I had almost forgotten -- this is Oscar Week. This Sunday approximately one tenth of the nation will tune in to see the ceremonies. The only people who actually seem to care are those in the industry and the "critical community" who get paid to watch films and write about them.
Michael Medved explains why the Oscars don't interest us much anymore. His argument can be boiled down to a few propositions. The proliferation of media has fragmented our common culture, blockbuster movies used to reflect the common culture and so did the Academy awards. Now movies are a niche entertainment, produced for small, carefully targeted audiences, and few people find much to interest them in the ceremonies celebrating those films. Read the whole thing here -- there's much wisdom in it.
For what it's worth -- I think "No Country for Old Men" should win best picture; Daniel Day Lewis should win for best actor; "Juno" should win something major; and beyond that I just don't care, although I did like Josh Brolin's work in "No Country".
