I'd Like To Thank . . .

I've been thinking about all the awards shows recently. Did you know that one of the Emmy categories is for Best Production of an Awards Show or Dog Show as a Prime-time Special? And they have so many old actors and actresses on the daytime soaps that they are now giving an award for The Most Days Without an Accident.

The USA Today newsrag runs a story every time a new movie comes out about that movie's Oscar potential. It talks about why it might be a contender, who the competition is, why it deserves an award, what the sentimental factor is, and what its box office potential might be. That is way too much pressure on me, the movie goer.

I don't care whether Ben Affleck's career needs a shot in the arm via a major award or if Jack Nicholson should get one more while he is still alive. I'm not thinking about the second unit cinematographer or whether the Best Boy has the Best Grip on things. I just want to watch the movie.

It seems to me that Hollywood has gotten the cart before the horse. (BTW: Does the use of "before" in that last sentence imply "in front of" or "prior to"?) The best movies were probably made despite Hollywood's best efforts. Sure they can pump mega-bucks into certain flicks to virtually assure a big box office but they can't do that all of the time. What ever happened to everyone doing a good job because it is their job and then at some later date someone else saying, "You know, that giant monkey movie was the best one we saw last year. Let's all go to dinner and tell them what a good job they did."

Actors, carefully picking and choosing their roles based upon awards potential, sicken me. Like that loud-mouth weasel Sean Penn. In All the Kings Men he has chosen a project that is already famous as a great movie, it had a great performance by Broderick Crawford, and is based upon a great book. So Penn takes several years between projects to give himself time to run around the world bad-mouthing this country and our president and figures that the "right project" will make everyone forget all of that and pony up $30 for a night out with the Missus.

I think we would all enjoy TV and the movies a lot more if all of the actors and actresses would just shut up about their personal lives and politics and awards and . . . well, I don't know . . . act? We, the viewing audience, are asked to suspend reality when we watch a show or movie but are so bombarded with the behind the scenes crap, the actor's politics, and the writer's agendas before we see it, that it is difficult to see Willie Stark on the screen and not Sean Penn, the actor/activist, portraying Willie Stark.

The whole process has become too cynical. The success of a movie is measured in dollars -- not in laughter or tears, as it should be. Yes, money makes the world go 'round but every now and then we could use a little movie magic, as well.