Ever since Bonnie and Clyde, the film that is the most responsible for making me a life-long movie-buff, lost the 1967 Oscar to In the Heat of the Night, I have learned to live with the near certainly that my Oscar preferences are generally not shared by the Academy.
It is in that spirit that I offer the following Oscar picks.
Best Picture
In my opinion, Zero Dark Thirty and Lincoln tower above the other choices. The remainders on the list are all good, but Zero Dark Thirty and Lincoln are great films that will stand the test of time. The favored picture, Argo, is quite good. I have seen it twice. However, not only is not the best film this year, it is not even the best Ben Affleck film. I think that The Town and Gone Baby, Gone are better films. The problem with Argo is that the first 3/4 of the film are competent, but not outstanding. The last section of the film is very exciting and offers a palpable emotional release, but it also offers up a healthy serving of pure Hollywood hokum, depicting events that didn't actually occur all for the sake of dramatic emphasis.
If I were a voting member I would weigh in with Zero Dark Thirty. No film affected me more this year than Kathryn Bigelow's story of the decade-long hunt for Osama Bin Laden. Bigelow didn't have to spice up the ending to manipulate the audience. The truth was dramatic enough. As a bonus, it is the most effective feminist film in, well, maybe ever.
Best Director
This is an easy one. Affleck isn't even nominated. Steven Spielberg for Lincoln going away.
Best Actor
If any win is a lock this year, then it is this one. If Daniel Day-Lewis for Lincoln does not win, then it will be a big upset. In this case the conventional wisdom gets it right. His performance is preternaturally authentic. In future years when we think of Lincoln, we will have Day-Lewis' portrayal in mind.
Best Actress
My pick is Jessica Chastain for Zero Dark Thirty. Chastain pulls off an amazing feat. She portrays an unsympathetic character who has an almost reptilian, emotionless obsession for achieving a single goal and does so without alienating the audience. It is a difficult task that she pulls off magnificently. However, Jennifer Lawrence will probably win for Silver Linings Playbook. I liked Lawrence's performance in this, but I can't help but feel as if she got the nomination for one pivotal scene in which she wows the boys with her impressive knowledge of Philadelphia Eagles football.
Best Adapted Screenplay
Lincoln. Tony Kushner's screen adaptation of Doris Kearns Goodwin's Team of Rivals is a masterpiece.
Best Original Screenplay
Zero Dark Thirty. Mark Boal's journalistic style serves him well in this two-and-a-half hour procedural. It probably won't win because of all of the (mostly silly in my opinion) controversy about its portrayal of torture.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Scarborough/Krugman Smackdown Follow-up
Since I posted on Joe Scarborough's witless response in Politico to Paul Krugman's appearance on Morning Joe, much as occurred. Scarborough's article stimulated something of an Internet firestorm.
First, Paul Krugman responded directly to Scarborough's article. And again.
Next, Jon Chait weighed in on the controversy. In the post "Wow, Joe Scarborough Doesn’t Understand Economics at All", the summary quote is "On virtually every single fact here, though, Scarborough is wrong." Then, Scarborough responded to Chait and Krugman both on Morning Joe and Twitter. The relevant discussion begins at about the 5:30 point.
Next, Chait responded directly to Scarborough, including Scarborough's Tweet in which he hilariously (completely unintentional) wrote "Childish insults and skewed graphs liberals make up on their mom's PowerPoint does not change reality. Facts-and math-are stubborn things."
This is all very entertaining. Chait's analogy between this flap and Scarborough's short-lived public feud with Nate Silver, which ended in Scarborough conceding everything that Silver had claimed and (sort of) apologizing. Of course, there is no single illuminating event, such as the results of an election, that will offer as clear and opportunity to test Scarborough's position. Too bad.
First, Paul Krugman responded directly to Scarborough's article. And again.
Next, Jon Chait weighed in on the controversy. In the post "Wow, Joe Scarborough Doesn’t Understand Economics at All", the summary quote is "On virtually every single fact here, though, Scarborough is wrong." Then, Scarborough responded to Chait and Krugman both on Morning Joe and Twitter. The relevant discussion begins at about the 5:30 point.
Next, Chait responded directly to Scarborough, including Scarborough's Tweet in which he hilariously (completely unintentional) wrote "Childish insults and skewed graphs liberals make up on their mom's PowerPoint does not change reality. Facts-and math-are stubborn things."
This is all very entertaining. Chait's analogy between this flap and Scarborough's short-lived public feud with Nate Silver, which ended in Scarborough conceding everything that Silver had claimed and (sort of) apologizing. Of course, there is no single illuminating event, such as the results of an election, that will offer as clear and opportunity to test Scarborough's position. Too bad.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Why are Republicans so Ideological?
A recent PPP survey reveals an interesting dichotomy between Democratic and Republican views of the media.
The headline of this survey was that Fox News hit a new low for trust. 46% of all Americans surveyed said that they did not trust Fox, compared to 41% who reported that they did trust the Rupert Murdock network.
However, what interests me more are the results broken down by political party. Not surprisingly, Republicans trust Fox while Democrats -44 (22/66) and independents -24 (32/56) don't. In fact, Republicans tend not to trust any news source other than Fox. Indeed, it is the intensity of the Republican commitment to Fox that makes it simultaneously the most mistrusted and the most trusted source for news.
What is more surprising are Democratic attitudes. If Democrats were a mirror image of Republicans, then you would expect them to trust MSNBC the most. MSNBC has embarked on a clear strategy designed to appeal to liberal viewers and opinion-based programming. However, the survey shows that Democrats rate MSNBC third behind NBC and far behind PBS.
In the late 1980s there were of series of books published attempting to expose and criticize a liberal bias in higher education (The Closing of the American Mind, Illiberal Education, Tenured Radicals, etc.). At the time I was sympathetic to this critique because I sympathized with the thesis that all of these books shared. They argued that many professors in higher education--especially in the humanities--had abandoned the very concept of objective truth and politically neutral scholarly excellence. Furthermore, once you abandon those standards higher education becomes little more than an exercise in vocational training and political indoctrination.
It is ironic and more than a little depressing that the conservative media movement that began in the early 1990s has embraced as their own an idea that they used to condemn in almost apocalyptic terms. True, academia and the media are not the same, but the quality of both depend upon a fair and accurate investigation, analysis, and reporting of information. Goose sauce meet gander sauce.
The headline of this survey was that Fox News hit a new low for trust. 46% of all Americans surveyed said that they did not trust Fox, compared to 41% who reported that they did trust the Rupert Murdock network.
However, what interests me more are the results broken down by political party. Not surprisingly, Republicans trust Fox while Democrats -44 (22/66) and independents -24 (32/56) don't. In fact, Republicans tend not to trust any news source other than Fox. Indeed, it is the intensity of the Republican commitment to Fox that makes it simultaneously the most mistrusted and the most trusted source for news.
What is more surprising are Democratic attitudes. If Democrats were a mirror image of Republicans, then you would expect them to trust MSNBC the most. MSNBC has embarked on a clear strategy designed to appeal to liberal viewers and opinion-based programming. However, the survey shows that Democrats rate MSNBC third behind NBC and far behind PBS.
- PBS +61 (72/11)
- NBC +45 (61/16)
- MSNBC +39 (58/19)
- Fox +55 (70/15)
- PBS at -21 (27/48)
- NBC -48 (18/66)
- CNN -49 (17/66)
- ABC -56 (14/70)
- MSNBC -56 (12/68)
- CBS -57 (15/72)
- Comedy Central -58 (8/66)
In the late 1980s there were of series of books published attempting to expose and criticize a liberal bias in higher education (The Closing of the American Mind, Illiberal Education, Tenured Radicals, etc.). At the time I was sympathetic to this critique because I sympathized with the thesis that all of these books shared. They argued that many professors in higher education--especially in the humanities--had abandoned the very concept of objective truth and politically neutral scholarly excellence. Furthermore, once you abandon those standards higher education becomes little more than an exercise in vocational training and political indoctrination.
It is ironic and more than a little depressing that the conservative media movement that began in the early 1990s has embraced as their own an idea that they used to condemn in almost apocalyptic terms. True, academia and the media are not the same, but the quality of both depend upon a fair and accurate investigation, analysis, and reporting of information. Goose sauce meet gander sauce.
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