Centerfield

I am very proud of humanity for producing this inspired body of work and performances -
Both entertaining and thought provoking.

This level of entertainment is the result of cooperation and collaboration.

Imagine if our governments were equally inclined.

Posted by: Paul at January 31, 2006 01:34 PM

Wait a second... Where is Team American World Police? Was that last year?

Inspired body of work and performances? Whew! I dunno about that Paul, but admittedly I have some movie watching to do. Looks like a liberal activism fest, knowing what I know now so far.

Posted by: Mathew at January 31, 2006 02:11 PM

Looks like a liberal activism fest, knowing what I know now so far.

We already said it was the Oscars, Mathew. No need to be redundant...

Posted by: PatHMV at January 31, 2006 04:13 PM

Can't we have one discussion about movies, without getting into how liberal the movies are?

No, I suppose we can't.

Posted by: Rafique Tucker at January 31, 2006 05:57 PM

I'm game. What movies did you like last year? Any of 'em on the Oscar lists?

Posted by: Tully at January 31, 2006 06:04 PM

Of course, it's kinda tough when the movies themselves are so often overtly political. Still, my nods go to CRASH and CAPOTE this round. CRASH was a great stereotype-busting think piece, if grindingly overt, and CAPOTE was just plain damn good.

I also think MUNICH should be booted off the Best Picture list and replaced with WALK THE LINE. Or PRIDE AND PREJUDICE.

Posted by: Tully at January 31, 2006 06:36 PM

Hey, I liked Brokeback Mountain and Capote, Rafique... and I'm not sure I would really characterize Capote as all that liberal.

Posted by: PatHMV at January 31, 2006 06:43 PM

That's true, Patrick, but he was openly gay at a time when it was not always safe to be so, and he revolutionized the 'true crime' genre. Still haven't read Ande Parks' terrific graphic novel Capote In Kansas, or have you?

OK, shameless plug over. Back to your regularly scheduled programming...

Posted by: Blue Jean at January 31, 2006 09:51 PM

I was referring more to Capote the movie, not Capote the person. To be honest, all I know about Capote the man is pretty much what was in this movie.

Posted by: PatHMV at January 31, 2006 10:16 PM

I'll forgive you, Pat, since I know you're not a literature freak like me. But Parks is a friend of a friend, so I thought I'd pipe up for him.

Posted by: Blue Jean at January 31, 2006 10:37 PM

Rafique,

I agree and plan to have the discussion once I see them which I hope to do before the Oscars. What I meant to say is that it seemed they were picked not because of their quality, but because of their message, a statement I will take back if I see the movies and like them. In general, I DO believe there is too much whining about how liberal Hollywood is... That is like blaming the business community for being conservative.

Posted by: Mathew at January 31, 2006 11:39 PM

Mathew,

In general, I DO believe there is too much whining about how liberal Hollywood is... That is like blaming the business community for being conservative.

Or like saying that academia is so liberal or that the military is so conservative... Of course they are. If you look at the values associated with those communities, I just don't see how they wouldn't play out along those fault lines. Perhaps that's why we see that phenomena across different societies and cultures.

I can't speak on any of these movies, though. I confess that I have not yet seen a single one of the movies nominated for Best Picture... For that matter, I've only managed to see Million Dollar Baby from last year's nominees. The sad thing is, I really do like watching movies-- I guess I've been watching too much Spring Break Shark Attack, and looking forward to Snakes On A Plane!

Posted by: Bobby at February 1, 2006 05:33 AM

I'll second Tully on Crash, my wife and I both enjoyed it quite a bit.

And I'll even go so far as to say that it's a movie centrists can appreciate because it takes such an honest "warts and all" look at Americans of various colors and socioeconomic backgrounds. Ultimately it's go a pro- "content of your character" philosophy message.

I'm also looking forward to catching Capote, both because I read In Cold Blood and so appreciate its historical significance to literature, and because I think Hoffman is a tremendous actor. I really enjoyed the film he was in with Deniro where PSH plays a transvestite speech therapist and Deniro a blue-collar type who had a stroke. Flawless. I know this got panned in some quarters (6.2 stars at imdb, B– from yahoo) as corny and formulaic, but my wife and I thought it was tremendous. A couple of very skilled actors right there.

What's the scoop on Munich, I heard a snippet of someone saying the ending misrepresented the true views of one of the principle, but I never followed up. Anyone know?

FWIW, a CNN poll recorded that 3/4 of respondents hadn't seen ANY of the nominees.

Posted by: bk at February 1, 2006 09:19 AM

I find it curious that three of the five nominees for best movie have some "inspiration" in real life events.

This phenomena has been true at the SAGs and the Golden Globes this year as well. Is this a new thing? I wonder, over the course of the industry, how many best movie nominees could claim some basis in reality.

Also, a friend pointed out to me that if Jake Gyllenhaal had been a woman, he would be up for best Actress, as oppossed to best supporting actor. His role in Brokeback was no different than, say, Witherspoon's in Walk the Line.

Is it time to reconsider how we give out our awards?

Posted by: StantheMan at February 1, 2006 03:15 PM

Keith Olberman ANNIHILATES Bill O'Reilly

Totally O/T, I know, but WOW that was hardcore!

Posted by: Patrick at February 1, 2006 06:08 PM

Yeah, Olbermann really hates O'Reilly. Maybe those ratings have something to with it. Olbermann's are about a fifth of O'Reilly's.

Posted by: Tully at February 1, 2006 06:23 PM

Oh, you mean like "Celsius 41.11"'s profits were only a tenth of "Fahrenheit 911"'s?

Posted by: Blue Jean at February 3, 2006 09:42 PM