Claud's View: The Oscars

THIS IS OUR HOMAGE TO THE SYLVESTER STALLONE CLASSIC OVER THE TOP

I want to start off by apologizing; my resolution was to write in my blog more and I have failed. Full disclosure -- I was sidetracked by a little phenomena named Twilight. I was seduced by the saga and got sucked in. Hello my name is Claudine, and I am a Twi-hard. Team Edward!!!!

Now let's get down to it.

The Academy Awards are upon us. This is my favorite event of the year; it is my Super Bowl or World Series if you will. Some may watch the show for the glitz and glamour but I watch as a lover of film. What makes this year's Oscars even better is that Inglourious Basterds, one of my favorite films of 2009 by my favorite director Quentin Tarantino, was honored with 8 nominations including Best Picture and Best Director. I am not fooling myself that Basterds has a fighting chance against the money making behemoth Avatar and the gritty war film The Hurt Locker, but as the Hollywood saying goes "it was an honor just to be nominated". Also giving the awards show a little something extra this year are the hosts Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin. I think it was an ingenious idea to pair these two men up to co-host and I am looking forward to watching whatever they have cooked up as long as its not rehashed SNL skits.

Something else new to the Academy this year, that has turned out to be quite controversial, is the introduction of 10 Best Picture nominees instead of the traditional 5. I am on the opposing side of this argument. I think allowing 10 nominees doesn't lessen the honor per se but I truly don't believe that ALL films are worthy of the nomination; which brings me to Avatar. Most Oscar prognosticators are betting that the big Oscar showdown is between Avatar and The Hurt Locker. This bothers me immensely. I have not seen Avatar, on principle, even though my husband swears that I would enjoy it. My issue with the film is that is has been shoved down everyone's throat as the most astounding film ever. The whole thing is reminiscent of what they did with Titanic; a good movie but best film of 1997 I think not. Avatar seems visually stunning so it is well deserving of all the technical nominations but morphing an actor into a blue alien and having the majority of the film computer generated does not a best director make nor does the most popular movie qualify as the best picture. Nothing against James Cameron, he has brought my favorite female heroines to the silver screen- Sarah Connor in Terminator and Ellen Ripley in Aliens, but I think this year he should just be happy to go home with the title of cinematic maverick.

The awards are a big thing for my family. For almost 20 years now my dad, brother and I have had a contest as to who could predict the most wins. My dad even bought a "goldish" statue at a swap meet that we lovingly call "the Jorge". Andrew, my husband, and Alissa, my sister-in-law, joined the contest last year. The contest is pretty fierce, none of us share our picks with each other and we do not turn in our ballots until the day before the show. The winner gets a Blu-ray from each of the losers, bragging rights for a year, and possession of "the Jorge". I was in possession of "the Jorge" for quite some time until my winning streak ended 4 years ago. My brother has been the victor for those 4 years, but this year the "claud strikes back" and I will bring "the Jorge" home. So wish me luck readers and "may the force be with me".