Vaughn On Movies – The World's Toughest Movie Critic™

The Acadamy Awards...As Wikipeadia put it "The Oscars are generally voted on by members of the entertainment industry." They're like the electoral college, only the general public has even LESS say in the nominations.

Avatar; possibly the only movie ever to split the gamer community in half over whether it was as shit as Twilight or actually deserved to be popular like Harry Potter.

Hi, Vaughn. Have you read my comments about Hurt Locker on your review of the movie?

Yeah, cool. Kathryn Bigelow won the Oscar. Congrats. Been a fan of her since Strange Days. Big whoop. But this movie? I'm definitely skipping it, never mind the awards. As I've commented on HLker, not much is focused on the Iraqi civilians as just civilians with normal lives trying to make sense of the war. They keep repeating this shit in every so-called anti-war movies, where it's all about the guilt-ridden Americans but not one locals have their say about the war. Closest would be Brian De Palma and Oliver Stone, but beyond that, just nothing.

Personally, I'm sick of (pro or anti) war movies with one-sided portrayals to either the foreign or local combatants, be it movies like Hurt Locker, or the many patriotic movies in my country of Malaysia. Neither portrays the Other, the enemy the "heroes" are fighting, if not as real characters, at least as believable or positive. The screams of a million Iraqi civilians dying are just nothing compared to one Marine missing his gal in Anytown, Alabama.

But, anyway, Kathryn. Congrats.

Of course I read your comments, they're on my site an it's not like we're brimming with traffic. The Hurt Locker is told from the American perspective, and despite writer Mark Boal's accept speech, it seems to have a neutral stance politically. It is difficult to tell a war film from two perspectives without one being showcased because movies don't lend themselves kindly to that concept of storytelling, the lack of a protagonist and central conflict make for a tough sale.

It's good that Kathryn was the first woman to win; beats Sofia Coppola. Kathryn makes movies that play to multiple demographics whereas most female directors are relegated to rom coms.

Impressive. You did read the Academy's mind, sans 2 picks that they did mostly to "surprise" us (althought we knew it was one or another). I do believe "Precious" was a solid contender, but i'm somewhat disappointed it just takes slaping a "based on a true story" label on a heavy dramatic movie to make it win awards. I do not dismiss that is real, that it happened and the trials she had to go trough, but in the end she is one of the millions of human beings (that didn't have the luck of a movie been made of their tribulations).

Also, i find peculiar how a documental about kids going thru great dangers to make it to U.S.A. (ilegally, of course) loses to another one about people killing dolphins... I do understand they're awarding the documentary, not the subject. But nonetheless, watching how people became insensitive to human misery is appalling. I DO realize the above comments seem to oppose each other, but i guess you can see my point. All in all, excellent video and poignant prediction.