Decade old Oscar mix

Oscar weekend is nearly upon us. As I mentioned in a previous post, we have seen 60% of the Best Picture nominees which is a sight better than last year when the only Best Picture nominee we had seen was Up. The Oscars are kind of a Big Thing around here. It's probably less about the awards and more about the company and camaraderie that have come to characterize every year's Oscars. I enjoy the core group of people that we always get together with - they truly are family. We are always open to more people coming in (if they dare) because honestly, the more the merrier. I work this weekend but it's day shifts so it should be okay, plus I have Monday off so I won't have to worry about having to get to bed at a decent hour.

All the talk of Oscars got me to thinking about the year that we made an Oscar mix CD for everyone. I don't think we've done that in years, and let me tell you how it's NOT happening this year as I haven't the time to put something together like that. Anyway, I dug through my big old CD wallet that houses all my burned CDs from the early 2000s. I kind of quit burning CDs en masse when I got an iPod, and it's kind of fun sometimes to look through them as they all have cover art thanks to Microsoft Publisher. It didn't take me long to find the Oscar mix CD which was creatively titled "Oscar Mix 2001."


If that is not a motley mix, I don't know what is. A few points:

• The video mix of "What It Feels Like For A Girl" was undoubtedly a Napster of Audiogalaxy acquisition. A full mix of it was released on the CD maxi-single, but the edit is still unreleased on CD.
• The themes from Mommie Dearest and Supergirl are nods to movies that had been viewed at previous Oscar parties as it was our tradition to watch a movie that had been "snubbed" by Oscar.
• Two mash-ups in a row and four Madonna songs? My mixing skills have improved in ten years - that would never happen now.
• Any CD with "Pump Up The Jam" and "The Bad Touch" (do it like they do on the Discovery Channel) can't be all bad, right?
• I still kinda love that Samantha Mumba song.
• It kind of blows my mind that Heidi was probably very very early in her pregnancy with Anna when we made this CD.
  

I think I might have to make this into a playlist for my iPod. But first, I have to get my tax shit together. I'm not remotely ready for our tax appointment tomorrow.

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In an attempt to see as many Oscar nominated films as possible this year, Heidi, Caryle and I went out to see The Social Network at the dollar theater. (Jeff was there in spirit - his strep throat is back with a vengeance.) Yes, I know the nominations aren't out till January 25th, but I have a pretty good feeling that The Social Network will make the cut and wind up with one of the ten Best Picture nominations. I had almost seen this movie when I was in Kansas City at the end of October, but the $25 per ticket price tag put the kibosh on that - it was one of those AMC Cinema Suites theaters. Yeah, no dice - are you there to eat or watch the movie?? In the end, I'm glad I only paid a dollar to see it.

Being glad that I only paid a dollar to see it would imply that I didn't like it. On the contrary, the movie was certainly better than most. The screenplay was well written, the acting well done and the story more than engaging. I was always interested in what was going on and was never bored. I like most of David Fincher's movies, including the underrated Zodiac and the much maligned Alien 3 and was really interested in hearing the story of what would one day become the biggest social network in the world. So why, when the movie was over, did I feel so empty? It was like I'd just spent 2 hours watching a story that I enjoyed and was intrigued by, but when the lights came up in the theater, it was the cinematic equivalent of a fast food meal.

What I loved about the movie was its atmosphere - and in hindsight, that's what I love about most of Fincher's movies. I really felt like I was in college with Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin. One thing I will say is if that's Harvard, I'm glad I had no part of it. It certainly didn't reflect my college experience socially, academically or any other "ly" you can think of, but it felt very authentic. It was exciting to watch Facebook start out as "The Facebook" (which sounds like something my grandmother might have called it) and morph slowly into what many of us use on a daily basis. The flashback way of telling the story was a smart way to tell the story too, as this effectively spread the drama throughout the movie rather than having a big build up that explodes at the end.

Still, as good as it was, it left me feeling empty. And I think that is probably not the fault of The Social Network or any of the people involved in it. I think that what it really caused problems with it were my expectations of the film and how I watch movies nowadays. I was talking to Heidi after the movie was over and I reiterated my statement that I was glad I only spent a dollar for it. We got to talking and honestly, I am so happy to wait for just about any movie to come to either the dollar theater or DVD prior to seeing it. This feeling would shock the shit out of my 20-year-old self. In fact, if I had known that it was coming out on DVD on Tuesday, I probably would have just skipped it altogether as it required a Herculean effort just to get to the theater.

I was looking back over the movies I've seen in the last year and I don't think that I really and truly enjoyed any that were not at least a little bit campy, leaning hard into the so-bad-it's-good territory. And that's what the dollar theater is all about. It remains the site of the only movie I have actually heard people "boo" at the end of (Silent Hill - it deserved it.) And I think that in the end, what made it hard for me to completely enjoy the movie is that I felt like I "should" like it more. If there's anything that pisses me off pop culture-wise, it's being told what I should or shouldn't like. I can make up my own mind, thanks. And movies like this, that have a 99% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and are universally lauded for their perfection always make me a little bit leery.

Trust me, I don't need splashy effects or car chases to get me involved in a movie (they help, but aren't essential.) But at the end of The Social Network, I didn't really feel like I knew anybody any better than in the first frame of the movie. I also didn't feel like there was a terrible amount of development of the characters either. They pretty much were as they started, just richer.

So I remain conflicted on The Social Network. I think it might deserve a rewatch at home once the DVD is released. I won't mind if it gets the Best Picture Oscar (David Fincher is long overdue - he should have at least been nominated for Zodiac) but I'm only part way through Inception and I already like it better.

Post Oscars

Well, the Oscars are over for yet another year. Despite the fact that I can't remember a year in which I have cared less for the Oscars, I also can't remember a year when the party has been more fun. Perhaps this has something to do with the fact that it was more than just Heidi, Jeff and me. For years, the three of us were the extent of our Oscar party. Over the years, we've had other folks (Mary has been another frequent attender) and now Caryle is a welcome addition. But this year, we added Kathy (a friend we met through Caryle), Matt and his daughters (his wife was, unfortunately, ill) and a Jess (whose husband was, unfortunately, ill as well.) Food and good company were in great abundance. Even Anna, who is usually bored beyond tears or angling like crazy for attention from everyone was in heaven because of the presence of Matt's daughters, ages 7 and 5.

Surprisingly, the awards ceremony was not overcooked or bloated. I'm a fan of those film montages and always get a kick out of seeing footage from previous years' Oscars. I just love all those clips from the Academy Awards during the 70s! This year's ceremony made me want to add a lot of movies to my Netflix queue since I didn't really get to see many of the movies that we nominated this year. We did manage to make it to Michael Clayton at the dollar theater on Saturday night, which we enjoyed quite a bit. Very subtle and character driven. Clooney was quite good and he continues to astound me by the fact that he really has made a very successful transition from television acting to movie acting. That is not an easy transition to make successfully. Additionally, he continues to provide hope to men like me because he just seems to look better the older he gets despite a significant amount of gray hair. Believe me, if you'd been going gray since 18, you'd feel the same way!

But the guests are gone now. Heidi's at work and Anna's at school so I'm enjoying some peace and quiet and the joy of having the house to myself. I love having people over, especially all the good friends we had yesterday. But because of my introvert, I enjoy the time of solitude after it's all done. I'm especially glad now that I'm not working till 2 today, even though it seems like I've been doing a lot of evening shifts these days.

Anyway, enough of that. Heidi did a post about her iMovies that she made for the Oscars, which is wonderfully written and gives great insight into how she writes her novels. The movies are basically 6 minute mash-up trailers, and she has them embedded on her blog, but I thought I'd do the same since we don't get all the same traffic. She was very proud of herself (as she should be!)

Daddy Dearest (Joan and Denethor - a love that dare not speak its name.)


8-5:30 (which casts Zod, Non and Ursa from Superman II as the good guys and some very unexpected people as the bad guys!)