Pajiba

Dan, you're right about that last part. I too noticed that Renfro was left out of the mix when he himself died a week before Ledger. How do you think his family felt?
Other than that, this year, I was pleased with the Oscars, Jon Stewart was much better then last time, he was funny and made me laugh while cracking a Yom Kipper joke. And as I predicted, No Country beat the competition.
But where were the brief glimpses at the nominees shown throughout the night?

The Brad Renfro exclusion was disappointing, but expected. At least Renfro had a public profile to dismiss, every year the In Memoriam tribute is a bit of a wank anyway, as it leaves out scores of departed folk who contribute to the industry but are not famous enough for the audience to react to.

BSlim: There is no theory of evolution, only a list of actresses Tilda Swinton allows to live.

And say what you will about the montages, "Oscar's Salute to Binoculars and Periscopes" had me busting a gut.

I think one of the real issues for Oscar is that it seems to hate giving out too many awards for original characters. I had a feeling Marion Cotillard would win simply because she was in a biopic. In recent years, the winners have included Jaime Foxx- Ray; Charlize Theron- Monster; Helen Mirren- The Queen; Forest Whitaker- The Last King of Scotland; Reese Witherspoon- Walk The Line; Philip Seymour Hoffman- Capote; Cate Blanchett- The Aviator; Adrien Brody- The Pianist; Nicole Kidman- The Hours. And thats only through 2003.

The clear message from the Oscar voters seems to be that excellent skills at mimicry are better than bringing forth a brand new character.

Oh well, Jon Stewart still won my eternal devotion by bringing Marketa Irglova back out to let her do an acceptance speech. That was such a great moment.

Edith Piaf is one of the most famous singers in history. You don't hear the French asking who Ray Charles or Johnny Cash are.

Ellen Page was excellent, but I feel the hype over her performance has more to do with the calibre of other actresses her age. When Scarlett, Kirsten and Keira are your peers it's not hard to rise above them all. If she wasn't such an anomaly in that respect, I believe her role in Juno wouldn't be nearly as praised. It was great and all, but no doubt she'll one-up it in the future.

Collitard deserved this one. As did Swinton. At least as much as one can deserve the pile of bull-shit that is Oscar.

Page will have her moment, she's still young.

As long as she doesn't sign a contract with G. Lucas, she'll have enough shots at an Award.

The "Academy desperately wants to be classy" argument is a bit far-fetched.

No Renfro? *sob*

The Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor races were not competitive at all. It wasn't even Day-Lewis or Bardem's to lose. None of the other nominees had a chance.

The Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress races were the murky ones. You had a returning legend in Julie Christie fighting against a young French actress who is in a biopic, Oscar's favorite genre in rewarding acting, while just behind them was Ellen Page who everybody was starting to like as well as being in the most financially successful movie. Supporting actress was the most exciting because you really didn't know who'd win. Amy Ryan won majority of critics prizes, Ruby Dee won the SAG and was a sentimental vote, Saoirse Ronan is young and in a possible best picture darkhorse, Cate Blanchett would have won if the Academy Awards was held six months ago and had the Golden Globe while Tilda Swinton had the BAFTA but more importantly, was in a George Clooney movie.

I think, (think!) that only those who have been nominated/won/are 'members' get the into the montage. ...Maybe?

The memorial montage is limited to members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (it's the Academy's show, after all). Academy members are also the ones who do all the nominating and voting.

I doubt strongly that Bred Renfro was a member of the Academy.

A candidate for membership in the Academy is normally sponsored by at least two members of the branch for which the person may qualify. Each proposed member must first receive the favorable endorsement of the appropriate branch executive committee before his or her name is submitted to the Board of Governors for its approval. Individuals nominated for Academy Awards® who are not already members of the Academy are considered for membership without the need for sponsors.

http://www.oscars.org/academy/history2.html

On a related note: Piaf herself did more opiates and alcohol than Britney and Amy combined. Remaining respected and admired for her singing talent above that, is definitley a sign of class.

Class is not a bad thing.

Thank you. Recently I've been trying to the think of the perfect word to describe Three 6 Mafia's "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp." And you're right. It's class.

All hail the QUEEN OF NARNIA, bitches. Tilda Swinton ALLOWS lesser actresses to live, just remember that.

This is brilliant. I suddenly have this image of Swinton sitting on a throne, coolly scrutinizing all the actresses as they walk up the red carpet. A nod and they're allowed to pass unscathed - a shake of the head and they end up like Hilary Swank and Mira Sorvino. Excellent.

Edith Piaf and classy don't really belong in the same sentence. Piaf was a drunk, a druggie, a loudmouth, and a generally crude woman. Even the beauty in her voice is not so much credited to grace, but to a certain twang. If more than one person at Pajiba had actually seen La Mome, you might realize how wrong your statement about "classiness" is.

Or maybe you wouldn't, because you'd be to busy watching Juno for the fiftieth time and pretending that it's anything more than a fun, heartwarming film.

I love you guys but you're a snobby bunch. I have never heard of Edith Piaf. Who cares?

Jesus fucking Christ, people. Has no one heard of hyperbole around here? I'm fairly confident that he didn't mean that LITERALLY no one has heard of Piaf. But the fact of the matter is she is not terribly well known anymore. That's the inference. Stop being so goddamned stubbornly literal.

And even if someone HASN'T heard of her... big deal. There are probably dozens, nay, HUNDREDS of incredibly talented musicians that you haven't heard of, and no one is condemning you for it.

Sheesh.

Hey hey Hey is this gonna get physical now? Ah?

Eh. I aint buying this whole "classy" thing either. It just doesn't fly. Marisa Tomei in "My Cousin Vinny" won because the Academy needed to feel classy? Come on.

Who, other than Ellen Page apparently, would have been the "unclassy" winner for the best actress/supporting actress award? I suppose you'd say Ruby Dee, Amy Ryan, and Laura Linney just because they weren't, uh, foreigners?

As noted above, bio-epics are all the rage with the Academy. Many American and foreign actors/actresses alike have won for such roles.

Fine, I can forgive Daniel for this piece, I'm gonna blame the lack of well placed and well defined irony/sarcasm marks in our common punctuation.

Another side note (I'm watching some arrival and party pictures): how cute are James McAvoy and Anne-Marie Duff?

Ugh. I agree with TK. Who cares about who has or hasn't heard of Edith Piaf? I mean Jesus, there are people who seriously have no idea that England is a goddamn island, or that it is actually composed of three different countries. Some shit just isn't that important, comparatively.

I think I need caffeine. Lots of it.

The Doors recorded one of Edith Piaf's songs, "Show Me the Way to the Next Whiskey Bar."

I also disagree with the "classiness" aspect. In my opinion, if they were going that route, then Atonement would've been nominated and won in all those categories. It seemed like a perfectly sterilized, agreeable period piece that the Academy loves. The fact that Ellen Page was nominated says a lot. It could've gone the other way and she could've been left out completely.

While music biopics seems to be an obvious choice for winners, I have no doubt that Marion Cotillard did a great job as Edith Piaf. I don't remember a whole lot of people saying that they saw The Pianist, and that didn't diminish Adrien Brody's much deserved win.

First, I won $50 from the Oscar pool so I enjoyed this show.

Second, England is a country; the United Kingdom is three different countries ;).

Third, snubbing Brad Renfro was heinous.

Fourth, the montages were crap. Clearly, they have stopped caring.

Fifth, Miley Cyrus is a scary succubus. I felt my soul being ripped from my body while she was on screen.

Sixth, did anyone else catch the Gary Busey assault on Ryan Seacrest and Jennifer Garner on E!? Classic.

Seventh, after watching the musical performances, I'm glad I skipped Enchantment.

Eighth, Norbit was robbed.

Ninth, why did Jessica Alba host the science awards? Does she know what science is?

Tenth, Tilda Swinton is not frightening; she is just perfect. Androgeny is in, frou frou... way out.

Eleventh, watching Katherine Heigl twitch and twitter, all orange and red, made me giggle with delight. She is ugly.

Twelfth, Edith Piaf reminds me of rice pilaf, which is delicious, so it's ok that Cottilard won.

That is all.

The reason for all the montages, is that they were part of Plan B if the writers strike was still ongoing and the actors wouldn't cross the picket lines. With about two weeks to go with Plan A (the usual Oscars with lots o' scripted stuff) they had to mesh the two together. So, there ya go, lots of montages.

Also, I have had a special place in my heart for Tilda Swinton ever since I saw The Ballad of Little Jo about 15 years ago. If you have not seen this film, add it to your Netflix queue/rent if from your local (hopefully independently-owned) video store.

Thanks Adere!

I'm stupid. You're not.

I was dead-even in my predictions last night.

First- The Bourne Ultimatum for BOTH sound awards? Whazzupwitdat? Nobody had the balls to give Transformers sound love.

Second- Jerry Fucking Seinfeld as the fucking bee to push the Bee Fucking Movie DVD. Arrgh, call the fucking Orkin man!

Third- Helen Mirren barely reading the card for Best Actor. Don't think she even looked. Then she almost bonked Day-Lewis on the head with that
thing.

PS Biscuit...Miller's Crossing is your least favorite Coen Bros. film? You're giving me the high hat!

I always thought the Oscars had a habit of awarding women who played prostitutes--Kate Winslet joked about it on Extras. I'm not too sold on the idea of Oscars going for class, personally.

Even if Cottilard hadn't won, the only American in that category was Laura Linney. The Supporting Actress category also had more non-Americans nominated (and Ruby Dee barely had any screen time).

I was just happy that Atonement won Best Original score (really, have typewriters always been that musical?) and that Jon Stewart was classy enough to bring back Marketa Irglova to finish her speech.

and that Jon Stewart was classy enough to bring back Marketa Irglova to finish her speech.

I was so happy to see him bring her out, especially after their performance. That song from Once was so gorgeous and moving, it was my favorite part of the telecast.

Wait wait wait....isn't Ellen Page foreign too?
She's Canadian, yes? So...er...why didn't she win then?

David: Jessica Alba hosted the science and technical awards to placate the heterosexual male geeks who comprise most of the sci/tech facet of the movie industry.

Skittimus, I don't know a lot about Edith Piaf, but I thought the song she was best known for was La Vie En Rose (hence the film title, hehe.)

Smithy, I loved her acceptance speech, too. She was one of the truly emotional winners there.

Skittimus: I believe Piaf's most well-known song is "Je Ne Regrette Rien."

Smithy: I would love to, but I enjoy my freedom too much to walk around ululating at the top of my voice. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good ululation as much as the next girl, but I don't enjoy getting hauled away to the funny farm.

I bet in BRITAIN I could ululate the Doctor Who theme and people wouldn't think I was mad. Well, mad in a Trekkie sort of way. But at least they wouldn't think I was doing a very poor imitation of DefCon 1.

tamatha - Tilda wasn't in "Ballad of Little Jo". You're thinking of Suzi Amis, who was likewise wonderful.

dan may have been wrong about edith piaf's anonymity but he hit the nail on the head when he said it's a movie noone has seen. the same, however, can be said for "there will be blood" which was the critics favorite but bored the hell out of the paying customers. the critics can be pleased that their exaggerated praise won the oscar for day-lewis, a great actor whose talents were barely required for the johnny one-note role of mr. plainview.it required no subtley, no range, just a moustache and a scowl. billy the butcher revisited.
tilda swinton was a deserving winner but why did she go out of her way to look so grotesque? that took real effort.
taken as a whole, the acceptance speeches were briefer and less embarrassing than in past years. a notable exception was diablo cody whose appearance left me wondering who the real author of " juno " is ?

Jeanne
Oh my god,you're right. All this time I thought it was Tilda.

/Hangs head in shame./

Thanks for the clarification.

I'm drawing a complete and utter blank... Tilda Swinton was in "Vanilla Sky"? I own the goddam thing and for the life of me, I can't remember her being in it...

Oh, simmer down now. I thought she was brilliant in Michael Clayton and her speech was easily the best of the night. But her ensemble was startling. Not as blindingly offensive as The Little Red Fire Engine that Kills Rainbows, but I was taken it aback.

Besides, she and Clooney are going to be in the next Coen brothers movie, Burn Before Reading. So that oughta be pretty good.

Hey, and instead of raging what ignoramusi we are about daring not to know who Edith Piaf is, why not extol her virtues? Like the smoky voice or the extensive drug abuse? She's like Amy Winehouse sans the crackwhore.

She's essentially the Frank Sinatra or Elvis of her country and it's not like she's from Zimbabwe.

Oh, HELL no you didn't just fucking go there.

So, it's because she's from France? Because she's from a European country, and not some backwater, uncivilized hole in Africa? THAT'S your standard? Because France is SO fucking superior? I'm sorry, but no. I'm not accepting that argument. She's famous because of her talent, and it's regardless of where she's from. The fact of the matter is, like it or not you pretentious asshats, she is NOT as famous as Billie Holiday, or Judy Garland. I get that you're upset that more people should know about her, but berating people, and, in fact, insulting an entire fucking COUNTRY, is no way to make your point, regardless of how pretentious and deluded that point may be.

Put it another way: Ibrahim Ferrer is from Brazil, and he's IMMENSELY talented, and in fact may well be the Sinatra of HIS country. Yet I'm not going to berate those who haven't had the luxury of being exposed to him - it's simply a fact. While it's unfortunate that probably the majority of the world hasn't heard of him, I'm not going to deem it unacceptable that someone is ignorant of his music, and then insult them.

Why don't you take your elitist, Euro-centric obnoxious attitude and shove it.

For some reason (boredom and the flu I guess) I watched this last night, and here's what I got out of it:
1. Heigl makes me uncomfortable.
2. Reeg makes me uncomfortable.
3. Daniel Day Lewis is sexy.
4. James McAvoy is sexy.

And you can take away my princess points, but I thought Chenowith and Amy Adams' performances were a little horrid.

TK-

Ibrahim Ferrer is from Cuba.

TK sorry to get your politically correct grad-school panties in a bunch by daring to insinuate that French icons might be on the short list of notables.

I do love that you first argue a) that we're all being too literal by picking apart the "no one has heard of her" line and then b) argue that the use of the example "Zimbabwe" is a clear example "euro-centrism" (a dead tip-off that you're an academic wanker who likes to throw people's "racist" assumptions in their face at every opportunity so you can sigh smugly when you hit the post comment button) even though in the same paragraph I indicated she's more notable than Zamfir - who's Romanian and last I checked from Europe. What if I had said "Luxembourg" or some other Western nation you would have had no issue? The point is the same. You can't scream for forgiveness on the literal level on one hand and then turn around and shout "stylistic concerns" on the other. Grow the fuck up and think about your arguments holistically

In the words of Barak Obama, you've gone into silly season. Rather than actually engage you've decided to cry "euro-centrism" and say you're better than everyone else which has little to no relevance as to the actual original statement being argued about. This betrays two things:

1) You're insecure about the fact that you DIDN'T know about her and areattempting to degrade her cultural value as a way justify that fact.
2) Even though you're calling people who say Edith Pilaf is culturally significant and famous "elitist" you're actually far more elitist than them by trumpeting your non-euro-centrism and "holier than thou" attitude.

Sorry TK, you lose at life.

Countdown to violence: 5...4...3...2...

People, seriously, can we go back to mocking celebrities? In particular, Rainbow Killer's ridiculously stupid looking outfit? She looked about 40 and orange-ish (although not as bad as Theron a few years ago)? Or Daniel Day-Lewis's wife and the barrel of crazy that she was sporting? On another note, Cameron Diaz is NOT aging well. Put on some damned makeup woman!!

Remember the rule of Pajibadome "two posters enter one poster leaves." However, I'd like it if we followed Spartan rules: come back with your shield, or on it.

Wow, Sirkickyass, that's a lot of assumptions made about me. It's actually somewhat impressive. For the record, I've never been to grad school.

In the interest of full disclosure, I both know of, and enjoy, Piaf's music. I'm not saying her music isn't significant, and I never said those who like her are elitist. That wasn't my point. My point was that her talent and significance is not relevant to her country of origin. Perhaps I oversimplified, but I took your post to say that we should know who she is because she's famous AND French, which, yes, I find to be somewhat euro-centric. I have no interest in "degrading her cultural value" - in fact, at no point in ANY of my posts did I insult or belittle her. And had you used Luxembourg as your example, I would have made the same point, albeit not as vehemently and, I admit, rudely.

As far as my fury over your using Zimbabwe - what can I say. I'm South African, and things that I perceive to belittle my fellow African countries piss me off. So while I'm willing to concede that I went off the deep end there, I'm also still maintaining that there is no reason to expect that everyone know and appreciate Piaf's work... especially when we're discussing it on an American website with a mostly American readership. Perhaps in the circles you travel in, she is very well known... but I suspect that the average American, for better or for worse, and regardless of what people may think about "the average American," will be ignorant of her, despite whatever contributions she made.

Anyway, I lost me temper, which I had predicted earlier was going to happen today. But, let's admit, your posts have been pretty goddamned antagonistic as well, not to mention the sheer volume of your assumptions about me is, frankly, staggering.

To hbomb: I don't have the flu, and I was still bored.

Oh, and just checking -- was Jon Stewart supposed to be funny?

My, what's that alluring scent?

A hint of jasmine... no, no that's not... why, that's anger! That's anger I'm smelling! PURE, UNFILTERED ANGER!! GRAARGH!

BSlim, "I bet she was sticky" is EXACTLY what I thought when I saw her. Followed by "I'll bet they gotta either pressure-wash that seat for about twenty minutes or throw the sambatch out".

Someone check the dumpster. If it's there, we can sell it on eBay to pay off the sluice-traps and purple-neon license plates on the Murdertank.

I noticed Brad Renfro had been left out, but he was definitely in the SAG awards memoriam. The SAG awards memoriam was extra weird because Heath Ledger had died like a week before the awards and it was obvious that the memoriam had already been made and they just shimmied a picture of him in at the end without music. Brad Renfro was smack in the middle of that one.

Moneymaking movie, and as someone else noted last night, she's ABC-Disney.

That gets her right in the door.

Ain't sayin it's right.

They totally forgot Adrienne Shelley! Especially since Keri Russell was out and about that should have been obvious.

Skittimus Tilda Swinton plays the creepy sales lady of that Virtual Life company. She's at the very end. Alas, her eyebrows aren't in that one either...

Now I want TK to call me and whisper sweet nothings in a South Afrikaan accent. Heck, that's why I watch early rounds of Tennis- Cliff Drysdale

Thank you, Bev. I thought I was the only one who felt Jon Stewart was off last night. He's cool, but those jokes were lame.

No, Melody, Cameron is not aging well. In her defense (I can't believe I just wrote that) she's been known to have awful acne, but hell, that's what the makeup is for. She just looked so bland. And greasy.

Did anyone else get sick of all those historic montages? Every 5 minutes they popped up. It just felt so tacked on, like "We gotta fill these few minutes, so let's throw another montage in there!" Ugh.

:) nah, wasn't calling you a boy. That's just how the saying goes!

Regardless of one's feelings towards the AMPAS, it's pretty callous to dismiss Ms. Cotillard's performance altogether like you did. Had Ms. Page won, I'm sure that people who thought she genuinely deserved it would have resented sniggering, "she-only-won-because-the-Academy-wants-to-be-HIP" remarks.

Wow, I can't believe how upset everyone's getting over Edith Piaf.

If you like her and are familiar with her work, that's wonderful. Instead of coming off like a pompous asshole, why don't you share what it is you love about her? Maybe then your enthusiasm will rub off on others, and they'll look her up and grow to appreciate her as well.

Don't use some trivial bit of knowledge to hold yourself above others. I promise you, you are not nearly as smart as you think you are, and one day you'll come to realize this--hopefully in a terribly embarrassing incident involving lots of witnesses. There's nothing like watching an egotist get a taste of their own medicine.

Sarina...I'm thinking we could dirty up Operation pretty easily. And ooh! Candyland! Princess Lolly is such a whore.

Posted by: Julie at February 25, 2008 1:53 PM

-------------------------------------------------

Ain't that the truth. You know who else was slutting it up all over my childhood? Miss Scarlet from Clue (the game, not the movie - I didn't see the movie until I was 9 or 10). What a slag she was.

I wanted to be just like her.

Just think how filthy we could make Clue. All those weapons to be used inappropriately...

I HATE the death reel simply because of the applause/popularity game. They should make the audience watch in silence. And why the hell were agents in the death reel? and no Adrienne Shelly!

Adrienne Shelley passed away on November 1, 2006.

IMDB People!

I come from a very small, verry off the map (and not French speaking), very drop-your-bombs-on-our heads-by-mistake-on-your-way-to-Serbia East-European country. It has always been so...odd to find out that for the rest of the world we are just nobodies.
Yes, I have known know who Edit Piaf was all my life. I saw La vie en rose as soon as it came out. I remember thinking what really, truly spectacular performance this is and being pretty sure it will remain unnoticed for rhe rest of the world (and the rest of the auditorium), being SO French,so remote ...... and so unamerican actually. I was bilingual as a child and it made me remember my grandmother like nobody and nothing can. Maybe I am biased.
I saw Juno and it made me wonder. It is a very sincere and a very witty film and a very warm one as well.But I can't even compare the two performances. It is not a question of class. It is a question of skill. I think that as far as awards are concerned acting is viewed as weihgt-lifting (the more strenuous and repugnant the better) too often, but nevertheless.......
And my last question is (bearing in mind that the Oscars are awards of the American motion picture academy, and that this is an American site, etc) Childish as it may sound .... Are we (and by "we" I mean the rest of the world) just a bunch of npbodies, Daniel?

TK:

I think my position on the "cultural relevance" of Edith Piaf vs. "Zimbabwe equivalent" can be summed up in one simple idea: The Jeopardy test.

In essence the idea is that the level of cultural relevance someone has can be approximated by what level of Jeopardy question you could reasonably expect to see a given topic directed towards them.

In the first round of jeopardy given clues like "famous french singer from the 40s referred to as 'Little Sparrow' and known for songs such as 'La Vie en Rose' " you could expect to see Piaf in a roughly $400 level question.

The Zimbabwe equivalent would easily be a $1000 level question. At least in the American version.

It could easily be argued that Jeopardy is eurocentric too, but the point is that statements on that level go to "the world is eurocentric" level of generality, which frankly isn't helpful. At a certain point eurocentrism becomes non-falsifiable because any argument used to disclaim it becomes an example of eurocentrism.

I see this stuff all the time in dealing with philosophy graduate students in the United States who throw out a word like "euro-centrism" as if it's a cure-all answer to whatever the base claim is. Considering such a claim is only a thinly veiled way of claiming racism it pisses me off to no end to see it thrown around when it's barely tangentially related to the main topic. As a result I probably vented a lot of my frustration with those clove-smoking hipsters at you because you invoked a tell-tale word used by that crowd in the United States.

That being said I stand by all the reasons in my original post that the basic premise of this article is "full of fail."

-The End.

Sarina, may I please join you in pr0nnishly redoing other classic board games? I have naughty ideas about "Trivial Pursuit":

*"Is it 'All Quiet on the Western Front'?"
*"No, that's wrong; the correct answer is 'The Jazz Singer'. Cardinal Biggles, give the rack another turn!"

Honestly? I have heard of Edith Piaf, I have heard of "la vie en rose," but I would have never known that she was the person who sang that song. Is that so terrible? I'm certain that there are quite a few famous people who died in the 60s that many of us have either never heard of or know very little about. And is it really that big a deal? I'd wager that most people under the age of 30 have no idea who she is, other than maybe hearing one of her songs in a movie. And it's probably not because they're not cultured, it's more likely that they just haven't been exposed to her.

I think the actor/actress that deserves to win the Oscar is the person that creates out a character so wholly believable that it's a shock when you realize that it's someone playing a part.

I remember my boyfriend freaking out after seeing "Monster" when he realized it was Charlize Theron. He was drawn wholly into the story by her acting, and THAT is what should be rewarded. Anthony Hopkins scaring the crap out of everyone as Hannibal Lecter; again, a person that deserved to be rewarded for his acting skills. Regardless of what anyone else thought, I thought Amy Ryan should have won simply because her character was so believable. Never once did I think "That's Amy Ryan up there." I was fully immersed in the creation on the screen.

I don't care what anyone does in their personal life or what country they come from or how long it's been since they had an Oscar and they should win for "old time's sake." If you've convinced me that the part you're playing is a living, breathing creation come to life, you have my vote and that's the way ALL the awards should be handed out.

End of story.

So I missed the broadcast last night cuz I was stuck at airport purgatory in Chicago but when I got home I discovered that Norbit was actually nominated for best make-up. From now on, I'm going to refer to the film as Oscar-Nominated Norbit just to remind people how incredibly pointless and stupid this whole awards show phenomenon is.

TK - You're South African. We're all thrilled for you. Naturally you'd be more in tune with Zimbabwean pop culture.

How about those of European descent, i.e. most of Turtle Island? Why should they not be more in tune with European cultural references than African? If a resident of a country in Africa (say, for argument's sake, South Africa) knew of a singer in Zimbabwe and hadn't a clue about Edith Piaf, would we take issue with them? No!

Let's take this argument a bit further. Say there was an African movie review site called Pa!xiba.com. And say a reviewer made some comment about the Zimbabwean singer, of whom he has never heard, receiving the most prestigious award in Africa. And say he then faced huuuuge backlash from the commentors for this comment. And then say a commentor said, "She's from Zimbabwe, not France, for god's sake!" Who would take issue with him? Nobody. Nobody would bitch about the afrocentricity of pop culture.

iagd: My mistake, thanks for correcting that! It would have been too good to be true, no?

I love Jon Stewart but even that could not save me from the boredom. I opted to watch Ahnuld instead in T2: Electric Boogalo (whole new elegance to the blue timetraveling lightening, I gotta say) but with Daniel's truthy invocation of borOscars classiness, I'm starting the campaign, here, on left wing Pajiba, for Stephen Colbert as host next year.
It's time for left wings and right wings to come together and soar in the glorious freedom, truth, and class that is Oscars. Wings flapping together in profundity!

TK, you're right, it took me a while to write that philosophical dissertation so I might have missed the whole to-bed-putting.

What can I say, I had an idea, and I simply had to shoot it into cyberspace.

But you have to admit, Pa!xiba.com was inspired.

I adore Tilda Swinton - she's unique, and she rocks her own style. I have to admire that, especially when it seems like half the world keeps criticising her for not looking exactly like all the other 'stars'. I loved her speech: impromptu, funny and irreverent.

"The fact of the matter is ..[Edith Piaf].. is NOT as famous as Billie Holiday, or Judy Garland"

Just wondering what that idea is based on.

I'm looking forward to Game Night. But you've forgotten the game with the most porny potential, namely "Monopoly". You feel me? We're talking prostitution, baby, if you need me to spell it out for you. And what about those "Chance" cards? "Give a blow job to the person on your right". Woohoo...and if you land on my hotel, then well...you see where I'm going with this.

OscarTamerz,

My apologies if I sound rude or pendantic, this is NOT my intention. However, if you please, may I make a correction in your assertion that The Doors covered an Edith Piaf song? The powers that be have forced this information upon me, so, um....

The song in question is called 'Alabama Song'. It was written in the 1920s by Kurt Weill, with words by Bertolt Brecht. Wikipedia will say 1930, but it's wrong. If memory serves, it was 1927. Anyway, it appears in two of their collaborations, first in a song-cycle/short play called 'Mahagonny' (the name made up for a imaginary city founded by a group of vagabonds who settle there, and corrupt it quickly), and then two years later in the fully-blown opera based upon that earlier work called 'Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny' (The Rise and Fall of the City Mahagonny'). The song was revised, and appears in the form in which we know it in that work.

It's one of those Weill-Brecht songs that has become a standard (many have), and has been covered by countless performers, most popularly The Doors. If you have an opportunity to check out the original 'Alabama Song', (if it's a song you like), I'd say go for it, the harmonies are far more complex, with interesting orchestration, as well as being a real showpiece for singers. Teresa Stratas is a Canadian mezzo-soprano (well, she's retired now), and noted Weill interpreter, she's done some wonderful versions. Weill's wife Lotte Lenya also did some notable recordings. She's a different horse completely, she was not classically trained as Stratas is, and has a limited alto range. If you like the smoky timbre of performers like Marlene Dietrich, you'll enjoy Lenya.

The action is pretty good too, Brecht liked using this verfrendungseffekt (alienation technique), that makes it pretty impossible to figure out what's going on in...things that he writes. Depends on my mood and caffeine levels, sometimes I'm fascinated, sometimes just stymied. Interest stuff though.

Anyway, that's my blurb about that.

Jo "Mama" Besser.....BRECHT!! Wahayyy!

Sorry, studying him at the moment, big fan. Heh.

And to TK: Edith Piaf is much more famous in England/Britain/The UK/Whatever it's cool to call it than Billie Holliday, in my opinion.
There have been many films, good ones, about the situation in South Africa/Zimbabwe, no? Why not one about a famous European icon?

numchuck: Um, I'm not hip to your lingo. So either "I'm sorry" OR "You're welcome!"

Also, "The Ladykillers" was pretty awful.

Yep, that Dan's a king mixer.

Skittimus, something died inside of me when I read that comment.

Bravo.

I can't believe Tilda won over Cate Blanchett or Amy Ryan. She had a couple of good scenes, but nothing memorable. She apparently did not even think she earned the Oscar, giving it to her agent. But then, I thought Michael Clayton was not particularly exceptional beyone Wilkinson's performance. What Crash was to race relations, Clayton is to the legal profession and big business. Lead counsel takes off his clothes and chases the opposition? Stolen from Boston Legal. Evil company poisoning people? I think Travolta already did that movie. So did Julia Roberts. Corporate Counsel putting out hits on attorneys? Where the fuck did they come up with that turd? A $2000 an hour "fixer" attorney who acts like a cross between a head hunter and private investigator (and not a very good one) but is broke because he invested in a bar? They should of just hired the Wolf. And that little sting operation tacked to the end of the movie was right out of CSI: Miami.

Actually, Kelly Macdonald should have been nominated and won for Best Supporting Actress.

I'm under 30; I do know of Edith Piaf.

That being said, it depends on what kind of music you like, what kind of music you're exposed to, and how much tolerance you have for listening to a foreign language you may not understand (I don't speak French). There's also a generational gap, no matter how great a talent the singer might be, even with American singers. I'm a Peggy Lee fan and many people my age wouldn't know who she was, although they've probably heard her songs.

However, the best thing for me about Cotillard and Bardem winning their Oscars is the exuberance and foreign language usage in their acceptance speeches. I want both of them whispering sweet nothings in my ear.

NEVER!! Pervy Cranium definitely gets a vote from me.

There's another game, that a lot less well-known, called "Things in a Box." You read these cards with stuff on them like "Things you shouldn't tie to the roof of your car," and "things that people do when no one is looking." You then write down the first thing that comes to mind, then everyone has to guess who wrote what.

Appropriate answers for both the above questions would be "a dead hooker."

Then again rhubarb, this is totally Sarina's pervy-board-game-pleasure-cruise. I'm merely here to be decorative and somewhat vulgar. She'll have to decide about Cranium.

(Say yes Sarina!!)

Actually, the hilariously brilliant and pervy boardgame train was engineered by someone else, and I cannot rightfully take any credit. It originated with Scrabble sex, and I can't remember now which thread it was or who started it. Alex, maybe? That might not be correct. It's 2am and I've just spent several hours editing a bunch of boring stuff, so my brain's a little fuzzy.

In any case, pornographic Cranium sounds like an excellently filthy idea.

Well, whoever started this Pajiborgy is all kinds of awesome. It's giving me an outlet for my inner perv. It doesn't get to come out and play all that often.

i know i'm getting on the bandwagon late and all, but seriously, no one knows who Edith Piaf is?

granted i'm french, and we're all, > but i have to point out when people find out i'm french, the first they say is, i LOVE Edith Piaf, don't you?!

I'm assuming Dan didn't take much in the way of HS French.

Boring show lots of fuck ups. Next year they should spare us and go the Golden Globe route.

Popcultureboy: How much must I rehash this!! The dialogue in Juno is the most realistic I've heard in a long time, the speech paterns and cadence mimick perfect the actual speech patterns and cadence of highschoolers. i.e. Every highschooler I know speaks just like Ellen Page did.

The dialogue was the best part of Juno. Everyone can shove it.

should read:

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I'll bet points about Juno's realism has been rehashed countless times in the comments section for the review of that movie, but really. I'm 17, and I can tell you that no one in my high school speaks like that. Maybe a lot of us WISH we were that eloquent, and that we had hamburger phones, but high school speech mostly consists of an excess of "like"s, a ton of expletives, some "dude"s, and if you're from Boston, "wicked."

I don't see a ton of the movies that are nominated for the Oscars usually, due to friends that would rather watch the latest variation of Step Up (I didn't mind, it was entertaining). So I don't really have an opinion on any of these Oscars shenanigans. Still, I know who Edith Piaf is.