Day: March 5, 2006

After the end of the Oscars, I watched Thursday’s Colbert Report, and Stephen Colbert picked all five of the top awards correctly, using The Da Colbert Code. Funny segment, though I couldn’t find a link on the website (yet?). Of course, his faux conservative schtick meant he couldn’t choose Brokeback Mountain, which helped him keep his sheet clean.

Each of these montages during the Academy Awards seems to make a plea to the audience to keep watching movies. There is an insistence that the DVD isn’t enough, with either a bit of nervous laughter or earnest plugging (the president of the MPAA). Where’s the self-confidence? None of us want to listen to the insecurities of the industry. If you’re watching the Oscars, you care (at some level) about movies. Whether you care — or should — about the distribution of this entertainment is debatable. I understand the value of promotion to an existing audience (“Must See TV” anyone?), but don’t do it with apology.

Only took me six years to watch O Brother, Where Art Thou? (Metacritic score of 69), and four months of a stuck Netflix queue.

I enjoyed it. Almost makes me want to re-read The Odyssey, just to pick up the references. The connections are not hidden, but there were several moments when I’m sure there were pointers I missed.

On a web note… I mention this all too often: the official movie site is long gone. Why, for a movie made in 2000, would you let the website lapse, even if it lives only to sell the DVD?

I’m watching the Academy Awards presentation. Not sure if George Clooney was the best candidate for Supporting Actor, but quite a range all the same. I’ve missed (and plan on continuing to) his Spy Kids contributions, but several fun movies in the mix.

Read the quote below from The New York Times article “In Baby Boomlet, Preschool Derby Is the Fiercest Yet“:

After years of decline, the number of children under 5 in Manhattan, where the most competitive [pre-school] programs are located, increased by 26 percent between 2000 and 2004, according to census estimates. Yet the number of slots has not kept apace.

Replace “Manhattan” with “San Francisco.” Rinse. Repeat.