it should not have been that: I was very pleased to see "Hævnen," a Danish film by Susanne Bier, receive the coveted statue. I have yet to see the film, but its on my list. Many years ago, when I lived in a downtown Copenhagen back house—past the garbage cans, three flights up, and a few blocks from the royal palace, Danish films were mostly ignorable. They had gone from Carl Dreyer's cutting edge (so to speak) "Joan of Arc" (starring Asta Nielsen), in the twilight of the silent era, to reach a nadir with "De Røde Heste" (the red horses) a film that starred—among others—a young actor with whom my mother had a brief fling, but that's all you need to know about that wasted celluloid. I lost interest in Danish films until 1987, when an Oscar went to, "Babette's Feast". It is based on a book by Isak Dinesen and it is as enjoyable today as it was  24 years ago. I get hungry just thinking about it.

Just my 2¢ worth.